Frost and Ambition
Irene of the Cold Blood.
Glacial Shards
Before I could even stop her, Irene rained down dozens of massive ice blocks, targeting both the Demon King's army and the Sand Worm indiscriminately.
The mindless soldiers of the Demon King's army were crushed to death on the spot. However, the colossal Sand Worm dodged the rapidly falling ice blocks and burrowed deep into the sand.
Ice Wall
Irene immediately followed up by erecting a massive ice barrier, nearly ten meters high, to block the advancing demon army.
CRASH!
Unlike the demon soldiers who were stymied by the wall, the Sand Worm erupted from the sand, slamming its massive body directly into the ice barrier and shattering it to pieces.
"Irene, if it's too much, step back. I'll handle it."
"No! I can do this."
I couldn't tell if my offer had wounded her pride, or if she was simply furious at the Sand Worm for repeatedly neutralizing her attacks.
Her usually stoic face tightened with irritation. Condensing a massive amount of mana at her fingertips, she began walking out into the desert.
"Fuuu..."
At first, I thought she was just sighing in frustration.
But then, a thick, white mist—the kind only seen in the dead of winter—began to drift from Irene's lips.
Crack... crackle...
The mana gathered in her hands rapidly crystallized into ice, and the ground around her feet began to freeze.
As she stepped further into the desert, the frost spread.
Even though I was standing quite a distance away, the biting chill radiating from her made me instinctively shudder.
Whoosh...
A sudden, freezing wind swept in from nowhere. The temperature plummeted so rapidly that the desert felt less like a wasteland of sand and more like the frozen tundras of the north.
Irene's northern soldiers, clearly accustomed to this, casually pulled out their winter gear and put it on.
Frost Hell
Creak... crackle...
Rumble... snap...
Starting from Irene, the desert began to freeze at an alarming rate as the temperature bottomed out.
The moisture in the air, dragged down by the sheer cold, instantly crystallized.
A thick sheet of ice rapidly blanketed the desert, swallowing the sand.
Crack... crack...
The thick ice sheet rippled outward from Irene, instantly freezing the advancing demon soldiers in their tracks.
The silent, creeping frost seemed to obey her will, steering clear of our position.
Instead, it surged forward with terrifying speed, encasing the enemy army in solid ice.
And then...
Rumble!
Sensing the approaching death-chill, the Sand Worm desperately burrowed deeper into the earth.
A moment later, the ground where the beast had just been was sealed shut under a thick layer of ice, hiding its whereabouts.
In its wake, the battlefield was littered with the frozen corpses of the demon soldiers, preserved in the middle of their charge.
From a distance, they looked like lifelike marble statues, frozen in poses of eternal fury.
Is this the true power of Irene?
The power that supposedly froze entire seas and locked massive warships in ice...
Even with my strength, I felt that if I stepped into the zone Irene had claimed, the mere act of breathing would freeze my lungs and turn the blood in my veins to ice.
"Haa... haa..."
Irene was breathing heavily, likely suffering from the strain of consuming so much mana. White plumes of breath continuously escaped her lips.
Her face had grown deathly pale, making her red lips stand out in stark contrast.
"Did... did we win?"
One of Irene's subordinates, watching the scene unfold beside me, muttered quietly as he stared out at the silent, frozen wasteland.
Given how quiet the once-boisterous Sand Worm had become, it was a reasonable assumption.
But...
Crack!
Crack! CRASH!
The ice directly beneath Irene's feet began to fracture, and the ground shook violently.
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, Irene panicked, unable to react in time to dodge.
BOOM!
The Sand Worm burst through the ice from the sand below, its massive maw gaping wide as it lunged straight for Irene.
Explosion
BOOM!
Realizing the danger, I summoned the Holy Sword, Ascalon, and unleashed a blast at the lunging Sand Worm, blowing it backward.
I landed right next to Irene, who was still frozen in shock, and immediately checked her condition.
"Are you alright?"
Just standing on the ground still saturated with her magic sent a freezing chill up from my toes, shivering through my entire body.
"Yes, Hero. I'm sorry. I will handle the rest..."
"You expect to fight in that condition?"
It seemed her immense power came with a steep price.
Her face was deathly pale, her once-red lips had turned a bruised shade of blue, and the arm she had extended to maintain the spell was trembling uncontrollably.
"I... I apologize."
"It's fine. Leave this to me. Go back and rest."
"...I am deeply ashamed."
The confident expression she wore when we first encountered the demon army was entirely gone. Irene trudged back, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Rumble...
