After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

"Aww...so sweet..."

You can't be as carefree as you are in Japaria or the forest. You can't just lie down on a tree and take a nap when you're tired, you can't take off some clothes just because you feel hot, and you certainly can't disturb other people's work because of your curiosity...

Although Naruja admitted that life here is very affluent.

But sure enough, she only felt truly happy when she was with Yang Hao and the others, in private settings.

The Ling clan chief squinted, curled up next to Yang Hao, and ate fruit. His completely relaxed appearance finally put Yang Hao at ease.

Then, as Yang Hao listened to Naruja's melodious singing, he sighed again.

After temporarily setting aside matters concerning the Roman Demon Realm and the Alessars,

Yang Hao faced a dilemma: family problems and threats from the north.

On the one hand, under Theresa's earnest persuasion, Anna actually had the idea of ​​becoming empress again... To be honest, this made Yang Hao somewhat frightened and at a loss.

He was terrified that he would once again fail to protect the poor child, but he didn't want to shatter the child's dreams—after all, he knew that Anna genuinely wanted to be a worthy queen.

Left with no other choice, Yang Hao could only ask Lalumia, who was most skilled at taking care of children, to guide her... With the help of Lalumia and Natalia, Anna should be able to receive the highest quality education and grow up in a good childhood environment... right?

But this doesn't mean the family matters are over.

In reality, the family is more concerned about the Heilongjiang issue.

It's unclear whether Lalumia let it slip on purpose, or Elena was accidentally caught red-handed, or if, as Finn said, the Black Dragon's behavior after her return was truly bizarre...

all in all.

Miss Nia's seemingly genuine willingness to do anything for Yang Hao's "confession" became the top priority for the two women in the family, a source of great interest for Lord Lalumia, and a thorny issue that Yang Hao couldn't resolve despite his anxieties.

The most important thing is that Theresa and Finn understand the benefits of merging with Ysgard, and they also understand that the existence of demons forces everyone to work together—but that doesn't mean they're willing to just let their men become available to any man... well. In short, that's the gist of it.

"Extremely interested" refers to the fact that Lalumia seems to have recently awakened some incredible hobby—she seems to enjoy watching Yang Hao be at a loss, unable to think things through, while also having to endure the "torture" from his two wives every night.

While Lalumia was very interested in this, she also made sure to come over to comfort Yang Hao the next day as if nothing had happened. At the same time, she casually recounted how Yang Hao had been treated the night before, and used her maternal love to soothe Yang Hao's wounded heart.

Although Yang Hao felt grateful and warm at first, he quickly realized how this kind and gentle deity had turned into this.

Yang Hao was greatly confused, unsure whether Lalumia was a friend or foe in this matter...

He naturally didn't have the courage to handle things properly with everyone here.

This is not.

It rotted right away.

"Ugh..."

Fortunately, this is just a family matter, a family problem.

Yang Hao muttered to himself, then subconsciously bit into the fruit that had somehow ended up in front of his mouth. As he savored the sweetness in his mouth, he sighed and began to think about the important matter of his last task.

Before heading to Isgard on his business trip, the last thing Yang Hao needed to deal with was the major issue concerning the [Cataclysm of Ice].

After the discussion on the morning of May 23, Yang Hao managed to learn some information about the Ice Calamity.

Firstly, it was a conclusion reached by Theresa and others after discussing and researching with the magical dolls: the frozen land that moves with the Ice Calamity is, in a sense, a [domain] similar to the Roman Magic Domain.

Since it's a "domain," it naturally has the potential to be broken and destroyed. Similarly, since the Sirens have the ability to break through the barrier of the Roman Demon Realm, they naturally have the ability to break through the "domain" of the Ice Calamity, making the coldness surrounding the Ice Calamity disappear without a trace—but ultimately, this is only a "possibility." And this doesn't even take into account the casualties during actual operations.

So Yang Hao felt that this was a bit risky and needed to be discussed properly... But that brings us to another issue.

Even if they could resolve the frozen ground surrounding the Ice Calamity, they would still lack the weapons to severely damage it.

