Chapter 9

With the icy wind invading the cave alongside a powerful light capable of blinding her eyes, Elizabeth shuddered. Her eyes brightened as her mind grew darker and darker.

"No no no no. Why?! Why is he here?!"

Dragging herself backward slowly, her body trembled as she attempted in vain to lift her sword.

"No! Stay away! Stay away! Don't come near!"

The blurry images merged into what seemed to be a man, in her mind, a monster. A hideous creature formed as her mind collapsed. Its grotesquely deformed face and body could not belong to any being of this world or any other but hell. That was a demon. Her demon.

As the creature seemingly approached, her delirium reached the peak of madness. Her body was being consumed, torn apart slowly. It wasn't real, it couldn't be, but the pain caused by the tearing of her legs felt as real as the snow between her fingers.

Long were the fingers of that being whose victims' faces intertwined through its dreadful body, creating something worthy of the most horrendous nightmare. The cold touch of those tentacle-like things seemed to cause lacerations, tearing her flesh and making the snow around turn red, escalating her growing despair as something sticky covered her hands completely.

When the fingers engulfed her entirely, tearing her bones with the simplest of touches, Elizabeth, in response to the fear consuming her entirely, hurled her sword toward the monster: "NO!" she screamed.

Not from an apparent piercing, on the contrary, the sound of her sword colliding with something rigid echoed through the cave. Her fear remained along with the constant tremor, she could see her legs separated from her body a little further ahead and the lacerations that made even her bones visible, but despite her wanting to believe otherwise, the pain was no longer there, it never was.

"Pant! Pant! Pant! Pant!..."

The weight of her breath seemed more evident, it wasn't easy, every time the air entered her body, it seemed to freeze her organs. That was the feeling of being in the Frozen Peaks.

The tentacles disappeared slowly along with the various cuts. Her legs were no longer separated from her body, and looking around, the red on the snow could no longer be seen, and the sensation of something sticky among her fingers and palms had disappeared completely. Her eyes scanned the place, seeing the darkness slowly fading along with that demonic creature.

"Damn..." clenching one fist around a handful of snow, the heroine punched the ground, causing a hole where it struck. "It happened again..."

Her fist opened and closed again, this time around a rock that was slowly crushed as she gritted her teeth.

"Damn!" what remained of the rock in her hands was thrown, crossing the entire cave to the exit and hitting something sturdy, but not another rock.

[Congratulations]

[You leveled up]

[Name: Elizabeth Berseba

Status

Level: 111

Mana: 545

Strength: 422

Resistance: 419

Agility: 424

***************

The wind circulates, lifting her hair along with the snow around her, which, before being swept away, swirls around her.

"What am I doing...?"

Ethan continued to walk, forging his own path through the strength on that icy ground. The sky never seemed so blue, so close, as if it were a mirror, reflecting itself before his eyes and leaving his thoughts clear in his mind.

"Clovis was certainly right... that girl is beyond saving."

Elizabeth's screams echoed through the mountain, vibrating the air and causing some of the fragile ice trees to break at the tips. That wasn't a good sign, doing such a thing on a mountain full of monsters is the same as signing one's own death warrant.

"Helping her was a mistake... I shouldn't have done that. But, anyway, now it doesn't matter anymore."

Ethan could feel them approaching his location. 3-5-8, no, there were 19 monsters, a number that was bound to increase over time, thirsty creatures running blindly toward that small cave.

"To die in such a deplorable way... what must it be like to rid oneself of guilt just by acting as one of the victims?"

The creatures were fast, relentless. The wolves ran swiftly over the soft snow with their large paws. While the wendigos used an alternative means to not lose their pace, jumping from tree to tree toward their target.

"Excuse me, but for someone like that, it's impossible..., I would never allow myself... You'll have to find someone else to do that..."

The footsteps were swift, and the leaps covered a large area. Drawing his sword, Ethan made a single slash, cleaving the wolf that leaped toward him in half. Quickly turning and raising his free hand, he caught the neck of the creature with rigid and icy skin between his fingers.

"What annoying luck..." gritting his teeth, Ethan smiled as he looked toward the direction of the cave. "Damn. It's like I'm helping her again."

The creature wriggled in his hand like a small helpless animal. Its strength proved irrelevant, and its claws didn't even scratch Ethan's arms. Increasing the pressure, its neck wasn't just crushed, the wendigo's head immediately separated from the rest of the body and rolled toward the ground as Ethan continued to walk, carving a path through the snow and shaking his hand to dislodge the blood before it dried completely.

[Congratulations]

[You leveled up]

[Name: Ethan Mildred

Status

Level: 222

Mana: 1100

Strength: 866

Resistance: 869

Agility: 868]

***************

"Hurry up! Get them!"

Within seconds, the shouting spread throughout the unfortunate Baron Elinton's property, a poor nobleman who had been attacked by demons whose only aim was to get a handful of sugar.

"Come on! Don't let these bastards rest!"

Though not very strong, the guards were undeniably greater in number, and they persisted, all showing relentless resolve against those creatures, which, to them, seemed invincible.

