Breakers

The ceiling of the cave was high, while the frost giants had an average height of eight meters. The difference was very short, but it caused a gap. Even that short amount of time was precious for In-gong.

He was already facing the ceiling. So, as Amita’s flames illuminated the falling rocks, In-gong used Telekinesis. The power stretched out over everyone’s heads, and the falling rocks were caught in the air.

It was three or four seconds, but that time was enough to save everyone’s lives.

“Kuraha!”

Carack let out a battle cry. The people, who hadn’t woken when the ceiling began to collapse, opened their eyes at his call, and they quickly regained their spirits. In-gong stopped using Telekinesis, then the rocks started falling again. Almost everyone who had woken up reacted to it.

Kwakakakang!

Vandal, the ogres, and the golems aimed their fists at the ceiling. The sura moved their swords quickly, while the dark elves randomly fired off magic power.

The large rocks were broken and split into small stones. Simultaneously, the lycanthropes used Beast Form and embraced the other species in order to act as a shield against the fragments.

The shock continued. Sharp shards stuck into the backs of the lycanthropes while the ground shook as large debris crashed down. However, in the midst of all this, there was a sharp scream. Felicia, who had been in Anastasia and Silvan’s arms, sighed with relief as the ceiling stopped collapsing.

However, there was no time to rest. As soon as the cave collapsed, the cold entered. Moreover, there were things pouring down from the sky which couldn’t be smashed like the rocks.

Hwakak!

It was an understatement to call it a heavy rain; it was like large water buckets were pouring down on them from the sky. For a moment, everybody didn’t breathe. It was hard to even open their eyes due to the sudden rain.

After a few more seconds, the rain was over. Water had poured down from a high place, but no one was injured. At most, some people swallowed the water, but that was fine because it wasn’t mixed with poison.

However, there was a different problem. They were in a place beyond the limit line—a fearsome frigid land.

Everybody grabbed their chest, which filled with a cold air that seemed to freeze their lungs. The bigger issue was that their whole body was wet. The wind, which seemed to cut at their flesh, threatened their lives.

The lycanthropes, whose clothes were torn, were knocked down first due to their transformed bodies. Their wet fur quickly froze, and the body temperature of the lycanthropes lowered sharply.

The blizzard entered into the cave. The muddy floor froze over, and the dark elves, crushed by the weight of the lycanthropes, could barely breathe.

Vandal couldn’t make a decision. He was a senior general of the Demon King’s Palace. However, this was the first time he had encountered a battlefield like this, so he couldn’t decide if it was better to take off the wet clothes or to just wear it.

His body was heavy, and the white blizzard darkened his field of view.

Anastasia trembled. The moment she saw the falling rocks, she had covered Felicia’s head without thinking. Thanks to the fact that she and Silvan had done it at the same time, Felicia wasn’t injured by the rocks, but the problem was the water and the cold. Anastasia’s long and beautiful eyelashes were now frozen.

Felicia gasped from underneath Anastasia and Silvan. As she lay underneath them, she gazed at the blizzard in the sky and saw a magic spell. It was clear that the water, which had poured down from nowhere, was due to transformation magic.

She exhaled. It wasn’t enough to produce a breath of white mist, but the breath coming from her throat seemed to freeze. Despite this, she was activating her magic power, so her spirit felt better. It was an extremely dangerous situation. If her body temperature kept lowering like this, she would die before even fighting.

Felicia tried desperately to move her lips. Anastasia was also reciting a spell.

They had to block the wind and snowstorm somehow. The next thing was to create heat to increase their body temperature again. However, the one who poured the water on them didn’t give them this time. From the sky, death poured down directly. They were icicles as sharp as knives.

In-gong got up from the ground and shouted as he pulled the Giant King’s Sword from his inventory.

“Green Wind!”

It wasn’t a simple call but an order for an upgrade. In-gong used Telekinesis to rotate the Giant King’s Sword fiercely, and it destroyed the icicles. Meanwhile, Green Wind appeared as the goddess of wind behind In-gong, sharing her consciousness with him as she used her wind.

Chukwakakakak!

The fragments of the shattered icicles were pushed back up in the sky, and they glistened like stars.

“Kuha!”

In-gong’s breath poured out. Protagonist Body increased his resistance to the cold, but he wasn’t immune to it. As the cold seemed to penetrate deep into his lungs, In-gong gazed up at the sky. In the center of the magic blizzard, he saw a woman.

