I Picked Up an Abandoned Villain in the Polar Region

Episode 84

 

The eastern region of Roden, bordering Elders Canyon, was devastated by a tiger attack.

Led by their leader, the tigers advanced straight toward Roden’s capital, where Alexander and the city’s forces encountered them in the Segod Forest to the east.

However, the tiger forces were far larger than anticipated—double the size of what was believed to be Elders Canyon’s full military strength.

Determined to claim the entirety of Roden Valley, the tigers had even sent boys too young to be considered adults into battle.

For two days, the tiger and black wolf forces clashed fiercely in the Segod Forest.

Alexander fought with all his might to prevent the fall of the capital, the heart of Roden.

Yet, when reinforcements from the north finally arrived, they were only half the expected number. The commanding officer brought troubling news.

“Leader! It seems the Elders have allied with the black tigers of the Karman Coast! Those black tigers are advancing on Mount Nevo, north of the capital!”

While Alexander was preoccupied with the battle in Segod Forest, black tigers who had followed the Elders quietly made their way through the northern forest and began descending toward the capital.

As a result, the northern forces arriving to aid the capital were split in two: one half heading to Segod Forest, and the other remaining in the capital to face the black tigers.

This was also the case for Abel and Zelda, who had rushed back after completing the rescue operations in Avril Village.

“What about Baldwin? We’ve been waiting for reinforcements for ages, and there’s still no sign of them!”

Alexander grew increasingly anxious as not a single hair of Baldwin’s lions had appeared, despite it being well past the time for their reinforcements to arrive.

However, his messenger could only shake his head grimly.

“Sir Zebaty has sent three requests to Ascal Baldwin, but the only response we’ve received is that they are ‘still deliberating the deployment of reinforcements.’”

“…**** it!”

A heavy sense of defeat darkened Alexander’s weary face.

It was obvious: despite the dire circumstances, Baldwin had no intention of helping them.

The wolves had done much to curry favor with Baldwin’s lions in anticipation of such emergencies.

They had halved tariffs, appeased them during diplomatic disputes, and even offered them their cool western lands as a summer retreat to escape the southern heat. But all these gestures of goodwill had amounted to betrayal.

‘Better to trust the petty hyenas next door than those lazy, arrogant lions. Do you really think they’ll help us when things get tough? I guarantee you, they’ll just lie there and watch us die as if gazing at a distant mountain.’

Alexander recalled Kyle’s sarcastic remarks when he had advocated for peace with Baldwin.

Now, he realized his son had been right. The history of unreliability among lions should have been warning enough.

Having already felled dozens of tigers, Alexander raised his gaze.

In the distance, he saw the leader of the Elders striding forward, grinning victoriously as he tore through wolves with ease.

Alexander clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached.

There was no time to despair over the betrayal of the lions. Even if he were to fall to the tiger’s fangs, he would ensure that the leader could not reach Roden’s heart.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, fierce battles raged on Mount Nevo, north of the capital.

Abel and Zelda, who had just returned from Avril Village, joined the fray.

Upon arriving at the capital, they immediately headed north to confront the black tigers.

The black tigers were marked by thicker, darker stripes than their standard counterparts.

Though originally part of the Elders, they had been ostracized as mutations and driven out of the canyon long ago.

Resettling along the eastern Karman Coast, the black tigers harbored a lifelong grudge against the Elders, treating them as mortal enemies.

This division had weakened the overall strength of the tiger tribes.

The current alliance between the two was a temporary convergence of mutual interests: the Elders sought reinforcements, while the black tigers coveted inland territory.

Their separate movements, signaling a lack of trust, made their tenuous partnership clear.

Notorious for their brutality, the black tigers tore through the wolves as they ascended Mount Nevo.

In the dense darkness of the fir-covered mountain, their blood-red eyes glowed menacingly as they hunted their prey.

A single tiger could slaughter five exhausted wolves, leaving the remaining wolves terrified and on the brink of defeat.

At that moment, Kernels, a raven scout, arrived with news from Sir Zebaty in the capital.

He flapped his wings frantically and screeched as he approached Abel.

“Sir Abel! Terrible news! Ascal Baldwin has ignored our requests for reinforcements again! Those **** lions… we’re finished! How can we possibly defeat these monstrous tigers?”