"Capture these freaks!"

"Freaks?!" Aiden questioned, easily deflecting a blow simultaneously coming from three guards with his sword. "You scoundrel! I'm more handsome than all of you combined!"

Despite the guards posing no threat to him, Aiden still acted cautiously and remained on the defensive most of the time; after all, he was carrying something extremely important in his hands: the bucket of milk.

The guards attacked relentlessly, but his defense proved unbreakable, with him not even taking a step back.

"This is getting boring. Haven't you found them yet?"

A sudden chill made his body move instinctively. It was a dangerous attack, as one of the guards struck Aiden's arm, which was carrying the bucket, with his sword; his head rolled on the ground of the grand corridor.

"Huh? ...That was his fault, you saw it, right..?"

The guards hesitated. Their confidence seemed unshakeable, as none of them had actually witnessed a real fight. But when one of their comrades' head rolled before their eyes and his blood painted the ground, they all, without exception, considered dropping their swords and fleeing from that place.

Fear was palpable in the atmosphere of that place. The breath of those poor men, the strongest of whom was only at level 18, became heavier and more inconsistent. They weren't even at the level required to be guards, let alone knights, but those damned nobles had made them come to that cursed border. And now they had to fight demons? Damn it! Did any of this even make sense?!

"Hey! Riley! Have you found them yet?" exclaimed Aiden, watching the actions of the guards around.

The first floor was in tremendous chaos indeed, but that didn't mean the situation on the second floor was much different. Advancing down the corridor were Riley and Clovis, trampling the guards who had been left behind.

The guards stood no chance; they didn't even have the capacity to resist. Faced with a power that seemed absolute to them, all they could do was try, fail, and try again immediately.

"Stop them!" shouted Baron Elinton, hiding behind all the guards at the end of the corridor. "Don't let them get closer! Stop them now!"

The demons weren't even using swords; their bodies were enough to force their way through those people without any difficulty. Being just ordinary attacks, without the use of mana, the guards' blows had no effect whatsoever, being easily stopped by Clovis and Riley.

"What are you doing?! Damn it! Stop those bastards right now!"

His body trembled as his fingers wrapped around the sword hilt. The guard took a deep breath; he had no choice. If he ran, he would be betraying his comrades. His turn was coming; the demons were close, but he wasn't ready, but then again... who is ever truly ready for death?

His arms raised "Aaaahhh..!", followed by his scream, his sword fiercely cut through the air and fell quickly toward Clovis.

"...Why the guest room..?" murmured the guard, his head buried in a newly created hole in the wall.

He waited, but no one answered him. Not even the guards on the first floor were attacking him anymore.

"You." he said, pointing to one of the guards around.

They all trembled, and even those who weren't called backpedaled at least one step.

"Do you know what sugar is? Do you know if there's any in this place?"

"...Excuse me?"

The guards glanced at each other. Even without being able to read minds, they all knew what was going on in each other's heads in that corridor. Sugar? The idea that all of this was being caused just because of a stupid search for something so meaningless made them wonder: Is our life worth so little?

"Sugar. Do you know what it is or not?"

The disdain in the words of that creature, was it just playing with those "poor devils"? Or was that really its real objective? Sugar..?

"...Yes, I do..." the guard replied, his stutter evident as his hesitation consumed him.

"Huh? Really? And is there any in this place?"

The guard looked at his comrades. No one answered. They were all too busy thinking for themselves in that situation and trying to find a way to get out of there alive. But in their minds, they knew that no progress was being made.

"Y-y- yes- yes, in the kitchen." the guard replied after hesitating for some time.

"What are you waiting for?" Aiden questioned, taking a step toward the guard.

They all immediately retreated, raising their weak and trembling swords and preparing for battle, a few of them, to flee.

"Take me there."

The path to the kitchen was calm, despite the constant glances. Aiden didn't fight anyone and didn't kill anyone along the way. However, it was impossible to hide his discontentment when he saw the so-called "sugar" for the first time. A white powder with no apparent additional peculiarity: "All this trouble for this? Seriously?"

But if that was an ingredient, obviously its "culmination" would come when ingested, and without a doubt, that was indeed a great ingredient. All that work still remained unjustified, but the sweet taste in his mouth, a taste he had never tasted before, made Aiden at least consider the possibility of forgetting all that for a while... Yes... Maybe forgetting all that and getting a little more sugar would be a good idea.

"Hey, you useless lot!" exclaimed Aiden, appearing from outside the window of the second floor, right behind where Clovis was. "I found..."

Clovis turned, not to look at Aiden, but so he could dodge the bright blue blade coming toward him. That glow on the blade... to think that someone with a level of at least 60 would be in such a remote place.

The demons' eyes met for a moment, and both acted quickly. Clovis was quick to grab the knight's arms to push him away, and Aiden to throw himself back to dodge. But it was all in vain. In fragile objects like a mere bucket, a mana sword wouldn't even need to touch it to cause some damage.

"No!" both demons shouted as the white liquid spilled through the large cut made in the side of the bucket.