The words of the shining bard of Solis spread around the entire Fort Storst like wildfire, and people came out of their homes to get the blessing in light and food. No one complained or tried to fight.

To them, Solis was already a god, just not as important. On top of that, seeing Sylvester shining like the sun itself was highly captivating. Some people who came to take the food from him didn’t even leave afterwards as his light was warm, and his singing voice was soothing.

The entire night, Sylvester didn’t stop either. It was as if he had conveyed a religious gathering, and people had come to listen to his words. So he utilised the opportunity to sing about Solis, the creation, time, space, world, equality, and how meaningless the differences are since all are born from the same blessing.

Eventually, Elder Chief Koruk also came to look and decided to stay. He knew what Sylvester was doing. Many others knew it too. But they had never seen such a style of preaching, and since it was so peaceful, they didn’t dare to do anything.

Eventually, the first rays of the sun fell on the large community square, and Sylvester stopped singing while looking up at the sky.

“May the holy light enlighten us!”

The people stayed silent, and only the sound of the wind passing through the many streets of the city was audible. People just watched the sunrise and felt how the cold winter night started to lose its frightening chill.

Sylvester stood up and bowed his head toward all the people. “I shall be leaving soon, but it was nice meeting you. I shall leave behind many more tonnes of grains in the care of Chief Koruk so all of you may not feel the hunger. Remember, we’re all one big family, for our supreme creator is the same.”

He started walking away, and the crowd split apart to give him the way. But as he moved, the people bowed their heads while sitting on the ground. No one shouted the name of Solis. No one chanted the greeting. But they still respected Sylvester for the amazing miracles he just showed. They knew enough that Sylvester’s feats were not ordinary. Light magic and space magic were separate magical styles anyway, and here was a man with both. If he wasn’t favoured by Solis, then who?

Soon, Sylvester met with the Chief in the fortress again, and the air was much different this time. Gone was the brute and barbarian Chief Koruk. Instead, the man reeked of doubt and a lot of confusion.

“So, what have you planned, Chief?” Sylvester inquired as he drank some warm water.

The Chief rubbed his temples and nodded his head. “I saw the smiles on their faces. I can’t see them go thin from hunger and die a slow, painful death. My faith in five mothers is unwavering, but even they won’t want their followers to suffer.

“I accept, Lord Bard. In return for helping you stop the Borzol faction, you shall help us settle down south. Furthermore, we shall take the faith of Solis once we settle down.”

Sylvester knew that the Chief would be a tough nut to crack. The man had just the right amount of brains and worship. But he was confident of luring him to the Solis’ side soon enough.

“You will not regret it, Elder Chief.”

“But!” Chief Koruk exclaimed. “I will not involve myself in getting my people to leave the religion. I can never do such a thing. It is akin to going against what I learned since young. My faith is unwavering, so if you want my people to follow the faith of Solis naturally, then you must influence them on your own… with peace!”

‘I started doing that before you even said that, my naive friend.’ Sylvester muttered to himself.

Just as they talked in the fort, a rumour spread like wildfire in the entire city. Nobody knew where they started or why, but it made much sense. The rumour said that since all the people would soon be moving to the southern lands, out of the mountains, they would have to start praying to Solis first and foremost because the Soils is the protector of the people in the south. Being so far away, their mountain goddesses won’t be of any help.

The rumours at the start were dismissed with ridicule, but they became believable with the proper nudging and spread. As it spread to every home in the city, the people started to remember Sylvester, a man blessed by Solis to such a high degree. So, there was no doubt that Solis was a powerful god, as they were yet to see something similar from the five mountain goddesses.

“Of course, I understand you, Chief. It’s best if the people naturally change to ensure long-lasting peace prevails.” He assured the former.

“Then, how shall we prepare to tackle the Borzol tribe?” The Chief asked. “You need something good to go against a platinum knight.”

Though Sylvester had his priorities set elsewhere. “I have sent the words to someone nearby. Once he arrives, we will have enough power to tackle the platinum knight. But, before we do that, I need your help to go to the north side and check the undead situation with my own eyes. You must understand that there are undead on Sol and so many that they threaten all life on the continent.

“This undead issue is a church matter, and I must send a detailed report. But I must confirm things myself first.”

Chief Koruk frowned for a few seconds but nodded in understanding. “I can understand your fears. With the speed at which their numbers are increasing, it’s a matter of time before they start appearing south of the mountains. Fine, I shall personally guide you if this is what you need. Unfortunately, we can not climb Mount Dimos, so we must walk around it, which is a week-long tiresome dangerous journey.”

