Book 1 Chapter 758
758.
Crackling-
The land was freezing.
It began in the center of Retin.
It was a pillar of ice that erupted from the ruined Palace of Purification.
The administrators working in Retin's Grand Hall felt something was wrong and quickly evacuated.
Crackling-
As if targeting them.
The cold spread across the floor, rapidly engulfing them.
"Kyaaahk?!"
"Quick, run!"
It was literally like a tidal wave of extreme cold.
The tidal wave of extreme cold soon spread beyond the Grand Hall, threatening the surrounding areas.
Citizens passing by the Grand Hall screamed and fled.
Thud-
At that moment, a middle-aged man running stumbled and fell.
"Ah, Dad!"
The girl running ahead cried out with a pale face.
"Don't mind me, just run! Hurry!"
The middle-aged man shouted urgently.
The tidal wave of extreme cold, which had approached unnoticed, was about to engulf the middle-aged man.
"Dad!"
"You idiot!"
The girl, crying, ran back and helped her father up.
The middle-aged man bit his lip tightly.
'It's too late!'
As he squeezed his eyes shut and embraced his daughter.
Fwoosh-! Boom-!
Flames, flying from somewhere, blew away the tidal wave of extreme cold.
Sizzle-!
The powerful heat and cold met, creating thick steam.
The middle-aged man and his daughter cautiously opened their eyes.
Stomp- stomp-
Through the steam, a girl with red hair approached.
"Are you okay?"
Runia extended her hand and helped the middle-aged man up.
"Th-thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Thanks to you, Elf! I don't know how I can repay this kindness…!"
Runia smiled as she looked at the father and daughter, who were thanking her with tears in their eyes.
"I just did what I had to do."
At her gentle smile, the father and daughter felt their anxiety melt away like snow.
What a beautiful and valiant girl she was!
The daughter, looking at Runia, suddenly gasped.
"A-are you by any chance Runia El Lund, the one who chases constellations?"
"Yes."
As Runia nodded.
Whoosh-!
The cold that had been pushed back by the flames Runia shot out blew in again.
"Please step back."
"Yes, yes."
The father and daughter ran towards where the people were fleeing.
As they did, they glanced back at Runia.
Runia was a hero beautiful enough to capture people's attention.
It was almost instinctual to keep looking at her.
At that moment.
A hulking figure appeared before the father and daughter.
A stony body with a blank expression, as if devoid of emotion.
Most importantly, he had a fierce appearance.
The middle-aged man froze, and the girl involuntarily hiccuped.
Warden spread his palm.
Fwoosh-!
"Get lost, you're in the way."
"S-sorry!"
The father and daughter quickly moved away.
Warden, having summoned a fire spirit, drew magical formations by controlling the spirit.
And then… Boom-!
A massive explosion erupted in front of Runia.
The tidal wave of extreme cold that had been approaching was pushed back once more.
But that wasn't the end of it.
Fwoooooosh-!
The swirling flames began to surround Runia.
"Hoo!"
Runia took a deep breath and raised both hands.
Runia's red eyes were fixed beyond the tidal wave of extreme cold.
Flames flickered from Runia's red eyes for a moment.
The fire spirit's flames, breathed out by Warden, began to be absorbed by Runia's flames.
'Flame Wave!'
At that moment, Runia unleashed the magic of the stars.
A wave of crimson flames surged high and pierced the tidal wave of extreme cold.
Whoosh-!
The cold was completely blown away.
Warden felt his skin tingle and approached Runia.
The endlessly advancing tidal wave of extreme cold vanished.
Whoosh-!
Runia, retracting her flames, glanced up at Warden.
"Did you have to go that far?"
"What are you talking about?"
"That father and daughter just now. They would have escaped fine even if you'd left them alone. Was there a need to scare them?"
"They were indeed in the way. Also, they were sluggish because they were focused on you."
Warden continued in an emotionless voice.
"They must have forgotten the situation because you were reassuring them too much."
"Isn't it better to gain courage than to be paralyzed by fear? You might need to practice smiling more."
Runia raised the corner of her mouth with a single finger, creating a smile.
Luna, the great hero who reassured people with a gentle smile.
That image was akin to Runia's ideal.
"I can't be as pretentious as you."
"Huh? Pretentious?"
It was when Runia wore a murderous expression.
Gooooo-!
A terrible chill rushed from where the tidal wave of extreme cold had disappeared.
Runia spread her palm and created flames, and Warden also summoned spirits.
Stomp- crackle- stomp- crackle-
Footsteps could be heard.
Runia narrowed her brows when she saw the figure that appeared along with the footsteps.
"A woman?"
It was a woman with pale blue skin.
A handsome face.
However, her blue eyes, lacking whites, were enough to give anyone a chilling feeling.
"Is she a demon?"
"I've never seen a demon like that."
Tartarus's monsters are broadly divided into four forms: Monster, Undead, Giant, and Human.
They each have their own characteristics.
However, this demon with such unique characteristics was something neither of them had seen before.
The demon that appeared clasped her hands and knelt down.
"Ah… The great Nix, ruler of Styx, has been resurrected… By His grace, inhabitants of Styx, arise!"
