Side Story: the Huntress from Marina

Returning to the time when the land of Blackwinter was still a battlefield.

On the morning of the promised day, the day that marked the end of the war.

In the military barracks located behind the southern gates of the city, a white-haired woman thrust her rapier into the forehead of an old man.

The old man was impaled without resistance in his chair as the door to his room suddenly swung open. Before his consciousness faded away, he could see a white-haired woman looking at him with disgust.

The woman withdrew her rapier upon realizing that there was no life left in her victim's eyes.

The man she had killed was the leader of the barracks and the defense of the southern gates of Blackwinter.

The act of killing the man did not evoke any sympathy from the woman.

Why?

Because when she neutralized the guards atop the city walls, she saw numerous ropes tied to different parts of the wall, their other ends dangling downwards.

Curiosity led the woman to investigate what lay at the other end of those ropes. There, she discovered hanging corpses.

Not just one, but from all the ropes she saw on that wall, the woman knew their numbers exceeded hundreds.

The decaying bodies of Blackwinter's residents have served as decorations on the city walls.

Seeing that, the emerald eyes of the woman, which always appeared cold, grew even colder and darker.

An intent to kill seemed to envelop the woman, who without hesitation immediately killed the guards she had just rendered unconscious.

The woman's friend who witnessed this was shocked.

"Commander?!"

"It's alright, Gina. They are no longer human. They are nothing but mindless beasts."

That's why killing the leader of the Southern Gate guards, for the white-haired woman—Commander Kirana Kataleya, was considered her duty as a human.

After killing the leader, Kirana swung her rapier forcefully, removing the traces of blood from her sword. She then took a handkerchief and wiped it clean, restoring her weapon to its gleaming state.

Her subordinate, Gina, soon arrived in the room where Kirana was.

"Everything has been taken care of, Commander."

"Is there anyone left?"

Gina shook her head. "No one. Except for the citizens being held in the underground prison."

"Their condition?"

"They're malnourished, and... I think they have mental disturbances. Like some kind of trauma. When I asked, no one answered. Everyone's gaze was unfocused. And... they were muttering something unclear with repeated apologies."

Kirana gazed at her pale-faced subordinate. Gina's eyes seemed to question her—can we help them?

Kirana knew how Gina felt. She herself was somewhat frustrated after learning about the situation at the gate. But for now, they couldn't determine the fate of those people.

Even if they were set free, what could they do? Nothing. Kirana couldn't allow them to wander around in enemy-controlled territory.

The prison was currently the safest place. The top priority now was to go to the battlefield at the northern gate.

They needed to help the Huntara forces win the war and make them aware of the conditions experienced by the Blackwinter residents.

"Send a signal to Green. Tell them to gather in front of the gate."

"Commander..."

"If you want to help them, we have to win this war. Time is ticking, if we're late, the Huntara forces will be wiped out."

Gina could only obey the orders from her superior and run out to call their other comrades.

Kirana, who was still standing in the room, sheathed her rapier. Then she walked over to the desk of the man she had just killed.

She briefly scanned through each document on the table, searching for other important documents to gather information.

There were many unclear things to Kirana about Abyss's current actions. The most important thing was their purpose in attacking Huntara.

For what? Continuously isolating and overthrowing, and then what?

Kirana, like her father, was familiar with some demon kind. So, she felt that these Abyss demons were different from the ones she knew.

Moreover, to her, the goal of the Abyss demons seemed too vague. Overthrowing the kingdom and seizing Kastia? No. She felt that wasn't their aim.

As stupid as the demons are, they must realize that dominating through constant warfare would only make them king of the corpse. If that happened, their empire would not last long.

A country without life is as good as dead.

As the sun began to rise, Kirana, who was still gathering information, was approached by Gina, who informed her that their comrades had arrived.

Kirana set down the documents in her hands and hurriedly left.

Quickly, Kirana explained the plan once again. They would head to the northern gate, take control of it as fast as they could, and then assist the Huntara forces by destroying the enemy's rear lines.

"Oh, and don't forget. This time we're going as adventurers from Marina, not soldiers from Westya. So don't call me Commander. Call me Huntress."

Said Kirana, because she doesn't want to make a diplomatic problem if she came as a soldier from a different kingdom.

With that, they hurriedly made their way to the northern gate. Fearing enemy detection, they all went through the dark alleys of the city, which took longer to reach their destination as they had to navigate around the city.

But this was better than being discovered before the operation at the northern gate began and wasting time fighting enemies in the middle of the city.

However, something unexpected happened.

During the journey, Kirana's team was greeted by various sorrowful scenes. Scattered body parts. The moans of humans and animals. The cries of unknown children.

The climax was a mountain of corpses in the city's central park.

Kirana and the others felt as if they were no longer traversing a city, but a hellish nightmare.

'This must end.'

