The Broken Deal

It was gradually getting late. The sky over Freljord was always overcast and rarely saw sunlight. Even though it wasn't that late yet, it was already almost dark.

Only a few campfires were lit in the tribe. The warriors on night watch gathered around the campfires, while the others huddled in their tents.

The nights are cold, and warmth is precious. Without a feast, Winter's Claw is always rather deserted at night.

Harren, wielding the power of entropy, naturally attracted a lot of attention. Following Lucas and the others' words, many people came to know Harren and that he was also a powerful warrior. Some even suspected that Harren would become Sejuani's first blood ally.

But most people weren't interested in talking to her. After all, no matter how noble Sejuani was, she was just the Warmother's unloved daughter, and in the tribe, the Warmother was the only one who mattered.

Herren's destination was the War Mother's camp.

He could clearly sense that Sejuani was acting strangely, and he could guess that this matter was most likely related to him... so he decided to ask her himself.

Of course, he didn't like fighting... Before approaching the War Mother's tent, Heron carried the Entropy Power on his back instead of holding it in his hands, so that he would appear less threatening.

However, just as he could see the War Mother's tent in the distance, he discovered that the tent had been opened and that Kuojiya had come out carrying a long sword.

Without greeting anyone or observing her surroundings, she hurried off in a certain direction.

She moved quickly, and in the blink of an eye, only a sliver of her back could be seen, as if she would completely disappear into the snowy night at any moment.

Heron quickened his pace, trying to catch up, and along the way he saw Ercas, who was staying up all night sharpening his sword.

"Hey! Herren, what are you doing so late at night?"

"And you?"

"Me? Isn't it obvious? I'm sharpening my sword."

"Why not let the furnace operators do it?"

"Um, this..."

Upon hearing this, Ercas scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"Because this is something I'm going to give as a gift... It's more heartfelt if I polish it myself."

The person he was referring to as a gift was naturally Sejuani... and the fact that Sejuani had said his sword was useless was something he still vividly remembered.

"Alright... Do you know where War Mother is going? I saw her go out."

"Oh? This... I guess it's going to the back mountain to have a meeting with those people in black cloaks."

"Frost Priestess?"

"Um."

Urcas nodded and said.

"If you need to see Zhan Mu, come back tomorrow morning. She will be back."

"Well……"

Herren nodded and pondered for a moment.

"Alright, thank you. I'll be going now, Urkas... If you need to sharpen a sword to be good enough, a whetstone alone won't suffice."

"Hey, what matters is my feelings... Herren, I'm not a furnace dweller."

"uh-huh."

After saying goodbye to Erkas, Helen did not listen to his advice to come back the next day. Instead, he continued to chase after the direction where Kojiya had disappeared. He had light boots that could ignore the muddy snow, and before long, he saw Kojiya's blurry figure in the snowstorm again.

……

……

Drakrond, leading a group of Frost Priests, had been waiting for some time halfway up the mountain.

He wore a calm smile, as if everything was under his control.

He knew that Kujiya would come, and now, the strong woman wearing a horned helmet and holding a long knife had arrived as promised, stepping through the snow.

Delacron smiled slightly, took the bone scythe, and stepped forward to meet him.

"You're here quite early, Kojiya... which is just like my impression of you. You've always been decisive and efficient."

"snort……"

Kujiya snorted coldly and stood in front of Draklon.

She was very robust, a full head taller than Delacroix, yet she inexplicably felt inferior to others.

"Alright, I've made my decision... I'll hand over the man from the Hearth Village to you, but I can't grant you your wish regarding the woman from Avarosa... because she's already been banished to the Ice Sea by my daughter."

"Oh dear, it's her again... Sejuani, always causing us trouble, isn't she, Gorgia?"

Hearing that Draklon seemed determined to keep targeting Sejuani, Gorgia frowned slightly and changed the subject.

"By the way, why do you value that furnace maker? Is it just because of his skills?"

"This is none of your business, Kojiya. Don't try to trick me... With your intelligence, can't you see that he's no ordinary person?"

However, Drakon wasn't having any of it and steered the conversation back to Sejuani.

"First you let that Avarosa man go, then you plundered the allied tribes... Your good daughter, Gorgia."

Kuojiya remained silent for a long time, but finally spoke coldly.

"It's fortunate that you still know this is my daughter... I will discipline her; I don't need your guidance, priest."

"Really? From when she was a little girl, to when she could hunt alone, and now she keeps causing us trouble... You keep saying you'll teach her a lesson, but all I see is that she's getting more and more into trouble."

Delacron sneered, then raised his head.

"Alright then, Kojiya, besides that Avarosa person, there's also that Hearthman... You wouldn't mind dealing with another unstable element, would you?"

Kujiya's pupils contracted sharply as he stared intently at Delacron, who seemed oblivious to the piercing gaze and continued to smile.

"What? Don't you also dislike your daughter?"

"..."

Kuojiya tightened her grip on the long sword, almost to the point of trembling, but after a long silence, she slowly loosened her grip.

Then, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Of course, I agree with you, Priest..."

"That's good."

Delacron nodded in satisfaction, then turned around.

"If you can't bring yourself to do it, you can send her over, and we'll do it for you, that way..."

Just as Draklon turned his back to Gogia, he suddenly heard a sharp gust of wind behind him, as if a blade were slicing through the air.

Draklon turned his head and saw Kojiya leap high into the air, wielding a bone knife, and bringing it down heavily on his head, clearly intending to kill him with a single blow.

However, Draklon showed no surprise whatsoever. Instead, he smiled mockingly, and a beam of black light suddenly burst forth from his palm. A chilling aura followed, and several ice blades gleaming with dark light stabbed fiercely towards Kojiya.

Sharp black ice pierced through Kuojiya's breastplate and into her body. An even more cunning ice blade shot straight for her forehead. Kuojiya turned her head with difficulty and barely dodged it, but a horn on her ram's horn helmet was cut off.

Kuojiya's body flew backward, tumbling several times before he managed to brace himself with his long sword.

The icy black ice corroded her body, so cold that she couldn't straighten her back... She wasn't unfamiliar with the Frost Priest's black ice magic, but this was her first time experiencing it firsthand.

"My dearest Kujia... have you forgotten that the Frost Priest can see through lies?"

Delacron withdrew his hand and sneered.

Kuojiya forced himself to stand up straight, his jaw trembling, and said with great effort.

"Ha... stay away from my daughter, priest... she's my bloodline!"

"Ah... I should have known."

"I can't help it," Delacroix said helplessly.

He then raised one hand, and a new surge of magical energy gathered in his palm once more, clearly indicating that he didn't want to waste any more words with Kojiya.

"You are no longer fit to lead the Winter's Claw. Rest assured, I will choose a suitable War Mother for your tribe, but... it won't be someone of your bloodline..."

Delacroix wore a cruel smile, but the next second, his smile froze, his expression changed, and he rolled backward without regard for his image.

Immediately afterwards, a huge ice-splitting warhammer slammed heavily onto the spot where he had just stood, sweeping away the snow and even cracking the deep ice buried beneath it.

Even though Draklon dodged in time, he was still stung by the flying ice shards, leaving bloody marks on his face.