Chapter 101
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: The First Divergence of Fate (5)
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The Millennial Frost Core slowly descended onto Pasara's palm.
Pasara steadied his breathing slightly and curled his fingers.
"Heh... finally—"
Crack... craaack!
But contrary to his expectations, the moment he grasped the Millennial Frost Core, an odd sound rang out.
There was no sensation of the barrier softly absorbing the force and dispersing the energy.
Instead, a chilling cold surged up from his fingertips.
"...Huh?"
The instant he looked down at his right hand—
Crackle—!!
Pure white frost erupted from where it touched the core, exploding back up his arm.
His fingers, the back of his hand, his forearm—all froze from the inside out.
"Wha—what the hell is this...?"
In an instant, his entire arm solidified like a chunk of ice.
Blue ice crystals bloomed over bone, blood vessels, and muscle, encasing his right arm completely.
It wasn't restraint or protection.
Far from absorbing the power, the structure sucked in the Millennial Frost's energy directly.
"Grrrrraaah!!"
Pasara's scream echoed through the entire ice cavern.
The sensation of his senses being severed from inside his arm.
His blood turning to ice, shredding his vessels; his nerves stiffening and snapping.
Instinctively, he thrashed to tear his arm free.
"Kalius!! Your barrier isn't working prop—"
The moment Pasara turned to demand an explanation—
What entered his vision was a single silhouette flickering with red light.
"...."
Kalius, Lord of Obsession.
For some reason, she had drawn her sacred weapon, Bloodline Falling Blossom.
It wasn't needed in this situation at all.
And her usual smiling lips and languid gestures were nowhere to be seen.
Instead—only the lethally concentrated aura gathered along the greatsword's blade remained.
"I'm sorry."
She whispered it so softly, her lips barely moving.
Then, without hesitation, she launched herself forward.
The greatsword thrust straight out.
Toward Pasara's own heart.
"...!"
Pasara's eyes widened in shock.
His instincts reacted first.
He twisted his body.
Instead of his heart, the blade gouged into his lower abdomen, below his solar plexus.
Splurch—!!!
The sound of flesh and bone tearing apart at once.
The greatsword, wrapped in pink-tinged crimson light, pierced his gut and burrowed into the ice wall behind before pulling free.
Blood—and shards of ice—splattered out.
"Kah, graaaah!!"
Pasara reflexively reeled back to put distance between him and Kalius.
He clutched his stomach with one hand.
Red blood poured madly between his fingers.
And—his right arm.
Already frozen solid from wrist to shoulder, it couldn't even support its own weight and began to crack.
"Damn... damn it—!!"
Pasara gritted his teeth.
And then—
He roughly seized his frozen arm with his left hand.
"Rip off—!!"
Boom—!
Mana detonated like an explosion.
The frozen joints shattered all at once, and his entire right arm tore free at the shoulder joint.
Crushed ice mixed with red fragments sprayed across the floor instead of blood.
Agonizing pain that choked his breath.
His vision blurred briefly, then refocused with blood.
Still, he somehow forced himself upright.
He hunched over, exhaled, and looked ahead again.
"...."
Kalius was already back in position, gazing at him.
Blood dripping from the greatsword's tip spread across the ice floor like petals.
Her expression remained impassive.
As if—the ambush just now was merely one step in a predetermined sequence.
Pasara ground his teeth.
"Kalius...."
Once a lord on the same side.
Kin of Lust.
A mechanical executor of blessings, aligned with the Apostles.
"What the hell are you doing all of a sudden? Huh?"
His voice lowered.
The aura of indulgence thickened alongside his wounds.
Pain, rage, despair—all just another sensation for him.
Material to savor.
Kalius quietly absorbed it all, then narrowed her eyes and began her slow explanation.
"...I'll say it just once."
She gripped the greatsword tighter.
Pink light mixed with dark crimson aura climbed the blade.
"I was planning to prepare a gift to look pretty for him. But I realized the previous one wouldn't be enough."
"...A gift?"
Pasara's lips twisted grotesquely.
"As a gift—"
Kalius's smile deepened just a fraction.
But her eyes remained icy cold, reflecting not a shred of emotion.
"—the corpse of a Lord-rank demon should be just right, don't you think?"
"......"
A heavy silence descended over the entire space.
Everyone could feel Kalius's mana had completely transformed.
"......Ha."
Pasara laughed hollowly.
But the smile soon vanished from his lips.
The mana surrounding the Lord of Indulgence rapidly condensed, shaking the entire underground cavern.
