The Demon King's First General
Chapter 114: Nyx Triangle

Chapter 114: Nyx Triangle

A day and a half had passed since Zeno went to participate in the expedition, leaving Kizeler with a task on hand. He asked the Kingsword’s patriarch to travel first into the capital of the Frostbloom Kingdom and observe the happenings inside the place.

With that objective in mind, since the time Kizeler arrived at Winterbell City, the capital of the Kingdom of Frost, he spent most of his time in a tavern near the castle grounds, gathering data from the mouths of the drunkards and eavesdropping from the passerbys that were having discussions about the real status of the Frostbloom Family inside the castle.

He learned the real reason for the scarcity of knights in the place—the intruders who made everyone inside turn into dolls—and the origin of the king’s task with the extravagant reward. These grounds were the main reason why lots of merchants started leaving the kingdom with fear that it would soon collapse and an incident like the one from Shieldscape City would take place in this capital as well.

Kizeler even tried sneaking inside the palace, but despite their lack of manpower, the security was so tight that he abandoned the idea after attempting it once.

"I wonder if they are already done with the expedition," Kizeler uttered before drinking the mug of ale in one fell swoop.

It was the peak of the day, but the people inside the tavern could be counted in one hand. Kizeler glanced at the surroundings.

’It’s not like this when I arrived here,’ he thought, remembering the events that happened yesterday.

. . . . .

A blizzard was hitting hard when Kizeler set his journey towards the Frostbloom Kingdom’s capital, but despite this fact, he still managed to arrive at his destination after just a few hours of traveling by foot.

Compared to Shieldscape City, which had towering and impregnable walls, Winterbell City was enclosed by a barricade of ice with snowstorms hurling above them.

The already freezing atmosphere was multiplied several times in this place. People had extremely thick clothing to protect themselves from turning into ice sculptures, but there were those who showed no concern for the chilling temperature at all.

They were those who were blessed with the affinity of ice. Most of them were knights and could withstand the coldness of the place to a certain degree.

Kizeler gulped as he examined the beauty of the capital. The houses and establishments were painted white, and snow piled up on their roofs as well as the alleyways, but the main streets only had a few ounces of it.

There was even a long, narrow passage of water that separated the entrance and exit of the city, and a bridge with icicles beneath served as the way to move on the other side.

’Weird, it’s not getting frozen,’ Kizeler thought as he stared at the flowing water with droplets of snowflakes drifting into it.

Even though he wanted to explore more and feast his eyes on this magical scenery, he chose to set it aside for now. He headed straight where the castle stood tall. During this time, he noticed that a lot of people were leaving the capital while there were just a few who entered, including him, though he thought that it was just a normal occurrence until he arrived at the tavern and overheard the knights’ conversation.

"This place will fall sooner than we expected," one of the knights said before drinking his beer.

’What?’ Kizeler thought in surprise.

"I don’t want to turn into a doll and die," the other knight replied to his companion.

Gloominess was present both on their faces and in their voices.

"I hope that the prince succeeded in asking for help," the knight added and sighed.

"I’m praying for that, but the king and the emperor are like their respective elements, always aiming for one’s throats," the other one stated, then chugged his beer.

"Really! Where did those people come from? They just stormed at the castle and asked for a key that nobody knows," he said after slamming the empty mug on the table.

Then he looked out the window and spoke once more.

"Should we also escape like the others?" He asked as he glanced at his companion, who was staring at his drink.

"I-I don’t know; even though the king and queen have a rough personality and are strict with us, knights, they truly care for the people, and as I grew up living here, I don’t think I can survive somewhere else," the man answered, shaking his head while letting out a painful smile.

Kizeler was still clueless about their conversation, but after spending a few more hours listening to the others, he finally grasped the dire state that the Frostbloom Kingdom was facing at the moment.

Afterward, someone pushed open the tavern and yelled.

"A big news! Three Diamond-classes arrived and went directly inside the castle," yelled a man, which captured the attention of the crowd.

"Are they Duke Glacksberg’s party?" One of the people shouted, asking.

"Fool! The duke is currently on an expedition," another man snorted, and laughter came afterwards.

"Then it is the other group, the only mercenary party that has been allowed to operate with just three people since the start, the king’s personal students," a woman said.

"Nyx Triangle, they have returned," a mercenary blurted out, and silence crept inside the tavern. Most of them were silently hoping that the Diamond-class mercenaries could solve the kingdom’s problem at this very moment.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, at the castle where the three individuals headed, the king was sitting on his throne while tapping his right fingers on the chair’s arm. His other hand was clenched into a fist that supported his chin. His eyes were staring at the huge doors in front, as if waiting for someone to enter.

Then, after a few minutes of silence, the doors began to move. Two knights were pushing both of them while a man and two women walked on the blue carpet.

Upon seeing the eyes of the man sitting on the throne glaring at them, they all smiled, and after reaching a certain distance, they kneeled on one knee and placed their right fist on the floor.

"We greet the King of Frost," they said in unison.

"Enough with the formality; what’s the status of your mission?" The king asked.

"It’s like what you think it is; different races from the Mountain Range of Phantasms are invading the Forest of Nightmares; the remaining demons are doing everything for them to survive in the territorial war; they have the strength but not the numbers to fend off the invaders; and like what the empire claimed, the Undead Summoner was indeed dead," the man answered while keeping his eyes on the floor.

Satisfied with the report he heard, the king nodded. He was about to ask another question when the man spoke again.

"My King, aside from this, we witnessed a very terrifying scene," he said.

His words captured the king’s attention as he straightened his seat and gave permission for the man to proceed.

"We were hiding behind the bushes, doing our best not to attract any attention when blue flames..." He paused for a moment and lifted his head to see the king’s expression before continuing.

"Blue flames hovered up in the air on that night," he said.

"Are you implying that Cinhard Beelze is alive?" The king asked, his brows knitted due to shock.

"No, My King, the owner of it is a woman with the same white hair and blue eyes as the Demon King. My King, the Conjurer of Blue Flames, has a descendant," the man stated his conclusion.

The man on the throne tried to digest the information the three individuals brought him. He was contemplating whether he should publicize this knowledge and report it to the empire or keep it a secret for himself. However, he knew that there was no point in hiding knowledge that would soon endanger humanity’s existence.

After an overwhelming silence that lasted for a few minutes, the man spoke again.

"My King, your orders," he said.

However, contrary to his expectations that the king would ask them to return to the Forest of Nightmares, he wanted them to settle in the capital in the meantime.

He was somewhat disappointed with the king’s decision, but after hearing the reason behind it, he clenched his fist and stood up.

"So this was the reason why I kept on hearing murmurs from the crowd since we arrived. Even the decrease in the number of people makes sense now," he said, then he placed his fist on the chest.

"My King, let us, Nyx Triangle, handle this problem," he added.

But the king stood up and walked down the carpet, and the moment he reached them, he placed his hand on the man’s shoulder while looking straight into his eyes.

"No, I have other tasks with you regarding this matter," the king said.

. . . . .

A few hours later, on that same day, the king released an ordinance stating that any entry into the capital at the moment would be forbidden. Anyone was free to leave, but no one could enter until the ban was lifted, and it even stated that people should evacuate as early as possible.

According to the order, there would be an invasion that would take place inside the city a day or two from now.

The kingdom even released a statement addressing the other kingdoms to let the Frostbloom Kingdom’s refugees seek shelter in their territories for the time being.

Aside from a few civilians and knights that chose to stay, this urgent notice turned the whole city into a place void of people in just a single night that passed.

. . . . .