Thaw (3)
Thaw (3)
[Finally crawled out, you parasitic bastard.]
Murderous intent spread through my chest.
Proof of Protection clenched the spear blade. In my hand, Bitter Cold hammered at the Authority of Protection.
It was my first time observing it directly, but I knew exactly what it was.
The already menacing killing intent thickened. Lee Ha-yul's face twisted.
Expressionless, Baek A-rin flinched. She released the seized spear and stabbed with a hand wreathed in cold aura.
The Authority of Bitter Cold.
Not just her hand. The Authority was about to pour from her entire body.
If that erupted in the middle of the front line, it would be a catastrophe.
So naturally, I had prepared for it.
Fwaaah! The Winged Garment that had formed the spear unraveled and scattered. Split into hundreds of strands, it surged forward.
Gloomy blue eyes tracked the Winged Garment. Baek A-rin's body moved, but the Winged Garment was faster and more precise.
Half of the hundreds of strands wrapped around her body, while the other half drove into the surrounding space like stakes.
'Activate.'
The Winged Garment embedded in the void activated. The spell formula it emitted formed a barrier to confine Baek A-rin.
Under the crushing pressure bearing down on her, Baek A-rin swayed.
The ring on her finger discharged mana in response to the barrier. Thud! Unable to withstand it, one knee touched the ground.
『This is...』
For mere magic, the pressure was immense.
It made sense.
The barrier was constructed to target only "Baek A-rin's physical body." Designed with the body's smallest units in mind, it couldn't not be effective.
- Fwoosh!
The Winged Garment wrapped around her blazed crimson, pouring out Calamity Flame.
From Baek A-rin's frowning form, Bitter Cold erupted in opposition, clashing with the Calamity Flame.
What on earth is going on.
The question wouldn't leave Hong Yeon-hwa's mind, but her body moved well.
She drew the sword at her hip, pulling it free like a comb's tooth, and swung. The crimson blade aimed for Baek A-rin's ankle without hesitation.
- Clang!
Ice crystallized in the air, blocking the sword. Hong Yeon-hwa's eyebrow twitched. She'd considered being blocked, but this was too solid.
'Azure Sea... is that right?'
It wasn't just a difference in color or texture.
It was more viscous and frigid than ordinary Azure Sea energy. Ominous enough to make you instinctively frown.
Hong Yeon-hwa raised her head. Her eyes met Baek A-rin's.
It was definitely different. A hard face without a trace of a smile. Gloomy pupils where the light had dimmed. Below them, her mouth opened.
『...You—』
[Don't you dare speak with that mouth.]
The Calamity Flame intensified further, stifling the action. Baek A-rin's body had no choice but to pour out Bitter Cold in response.
"A-rin!?"
"What on earth is going...!"
[Changhae Family... spread the word! Any Boundless Blue Waves unit with capacity, to Frontline Axis 3 immediately...!]
In the meantime, those who had registered the commotion quickly gathered.
Among them were Hong Jin-seon, the head of the Calamity Flame Family, and Baek Wol-seon, the head of the Changhae Family.
Baek Wol-seon, who had landed nearby, glared fiercely.
"Superhuman Lee Ha-yul! What are you doing!?"
[The master of that tower has crawled into Lady Baek A-rin's body.]
"What?"
It was difficult to comprehend.
But Baek Wol-seon understood it instinctively.
Baek A-rin was in his sight. She was pouring out cold energy to counter the Calamity Flame, but that cold energy was deeply foreign.
He had sensed the difference the moment he laid eyes on her. The aura, starting with her expression, was nothing like his daughter's.
"What kind of mangy bastard...!"
Enraged, Baek Wol-seon raised his spear. A top-grade artifact, the Cold Moon Spear. Its chill, containing cold moonlight, was honed to a sharp edge.
The gathered people also drew their weapons and raised their mana. Their intention to subdue, whatever it took, was clear.
'They can't subdue this by ordinary means.'
But achieving that would be difficult.
The curse had already activated.
Because it was a curse meticulously laid upon Baek A-rin since childhood, it was impossible for them to break it.