Even with one arm severed and a hole in his gut—a lord was still a lord.
"Fine. Very fine."
Blood dripping steadily, he laughed.
"I don't know the details, but you've betrayed the Demon King and the Apostles, huh?"
"And that arrogance thinking you can take down a lord with your own hands. Top-tier stuff, really."
Indulgence and obsession.
Their auras clashed, pressing against each other.
Kalius took one step forward.
"It's not arrogance? I already knew a fair fight would mean certain defeat, so I let you take the Millennial Frost's attack,
and even ambushed you in a way unbecoming of a lord."
She raised the greatsword.
"I'm really looking forward to it. Seeing his reaction when I kill you and give him your corpse.
Whether... he'll fulfill my long-held dream, my greatest wish."
"Guh...."
"Let's check, shall we? Pasara Nebrigos."
The moment indulgence and obsession collided—the underground ice cavern transformed into yet another battlefield.
***
Along with the roar of the crimson snowfield crumbling, once more.
The aura of ruin.
The authority of comparison.
The Millennial Frost's chill entangled with human mana, turning the northern ridge of Seolga into a single mass of hell.
"I see now. Quite the noisy stage we've got."
Azator Harmegion shrugged, his dark crimson armor clanking.
His gaze first fixed on the two humans standing ahead, catching their breath.
"Ye-eun."
"Got it. We'll take that monster."
Seol Ye-eun drew a slow breath.
The Millennial Frost's energy condensed at her fingertips once more, pure white frost spreading along her clothes.
"Association Chairman... please cut down as many as you can so I can focus on magic."
"That's the plan."
Yoon Seo-jun raised Cheon-geuk.
Azure sword energy shot straight out, clashing head-on with the crimson aura of ruin.
"Good, humans."
Azator curled his lips.
"I'll smash you all myself and savor every bit."
The auras of the three beings exploded and intertwined, biting at each other.
Kwaaaang—!!
A storm of mana blending ruin, ice, and sword light pulverized the area.
As Seol Ye-eun's magic blocked the waves of ruin layer by layer, Yoon Seo-jun's sword pierced the gaps like lightning.
"Draw Strike—Linked Azure!"
Azure slashes drew continuously.
Cracks spiderwebbed across Azator's armor, red blood and ruin energy spraying out.
But—
"Ho, decent swordsmanship for a human. But it won't work."
Azator casually swung his hand down.
That single motion cratered the surrounding terrain entirely.
Seol Ye-eun's barrier shattered, oppressive pressure squeezing hearts even from afar.
"Guh...!"
"Ye-eun!!"
As Yoon Seo-jun shielded her with his body and drove his sword into the mana storm—
On the other side of the battlefield, another fight was kicking into high gear.
"...That's far enough, human. You're out of my interest now."
Raes Belkuel's red eyes slowly shifted direction.
Toward the three newcomers.
"First time meeting you, Lord of Comparison, you son of a bitch."
I aimed my pistol at his forehead, steadying my breath as I spoke.
"Grit your teeth and hold on somehow, but go ahead and shit-talk all you want."
Mana flowed through my grip.
The Vow of No Retreat still constricted my entire body.
[The target's status is high.]
My heart pounded wildly.
Sensations blurred—hot, cold, I couldn't tell.
But—
'Backing off here means the end.'
The choice was already made.
Raes's gaze flicked briefly to my side.
"A mage with quite the unique trait... and the heir to the Frost Core."
Sophia.
And Seol Yu-bin.
Sophia quietly raised her staff.
In her pale purple eyes burned the resolve I'd only seen in the mid-to-late main story arcs, when it flickered to life.
"Hyun-sol."
"Yeah."
"Our goal is to disperse that monster's authority as much as possible. No matter who he targets, we pull a tug-of-war to stay ambiguously alive."
"Sounds tough."
"I don't get it either. Just roughly understand."
A chuckle escaped me.
Raes tilted his sword at an angle.
"Three opponents? Even more fun to compare. Who shatters first, who crumbles most pathetically."
"About that."
Seol Yu-bin stepped forward.
Ice paths bloomed under her feet.
Pure white flowers bloomed and wilted with each step, frost trailing behind her.
"Why don't you check for yourself."
Seol Yu-bin raised her hand.
"I am Seol Yu-bin, master of the Ice Citadel. Surely—you're prepared to pay with your body for ruining our home?"
As her words ended, the Millennial Frost's energy surged again.
