Book 1 Chapter 703
703.
Chloe's unique magic.
Fimbulvetr struck the orc settlement.
Kiiiaaaak!
Keaaaaah!
The orcs screamed as the sudden cold snap hit them.
“Human! Human! Kiiiaaaak!”
“It’s a human raid!”
Despite the massive number of orcs instantly freezing to death, the orcs' response was calm.
“Human wizard! It’s hard to use such magic multiple times!”
Orc warriors took the lead, swinging their axes and commanding the orcs.
“Encircle! Encircle!”
As roars echoed, the orcs swiftly formed an encirclement.
Not only that, orcs with bows approached, aiming arrows in the direction from which the magic had flown.
‘This isn’t just any random orc settlement.’
Leo narrowed his brows.
It was an orc settlement accustomed to battle.
‘The very presence of a Witchdoctor King means they are the orc elite.’
A Witchdoctor King doesn't just wield powerful dark magic.
As befits the name of a king, they possess powerful leadership.
An orc settlement led by a Witchdoctor King is, quite literally, a powerful army.
‘Well, it won't matter in front of Chloe, though.’
Even as the orcs narrowed their encirclement, Chloe, unperturbed, prepared her next spell.
With Leo holding the front, the orcs wouldn't be able to reach Chloe.
Of course, Chloe's calm wasn't because Leo was there.
This situation, with the encirclement narrowing, was actually better.
Kagagagak-!
The ground Chloe stood on began to freeze solid.
Not just the ground.
The air in the atmosphere also froze.
The rain, which had been falling like ice pellets, was now pouring like hail.
It was as if this entire area had suddenly turned into the dead of winter.
And not just a simple winter, but the harsh winter experienced in the deepest northern reaches of the continent.
“Hoo.”
Leo exhaled, and white breath, like smoke, escaped.
Chloe, who had been focusing on the magic spell with her eyes closed, opened them.
With a face like an ice doll, Chloe looked at the horde of orcs.
“Ice World.”
Chloe’s unique magic, which could be called her symbol, was completed.
The pouring downpour further strengthened Chloe's already powerful magic.
The roaring orcs instantly froze.
Seeing this, Chloe struck the ground with her staff.
Clang!
The orcs, now ice statues, simultaneously shattered and collapsed.
“It’s over.”
Chloe looked at Leo.
Leo brushed off the thin layer of ice on his body.
“You look very cold?”
“Whose fault is that?”
Chloe chuckled, watching Leo glare at her.
“It's cold, let’s move to the next area.”
“Alright.”
It was then, as Chloe smiled brightly and nodded, watching the grumbling Leo.
Crack-!
The sound of ice cracking was heard.
Leo and Chloe stopped in their tracks.
Clang-!
Among the frozen orcs, a piece of ice shattered.
Chloe looked at the Orc Witchdoctor King with a puzzled expression.
“It seems the power wasn't enough to take down the Orc Witchdoctor King in one go.”
Chloe wore a serious expression.
“Should I really increase the power more?”
“It seems sufficient as it is?”
“Huh? Isn’t it lacking?”
Chloe blinked with an innocent face.
Leo clicked his tongue, looking at Chloe.
‘This is why wizards are like this.’
Wizards tend to be obsessed with magical power.
That's why it's not uncommon to see them maximize the power of even ordinary magic by adding all sorts of power-increasing spells, without considering the balance of the magic.
‘Luna was like that too.’
The reason wizards were obsessed with magical power was simple.
‘Because they can.’
Sometimes, their obsession with power leads to magic power reaching a level that can harm allies.
Of course, a mad wizard wouldn't intentionally harm allies.
The problem arises when they are in a party of two, like now.
‘Kyle wouldn't die from this much.’
Luna often said such things and frequently removed the power limit when they were in a party of two.
And now, Chloe's eyes were exactly like Luna’s when she said such things.
“I should really raise the power… What are you doing?!”
Chloe shook off Leo's hand pinching her cheek and cupped her face.
Leo spoke, looking at Chloe, who was protesting with a very red face.
“I’ll handle it, you just watch.”
At those words, Chloe showed a slightly disgruntled expression but soon obediently stepped back.
Thud-
Leo stepped forward, treading on the frozen ground.
‘By the way, this is strange.’
Leo glared at the Orc Witchdoctor King.
In this era, an Orc Witchdoctor King was a rare mutant.
But 5000 years ago, an Orc Witchdoctor King was not an uncommon individual.
Thus, Leo had rich experience hunting Orc Witchdoctor Kings.
As far as Leo knew, although an Orc Witchdoctor King was a powerful monster, it shouldn't be able to withstand Chloe's magic.
Yet, the Orc Witchdoctor King before his eyes was alive.
‘It doesn’t even look like it took a big hit.’
He felt a sense of unease.
Swoosh-
Leo drew his sword.
At that moment.
Thud-!
The Orc Witchdoctor King struck the ground with his staff.
At that moment.
Rumble-crack-crack-crack-!
A dragon's head shot up from the ground.
The ice dragon, jaws wide open, lunged at Leo.
Whoosh-!
Zerdiner's flame erupted from Leo's sword.
Slash-!
The ice dragon was split in half and turned into water, pouring down like a waterfall.
‘Was it a creature that wields ice magic?’
If so, its immunity to Chloe’s magic was somewhat explained.
But Leo’s sense of unease didn't fade.
Chloe’s ice magic was so special that even Luna spoke of it.
It was astonishing for any monster, no matter how much it wielded ice magic, to withstand it.
Whoosh-
Leo intensified the flame.
The frozen ground began to melt.
Goooooo-
An immense heat pressed down on the Orc Witchdoctor King.
A heat so intense that merely being near it would turn one to ashes.
