CHAPTER 123: EDGE OF WINTER [I]

He was currently being fed by Medusa as he lay on Edna’s lap.

They refused to allow him go anywhere.

Medusa’s fingers, pale and elegant, brought another strip of meat to his lips.

He chewed slowly, eyes half-closed, while Lillia slept soundly in his arms.

Edna’s thighs shifted beneath his head as she tried not to squirm, her crimson eyes narrowing on him, watchful and almost accusing.

"Eh?" He yelped as soon as he saw the content of the screen.

"Is something the matter?" both women asked at once, brows lifting as if they had rehearsed the timing.

Azel blinked at them, caught off guard.

"N-no. I just thought of something." He quickly averted his gaze.

Nevertheless, Medusa’s hand rose again, pressing another bite against his lips, refusing to let him off with excuses.

"As long as you don’t think of more reckless experiments," Medusa said flatly.

"Yes. Exactly that," Edna echoed sharply, her cheeks puffing just a little, though her voice trembled.

She leaned closer as though her words might shield him.

Medusa’s golden eyes glinted, and she continued, "Anya told me the Furious Five — including you will be going on a three-day mission. To the edge of the Winter Expanse. You said you would take us hunting together, remember?"

"Sure," Azel answered with a nod.

The answer came easily, but the thought made him pause.

Truly, it was absurd: he kept in his home a being who had once threatened an entire world itself.

A woman whose very name had been feared.

Now she fed him like an attentive maid.

It almost felt like a storybook joke, yet here she was, her expression calm, her devotion absolute.

Edna, however, was less calm.

Her cheeks puffed again in jealousy. "Mother-in-law said she would teach me more spells. She insists I master them before any hunt."

She turned her face away, trying to hide her flush.

Azel adjusted Lillia gently, brushing a strand of hair from her sleeping face.

"Don’t worry. With your talent, you’ll probably master them the day after tomorrow. And I’m glad. You should have spells to defend yourself."

Edna’s blush deepened.

The faintest smile tugged at her lips, though she bit it back quickly.

Azel, content, held Lillia closer, her tiny warmth steady against his chest.

Soon, his eyes drifted closed, sleep tugging at him while both women stared silently, both with affection.

...

The next morning, the mansion’s gates stood open.

The air was sharp, the kind of biting cold that turned breaths into mist the instant they escaped the lips.

The other members of the Furious Five leaned casually against the stone archway, their fur cloaks stark against the snow.

Azel arrived flanked by two women: Medusa on his left, serene as always, and Anya on his right, smiling in a way that was just a little too satisfied.

Everyone wore thick furs.

It made Azel wonder just how many frost wolves were skinned to get this much fur.

The sky was pale with early morning light, and the expanse of snow stretched endlessly beyond.

Veyra, already waiting with her weapon slung across her back, stepped forward first.

She wasted no time, her hand closing around Azel’s before he could react.

Her grip was warm even through the fur gloves, and she tugged him toward her without hesitation.

"So where are we going?" Azel asked at last.

His eyes slid toward Veyra, who seemed entirely too confident.

She smirked, tugging him closer. "I’m sure you’ve been told — we’ve conquered five zones inside the hunting grounds. Out of many. Our job is to hunt at the line, where the edge of those conquered places meets the unknown."

Her voice dropped a little lower, serious now.

"Monsters slip through from those places we haven’t yet conquered. When they cross into our side, they threaten everything. That’s where we hold the line. That’s what makes us the Furious Five."

Azel’s brows furrowed. "And if someone accidentally falls into one of those zones?"

Her hand squeezed his lightly. "Then they vanish. No rescue, not until the day that zone is conquered. Sometimes it takes years. Sometimes never."

She said it casually, but the meaning of it was deeper.

[Hmph. When did the Winter grow so weak?]

The voice rang in his head, sharp and fill with dissatisfaction.

’Finally decided to answer me, hm?’ Azel thought back calmly. ’Though good job. You dealt with him nicely.’

Silence followed.

Not truly silence, but the kind that hinted at flustered hesitation.

She hadn’t expected him to know yet.

"I see," Azel said aloud, his tone neutral.

They had arrived at the gates of the hunting ground itself, two towering slabs of frost-rimed iron, guarded by armored sentinels who nodded at the sight of the Furious Five.

It was too early for the other hunters to arrive so it was only them.

"How do we get there?" Azel asked finally.

Veyra laughed, the sound sharp and proud.

She clapped him on the back. "Did you think the name Furious Five is just for show?"

Before he could respond, the ground beneath them rippled.

The snow and ice cracked apart as though a great maw opened, and in the blink of an eye the earth unraveled.

They fell into the void below, swallowed whole by darkness.

The drop lasted no more than a heartbeat.

The darkness gave way suddenly, violently, to a rush of white light.

Azel landed on solid ground, boots crunching into frost-hard soil.

He glanced around.

The air here was heavier, laden with an unnatural chill that bit deeper than mere winter.

Above, jagged peaks stretched endlessly, their tips shrouded in a pale mist that gleamed like glass.

The hunting ground had changed.

No longer the simple snowfields with monsters — it looked like a different world entirely.

The others landed around him.

Drew, the swordsman, swung his great blade over his shoulder and grinned, his golden eyes gleaming. "Ho! Still standing, eh, boy?"

Beside him, the spearman chuckled, the sound booming like rolling thunder. "A true recruit to the Five. Good footing."

Veyra didn’t let go of his hand.

She glanced at him, smirking, her voice low so only he could hear. "Stay close. The edge is treacherous."

Anya slid beside him too, her grin sharp, she was just happy to be her prince.

Medusa on the other hand took a step back.

’I want to be next to Master,’ She thought.