The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Chapter 122

A certain snowy mountain located a little away from the Frozen Autonomous Region.

“Roooar!”

The strongest among the Frost Ogres, “Ukrak,” roared.

Ukrak was immensely powerful, the mightiest among the Frost Ogres.

“Aaargh!”

“Graaah…!”

He had defeated the Kobold King and the Frost Orc Chieftain.

Even when the leaders of various monsters attacked together, he emerged victorious.

There was only one Frost Ogre Lord in the world.

Anyway, he roared.

“Groaaar! Gro, groaaaar! (Ugh! Too strong!)”

“Kaaah, karkeeeh! (Damn it, let’s run!)”

The chieftains fled.

But Ukrak was stronger than them all.

Thud!

The heads of the Kobold King and the Frost Orc Chieftain exploded under Ukrak’s massive fist.

At his feet were already the corpses of dozens of monster chieftains.

“Ugor, ugor, ugor!”

“Ukrak! Ukrak! Ukrak!”

Numerous Frost Ogres chanted for the incredibly powerful Ogre Lord, Ukrak.

The Frost Ogres praised Ukrak’s strength, and behind them, Kobolds, Frost Orcs, Ice Goblins, and countless other monsters followed him, both fearing and revering him.

Their chieftains, like the Kobold King and the Frost Orc Chieftain, had all attacked and ended up dead, turned to pulp by Ukrak.

Ukrak shouted at the monsters.

“We, fight! Humans! Land! Conquer!”

Ukrak was intelligent among ogres; he could understand not only the words of other monsters but also a bit of human language.

Thanks to this intelligence, he had become the Ogre Lord.

“Fight! Seize! And avenge! Father, brethren!”

He was none other than the son of the sovereign-level monster defeated by the Thunder Knight Sylbeta seven years ago.

He was the son of the immensely powerful Frost Ogre Lord.

Ukrak had grown stronger to avenge his father and his kind.

Thus, Ukrak unified his kin and became the new Ogre Lord. Although not as strong as his father, his natural intelligence allowed him to unite his kin and other monster tribes.

Leaderless, they were absorbed into the legion of Frost Ogres.

In seven years, the newly reborn Ogre Lord, Ukrak, not only united his kin but also consolidated all the nearby monsters into a single army.

The number of monsters gathered amounted to a thousand.

A force strong enough to wage war against humans.

And that was what Ukrak and the monsters desired.

“We! Attack! Melted lands!”

The melted lands.

This referred to the land owned by Aden, where the Winter Queen’s castle was, the Frozen Autonomous Region.

A city was being built there by the dwarves, and people were gathering.

The Winter Queen, who had turned the north into a frozen wasteland, was gone.

However, the cold left by the Winter Queen still lingered, and except for the Frozen Territory and its vicinity, where the frost had been melted by the heat of Pyroness, the Phoenix King summoned by Aden, it was still a frozen land.

Moreover, this place was highly coveted by the monsters as well.

It wasn’t that monsters didn’t want to live in sunny and fertile lands.

It’s just that humans had already taken those places.

Even if they managed to conquer such lands by force, they would inevitably be defeated and driven out by the humans swarming in like ants.

As long as the Syres Grand Duchy, known as the Shield that Blocks the Northern Frost, stood firmly in place, the monsters heading south was nothing but a dream.

“Melted land! Fewer humans! We can take it!”

But this time, the melted land, Frozen, was different.

Humans were already settling and quickly building a city, but their numbers were still small.

Ukraak judged that it was sufficient for them to take over.

“Melted land, conquer! Our numbers, increase!”

A land without the frost-laden, icy winds of the north.

If they could occupy that place, they could devour everything, reproduce, and quickly increase their numbers.

“When we grow in number, attack! The southern humans!”

Although they were only a thousand now, they could increase their forces by dozens of times if they took over the melted land.

Once their numbers were sufficient, they would attack the fortresses of the humans occupying the south.

Seizing Frozen and using it as a stronghold to launch an attack on Syres was Ukraak’s plan.

“Ugh, perfect. My thoughts, plan.”

Ukraak praised his own genius.

If he had been a bit smarter, he might have predicted that the knights of Syres would come to expel the monsters from Frozen before they could increase their numbers. But expecting such foresight from a mere ogre was asking too much.

Ukraak shouted again.

“We fight!”

In response, fierce cries mixed with enthusiastic cheers erupted from all around.

All of them were excited at the thought of killing humans, looting, and tasting their flesh.

“Ukraak! Ukraak! Ukraak! Ukraak! Ukraak!”

