The Winterkill Ruins Trap
His movement stopped at the same time.
Jang Inwi, sensing something strange, approached Durman.
Durman stood with unfocused eyes, as if he had fainted while standing.
“What’s wrong all of a sudden? What happened?”
Even when Jang Inwi grabbed his shoulder and shook him, Durman kept his dazed expression.
At that moment, light burst from the ice slab.
The bright beam was so intense that Jang Inwi had to shield his eyes with his left hand.
Suddenly, Durman began sprinting frantically toward the ice ruins.
“Hey! Where are you going all of a sudden?”
The flustered Jang Inwi chased after him.
Durman shoved open the massive entrance door of the ice ruins with all his strength.
The huge door swung open easily despite Durman’s small frame, and he disappeared inside.
Jang Inwi hesitated for a moment.
Should he follow?
An inexplicable sense of dread washed over him.
But he shook his head vigorously.
He couldn’t abandon his clan member like this.
Jang Inwi stepped into the Winterkill Ruins.
The interior was filled with pale frost and transparent ice.
A bone-chilling cold permeated the entire space.
Durman stood blankly inside.
When Jang Inwi kicked his back hard, Durman finally regained his senses.
“Aigoo! Boss. Why the sudden kick? Don’t tell me you fed your remaining arm to a monster too?”
“Fed? You don’t remember what happened?”
“What do you mean? Huh? Where is this place?”
Jang Inwi sighed and turned around, intending to leave the Winterkill Ruins immediately.
Creak.
However, the main door slammed shut.
Jang Inwi pounded on it with all his strength.
The door showed no sign of opening.
When the light seeping through the gap vanished, the interior became so dark it was impossible to see ahead.
At that moment, Durman, who had good night vision, pointed to the other side with a horrified voice.
“Boss! Look at that!”
Pale skeletons rose from the ice-covered floor.
Unlike ordinary skeletons, these were made entirely of cold ice.
Ice Stone Skeletons were far more powerful than regular undead.
Moreover, over four hundred of them had risen.
Durman chattered his teeth and shouted.
“B-Boss, w-what do we do now!”
“Is there any other way? Grab your weapon!”
Jang Inwi gritted his teeth and gripped the mace tightly with his left arm.
* * *
Iris stared at the object in her hand with curious eyes.
A transparent crystal.
Yet it was extremely cold.
What could this be?
She fiddled with the small crystal, then licked it with her tongue.
“Ah.”
Her tongue stuck to the ice.
The flustered Iris didn’t know what to do.
Even when she tried to pull it off, the pain was unbearable.
She tugged on Shanette’s sleeve with teary eyes.
Shanette gave a slightly tired smile and poured water from her canteen over it.
Only then could Iris safely remove her tongue.
She glared at the ice fragment in her hand.
“Ice is a very bad child. I don’t really want to eat it.”
“Well, that’s good news. I didn’t know you could be picky too.”
Henrik chuckled and smirked.
Shanette looked at the ice ruins ahead with a surprised expression.
“It’s really spectacular! So this is the ruins Death General Caliburn mentioned. What’s the name of these ruins? Ah, it’s written over there.”
Shanette tried to approach the slab in front of the ruins.
But Kang Yoonsoo blocked her path.
“You can’t go near that slab.”
“Why not?”
“It has an illusion spell cast on it.”
At that moment, loud noises echoed from inside the ruins.
Someone was engaged in combat.
A man’s powerful shout rang out.
“Uwaaaah-!”
It was a familiar voice.
Kang Yoonsoo slightly bit his lip.
‘This is progressing faster than expected.’
He had no experience with this route.
It would be troublesome if Jang Inwi died.
Jang Inwi was essential for the Winterkill Ruins raid.
If he died, it would greatly hinder their rapid growth and the legendary quest.
“Let’s go.”
Kang Yoonsoo’s group hurried into the Winterkill Ruins.
* * *
Ice Stone Skeletons were tricky monsters to deal with.
Their ice-formed bones didn’t break easily even when struck with weapons.
Approaching them released a chilling cold that restricted movement.