Chill from beneath the ground gathered toward Yu-bin.
Her eyes glowed icy blue, formless frost rising from her fingertips.
"...Drawing out the Millennial Frost's afterglow so naturally? Better than that bitch, your mother."
"Don't insult my mother."
"Sophia."
"I know."
She who usually slotted only one attribute manastone into her staff now embedded all five colorful ones.
Today, she was ready to prove her title as Britain's greatest genius mage.
"Hold on."
Sophia lightly raised her staff, and magic circles triple-layered between me, Seol Yu-bin, and Raes.
"Team fights... we're more used to it. We all went to the Academy, right?"
Sophia's lips curved up slightly.
"Who'd have thought we'd use first-semester lessons in real combat already. Anyway, Hyun-sol... show them."
"Bossy with commands."
I raised my pistol.
Mana Bullet creation.
Target: Raes's chest, heart position.
Finally, wrap the spinning Mana Bullet's surface in Star Mana.
And... fire the moment preparations end.
Bangbangbangbangbang—!!
Starlight poured down onto the dark crimson snowfield.
Raes parried the first shot with his sword.
Two, three, four—deflecting continuously, he sneered.
"Human-level bullets—"
"Now."
Yu-bin whispered.
In that instant, ice flowers blooming with starlight erupted from my Mana Bullets one by one.
Seol Yu-bin had overlaid the Millennial Frost's chill onto my shots.
Delayed freezing from the deflected bullets.
Ice flowers finally bloomed around Raes all at once.
Kwajijik—!!
"...!"
Frost entangled his arms and legs, slowing him ever so slightly.
I didn't miss the brief opening.
I drew Eun-wol and charged him.
"Let's play."
"Ha, pathetic—!!"
Raes swung his sword wide.
But in that moment.
"Glacier Scripture—Frost Chains of Absolute Zero."
With Seol Yu-bin's cold voice, ice chains surged from the ground.
They clashed with his crimson mana and bounced, but some definitely wrapped his ankles and calves.
"Annoying to cut...!"
Raes stomped.
Crimson mana exploded, shredding the frost chains—but from another angle, the staff glowed.
"Formation Gate—Mana Reflection."
Sophia's magic circle unfurled suddenly at Raes's side, redirecting part of his crimson mana back at him.
Kwaang—!!
Raes's body staggered sideways.
Cracks multiplied across his armor.
"...Good."
My mouth filled with salty blood, but I could definitely feel it.
'It's working.'
Of course, no guarantee of victory.
Even wounded, a Lord-rank demon wasn't something an S-Rank hunter and two rookies could take.
But—snagging his ankle? That was definitely possible.
Raes's voice lowered slightly.
"...An amusing combo. One magic swordsman, one mage, one Ice Citadel heir."
His crimson aura swelled again.
"Fine then. Let's compare you three—who breaks first."
Crimson light condensed at his sword tip.
The authority of comparison activated once more.
My body grew heavy.
Instead—Seol Yu-bin's mana surged anew beside me.
"You okay?"
Sophia asked curtly.
"Manageable."
I exhaled long and gripped my pistol again.
But then.
Woooong—
Suddenly, a resonant hum echoed around us.
At first, I thought it was just battlefield noise.
Mixed with the roaring mana blasts, it was nearly indistinguishable.
But—
"...Wait."
My heart sank.
"Did you hear that just now?"
Sophia's face hardened.
"This vibration... it's rising from inside Seolga. Not from the side—from below."
Yu-bin frowned.
"Did Azator's missed attack pierce underground?"
"No."
I was certain.
This wasn't the waves of ruin.
My Empathic Constitution wasn't reacting at all.
If anything....
Woooong—... woooong—...
A rhythmic pulsing throb.
Similar to when I met Lich—like a massive heart suddenly beating somewhere deep underground.
"...It's from the Millennial Frost Core."
Like me piecing it together, Seol Yu-bin scanned around, pinpointed the vibration's source, and gritted her teeth.
"Something's happening there."
Raes smirked faintly at her words.
"Yes, exactly. While we fight—another stage has begun below."
"Shut up."
I cut him off sharply.
"Above or below—right now, we're stopping you first."
"Hyun-sol."
"...Yeah?"
"Finish quick. We have to head below too."
"Got it."
Another mana vortex bloomed over the crimson snowfield.
On the surface, the battle between two lords and five humans raced toward its climax—
And deep underground, vibrations like the Millennial Frost Core awakening rumbled forth.