Before Gelpiel Forest.
Strangely dense red trees were visible.
After taking down three Lizardmen, I navigated through the winding path and arrived at the forest thick with these red trees.
Winter had stripped the trees bare.
“This is it. I’m sure.”
Yuma looked at the guide Masek, who spoke with a confident glint in his eyes.
“From here on, it should be fine without a guide. Can you return alone?”
That was a remark made because of the three Lizardmen encountered on the way.
Without hesitation, Masek nodded.
“Despite how I look, I’ve been a guide for 20 years! Usually, monsters don’t show up in a spot where their kind died for about 3 or 4 days. You can return alone without worry. Hahaha!”
Honestly, I wasn’t that worried.
“Ooooh! Turns out, you’re a brave uncle after all!”
Hestia perked up her scarlet ears and said.
Masek hesitated for a moment, then abruptly raised his right hand.
“Actually, I’m a bit scared, so I was thinking of using a teleport scroll to head back.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,”
Cloney said, finally seeming relieved.
And thus, we parted ways with Masek.
Yuma, Cloney, and Hestia strode boldly into the depths of Gelpiel Forest.
*
A young man with blue hair opened his eyes.
“Phew….”
Exhaling, the boy with blue hair stretched his body and got up. He opened the door.
Whoooooosh!
A chilling wind blew in.
The floor was covered with frost, akin to that of glaciers.
“It’s Brother Haven!”
“Brother!”
“Brother Haven!”
A cluster of little ones dressed in fur clothes gathered around Haven. Seeing their cheeks flushed bright red, Haven couldn’t help but smile.
The White Night Clan.
A tribe existing beyond the Gelpiel Forest, consisting of around 120 members.
A clan living on the land of White Night where the ground freezes even when it’s not winter.
From the age of 8, every member must take up a sword.
A glacier mountain range surrounded like a massive fortress.
The White Night Clan carried one singular mission. A duty few even know about in this world.
The lost giants of the God Race.
Once called the king of the giants, this clan is tasked with binding the feet of those giants and ensuring they are slain.
A tribe with a mission to fulfill.
That was the White Night Clan.
The years of penance that began over 400 years ago showed no signs of ending.
There was only one Titan.
But that one was incredibly strong.
The king of the God Race, Ades.
He had lost his self and become a being that only sought destruction, despite having been the closest existence to a complete god among giants.
The chieftain of the White Night Clan had been facing Ades alone, ending his life in that struggle. And now the next chieftain would face Ades once again. All the chieftains had continued to live that sacrificial life for humanity.
Currently, Haven’s father, Luke, the current chieftain, was also continuing that legacy, waging a brutal fight against Ades.
12 hours.
The time the god Ades spent rampaging to destroy everything in a day.
Chieftain Luke fought for 12 hours with his sword.
For nearly 40 years.
As each day passed, Haven grew fearful of the future.
“I’m not as strong as my father.”
At 24 years old, he was an intermediate sword expert.
Certainly not a low level, and he was recognized for having enough talent, but it didn’t satisfy Havens.
“My father probably doesn’t see me as anything special.”
His father became a sword master at 28.
A genius.
A man who couldn’t be called anything less.
And now, he had reached the realm of the Grand Master.
Until now, chieftains of the White Night Clan had all become sword masters by at least age 30. Yet no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t see himself achieving that.
“Talent.”
He clearly lacked it.
Among every lineage, at least one direct descendant had to possess superior genius. But that genius had skipped him.
However, he didn’t want to use that as an excuse to neglect his training.
Swish—
Haven, who sent his younger siblings away for training, drew his sword.
Whoosh—!
The pure white sword energy unique to the White Night Clan flowed along the blade.
It was undoubtedly brilliant, but it was still far from enough.
He needed to unleash his sword energy for half of the day.
The chieftain of the White Night Clan couldn’t escape the accelerated pace of aging.
If his father Luke died, it was his duty as his direct descendant to succeed him as chieftain. Ultimately, he’d have to spend his life fighting the god Ades for a day and a half.
Flicker…
The uniform and dense sword energy faltered like a candle’s flame before the wind.
A sign that his mind was struggling and swaying.
The first thought that came to him was resentment toward the first chieftain, Hasar, the founder of the White Night Clan.
It was resentment towards the first chieftain, ‘Hasar’ of the White Night Clan.
*
Originally, the God Race descended upon the continent to save the world. Over 400 years ago, it is said that the greatest achievement in driving away the Demon army that had invaded the continent was accomplished by the eight God Beings.
