Igloo

After somehow flying and landing again, I tried to opened my eyes only to see a blurry sight of wind and snow, but there was a strange smell all over.

I tried to widely open my eyes, and I was greeted by Aunt Arc's body, almost white from being buried in snow. She was shivering and there was a man in front of him with weird wavy hair that scattered to the sides.

What a lame fashion.

My sight's getting better.

F*ck.

Seeing Aunt right now, and the resemblance from my big sister at the orphanage, my blood started to boil.

The white snowy field was littered with equiment and a few beasts, and the area near Aunt was tainted with dense red.

What happened when I was out?

Looking at Kirllia, there was a hole on her chest as wide as her head, but I can see it slowly healing like magic.

Seeing them both like this, I somehow disregarded the cold and felt heat rushing to my head. I could only let out weird loud laughs as I slowly stood, and gathered the man's attention.

My eyes... my eyes are my weakness. I can't see the speed of fast objects. I gather Origin on my eyes and on my head..... and saw that man rushing over me, so I dodged his fingers that seem to target my heart.

At the same time I dodged his sharp, pointed nails, all the falling and winding snow slowed drastically, then I saw him make eye to eye contact and proceeded to slap me backhanded, so I also dodge it.

I'm not stupid, I know I'm getting this somewhat of an overclock ability, but I bet it's temporary so I have to finish this now.

Gathering golden light on my hands, I threw him an orb of barrier and surrounded him, only to get deflected in an instant. What's with that gemstone ring on his hand? Is it the one giving him abilities?

Four swirls of Origin gathered on my back and I sped up the pace, but it feels slow so I ramped up the speed until it felt more what I used to set.

I quickly gathered Origin and sent a Fly Swatter towards his side, and he quickly deflected it. I saw him wiggle his wrist after that, so there must be an effect.

Enough probing.

I gathered golden light and condensed it as I dodged each of his strikes. A few breaths of time passed and the golden light became red, and I could see his eyebrows furrow as soon as the red light shone. The red light formed into a screw, and I spun it just enough for me to feel that it's trying to break out of my grasp.

The man stopped for a bit and three red orbs appeared above him, and also condensed red light towards his body.

Why should I let him charge for an attack?

I released the spinning Origin Screw and it flew forward without resistance. The man only got to stare with wide opened eyes and converged the three orbs into a shield in front of him, only to be pierced within seconds; drilling through the layered shield, and finally drilling through him.

There wasn't even a shout of pain nor further resistance, he vanished into dust that got blown away by the wind. Only his equipment remained and dropped to the ground.

Interestingly, I didn't find the red gemstone ring along the items that dropped, but that's for another matter.

"Aunt Arc!"

I quickly went near her and saw her, half buried in snow. Her hands felt cold. Her whole body is getting stiff. I instantly made a barrier around us to block the wind and snow, but it doesn't really help. After I saw the Flame Orb inside her body still generating heat and warmth, I felt a bit relieved.

"Aunt..." I stroke her face and only felt coldness wrap around my hand...so I took my own Flame Orb and wore it on her.

"She's still alive, that's great. Fill her with your power, quick!"

Without thinking twice, I gathered a lot of Origin on my hand, held her hand, and transferred it all over her body, enveloping her in a golden light.

You can't die here, Aunt. We haven't even met Dad yet.

I feel my hands shiver, my whole body light, and my head very clear. It's probably the adrenaline. I don't feel sadness, and I feel rushed. Hope. Hope.

...Hope.

Continue to have hope.

Her body finally absorbed a lot of Origin, and I can see it disappearing on her, so I generated a lot more and filled her with it.

Her fingers finally twitched a bit, and I rushed over the distance to get her thick clothes, then Kirllia helped me to wear it on her.

"Kaff?"

"Yes, Aunt?" I felt joy and relief as she glanced over me, but her pale face and lips tell me that the ordeal isn't finished yet. I kept pumping my Origin towards her, and I could see her wounds getting better, recovering faster.

"What in the world..." I heard Kirllia mutter those words, but I'm also as confused as her right now.

"I won't let you die. You're not allowed to leave me." I say those words to Aunt, and she smiled and lost consciousness.

I almost panicked seeing that but hearing her familiar breathing whenever we slept together, I finally calmed down.

"Whew. Close call. Why did you overdo yourself anyway? It's you who almost got us killed!" Kirllia reprimanded me, and I could only bow my head in guilt. Just what happened anyway?

I knew I shouldn't have rushed back then.

I knew I shouldn't overestimate my abilities.

I shouldn't have tried to replicate that Arrow Drill.

I thought Kirllia would scold me further, but she just went silent and I felt her droop over me.

Her whole body was cold, and I could only hold her hands that embraced me from behind as we stood at this desolate snowy mountain.

***

"Your Highness, Salax' life crystal broke."

The demon called Rasha informed the Void Emperor as he lazily sat on his throne, but upon hearing those words his eyes slightly narrowed.

"So it's him again, huh?" He closed his eyes before he opened it again after a while.

"Vestor, it seems I'll have to trouble you again." He glanced over the other demon besides Rasha, and sat more informally on his throne by putting his two feet on the seat.

"Not at all, your Highness. Cleaning up after Meltor isn't necessary, do you want me to chase after him instead?"