The only way to normally stop it was to destroy the vessel.
'Besides, it's already hard to suppress.'
- Crack!
The barrier and the Authority of Protection layered on top of it were gradually collapsing. The restoration couldn't keep pace with the freezing.
It was becoming impossible to completely stifle Bitter Cold in all directions.
The Authority of Bitter Cold was dangerous. Simply releasing the authority had enough latent force to collapse the front line.
The skilled figures could respond, but the troops below that level were highly likely to die in droves.
[I can resolve this completely.]
Swallowing his breath, Lee Ha-yul raised Purification. The spatial magic built into the barrier responded.
"What are you doing!?"
Reading the signs, Hong Yeon-hwa yelled sharply. She couldn't read the spell formula, but it was clear Lee Ha-yul was about to do something crazy.
"I'll resolve Lady Baek A-rin's problem and come back."
"Hey! That's a fucking dangerous method!"
"Yeon-hwa, I absolutely won't die. I'll be back soon."
"You fucking— d-die...!?"
Hong Yeon-hwa's eyes rolled back in shock.
Lee Ha-yul briefly turned his head to meet Hong Yeon-hwa's gaze.
Dim as they were, his eyes held only Hong Yeon-hwa. At the request contained within them, her legs stopped for an instant.
"Trust me. It might take a little time, so I'm asking you to look after Seo-yul. But I will definitely come back, so just wait a little for me."
Nodding, Lee Ha-yul struck the ground with Purification.
- Wooooong!
A spatial ripple swallowed the two of them.
.
.
.
- Wooooong...!
In the middle of a snowfield.
Suddenly, ripples spread through space. Soon they crumpled, and as if a scene had been spliced together, two figures appeared.
At the same moment, the Authority of Protection and the barrier shattered.
Lee Ha-yul paid no mind.
The very reason the barrier was devised was to prevent Baek A-rin, consumed by the curse, from committing a sin.
Breaking the curse was certain. He didn't want her to wake up later and suffer, having killed innocent people.
Cold energy seeped from the gloomy blue eyes.
- Crack!
The mana fragments that had formed the barrier froze solid. The mana in the area froze and fell in a shower, like powder snow.
Bitter Cold spread across the world.
Lee Ha-yul swept away the pursuing Bitter Cold with Calamity Flame, leaping back out of its range.
『Hah...』
Baek A-rin's body exhaled a cold breath.
Having barely pushed Lee Ha-yul back, her eyes scanned the surroundings.
- Fwoosh, fwooosh!
The barrier that had been stifling Bitter Cold shattered.
Yet the Winged Garment and the ring wrapped around her body remained intact. They endlessly poured out Calamity Flame, suppressing the Bitter Cold.
『Astounding.』
Baek A-rin's... the Tower Master of Bitter Cold, who had descended through her body, expressed shock.
The Winged Garment and the ring.
Mere tools like these were not only enduring the Authority of Bitter Cold but actively suppressing it.
[With that mouth—]
Killing intent spread through the Bitter Cold.
The force of it did not freeze even in Bitter Cold. The Tower Master of Bitter Cold looked upon Lee Ha-yul's face, hardened colder than a sheet of ice.
[—do not speak so freely.]
『I see the owner of this body is precious to you.』
The killing intent deepened.
Murderous intent that felt as though it would rend body and soul to shreds. The Tower Master of Bitter Cold nodded at that hatred-laced intent.
『Precious things are difficult to touch.』
Amid the Calamity Flame's interference, cold energy coalesced into a long spear.
The Tower Master of Bitter Cold seized the shaft.
Lee Ha-yul also drew his sword. Fwoosh! The blade of the Beacon Fire Sword blazed crimson, wreathed in Calamity Flame.
Though a threatening sword and flame, the Tower Master of Bitter Cold held a small assurance.
『Can you cut and burn this body?』
The curse erodes the vessel.
The deeper the erosion, the more the vessel's senses and memories can be shared.
Of course, the vessel's resistance was fierce, and ever since Lee Ha-yul's Calamity Flame blocked the curse's erosion, the flow of updated information had been extremely sparse.
