Chapter 243: King of the Dead Subjugation (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 243: King of the Dead Subjugation (7)
Whoosh!
Crash!
Isabel Silverwolf swung her silver greataxe, Farahorn, in a relentless barrage, aiming for the neck of the Mangled Qilin Molikarth.
As the Qilin violently thrashed its head, Isabel was flung away, hurtling into the sky. She didn't panic; instead, she grinned and conjured a massive shard of ice with a jagged, lethal point.
Using the ice as a foothold, she kicked off, plummeting toward the Mangled Qilin at terminal velocity.
“It’s over!”
With Farahorn’s blade wreathed in [Frostfire], Isabel poured every ounce of her strength into a downward cleave.
Kwaaaaaaaah!
A beam of pale blue light pierced through the Qilin’s neck and slammed into the earth. Following the trajectory of the strike, the creature's long neck—harder than tempered steel—split clean in two.
Boom!
Successive masses of ice rained down, crushing the Qilin’s remains. Its decapitated body collapsed, slamming into the dirt with a heavy thud.
Landing firmly, Isabel slung Farahorn over her shoulder and flashed a victorious smile. With her triumphant roar, the Qilin died its second and final death.
*
Meanwhile, in the wilderness of the Zelver Empire.
The air was filled with the whistle of the Vorpal Sword cutting through the wind, the thunderous booms of dark magic, and the guttural roars of corpse warriors.
Amidst the chaos, Calgart the Necromancer, currently locked in a stalemate with Isaac, instinctively sensed that both the Evil Dragon and the Qilin had been vanquished.
— You’ve been too focused on me.
Isaac’s earlier words flashed through his mind.
Mephisto had warned him that Isaac possessed an inexplicable ability to foresee the demons’ plans. Could he truly see the future? If so, he was a being bordering on transcendence.
Yet, even a man of his caliber wasn't blinded by his own power. From the start, Isaac had accepted his own limitations and placed his trust in his companions.
[How intriguing…]
Calgart’s lips curled into a twisted grin.
Vrooooom!
Dark mana erupted from the Necromancer. Dozens of magic circles deployed in an instant, glowing with a sickly blackish-green light. Alice felt the sudden surge of overwhelming mana and flinched.
The King of the Dead’s eyes burned with a dark green haze. As he raised his staff, the magic stone at its crown pulsed with sinister energy.
Rumble!
The earth groaned and split open. Alice used her telekinesis to propel herself backward, putting distance between her and the tremors.
The earthquake intensified. As the fissures widened, a creature wreathed in blackish-green mana clawed its way out of the depths, thrusting its massive upper body into the air.
Half of the nearby undead army flew toward the emerging creature, their rotting flesh melting and fusing onto its frame to form a body. Gradually, the monstrosity took shape, fueled by the flow of dark mana.
Its face was a hollow, terrifying skull.
[Hahaha!]
It let out a grotesque, rasping laugh as it loomed over Isaac.
[Heksek the White Skull]
Lv: 180
Species: Demon
Elements: Dark, Revival
Danger Level: Highest
Psychology: [ - ]
Heksek the White Skull.
He was Calgart’s primary minion and the final boss of 「Act 10, King of the Dead」 in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱. He was a demon capable of near-instant regeneration regardless of the injury, so long as his master’s mana sustained him. He was a mindless puppet that followed orders without question.
Though only his upper body protruded from the earth, his ability to elongate his limbs gave him a devastating attack range.
Isaac had been waiting for the experience-rich Heksek. He had used Alice to thin the undead ranks and provoked Calgart specifically to draw this creature out.
Now, it was time for him to take the stage.
“Alice, step back.”
Alice obeyed immediately, retreating to stand beside the ice chair.
“Before you die, let me ask you one thing,” Isaac said, addressing Calgart. “Where is Mephisto?”
[I have nothing to tell you.]
It sounded like a defiant refusal, but through [Psychological Insight], Isaac realized Calgart was telling the literal truth. Mephisto had sensed Isaac’s pursuit and fled without revealing his hiding place even to his own subordinates.
It was a calculated, cowardly move.
“…Useless,” Isaac sighed.
[You should worry about yourself first. Attack!] Calgart commanded.
The undead warriors roared, their teeth chattering as they charged. Heksek the White Skull let out a bone-chilling cry, winding up a massive arm wreathed in blackish-green flames.
Whirrr!
At that moment, the true weight of Isaac’s 9-star passive skill, [Ice Sovereign], manifested.
A soft, pale blue light emanated from Isaac’s right eye. From the point where his foot touched the ground, pristine ice crystals began to bloom. A plague of frost surged outward, infecting the very mana in the air, enveloping the battlefield in a frozen quarantine.
From the periphery, Vuel watched the scene and felt the sudden shift in the atmosphere.
[Run.]
[What…?]
Vuel urgently reverse-summoned his subordinates. He tried to flee, but an impenetrable wall of frost had already risen, sealing his path.
Domain Expansion.
Isaac fused the power stolen from the Abyss into the [Divine Sanctum of Blooming Frost], weaving a new, inescapable labyrinth.
A brilliant light blinded everyone present.
Chararak!
When the light faded, the sound of freezing air heralded a transformed world. The advancing undead soldiers faltered, looking around in confusion.
[Where… where are we?] Calgart couldn't hide his shock.
They stood within a dim, eternal prison that stretched into infinity. Beautiful, jagged masses of ice lay scattered in a harmonious yet chaotic disarray. The distant sky was paved with dazzling ice mirrors, and the ground beneath them glowed with strange, ancient patterns.
The very concept of distance felt warped.
In the distance, a massive glacier rose to form the shape of a palace. Above it, a star of ice radiated a cold, brilliant light. Mysterious crystals revolved around a single, central ice throne. The path leading to it was a steep, shimmering road—a symbol of the hardship required to reach the peak.
