Book 1 Chapter 758
758.
Crackling-
The ground was freezing.
Its beginning was in the center of Letin.
It was a pillar of ice that rose from the ruined Palace of Purification.
Officials working in Letin's administrative building sensed an abnormal situation and quickly evacuated.
Crackling-
As if targeting them,
the cold air froze the ground and quickly engulfed them.
"Kyaaaak?!"
"H-hurry, run!"
It was literally like a tidal wave of severe cold.
The frigid tide soon swept past the administrative building and began to threaten the surrounding area.
Citizens passing near the administrative building screamed and fled.
Thud-
Just then, a middle-aged man who was running tripped and fell.
"Oh, Dad!"
The girl running ahead screamed with a pale face.
"Don't mind me, just run! Hurry!"
The middle-aged man shouted urgently.
The frigid tide, which had approached unnoticed, was about to engulf the middle-aged man.
"Dad!"
"You fool!"
The girl cried and ran to help her father up.
The middle-aged man bit his lip tightly.
'It's too late!'
As he squeezed his eyes shut and hugged his daughter,
Whoosh-! Boom-!
Flames flying in from somewhere blew away the frigid tide.
Hiss-!
Powerful heat and cold met, creating thick steam.
The middle-aged man and his daughter carefully opened their eyes.
Thump, thump-
A red-haired girl emerged through the steam and approached.
"Are you alright?"
Lunia extended her hand and helped the middle-aged man to his feet.
"T-thank you! Thank you so much!"
"We're alive thanks to you, Elf! How can we ever repay this kindness…!"
Lunia smiled gently, watching the father and daughter express their gratitude with teary 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, who was looking at Lunia, suddenly gasped-!
"H-hold on, aren't you Lunia El Rundia, the Seeker of Nebulae?"
"That's right."
As Lunia nodded,
Whoosh-!
The cold air, pushed back by Lunia's flames, surged forward again.
"Please retreat quickly."
"Yes, okay."
The father and daughter ran to where the other people had fled.
As they did, they glanced back at Lunia.
Lunia was a hero beautiful enough to captivate people's eyes.
The constant turning of their gaze towards her was, in a way, close to instinct.
At that moment.
A giant appeared before the father and daughter.
An expressionless face that seemed to feel no emotion, and a body like a rock.
Crucially, his impression was intimidating.
The middle-aged man froze, and the girl involuntarily hiccuped.
Woredun spread his palm.
Whoosh-!
"You're getting in the way, so disappear quickly."
"S-sorry!"
The father and daughter hastily left the spot.
Woredun, who had summoned fire spirits, controlled them to draw a magical formation.
And then… Boom-!
A massive explosion erupted in front of Lunia.
The frigid tide, which had been pressing forward, was pushed back once again.
But that wasn't the end.
Whoosh-!
Swirling flames began to envelop Lunia.
"Hoo!"
Lunia took a deep breath and raised both hands.
Lunia's red eyes were fixed beyond the frigid tide.
Sparks flew from Lunia's red eyes for a moment.
The spirit flames emitted by Woredun began to be drawn into Lunia's flames.
'Flame Wave!'
At that moment, Lunia unleashed Star Magic.
A wave of crimson flames surged high and pierced through the frigid tide.
Whoosh-!
The cold air was completely blown away.
Woredun felt his skin growing hot as he approached Lunia.
The endlessly advancing frigid tide disappeared without a trace.
Whoosh-!
Lunia, retracting her flames, glanced up at Woredun.
"Did you need to go that far?"
"What are you talking about?"
"That father and daughter earlier. They would have escaped fine even if you left them alone, so was there a need to scare them?"
"They were indeed in the way. Also, they were slow because they were focused on you."
Woredun continued in an emotionless voice.
"You reassured them too much, so they forgot the situation."
"Isn't it better to gain courage than to be paralyzed by fear? You might need to practice smiling a bit more."
Lunia used one finger to lift the corner of her mouth, creating a smile.
The great hero Luna, who was said to have reassured people with her gentle smile.
That image was like Lunia's ideal.
"I'm not as good at pretending as you, you know?"
"Huh? Pretending?"
It was then that Lunia made a fierce expression.
Groooowwwl-!
A terrible cold air surged from where the frigid tide had disappeared.
Lunia spread her palm and created flames, and Woredun also summoned spirits.
Thud- Crack- Thud- Crack-
Footsteps were heard.
Lunia narrowed her brows when she saw the figure that appeared with the sound.
"A woman?"
It was a woman with pale blue skin.
A beautiful face.
