The Eye of The Storm

Chapter 123 - The Eye of The Storm

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[Someone's POV]

The fierce blizzard howled, inducing panic among the residents and stirring a sense of urgency among adventurers, mercenaries, and all those clad in combat attire as they bravely moved toward the impending crisis.

Well, knowing their stature of gear, it was clear they stood little chance against that looming threat.

"H-Hey, you're kidding..." A man, donned in heavy metal armor, slumped in despondency, his confidence shattered as he gazed upward. "How do we even beat that..."

A colossal ice figure, resembling a female human and towering at least two building heights, floated ominously toward the city. This mythical being was encased in a transparent layer of ice, serving as both a protective barrier as well as being the eye of the raging storm.

"It's one of the Four Elementals!" A male elf, wearing a leather hood, shouted in despair. "All of you, retreat!"

Upon hearing the monster's classification, the populace succumbed to visible despair. Some fled for their lives, while others, with gritted teeth, chose to stand their ground.

"How valiant," I mused, acknowledging their futile efforts. "Sigh~! Well, no matter. You're all just going to die anyways..."

"Truly unfortunate, isn't it?" Beside me sat an associate, perched at the edge of the rooftop, undisturbed and apathetic. Cloaked in a black robe with a white mask concealing his face. Well, we shared the same attire, actually.

From the clocktower's apex, the view was undeniably magnificent, though currently destroyed by chaos unfortunately...

Not that I cared, though.

"I suppose we could wait here until this place crumbles," I remarked. "It might be entertaining. Well, it's not like they can do anything about it."

"Now that you've mentioned it, did you know? One of the Four Elementals—the Dryad, apparently was defeated by someone?" my partner shared, revealing a surprising twist.

"Wait, really?!" I replied, surprised. We're talking about the Four Elementals, you know? It's literally a being made to protect the balance of this world. "That's kind of impossible, right?"

"It's highly improbable but not entirely impossible," he explained. "Regardless, our plan seems to have hit a snag. Someone out there managed to defeat that monster."

"A daring individual," I replied. Now that our grand design had been disrupted, "What are the higher-ups saying about this?"

"It seems like they've started tracking the guy who defeated it." He replied. Well, yeah. After all, that person had the capability to destroy our lifelong goal. "He's a force to be reckoned with."

"Exactly," I concurred. "Well, we'll just have to wait for updates. For now, let's focus on the spectacle unfolding below."

I wondered, though, if our presence here truly made a difference. As the city faced the assault of Khione, the Elemental of ice, it seemed our role was reduced to mere spectators in the unfolding chaos.

Sigh~! looks like we just got to watch the chaos until the end, huh...

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[Sai Crimsonheart POV]

It had been hours since we embarked on the journey back to the city. The prolonged time only fueled my anxiety, compounded by the relentless blizzard we traversed. I estimated it was now afternoon, given the dim, hazy light filtering through the thick clouds. The Cold Resistance Potion shielded us from the biting cold, a relief amid the unforgiving weather.

We tried our best to fit ourselves at the back of the Snow Malamute. These dogs can only load at maximum of 4-people to its back. Unfortunately, we're a group of nine people, having a surplus might stress the Malamutes into running full hours.

With a stroke of resourcefulness, I administered a Strengthening Potion to one of the Malamutes, enabling it to carry a group of five, including Lara, Mikael, Seymore, Akari, and me. Man, this is kind of hilarious but as long as it works, right?

"Akari, are you comfortable?" I shouted above the howling wind. The Malamute's speed and the gushing wind made communication difficult. "Let me know if it's too much!"

"I'm fine, Aruji-sama," Akari replied, her head resting against my chest as we braced against the biting wind.

"Hey, are we there yet?" Seymore inquired anxiously. The blizzard had reduced visibility to near zero. "I can't see a thing!"

"We should be getting close. Look, there's the mountain in front of us," I pointed, indicating the landmark. "Once we pass it, we'll see the city."

True to my words, as we cleared the mountain, the city emerged faintly through the thick fog. The dense fog obscured our view however, making it challenging to gauge the situation.

"Tsk," I clicked my tongue in frustration. The pessimistic thoughts that haunted my mind were manifesting before us. "Damn it..."