Kirana's thought, she quickened her pace. Her cold eyes were filled with darkness once again, this time with a new target—the guards at the northern gate.

Kirana didn't know exactly what was going through the minds of the people following her, but she was certain that it seemed like everyone had discarded their humanity.

From Gina to Reiss, their eyes mirrored hers. All they desired was to take lives—the lives of those who had turned Blackwinter into a gathering place of corpses.

Kill! Kill! Kill!

As the group reached the courtyard behind the northern gate, they instinctively separated without Kirana needing to give any orders.

Kirana could hear the cries and groans of the guards as they fell one by one in various corners of the gate.

Some of her comrades also immediately climbed onto the top of the wall. Finished off those who were there.

The number of guards at the northern gate was far greater than those at the southern gate. But to them, it didn't matter. Their hands would not stop until every life had been snuffed out.

Kirana herself walked calmly toward the military headquarters of the northern gate. Hundreds of Blackwinter soldiers and dozens of demons stood ready to welcome her.

One demon shouted, ordering Kirana to introduce herself and reveal where she came from.

Kirana simply looked at the demon, then briefly scanned everyone and the demons surrounding her.

There were no human or demonic faces left from the perspective of the Commander. In her eyes, everything was just black shadows that smiled and laughed at her.

The shadows had distorted forms for their heads. Some were animals, some were flowers, some were bones, and so on.

Kirana Kataleya no longer regarded them as living creatures.

"Oh, Ice Queen, witness the suffering and blood staining the whiteness of snow. Those who destroy, laugh and mock. Grant me the blessing to purify their dark colors. The power to judge the sinful dark side! Black turns to white. Air turns to water. Water turns to ice... [Frozen Hell]!"

Instantly, a large white magic circle appeared on the ground where Kirana stood.

The Blackwinter soldiers and demons knew that Kirana had just recited a spell. They even tried to interrupt the spell by attacking Kirana simultaneously.

But they did not expect that the woman could recite while swinging her sword, parrying and slashing all the enemies that approached.

Until finally, the woman successfully unleashed her magic.

Rank 7 Ice Magic, [Frozen Hell].

As soon as the white magic circle appeared and lit up, the surrounding ground within about seventy meters of Kirana instantly froze.

The ice spread rapidly from the ground to the feet of the ones standing on it.

Whether they were humans or demons, they all began to freeze quickly, except for Kirana, whose gaze was focused only onto the headquarters.

The headquarters also started to freeze little by little. Several minutes later, the headquarters, along with all the life inside it, had frozen into ice statues.

Kirana kicks onto the earth, shattering the ice beneath her.

The cracks grew larger with time, spreading across all the ice sculptures present. Moments later, all the sculptures shattered.

Human and demon bodies scattered everywhere.

Those lucky enough to be outside the range of Kirana's attack watched the scene in horror. Their bodies trembled as they saw the calamitous woman turn her gaze toward them.

Reflexively, their bodies knelt down, begging for forgiveness. But would Kirana forgive them?

No. As mentioned before, Kirana and the others had temporarily abandoned their humanity.

Moreover, in her current view, it wasn't humans who were kneeling and begging for forgiveness. It was merely shadows, weeping and laughing simultaneously.

With a cold heart, Kirana walked forward, swinging her sword. Each swing would erase one shadow after another, making her feel disgusted.

After successfully taking over the northern gate, Kirana and five others, including Reiss, infiltrated the enemy's rear lines, where they were engaged in a fierce battle.

The remaining members stayed at the northern gate, disguising themselves and deceiving the unaware Blackwinter soldiers who were still inside the city.

When the battle reached its peak under the scorching sun, Kirana felt that it was time for Reiss to act.

The [Tongue of Fire] from the Fire Glove successfully bombarded the enemy's rear lines.

Amidst the chaos and panic of the enemy, Kirana and her companions started eliminating the remaining foes. They attacked, disrupting the enemy's formation while slowly approaching the front lines.

Victory within Reach. But at that moment, a terrifying figure fell from the sky.

"HAHAHA! Pathetic humans! Your efforts end here. Do you think that by annihilating half of our forces, you will win? Hahaha, foolish! In my hands, it's time for you to experience suffering!"

The demon named A'wan appeared and started wreaking havoc in the midst of the battle. His power was truly extraordinary, sending shivers down Kirana's spine just by looking at him.

A'wan killed effortlessly. He was ruthless, showing no mercy whether it was an enemy or an ally. No one could stop him.

Huntara began to falter. Kirana grew furious. With limited options, she advanced towards the demon, despite knowing the vast difference in their powers.

Clang!

Rapier and mace clashed against each other. A'wan was taken aback, but then became delighted to see a human who could withstand his mace.

"Who are you?"

"I am Huntress, an adventurer from Marina!"

And that is how the name of the Huntress was praised throughout the land of Huntara.