Even the wild men of the North had to take a step backward to avoid the ferocious aura spreading out from Ko Eun-Bi. That’s how intense her hostility was.

“This isn’t a simple battle of wills is it?”

“If things go wrong, Seon-Hyeok and the war chief might really fight.”

The Northern men expressed their concerns as they watched the fighting spirits of both of them growing stronger as time went on.

“Darun, shouldn’t we stop them?”

The men observing the situation from a bit away looked at Darun as they asked.

“Why’re you telling me that? I’m sure the amazing war chief will take care of it.”

While the men around him were thoroughly worried, Darun was apathetic.

“Wow, look at you being indifferent.”

“Damn, you’ve gotten more narrow-minded.”

The people vehemently criticized him for it.

“Why?! What did I do?!”

Darun frowned and glared at them, but it was no use.

“I thought you stepped down because you acknowledged your defeat like a man, but it seems like you were plotting something like this secretly.”

“Wooow, you petty bastard.”

“This isn’t something a wolf would do, it’s what a fox would do.”

Once the men started talking, they didn’t stop and continued to talk as if Darun was the most narrow-minded man in the world.

Heavily frowning, Darun opened his mouth to say something when someone spat out a sentence.

“War chief, Darun encouraged it.”

“What are you saying?! Why would I have come between them?!”

At those words, Darun shouted, but it was no use.

“I said you encouraged it, not that you came between them.”

Darun’s rigid expression and behavior were very different from his usual broad-minded magnanimous attitude. It was pitiful to see him also being fully aware of this fact and desperately trying to somehow get out of this situation.

While Darun was being questioned by the members of his clan, the situation became worse.

As though she had unpleasant memories associated with her name, the war chief hated being addressed by her name. From the nomads’ standpoint, they couldn’t understand her attitude since all the foreigners’ names sounded strange to them.

But today, it was beyond simple dislike for her name. She was grinding her teeth as if she had been humiliated; she looked as if she met her enemy.

“Is there something about the war chief’s name that only the foreigners know about?”

The men frowned as they felt the aura around their war chief changing from hostility to murder now.

“That’s a bit too much.”

Considering Kim Seon-Hyeok’s behavior of looking down and monitoring the tribe’s movements from a high place, the hostility she showed at first made sense, especially if she hadn’t been pleased by his actions. The arguing that followed the next day was nothing more, nothing less than a battle of wills that could occur when the leaders of two groups met.

But that wasn’t it now. The war chief's attitude was showing an intent to kill him and was clearly stomping on the line of acceptability as she crossed it.

As expected, Kim Seon-Hyeok’s fighting spirit was getting sharper as time went on.

“Um…”

His eyes and attitude were getting more vicious by the moment that even Darun, who had been watching the situation with a sullen face, was startled.

“The war chief is definitely strong.”

Darun’s face wasn’t that of a cowardly loser who harbored any resentment for his defeat in the past. His face was truly expressing pure respect for the strong; there wasn't any malice or self-interest on his face anywhere.

“Perhaps with her, we could realize the long-held aspirations of the tribe. That is how strong she is.”

However, his feelings of admiration and respect quickly disappeared and the only emotion in its place was deep regret.

“If it isn’t for Seon-Hyeok, it really would be the case.”

Even the monstrous war chief wouldn’t be able to overcome the massive wall that was Kim Seon-Hyeok.

“The war chief needs to understand that there is another heaven above the sky[1]. If she doesn’t realize this, our tribe will be doomed with her.”

If they invaded the borders of the Empire as they did before, then the clan’s future couldn’t be guaranteed.

“There’s still affection between us. Surely Seon-Hyeok wouldn’t go to that extent.”

“That’s right. Even now, he isn’t caring at all about us crossing the border before.”

Darun clicked his tongue at his clansmen’s words.

“What if we hadn’t turned our horses around? What if the Messenger of the Sky hadn’t decided to retreat? What do you think would have happened if we charged at him like that?”

Instead of refuting his words, the men looked dazed.

“I’ve seen all kinds of crazy people, but I’ve never seen one crazier than him on the battlefield.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok was an idealist who stood alone in front of the Demon King and his army to protect those who had nothing to do with him. He was a slayer who slaughters hundreds of thousands of demons without blinking an eye. He was a stubborn person who would never back down from what he was trying to protect, even if his enemy was a human. That was who Kim Seon-Hyeok was.

