Blades of the Frozen Tempest
“Your typhoon won't work on me!”
Kusan was brimming with confidence.
He'd already taken a typhoon head-on once before.
Wind alone couldn't pierce his hide, he was certain.
That arrogance was his fatal mistake.
Kwaaaaa!
The moment the storm touched him,
the sneer on Kusan's lips froze solid.
“……?!”
This wasn't ordinary wind.
Countless minuscule ice blades swirled within the vortex, visible to the naked eye.
Srck! Srrk!
“Grahhh!”
A scream erupted.
His steel-tough hide sliced open like tofu.
Flesh sprayed before it could even scatter, freezing and shattering.
Vmmm!
The Mythic-grade ring on his left hand, Heart of Frost, pulsed wildly.
Cold damage +50%
That insane buff poured oil on the Gale of Annihilation.
“M-my body……!”
Kusan thrashed to escape.
But his feet wouldn't budge.
The ring's special effect, Waves of Freezing, had pierced his status resistance and locked his joints in ice.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't block.
'Grind.'
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!
The gray storm swallowed him whole.
Even the sound of bones grinding was drowned by the wind.
A moment later.
Whoooosh.
The storm died down.
Nothing remained in the plaza's center.
Neither Kusan nor his spear.
Only white-frozen blood flakes drifted like snow.
“Hah, huff……”
I staggered.
Mana had hit rock bottom.
An Ancient-grade authority.
Its power was undeniable, but sustaining it was poison.
To empty my mana pool in just ten seconds or so.
But the payoff was sweet.
Ding!
Overwhelming gap overcome!
Astonishing feat!
Even the System marveled at the victory.
Reward notifications flooded my vision.
Combat results: Rolling dice (1~100)
100!
Congratulations! 'Lucky Dice' activated!
Roll once more and add to previous result!
Rolling Lucky Dice...
100!
Total: 200!
Limit break reward granted!
'200!'
An insane number.
Light poured down.
A pair of black leather boots dropped from thin air.
Shoes embroidered with bizarre patterns in red thread.
I rubbed my eyes at the sight.
◈ Durability: Infinite (Indestructible)
◈ Equip Req: All Stats 400+
◈ Base Effect: All Stats +150
◈ Special (1): Swiftness. Movement speed +100%.
◈ Special (2): Water Strider. Run on water.
……A piece of the Heavenly Demon set added.
I'd never dreamed I'd get it here.
A miraculous gift from the Lucky Dice.
And right on cue, my level up met the equip requirements.
On top of that.
Set Effect (1/5) → (2/5) updated.
'Heavenly Demon Divine Art' activated!
Shiver.
A thrill ran through me.
The Heavenly Demon gear existed before my regression too.
Each piece discovered sparked bloodbaths.
Nations clashed, giant guilds crumbled overnight.
Even the world’s top 10 powerhouses barely owned one piece each.
Yet now,
I held two.
Unprecedented in history.
Vmmm!
The armor and shoes resonated.
Black haze enveloped me.
This wasn’t mere stat boost.
Visions appeared before my eyes.
A man practicing martial arts alone in pitch darkness.
The afterimage of the Heavenly Demon.
He threw a punch.
Swing a sword, stepped forward.
Universes folded into simple motions.
'……Martial arts.'
Knowledge flooded my mind.
Enlightenment flashed.
'This is a lesson.'
I replayed the fight with Kusan.
It had been grueling.
The authority overwhelmed, but the risks were huge.
Mana drain was extreme, and cooldowns left openings.
If Kusan had broken through that storm to reach me?
I’d be dead.
'Mage’s limits.'
I was a textbook mage.
Keep distance, pour firepower like a turret.
That’s why I couldn’t wield Avriel properly.
The supreme holy sword treated like a thrown weapon from afar.
Because I didn’t know how to grip a sword.
Because I shunned close combat.
'Wrong.'
That way, I couldn’t kill gods.
Guys like Kusan—or faster—would close in.
I had to change.
Become a mage and a warrior.
'Break the mold.'
Shatter it. Escape it.
Mastering Heavenly Demon Divine Art changed everything.
Close and far range.
Magic and martial arts.
I could become a monster encompassing all.
I clenched my fist.
Turned my head.
“……”
Seria stood there.
Staring blankly at me.
Awe.
Overwhelming fear and respect mingled in her eyes.
The power that erased Kusan in one blow.
And the Heavenly Demon aura now emanating from me.
But no time for sentiment.
Flames still raged on the altar.
Elves’ screams echoed in my ears.
“Seria.”
I called her name.
She snapped out of it.
“Y-yes! Master!”
“Sightseeing later.”
I nodded toward the plaza.
“Go save them. Your kin.”
“……!”
Seria’s eyes widened.
She looked at the altar.
Then back at me.
“May I…… really go?”
“I permit it.”
I turned away.
“I’ll handle cleanup. You do your job.”
