Everything Froze (7)

The Levian Coast. Lisbond Port.

A certain tavern.

"It's quite a sight."

When one adventurer said that while gulping down beer, the other adventurers nodded.

"It sure is."

"Goodness. To think they broke through the Eternal Vortex that couldn't be conquered by any adventurers just like that."

"It's the power of capital."

"And the power of technology."

With the highest level of magic that couldn't be compared to the magic of mere adventurers and with capital worth billions, Queen Hong Se-ryu was indeed doing something crazy.

However, none of them knew why the queen suddenly headed toward the Black Cross.

"What could she be looking for there…."

"Haven't you heard? There's a story that she went there to break the curse of the Hwaryeong Flower passed down through the royal family."

"What? If that's the case, it would be classified information. How could someone like you know that?"

"Look at those troops. How can you silence the mouths of thousands, not just one or two? Besides, there's no reason to keep it a secret."

"Well. That's true."

While the adventurers were chatting about the queen's departure, they cast their eyes towards the distant sea.

The sight of five giant airships heading toward the frozen super-giant vortex was quite a spectacle, enough to serve as a good topic over drinks. As such, the windows of the tavern, which were usually closed for heating, were wide open.

"You will be punished by heaven!"

At that moment, a shout that seemed to be a curse echoed through the street.

The adventurers frowned as if they recognized the voice.

"That drunk old man is at it again."

"Puhaha! It's sometimes amusing to listen to him. He claims that in his younger days, he even hunted Rainbow Drakes."

In the street, there was an old man staggering with a bottle in one hand. He was gesturing at the queen's airship and shouting.

"You must not provoke the vengeful spirit of the Pirate King! You will surely incur his wrath! You will be punished by heaven!"

"Come on! Give it a rest…."

The adventurers, who were enjoying their drinks, were about to complain.

Suddenly.

… Kugung!

A shockwave came from the distant sea, and a strong wind swept through Lisbond Port.

Whoooo~!!

"!"

Clatter! Clatter!

The windows and doors rattled violently, and the trash and newspapers on the street flew around, causing pedestrians to pause.

And then, everyone in Lisbond Port witnessed it simultaneously.

"What... is that...."

"What the...!"

A red pillar connecting the blue sky and the blue sea.

Though the red was quite alien, it was so intense that it diminished the presence of everything blue around it.

Even veteran adventurers were staring at the sky, dumbfounded.

The drunk old man waved his bottle high in the air and shouted.

"Disaster! A disaster has come upon us! It is surely the Pirate King's wrath!"

"Old man! Quiet down!"

The wrath of the Pirate King?

Could the Pirate King even use such large-scale fire magic?

It must surely be a performance by Queen Hong Se-ryu. People wanted to believe that firmly.

"Crazy... That thing, it's coming this way, right?"

The flames covered even the clouds and soon began to scatter fiery rain over the sea.

Ssssss!

As the sea alternately melted and froze, rapidly distorting the landscape, all the residents of Lisbond began to evacuate.

"Damn it!"

"If that reaches us, it's over!"

"Run inside the buildings!"

But... The disaster didn't end there.

Thud!

A different shockwave swept through.

Immediately afterward, a wailing sound echoed.

Whoooooo...!!

The terrible scream, as if someone were wailing in agony, rang in all the pedestrians' ears in Lisbond.

"Ugh!"

"Ack...!"

The scream electrified their very instincts; those with weak spirits collapsed and fainted, and even the veteran adventurers with strong bodies all fell to their knees.

In the midst of this, the drunk old man stood tall. He kissed his bottle and shouted in a thoroughly drunken voice.

"Oh. The Pirate King is coming. The Pirate King is coming!!"

They wanted to believe it was a lie.

They wanted to dismiss it as the ramblings of a drunk.

But unfortunately, the old man's words were true.

Beyond that sea, from the pirate ship which had been frozen for a thousand years, a massive blue figure was rising.

It stood taller than a mountain; its head as large as the pirate ship itself, with eyes as red as the fiery pillar.

The gigantic spirit in pirate attire finally awoke completely from its slumber and roared towards the world.

——

How did it come to this?

Queen Hong Se-ryu.

Her judgment had never been wrong.

She was the one who took what others thought was 'impossible' and turned it all into 'possible.'

