Return of the Frozen Player

On the tenth day of the confrontation between the Western and the Southern Army, Malcolm and Duvue—the commanders of the Western Army—finally realized what was something amiss.

“I haven’t seen Fricks for the past few days.”

It had been more than a week since Fricks appeared on the battlefield, but that was not the only suspicious part.

“Those bastards also looked a bit down these past few days. Don’t you think so?”

“Certainly. They were dying to eat us alive until just last week.”

The Southern Army was so passive and calm that the commanders wondered if the Southern Army would remain that way until the skirmish ended.

“I don’t think they’ll deliberately show to their enemies that they’ve gotten weaker. I think they’re employing a psychological tactic here.”

“I think so, too. It also bothers me that Fricks is still missing.”

The two commanders put their heads together. They were about to agree on a wait-and-see plan, but a demon interrupted them by rushing into the barracks.

“Reporting! We found this near our front line last night!”

“What is that?”

The demon brought with him a wooden box.

The box was extremely cold.

“There’s a head inside of it.”

“A head?”

Duvue opened the box and fell speechless along with Malcolm.

“...Hmm.”

“I don’t understand.”

The head of the missing Fricks was in the box.

The two commanders frowned deeply.

‘This isn’t fake. I can still feel Frick’s demonic energy from this head.’

‘This is definitely Frick’s demonic energy signature, but the problem is… why and how?’

Fricks’ inexplicable death was suspicious, as it meant that their plans would go smoother. The two commanders fell into deep contemplation as they looked at Fricks’ head.

“Oh, by the way,” said the demon who had brought the wooden box. “We found this letter next to the box.”

“What? You dumbass! Why did you not show us the letter as soon as possible?!” Duvue roared and snatched the letter while glaring fiercely at the demon.

“Duvue. Calm down. Let’s read the letter first.”

“Tsk.” Duvue clicked his tongue and opened the letter. The letter contained paragraph after paragraph of purple prose. The letter was also filled with obscure vocabulary, which made the two commanders nod at the same time.

“A noble wrote it.’

‘A noble definitely wrote it.’

There was no way an ordinary demon could compose such a letter. The vocabulary, the formality, and the structure of the sentences were so pretentious that it was only natural for the two to think that an Arch demon had written the letter.

The two commanders read the letter and exchanged looks.

“Malcolm, what do you think?”

“What do you mean? Isn’t it clear?”

The writer was apparently one of the South’s Arch demons, and the information they had given was pretty valuable.

“They cut off the supplies of the Southern Army and killed Fricks, who was heading for the capital of the South to resolve the issue. Count Gorgon’s health has apparently declined.”

“That’s exactly what we’ve been suspecting.”

Their demands were clear as well.

“Once war breaks out, he wants us to protect him and his subordinates in return for this information. He also wants us to treat him as a noble of the West. He’s apparently going to approach us by mentioning the contents of the letter.”

“It seems like this guy has no plans on going down with a doomed ship.”

“I guess he’s smart. He couldn’t have become a noble demon if we were dumb.”

The demands, information, and evidence were clear.

‘The more obvious their demands, the easier it is to read their mind.’

The two commanders were overjoyed.

Duvue smiled and said, “We should go ahead and send a report to Lord Horizon.”

“...Wait.” Malcolm stopped Duvue.

Malcolm turned to the demons standing in the barracks.

“Everyone, see yourselves out. I have something to discuss with Duvue.”

“Yes, sir!”

The demons left the barracks, and Duvue stared at Malcolm with narrowed eyes.

“What do we need to discuss when everything is so clear?”

“Is it really a great thing for us to report this to Lord Horizon?”

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“Sigh.” Malcolm sighed at his comrade’s dullness and explained, “Have you thought about what will happen if we tell Lord Horizon about this?”

“Of course, our lord is going to send reinforcements for us as soon as he sees the report.” In other words, Lord Horizon would go all-out to take advantage of Count Gorgon’s malady.

Malcolm nodded. “I think so, too. And I’m sure more Arch demons will come here.”

Duvue froze before muttering, “...Which means we’ll have to share the credit with them.”

“We might not even receive the credit we deserve to receive.”

The other Arch demons would definitely fight over them for credit.

“Don’t you think we’ll be fine? We’re the ones who are going to send the report.”

“Are you still sleeping, Duvue? We haven’t done anything.” Malcolm tapped the wooden box and the letter before continuing. “The information we have is from the Arch demon of the South. We simply received the information.”

“...”

“In other words, the Arch demon of the South will take the most credit, not us.”

‘He’s right. We’re going to do all the hard work, but we won’t receive any credit for it.’

“So what are we going to do?”

