“No, you can’t.”
I warned her, pleaded with her again and again.
It was a reckless plan, one I couldn’t be sure would work.
But the woman refused to back down.
“This is the only way,” she said softly.
“Please, don’t try to stop me.”
She shook her head gently and turned away.
Toward the place where the evil spirit dwelled.
I—no, the author—
watched helplessly as she took step after step away from me, determined to banish despair and protect the world.
Was this really the only way?
As I lay prostrate in frustration, the woman suddenly stopped.
And in a calm voice, she spoke.
—From the secret library of the southern city of Atlanta, “The Legend of the Dancer.”
Despite being hit head-on, the pursuer kept coming. Geunwon tilted his head in confusion. Somehow, even while being dragged away, he managed to cast one more spell—but the result was no different. At best, it only slowed the enemy’s pace for a moment, and even that was barely noticeable.
“Flare magic had little effect. I suspect they have a high level of magic resistance.”
“Enough! Let’s just get inside first!”
Jin Suhyun panted heavily but held Geunwon tightly and fled as fast as she could.
Carrying a mage and a priest—both with relatively low physical stats—while running was definitely a smart move. The Lycans slid across the snowy field like they were gliding. If she hadn’t carried them, they would have been caught for sure.
Soon, starting with Cha Sorim at the front, the users began slipping between the hills one after another. From a distance, it looked like they were overlapping, but up close, there was a roughly five-meter-wide gap.
The Lycans howled softly as they watched the intruders disappear between the hills. Their silver eyes gleamed with deadly intent, their sharp fangs glinting. It almost looked like they were sneering—confident they had them trapped.
The Lycans, running in a fan formation, began to split in two. The right wing charged through the gap on the right hill, the left wing through the left, cutting off any escape routes. Once they confirmed the intruders were trapped in the center, they opened their jaws wide and lunged from both sides at once.
Then—
Just before the distance closed,
a translucent, milky-white barrier suddenly swelled into a dome.
Bang! Bang!
Kyaaaaaa!
The sounds of air bursting and agonized screams overlapped. The charging Lycans all collapsed, rolling on the ground. Those behind hesitated, halting their charge. It wasn’t just the barrier blocking their path.
Instinct, perhaps.
Woooooooom! Woooooooom!
A deep resonance filled the air. A woman raised both hands, which glowed with a pale, ghostly light. The energy spun so fiercely it distorted the air itself. It was an indescribable sensation—like the atmosphere was being forcibly compressed, or like a cold blade slicing through the skin.
After a short while, the magical energy coalesced, writhing like a frightened heart, as if desperate to break free.
Then, Jegal Haesol glanced around with a sly smile.
“Welcome.”
Grrr?
“Falling Ice, isn’t it your first time?”
At that moment,
Jegal Haesol thrust both hands upward with force.
Shhhhhh!
A thin, concentrated gust of wind shot straight into the sky. Like a snake coiling, the wind swept across the peaks of the two hills, slicing through them cleanly.
Next,
Crack! Crack!
A tremendous roar echoed as the hilltops erupted in clouds of snow and shifted off their sturdy bases. Then, accelerating rapidly, the peaks slid down the slopes, rolling and tumbling.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
No one moved. Every being on the hills simply stared blankly at the sky. What Jegal Haesol had wrought was truly a breathtaking sight, regardless of whether one was human or monster.
But as the massive shadows of the falling peaks loomed, the Lycans’ eyes suddenly widened like lanterns. Too late—far too late. The two rolling peaks slammed down on the clustered Lycans, crushing and shattering them.
Crack! Smash!
A deafening roar tore through the air, as if eardrums were being shredded. The users grimaced and instinctively covered their ears, but the ringing in their heads persisted. When it finally subsided, all that remained in their sight were shattered ice fragments, crushed Lycan corpses, and the blood-soaked, torn earth beneath their feet. No cries or screams escaped. Blood splattered in all directions, staining the once-pristine snow red.
The shockwave also affected the users. But thanks to Baek Han-gyeol, who poured every ounce of his strength into maintaining the protective barrier, they survived the flying debris. Of course, this was all part of Jegal Haesol’s plan.
“How… how high is your magic power stat?”
Ha Seung-woo blurted out, clearly stunned.
“Hmm? Isn’t that a bit rude?”
Jegal Haesol smiled brightly and suddenly slapped Geohan on the back. Gong Chan-ho, who had been staring ahead blankly, jumped in surprise and turned around.
“W-what…?”
“What are you doing? After all that, you’re just going to stand there?”
“Huh?”
“This is our chance. They’re in chaos. It’s time for the melee fighters to strike!”
She was right. The Lycans at the front had all been crushed, and the few survivors were badly wounded from the debris blast. But those in the rear were still relatively intact, though panicked and running wild.
Gong Chan-ho cleared his mind. He’d just witnessed something incredible, and instead of trying to understand it, he decided to act on impulse. With a loud battle cry, he gripped his Surama spear tightly and charged forward.
