Chapter 283
Chapter 283
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 283
Chapter Title: Winter Melody
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The girl was as clear as if she'd been sculpted from winter itself, and above all, she looked breathtakingly beautiful. Her blue hair, streaked with white, was serene like the quiet snow falling at dawn, and her snow-white skin felt just like winter's embrace.
...Not human.
Clunk.
Suddenly, it turned its head, and our eyes met.
Gleaming blue eyes shrouded in a sinister chill.
And the blatantly icy aura enveloping the girl. That beauty was unnatural, profoundly eerie.
Beautiful in a way only something inhuman could be.
It was perhaps akin to the awe of beholding nature's stunning grandeur.
However.
"..."
Instinctively, I realized the thing before me was a demonic fiend at the pinnacle of evil, a serial killer racing down the path of inhuman atrocities. My Kim Katt danger sensor kicked into overdrive, rattling my brain fiercely.
"...Fuck."
Frozen in ultimate terror, I began edging backward slowly.
Kobson and Meria did the same. The adventurers who'd smashed ice spirits and leveled up had long since retreated to the safety of their mother's embrace by last night's dinner.
"Th-that's a spirit..."
Meria stammered in horror, shield raised out front.
"A spirit...?"
"Yeah. Taking human form means it's no ordinary one... We gotta run!"
A monster capable of shapeshifting into human guise was undoubtedly extremely dangerous. Why else would a beast mimic human shape? To lure prey in and devour them.
In conclusion, that girl might look human, but at her core, she was a violently cannibalistic demon.
Realizing that gripped my heart with the thought, 'We're fucked.' Winter... fucking season! Goddamn piece of shit! Nothing ever goes right!
"W-we're... fucked. This is seriously fucked, Barbarian."
"Got it. Nice and easy. Nice and easy, back away."
Bolting blindly could spell doom from some unseen trap. Knowing that, we kept our eyes locked on the girl while retreating slowly. Calmly, without provoking the savage predator.
Please, just let us go nicely, you bitch.
I'm begging you.
Rustle.
Then, she took a step forward.
"That fucking bastard..."
Should we just duck between the trees and bolt?
No, can't do that.
Spirits use magic, after all. And one shapeshifting like her? She'd wield some seriously powerful spells.
Turn my back, and a massive hole might punch through my skull.
"Wh-what do we do... Sh-should we just run for it?"
"Not a good idea, Meria."
We were retreating slowly, and the spirit girl matched our pace, ambling toward us leisurely.
No way... Is she toying with us?
If she's that intelligent, we're in deep shit.
Cruelty scales with intellect.
Whoosh!
Something flew at us—I threw up my arm in a frantic block!
"Ngh!"
Crack!
"Barbarian!"
"Wh-what the hell!"
It was an ice spike. My forearm stung a bit, but thankfully, I'd reflexively used my gauntlet to block—no real damage.
But why'd it come out of nowhere like that?
"Wh-what the fuck! What are these goddamn shits!"
I yelped in shock!
"No way!"
"We're fucked!!!!!"
Hiss...
Ice spirits floated all around us! Between the trees, behind rocks—they were closing in!
No, fuck!
No one noticed until now?!
Spirits had no presence! And I'd been too fixated on the girl in front of me!
We're fucked!
"Fuck! Goddamn it, we're so fucked!"
"Mommy!"
"B-Barbarian! Wh-what do we do?!"
Complete encirclement!
Surrounded...!
We ducked behind a tree for cover. Moving now was suicide. With that many ice spirits, running would turn us into human pincushions.
Stay calm, stay calm, Kim Katt...!
There has to be a way out!
Even as we huddled, the ice spirits narrowed the gap inch by inch. Then, abruptly, they halted midair.
"What the hell, you shits?!"
The spirits stopped because of the girl.
"Ah, aaah... Ah, ah. You all."
The girl ahead parted her lips slowly, letting out a voice! Our faces twisted in dismay, and I shouted in astonishment!
"Holy shit! Sh-she talks?!"
A monster speaking!
A strange dread and primal revulsion washed over me...!
It reminded me of horrific legends where jungle monkeys mimic human speech to lure kids out and tear them apart gruesomely.
And in South America's wilds, tales of "Murder Parrots"—vicious killer birds that soar the skies, hurling curses at people before swooping in to feast.
This spirit girl was clearly cut from the same cloth!
Thump-thump.
My heart pounded like it might burst.
"Sh-she's talking...!"
"Aaaah! This can't be real!"
"C-calm down! Panic, and we're all dead!"
My heart raced.
But stupid moves would end us here. I had a mission to get back home...!
Imagining Claudy's naked body barely steadied my heart, letting me assess the situation.
She talks.
That means intelligence.
Which means...
We might resolve this through talk.
The spirit girl seemed to notice our reaction to her words and just stood there, watching us. The ice spirits remained frozen too. So she's controlling them?
Anyway, the spirit girl was small.
Just looking at her face, she could've passed for some rich kid. Weirdly, she wore what looked like a blue dress... So let's try talking to her like a little girl.
Gulp.
Swallowing hard, I forced my frozen tongue to move and attempted dialogue.
