Simultaneous Magic: The Ice Empress's Solo Gate Clear
The simultaneous magic operation had started.
The first wind that blew with me brushed my cheek once more.
The thin grass leaves at the cave entrance flipped, and a very large shadow cast over the plain beyond.
“Wait! What are you doing there—!”
“Don’t go! Mi-seong—no, student! It’s dangerous!”
The two of them grabbed my arms at the same time.
I lightly shook off the arms of those two people and said.
“Heh, I’m really strong, you know? Wait just 1 minute… no, 30 seconds, and I’ll clean it up.”
“A middle schooler trying to fight monsters?! Come in right now. I’ll draw their attention, so you two run away!”
“If you go out like that, you’ll die, student!!”
The words are getting long.
I understand the worry, but it’s a bit annoying.
I lightly snapped my fingers.
Cold and transparent magic spread from the tips of my toes, filling the cave floor.
“Eh?”
“Feet—!”
Crack-!
Ice flowers bloomed like flowers under the ankles of Choi Harin and the manager.
Their knees fixed to the rock as if glued.
It would crack if forced, but the ice would bloom again to block it.
“Sorry. I’ll finish it quickly.”
“Wh-what is this—?”
“It’s okay, it’s all okay, unnie, rest a bit.”
I walked out to the entrance of the cave.
Calmly, as if going out for a neighborhood stroll.
The sky was dyed red, and the entire plain was turning gray.
Countless numbers of monsters were blocking all sides tightly, slowly advancing towards this place.
The worst situation that would make a normal hunter despair just by seeing it.
But for me, it was daily? No, more relaxed than daily.
“7th circle, simultaneous magic operation.”
I spread all five fingers, drawing five different seals, one, two, three, four, five.
First, Ice Spear Array - Boreale Stand.
Hundreds of ice spears pierced the ground and rose from all over the plain.
The ice spears precisely pierced the knees, hip joints, and chests of the approaching quadrupedal monsters.
Second, Ice Wheel Wall - Cryo Crown.
The circular ice crown that rose floated around the cave.
It stole the body heat of all approaching entities, dropping them to a level close to fainting.
Third, Silence - Neva Steel.
Silent snowballs that ate sound, shockwaves, and radio waves fell from the air at a terrifying speed.
The monsters' sensory organs completely went numb, and they lost their senses and stopped right where they were running.
Fourth, Ice Book Falling Snow - Pola Requiem.
Magic patterns that looked like snowflakes scattered in the sky.
The moment they touched the body, they dug under the skin. A-rank entities froze at the cell level, and S-rank barely survived at the threshold of death by resisting.
The last Absolute Frozen Realm.
The temperature of the plain dropped one degree per my breath.
Long white mist was exhaled from my mouth, and the moisture turned into glass, sealing the feet of the monsters.
“Phew... The performance isn't lagging.”
These five magics I used now are the magic combination I loved the most in Barzena.
I used this combination even on the day I froze the desert king Kalita in the middle of the night.
The only thing that changed from then was that the targets had changed from humans to monsters.
“Getting close?”
The back like a mountain ridge in the distance raised its huge body.
The S-rank monster owner raised its head with a roar.
Overlapping shoulder armor, black iron eyes, bony ridges extending like side ribs.
A shock pouch that opened like a hippopotamus was attached to the front of the neck.
Choi Harin, who instantly identified the identity of that monster from inside the cave, muttered with a face full of despair.
“This is... No, that monster is a deformity... Basilisk-Garda? That’s... An S-rank hunter needs at least 5—?”
“5?”
I shrugged and smiled relaxedly.
“Unnie, watch this.”
- Kroaa!
Garda opened its mouth wide and gathered the shock pouch.
The air compressed around the mouth, gathering a huge amount of energy and magic.
I tapped my index and middle fingers together and snapped them.
At the same time, the water floating in the air twisted in a zigzag, forming a huge ice shield.
- Kroraaaaa!!
The moment the shock pouch hit, it was blocked by the ice shield, and the shock was dispersed in all directions.
An ice spear following behind pierced Garda's tongue straight and stuck to the floor.
- Kruwaa—!
