The morning arrived sooner than Agnar expected. A moment, he was asleep, and in the next, he had to wake up, walk out of the warm hide, and head outside to chop wood and make this shelter a bit bigger.

Waking up usually isn’t a problem for him, but today was a bit special. The sheer cold outside made the warm hide bed feel so comfortable and cozy that he didn’t want to leave it at all. It didn’t matter that it was hard, made his back hurt a bit, or smelled like fur.

With a grunt, he forced himself to move, extending his legs out of the warm hide. He shivered, and then stood to put on some extra layers of clothes.

As he put on several layers of clothes and was about to leave, Yuwaku stretched in the hide behind, having just left his back. Unlike him, she was unbothered by the cold, and it’ll take much more than this to harm her.

She wasn’t special, as most powerful monsters get resistance to no magical effects. This cold might be harsh, but it’s natural and not magical, making it unable to pierce the dense layers of mana hiding beneath Yuwaku’s skin like woven fabric.

Even little Ignis, who was a wyrmling, could endure the cold well thanks to her flames. Agnar could also remember Arad telling a story of how he had to swim through a sea of lava in the Volcanic Titans kingdom.

He looked back at Yuwaku and smiled. She noticed his gaze and giggled. "What? What to see more?"

"No, I was just thinking... You aren’t as scary as your father." Agnar scratched his head. "Now that I’m thinking about it, he’s the Great Emperor now, and you’re the empire’s princess... and you’re stranded here with me, sleeping in a make-shift bushcraft shelter in a cold that makes ice devils shiver."

She looked around with a smile. "It’s a nice home you’ve built. Do you know what anyone else can provide to me in this situation? Nothing, just cold and snow. I doubt there is anyone out there who could be as reliable as you are."

He looked away. "Yeah, except most people. Your father, Grandfather, Uncle Jack, and everyone else..." It was true that Arad, Gojo, and Jack were all far more capable than Agnar is, but there was one thing he missed.

"You’re talking about a world-ending dragon, a dragon slayer that surpassed all dragons, and a hero blessed by the gods." She waved her hand and pointed toward him. "Didn’t Grandfather tell you? What you lack isn’t power, but confidence."

"You’re quickly getting used to wielding me." Her face quickly shifted into a smug smile as Agnar kept staring at her.

"Taking power from Maharaja as her warlock, and then from me... are you sure you aren’t pushing yourself a bit too much?" She was also a bit worried, just as she was impressed.

Agnar was still staring at her, thinking about what she said. But when the cold air brushed against his neck, he finally came back to his senses. He had been staring at her in silence for quite a while.

"I’m not pushing myself. Maharaja’s power is what allows me to endure your beauty, and your beauty is what allows me to draw more power from Maharaja... so they work together quite well." He scratched the back of his neck where the cold air hit him. He wasn’t going to stop looking!

"Besides that... even though the Nymph transformation doesn’t use any mana while I’m idle, it costs a ton when fighting, so we’ll be keeping it as a trump card."

Just as Agnar keeps his Black Jaguar transformation hidden as a trump card, he now also keeps the Nymph mode hidden. While both can be used, each has its specific cost.

The Black Jaguar cost food and nourishment. Since it fully heals his body when he transforms, and since the Jaguar’s body is already massive and hungry, it costs him so much energy that the first feeling he feels when taking that form is hunger. To keep that form, he must keep eating.

If this were a game, Agnar would have a hunger meter, and the Black Jaguar transformation depletes that. So to keep it going, he must keep killing and eating his enemies.

So it was quite simple and easy to use, which is why Agnar uses it more than the Nymph transformation. Even though the Nymph’s form is stronger.

It’s like he has two layers of trump cards, the Black Jaguar form if things went bad, and the Nymph form as the last resort when the world turns into a living hell.

He looked down... There is a hell gate beneath them.

"Anyway. Get dressed and cook us something for breakfast. I’ll start cutting wood right away." He looked out. "Day hours are short here, so I better not waste any."

He quickly left, taking his axe and saw with him.

She stretched in the bed then stood, " I guess soup would be fine."

****

As Agnar worked and Yuwaku cooked breakfast with Ignis, Obelisk was out hunting nearby monsters to make it a bit safer for the coming adventurers and army behind.

But deep beneath the ground, under layer over layers of snow, ice, dirt, and stone, a massive hell gate rested open in the middle of a vast cavern, surrounded by thousands of shimmering magical glyphs.

The glowing red entrance stirred, a tiny and ugly, goblin-like imp with bat wings crawled out, looking around with worried eyes and a sharp glare.

In the devils’ hierarchy, imps were the lowest of the low, considered to be barely devils and mostly used by everyone else as slaves, servants, and, like this one here, a disposable tester.

The little ugly bastard twitched, wiggled, and crawled on the floor all around the gate, sniffing it for traps and checking if there were any mortals nearby.

Usually, devils aren’t this careful. But since the guarding party got wiped out, they aren’t willing to take any more risks. If there were any holy magic traps or powerful adventurers waiting, this little imp would either sniff them out or get killed. Only after that would the other powerful devils step out.

When the little imp made sure the place was safe, the gate flashed red before he could do anything. Of course, the other devils won’t wait for him to return and report; they were already watching him with magic.

"Took you long enough, little bastard." Seven devils marched out of the hell gate, almost all of them looking like humans, but supporting massive wings, black horns, and skins ranging in color from dark blue to blood red.

One of them approached the little imp and stomped his head to the ground, killing him. "You’ve done your part, little worm. So get torn."

Killing the little imp felt fun, the crunch was satisfying to the devil, but he didn’t just decide to kill him out of nowhere. Devils grow stronger with time and the number of souls they eat. Even Imps eat sinners and soul worms, which only means they’ll eventually grow strong and evolve.

But death weakens devils a bit. A devil that dies a lot in hell would eventually grow weaker, fall in rank, and might even turn into a pathetic soul worm. That’s why devils usually kill their imp slaves a lot, so they won’t grow strong enough to rebel and escape.

"So, what’s the plan?" He asked and another of the devils replied with a smile.

"Kill the human kid, catch the Nymph, the wyrmling, and the slime. We aren’t sure if she is Blue Ice or not, but she’ll work fine. The wyrmling and slime are just trophies for our lord." As the devil replied with a chuckle, another of them giggled in the back, licking her lips.

"So, I can take the kid for myself, right? If he stood his own against a devil at such a young age, I’m sure he’ll make for a good pet."

Another one added. "The kid isn’t needed. Killing or enslaving him works just fine. We only need him out of our way."