“If a war really broke out, he will not show us any mercy. Instead of backing down, he will most likely prostrate himself in front of our tombstones, crying and apologizing, after the war is over.”

Darun knew better than anyone else that if a war broke out, they would be in the same situation the demons had been in. Even if the Messenger of the Sky was with them, even if their war chief had received the Messenger’s protection, Kim Seon-Hyeok wouldn’t be different.

“At the very least, we must avoid war.”

If it took the form of a duel rather than a war, then Kim Seon-Hyek would take their brotherhood into consideration and show mercy. Even if what they lost in exchange for lives was the plains they were so desperately trying to protect, it was better than losing their future entirely.

“Surely you weren’t thinking that from the start…”

Darun nodded at his clansmen who were looking at him like they had never seen him properly before.

“If it’s a boil that needs to be squeezed out anyway, we should make sure the wound does not get infected.’

It was exactly as Darun said.

Ko Eun-Bi didn’t like the one pledged to the Dragon and was planning on provoking him somehow.

Conceited bastard.

He had looked arrogantly down from the sky. It was as if he thought he could stand in her way at any moment in time if she had other intentions. The Imperial Army whose attitude had changed after seeing the Dragon’s contractor also caused her to be unhappy.

[If he was the proxy of only the Dragon Lord, then perhaps it would be different. But he is the proxy and contractor of the entire dragon clan. I cannot handle more than one dragon. Now is the time to bow your head and bide your time.]

She was boiling mad; Voltecino poured oil over it.

But even then, Ko Eun-Bi tried to endure. It was a patience she had gained while wandering through a deserted wasteland; a patience that didn’t match her bad-tempered nature.

If it hadn’t been for Darun, she most likely wouldn’t have been able to endure it.

“What kind of man is Seon-Hyeok? He’s a real man’s man who’s gone through all kinds of hardship possible. He has suffered a lot but the previous emperor of the Empire immediately recognized his potential and fully supported him.”

She had to roam the barren wasteland alone and fight non-humans in order to fully qualify. However, the person in front of her was a lucky person who had caught the eyes of those in power early on and had grown with full support.

He was a hothouse flower.

The terrible hardships she had experienced so far turned her bitterness into hostility towards her opponent who had grown up comfortably under the protection of the Dragon and powerful people.

“Ah, don’t even think about getting into a fight with him. It’s ridiculous for someone who lost the duel to be saying this, but even you, war chief, won’t win against him. He is truly a monster.”

She couldn’t accept it.

In her view, the war he fought against insignificant humans was nothing more than a child's play. Even the Demon King, who was said to be so great, was in the end, only an incomplete existence that took only one of the Fragments of Chaos. The way she was right now, she could have dealt with such insignificant beings in a blink of an eye.

“Is this your will, or is it everyone’s will?”

She found the Dragon’s contractor to be ridiculous. He was getting drunk off the name he had gotten from fighting such insignificant beings. She couldn’t stand his attitude of constantly looking down at her with his nose raised high in the air as if he was better than her any longer.

“You think you’re all that great?”

“What?”

The Dragon’s contractor frowned. Even his arrogant expression was pissing her off.

“You’re just a guy who married well and didn’t have to suffer.”

“Ko Eun-Bi!”

When Voltecino instantly shouted at her, Ko Eun-Bi turned her head. She saw the woman with an expression she had never seen before.

Ko Eun-Bi’s heart dropped. That’s how unfamiliar Voltecino’s contorted face was.

“Take out your weapon.”

But in the end, the young wolf, who had just become an adult, didn’t have the skills or the patience of an old wolf. Ko Eun-Bi challenged an opponent she couldn’t win again.

“Let’s put our Companions to the side and fight.”

The young dragon didn’t turn down the young wolf’s challenge.

“Darun, did you say something like that?”

“That Seon-Hyeok grew up comfortably thanks to his wife?”

Darun had already been watching Ko Eun-Bi bringing up Kim Seon-Hyeok’s wife with a sullen face. Now, he waved his hand as if to wave away his clansmen’s misunderstanding.

“No way!”

He had only wanted them to have a small quarrel, before having a duel, and for her to learn that the world was vast. He never wanted her to dig her own grave.

“Let’s move.”

“No, there’s no need.”

No. She wasn’t just digging her own grave. From what Darun could see, the war chief wasn’t simply digging her own grave, she was laying herself down and covering herself with the dirt.

“Why? You afraid that you’ll be exposed/”

The war chief was far more bad-tempered than Darun had thought.