The final battle between the Demon army and the continent’s inhabitants.
The outcome of the war ended in victory for the continent’s inhabitants, but the devastation they suffered was considerable.
Humans lost countless troops, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
Of the eight God Beings, only one survived: the God King, Ades.
The problem was that post-war, Ades began attacking his former allies, the continent’s inhabitants.
This was due to the fact that the final Demon King, Aderbamun, unleashed a devastating magic that completely shattered the spirit of the non-human races, who fought alongside them and the humans.
Those whose minds were utterly shattered acted only with the intent to rip apart any living beings around them.
Hasar of the White Night Clan and the human alliance had to kill the non-human warriors they once fought alongside.
However, they ultimately could not kill the God King, Ades.
Even when three “Grand Master”-level swordsmen rushed in with their Aura Blades, they could only manage to scratch the giant’s skin.
And those scratches healed instantly thanks to the God Race’s unique divine power.
Even with two archmages stepping in, it was futile. Ades nonchalantly withstood two meteor-level spells, enough to annihilate an entire small kingdom.
Hasar decided to imprison Ades, who had shared bonds as a comrade, to stop him from committing further slaughter.
Along with the 10th circle Elf Archmage, Dukedra, who endured Aderbamun’s magic, they created the White Night.
To contain the mindless monster called Ades.
They carved a massive mountain range.
And likewise, with the help of the Elf Archmage Dukedra, Hasar made a blood pact using his own blood.
If he could not kill the God King, Titan Ades, he would never leave that mountain range.
Binding himself to a pact that would cause his heart to burst if he stepped out of the White Night mountain range. As a price for that pact, he gained a genius-level talent surpassing that of a Grand Master.
Yet, even with that power, he could not surpass the recovery ability of the God King’s.
For Hasar, the pact was a sense of responsibility and atonement.
But he realized too late, in his final moments, that it was an overly hasty sense of responsibility.
He had bound his descendants with an enormous shackle.
The self-imposed blood pact extended to his offspring.
This was the origin story of the White Night Clan.
A tragic origin story of a clan that could never escape the White Night mountain range until they severed the breath of the God King, Ades.
Before cutting off Ades’s breath, it was the tragic birth story of a clan that would never escape the White Night Mountain.
For nearly 400 years, several exalted Grand Masters who had befriended the White Night Clan attempted to assist in defeating Ades, but all failed.
Thus, the legacy of the White Night Clan continued on.
*
Step—
“….”
Duke Yuma saw the white holy relic visible beyond the raging white blizzard. It was the pillar of the White Night.
Hestia and Cloney stared wide-eyed at the holy relic of the White Night Clan. The winter weather.
Though they originally wore fur clothes made from bear skin, standing before the White Night felt like a chill down to their bones.
It was a land of White Night that made one feel even colder amidst the winter scenery.
“Let’s go.”
At Yuma’s words, Hestia and Cloney nodded vigorously.
Two ice pillars soared on either side of the front gate. As they stood before it, loud noises erupted from all around.
– An outsider!
– A foreigner, a foreigner has come!
– Inform the chieftain!
Yuma’s party came to a complete halt.
They had no choice but to stop.
Chaaan! Srrrrn! Chiiing!
The noise of weaponry surrounded them.
Most of the weapons were spears. Over thirty spears were aimed as if they would pierce Yuma’s group at any moment.
The sudden appearance of outsiders left the young men’s faces mixed with confusion and anger.
“Calm down.”
An old man’s voice soothed the young men of the White Night.
“Weren’t we told to summon the chieftain whenever an outsider arrives?”
As the elder spoke, everyone settled their excitement.
“It’s still three hours before the giant Ades moves. Bring the chieftain.”
“Yes, understood!”
One of the young men sheathed his spear and quickly turned away.
The elder silently scanned Yuma’s group.
There was a moment of standoff without any exchange of words.
After a short while.
Thud! Thud!
A middle-aged man clad in a navy blue armor with a black cloak filled with fur stepped forward with heavy footsteps.
“…State your business, outsider.”
He looked dreadfully weary yet exuded a terrifying aura.
[Lv.185] Luke
Race: Human
Alignment: Good
Class: Swordsman
Level: Grand Swordmaster
Innate Traits: Genius, Body and Sword as One
Direct descendant of Hasar, who carried the legacy of the White Night.
Chieftain Luke of the White Night Clan appeared before Yuma.
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