The Giant Falls
While Alice drew the gazes of the Yeti and the Snow Woman, Evan checked on Gero and Aido, searching for any sign of injury.
"General, are you all right? Aido, you okay too?"
"Evan…."
Gero couldn't bring himself to lift his head as he looked at him. It was shame directed at himself.
When Evan had returned injured after losing the bet, Gero had said those words to him as he lay in the sickbed.
In the end, wasn't this a problem born of your impatience? If you'd just looked a little more carefully, you'd have known.
Thinking about it now, he himself was no different. He had carelessly approached the Yeti, made no real progress, and only innocent soldiers had died.
"It's my fault. I have no face left to show. I was too hasty."
"General!"
Evan spoke firmly.
"It's fine. First, for safety's sake, we'll rescue the soldiers. Aido, I'm counting on you."
"…Yeah. Please do."
Faced with death, the royal army had failed to unite and scattered in complete disarray. Among them were several soldiers who hadn't managed to flee in time. Evan's squad was tasked with saving those people. For the wounded, they were not to spare the recovery potions—they had to save as many as possible while the hunter held the monsters at bay.
The blizzard showed no sign of stopping and continued to rage. Even in the cold, running without rest made cold sweat pour down her body. Alice adjusted her disheveled goggles and narrowed her eyes.
Facing both alone was overwhelming, whether in the game or in reality. Neveterde was weak but agile; Neveumano was strong but slow. The two coming together to cover each other's shortcomings—a beautiful symbiosis.
Alice lowered her stance and picked up the spear at her feet. Beside it lay a soldier collapsed lifelessly, his lower body already crushed flat. There was no time to mourn him.
Neveumano brought both hands together and condensed cold energy. The unstable, wavering mass of cold looked at a glance like a blue flame. It was a wave of extreme low temperature.
"Hup…!"
Alice held the spear and watched the flickering light. Soon the mass of cold spread through the air and shot sequentially toward her through the blizzard.
Here it comes.
Running in a circle centered on Neveumano, she blocked with the spear whatever she had to take with her body. When she struck the wave with the spear blade and forced it into the ground, ice flowers bloomed softly over it. They didn't grow only on the earth—they sprouted without care on the bodies of the fallen soldiers as well, crushing armor and embedding ice deep into flesh. The blade that deflected the cold waves gradually cooled and began to frost over. With ordinary materials, enduring the power of a Supreme-grade monster was no easy task.
Alice rolled her eyes. The Famine Sword lay ten steps ahead. She lowered her stance further and poured on more speed. Running across ground packed with snow and ice was anything but easy, yet her posture never broke. She poured every nerve into her steps. Hunting was something that demanded everything you had.
As if to interfere, Neveterde flew at her with ice-covered claws extended.
Whoosh—!
No matter how weak Neveterde was said to be, that was only among monsters. Those icicle-sharp claws could shred a human body with ease. Alice raised the spear to meet them.
Screeeech—!
Sparks flew from the spear blade. Power flooded her whole body. If the spear held, she would knock the claws aside just like this.
But—
Crack—!
The spear shaft snapped weakly. Fatigue had built up in the weapon from taking Neveumano's cold. The claws came at Alice once more. She completely broke the tattered spear and gripped the section with the blade still embedded in her right hand.
Clang—!
Alice twisted the trajectory of the claws with the broken spear.
"Ugh…!"
Her right hand went numb, but she successfully threw Neveterde off balance. She immediately swung the spear shaft in her left hand. The broken shaft had no blade and was nothing more than a staff, yet that didn't mean it couldn't be used as a weapon. The staff cracked across Neveterde.
— — —♩!!
The creature flinched and retreated, then let out a high-pitched scream filled with pure malice. Seeing those two eyes that held nothing but monster instinct left from pain and rage, Alice's heart grew even calmer in contrast. In the end, a monster was a monster.
In that opening she quickly spread both hands and set down the spear and shaft, then ran toward the Famine Sword again. The blade lying on the ground was waiting for its master's hand.
"Hoo… hoo…."
Squeeze—.
She tightly gripped the Famine Sword's hilt. The moment she seized it, a hollow feeling washed over her. Even after drinking so much blood, it was hungry again, it seemed. Alice let out a snort of laughter.
Just then Neveumano raised its head and growled softly.
— — —AAaaaa…….
At the low, boiling sound, Alice lowered her stance. Extreme cold began to gather in the center of its mouth. Neveumano hunched its shoulders and pulled its head back. The moment it lowered its head, the cold stretched forward as a single line.