“You, you!”

Even in the midst of his anger, Kim Seon-Hyeok offered to fight farther away, considering her face even as he planned on teaching her a real lesson(?). But when she refused, Darun’s hands and feet trembled.

If he could, he wanted to run out right now and block the war chief’s mouth.

“Hey! Get the kids out!”

In the end, Darun could only order his clansmen.

“Ugh, why?! We just finished setting up camp, where on earth do you want us to go in the middle of the night? What about the kids and the women?”

“You thoughtless bastards! At the very least, we have to prevent the war chief from losing in front of everyone!”

Darun pounded his chest as he watched the men continuing to talk without understanding the situation.

“If I tell you to take them away, just take them away!”

“There’s nothing special about losing a duel once. Not to mention, her opponent is Seon-Hyeok.”

Winning or losing didn’t matter. The problem was that she would lose miserably.

“You dumb bastards! Haven’t you seen how Seon-Hyeok treated the Warrior?!”

The men made a ruckus as they finally began preparing to move as his shout

Both Kim Seon-Hyeok and Ko Eun-Bi had such a keen hearing that it could be compared to criminals, and they heard Darun making such a fuss as he shouted at his clansmen.

“That fu….”

Grinding her teeth, Ko Eun-Bi turned to look at Darun momentarily. No matter the outcome of the fight, Darun would be inevitably hated by the war chief.

***

“The nomads have suddenly started migrating, sir!”

“What?! They just finished setting up camp! Why?!”

The army of the Grand Duchy was stunned.

“Could this have been a trick?!”

The baron’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper.

If the nomads really broke their promise, then there was no way he would be able to stop them with the forces here. The ferocious cavalry of the North were terrifying beings who were more than capable of annihilating them in a short period of time.

“The Grand Duke! What is the Indomitable Grand Duke doing?”

The only thing they could put their trust in was the legendary knight sent as support from the mainland.

“It’s said the Indomitable Grand Duke is still there, sir!”

“What? Why?”

He couldn’t understand why the Indomitable Grand Duke, who was supposed to be surveilling the nomads, was still maintaining his position despite the sudden movement of the nomads.

“Are you certain that the Indomitable Grand Duke hasn’t moved?!”

“Yes, sir! I’m certain, sir!”

His subordinate’s words were full of certainty. There was no way the keen-sighted subordinate would have confused the location of the platinum dragon when it shone so brilliantly in the dark.

“We must prepare for the worst possible scenario, so contact the mainland and our Grand Duke.”

The baron decided that as long as the Indomitable Grand Duke was there, it wouldn’t be quite as dangerous and finally regained his composure.

“Just what on earth is going on…”

With eyes full of question, he stared out into the plain in the distance where the nomads had settled.

“Huh?”

Before his eyes could be accustomed to the darkness, he saw a golden light rising high into the sky.

“That’s!”

The soldiers on the battlefield called it the Dragon’s protection. It was the unique energy of the Indomitable Grand Duke.”

Aooooooooooh.

Just then, all the hair on his body rose as he heard the howl of the wolf.

“Did a fight break out?”

The baron was at a loss as he wondered if he should assemble an army and support the Indomitable Grand Duke. But he became bewildered when he couldn’t see any more signs of a fight after waiting for a long time.

“What on earth?”

The golden flash that dazzled the distant northern sky was clearly the Dragon’s blessing and the wolf’s howl must have been that of the wolf that the nomads worshiped like a Divine being.

“Just in case, send some fleet-footed cavalrymen to check the situation!”

At the baron’s words, three brave cavalrymen rushed towards the North. They returned not long after.

“There are signs of battle, but nothing to see, sir! We couldn’t get any closer.”

“There are traces but nothing to see?”

While the baron was deep in thought, one of the cavalrymen who had finished reporting seemed unwilling to leave.

“What is it? Do you have anything else to report?”

“I don’t know if I heard it wrong, but I heard a strange noise from afar, sir.”

“A strange noise?”

When the baron questioned the statement that made no sense, the cavalryman hesitated before answering.

“The whining sounded like a dog was being caught…”

The baron looked dumbfounded. The cavalryman quickly bowed his head and apologized, saying that he must have heard it wrong.

But the cavalryman hadn’t heard it wrong.

Far away, there were faint sounds of a dog whining as if it was caught. Of course, the owner of those sounds was Ko Eun-Bi.

1. Meaning that there is someone better than her