"What is that...?!" Mikael exclaimed. "Don't tell me it's—"

"No sugarcoating it. It's exactly what you fear. It's Khione, one of the Four Elementals," I declared grimly.

"Master!" Luna called out from the other Malamute; worry etched across her face. "Khione has breached the city walls. What should we do?"

While we deliberated our next move, the city loomed closer, accentuating the colossal size of Khione.

"It's enormous!" Lily remarked, her eyes widening.

Pouring mana into my eyes, I used the ⟨⟨Appraisal⟩⟩ skill on Khione.

[Elemental of Snow, 『Khione』 (C̸̣̼̜̦̩̭̞̩̓̾̂̈́ǫ̵̤̦̖̩̻͈͔̊̉͂̔̎͠ȓ̴̟͕̂̄r̴̢̘̰̞̱͉̟̟̮͛û̴̢̢̠͈͖̭͙̰̏͋͆̍̓͒̒͒p̴̱̜̦͈̤̟͂̌́̈͂̾̉̽͜͝ẗ̶͉̠͖͔̹͍̰̰́͠è̸̝̺̹͙̾͋͗̿͝͠d̶͍̺͓͔͔͇͍̜̝̽̇́͒͂͘̕͠): 86,400/86,294]

That's tough. Can we even defeat it with the city still intact? No, we have everyone here. I could use the structures to—

"Ugh...!" Damn it. I forgot Khione was the eye of the storm of this blizzard. The more we get near, the tougher it is to get inside... "Everyone, hold on for a bit longer...!"

"The entrance gate is just in front of us!" Seymore informed. "Just head straight and leave the rest to us."

"Okay—?!" My words were cut-off, for Khione had noticed our presence. This is bad... "Akari, can you drive?"

"Y-Yes, Aruji-sama..." Akari nodded, perplex formed into her face. "What are you going—"

"Everyone, follow Akari's lead." I instructed, turning to Seymore. "You guys, guide Akari, alright? I'll do something about Khione."

"Huh?! What are you—" Before Lara could express her bewilderment, I leaped off the Malamute's back, propelling myself from building to building using the Grappling Hook toward Khione.

"—?!" As I drew nearer, Khione conjured a massive icicle aimed at me. Nah, that's just an ice stalactite, isn't it?!

With no choice, I had to attack from a distance. I swiftly retrieved something from my pouch—a serpent-headed contraption with a muzzle: the Leviathan. This is the gun I earned by defeating Vaconawa. I can finally use it.

The giant icicle materialized, blasting toward me at incredible speed. Time felt as if it had slowed, and I grappled downward just in time. The towering icicles aimed at me blasted all the buildings.

I sprinted and dashed, attempting to evade the icicles blasting at me. Buildings crumbled behind me, decimated by the projectiles meant for me. Man, at this rate, the entire city would be destroyed!

The onslaught had finally ceased. Taking advantage, I grappled up to a building's rooftop. Khione still needed time to form icicles to attack, so I took the opportunity to aim my gun at it.

Bam! Instead of regular bullets, the Leviathan unleashed a barrage of intensely pressurized water blasts. The projectiles raced toward Khione at a speed beyond human perception.

However,

Just as the water blast barrage neared Khione, it collided with an unseen barrier, preventing it from reaching the colossal monster.

"A barrier, huh," I mused. "No wonder its health only decreased slightly, considering the numerous others fighting..."

Though I wanted to break the barrier, giant icicles had already materialized, just moments before they hurtled toward me. Too late. I had to retreat.

"Mommy!"

"—?!" A worst-case scenario. A lost child cried below me. Damn it!

Hearing the blasting of Icicles towards me, I descended, grabbing the child and hastily retreating.

However, the building behind me crumbled. To my surprise, the giant Icicle was already just behind me,

I tried to dodge, but it was too late...

"M-Mister... Your arm...!" The child cried.

"I-I'm fine," It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! "D-don't worry, we'll get out of this safely..."

My left arm had been severed... I wanted to scream, to cry; the pain was unbearable!

『Sai Crimsonheart: 643/800』

With 3/4 of my HP remaining, I was still in decent shape...

A tactical retreat was my only option. Grappling my way out of Khione's range, I had delayed it long enough for everyone to escape. Now, I needed to find them and quickly heal...