It was the first time he had seen her, but In-gong knew who she was. It was Frost Queen Yosarina, a close confidant of Arch Lich Shutenberg. She was a powerful magician who could use various ice spells while wearing thick ice armour around her body. The presence of one of Shutenberg’s swords meant that this attack wasn’t a coincidence.

Shutenberg had already noticed the march of In-gong’s group and had dispatched Frost Queen Yosarina to this cold land in order to stop In-gong’s party. Chris had talked about a diversion attack, while the sword duke had said that both groups were important.

The Frost Queen Yosarina had moved, so both of them were correct.

In-gong had been too distracted by the cold. Shutenberg didn’t rule over the whole area beyond the limit line, so In-gong had thought the snowstorm would cover their march. However, this was a mistake; the party was already in Shutenberg’s area.

Yosarina raised her hand in the sky. The armour around her made the frost queen look like a five-meter-tall giant.

A new sound was heard over the wind. It was a low and scary cry, followed by numerous heavy footsteps pounding against the ground.

Green Wind, who maintained the barrier of wind, looked around with an uneasy expression. The sounds were coming from beyond the blizzard. Those who encircled the cave were advancing little by little.

Ice golems, crazy ice spirits, undead yeti and frost giants… Yosarina’s ice corps numbered in the hundreds, maybe even thousands. In-gong opened the mini-map reflexively and saw that it was filled with red dots.

Someone needed to fight. The 200 elites In-gong led weren’t capable of fighting right now. He had to earn time until they could fight again.

Yosarina raised her hand again and started drawing a new magic circle at her fingertips. In-gong had to stop Yosarina.

“Spiritualism!”

He cried out, and power filled him. Yosarina paused while making the magic circle and looked at In-gong for a moment. In-gong used Wind Style to move forward, while simultaneously, he shouted again,

“Caitlin!”

It was a choice he made in that moment. The light of Conquest wound around Caitlin who was in Chris’ arms, and she cried out angrily from inside the white light. Caitlin was receiving an upgrade to an apostle.

In-gong didn’t look back as he rushed at Yosarina. The crazy ice spirits floating around Yosarina headed towards In-gong, and Yosarina started casting her magic faster.

The frost corps surrounding the party sped up. There were even those who started running.

The floor rang out with loud thuds. Carack gave a battle cry, while Vandal and the ogres lifted their weapons. The dark elves used magic to heal the lycanthropes desperately, while the sura moaned painfully as they raised their swords.

Felicia’s and Anastasia’s spells completed at the same time. A barrier of fire surrounded the party while the magic of recovery covered everyone.

Caitlin raised her head and revealed fangs through blue hair. Her eyes were reminiscent of an extremely wild beast hunting its prey.

The Fire Barrier weakened, and In-gong shattered the ice spirits. Then White Eagle struck Yosarina’s armour. Part of her armour broke, but Yosarina didn’t stop moving her hand.

Her magic circle was now complete, and In-gong prepared for water pouring on him again. However, this magic was different from the first one.

Fire Barrier turned off. Then Yosarina looked at the party and not at In-gong. The lycanthropes sensed it, and they quickly grabbed the dark elves near them. Caitlin grabbed Felicia and Anastasia, while Chris cursed.

An ominous sound rang out from the ground. Felicia and Anastasia turned white as they looked at the ground.

Kwakakakang!

The ground broke apart. There was a loud vibration as a giant monster emerged from the ground. It was a frost worm covered with sharp thorns. Its body length was dozens of meters and its head was large enough to swallow a few people.

Dozens of people were caught when the frost worm rose up. Many more fell to the ground.

The cold hit everyone again, and the frost corps finally arrived just before the party.

The frost worm shook. The weight of its body striking the ground was enough to cause damage. There were those who couldn’t escape and were crushed, while others fell again due to the shaking of the ground. Simultaneously, some others were attacked by the frost corps.

Yosarina burst out laughing. It seemed like her laughter made the blizzard even stronger.

They needed a solution. In-gong needed to break through this situation.

He focused his thoughts, and the fire received from the last flame covered his whole body. In-gong needed to leave the frost worm and frost corps to those on the ground, and concentrate only on Yosarina. Only then would they be able to overcome this situation.

Then at that very moment…

In-gong felt an unbearable impulse to look behind him. Beyond the red dots on the mini-map, someone was rushing there.