Jang Inwi raised veins on his left arm and swung the mace with all his might.
Crack-!
The Ice Stone Skeleton’s skull shattered into pieces.
However, their numbers were endless.
Durman, swinging his sword, bit his lip hard.
“Boss, it seems like this is the end for us! Thank you for everything until now!”
“If you have time to say such unlucky things, swing your weapon one more time!”
Even if they wanted to escape, the entrance was firmly locked.
The two fought desperately to create an escape route but were quickly surrounded.
The cold skeletons clacked their teeth ferociously as if starved for blood.
“Clack clack clack!”
Jang Inwi glared at the Ice Stone Skeletons with sharp eyes.
Though cornered, there was no despair in his gaze.
Instead, a far more vicious killing intent filled them.
“Tenacious Survival!”
Jang Inwi activated his unique skill.
His class was Indomitable Gladiator, a rare class he had obtained through relentless one-armed training.
As if his blood were boiling, his body heated up.
The frost clinging to him shattered against his bulging veins.
Tenacious Survival consumed life force to push combat ability beyond its limits.
Jang Inwi gripped the mace as if it would break and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Uwaaaah-!”
Even after losing his right arm to a monster, he had never given up.
He would definitely return alive!
Just as he was about to charge while letting out a battle cry, the firmly locked door creaked open.
As bright sunlight poured in, a man rushed into the ruins like lightning.
He immediately swung his sword.
Clang-!
The blade struck an empty eye socket, forcing the Ice Stone Skeleton back.
It was a movement focused on repelling rather than killing.
The Ice Stone Skeletons charged at the man.
With a surprisingly expressionless face, he activated his skill.
“Massacre Dance.”
The black sword in his hand swung fiercely.
It was bold and skilled swordsmanship.
In an instant, four Ice Stone Skeletons surrounding him were flung aside.
It was more about reading the trajectory of force and reversing it than raw power.
‘What is this?’
Jang Inwi was more surprised by the man’s calm attitude than his swordsmanship.
His demeanor was unhesitant and almost familiar when facing multiple monsters.
Above all, his doll-like indifferent gaze was striking.
The man looked toward the main door and spoke.
“Shanette.”
“Yes!”
The auburn-haired beauty ran over.
Numerous Ice Stone Skeletons approached to tear at her slender neck.
She drew the scythe from her back.
“Flame Art!”
Red flames imbued the scythe and spread fiercely around her.
An alien wall of fire rose in the ice-filled ruins.
As the high-heat flames blazed, the Ice Stone Skeletons dared not approach.
Ice and fire were inherently opposing forces.
At that moment, the middle-aged man by the door shouted.
“Hey, what are you spacing out for? If you want to live, get over here right now!”
“W-We’re saved! Thank you so much!”
Durman looked like he might cry from relief.
Jang Inwi hung the mace at his waist and rushed outside.
The main door couldn’t be opened from inside, but it could be opened from outside.
Finally, the expressionless man emerged and spoke.
“Close it.”
Iris forcefully shut the main door.
Jang Inwi thought her grip strength was incredible for a young woman.
She seemed to have invested heavily in strength stats.
Anyway, they had survived.
Though the aftereffects of Tenacious Survival still lingered, Jang Inwi bowed his head in gratitude.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I survived. I am Jang Inwi, leader of the Blood Martial Clan.”
“Aigoo. I am Durman Bar, a mercenary of the Blood Martial Clan. It was truly a narrow escape. If it’s not too rude, may I ask the names of our benefactors?”
The man spoke indifferently, true to his appearance.
“Kang Yoonsoo.”
“You seem to be from a different country. I am from Tianjin, China. Are you Korean?”
Kang Yoonsoo nodded.
The people summoned to this world weren’t only Koreans.
Foreigners could communicate thanks to the Terminal’s effect.
The other companions also introduced themselves.
Henrik spoke as if surprised.
“A one-armed guy is the clan leader? That’s interesting.”
“Henrik.”
Shanette elbowed him hard in the chest.
For a moment, his face turned pale as he struggled to breathe.
“This bastard…… Why all of a sudden, you punk!”