"H-hi there? Wow, nice weather, huh? I-I love winter. Seeing the world blanketed in snow... calms the soul. That's why my name's Kim Winter. My parents loved winter too. Heck, I was born in winter! So nice to meet a half like you, Ice Princess!"
Total bullshit.
"You like it too, right?"
I beamed like a warm, friendly uncle, babbling pleasantly. Meanwhile, behind the smile, I sharpened a blade of lethal intent.
Would a sneak attack work? If not, then what?
This tree-covered spot offered cover, but bolting toward the lake where she stood? No hiding there—I'd be shredded by incoming spikes.
Decide... Kim Katt!
Tilt.
As I pondered, the spirit girl cocked her head.
"...You killed my friends."
And said that.
"Friends?"
"...That one."
She pointed at me. Then, a blue glow emanated from my pouch... What the hell?
Ice spirit.
Fuck!
That was it! Her friend!
The ice spirit we'd smashed earlier was this bitch's buddy!
We're fucked!
"Oh, that."
The inexplicable situation turned blood-red in an instant.
No need to look further—it was outright hostile now. No matter what we said, we'd killed her friend.
"They attacked us first. We killed them in self-defense. Nothing we could do."
I switched tones, speaking coldly.
"You gonna blame us? They threw ice spikes at us while we stood still."
True, but it wouldn't land. With a friend dead, no one cares about right, wrong, or who started it. Blood had been spilled—fight to the death. Sever the grudge with steel.
Kill, and be killed.
Get hit, hit back.
No room for morals or sequence in that iron rule.
That's this world.
"...One."
After hearing me out, she said that.
One?
No context, no rebuttal—that proved she was a monster. Probably just spouts what she wants, or lacks higher conversation skills.
Or maybe uninterested in me.
Either way, words weren't connecting. Dialogue impossible.
That's what inhuman beings are.
"One?"
"...I'll spare two. Leave one behind and go."
Her voice was colder than glacial ice, a ruthless verdict.
"What?"
"..."
No reply.
This.
Fucking.
Bitch.
Blazing rage purged the fear gripping my mind. So, she wanted one of us sacrificed as payment for her friends.
Wh-what kind of spine-chilling evil is this...!
She's a monster, alright!
Tap.
Gnashing my teeth, Kobson grabbed my shoulder. Tremors shook his hand. He was terrified.
"B-Barbarian... L-let's draw straws here."
"You crazy fuck, what bullshit is that?!"
Panicking, Kobson babbled nonsense.
"Yeah! Kobson! You're the bad guy!"
"But there's no other way!"
"Snap out of it, Kobson! We can all make it!"
That unreal presence had seized his soul tight.
Spirits were near-immaterial existences, vague and overly magical— to adventurers, they loomed like ghosts, pure terror.
Kobson's panic was natural.
But I steeled myself.
Her speaking had stripped some mystique. Courage surged. Compromise or flight? Near impossible.
Then fight to overcome!
Soul of the Heavenly Demon!
Mighty warrior!
Words fail? Draw the blade!
That's Heavenly Demon Kim Katt!
"Fuck that! No one's getting handed over! Heavenly Demon Kim Katt never abandons friends! Meria! Kobson! We live! We survive! We get out alive!"
Hiding behind the tree, I bellowed, gripping my sword tight and coiling power in my legs.
The spirit girl was a specialized mage-type monster. She'd drag this out with talk to buy time for schemes.
"Spirit! What's your name?!"
"...I have no name."
"Then you're a nameless monster!"
Monsters need no names!
Unholy thing without even a name!
Her birth must've been cursed from the start!
"I won't hand myself or my friends to a monster like you."
"..."
"Want us dead? Fight. But do it, and your precious ice spirit friends die in droves. Like these in my pouch! Heh heh heh!"
I patted my pouch with a sinister grin. Silently, she raised her hand.
Battle begins.
"Take cover!"
"Uwaaaah!!"
My roar snapped Kobson from panic. On that cue, the two dashed to bigger trees and rocks for shelter.
Shraaap.
With a wave of her mana-charged hand, icicles stitched the air. Sharp, sturdy arrows of frost!
Fwhoosh!
They launched in chains, hurtling at us!
"Kyaaaaah!!"
"Get down!"
I leaped frog-like, slashing an ice spirit, then dove behind the rock. Thud-thud-thud-thud!!!! Icicles shattered against stone and wood.
Insane power. But ice had limits.
Not enough to pulverize trees!
"Her attacks can't pierce our cover! Smash ice spirits to carve an escape! Got it? Answer if you heard!"
Cover gave us a shot!
"G-got it!"
"Got it, Barbarian!"
I scanned left and right for escape routes... Too many ice spirits. Not yet! Luckily, Kobson and Meria had good cover, safe from hits.
But the spirits and girl closed in relentlessly. Time to reposition—risk be damned!
"Raaaaargh!!!!"
Roaring like a beast, I sprang up.
Those spikes from the spirits? Gauntlet proved they'd stop cold against metal plating.
Problem: girl's hidden ace.
Use cover to block her, butcher the spirits!
"Execution Swordsmanship—!!!!"
Scan the field.
I burst from the rock, charging an ice spirit and swinging. Splorch! It split, dropping a bead before reverting to ice.
"Kobson! Meria! Don't wuss out—kill 'em!"