As Leo pointed his sword at the Orc Witchdoctor King, the aura grew even hotter.
At that moment.
Goooooo-
The cold air emanating from the Orc Witchdoctor King intensified.
It momentarily pushed back Leo's flame.
The moment Leo's shoulder flinched.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-!
The ground around the Orc Witchdoctor King began to freeze.
Leo jumped.
At that moment.
Zing-!
Snowflake-shaped ice chunks began to rotate around Leo like a protective shield.
Seeing the ice, which showed no signs of melting despite the heat Leo emitted, Leo looked at Chloe.
Chloe, too, had sensed that the Orc Witchdoctor King was not ordinary and had cast an ice shield.
Leo’s red eyes gleamed.
Whoosh-!
A golden flame dwelled on Leo’s sword.
It was none other than Dweno’s flame.
Slash-!
Leo’s sword split the Orc Witchdoctor King’s body in half.
The Orc Witchdoctor King instantly died.
But Leo felt a sense of strangeness.
‘The feeling of cutting ice.’
Indeed, the Orc Witchdoctor King’s body, split in half, was completely frozen.
At that moment, Leo felt a chill.
As far as Leo knew, Dweno's flame was the king of the phoenixes.
As hot and intense as the Flame Emperor's flame.
That was why it could resist and not be swallowed by Erebus's flame.
‘But why… isn’t it melting?’
At that moment.
The dead Orc Witchdoctor King’s eyes rolled around and then focused on Leo.
The moment their gazes met, filled with cold hatred.
Leo unhesitatingly rushed towards Chloe.
“Leo. What….”
Chloe, who had worn a bewildered expression, suddenly widened her eyes as Leo pulled her into his arms.
Leo summoned his cloak of darkness and wrapped it around their bodies.
Boom-!
At that moment, the Orc Witchdoctor King’s body exploded.
An immense bitter cold blew from its center.
Chloe, eyes tightly shut, carefully opened them.
Then she gasped.
What she saw before her were familiar red eyes.
“Are you okay?”
Leo’s face was at a distance where their breaths would meet.
Chloe, eyes wide with surprise, nodded.
“I’m fine.”
Leo chuckled at Chloe’s reply and stood up.
Whoooooooosh-!
Along with him, a snowstorm blew.
It was as if they had come to a mountain in the dead of winter, engulfed in a blizzard.
“What is this…?”
As Chloe made a surprised face, Leo brushed off the thin ice clinging to his cloak and said.
“It feels like a curse.”
“A curse?”
“Yes. I’ve seen similar curses before.”
Fortunately, the Orc Witchdoctor King’s explosion did not cause significant harm to Leo and Chloe.
However, it had a tremendous impact on the surrounding environment.
Leo had seen something similar four times before.
‘Of course, the phenomenon was the exact opposite back then.’
When Erebus was severely wounded.
The surrounding area was engulfed in an inextinguishable calamitous flame.
The calamitous flame, burning by consuming all surrounding mana, instantly paralyzed abilities.
‘Well, compared to then, this is much better…’
The calamitous flame was powerful enough to reduce great heroes to ashes.
But the bitter cold currently blowing was not enough to freeze one to death.
‘By the way, what exactly is this?’
Leo looked at the blizzard with a grim face.
It was as if mana wouldn’t move, just like when Erebus was wounded and fled.
But it was clearly different from when all the mana had burned.
Now, the mana was frozen and wouldn’t move.
If only the result was considered, it was the same.
But the phenomenon was completely different.
“Leo, this snow… something is strange.”
“What?”
Turning his head, Leo saw Chloe holding a handful of snow from the ground with a bewildered expression.
“It’s not melting.”
As she said, the snow clutched in Chloe’s hand merely slipped through her fingers like grains of sand.
It didn't melt.
No matter how cold the weather, a person's body temperature is enough to melt snow.
Leo, who had been contemplating for a moment after hearing Chloe’s words, said.
“Let’s find a place to shelter from the blizzard first.”
“Okay.”
***
Leo and Chloe found a cave not far away.
Upon entering the cave, they felt a somewhat stuffy and warm air.
“Good timing, then.”
“What?”
Chloe shivered and looked at Leo.
Even as an ice mage, with mana frozen, she was directly exposed to the cold.
Thanks to her natural resistance to cold and trained body, she could endure, but her stamina and body temperature had been greatly depleted.
“It seems there’s a hot spring inside.”
At his words, Chloe’s eyes widened, and she looked into the dark interior of the cave.
Leo used the dry branches and leaves scattered around the cave to make a bonfire.
Soon, he also made a torch, lit up the cave, and then went further inside.
As Chloe followed him, a steaming hot spring, just as Leo had said, came into view.
Chloe made a bright expression, checked the water quality, and said.
“No problem! We can get in here and warm up!”
At Chloe’s words, Leo nodded and said.
“Then take off your clothes and get in.”
“Huh. Alrig— What?!”
Chloe, startled, looked at Leo.
“Wh-what did you just say?”
“To take them off.”
“Why?!”
“Are you going to go in like that?”
“Ah….”
Chloe’s face turned red.
Leo clicked his tongue, looking at Chloe.
“What on earth are you imagining?”
“I wasn’t imagining anything! Th-that’s it! I was just surprised because you suddenly told me to take them off!”
“Alright. Let’s assume that’s true.”
“Assume that’s true! I said it’s not!”
Chloe grabbed Leo and shook him vigorously.
A moment later.
Chloe, having calmed down, hesitated and then asked.
“Are you, are you going in too?”
“…….”
“No! Why are you looking at me like that! I just feel bad going in first! So, that’s why! I just asked in case!”
As she yelled with a beet-red face, Leo clicked his tongue.
“Kids these days, honestly.”
“What do you mean by that? And you’re also one of ‘kids these days’!”