Chapter 285

Whoosh—!

In the whirling snowstorm, Sirka's footsteps as she leaped from one pure white snowflake to another were light and cheerful, as if she was taking a stroll. But her speed increased rapidly, and soon she caught up to the speed of the raging blizzard.

[What the…!] 

The Spirits of Frost were bewildered.

[How dare you defy us!] 

Their enraged voices boomed through the blizzard. Their anger was justified. They were the Spirits of Frost, The executors of winter.

[How dare a mere elf defy winter!]

[Just accept it!]

[Submit and endure!]

Because winter wasn't something a mere creature could defy.

[That is the fate given to creations!]

Whoosh—!

The blizzard, raging from all directions, swallowed Sirka whole. White breath finally escaped Sirka's lips as she ran through the sky in the harsh cold.

[We execute winter!]

[We execute winter!]

SWOOSH—

But nothing could stop Sirka's steps. Even in that intense cold, she didn't flinch. Rather, the fiercer the blizzard, the faster she went. The pinnacle of 'Elven Footsteps'. And…

"Spirit Armament!" With each step forward, pure white snowflakes clung to Sirka's body.

Crackle—!

Giant ice armor began to form. As its size grew, she clenched her fist, and the Ice Tree Spear sprouted, transforming into a giant hammer. She swung it.

Whoosh— Crash—!

With that one blow, a tremendous explosion erupted, and the direction of the blizzard reversed.

[…!]

The Spirit of Frost, its size overwhelming enough to fill her vision, visibly faltered.

'It's working!' Sirka's eyes gleamed sharply. The giant hammer she wielded grew even larger, And she struck again.

Crash—!

The blizzard screamed. The harsh cold was mercilessly torn and scattered. Sirka's attack was that ruthless and relentless.

Crash! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

[Graaaaaaaaaaaah!]

The enraged Spirit of Frost's giant hand grabbed Sirka.

Whoosh!

But she broke through and struck the creature's hand, arm, shoulder, and face. It was a truly astonishing sight. The harsh winter itself, born from the fruit of Elvenwood. Sirka's figure, bravely challenging those overwhelming beings, was like a single flower that bloomed through the cold, icy ground.

[King of the Snow Folk and the Monarch of Frost, grins, baring his teeth.]

[King of the Snow Folk and the Monarch of Frost, urges her to dominate the spirits instead of wrestling with them.] Sillad's nagging continued. To both of them. Sirka took his advice to heart.

"Like this?"

Grab—!

Sirka leaped to the very end of the sky and finally grabbed the head of the Spirit of Frost with her hand covered in a giant ice gauntlet.

[Graaaa! How dare you—!]

The Spirit of Frost resisted. And the blizzard in the area surged, trying to throw her off. No… to push her away. But, it couldn't push her away at all. Sirka, still gripping the creature's head, was looking down at it from that dizzying height.

"Shut up and submit."

With a haughty and domineering gaze like a queen.

"You're mine now."

[…Graaaaaaaaaaaah!] The creature shuddered under her firm gaze, it roared and resisted. Something was wrong. This was absurd. A mere elf!

[How can a mere creature…!]

"...Defy winter?" Sirka scoffed at the spirit's resistance.

These guys were mistaken from the beginning. The reason why the former Monarch, Sillad, created a sanctuary in the land of harsh cold and allowed the elves to live on that frozen land, It was all for this moment. So that any of his descendants, whoever succeeded him among the ice elves. Would never again submit to something like winter.

"Our winter started from the moment we were born. So even if it wasn't me, but any other ice elf here… you would be nothing to us."

[King of the Snow Folk and the Monarch of Frost, smiles with satisfaction.]

"So, kneel…" Sirka, inheriting his will, continued firmly.

Whoosh—!

Holding the creature's head with one hand, she raised the other holding the hammer high in the sky.

"If you don't want to be beaten to death." And she struck down mercilessly.

…Crash! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Countless times.

Repeatedly.

Until the creature's giant body was crushed and finally lay flat on the ground.

[Kieeeeek…]

"…That must hurt a lot." Suho and Beru, who were watching from afar, were speechless.

The children born in winter were strong. Because they couldn't survive in this place without being tough. But there were five enemies. The Spirit of Frost that Sirka was personally beating to death was just one. Then what about the other four?

[Graaaaaaaaaaaah!]

Whoosh—

The blizzard swirled haphazardly. Judging from the direction…

"Hmm. Don't tell me they're running away?"

[It seems so.]

The remaining four spirits were scattering in all directions from where Sirka was. But it was too overwhelming and ferocious to be simply running away in fear.

[We execute winter!]

[We execute wint…!]

[Wint…!]

Well, it seemed like they had some justification. There was no need for winter to come only to this city. But if they let them escape like that, a harsh winter would surely come to every place they passed. The result was obvious.

"If we leave them alone, the entire Earth will freeze like the world of the ice elves, right?"

[That's right.]

"And we have to catch them to level up?" Beru nodded obediently at Suho's questions

[That's right.].