On the way, he swung the spear hard at the head of a barely standing Lycan.
Kaang!
The Lycan’s head burst like a watermelon, blood spraying everywhere.
The sound snapped the other users to attention. They inhaled sharply and scanned their surroundings with focused eyes. Everything was unfolding exactly as Jegal Haesol had said. And now, with the enemies in disarray, it was the perfect moment to seize the advantage.
Soon after, the mercenary clan led by Nam Da-eun began running—heading in the opposite direction from Gong Chan-ho.
The chaotic battle had begun.
Meanwhile, at the same time—
“What the hell is that?”
Kim Suhyun, who had climbed the slope faster and more stealthily than anyone else, let out a baffled exclamation. His gaze fixed on the two hills, whose peaks had been cleanly sliced off. The cuts were so smooth and polished it looked like they could be used for figure skating.
“To cut through that thickness… is this Jegal Haesol’s doing?”
Flash!
Suddenly, three or four beams of pure white light struck down, illuminating the already white hills even more brightly. Kim Suhyun’s eyes widened.
“Oh ho. That’s Ansol’s divine punishment. But magic attacks probably won’t do much… Ah, maybe holy spells are different?”
Though no one was around, Kim Suhyun kept muttering to himself.
Howwwl!
No, he wasn’t alone. From below came a long, sudden howl. It sounded similar to before but carried a hint of urgency. Kim Suhyun glanced down with a faint smile.
As Cha Sorim had predicted, the Lycans who had appeared earlier were only a fraction of the total. Beyond the slope, more than three times that number gathered in packs. Fifty-two groups of twelve each, all on high alert. At least six hundred in total.
Most strikingly, at the center of the packs sat a massive Lycan far larger than the rest. While the others stood and paced, this one remained seated, its size easily twice that of the others. The Lycan king.
Kim Suhyun was not the least bit fazed. In fact, he thought, “Of course there’d be a king.” Because the presence of a king meant there was something to gain.
Howwwl! Howwwl!
The short, scream-like howls shook the air. The Lycans, who had been wandering and watching warily, all turned their gaze toward the hills. The Lycan king slowly rose to his feet.
Shing!
At the same moment, a chilling sound of blades slicing through the air rang out. Kim Suhyun drew his sword in response to the Lycans’ movements.
He was curious about the battle on the hills but wasn’t worried. The real problem would come if the Lycans formed a solid front and attacked from all sides. For now, with them scattered and vulnerable, it was just a matter of picking them off one by one.
Of course, the current plan wasn’t without its blind spots. For Je-gal Hae-sol’s strategy to truly shine, Kim Soo-hyun had to flawlessly mark the Lycan main force.
In truth, what Je-gal Hae-sol had requested wasn’t marking but disruption. Assuming the main force was present, he wanted a guerrilla-style hit-and-run to draw their attention. To pull that off, it required a user skilled not only in combat but also in quick judgment and evasion—and among the fourteen, Kim Soo-hyun was the perfect fit. If the main force wasn’t there, he was to return and join the hilltop battle.
But now that the main force had been spotted, Kim Soo-hyun had no intention of following Je-gal Hae-sol’s request to the letter. He knew a better way to tie them down without the hassle.
That was to attack the king. There was no need to weigh which held more value—the king or the vanguard. The answer was obvious.
A low growl rumbled…?
Just as the Lycan was about to bark again, the sound abruptly cut off. At the same moment, the Lycans poised to climb the snowfield froze in place. The Lycan king’s eyes, gazing up the slope, narrowed sharply.
Kim Soo-hyun finally revealed himself. Not only did he draw his silent blade, but with his left hand, he pulled out an earring and transformed it into the glorious sword Victoria. Closing his eyes gently, Kim Soo-hyun activated the power sealed within the armor of Chiwoo Cheonwang.
[User Kim Soo-hyun’s mana flow increases by 2.5 times!]
The unleashed mana surged through his entire body like a broken dam, racing through every circuit. Since acquiring the Fire Spirit, Kim Soo-hyun’s mana flow had doubled. That meant his current mana flow speed was 4.5 times that of an average user.
This phenomenon wasn’t just about speed. It was about channeling greater power, faster than ever before. If he could control this flow properly, there was no user anywhere who could defeat him.
A deep hum filled the air!
The overwhelming force filling his mana circuits radiated outward. The mana-charged sword cried out, and strange vibrations began trembling around Kim Soo-hyun. Even the space itself reacted to this formidable energy. Yet, as if not yet satisfied, the power continued to grow exponentially.
And just as it reached its peak—
“Fire Spirit.”
A fierce roar echoed!
At last, Kim Soo-hyun’s eyes snapped open. His cold, steady gaze flared into blazing red flames in an instant.
In the distant ancient past, Chiwoo Cheonwang—the God of War—was the only human to ascend to the ranks of the divine.
Now, the legend of the undefeated war god was about to be reborn on this icy, snow-covered battlefield.