The Frost Core's Secret

Adad spoke with a low, simmering anger and deep contempt. It was such utter nonsense that he felt ashamed for even trying to listen to what the other had to say! 'As expected of a magic-monger, playing such pathetic tricks!'

As an elite warrior, Adad despised Furneus, who obsessed over magic and spirit arts. A true Demon Duke should command countless demons beneath him and rule with an iron fist. What kind of petty coward relied solely on spirits just because he was afraid of being betrayed?

Edaor was the same. No matter how much he wanted to conquer the Central Continent, disguising himself as a human to pull off underhanded schemes was pathetic. 'I would never resort to such things. I will conquer with raw, honorable power...!' Adad's grip tightened around his weapon, his veins bulging. Sensing the shift, Furneus tensed up.

"Adad, you utter fool! Wake up! Edaor is using you!"

"Furneus. You have committed several grave offenses. First, you unleashed an ice storm upon my territory."

"You were the one who started—"

"Shut your mouth and spare me your nonsense!"

Adad decided to simply ignore anything he couldn't understand. Listening to this fool was nothing but a waste of time.

"Second, you dared to claim that I joined hands with a pathetic worm like Edaor. You thought you could confuse me with your cheap tricks, but you have only succeeded in making me angrier."

"Why, you brainless idiot..."

"And third, which is the greatest offense of all. You dared to..."

Boom! Adad swung his warhammer.

Rumbleeeee! The crystalline ground beneath them shattered and overturned, collapsing in every direction. It was a cataclysmic display of power, as if a grand archmage were casting consecutive earthquake spells! It was clear just how furious Adad was.

"...You insulted me by comparing me to Archisus! Show yourself, Furneus! Let us see if your precious magic can save your life!"

Indeed, any insult involving Archisus was a grave matter! The rambling fool had pushed him over the edge by bringing up Archisus, sending Adad into a state of absolute, blinding rage.

Frankly, if Adad had kept a cool head, he would have found several things highly suspicious. Why would Furneus bring up Edaor of all people? Knowing the bitter rivalry between Edaor and Adad, it made absolutely no sense. Furthermore, if he had looked closely at the demons being slaughtered near Furneus, he would have realized they belonged to Edaor's army. Had Adad been thinking rationally, he might have noticed something was amiss.

But Furneus had sealed his fate with that single insult. Adad could tolerate any other insult, but being compared to Archisus was completely unacceptable!

"Hear me, my minions! Tear that pathetic magic-monger to shreds!"

"You dare invade my land, spread plague and poison, and now you act as if you own the place because I tolerated you? You have truly lost your mind! Fine, come at me!"

A clash between two incredibly prideful Demon Dukes! Realizing that words were entirely useless, Furneus immediately prepared for battle.

"Spirit Absorption!"

The rampaging spirits nearby were violently sucked into Furneus. It was a secret art that only Furneus could perform—a spirit summoner who viewed his spirits as mere consumables! It was a skill that consumed spirits to restore his own energy. Seeing this, Adad roared fiercely.

"Stop him!"

But this was Furneus's domain. The movements of Adad's forces were sluggish. In the meantime, Furneus was absorbing every spirit within reach, amplifying his power to terrifying heights.

Such tyranny infuriated the spirits, but Furneus couldn't care less. The only thing that mattered right now was the enemy before him!

"Come, arrogant fool! I will freeze you solid and display you as a trophy in my castle!"

"I will not leave a single stone of your castle standing!"

'Are you insane?' Tae-hyun thought, though in truth, he was quite curious himself. How would a full-power battle between two Demon Dukes play out?

'Ah, well. My part of the fight is over, so I should turn off the stream.'Click.

Tae-hyun had turned it off without a second thought, but the viewers who had been glued to their screens let out a collective scream of despair. It was just getting good!! What happened next? What about Adad and Furneus? What about Tae-hyun? What about the quest??

There wasn't a single player streaming nearby. The large guild parties had been utterly annihilated and had fled, while the rankers were hiding, too terrified to even think about turning on their streams.

Naturally, the massive wave of viewers flooded into the Power Warrior Guild's stream. The guild members, who had been peacefully conducting a Guild Territory War, were utterly bewildered.

"Wait, why?!"

"Tae-hyun-nim isn't even here!"

-Make Kim Tae-hyun turn his stream back on!

-He just shut it down!

"Even if you say that, what are we supposed to..."

Donations were pouring in from all over the world! It was far too much ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠money to refuse.

"We..."

-We?

"We will do our absolute best!"

The other guild members gasped at his sudden declaration.

-Wait, what power do we have to do our best?

-I said we'd do our best, I never said we'd actually get him to turn it on! I didn't lie! I just said we'd try our best!

We will do our best! But we make no guarantees! That was the Power Warrior way!

'Perfect timing.' Having returned to the castle, Tae-hyun immediately went to check on the progress of the construction.