Kwaaaa—!
The cold scraped the ground. The surrounding temperature plummeted sharply, and ice jutted up in sharp spikes. It was a strike aimed at Alice, who kept moving to dodge attacks—but it never reached her. She had already read the pattern. A scream of pain rang out from afar. Only the innocent soldiers were caught in the blast. Those who couldn't dodge in time were pierced by ice or exposed to the cold and froze solid where they stood.
Haven't they all escaped yet?
Alice looked around. The numbers had thinned out. Those still remaining were the ones who simply hadn't managed to flee.
Rumble….
The world reacted fussily to every one of Neveumano's movements. At the distant sound of an avalanche, Alice swallowed hard and raised the Famine Sword once more.
To inflict a true fatal wound on Neveumano, she somehow had to make it sit or lie down. So far the fight had only been led around by Neveumano and Neveterde. When she dealt with one, the other became a nuisance—that was simply their nature, so it couldn't be helped. She had no choice but to quickly induce the next pattern. Facing it while it stood was only disadvantageous. She had to drop that head, that torso, a little closer to the ground.
Alice put strength into her grip. The Luga-lac essence flashed. Now it was time to create a variable.
She closed right in on Neveumano.
— — —♬!
Neveterde, seeing Alice stuck close to Neveumano, couldn't decide what to do. On the other hand, Neveumano thrashed wildly, trying to catch the girl fiddling around under its legs. If she stuck close to Neveumano, Neveterde couldn't attack—there was too great a chance of getting caught in each other's strikes. Instead, she had to take every one of Neveumano's close-range patterns. If she had the confidence to dodge what was fatal even if it merely grazed her, sticking close was always more comfortable. Alice had that confidence.
She had held the upper hand against every monster so far. That was thanks to the experience she had gained from the game she had played to death in the past. Neveumano was no different. Alice pictured the fight with it in her head. Reading every pattern, she slowly cornered the giant. She could only scrape the hide of its legs with the Famine Sword, so she couldn't inflict deep wounds—but the damage was definitely accumulating. There was no need to grow impatient and rush. Time was always on her side. Alice never lost the composure in her heart.
After exchanging several rounds, Neveumano's insides began to boil. Alice kept annoying it while dodging to places where its attacks barely reached. Neveumano tried spewing cold under its own legs. At those moments she pretended to retreat briefly, then immediately charged back in. There was no sign of her stopping. Having endured as much as it could, Neveumano exploded in rage and lifted its leg to stomp the ground. Two eyes filled with fury glared down at her.
"Yeah. I've been waiting."
Alice said it quietly—a monologue Neveumano could never hear.
Neveumano lifted its knee high, then lowered its back and slammed down with all its power. Its sole tried to crush her. An attack coming down so straight, so honest, so slow. For Alice holding the greatsword, it was a moment that truly made her eyes spin.
She spread the essence's power throughout her body. Crimson force erupted from the Luga-lac essence and enveloped her. Not human strength but monster strength gripped the Famine Sword's hilt as if to crush it. A black form briefly appeared over Alice's arms. She was infusing monster power into her body, granting strength that transcended her limits.
Enhancement.
Her pink eyes shone blood-red like a Luga-lac's. Alice took a low stance and gripped the greatsword. The sole cut through the wind, trying to flatten her body—but before it could touch her, she thrust the greatsword upward first.
Paaaaa—!
The moment sword and sole met, the enormous pain nearly made her lose her grip. A shockwave swept the surroundings, and the snow piled on the earth momentarily rode the wind and scattered. The ground where Alice had stood sank in.
"Uuuugh…!"
Alice gritted her teeth and poured every last ounce of strength from her whole body. Finally she opened her mouth and roared as she lifted her arms upward with all her might. Neveterde, who had been watching everything, widened its eyes.
Clang—!
It was a full-powered stomp. No monster had ever withstood Neveumano's stomp—yet this was unbelievable. Far from crushing Alice, Neveumano's foot completely glanced aside, lost its balance, and slipped. The giant's massive body swayed, tilted forward, then flopped backward.
Booooom—!
The colossus that had never once fallen was falling. That massive body made a wind sound even as it went down. Finally its back hit the ground and desperately distorted the earth.
Kwaaaaaang—!
The ground shattered. Seeing the giant fallen before her, Alice roughly exhaled and gripped the Famine Sword. The giant had only fallen. The fight was not over yet.