Born as an illegitimate child and starting at the bottom of the royal succession line, she had finally become a Class 8 mage and the queen of the great kingdom of Adolveit.

She feared nothing.

Ancient legends of her ancestors were merely dismissed as superstitions.

However, she had a sense of duty.

To protect Adolevit by extinguishing the flame of the Hwaryeong Flower.

She believed this was the only way. Even when all her vassals said otherwise and voiced their concerns, she pushed forward.

Why?

Because she had lived her entire life that way and had never once failed.

… Oh, oh my...

"Ugh!"

But what on earth was this?

As the enormous skeleton, taller than the airship, looked at her, Hing Se-ryu's legs stiffened.

"Y-Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!"

"Oo Sun!"

"Please save us!"

The people bowed their heads to her, and even the greatest magic knights were unable to do anything before the great disaster. They desperately called out for the queen.

She was the one who caused all this, and she was also a Class 8 mage.

But.

This.

'Impossible....'

It was beyond what a human could comprehend. It was, literally, an 'uncontrollable natural disaster.'

'... No. Even so, I must face it.'

Hong Se-ryu struggled to rise, using her staff to support her.

'I am the queen after all.'

She barely managed to face the Pirate King.

Clang! Thud!

"?!"

From the pirate ship, a gigantic chain imbued with a blue aura shot up, binding all five airships.

Fortunately, thanks to the engine's power, they were able to avoid crashing... but now, escaping was truly impossible.

....

The vengeful spirit of the Pirate King slowly surveyed the world and then glared at Hong Se-ryu.

So it was you who woke me with your fire play.

"I am Hong Se-ryu, descendant of the great Adolveit and its queen. State your name."

-My name is... Pirate King Black Belize.

He finished speaking with his gleaming red eyes.

-According to an ancient pact, as the price for waking me, the world will face an eternal winter.

"No, I cannot allow that."

Hong Se-ryu's body slowly hovered into the air, and a series of red magic circles formed, interlocking like gears.

.....

*'So many obstacles.' *

With the Hwaryeong Flower rampaging and covering the sky with red disaster, and now Pirate King Black Belize declaring he would freeze the world, could anything be more daunting?

One might think that mixing fire and ice would result in nothing, but only someone ignorant of science would say that.

If the sky was covered in fire and the ground filled with ice....

The earth would be completely annihilated, leaving nothing behind.

'The worst must be prevented.'

At least if one of the two disasters could be stopped, there might be a way....

Whooooo!!

"Ugh!"

A fierce wind blew, scattering Hong Se-ryu's flames in all directions.

Even though the strong wind intensified the power of the flames, what good would it do if they couldn't hit the enemy?

"Futile tricks!"

Hong Se-ryu unleashed a vast amount of mana, created a giant shield, and then explosively detonated the flames to strike the Pirate King.

Boom!

However, when the king waved his hand, the flames were extinguished with ease. Furthermore, a gust of wind mixed with ice spikes shot from his palm, leaving her with no choice but to retreat.

"This much...!"

Hong Se-ryu ignited flames in both hands. As one of the most powerful fire mages, her magic was both diverse and destructive, befitting a Class 8 mage.

Dozens of fiery ballistae materialized in the air, striking the Pirate King, and red meteors were summoned from the clouds as they crashed down.

Flames even blossomed on the frozen sea, creating a miracle.

Explosions. Destruction. Flames.

Every time the Pirate King's red eyes glinted, massive ice spears fell from the clouds, piercing the sea.

Beautiful ice crystals swirled in the wind and ice coral grew from the sea, striking the airships.

Ice. Typhoons. Frost.

It was a battle of fire and ice.

However, the fight was one-sided.

No matter how much red fire burned....

Boom!!

"Gah...!"

It was impossible to taint the Pirate King's blue with red.

Struck by an ice spike flying through the air, Hong Se-ryu crashed onto the deck of the airship and struggled to stand.

"Not... Yet..."

But as soon as she got up, she was hit by a massive flame, forcing her back to the ground.

"Ugh!"

Even as a fire mage, she wasn't completely immune to fire.

Unfortunately, with her shield shattered, she was overwhelmed by the flames of the Hwaryeong Flower and collapsed, unable to regain her senses.

-Accept it. It is fate.