"No, it just doesn't feel right. If I'm correct, Meltor should be with the traitor right now, so I'd like you to just check where Salax died."

The Void Emperor floated upwards towards the front until he couldn't be seen anymore, leaving all of his troops behind.

A moment later, at the southern fort, he appeared up the skies and glanced below.

All sorts of beast corpses and cores littered the ground, along with a lot of equipment and white colored robes that scattered all about. Looking over the distance, he glanced over the opened gates that had signs of getting torn off from the hinges, up to the point where the broken trebuchets stood. Beyond that over a thousand people of different sizes and races gathered, tending to the injured.

As turned his head over the sides, there were also signs of the old sturdy walls almost falling apart, and there were also traces of mixed footprints that one couldn't be able to tell apart.

He pondered over to himself for a bit, before he swatted away an incoming large orb of red and golden light towards the side; vanishing before it hit the ground.

"The Void Emperor himself has made a visit?" Virol suddenly appeared out of nowhere about a hundred meters in front of the Void Emperor.

"That's a nice greeting you sent me. Where is Meltor?"

"Why are you looking for a measly sword user?" A different voice buzzed from the distance as it neared the Void Emperor, and a mix of gold and white light went flying near Virol. It was the general.

"He's not here."

The Void Emperor gathered a wisp of red light on his finger, then shot it over the skies.

"Where is he? Where is she?" He asked to himself as he put his hand on his chin, while swatting all sorts of incoming magical and physical projectiles towards him using one hand.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" This time, a black and golden light flew towards near Virol and the general; It was William, Dorother's father.

Hearing that question, the Void Emperor glanced over their direction. The trio instantly reacted and prepared each of their respective auras within seconds, only to hear the Void Emperor laugh.

"I'm only interested in killing Hamion, but all of you actually gathered together and tried to eliminate my race. I'd wipe all of you within a week but it's too much of a hassle."

Everyone on the fort heard his voice but it didn't felt too loud or too low, yet they felt their hearts palpitate as they listened to the Void Emperor's voice.

"Don't you know that Hamion already abandoned all of you?"

With those words, all of the people on the fort, especially the Vates...startled with realization.

...

Meanwhile at a certain part of the mountain, about a few kilometers northwest of the northern fort...

***

"So that's what happened."

I firmly nodded as Kirllia told me everything from my exhaustion until the moment I woke. If I hadn't woke up in time then all of us probably died already. Not to mention that it'll be my second time dying.

Wait, did I really die?

Now that I had the time to think about it, what happened to the book I wanted to borrow from Three?

I should probably...try to confront her at that time.

For now, Kirllia is still carrying Aunt as we look for a place to stay for now. Since she left the backpack at the mountaintop, we couldn't really go back there in an instant as the way up is too steep to trek.

Since there's a lot of snow here and seeing that the winds are consistently bringing snow, then I decided to just make an igloo. I don't know how they're manually made, but with the help of Origin, I made a barrier with the shape of an igloo, and also stacked the dug hard snow just outside of it. The snow blocks were a bit heavier than I imagined, but it wasn't impossible for me to lift.

"An ice house!? You know how to make one?" Kirllia saw me lifting the solid snow blocks as I stacked them.

"What ice house? I call it an igloo.

The barrier made the igloo stable inside, then the winds also created enough layers for the igloo to stabilize outside. I dug a hole going downwards for the entrance, then angled up for a bit before making a hole on the outside. I also dug another hole and on the sides so that the melted ice would go over there instead of accumulating within the room we're in.

Then lastly, I made a small hole angled with the wind so that the smoke from the fire doesn't get clouded in here, before I finally started to create a small bonfire inside. I guess the barrier also isn't needed anymore so I removed it.

"I don't know why you can create an ice house, and so detailed too."

"I told you, I call this an igloo. I always dreamed of making one, but there isn't any snow at Phione."

"Kids these days sure get stranger and stranger, I never imagined I'll see someone wanting to live in the cold."

Was it really strange for a kid to want to build an igloo? I could only grunt at what she said, before I turned to look at Aunt. From the blood loss she had, it wasn't strange for her to keep sleeping. I hope she gets well soon.

Kirllia headed out to check if there might be any beasts or wild animals we could cook for food, and I stayed behind to keep an eye on Aunt. Without even a minute passing, I could already hear muffled sounds of loudly talking, so I went out cautiously.

Upon exiting the tunnel I made, I immediately saw Kirllia arguing with a person with an orb that floated above him, so I can only assume it's a demon. He was almost tall as her, only a bit higher. He wore an overall white plain cloak and robe, and I couldn't see his face very well.

From the way they talked, it seems they knew each other yet it wasn't a friendly discussion so I decided to come out and sped up with my Four Whirlpools. That's the name I decided to give this skill, as they really look like whirlpools.

The man didn't even seem to notice me as I went near Kirllia, so I decided to dash towards behind her.

Before I could reach her, I only heard a bonk as if hitting fiber glass before I bounced backwards a few steps.

"Kaff get inside, I can handle this."

"Kaff?" The man repeatedly looked between me and Kirllia, before he smiled for a bit and went away, his hand still on his chin while floating.

"I'll explain inside," she walked towards the igloo dragging a stag in tow, and I followed after her and also went in the igloo.