But there was a reason why they could afford to be this leisurely despite knowing that.

"Harmakan."

[Yes, Master.]

Whoosh—

As if waiting, Harmakan appeared at Suho's call. Last night, when Suho went to South Korea, he brought him, even though he was researching virtual reality with Yoo Jinho. So even if he left for a while, Harmakan still had plenty to do there. Although Suho gave him a lot of different tasks, Harmakan was fundamentally a demonic spirit shaman who enjoyed researching magic. And among that, what they enjoyed the most was playing with souls. Those rare spirits were also interesting test subjects, but even Suho couldn't have anticipated that such creatures would appear. So the reason he brought Harmakan to this city was none other than this.

[It took a while to create the magic circle because of Elvenwood's leaves, but I just finished it.]

"Well done."

Boom—!

[Guwaaaaak?!]

The Spirits of Frost, who were trying to escape from Sirka, were suddenly trapped inside the city, blocked by a transparent barrier. They were bewildered and enraged.

[What is this barrier!]

[How dare you try to trap us!]

Whoosh—! Crash Bang—!

The rage of the harsh winter struck the transparent wall. The barrier surrounding the city shook violently from the tremendous attack, precariously swaying as if it would break at any moment. But despite that…

[How can this be…!]

[How can a mere spell…!]

It didn't budge.

'Instance Dungeon'

This vast barrier, the legacy of Kandiaru, also known as the The Great Spellcaster Kandiaru and a candidate for the next Monarch, tore through the dimensional gap and dragged the entire paradise city into a different world. Once trapped here, even the harsh winter couldn't break through the dimensional wall and move to another dimension. But this wasn't because Kandiaru was superior to them. His blessing 'Health and longevity' didn't work on the Debuff: 'Frostbite,' 

Their levels were similar. If Kandiaru was the eternal second-in-command of the magic world, who could never surpass the King, the Monarch of Transfiguration, The Spirits of Frost were the strongest spirits that Sillad forcibly subjugated to become a Monarch. They were similar in strength. But despite that, Most of the spells that Kandiaru enthusiastically designed for just one person, the Shadow Monarch, were techniques that worked even on higher-level beings like Monarchs.

[Graaaaaaaaaaah!]

[Let us out now!]

[We will execute wint…!]

Grab—!

"Where do you think you're going?"

One of the Spirits of Frost that was frantically striking the transparent barrier was finally caught by the hair by Sirka, who chased it from behind.

[…?!]

The creature turned around and was horrified. It saw what had become of the spirit that was caught by Sirka earlier. A pure white snowfield! That absolute being that was the executor of winter… Was completely crushed. Lying flat under Sirka's feet. It was the ultimate humiliation for the harsh winter that should be freely blowing across the world.

[How dare you…! Guwaaaak?!]

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Submit. If you don't want to die." Of course, it was no different for the second spirit. Violence and coercion began again.

* * *

And in the meantime, only the villains in the city were dying.

"Ugh…"

Those who were fighting amongst themselves to devour each other eventually collapsed on the snowy field one by one, unable to withstand the cold. Like the elves who froze to death while fleeing the winter. But there was no need to mourn their deaths.

[Evil spirits who committed murder. They're my favorite ingredients.] Harmakan was smiling.

Playing with evil spirits was always fun. Especially after seeing the villains' riot and the terrible chaos today, Harmakan added a spell when creating this instance dungeon.

Ding!

[Activating Skill: 'Mirage' throughout the Instance Dungeon.]

'Mirage'

The powerful illusion magic used by the demonic illusionist Javier, whom he fought in Haeundae, which extracted and showed the most terrifying or intense moments from the target's memories. Through that illusion magic, Javier enjoyed watching the various fears hidden within the lowly human heart. But Harmakan was the Grand Chieftain of the demonic spirits, far superior to him. If Javier used the sandstorm as material for his illusion magic, Harmakan could create an even more powerful spell using the blizzard here. As a result…

– Why did you kill me?

– I begged you to spare me…

"…!"

The villains who were losing consciousness on the snowfield couldn't help but open their eyes wide in horror. Before their eyes… were the people they killed. In the form of cold corpses, covered in dried blood.

"Wh-what? How…?"

"B-but I killed them…"

The villains instinctively wanted to back away from that terrible nightmare. But their bodies, frozen in the cold, wouldn't move.

– I begged you to spare meeeee—!

"Uwaaaak!"

"S-save me…!"

They died, trapped in the nightmares they brought upon themselves.

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

Was it because there were many villains living in the city? Or was it because of the evil deeds they had piled up? Suho leveled up. But his gaze wasn't on the status window. Was it because the leaves that caused perception impairment were covered in snow? Now that his dulled senses had returned, he could feel something. Suho suddenly raised his head, his sharp eyes glaring at the snowy sky, and asked,

"Who are you?"

Rumble—

[The Apostle of Paradise is watching you.]

Beyond the instance dungeon, an eerie gaze was watching them from somewhere far away.