"How is it going?"

"The work is proceeding smoothly, Your Majesty! We are currently putting on the finishing touches."

The Underground Alliance Goblins were displaying superhuman strength. While they were aided by Archisus's Chimeras, their sheer excitement at remodeling a Demon Duke's castle was the real driving force. Combined with Tae-hyun's leadership and his Engineering bonuses, the construction speed was nothing short of miraculous!

'Oh...'

'...I did think about it a little.' Of course, a pure construction quest was highly lucrative in its own right. He could embezzle the gold received from nobles, pocket the raw materials... But once he had tasted the thrill of stealing an entire castle, he couldn't stop. He wanted to steal other castles too!

'I know, I know. I have to restrain myself.' "By the way, are the spirits alright?" Tae-hyun asked, voicing his concern. Striking a blow to Furneus and severing his contracts was a great move, but it had caused the surrounding spirits to go wild and run rampant. Although the spirits inside this castle were securely bound and monitored by the heroes... 'I still don't trust them!' Despite their incredible abilities, the heroes enjoyed zero trust from their master. It was a truly rare case.

"Yes. They were actually thrilled to be freed from their contracts. They have been eagerly waiting for Your Majesty's arrival."

"Huh? Really?"

Tae-hyun asked in bewilderment. He had fully expected the spirits here to go wild as well.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"The terrible rumors we heard about Archisus were indeed spread by those wicked demons! Those evil fiends!"

"...Of course they were!"

Yes, every single bad rumor about Archisus was entirely fabricated by the demons!

Regardless of the rabbit's reaction, the Cold Spirits were overjoyed. No matter how they looked at it, comparing Archisus to a Demon Duke made Archisus look like an absolute saint.

"If you contract with us, we will loyally guard this castle for you!"

"By the way, did you guys not experience any issues?"

"What kind of issues?"

"Well, once the contracts were severed, the other spirits outside went completely wild..."

"How could he...! That wicked Furneus! It is all because of him...!"

"We believe we were safe because we were inside the castle, Lord Archisus."

"Inside the castle?"

"Yes. This castle is protected by an incredibly powerful force. There is a potent magic source called the Frost Core on the top floor, and the grand magic emanating from it..."

"...Why are you only telling me this now?!"

"W-well, we did mention it to the goblins over there..."

Tae-hyun's head whipped around.

"Why didn't you guys say anything to me?"

"Oh, come on, Your Majesty. Don't waste your interest on garbage skills like magic. We have the glorious Engineering skill, don't we?"

"..."

"..."

The Underground Alliance Goblins had successfully silenced the Avatar, the god, and the spirits all at once! Tae-hyun felt his blood pressure spike.

"We are going to the top floor right now!"

He had avoided going up there out of fear of accidentally alerting Furneus, but if such a treasure existed, the story was entirely different. If it was powerful enough to protect the entire castle, it had to be an extraordinary magical artifact!

'It must be an item that radiates immense magical power on its own, just like the Fragment of Salabian's Soul or the Vampire's Heart!'

The Salavian Church had used that soul fragment to corrupt the royal palace, and Knema's Vampire Castle relied on that heart to keep the entire fortress operational. Since a powerful magical castle was too difficult for a single mage to run, such items were absolutely essential! There was no way he could leave an item like that behind. Tae-hyun dashed upward.

The path leading to the top floor of the castle was surprisingly deserted. Furneus had taken every single spirit with him! Seeing this, Tae-hyun clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"What an absolute idiot."

No matter how confident one was, letting one's guard down like this was unacceptable. If it were Tae-hyun, he would have littered the entire area with all kinds of traps and alarm systems. Furneus had placed too much faith in his own power. He had never anticipated that someone would sneak into his domain, bypass his curses and spirits, and climb to the very top of his castle.

The top floor of the castle was eerily quiet and completely empty. It was the exact opposite of the lower floors, which had been packed with various rooms and items!

'This is actually creepier.'Whoooooosh. In the center of the vast, empty floor floated a massive Frost Core.

The Frost Core was a dream-like item for any mage of the frost school...

'Are you out of your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mind?' Tae-hyun dismissed the quest notification without even reading it. The quest had suggested that handing over the Frost Core would earn him immense favor with the frost mages. Surrendering such a legendary item just to complete a quest? He would cry tears of blood from the sheer waste.

Tae-hyun cautiously approached the Frost Core.

'I see. So the cold blanketing this entire territory originated from this core.' He had wondered what kind of spell Furneus had used to spread a freezing curse over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the entire region, but this was the secret. With this, one could strengthen or weaken the freezing curse at will!

'Can I control it?' If he could manipulate it, nothing would be more desirable. Flying around in a castle in the sky while raining blizzards down on the lands below...

'Wow. That would be incredibly annoying.' Whether for territory wars or just ruining another kingdom's day, this castle was perfectly optimized for griefing!