Unlike Irene, who was out of the fight, the Sand Worm was just getting started. It thrashed beneath the earth, shaking the ground violently.
The problem was that I couldn't see it.
Rumble...
CRASH!
Enraged by the blow I had dealt it, the Sand Worm shattered the ice layer once more and launched itself into the air.
It lunged straight at me.
Explosion
BOOM!
Swinging my sword like a baseball bat, I met the incoming beast with another massive explosion, blasting it away before quickly repositioning.
Because of its sheer size and weight, the basic explosive force of the Holy Sword wasn't enough to completely deter it when it charged with such momentum.
Rumble...
Having already forgotten the impact of my blow, the Sand Worm burrowed back into the sand, moving at high speed as if taunting me.
At this rate, no matter how powerful my magic was, it would be difficult to pin the beast down.
Just as Irene had experienced...
Her Frost Hell was a spell easily on par with the power of the Holy Sword, but if the creature possessed enough intelligence to hide beneath the sand to avoid it, this was going to be a massive headache.
Thud!
Recalling how I had hunted Sand Worms in the past, I drove the Holy Sword deep into the sand and waited for the beast to draw near.
Rumble...
Unaware of my intentions, the Sand Worm churned through the sand, closing the distance.
Through the hilt of the sword planted in the ground, I could feel the violent vibrations of its approach.
Underground Explosion
Thud! Thud! Rumble!
The blade of the Holy Sword glowed a brilliant crimson, channeling its intense heat directly into the sand.
A series of subterranean detonations rippled outward from the sword, venting plumes of superheated air through the fissures in the ground.
Hiss...
The intense heat and pressure trapped beneath the surface burst through the sand in concentrated jets.
Where the heat was most concentrated, the sand bleached white before instantly melting into glittering shards of glass.
A moment later...
BOOM!
The Sand Worm, which I thought might have died from the subterranean heat and shockwaves, erupted from the sand.
However, its massive body was already engulfed in flames. Unable to retreat back into the scorching sand and with no way to extinguish the fire, it began to burn alive.
Thud! Crash! Thud! Crash!
Thrashing wildly in agony, the beast slammed its body against the ground, but its movements gradually slowed.
Before long, its charred, smoking carcass went limp and stirred no more.
Over the past few years, the emergence of two Demon Kings and hundreds of battles fought across the continent had left humanity utterly devastated.
Yet, the more desperate the times, the more people flocked to one particular place...
The towering white spire that pierced the heavens in the capital of the Eryther Empire.
People called it the Tower of Heaven, though it was officially known as the Grand Temple.
Today, the sacred and tranquil sanctuary was thrown into a sudden frenzy by the unexpected arrival of an extremely important figure.
Emilia, the former Saintess and current Crown Princess of the Eryther Empire, had arrived without warning. The Holy Knights guarding the Grand Temple scrambled to bolster their security detail.
The priests were equally frantic, rolling out fresh carpets and preparing formal vestments for her visit.
"Saintess, what brings you all the way here? If you had something to discuss, you should have summoned me."
"I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, High Priest."
The moment Emilia stepped through the entrance of the Grand Temple, High Priest Radbod was the first to rush out and greet her.
He was the man who had elevated Emilia to the position of Saintess, acting as her self-appointed guardian since her childhood. In truth, he was the architect of the woman she had become today.
"What kind of matter could warrant such haste...?"
"Have you heard the news about the Hero's party?"
"The Hero's party?"
"Yes."
"Ah, wasn't it reformed recently?"
"Indeed. But I heard they still don't have a healer in their ranks."
High Priest Radbod was already well aware of this fact.
He pondered silently, trying to discern the true motive behind her sudden visit and this line of questioning.
"High Priest, in the history of the Hero's parties, has there ever been one without a dedicated healer?"
"No, never. They have always traveled with a Saintess, or at the very least, a high-ranking priest."
"And what if this current party lacks one?"
"From the Grand Temple's perspective, we could certainly make a recommendation to the Hero. After all, a healer in the Hero's party—be it a Saintess or a priest—does not just tend to the party members, but also treats the soldiers and commoners they encounter."
At Radbod's response, a slow, calculated smile spread across Emilia's face, as if she had been waiting for this exact moment.
"Then, High Priest, why don't you make that recommendation to the Hero?"
"Surely you don't mean..."
"Yes. Recommend me!"
"S-Saintess..."
Finally grasping the depth of Emilia's scheme, High Priest Radbod called out to her, his voice trembling.
Emilia locked her gaze onto him, her eyes burning with intense conviction as she waited for the only answer she would accept.