Chapter 20 : The Last Winter V

"Ha, you'd better not regret this later."

Before the Beast of Corruption could launch an attack, Daniel pulled a small piece of wood, no bigger than a gold coin, from his pocket.

Although it looked like an ordinary piece of wood, it was anything but. This was a fragment of the Pyroash tree—a type of wood that explodes upon contact with Black Gold.

"That...?! You, human!" Naturally, the One-Eyed Winter immediately recognized it.

Without hesitation, Daniel threw the piece of wood toward the demon. It landed on the river.

BOOM!

Before the creature could react, the entire river erupted into an explosion. Daniel quickly hurled himself behind a tree to shield himself from the blast wave.

Black mist and smoke filled the air.

Victor's head and Jamal's body, which had remained intact until now, were violently shattered and scattered in different directions. One of their eyes even landed right in front of Daniel.

"Ugh—the blast was stronger than I expected."

Part of Daniel's face and arm had been completely burned by the explosion, but he didn't have the luxury to care about that now.

After a few seconds, he stood and looked back toward the river.

The frozen river had melted, now flowing like an ordinary stream, while nearby trees were ablaze.

Although the explosion was powerful due to the excessive amount of Black Gold, its range wasn't too wide.

This was one of Black Gold's features: its limited dispersal range. Daniel had ensured beforehand that the blast wouldn't spread too far.

He'd learned about this material thanks to the descriptions provided in the novel.

As the smoke and mist slowly dissipated, the figure of the One-Eyed Winter emerged.

"Hm...? This? Damn it!" As Daniel expected, the beast was still alive. Worse, it attacked the moment the smoke cleared.

"Damn it!" Daniel cursed. He dodged as quickly as he could but wasn't fast enough. His shoulder—the same side where he'd lost his arm—was completely ripped off.

"You wretched human! Because of you, I'm in this state! I swear by the Mother Goddess, I will tear you apart with my teeth!"

The One-Eyed Winter screamed with fury and hatred.

Daniel pressed his remaining hand against his shoulder in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

"It looks like you're not in good shape either."

Half of the demon's body was completely burned away, exposing its bones. More importantly, part of its heart was visible.

All demons possessed a kind of immortality: unless their core was destroyed, they couldn't die.

For beasts of corruption, the core was their heart—a radiant, pure white organ.

Daniel had never expected to kill such a monster with just one explosion.

The One-Eyed Winter's golden eyes turned red. Without giving Daniel any chance to flee, it unleashed its Eyes of Annihilation, targeting him.

A blinding beam of light erupted from the demon's eyes, striking Daniel. His stomach was completely pierced, the beam continuing through him to carve a hole in the icy mountain behind them.

Daniel's half-dead body was flung by the impact, crashing into a large chunk of frozen rock.

"Wretched human! This is your punishment for what you've done! An ant should never dare challenge higher beings! Know your place, you worthless dog."

The One-Eyed Winter glared at Daniel's half-dead body with contempt and scorn.

From the beginning, Daniel hadn't even tried to run—for two reasons.

First, escape was utterly impossible. He was just a half-human mortal with no special powers. Even being at peak of mortal physical potential, the monster before him was equivalent to a Rank B Awakened.

In every way, the One-Eyed Winter outclassed him, especially in speed.

He was, comparatively, no more than an ant.

Second, and more importantly, he didn't need to escape. His goal from the start had been to kill the beast, even if it meant enduring this level of pain.

As his eyes struggled to stay open, he watched the One-Eyed Winter step closer and closer.

"Though I detest eating humans, I suppose I can make an exception for you."

It licked its lips, staring at Daniel with hunger and anticipation.

"Besides, you destroyed my other meal, so you'll have to take responsibility, won't you?"

With its crocodile-like tongue, the beast licked Daniel's face, tasting him slightly.

In its eyes, while his flavor wasn't as exquisite as that of corrupted beasts, it wasn't entirely bad either. Especially because it could sense his lingering hope.

Could this foolish human really still hope to survive? Truly, as the Mother Goddess had said, humans were arrogant creatures.

"I... I..."

The words barely came out of Daniel's mouth, his energy completely drained, and death creeping closer.

"Ha, are those your last words, human? Go on."

The One-Eyed Winter grinned, and with its wide, eerie mouth, the grin looked even more terrifying.

It moved its head closer to hear what the human had to say before tearing him apart and roasting him with its Annihilation Beam.

"I... I never lose—not in this life..."

Suddenly, its instincts kicked in, and a wave of fear hit it. Something deep inside warned it: its life was in danger.

But before the demon could react, Daniel used the last bit of strength he had left to pull a small ball from his pocket and shove it into the One-Eyed Winter's mouth.

The beast didn't even have time to speak before the ball—filled with Black Gold—exploded, blowing its head to pieces.

Smoke and steam filled the air once again.

"It's not enough," Daniel whispered.

Daniel didn't stop. He reached out and pulled out the monster's heart. Due to the earlier explosion that had destroyed half of the demon's body, the heart was left completely unprotected.

He looked at the glowing white heart in his hand and, without a moment of hesitation, crushed it.

One-Eyed Winter's body collapsed lifelessly onto the ground, drenched in blood. In its final moments before death, it felt regret.

The Mother Goddess had said one more thing about humans: never underestimate them, their arrogance is not without reason...