Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Midgard's Sudden Blizzard
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Midgard was hit by an unexpected heavy snowfall.
The thick clumps of snow began to pile up in the blink of an eye, deep enough to swallow ankles.
Bergelmir's severed hand turned into snow and fell from the sky. Captivated by this mystical and rare phenomenon, Suhyuk stared blankly at the falling snow, his mind adrift for a moment.
'It was one strike.'
He glanced sideways, and beads of sweat dotted Tyr's face.
It seemed it hadn't been a casual swing.
Even so, slicing off a hand that massive with a single strike was astonishing.
This trial had been full of incomprehensible events.
The progenitor of the frost giants broke free from its seal, only for a god named Tyr to sever it with one strike. And now, it was turning into snow and falling as a blizzard...
"Bergelmir was Midgard's winter,"
Viola said. Suhyuk looked down at her.
Having finished staunching the bleeding, assuming it was all over, she smiled brightly.
"Now winter will be a little warmer."
"You say that looking at this snow?"
"It's always warmer after the snow falls."
Setting aside the cryptic words, one thing was clear from what she said.
Midgard's winter had come into being because Bergelmir had been sealed here. That was the power of the eldest frost giant.
But Suhyuk's interest lay elsewhere, not on Bergelmir.
"That old man..."
It was the identity of Tyr, who had severed Bergelmir's hand with a single strike.
"Must be one hell of a god."
Fire rained down from the sky.
Black smoke billowed upward, forming clouds, and flames swiftly engulfed the entire mountain.
Roar, crackle, pop—.
Whoosh—.
The fire demon devoured the land. Cheongryang had to struggle endlessly just to evade the inferno.
'Sword and magic both at the master's realm...'
Facing the hellscape before her, Cheongryang broke into a cold sweat.
"Reputation doesn't lie."
Reinhardt's skill was just as expected.
In an instant, he summoned fire rain from the heavens, turned the mountain to ash, and split a cliff with a single slash.
Sword and magic, both at the pinnacle of mastery, combined with the ingenuity to wield them seamlessly in battle.
Watching this, she wondered if the ridiculous moniker "One-Sword Left" was really deserved.
'Will she be okay?'
Unhyang and Reinhardt were still locked in combat.
For now, it was evenly matched.
Dodging cascading spells, parrying blades by a hair's breadth. She even managed counterattacks, holding her own against Reinhardt.
'Did she train alone in the meantime?'
Cheongryang knew Unhyang was a genius. The whole world knew it.
Her nickname during her active days had literally been "Genius."
But even so, she never imagined Unhyang could trade blows like this with Reinhardt.
Of course.
Even geniuses had their limits.
Ssssk—.
A long gash tore across Unhyang's waist. A bluish chill followed, freezing her solid.
Slash—.
Unhyang cleaved the ice in half to escape, then stepped on thin air to create distance.
"Air-stepping? You've picked up quite the bag of tricks."
Unhyang wiped the splatter of blood from her waist to her face with the back of her hand. Her eyes gradually turned red at the sight.
"I see where your confidence comes from now. I remember. The Murim genius who vanished years ago—you're her, aren't you?"
"That important to you?"
"I have a slight connection to the lord of Shinryeon Castle. He was looking for a genius."
"...Connection?"
Ripples spread across Unhyang's face like a stone dropped in a pond. Shinryeon Castle. She never dreamed she'd hear that name here.
"Why? Why is a player of your caliber playing manager? It doesn't make sense."
"Old man."
"...Old man?"
"One question. This 'connection'—is it fate? Or bad blood?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Reinhardt took a moment to gauge her intent.
"Answer me."
"If I had to pick, it's not a bad one. I made him a magic scroll as a favor."
Unhyang's lips quivered.
She fought a throbbing headache from memories she wanted to bury and pressed on.
"What kind of scroll?"
"A curse spell that amplifies pain. For torture, he said."
Unhyang bowed her head at Reinhardt's quizzical look, as if wondering why it mattered.
"...It wasn't for torture."
"What?"
"It was training. To endure pain."
With that, Unhyang squeezed her eyes shut.
Don't think about it. Don't remember.
When she opened them again, Reinhardt filled her vision.
"It was bad blood from the start."
Beyond the link named Lee Soo-hyuk.
Now she had one more reason to kill him.
"Between you and me."
Fwoosh, fizzle—.
Fizzle—.
The flames engulfing the forest began to flicker.
Like candles in a gale, they swiftly lost power and died out one by one.
"...?"
Sensing something off in the sudden change, Reinhardt furrowed his brow.
What was this? This ominous feeling.
No precursor, no skill activation—yet the flames he'd summoned were extinguishing.