But even with that scant information, she could grasp Lee Ha-yul's disposition.
He is the type who treasures what is his more than his own life.
Now that the Tower Master of Bitter Cold has seized Baek A-rin's body, Lee Ha-yul cannot attack easily.
'It might not stop him from acting entirely.'
Of course, Lee Ha-yul might steel his resolve.
But there will certainly be hesitation. The Tower Master of Bitter Cold need only exploit that opening.
'I must kill him before he grows further.'
This battlefield is not entirely favorable, but she cannot afford to give him any more time.
The Tower Master of Bitter Cold carved a line through the empty air with her spear.
Crrrrack! The Authority of Bitter Cold, crystallized into thorns, rained down.
[Hmph]
Lee Ha-yul tilted his body. His legs slid forward, and his form blurred.
Pababak! He threaded through the gaps between the thorns. Where there was no gap, he swung the Beacon Fire Sword to open one and scattered Calamity Flame to push back the Bitter Cold.
The moment he broke through the thorns, a dense wall of magic filled the space ahead of him.
Each spell was high-grade magic infused with innate talent.
'The Tower Master of Bitter Cold uses magic too.'
A fact he knew from the original work.
The Tower Master of Bitter Cold was never the type to stand on the front lines.
She preferred to send her army forward, shape the environment to her advantage, and bombard from the rear with Bitter Cold.
But now it was different. She was still wielding magic and the Authority of Bitter Cold, yet she stood at the front.
He didn't know why she was acting so recklessly. But the decision itself surely came down to this: she had manifested as an Incarnation in a vessel.
If she died here, the vessel would simply break. Her true body would lose some power, and that would be the end of it.
'Arrogant little shit.'
It was deeply infuriating. She deserved to be torn apart a thousand times over.
He pushed through the magic and the thorns.
The spear tip in the Tower Master of Bitter Cold's hand flashed.
Setting aside the lethality of the Authority of Bitter Cold sheathed around it, her spear technique alone was exceptionally refined.
Of course. She had lived a life that easily surpassed hundreds of years. Even if it was not her primary talent, her accumulated experience would be considerable.
- Clang!
It was by no means beyond his ability to cope. In fact, it was effortless.
The spearhead was deflected outward. The magic and thorns that had been hidden behind the spear, poised to strike, were batted aside with ease.
He had closed the distance. The moment the Tower Master of Bitter Cold's eyes flew wide, Lee Ha-yul brought the Beacon Fire Sword down without a shred of hesitation.
Crunch! The blade, striking down into the shoulder, cleaved diagonally all the way to the pelvis.
Whoosh! Calamity Flame erupted from the blade and engulfed the Tower Master of Bitter Cold.
『Kh...!』
A massive burst of Bitter Cold pushed back the Calamity Flame.
Through the gap, dozens of spells stabbed in. Lee Ha-yul swept the spells aside, drove the blade once more into the shoulder for good measure, and then retreated out of range of the Bitter Cold.
『Gh, guh...!』
The Tower Master of Bitter Cold's waist buckled. The hand clutching her shoulder trembled faintly.
Glaring, the Tower Master of Bitter Cold stared down at the hand she had pressed to her shoulder.
There was no blood.
She looked back at her shoulder. Where the sword had bitten in, not a single wound remained.
『What in the world...』
[I told you not to speak, you fucker.]
The Beacon Fire Sword came flying again.
She twisted her body in alarm, but the Beacon Fire Sword cut through her forearm as it passed. Whoosh! The infiltrating Calamity Flame blazed.
Yet there was no wound. Just like before, not a scratch remained on this body. Even so, a searing heat was burning this body to—
No, it was different.
She poured Bitter Cold over herself and extinguished the Calamity Flame. The murky blue eyes wavered.
『Not the body... the soul...』
He hadn't touched the body at all.
He had touched the soul.
And not even Baek A-rin's soul.
He was cutting the soul of the intruder who had crawled into this body, and through her, he was trying to invade the linked true body with Calamity Flame...
[Did you think your true body was safe just because you're using a vessel?]