They chanted Ukraak’s name repeatedly.

Listening to the chant, Ukraak was about to give the command to set off for the melted land.

“Kya-ha!”

“Ugh?”

Ukraak instinctively turned to the side at the sudden laugh from beside him.

“Wow! After wandering in the snowfield for fifteen days, I’ve finally found someone to guide me! This is truly a blessing from the deity!”

Next to him was a human female, smiling brightly, though it was unclear when she had arrived.

“Hey, Mr. Ogre! Please guide me!”

The human female, dressed in black with blonde hair fluttering, was carrying a flail the size that only her kin would use.

Surrounded by monsters on all sides and facing a fearsome Ogre Lord, she still smiled like an angel and spoke innocently.

“Before your head gets crushed as an offering to my god! Kya-ha!”

Aden mulled over the news he had heard from Niketa the previous day several times.

“Spica killed the previous Saintess and usurped the Slaughter Cult…”

If the Syres Grand Duchy was a nation of knights, where the strong thrived, the Slaughter Cult was the epitome of absolute supremacy.

While other sects selected successors who then went through certain rituals and awakened as saints upon the death of their predecessors, the Slaughter Cult was different.

In that deranged cult, the strongest one was the leader.

And killing the previous Saintess meant that one was the strongest within the cult.

“The one who commits slaughter must always be prepared to be slaughtered.”

This was part of their doctrine. Therefore, the Saintess was both the most respected figure and had to constantly fend off ambushes and sneak attacks from the lower-ranking followers.

Yet, despite this, those who ascended to the position of Saintess in the Slaughter Cult usually lived out their lives naturally.

“That’s because a priest who has awakened as a saint and received the Slaughter God’s blessing is incredibly powerful.”

The gap in power between the Saintess candidates and the Saintess was as wide as a deep chasm.

So, under normal circumstances, it was impossible for Spica to defeat the previous Saintess.

“But for Spica to kill the Blind Saintess…”

The Blind Saintess was the previous Saintess’s epithet.

She was someone who distinguished objects solely by sound and divine power because she couldn’t see.

However, she had overcome the weakness of blindness and ascended to the position of Saintess through immense effort and talent, becoming a formidable woman.

She was such a strong person that if she fought the Syres Grand Duke, who was a high-level Sword Master, it would be hard to predict who would win.

That Spica defeated the Blind Saintess, even if the Saintess was past her prime and had little time left to live, was nonsensical.

“The future has changed to an unpredictable extent.”

It was impossible to understand why Spica, who was destined to become a Saintess eventually, killed the Blind Saintess and usurped the position, or the motives and methods behind it.

“I’ll have to postpone dealing with the Iron-Blooded Saintess for now.”

With his current abilities, it was difficult for Aden to face the Syres Grand Duke.

It was even more unreasonable to fight the Iron-Blooded Saintess, who had defeated the Blind Saintess, whose abilities were similar to the Duke’s.

– “Then what do you plan to do now, Dragon Slayer King?”

“I’ll have to think about problems that can’t be solved immediately later.”

Regretting what had already passed was futile.

If he continued to build his strength and waited patiently, opportunities would come.

He had already defeated the Thunderstorm Knight in a year, so there was no need to rush.

“Aden oppa! Let’s start!”

“Aden-nim! Here we go!”

“Alright, both of you, come in.”

Aden was currently staying at a place in the center of the city being built in the Frozen Territory, which was called the Frozen Branch Temple but was actually Aden’s villa.

Due to Aden’s achievements, unnecessary people had flocked to the Syres Branch, so he came to Frozen to avoid the hassle.

Now, he was training Elise and Lowe in the training yard.

Both Elise and Lowe had strong personal desires for growth, so Aden periodically trained them.

“Both of you, hang in there. Finish up quickly and come before the food gets cold.”

– Woof!

Cassie, who was sitting on a mat, cheered them on in a languid voice, and Choco barked to encourage Elise.

On the mat were sandwiches and various other dishes prepared by the alchemist Cassie herself.

*Gulp.*

The sound of Lowe and Elise swallowing their saliva echoed, caught by Aden’s keen hearing.

Aden chuckled.

“Purely reflexive.”

Cassie, with her exceptional alchemical skills in handling and combining ingredients, also applied her talents to cooking, creating dishes so delicious that even Aden, with his picky palate due to the memories of the delinquent prince, acknowledged their excellence.

Because of this, everyone in the group couldn’t go more than three days without tasting Cassie’s cooking.

“Hiyaaaah!”