“Let’s send a report, but let’s send it as slowly as possible.”

“As slowly as possible?”

“Yes. It would be wonderful if our lord only receives the report three days later.”

“Three days… I guess we’ll have to take over the mine in the next three days.”

“That’s right.”

They couldn’t just sit back and let someone else take their credit away from them.

They had to do something to avoid lest they be branded as incompetent.

Duvue nodded and added, “Fricks is dead, and they need supplies. It should not be too hard to take over the mine.”

“Haran is Rank 15 among demons, but the two of us should be enough to handle him.”

The two commanders immediately summoned their subordinates to the barracks.

***

‘What’s going on?’

Haran’s eyes scanned the battlefield.

Battlefields had always been unchanging, but there was something strange.

‘The air they’re giving off has changed.’

As usual, the enemies were forming a front line, but the emotions in their eyes had markedly changed.

Haran bit his lips. ‘Has it been too long since Fricks’ absence?’

Haran couldn’t imagine that Fricks’ head had already landed in the hands of the enemies. Haran looked around and took in the many different pieces of information related to the battlefield.

They were at a huge disadvantage, even if Fricks were here.

‘If only we had enough food…’

The battlefield made Haran feel regretful in more ways than one. He vowed to take revenge on the nobles who made him go through such hardships.

“Spend all the leftover food and make sure that the stomach of the entire army is full.”

“Pardon me, sir? If we do that, we won’t have any food left to feed the army for supper and—”

“It doesn’t matter. The enemies have already made up their minds.”

Haran let out a light sigh as he stared at the enemies in the distance.

“I have a feeling that today’s going to be a very long day.”

The only way he could win the upcoming battle was to face Malcolm and Duvue by himself. ‘I’m stronger than them, but it’s still difficult to block two hands with only one hand.’

Haran felt a sense of foreboding. The feeling was so intense that he secretly summoned five Arch demons to his room.

“Once the battle begins, I want you all to go straight to Lord Gorgon without looking back.” Haran handed out a letter to each Arch demon and ordered with firm eyes. “You must not trust anyone. I want you to show this letter only to the lord.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Arch demons with nervous faces left without looking back even once.

Perhaps they were happy that they wouldn’t have to fight in the upcoming battle.

***

Crackle!

“Were they the last one?”

- Haran sent five Arch demons in total, so they’re the last one.

A corpse lay in the wilderness.

Seo Jun-Ho absorbed the demonic energy of the demon next to his feet and said, “I’ve made sure to prevent any delivery of information to Count Gorgon. The West is also moving exactly as I expected.”

- This is great. Everything is going according to plan, Partner.

“It wasn’t too difficult.”

Fwoosh!

The letter he was holding was reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.

“It is easy to take advantage of them using their desires,” he said.

Seo Jun-Ho had seen right through the dark desires of the nobles of the underworld. If they had truly sworn allegiance to the counts and wished for their master’s victory, Seo Jun-Ho’s operation would have failed long ago.

“But Malcolm and Duvue had chosen to monopolize the credit for taking over the mine.”

And the two still had no idea about the consequences of their actions.

- Regardless of the outcome, they’re the ones who will take responsibility.

“You’re right.”

Seo Jun-Ho checked the time on his Vita.

“They have to take responsibility for their own decision,” he said.

‘Regardless of whether they like it or not…’

***

A battle soon broke out between the two armies. The Western Army decisively went past the front lines under the orders of their two commanders.

“Keep pushing!”

“They’re weak! They’re weak, so push them even harder!”

The Southern Army was helpless against the fierce Western Army.

The huge gap in the performance between the two armies mostly stemmed from the condition of their troops. The demons of the Western Army were in their best condition, while the demons of the Southern Army were stressed and hungry.

The battle was predetermined.

“Surrender, and I will spare the lives of your remaining soldiers.”

Haran looked at Malcolm and asked, “Does that mean anything?”

“Good point. It’s a suggestion that has never worked against demons. Why is that even in the manual in the first place?”

Malcolm and Duvue shrugged.

They worked together and deftly surrounded Haran.

Haran swept his gaze across the two demons orbiting him like hungry sharks.

“I am the hero of the South, the second-in-command of the South, and I have been serving Lord Gorgon for decades.”

Haran’s demonic energy enveloped the entire mine.

“I’m ready to die here today.” Haran spread his wings and glared at Malcolm and Duvue. “So you two better get ready to die as well.”

***

Seo Jun-Ho was looking down at the battlefield from the top of the mine.

He was wearing the ring that Reiji gave him, and he even activated Night Walking. In other words, he wasn’t worried that someone would notice him.