At the end of that path, sitting upon the throne with his chin resting on his fist, Isaac looked down at Calgart with utter indifference.
He was the Ice Sovereign.
A blue aura pulsed around him, and behind him, a magnificent white dragon let out a silent roar.
Spatial creation. Domain reconstruction. An endless labyrinth.
This was the 8-star spatial creation magic, [Timeless Palace of the Glacial Realm], born from the evolution of [Divine Sanctum of Blooming Frost].
Howling winds, sharp as blades, tore through the air. A churning blizzard began to consume the corpse soldiers. Their bodies froze mid-stride, yet they continued to shuffle toward Isaac, driven by Calgart’s will.
Despite their numbers, the undead army looked like mere insects before the majesty of a king.
Calgart was in disbelief. This wasn't spatial magic a human should be capable of. Only the highest-ranking demons, the "Om," could touch this level of power. Then, a chilling thought struck him: even an "Om" had been slain by this man.
Some things had to be seen to be believed.
[No… have you already surpassed the limits of humanity?]
The overwhelming dignity of the Ice Sovereign forced even Calgart to feel a sense of primal awe.
Isaac’s own allies—Alice and the Jabberwock—were shielded by a [Frost Barrier]. Even they couldn't withstand the sheer intensity of the cold Isaac was emitting. Only the Frost Dragon, Hilde, who shared Isaac’s power, remained unaffected.
“So, you were here too,” Isaac murmured.
Before deploying the [Timeless Palace of the Glacial Realm], he had scanned the area with [Clairvoyance] to ensure no innocents were caught in the crossfire. In doing so, he had spotted Vuel the Treacherous and his subordinates lurking in the distance.
Though they hadn't clashed yet and Vuel possessed the blessing of immortality, Isaac knew they were destined to be enemies. He had intentionally trapped Vuel within the domain.
Vuel, sensing the weight of that [Clairvoyance] gaze, understood the message. Isaac was issuing a preemptive warning.
[Wonderful…] Vuel mused, a slight smile playing on his lips.
He realized Isaac harbored clear hostility toward him.
[Unless he’s just treating me like a stray dog he needs to lock up…]
Is this a warning?
Heavenly beings were bound by a treaty restricting their interference in the human realm. Most had no interest in the world below; whether it perished or thrived was irrelevant to them. But Vuel had a purpose. To achieve it, he had broken the treaty and infiltrated this world in secret.
The Ice Sovereign was clearly intent on making him pay the price. Vuel watched the man on the throne with newfound respect.
Meanwhile, Calgart’s anxiety peaked. The cold was beginning to seep into his very soul.
Isaac began to chant. Behind him, pale blue magic circles unfolded in an endless sequence, clicking together like the gears of a cosmic machine. They merged into a massive, singular arc that encompassed the entire horizon.
“I knew you were trying to kill me.”
The magic circle of absolute annihilation. The ultimate technique that the Primordial Ice Sovereign had spent a lifetime perfecting appeared before Calgart’s eyes.
“Did you truly think that was possible?”
Isaac’s calm question sent a shiver down Calgart’s spine. Isaac raised his index finger. Frigid mana swirled and condensed above his fingertip, forming a small, dense sphere.
He did it effortlessly.
An unimaginable volume of mana compressed into a majestic orb.
Koooooooooooo!
The air itself shuddered. If not for the [Timeless Palace of the Glacial Realm] containing the pressure, the entire world would have screamed under the weight of this cold.
A beautifully shining, frozen sun.
The ultimate ice spell, [Cocytus]—the manifestation of a frozen hell—hovered on the tip of his finger. It wasn't even at the full power he had used against the Abyss, but it was more than enough to erase Calgart’s army.
As the swarm of undead charged across the labyrinth, Calgart realized the futility of it all. It was like ants charging an elephant. No—even ants would have had a better chance.
[Ice Sovereign…] Calgart whispered, a final doubt surfacing. [What exactly are you?]
It was a desperate, abstract question. Isaac’s answer was firm.
“Your enemy.”
That was the only truth Calgart needed to know.
The Necromancer closed his eyes for a brief second, gathered his resolve, and then glared back at Isaac. This was beyond any norm, beyond any logic.
[I acknowledge it. You are a worthy foe… one for whom I would give my life a thousand times over!]
Calgart unleashed everything.
The charging soldiers hurled spears imbued with dark mana. The wizards behind him deployed every circle they had. Heksek the White Skull lunged, swinging its massive, flaming arm. Together, they cast a colossal dark spell designed to devour everything in its path.
Kaaaaaaaaaaaah!
“…”
None of it reached him.
Chaaaarr!
Whoooosh!
The oppressive cold radiating from Isaac and [Cocytus] froze the very air, neutralizing every attack before it could get close. The mana was so dense it seized the physical force of the projectiles, shattering them into dust. Heksek’s arm froze instantly upon entry and crumbled into frozen shards.
Calgart’s eyes widened. His ultimate effort was a joke in the face of this power.
“Now, it’s my turn.”
Isaac’s tone was detached, almost bored. He lightly flicked his finger.
The frozen sun left his fingertip and began its slow, graceful descent toward Calgart and his army.
A dazzling, blinding radiance. The chill of absolute zero pierced through their bodies. Suddenly, Calgart felt a strange, smoldering warmth rising in his chest—the final sensation of a body being utterly consumed by frost.
The sight was terrifying, yet captivating. It was an irresistible apocalypse.
For the first time, the King of the Dead felt the true fear of death.
Boom.
The frozen sun touched the ground.
A flash of white light erased the world. For a heartbeat, time itself seemed to freeze solid.
Boom!
An immense explosion of absolute cold swept through the labyrinth, leaving nothing but silence in its wake.