『How in the world...』
[What a braindead notion. You shoved a piece of your soul into a vessel and assumed I couldn't trace you? You thought you could gauge my limits by assuming I couldn't interfere?]
Incarnation is an art of lodging one's soul in an external vessel and acting through it.
As long as a part of the soul is there, tracing the main body through it is possible.
But this quickly? And interference, on top of that? Seizing that thread and affecting the main body?
『Such a thing is impossible—』
[It's amusing, watching a parasite presume to dictate another's limits.]
Sneering, Lee Ha-yul raised the Beacon Fire Sword. Whoosh! As the Calamity Flame surged ferociously, the Tower Master of Bitter Cold fell back.
[I put a lot of effort into catching just one bug. Since I can't do a half-assed job, I'll exterminate it in one go.]
He let the Beacon Fire Sword hang low. The Calamity Flame, undulating stickily, dripped down the blade like a high-viscosity liquid.
Lee Ha-yul's obedient Calamity Flame distinguishes friend from foe.
He had experimented on the three tools leashed by the Tower Master of Purgatory, practicing until he could safely burn away spiritual constraints.
By possessing Azure Sea, he could comprehend how to freeze and melt Azure Sea.
With Observation, he recognized the intruder that dared to crawl in.
Without any harm to Baek A-rin, he could tear that thing apart.
『Tch...』
Something had gone wrong.
Gritting her teeth, the Tower Master of Bitter Cold shook off her hand. Kwarururu! The Authority of Bitter Cold, unleashed without restraint, surged forward like a tidal wave.
The volume was too vast to simply sweep it all away with Calamity Flame. Lee Ha-yul snorted and pulled up his mana.
- Shrrrrip!
Circuitry surged up from his shoulder blades. The 5th Iteration's Unique Magic Path: Foolish Straight Twin Wheels. Azure Sea flowed through circuits that branched out like the limbs of a tree.
A thicket coiled around those branches. Thorns sprouted, and flower buds formed.
Woo-woong! The swelling buds emitted a vibration, then absorbed the mana, the cold energy, and the presence of Bitter Cold from the vicinity.
『...What』
The buds that had absorbed the Bitter Cold quivered. Pababak! Unable to endure the Bitter Cold, they burst apart instead of blooming.
But that was enough. New buds formed, and Calamity Flame was slammed into the lessened Bitter Cold.
The Bitter Cold and the Calamity Flame wrestled back and forth.
'Manifestation, Taesan.'
He drew in vitality energy that had not yet frozen in the Bitter Cold and injected it into the Calamity Flame. Whoosh! The greatly swollen Calamity Flame pushed back the Bitter Cold.
Then Lee Ha-yul reached out his hand, mana brimming over it.
Mana Affinity Expansion Ability
Homogenization
'Gale.'
The mana transformed into a storm.
He swelled the Gale coiled around his forearm.
Fire and wind. The synergy between the two is common knowledge.
The Tower Master of Bitter Cold hastily conjured magic, but before she could, the Gale was slammed in after the Calamity Flame.
- Fwoooosh!
The orange Calamity Flame was dyed a deep crimson.
The Calamity Flame that had torn through the Bitter Cold from the front came rushing in a torrent.
The barrier she had barely managed to raise blocked the Calamity Flame.
『Ku, guuuh...!』
But it melted away in an instant.
A spell potent enough to comfortably block all but the greatest Authorities was melting without resistance.
Hastily layering hundreds more spells and releasing a massive quantity of Bitter Cold to cancel out the Calamity Flame, she only barely managed to sustain a standoff.
- Chajajak!
That standoff shattered in a single breath.
Slashed to ribbons by a streak of crimson, the barrier crumbled, and Lee Ha-yul rushed in with the Beacon Fire Sword raised high.
'I won't give her an opening.'
He would drive her to her limit just like this.
Six wings curved forward. Honed to the sharpness of blades, they were drenched in deep-crimson Calamity Flame.
[Die]
The Beacon Fire Sword came chopping down from overhead, and the six wings, which had mimicked the structure of the Beacon Fire Sword, bored into her blind spots.