A frigid wind howled, whipping up clouds of white frost. They swept across the boundless, gloomy Snowfield, creating ripples on the snow’s surface that resembled the hard, overlapping scales of a giant dragon.
"AWOO!"
A few Ice Wolves, fangs bared, sprinted nimbly across the Snowfield, hunting a lone Frost Slime. They quickly surrounded the roly-poly little creature.
But unlike the soft-bodied Slimes, the Frost Slimes living here had bodies as hard as hockey pucks. Once surrounded, it immediately buried itself deep in the soft layer of snow, leaving only half its head exposed.
The pursuing Ice Wolves could do nothing to the roly-poly little creature, whether they scratched with their sharp, icy claws or bit down with all their might. They could only leave shallow white marks on its icy shell.
Just then, dozens of dark figures, almost one with the snow, flashed past in the distance. As they passed through the Ice Wolves’ hunting ground, their speed never faltered. Only the faint whistle of daggers slicing through the air could be heard.
In the next instant, all the Ice Wolves froze stiff. Large holes simultaneously burst open in their necks or chests, and they collapsed with a crash.
"Auntie, they’re all taken care of." A few of the slower shadows caught up to the main group ahead and reported in a low voice.
The shadows faded, revealing Nili and the dozens of agile Stone Assassins behind her.
Nili casually pulled her dagger from the eye socket of the last Ice Wolf. Her gaze fell upon the Frost Slime, still trembling in its snowy pit.
"Very good," she said coolly. "When we head back, bring this little one with us. We can count it as an increase to the domain’s slime-count."
Although the Slime Kingdom was a Demon Kingdom, there were no rigid racial hierarchies within it. Even humans enjoyed the same status and rights as the Slimes.
It was this very principle that had convinced the ancient and proud Stone Clan to join the Slime Kingdom, allowing them to live in harmony with the other races.
Besides, to ordinary humans, the Stone Race were, in fact, a type of "alien" themselves.
Nili sometimes thought, ’Instead of Demon Kingdom, it would be more fitting to call it the Alien Kingdom.’
Demons, the Stone Race, vampires, the Undead, Elves... it was a veritable "hodgepodge" of complex ingredients.
That these beings of different races and faiths could coexist so peacefully, working together to build and defend a common home, was something that even she, a worldly and experienced Stone Assassin master, found somewhat incredible.
Perhaps it was because His Majesty the Slime King was so charismatic, or perhaps it was because they had all grown weary of endless war, suspicion, and hostility. Whatever the reason, this miraculous kingdom had indeed been born, and it was now expanding and flourishing at an astonishing rate.
As she mused, her gaze traveled beyond the vast Snowfield to the silhouette of a low, sturdy fortress in the distance.
This was the very transfer fortress the Goblin Army had established in the Elemental Plane. When necessary, they would pass through the rifts here to invade the Dark Land, waging war and posing a threat to the Slime Kingdom.
And her group was merely the advance scout team, sent to reconnoiter the enemy and gather intelligence for the Demon Legion that would soon arrive. Their goal was to ensure a smooth cleanup of the entrenched Demon and remaining Goblin forces.
Nili’s gaze shifted slightly upward.
Far behind the Snowfield fortress stood a magnificent, mysterious castle. From all around it, Spirit Body Chains extended, plunging deep into the surrounding Snowfield. They firmly anchored several nearby Elemental Rifts of varying sizes, preventing them from closing naturally long after the summer’s magical tide had passed.
This was the first time she had observed the mysterious castle from such a close distance. She was filled with curiosity. ’How on earth did this magnificent castle appear here? Who is its master?’ But the mission came first.
Nili quickly shifted her attention back to the approaching Snowfield fortress. She waved to the Stone Assassins behind her, signaling for them to spread out and approach the fortress from different directions.
Her own form flickered, and she entered a full stealth state, approaching the fortress without a sound.
To Nili’s confusion, however, after searching for some time, they found no trace of Goblin activity on the fortress outskirts.
The quarry, which should have been bustling and noisy, was now completely deserted. All that remained were scattered, ice-covered pickaxes, rusted shovels, and a few overturned mine carts half-buried in the drifts.
The crude slave tents nearby were also empty, their tattered canvas flapping in the frigid wind. The embers of the central campfire were long cold, and beside them lay several loaves of black bread, frozen solid.
All signs indicated that the Goblins had left in a hurry—in a panic, even—without time to pack up their daily tools and food.
’Strange...’
As if realizing something, Nili executed a few light leaps and landed gracefully atop the fortress’s low wall.
Peering down, she saw that the fortress interior was just as deathly still. As far as her eyes could see, there was nothing but low stone houses, warehouses, and the dark maws of several cave entrances—all mostly buried in thick snow. There was no sign of a single Goblin, not a single sound to be heard.
’Could it be... they ran off ahead of time?’
...
「South, within a deep cave tunnel in a mountain valley.」
Goblins clad in thick beast-hide coats and battered iron helmets held flickering torches aloft. They formed a long, crooked line, shuffling toward the faint light at the mouth of the cave.