Elise let out a cute shout as she charged at Aden with her fist outstretched.

*Paaaang!*

But the power in that adorable little fist was anything but cute.

It was a golden divine power, resembling the Sacred Fire.

Her blazing, threatening fist rapidly approached Aden.

It was Elise’s unique technique, a form of holy martial arts.

Aden sidestepped her punch with a swift movement.

*Swish, swish, swish!*

However, as if anticipating this, Elise followed Aden’s footwork with quick, agile movements, resembling a small wildcat.

“Hiyaaaah!”

Aden evaded Elise’s unrelenting hand-to-hand combat moves and blocked some with a training sword, all while thinking.

“Is it because she’s young, or because she’s a saintess? She grows so fast. She’s also gotten quite tall.”

Currently, Elise’s skills had grown far beyond when she had fought the rabbit ghoul in the dungeon city.

She was only ten years old, no, now she was eleven since the year had changed.

Her body had grown at a rapid pace, almost like a fourteen-year-old.

Although the divine power helped, her steady and diligent training likely had a significant impact.

“She’s starting to control her divine power to some extent now.”

Elise had a divine power that was several times greater than that of ordinary saints and saints due to the blessing of the Lord of Sacred Fire.

And since that power had assimilated with mana, she could use divine power in her mana martial arts.

Thus, she possessed an abnormal strength, handling an excess of power compared to her skill level.

But now, the divine power around her fists was somewhat controlled, and her movements had become more natural.

“At this level, she could face a high-level aura master one-on-one without any problems.”

It was an achievement that was hard to believe for an eleven-year-old.

Elise had that much talent in martial arts.

*Snap.*

Aden grabbed Elise’s extended arm and waist, lifting and throwing her into the air.

To an ordinary person, it might seem like he was recklessly throwing a child, prompting scorn towards Aden.

*Thud!*

But despite Aden’s actions, Elise balanced herself in the air and landed lightly on the training ground like a cat.

She immediately took a stance, ready to respond at any moment.

*Whoosh!*

At that moment, Lowe’s sword, infused with aura, aimed at Aden’s blind spot.

*Clang!*

But Aden, who had anticipated this, blocked it.

*Whoosh!*

Then, as if waiting for Aden to block, Lowe’s left hand shot out like a dagger, aiming for Aden.

Aden lifted his leg, kicking Lowe’s arm to change its direction.

“He’s gotten used to handling the White Stone Transformation.”

Lowe’s unique mana control technique, which he developed himself, hardened his arms at will—White Stone Transformation.

If Aden had taken the attack directly, it would have been as if Lowe’s hand had pierced his abdomen like a sword.

Perhaps due to his experience fighting elite knights of the Thunderstorm Knight and golems in Stoneheim, Lowe had naturally integrated the White Stone Transformation with his swordsmanship in combat.

“Indeed, he’s a natural talent as a freelance knight.”

Elise and Lowe.

Both had their own unique martial arts, different from those commonly known, showcasing their remarkable talents.

“Huff, huff…”

“Aden oppa is too strong…”

But neither of them could keep up with Aden, who had reached a superhuman level and had countless battle experiences from his previous life.

Eventually, after some time passed, both of them got exhausted and admitted defeat.

Aden looked at the two, lying on the ground and panting, and chuckled.

“Alright, let’s call it a day and have some food.”

“Understood.”

“Yay! Food!”

And so, it seemed like four people and a dog were on a picnic, about to savor Cassie’s ambitious cooking.

“Lady Elise! Prince Aden!”

From a distance, a burly bald man, the highest-ranking monk, Priest Bali, appeared, exuding a formidable presence.

“Oh! Uncle Bali!”

“Priest Bali, what’s the matter?”

Priest Bali wore an unusually flustered expression.

“Well, there’s a guest at the temple looking for Prince Aden.”

“A guest?”

Aden frowned slightly and asked again.

“Kya-haha! Finally found you!”

A cheerful, resounding laugh was heard.

Thud, thud!

Then, a figure with a presence as imposing as Priest Bali’s appeared.

-Ugghh…

A massive Frost Ogre with a gloomy expression was evident at a glance.

And on the ogre’s shoulder, a girl in a black priest’s robe, carrying a chain flail on her back, was waving her hand with a bright smile.

“Hello, Aden! It’s been a really long time! Kya-haha!”

It was Priestess Lunia of the Slaughter Cult, who had helped Aden in the past to exterminate warlocks.

She appeared before Aden, riding the Ogre Lord ‘Ukulak.’