- His name is Haran? He fights pretty well.

Seo Jun-Ho nodded at Keen Intuition’s words.

“He could easily defeat any Player out there, perhaps aside from me.”

Haran was definitely strong enough to receive such an evaluation from Seo Jun-Ho.

Haran was an Arch demon like Malcolm, Duvue, and Fricks, but he was significantly stronger than the three despite being in the same tier.

- He’s a tough guy.

“You’re right.”

It had already been about two days since the Southern Army was annihilated, but Haran was still fighting. He was standing his ground against two Arch demons and the entire Western Army.

- It seems that it’ll be over soon.

“Yes, I think so, too.”

One side was extremely exhausted, but incredibly, the two Arch demons were the ones struggling to stand their ground against Haran.

Boom!

“Duvue! You moron!”

Malcolm’s expression darkened upon seeing Duvue’s head explode like a watermelon.

Malcolm hurriedly examined Haran’s condition.

‘Great. Duvue managed to take away his left eye and arm.’

Haran’s regeneration rate had visibly and significantly slowed down.

Malcolm didn’t hesitate and immediately ordered his subordinates.

“All troops, attack! Attack him with all your might!’

The demons stirred upon Malcolm’s order, and the demonic energy they had unleashed at once struck Haran like a deluge.

Ten minutes later, Haran finally knelt with his bloodshot eyes.

The shield that he had painstakingly made by squeezing every ounce of demonic energy in his body finally shattered.

“Argh!” Haran supported himself as his blood dripped to the ground. “Huff, huff.”

Haran barely managed to raise his head. He saw Malcolm and discovered that the latter’s condition was relatively great. He then started crawling toward Malcolm.

“You filthy bug!”

Thud!

Malcolm stomped on Haran’s head, and Haran helplessly collapsed.

However, he soon looked up and stared at Malcolm with cloudy eyes.

“H-help…help me…”

“What? Hahaha!”

Malcolm boisterously laughed and squatted in front of Haran.

“Hero of the South, my ass. Where’s the loyal demon who has been serving Gorgon for the past decades? Huh?”

“Sp-spare my life.”

“That’s not how you ask someone to spare your life, you bastard. What’s the magic word?”

“...Please spare my life.”

Haran burst into tears and started banging his head on the ground.

Malcolm sighed and said, “All right. We’re all demons, after all. I just have no idea why you’ve been pretending to be so different, elegant, and loyal than the rest of us. What was all the fuss for?”

“...I’m sorry. I won’t do that ever again. Please spare my life just this once.”

Malcolm grinned. He thought it would be fun to record Haran’s pathetic look with a crystal ball and show it to the Southerners.

He reached out with his hand and shouted, “Bring me a crystal ball!”

Malcolm was planning on killing Haran after making the latter beg for his life.

‘If I spare this punk, the West will surely rise. However, he’s way too strong for me to handle. I have to kill him to secure my position.’

“Does no one have any crystal balls?!” Malcolm roared and whipped around, but the sight he saw made his pupils quiver violently. “W-w-what…? What is this?”

Malcolm could swear that he still had a few hundred soldiers, and they were definitely standing behind him not too long ago, so how did they disappear?

“Ah, you finally noticed?” A familiar-looking man appeared in front of Malcolm.

“...!”

‘I failed to notice him? Wait, why can’t I sense even a tinge of demonic energy from him?’

The man was certainly standing right in front of Malcolm, but the man’s presence was absent, making him seem as if he were a ghost.

“N-no way…! This is just a-absurd. How and why are you here?”

“...The long-standing peace is over.”

Boom!

Malcolm stomped and ran without looking back.

Thwack!

A grotesque noise echoed in his ears.

“N, no…!”

“P, please. Spare me…!”

Malcolm and Haran’s screams soon disappeared.

Step, step.

The man looked around the quiet mine.

He took out a purple demonic stone and left right away.

- Great job, partner. I actually almost fell for it.

Crack, crack!

The man’s face and physique changed and instantly returned to that of Seo Jun-Ho’s.

“Sigh. Do you think they’ll fall for it?”

- It’s hard, but there's clear evidence for now, so they have no choice but to believe it. It is a great thing for us if they misunderstand each other.

While reading Fricks’ memories, Seo Jun-Ho discovered the perfect person to end this war—it was none other than Orpheus of Vain, a demon whose demonic energy would destroy everything that it touched. He was also the Count of the North.

“I buried the crystal ball in the ground, but I made sure that it’ll look hastily buried. I think things are really going to become interesting once someone finds it.” Seo Jun-Ho smiled. He wondered what the counts would do the moment they saw the scene that the crystal ball had recorded.