‘A week? I hope Felix won’t eat all the food in one go. He has enough water and fire crystals to survive otherwise.’

“When can we leave?” Sylvester got up.

“Right now.” Chief also stood up to move.

So they started making their preparations without wasting any time. Since it was still very early in the morning, they had time to leave. But before leaving, Sylvester left a lot of grain in the city’s storage and left Sir Dolorem behind to keep preaching and using Baron Strongarm to translate.

Only Sylvester and the Chief were going, as they were strong enough for the hellish north. With their strength, they could cover more ground, and Sylvester could help cross various deep ravines with his light tiles.

In no time, they wore thick furry clothes and started their long journey. Since Sylvester had shown his miracles, he decided to utilise that and not take any heavy luggage. They couldn’t even bring any steeds since the terrain was very unfriendly.

It was peak winter season, so they had to be careful since all the previous manmade trails were now covered with snow. Only a master of the region could tell which way to move.

“Be careful. There can be a lot of snow snakes hidden in the deep snow. They are extremely venomous and hard to spot.” Chief Koruk advised him.

‘Snakes in this inhuman winter climate?’ Sylvester was amazed to learn that.

But Miraj was quick to hide in his thick coat, whispering. “I hate snakes. Those sneaky slimy worms.”

“Well, we have a bigger problem if what I think is behind the undead comes true.” Sylvester spoke in a low voice and continued to follow.

It was an extremely long and exhausting journey. Even Chief Koruk had to take some breaks, but overall they walked twenty hours a day. However, with Sylvester’s help crossing many tough spots, they reduce the travel time to just four days.

But in the end, they arrived at the field of small mountains that were higher vertically and less spread out on the base. Combined, they created a vast field of deep and narrow pathways.

“Be careful and stay close. This region is called Changing-hills. As the name suggests, these hills can change their positions. One moment you’d have an opening, and the next, there’d be nothing. If one isn’t well versed, they can be stuck here for years, that is unless they don’t die of hunger and cold first.” Chief Koruk explained to him while masterfully making turns now and then.

Sylvester noted that in his mind too. “Why not just jump to the top and move from there? The hilltops are so close that we can simply jump from one to another.”

“That’s normally how we do it, but only in the summer. In the winter, if you stand above these hills, you’d be completely open to the cold winds that can even freeze me to death. Trust me. This is the best way.”

Sylvester wasn’t too shocked as he knew there must be great dangers in the north that always made the church disinterested in the region.

“Just a little more. Once we exit the changing hills, we will get a clear view of the northern coast since it’s all downhill from there.” Chief Koruk continued to lead the way diligently. It was in his best interest that the church came to eradicate the darkness, after all.

Woosh!

The cold winter wind increased slowly as they reached the last stretch. Sylvester had not seen any map showing the northern waters, so he was clueless about what lay ahead.

“Behold!” Chief Koruk exclaimed and finally took the last turn.

Sylvester followed and came out of the dense, tall hills. It was pure wild nature everywhere, thousands of miles away from civilisation. He found himself on a snow-filled hill with a cliff at the edge. In the distance, beneath, he could see the ocean, though most of it was frozen.

“I-Is that an island?” Sylvester saw a faint figure of something tall in the great distance, although most of it was covered by fog.

“We believe so, but no one dared ever to go there. Beyond this point, no man, even I, can’t survive the winter. Nothing grows beyond this point. Even this coastal region is cold, but sadly, this was the only place with mineral-rich soil.” Chief Koruk explained and continued to move. “I shall bring you to a great viewpoint. The undead will be visible from there.”

Sylvester continued to look around. He could see Mount Dimos in the back, standing tall as an endless peak since it went way above the clouds. It was more terrifying as he realised the mountain was too steep from the north side.

“Here it is.” Chief Koruk crouched down and brought Sylvester to the cliff’s edge, beyond which was beach-like fertile land and frozen sea.

Sylvester quickly took out the monocular and looked. At first, he could not see them, but soon, he realised that what he guessed to be snow earlier was just the skulls of the undead.

“God! There are so many of them!” He exclaimed as the entire beach seemed to swarm with a sea of undead. “They seem to be doing something specific… They are pulling chunks of ice.”

Sylvester decided to take the lead, move further west on the cliff, and look.

Eventually, his gasp resounded. “Good god Solis!”

Chief Koruk took the monocular and looked at it too. “But why?”

Sylvester felt sweat form on his forehead even though they were in freezing winter. “They are making a castle of ice—I’ve learned in Holy Land that only one creature can command so many undead and likes to live in a castle.

“It’s an Emperor Lich!” .

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