"Ugh..."

She tried to lift herself with her staff, but she had no strength left.

Meanwhile, the vengeful spirit of the Pirate King remained strong. It was a truly despairing situation.

"Ah..."

Seeing the overwhelming defeat of their trusted queen, all the magic warriors of Adolevit knelt.

To make matters worse.

Boom!!

The Hwaryeong Flower seemed to be on a rampage. The pillar of flame connecting the ground and sky grew more intense and began generating red thunderclouds.

Witnessing the 'Wrath of the Fire Incarnate' from legends unfold before their eyes, everyone despaired.

Further resistance was futile.

Now...

They had to be prepared for death.

Emotions swirl.

The sentence above was severely out of context. Because it is impossible for emotions to swirl.

However, Hong Bi-Yeon was experiencing this implausible phenomenon firsthand.

Anger, agony, and then despair again.

These countless negative emotions swirled through her mind, igniting the flames within her heart.

-Be angry. Get angry!

The palace servants who used to ignore her.

The maids who subtly disrespected her.

The queen who openly discriminated against her.

The sister who tormented her relentlessly.

-It was painful, wasn't it? That's the feeling! My goodness, you are more like a true heir of the Fire Bloodline than anyone I've ever seen! Do you know that your ancestor, the disciple of the Progenitor Mage, was exactly like you!

The voice kept whispering.

-She was always brimming with heat. She converted her anger into flames. It was an incredible power! Flames driven by anger are uncontrollable but extremely destructive!!

The voice seemed to be very excited.

-Burn everything! That is the essence of magic and the magic of the grand fire mage Adolveit!

Perhaps it was the familiar sense of kinship after such a long time.

That joyful emotion was clearly conveyed to Hong Bi-Yeon.

-Yes... First, cover this entire sea with flames. Announce your existence to the world. The incarnation of fire has revived! The true heir of Adolveit has reappeared in the world!

Following the voice's words made everything easy.

Burn everything that had caused her pain and suffering would mean she wouldn't have to struggle anymore.

'Let's do that.'

However, she kept hesitating.

'Why?'

Burning everything in sight was the true will of the flame.

But no. She mustn't do that.

Something in her mind kept blocking her.

It was...

The faint remnant of happy emotions lingering in Hong Bi-Yeon's heart.

Whenever her mind was about to be consumed by rage, the image of a certain boy would appear and then fade, helping Hong Bi-Yeon gradually regain her reason.

'If I burn everything...'

In the end.

'I will end up burning even my happiness.'

That must not happen.

Flash!

When Hong Bi-Yeon opened her eyes, her red pupils burned brighter and hotter than the fire of the incarnation.

… Huh? This isn't right?

The flames gradually died down.

-This is new. Completely different. Different from what I thought was the true flame of Adolveit. The indiscriminate, raging fire…

The pillar of fire connecting the sea and the sky slowly shrank, and the red clouds filling the sky over the coast of Levian began to turn back into dark clouds.

-To think that uncontrollable fire can be handled like this! Haha! Yes. This is fresh and interesting in its own way!

Eventually, when the fire was completely extinguished, Hong Bi-Yeon was flying in the sky.

She hovered in midair with a pair of wings made of flames.

"..... Wh-what!"

Someone shouted.

Turning around slightly, she saw knights in the uniforms of the Adolveit Kingdom.

She felt a gaze stronger than anything else, and when she turned her head in that direction, she saw Queen Hong Se-ryu lying on the ground, struggling to look at her.

"How, how could this be...?"

Impossible.

Even if one were to combine all the 'impossibles' Hong Se-ryu had faced and overcome, it would not compare to what was before her eyes.

Not only had she regained her reason after being engulfed by the Hwaryeong Flower, but she could also clearly control the flames into the form of wings.

"Could it be that she... controlled the Hwaryeong Flower?"

Even the one who inherited the blood of Adolveit couldn't control it.

Only one person.

In history, only the progenitor mage's descendant, Adolveit, could handle it.

Touching the Hwaryeong Flower was considered a suicidal act even within the royal family.

"I can't believe it..."

Today, the people of Adolveit witnessed a miracle.

It was a miracle which blossomed in such a desperate situation. A single ray of hope...

It was blindingly bright and incredibly beautiful.