Garda let out a scream, tilting its neck in pain, but it was already too late.
I lightly raised my left hand, pulled out a thread made of ice magic, and bound Garda's body.
“Ice Cocoon - Spindle.”
Kkik—!
- Kroaak!!
Garda's huge body wrapped like a silkworm cocoon and fixed.
To escape, the ice threads binding the body needed to be melted by raising the body temperature, but the Pola Requiem I just cast had already half-damaged the heat circuit of the monster.
It meant it couldn't escape.
Now the last one, I tilted my head slightly.
I inhaled a breath and exhaled it shortly, chanting low.
“Ice Command Staff - Frost Spear.”
A huge spear spewing immense cold from above my head was generated.
It was a thin spear, not something to call a spear, and a sharp cold white weapon, not something to call a staff.
One step, two steps, three steps at the end.
Thin ice flowers bloomed and faded at the tips of my feet.
After aiming at the gap between the joint scales in front of Garda's neck.
“Here, here.”
I lightly stabbed the spear.
“Our great king snake... sleep well.”
Puk!
The sound was small.
Garda's body fell quietly on the field full of eyes, with a short convulsion.
Frost mist, not body fluid, sprayed out, scattering the plain.
... End.
After confirming that all life forms around had died, I used heat magic to melt the entire area.
The ice spears and ice attribute runes covering the plain cracked and broke, and the ice crown melted away.
The wind regained its warmth.
At the same time, a bright shattering sound came from behind.
The ice flowers that had bound Choi Harin and the manager's ankles loosened.
Actually, I released them.
Choi Harin staggered out from outside.
Her gaze was fixed on the fallen huge Basilisk-Garda corpse behind me, then moved to the surrounding monsters that were completely frozen.
And after confirming the entire scene laid out in front of her, she lost the words she was about to say.
“...... You, what exactly are you... ”
“Yeah.”
“That’s an S-rank hunter that even five hunters couldn't easily catch without proper positioning—?”
“I see.”
Choi Harin looked at me with a face mixed with fear, horror, and a bit of awe.
“You... what is your true identity?”
I shrugged.
At that moment, a blue-white crack folded in the sky like it was drying.
The gate's exit door had opened.
“Let's go. Before the door closes.”
“Sa... saved.”
The manager nodded his head while hurriedly holding the tablet.
Choi Harin was still not out of the shock, completely frozen like a plaster statue, staring at me.
I raised one hand and lightly put it to my mouth.
“Shh, both of you keep your mouths shut. It's good for your reputation that today's incident isn't told to anyone.”
And I slightly tilted my head and winked.
“Unnie... remember my phone number well, 010- XXXX-XXXX! Contact me without delay! Then bye!”
“Wait!! Then the gate clear achievement and reward...?”
“It's just for unnie! I'll handle the explanation well, then really bye!”
***
So, somehow casually finishing the sudden S-rank gate exploration, avoiding people's eyes, returning home, I checked the clock first.
The time was now 2:30 PM.
Eating kkalbokki outside, clearing the gate, it took only 1 hour 30 minutes.
“No, this can't be...? On a gut feel, it seems like I went out for 3 hours.”
I walked to the bed with unbelievable shocking fact, threw my body on it.
Thud-!
“Phew... Good.”
Whether Kim Gunwoo bought a good bed on purpose to show off to me, or it's an option included in the one-room, I don't know.
But one thing is clear: the bed I'm using now is hundreds to thousands of times better than the bed I used when I first returned to Earth.
Yeah, that's fine, um...
Lying on the bed for a while enjoying the soft fluffy feeling of sleeping, I eventually connected to the community to check if Choi Harin had explained well as promised.
[Title: Is this real, guys? An S-rank gate appeared in Mapo Gongdeok, and Choi Harin cleared it?]
Hmm... It seems she didn't say anything about me at all as promised.
Well, it's not like it matters if it's revealed... Rather than a munchkin who boldly shows off overwhelming power in the world, isn't a dark hero who quietly accumulates good deeds under the shadows much cooler?
Anyway, I was a bit worried she might not keep the promise, but I'm glad she listened well.
... But if the reward is 3000 billion won, I should have asked for a cut? A bit stingy though.