Seria bit her lip.
Bowed deeply.
“Thank you……!”
Pop!
She dashed off without hesitation.
I smirked at her resolute back.
Then faced forward again.
Kusan was dead.
Gatekeeper gone.
One left.
This territory’s master.
The Frost God, Cryos.
He couldn’t miss this commotion.
He’d notice soon.
If he learned Kusan died, he might show himself.
Full confrontation meant certain loss.
Even with divinity from the tower, as fellow low-tier gods, our levels weren’t equal yet.
He was a monster who’d piled up godhood for ages.
I’d barely taken one gatekeeper.
Wrap up fast and bounce.
Clang! Chclang!
Seria leaped onto the altar.
Her hands flew.
Iron chains snapped.
Soot-blackened kin tumbled down.
“Wake up! Everyone, get up!”
Seria wailed.
Her voice refocused the elves’ dazed eyes.
More dead than alive among them.
But survivors lifted heads desperately.
Their gazes locked on Seria.
“……Se-Seria?”
An elder with a burned, blistered face reached out a trembling hand.
The tribe’s elder.
“Is it really you? You’re alive.”
“Elder……”
Seria supported him.
Tears welled in the elder’s eyes.
Wrath.
“Why…… why did you return?”
He beat his chest.
“We waited. For you to return as a god.”
“What do you……”
“We made a deal with the Frost God. We’d offer ourselves as tribute for nectar, and he’d make you a god with that power! Only then could we reclaim our stolen land!”
Seria’s face crumbled.
A lie.
A blatant lie.
Cryos just planned to use them as fuel and discard.
The tribe believed it and sacrificed themselves.
For me.
To make me a god.
“Ahh……”
Seria collapsed to the ground.
Guilt choked her.
I grabbed her shoulder.
“Stand.”
Firmly.
“No time for tears.”
Not the moment for emotions.
I surveyed the surviving Frost Tribe.
Dozens at most.
Kids and women crept out from plaza corners, behind rubble.
Barely a hundred total.
Despair filled their eyes.
I stated flatly.
“Your land is gone.”
Elves stared.
“Stay here, you’re just tribute.”
“Then where do we go?”
The elder snarled.
I pointed to God's Tower.
“I’ll give you new land.”
“……?”
“No cold, pain, or exploitation. You can start over there.”
I extended my hand.
“Choose. Die like dogs here, or follow me and rise again.”
Elves murmured.
Doubtful.
Natural.
Betrayed by a god, turned to tribute.
Trusting another wouldn’t be easy.
Then Seria stood.
Wiped her tears.
Stepped beside me.
“Believe.”
She spoke with conviction.
“This is Rag. My lord, come to save us.”
“Seria’s god?”
“Yes. Nothing like that Frost God. Lord Rag keeps his word.”
Seria looked at me.
No initial hostility left.
Pleading eyes, full of hope.
Praying I differed from Cryos.
“……”
“……”
Tribe members exchanged glances.
No other choice.
I’d killed Kusan, saved them—fact.
Staying meant death anyway.
The elder knelt on shaking knees.
“……We’ll follow. Save us.”
The entire Frost Tribe bowed to me.
The Frost God Cryos sat on his jade throne.
Mood foul.
Nectar supply dipped today.
'Lazy fools. I told them to stoke the fires.'
Then.
Bam!
The audience chamber doors burst open.
A soldier crawled in.
Blood-soaked.
One arm severed, dragging to the throne.
“Cr-Cryos……!”
“What is it.”
Cryos scowled.
The soldier gasped, head up.
Terror in his eyes.
“Ku-Kusan…… has fallen.”
“What?”
Cryos’s brow twitched.
Kusan.
The gatekeeper at the floor’s entrance.
Brute, but reliable in might.
And he’d fallen?
“Who. Which faction?”
“Th-that’s……”
Soldier swallowed dryly.
“Heimdall’s…… apostle, he said.”
“……Heimdall?”
Cryos doubted his ears.
Storm God Heimdall.
Pinnacle of nature. Supreme god.
Why him?
“The apostle appeared…… tore Kusan apart…… stole the tributes.”
“Tributes?”
“Yes. Took all the Frost Tribe elves.”
Silence.
Cryos’s mind raced.
Heimdall sent an apostle.
Killed my subordinate.
Stole my nectar source, the elves.
Why?
No clue, no matter how he thought.
Above all, the method was too aggressive.
Could’ve sent a messenger to talk, but killed the gatekeeper and looted?
Clear hostility.
A declaration of war.
Though he couldn’t match Heimdall, of course.
“Certain? Truly Heimdall’s apostle?”
“Ab-absolutely! The staff he held…… that divine artifact summoning storms…… I saw it clear!”
Divine artifact too?
No doubt.
Cryos bit his lip.
But a way existed.
He was an Apostle God.
His Supreme God master could check even Heimdall!
“……Must see Lady Skadi.”