Resentment welled up.
It felt like losing if the fire went out.
'Annoying.'
Snap—.
Reinhardt lightly flicked his fingers.
That alone should reignite the inferno around him.
But for some reason.
Sizzle—.
The spark failed, fizzling out weakly.
"It wouldn't have come without a price. That thing is forbidden to create."
Unhyang's voice echoed from all directions.
The flames vanished completely. In their place, thick darkness settled.
Within it, Reinhardt felt an eerie chill.
As if something lurked, ready to sink fangs into his neck like a beast.
The ominous aura became tangible, visible to the eye.
Through Unhyang.
"What was the price? Honor to gild your pretty face? Points? Which was it?"
'That's...'
Reinhardt's eyes widened as Unhyang's aura took form.
A dark crimson energy cloaked her like armor.
It looked like a demon possessing and puppeteering a human.
'No way.'
The thought flashed through his mind, but he shook his head.
Impossible.
If he had an apprentice, it wouldn't be secret. It would be a storm shaking this tower.
Besides, she was from Shinryeon Castle.
It had to be.
Gulp—.
Otherwise.
He'd be a dead man right now.
"Could it be that...?"
"Don't even think it."
Unhyang cut him off sharply.
"And don't harbor any hope."
Her resonant voice now had a clear direction.
Reinhardt's head turned. It came from right by his ear.
Drip—.
A blade pressed to his throat.
Her sword dug into his neck.
"Answer before I rip out your tongue and sever your limbs. Then you can die cleanly."
In that moment, Reinhardt knew.
Why Uncheon-geuk of Shinryeon Castle had so desperately sought Unhyang, despite her unleashing something that felt like iron instead of blood.
And that he was about to die.
"Learning magic costs a fortune."
That was answer enough.
Before death, Reinhardt voiced his final curiosity.
"And you, how did you become a gen—"
Slash—.
But.
Before the question finished, let alone an answer, his throat failed him.
Thud. His head fell limply.
As it all ended, the enveloping darkness lifted. Feeling strength drain from her body, Unhyang collapsed to the ground.
Not from exhaustion.
No matter how resolute, she had crossed a line she shouldn't have.
Shiver, tremble—.
Her hands, shoulders, whole body shook like leaves in the wind.
As she curled up to calm her unruly body.
"You won, which is good, but I can't praise you for it."
A voice stopped her trembling, if only a little.
Unhyang paused her huddling and looked up. Cheongryang stood there, barely hiding her shock.
"Are you insane? You said you'd never use it, even on pain of death. And this wasn't even your fight!"
"It... was my fight."
"Then why are you shaking?"
"You wouldn't?"
Cheongryang had no retort.
No one knew better than her how long Unhyang had endured.
The power she'd just used to kill Reinhardt was her forbidden reverse scale—something she swore never to touch.
Finally, unable to hide her pity, Cheongryang spoke.
"If you start using this, that old man will never let you go."
The darkness that swallowed the forest flames.
That was why Shinryeon Castle and Uncheon-geuk wanted her.
To avoid this, she'd sealed it herself, denying them what they craved.
No.
Even without that, it would be the same.
She despised everything she'd learned in Shinryeon Castle.
"And besides..."
"Ryang-ah."
Cheongryang stopped at the voice soft enough to melt her ears.
She wanted to keep nagging out of frustration, but she knew.
"I know everything."
She knew it best of all.
Probably ten, a hundred times better than Cheongryang.
"But now I can't just keep running forever."
Shinryeon Castle had found them.
They were too vast to fight with just Unhyang's power; she was too weak and insignificant.
Sometimes Cheongryang wondered.
Was this power really something Unhyang learned in Shinryeon Castle?
A question she'd had hundreds of times, but never voiced.
Because she knew Unhyang hated it most.
"...Because of me?"
So this time, too, she asked something else.
It felt like everything was her fault, unbearable to leave unsaid.
But.
"Ryang-ah."
"Yeah?"
"Let's watch the stream first."
Unhyang's out-of-left-field remark left Cheongryang speechless in absurdity.
Unsure how to react, she opened and closed her mouth before asking.
"You want to watch a stream right now?"
"Yeah."
"If you're dodging, at least do it—"
That was when.
He noticed her body trembling faintly.
She was desperately pressing her shoulders to suppress it.
"Especially now, I want to watch."
"...Always like this."
Sighing in defeat, Cheongryang pulled out her kit and tuned into Lee Soo-hyuk's stream.
Truth be told, she vaguely knew.
Why Unhyang was so fixated on this streamer, Lee Soo-hyuk.
Yeah. She was right.
Now more than ever, she needed his stream.
His existence had been her hope for decades.