Chapter 79
The intruder drawled, "Hmm, you're even cuter in person. Cute enough to freeze and mount as a trophy. So you're Sertina, huh?"
"You know me."
I replied with a bored expression. I wasn't sensing any real threat from this ice woman. Her name was... Priscilla, right? Probably.
"That unique hair color of yours is unmistakable. Coming here all alone to take us on? You've got some guts."
Still, judging by the mana I could sense, she was definitely a world boss. There were four more like her—ice mannequin-level powerhouses.
Five world bosses?! If they hadn't called me, this would've been a real disaster.
Russia could've ended up like a coastal village shattered by a tsunami—not just Russia, but all of Europe might've vanished into history.
But this one knows about me? She even knew I was coming to kill her.
"Where'd you hear about me?"
"Hmm, want me to spell it out nice and simple?"
Priscilla flashed a sultry smile and spread her hand, scattering sleet like confetti. Tch, what a poser. Mockery from a bitch who wouldn't be around much longer stirred nothing in me.
"How do you know me?"
"Oh, that? I saw you on one of those flat human gadgets. Your story just happened to pop up. TV... or whatever they call it? Pretty useful thing."
Hmm, tested the waters, and no collaborators, then. No need to worry about loose ends. Just swing the blade wildly and clean house.
"Hey, kiddo. You a world boss too? Something like that, anyway. Wanna join up?"
Priscilla grinned sleazily and extended a hand made of ice. As if all world bosses are equal. These idiots have no idea about class. Who does this lowly scrub think she is, trying to sit at my table?
"Save your fantasies for your diary. Let's decide the order."
"Huh?"
I cracked my knuckles and tilted my head arrogantly, my blood-red eyes gleaming.
"Who's first? You? Or you? I don't mind if you all rush me at once."
Priscilla's face twisted. A sneer leaked from her crooked lips.
"Pfft. Puhaha, hahaha!"
She clutched her stomach, laughing maniacally, her chest heaving until her voice trailed off.
"Hey, kiddo. You're hilarious."
She bowed her head briefly, then lifted it, her eyes burning with raw desire.
"You're making me... so excited."
Crackle-crack! Ice surged from the ground, clamping my ankles tight.
"Sorry, no use resenting me. Battles only remember the victor, right?"
The ice swallowed my ankles, creeping up my legs and locking my lower body completely. My entire lower half was encased.
"Give up. You can't break that ice alone. Not even you, fellow kin or not. Be a good little collectible. You'll be my masterpiece!"
"Your mouth's lighter than tissue paper..."
I tensed my legs. Crunch! My thigh muscles swelled, cracking the ice that gripped them.
"Pfft! Squirming's pointless. You think I'd be that sloppy...?"
Shatter-crash! I just took a single step. The ice binding my lower body shattered effortlessly.
"...or do you?"
Priscilla gaped, lips flapping silently, her amusement gone. I brushed the ice shards from my dress like lint.
"Done talking?"
Groan! I channeled mana into my right fist. A massive vortex of power swirled from my heart straight to my knuckles.
"Hah, lucky kid acting all high and mighty."
Priscilla leaped at me, a gale of frost wind exploding outward. The snow around us erupted like a bomb.
"I'll shut that smug mouth first!"
Her frenzied eyes flashed, and the mountain range plunged into ice-age cold. Whoooosh! A blizzard thicker than fog formed a massive curtain, blinding everything.
I snorted and compressed the mana in my fist into wind form. Smaller. Even smaller. Ultra-high-density compressed air blast, packed with maximum force.
I thrust my fist forward at the charging Priscilla.
Boom! The sonic boom blasted the blizzard away.
"Kyaeeeeek!"
A piercing shriek echoed across the mountains as a streak slammed into the snowfield.
Kabooooom! One face of the range exploded, the ground quaking like an earthquake.
"Kreek?!"
"Kieeeek!"
The monsters gathered below shrieked and rampaged—mostly raid bosses and world boss-tier.
Then, Azaros boldly drew his sword with a shing!
"Not an ordinary fool, after all."
A heavy baritone rumbled softly. I arched one eyebrow.
"You're up next?"
"I'm starting to look forward to this. What fuels that power and confidence of yours? I'll test it myself—whether you're worthy to cross blades with me!"
Roooar! Crimson energy jetted from the gaps in his black plate armor like rocket engines igniting amid boiling flames.
"I'll go all-out from the start. Hiding my strength against you would be a luxury."
Boom! Azaros kicked off, soaring high. His raised black greatsword spewed ferocious flames.
"Engrave the true essence of the sword in your mind!"
A high-pressure storm tore the earth, cleaving the sky as it descended. Deadly power. But I didn't dodge. Instead, I reached mockingly for the greatsword.
Kuuuubooooom! The shockwave hurled snow in a vast circle.
"Nngh!"
Azaros gripped his greatsword with both hands, arms trembling. Its tip halted in my petite grasp.
My blood-red eyes gleamed as I murmured lowly,
"...That all you got?"
I smirked derisively, and he reacted with hysteria—not rage, but pure, primal terror at the absolute gap in power.
"H-how?! My strike, unblocked for centuries, caught barehanded...!"
I yanked the greatsword, floating him slightly airborne. Whoosh! Pivoting on my left foot, I roundhouse-kicked him into a distant ridge.
"Gaaargh!"
"Wasted centuries."
An avalanche tumbled as the snowfield flipped. The other bosses just watched warily now, not daring to jump in. Rox bellowed some incomprehensible roar, but one glare from me wilted his momentum.
Why hesitate? I reached for the sky.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm only getting stronger."
Thud! A solemn, heavy mana pulse throbbed like a heartbeat.
"...A massive eye opens in the sky, and everything turns to blood?"
"That's right. That's how the records describe it. And that's not all—a colossal blood sword splits the heavens, annihilating an entire nation!"
"Whoa, really...?"
The Pentagon brass exchanged uneasy glances at the fuming old man. They'd already half-concluded Sertina posed low risk. Overturning that now?
Flip intelligence reports on one unidentified geezer's word?
What nonsense. Sure, some of his info checked out—like listing all publicly known Sertina skills. But reciting known facts from an answer key doesn't mean you solved the test.
The only unverified claim was her phase 3 ultimate. And even that was hitting confirmation snags—no basis to trust it.
Wasted time.
The head honcho tsked inwardly. The old man boasted omniscience but skipped phase 4 entirely. If even phase 3 checked out, maybe...
Just placate him and wrap it up.
Damian was here too—world #1 guild master. Couldn't boot his guest.
Then the conference room door burst open as a man stumbled in, panting.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Sertina's phase 3 ultimate just went public!"
"What?! For real?"
The execs leaped up. Damian, arms crossed, eyed the man coolly.
"Show us."
"Streaming the footage now."
The wall screen flickered to life, displaying a snow-blanketed mountain range—Russian feed.
As the video played, they all stared in undisguised horror.
"No way..."