Bayer Gems' war machines from back then have been proven to be almost impossible to replicate. Even if Elena were to operate at full speed, the Kingdom of Eden would not be able to replicate the core components of those war machines, let alone the United Nations today.

The only way to reintroduce those technologies to the military field is to have talented scholars undergo systematic retraining and then try to find the treasures that the ancient Bayern people called "the crystallization of the world." However, this would take at least twenty years, so Yang Hao abandoned this plan.

What if we use the colossus weapons of Eden to attack the Ice Calamity?

Yang Hao looked up at the ceiling, unaware that Naruja had somehow slumped onto the armrest of her chair, seemingly preparing to fall into a deep sleep.

"...Colossus weapons won't work either...The Ice Calamity is also an intelligent demon; it will move around our defenses...But we can't let it damage our territory, nor can we let it actually join forces with the demon servants in the Demon Realm...Can't we think of a way?"

The Colossus Weapon of Eden is a massive defensive structure fixed to the ground. While it can move along with the floating island when fixed there, if it is fixed to the ground, it is an immovable landmark whose shadow can be seen from a great distance.

As an intelligent demon, the Ice Calamity would naturally move around the Colossus Weapon's firepower projection network—but Yang Hao and his team's objective wasn't just to intercept the Ice Calamity, but more importantly, to prevent it from merging with the Roman Demon Realm...

So after much thought, what they need now is a weapon that can move while posing a significant threat to the Ice Calamity, and that can be manufactured using existing technology... Otherwise, at best they can only break through the Ice Calamity's "domain," but they won't be able to truly pose a lethal threat to it.

It's like wanting to sleep with someone, but in the end, all you can do is manage to tear open their clothes and can't get to the point... It's frustrating and makes you feel secretly anxious.

So, what should we do?

His Majesty the Regent sighed one last time.

He felt he should go out and find some inspiration—but just then, a knock on the door startled him and startled the deer girl, who was secretly dozing off on the armrest.

Yang Hao stroked Naruja's antlers, which shimmered with various lights, to soothe her as he let the person outside in. The person who entered was none other than Elena, who was supposed to have a meeting with Theresa and the others that morning.

Has something happened?

Faced with Yang Hao's confusion, Elena stared intently at Naruja beside Yang Hao for a long while before finally speaking:

“Yang Hao, something’s happened in the north. The Ice Calamity has crossed the edge of the Sorrowful Mountains and is now heading towards the Monster Forest. It is expected to make contact with us on June 25th—we need you. And the Sirens also need your ideas and decisions.”

"...I understand. I'll be right there."

The Calamity of Ice has actually started to move?

Although it was expected, you guys really know how to time it!

Yang Hao got up decisively, ready to go where he belonged and make use of himself.

While the regent was carrying out his work, a horrifying and strange phenomenon was unfolding in the north, in the homeland of Khuttod Khan.

The summer grasslands were covered in frost and snow, and the nomads fled in panic, carrying everything they could. Behind them, the endless cold chased after their footsteps.

The nomads had heard ancient tales of the north—they knew that further north of the Mourning Mountains lay an ice field that never thawed, and in its deepest depths, an ancient demon lurked, threatening to seize their homeland and bring them annihilation.

But they never expected that this day would come so suddenly and so quickly.

"Father Khan, Father Khan—! What should we do now?!"

The fleeing herders were in tears. They might be able to take their tents and herds with them, but they knew they were now destitute.

Unlike farmers, herders can find a way to settle down somewhere after leaving home. But for herders who bring a large number of livestock with them, the only place to live is on the pasture.

After all, the herds are not just their food, but also their property. Every healthy animal is their most important asset, and sufficient food is essential for the animals to be healthy.

But now... the pastures have turned into frozen ground, and hail and blizzards that never thaw are falling from the sky. With the sudden loss of a large area of ​​pastureland, some farmers are destined to be unable to find a place to live.

That's why the herders were in tears. That's why they longed for their father to find them a new home—but to the Ice Calamity, it was a trivial matter.

Since awakening, the weakened Ice Calamity has never stopped feeding. After finishing the humans who had woken it, it naturally sought out more food to ensure it had enough strength to answer the call of its kind and travel to distant places to reunite with them.

