Chapter 336
Chapter 336
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 336
Chapter Title: A Midwinter's Night (7)
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As the Ice Queen pondered Jocre's words, she leaned forward slightly and looked down at him.
“Do you also wish to become stronger?”
Jocre, failing to grasp the Ice Queen's intent, blinked blankly.
The legendary woman before him was a mage so powerful that even the kingdom couldn't handle her. Wasn't that why she was exiled to a place like this?
But right now, survival was the priority. Getting caught in a leading question and upsetting the Queen would be disastrous.
“I want to become stronger!”
Vivian suddenly shouted.
Jocre turned to her, his face a mask of horror.
*This fool!*
Could she still be drunk?
Of course, he understood how she felt.
How long had she been tormented by a lifetime of frustration?
If a god were to suddenly appear and offer to grant a wish, people in their line of work would forsure wealth, fame, and even a lifelong partner, all for the sake of magic.
But the timing was terrible.
What could they possibly expect from a woman who had not only frozen everything around her but had also imprisoned herself in ice?
Perhaps the situation was just too surreal.
That might be why her personal philosophy—that life was a stage—was kicking in.
Oblivious to Jocre's inner turmoil, Vivian looked up at the Ice Queen with pleading eyes.
Even if this turned out to be a trap, she knew it was an opportunity that didn't come to just anyone.
“Please teach me, Your Majesty. Teach me magic!”
A wave of sorrow washed over her, and the suppressed effects of the alcohol surged all at once.
Yet, her mind was clearer than it had ever been in her life.
The Ice Queen silently raised her hand.
The information she acquired as Optress was now stored in a space called memory.
Furthermore, because she was born of herself, she perceived the rules of this world as pure information, and thus, she could control them.
A wave of Law.
A wind so powerful it created concentric circles in the atmosphere spread out.
But Jocre and his companions felt no wind. They only realized that something that constituted their very being had changed.
Jocre and the others looked at their own hands, their bodies trembling in disbelief.
The world they perceived was completely different from a moment ago.
The Ice Queen spoke indifferently.
“Is this the Law you desire?”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Jocre couldn't even answer, simply nodding his head again and again.
You cannot feel it, nor can you realize it. Not until the moment arrives.
But you will surely feel it and realize it. When that moment comes.
Such was the change in the Law.
*‘No way. How is this possible?’*
Jocre clenched his fists.
Vivian had been right.
Today's events were the greatest and most perfect reversal that could ever happen in his life.
Wave of Law (1)
The next morning.
Shirone and Amy were touring the dungeons of an old castle ruin.
Worn down and collapsed by the passage of time, it was now half-exposed above ground.
The history of magic was long, but its academic definition was a relatively recent development. Eight hundred years ago, with little consideration for omniscience, magic was mostly primordial.
The Holy Order's power was particularly formidable back then, and it was a time when the foundations of modern divine magic were being established.
Consequently, mages were persecuted.
Abilities that did not borrow the name of God were considered the work of demons, and countless mages were abandoned by their own families.
The two entered the dungeon where mages were said to have been captured and tortured.
Standing before a rack, a device used to stretch the spine after binding the limbs, Shirone shivered.
“Ugh, how could anyone think of a tool like this? It must have been excruciating.”
“It must have been hard for the mages, too. Magic isn't something you can do just because you want to. It’s a blessed talent now, but back then, it must have been like a curse.”
Shirone and Amy left the underground dungeon.
As they climbed the stairs leading to the surface, they saw everyone looking up at the sky. Massive dark clouds were rolling in from the distance.
Winter in the Les Mountains was famous for its clear weather, as the westerlies rose over the mountain range, creating a high-pressure system.
Although localized low-pressure systems occasionally brought snow, even the yearly winter festival-goers had never seen such thick, dark clouds gather.
“What's that? It doesn't look like it's going to rain.”
The wind wasn't strong. And yet, the dark clouds approached with the speed of smoke, covering the sky.
The temperature began to drop rapidly.
A cold wave so intense that even people dressed in thick layers could feel the chill swept through, and a sense of unease finally appeared on the tourists' faces.
“Wh-What? Has the weather gone mad?”
Shirone and Amy also pulled their collars tight, watching the situation unfold.
The temperature drop was too abnormal to be a simple whim of the weather.
“Amy, something's wrong. The temperature can't fall this quickly under natural conditions.”
“I know. It’s almost like… magic?”
A clap of thunder erupted from the Ice Queen's castle. Immediately following it, a powerful wave surged forth, pushing aside the dark clouds as it raced outward.
The very fabric of the atmosphere seemed to fold along its grain.
“Watch out!”
Shirone stepped in front of Amy.
There was no time to evade. The rapidly approaching wave was sweeping through the outer edges of the crowd, closing in on them.
“Move!”
A woman in martial attire stood before Shirone and Amy.
It was the Spirit Master, Liria.
Her fingers moved swiftly, forming hand seals.
The three fundamental seals of exorcism—Prohibition, Reversal, and Shatter—were formed in a fluid, continuous motion, creating a barrier of Law.
The moment the powerful wave swept over them, a shockwave exploded with a bang right before Liria’s eyes.
“Agh!”
Liria’s body was flung backward like a cannonball.
All the tourists turned to look at her. The wave had passed over them, but she was the only one who seemed to have been physically impacted.
“Wh-What? What’s happening?”
Liria tumbled and rolled across the ground.