Crackling-
The ground around the woman began to freeze.
Thwack!
Hands burst forth from the frozen ground.
Seeing that, Runia muttered.
"This… is quite a bizarre sight."
"Prepare. They're coming."
The ice humans who emerged from the ground roared and charged towards Runia and Warden.
***
Similar situations were occurring around the ice pillars.
CRUNCH-!
Lil smashed the head of an ice human charging at her with her battle hammer.
Hum hum hum hum hum-
Lil began to spin the battle hammer with her finger.
Soon, with the power of the wind spirit added, the battle hammer began to spin at incredible speed.
Lil's feet, spinning the battle hammer, lifted slightly off the ground.
Then, with shining eyes, she extended her hand holding the spinning battle hammer forward.
WHOOOOSH-!
At the same time, Lil, holding the battle hammer, moved forward at incredible speed.
CRASH-!
Lil crushed everything in front of her as she advanced.
Leah, watching this, gaped.
"A-are all the spirit users of Rummern like this?"
"Of course not. She's the odd one."
Elena shook her head, sighing.
"Anyway, if you used more human-like techniques, you wouldn't be called a monster."
Lil had created many unique techniques based on her loyal spirit summoning skills and excellent physical abilities.
The problem was that all of these unique techniques looked like something beyond human, utterly bizarre.
Even now, the sight of her crushing ice humans using the battle hammer as propulsion was sufficiently grotesque.
After watching Lil for a moment, Elena narrowed her eyes and looked at the woman summoning the ice humans.
The woman with pale blue skin was praying with her hands clasped, kneeling like a devout follower.
Praise for a being named Nix flowed endlessly from her lips.
"You said your name was Leah?"
"Yes."
"Can you go check on the situation in other areas?"
The group was currently divided into three squads.
Elena and Lil.
Chloe and Luca.
Runia and Warden.
Leah was assigned the role of a messenger, moving between the three squads to assess and relay the situation.
It was Elena's command.
Click- click-
Elena approached the praying woman.
"Lil, provide cover."
With those words, Elena curled the corner of her mouth and pointed her fingertip at the woman.
WHOOSH- CRASH-!
With a light flick of her finger, a giant pillar of flames erupted from beneath the woman.
KYAAAAAAH!
As the woman was attacked, the ice humans roared and charged at Elena.
Lil swung her battle hammer, smashing those ice humans.
Elena didn't stop her advance.
The flames receded, but.
There, in the same posture as before, was the woman praying.
Seeing that, Elena tilted her head.
"Let's see if you can remain unfazed by this too?"
Then, with a cheerful smile, she snapped her fingers.
CRASH-!
This time, lava erupted from the ground.
Dozens of Lava Snakes.
The lava, like giant living snakes, opened their mouths wide and charged towards the woman.
Squelch! Crackle-!
Before the lava snakes could reach the woman, they froze solid.
Seeing that, Elena nodded.
"This confirms it."
"Have you found something?"
"Yes. But it's not good news."
Elena said, looking at the woman.
"That woman is a Legion Commander-class demon."
At those words, Lil's face hardened.
***
Leo and Lisinas quickly approached the ice pillar.
In the meantime, Lisinas summoned spirits.
A thousand low-ranking spirits were summoned simultaneously.
Even if they were low-ranking spirits, summoning a thousand at once was something most spirit users couldn't even attempt.
But Lisinas did it with relative ease.
Controlling them properly after summoning was even harder.
"Guys."
At Lisinas's words, the spirits of various elements, who had been chatting among themselves, snapped to attention.
"Can you help evacuate the people?"
She said with a smile, and the spirits saluted in unison and began to scatter.
"It's always awe-inspiring."
"You can do it too, Kyle."
"I'm not built for summoning multiple spirits at once."
As Leo snorted, Lisinas chuckled.
Whoooosh-!
A blizzard raged before them.
Leo and Lisinas stopped in their tracks.
Crackle-
A giant ice gate began to form.
Grind- CLANG-!
As the ice gate opened, heavily armed knights began to pour out.
Knights with pale blue skin.
Leo's eyes narrowed as he saw them.
'Each and every one of them is a high-ranking demon.'
The one at the forefront was a top-ranking demon, comparable to Artkhan, the Grand Duke of Dirge.
Clang- clang-
The top-ranking demon, mounted on an ice horse, looked down at Leo and Lisinas with cold eyes and said.
"Foolish mortals. You have the honor of meeting the second saint of the great goddess of death, Nix! Ameriol's Knights of Rest. Kneel and pay homage…"
Thwack-!
Before the top-ranking demon's words had finished.
A flash of light.
CLANG-! Roll- roll-
The demon's head, severed and on the floor, rolled towards Leo.
Thump-!
Leo stepped on the demon's head.
"You… a mere mortal…!"
"You're not even a Legion Commander, what are you going on about?"
Leo applied pressure to the foot stepping on the head.
CRUNCH-! Snap-!
The top-ranking demon's head began to crack.
"You're the ones who should kneel and pay homage."
Thwack! Clang-!
The demon's head shattered into pieces.
Seeing that, Leo sneered coldly.
"The ones standing before you are the great heroes who will end you eternally."