Kernels lamented loudly, his cries echoing through the battlefield.

His words, though unwelcome, struck a nerve in Abel, further fueling his resolve amid the chaos.

Abel stood at the frontlines atop Mount Nevo, searching for Zelda, who was battling the black tigers climbing the mountain.

Watching their allies fall one by one to the relentless assault, Abel shouted anxiously.

“Zelda! I’ll take care of this front—go to the rear and assist our troops!”

Zelda, who was fighting alongside two commanders, slaying tigers and sending them tumbling down the slope, heard his command. However, as a fearless warrior, she had no intention of retreating to the rear.

Just as she raised her head to argue with Abel, her gaze inadvertently swept toward the foot of the mountain, and she froze.

A mass of soldiers swarming like ants was advancing up the slope. Her heart seemed to stop in shock, and an icy chill coursed through her veins.

Who were they? Could it be that their enemies had allied with another force?

But as she stared at the approaching figures in dismay, a subtle light of recognition dawned on her face. “Wolves…?”

The newcomers were wolves—black wolves, just like them. They ambushed the black tigers climbing the mountain, striking them from behind as they charged forward.

Zelda’s eyes widened as she scanned the pack.

Amid the throng of wolves, one figure caught her attention. His brutal efficiency in taking down a tiger with a single, precise bite was unmistakable—it was a hunting style she knew all too well.

Covered in the blood of his foes, he lifted his head and gazed up the hill.

“!”

Their eyes met.

Zelda’s mouth opened in shock as she instantly recognized him.

Kyle…!

At the base of the hill stood Kyle.

Fighting alongside the Erbe forces to cut down the black tigers, he glanced back briefly to check on Brody, trembling and screaming on his back. But as his gaze shifted upward, he froze, spotting a wolf standing on the hilltop, looking down at him.

Kyle’s eyes widened. He recognized her immediately.

The wolf with tawny fur and piercing blue eyes staring at him was none other than Zelda Arsha.

“…”

Kyle, like Zelda, was struck speechless.

She was the woman he had come to save. He had believed she would be waiting for him, trusting him even when no one else did.

That belief had driven him to travel all the way from Asgar to this battlefield.

Though he had learned the painful truth that even she had abandoned him, he couldn’t bring himself to turn away.

He had wanted to confirm her feelings, to know where they stood.

He had imagined many times how he might feel upon seeing her again—sometimes believing he would be overjoyed.

Yet, as he stood there now, face to face with the woman he had longed to see, he felt no surge of emotion.

No joy, no sorrow, no excitement, no relief, no resentment. His heart was as calm and still as the sea after a storm.

However in that moment of silence, as their gazes locked, something unexpected happened.

A blur of movement entered Kyle’s line of sight, hurtling toward Zelda.

“!”

It was a black tiger.

With a savage leap, the beast sank its massive, razor-sharp teeth into Zelda’s neck. Everything happened in an instant.

“Zelda!”

A cry of anguish echoed across the battlefield—not from Kyle, who was already sprinting toward her, but from Abel, who had been on the hill with her.

Kyle reached Zelda in moments, lunging at the tiger that had attacked her.

He tackled the beast to the ground, rolling as they fought viciously. Abel, too, threw himself into the fray.

Meanwhile, Brody, who had witnessed the scene from Kyle’s back, slid off to avoid being caught in the chaos. Without hesitation, she ran toward the fallen Zelda.

“Zelda!”

Though she had never met her before, Brody instantly recognized her from the look in Kyle’s eyes earlier.

As she approached Zelda, who lay writhing weakly on the ground, she froze at the sight of the blood gushing from her neck.

She let out a scream, collapsing to her knees in horror.

Zelda’s pupils trembled violently, on the verge of fading into stillness.

No!

Seeing the shadow of death falling over her once-bright blue eyes, Brody’s body shook with terror.

It was too late to save her. Even if she found a healer immediately, the wound was far too severe.

But Brody knew of one way—a single, desperate measure to save her life.

She quickly shrugged off her backpack and tore it open. Inside, carefully protected, was a pocket watch belonging to the fabled white rabbit.

I have to save her.

The thought consumed her.

“Don’t do it, Brody!”

A frantic voice called out to her, but Brody ignored it.

Fixing her gaze on the watch’s hands, she closed her eyes tightly and made her decision.