Dante appeared, cutting across the crowd and lowering his stance. He caught her precisely with his chest.
“Are you okay?”
Leaning against Dante, Liria bit her lip. She had performed countless exorcisms, but she had never encountered a spiritual entity that wielded such a powerful Law.
Shirone and Amy spotted Dante and ran over.
They had a gut feeling that Dante's companion had just protected them from something.
“Dante, what's going on? What happened?”
Dante deferred his answer and helped Liria to her feet.
Unlike magic, the Law had no physical impact. It was up to Liria to say whether Shirone and Amy were unharmed.
“How did it go? Did you succeed?”
“It was a close call. What about you?”
The wave of Law had spread too quickly for Liria to protect both locations. No matter how skilled a mage was, it was impossible to block a Law without mastering the wills of Prohibition, Reversal, and Shatter.
Dante took out the totem hanging around his neck.
“Thanks to this.”
A pendant shaped like a monster's face hung from a cord woven from birch bark.
Though it looked fearsome, it was a guardian deity that chased away evil spirits.
A diagonal crack ran across the guardian's forehead, a wound sustained from exposure to the wave of Law.
As he held it in his palm, it finally gave way, splitting in two with a sharp crack.
Dante held out the broken totem with an awkward expression.
“You said this was one of a kind, right? Sorry.”
Liria shook her head firmly.
“Don't be sorry. That’s what totems are for. It just means the Law was powerful enough to break a Rakshasa. We’re lucky we blocked it at all.”
Shirone couldn't understand their conversation. Seeing how serious the situation looked, he interjected.
“Dante, what's going on?”
Liria answered.
“You were lucky. You two should be fine.”
Amy, looking frustrated, shot back.
“Fine from what, exactly?”
Liria looked back and forth between Shirone and Amy.
It was predictable that a spiritual entity that had gained a self would alter the surrounding Law for its own survival. In that situation, Liria could only save two or three people from the Law in that split second.
There were hundreds of people gathered here alone.
And among them, there were surely some who possessed the abilities needed for this exorcism.
Was it the right choice?
She couldn't predict the consequences of abandoning all of them to protect a couple not even twenty years old.
“Dante, who are these kids? I didn't agree to help just to save your friends.”
Dante glanced back at the Ice Queen's castle and said.
“I told you I was second place.”
“Second place? Second in what?”
Dante squinted one eye.
He had learned over the course of one night that Liria was remarkably slow on the uptake.
He didn't want to explain at length. What would he gain from a long, drawn-out story?
“He's number one. Kingdom's number one.”
Liria turned to Shirone with a surprised expression.
The reason she, not yet a professional, had formed an alliance with Dante was because he was known throughout the kingdom as an exceptionally skilled practitioner.
Spirit Masters didn't have a competitive system like mages, so hearing he was "second place" hadn't made much of an impression.
How many people were in the kingdom? What did it matter if someone was first or second?
Being second simply meant he was an excellent student.
But here he was.
The fact that the first and second in the entire kingdom were in the same place was a shock to her.
*‘This boy really beat Dante?’*
He had a kind face. Aside from the life in his eyes, he showed none of the aura one would expect from the nation's top student.
She had personally experienced Dante's skills at dawn yesterday.
His combat responsiveness, judgment, and outstanding abilities were comparable to those of a professional.
Frankly, as a Spirit Master, she couldn't even imagine a level of skill that surpassed his.
Dante pointed toward the Ice Queen's castle and said.
“Here she comes. Shirone, Amy, get ready. You probably won't understand, but you should stay on your toes.”
A woman wearing a dress identical to the Ice Queen's was flying across the sky toward them.
“Is-Is that the Ice Queen?”
Reaching the space above them, the Ice Queen slowly descended to the ground.
A light flashed in the distance, and a streak of spatial teleportation warped through the air, crashing down beside her.
Amy's eyes widened.
“Jocre? Why are you…?”
Jocre sneered and prostrated himself behind the Ice Queen. Rudvan and Vivian landed next.
No one understood the situation.
While Shirone and Amy at least felt a sense of crisis, the tourists seemed to relax, some even smiling.
“Haha! It’s the real Ice Queen! Is this some kind of event?”
“Wow, she looks just like her! How did they find a mage who looks so identical?”
It was only natural to assume it was part of the festival.
Otherwise, why would the Ice Queen be walking around right in front of them?
Had Shirone not seen the shockwave explode before Liria's eyes, he too would have thought the organizers were putting on a show.
As the Ice Queen stepped toward the crowd, the tourists clapped and cheered.
The winter festival was held every year, but this year's special event was, in their opinion, quite novel.
To think of resurrecting the legendary Ice Queen.
Even the wax figure of the Ice Queen had garnered countless fans for its beauty. But the woman playing the role was so beautiful she couldn't even be compared to the wax doll.
Such was the radiant power of life itself.
“Whew! Your Majesty! Can I shake your hand just once?”
A pot-bellied man smiled sheepishly and extended his hand, only for the person next to him to stop him as if scolding a child.
“Hey, how impudent. You might get frozen, you know.”
The crowd burst into laughter. No one realized this was a real situation.
Amidst the jokes, the Ice Queen simply walked on with an impassive face.
Liria maintained her hand seals, watching the Ice Queen's every move.
*‘What is it? What Law did she tamper with?’*
The wave of Law had altered the Law of everyone present, except for Shirone's group.
Nothing specific had happened yet, but judging by the wave's power, the change must have been immense.