The Mountains of Sorrow are too steep for him to climb now, so naturally he won't prey on the creatures within. Conversely, the livestock and people on the pasture are too fast for him to catch.

Left with no other choice, the Ice Calamity could only resort to a method that was shameful for demons to replenish its strength—that is, to devour the nutrients of the land itself.

"—"

With its insect-like mouthparts, it meticulously crushed the frozen soil before it. The Ice Calamity spared no nutrient whatsoever, swallowing everything digestible and expelling the utterly useless sand and soil from its body.

Wherever it goes, grasslands turn into cold deserts. But the grasslands provide it with far too little energy to recover—the energy it expends digesting from the soil almost equals the energy it can obtain. But at least in the process of feeding on the soil, it can balance its energy expenditure as much as possible so that it has the ability to continue moving forward.

At his current speed, it would take at least twenty-five days to reach his destination—Ice Calamity estimated the distance between himself and his kind, but at that moment, an unexpected event caught his attention.

It turned out to be a group of barbarian cavalry who had come to investigate the anomaly on their own initiative! Ice Calamity sensed the movements emanating from outside the [Domain] from several kilometers away. However, the cavalry were clever; neither the centaurs nor the mounted human cavalry dared to venture into its frozen ground. This inevitably left Ice Calamity somewhat disappointed.

"—!"

After all, if he could eat them, his strength, if not fully restored, would at least recover one or two tenths—with this additional strength as a foundation, once his movements became swift again, he would naturally be able to find more food for optimal circulation...

But now it seems that these life forms, which are much more primitive than in the past, are incredibly intelligent.

The Ice Calamity felt a pang of nostalgia for the humans who had driven it northwards in a frenzy back then. At least those humans were brave enough, and they were quite tasty.

But when it thinks of those humans... it can't help but recall the giant machines that fought against it back then.

...That was a monster through and through. A monster among monsters, capable of using metal to fight against demons' flesh and blood.

The Ice Calamity's memory stopped at the moment before it fell into a coma. It resumed its feeding.

Every grain of dust is worth savoring, and every step forward brings you closer to your kind.

The glory of the devil is about to be reborn—but then again…

Why is he the only Titan demon left after awakening?

The Calamity of Ice pondered.

Little did they know that their every move was being watched by the magical machine suspended high in the sky.

............

The reception room in Constantinople.

Yang Hao and the others stared intently at the scene on the screen showing the Ice Calamity ravaging the land, remaining silent for a long time.

On one hand, the Ice Calamity's appearance, composed primarily of insects, was too horrifying. On the other hand, they needed time to consider just how much land the Ice Calamity had destroyed.

Although that was the territory of the Khutto Khanate, considering the direction the Ice Calamity was heading...

This remains a question worth pondering.

A long time passed.

"...It bypassed the Mourning Mountains, turning half of the eastern side of the mountains into permafrost, and at the same time, turning the area within a one-kilometer radius around itself into permafrost that would never thaw before its death..."

Without a doubt, the frozen earth surrounding the Ice Calamity is its demonic domain—as a Titan demon, it is an extremely formidable enemy. But...

Is it too weak?

Yang Hao, with a stern face, posed a question to everyone.

Doesn't the Ice Calamity look too weak?

This is a significant matter that is readily apparent—after all, upon rough observation, the Ice Calamity lacks the power commensurate with its size, and in its advance, it has even fallen so low that it needs to graze on grass to replenish its strength... It looks far too weak.

Even such a weakened Titan demon is not an enemy that the United Nations can easily defeat.

"Explanation: Weak, yet powerful. Our top priority is to find a way to break through the [Frozen Ground] surrounding the Ice Calamity; otherwise, the -70°C temperature in the core area of ​​the Ice Calamity will severely impact our military operations..."

"Yes... it's just too cold around that demon. Fen, can't your elven ancient trees really hold up?"

"I told you! No tree can survive in this low temperature environment! And to put it bluntly, the closer you get to the Ice Calamity, the colder it gets. As its strength recovers, the temperature around it will become even colder... By the way, isn't it starting to snow on the screen?"