But her blue eyes, lacking whites, were enough to give onlookers an eerie feeling.
"Is she a demon?"
"A demon I haven't seen before?"
The monsters of Tartaros are largely divided into four types.
Monster type, Undead type, Giant type, Humanoid type.
They each have their own characteristics.
However, the demon with the characteristics before them was a type they had never seen before.
The demon that appeared clasped her hands together, then knelt down.
"Ah… The great Nyx, master of Styx, has resurrected… By her grace, O residents of Styx. Arise!"
Crackling-
The ground around the woman began to freeze.
Snap!
A hand burst forth, piercing the frozen ground.
Lunia, seeing that, mumbled.
"This is… quite a bizarre sight, isn't it?"
"Get ready. They're coming."
Ice humanoids that had burst through the ground roared and charged towards Lunia and Woredun.
***
Similar situations were breaking out around the ice pillar.
Crunch-!
Lil used her battle hammer to smash the head of an ice humanoid charging in front of her.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh-
Lil began to spin her battle hammer with her fingers.
Soon, with the added power of the wind spirit, the battle hammer began to rotate at tremendous speed.
Lil's feet, spinning the battle hammer, lifted slightly from the ground.
Then, with sparkling eyes, she extended the hand spinning the battle hammer forward.
Whoosh-!
Simultaneously, Lil, holding the battle hammer, charged forward at incredible speed.
Craaack-!
Lil advanced, pulverizing all the ice humanoids in her path.
Rea, watching that, gaped.
"D-do all the Spirit Users of Lumerne fight like that?"
"Of course not? She's the strange one."
Elena shook her head repeatedly.
"Anyway. She should use more human-like techniques so people don't tease her as a monster."
Based on her faithful spirit magic techniques and excellent physical abilities, Lil had created many original techniques.
The problem was that every one of those original techniques looked outlandish, like something beyond human.
Even now, her sight of pulverizing ice humanoids using the battle hammer as propulsion was bizarre enough.
Elena, who had been watching Lil for a moment, narrowed her eyes and looked at the woman summoning the ice humanoids.
The woman with pale blue skin was praying, hands clasped and kneeling, like a devout worshipper.
From her lips flowed endless praise for a being named Nyx.
"Your name was Rea, right?"
"Yes."
"Could you go check the war situation in other areas and come back?"
Currently, the group was divided into three teams.
Elena and Lil.
Chloe and Luca.
Lunia and Woredun.
Rea was tasked with acting as a messenger, moving between the three teams to grasp and convey the situation.
It was Elena's command.
Click- Clack-
Elena approached the praying woman.
"Lil. Cover me."
Leaving those words, Elena curled up the corners of her mouth and pointed at the woman with her fingertip.
Whoosh- Crrrraaaack-!
As she lightly flicked her finger, a massive pillar of flames erupted from beneath the woman's feet.
Kyaaaaaak!
As the woman was attacked, the ice humanoids shrieked and charged at Elena.
Lil swung her battle hammer, beginning to smash those ice humanoids.
Elena did not stop walking.
Though the flames cleared.
There, the woman was seen praying in the same posture as before.
Elena, seeing that, tilted her head.
"Let's see if she can remain calm through this too."
Then, with a cheerful smile, she snapped her fingers.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-!
Then, this time, lava erupted from the ground.
Dozens of Lava Snakes.
The lava, like living giant snakes, opened their mouths wide and charged towards the woman.
Splat! Craaack-!
Before the lava snakes could reach the woman, they froze solid.
Elena, seeing that, nodded her head.
"This confirms it."
"Did you find anything?"
"Yeah. But it's not good news."
Elena looked at the woman and said.
"That woman. She's a Legion Commander-class demon."
At those words, Lil's face hardened.
***
Leo and Risinas quickly approached the ice pillar.
Meanwhile, Risinas summoned spirits.
A thousand lesser spirits were summoned simultaneously.
Even if they were lesser spirits, summoning a thousand spirits simultaneously was something most spirit users wouldn't even attempt.
But Risinas accomplished it without difficulty.
Even if summoned, controlling them properly was even more challenging.
"Kids."
At Risinas's words, the spirits of various attributes, who had been chattering among themselves, all snapped to attention.
"Will you help with the evacuation of the people?"
As she said with a gentle smile, the spirits all saluted and began to scatter.
"It's always amazing to see."
"You can do it too, Kyle."
"I'm not constitutionally suited to summoning multiple spirits simultaneously."
It was then that Risinas chuckled, watching Leo cluck his tongue.
Whoosh-!
A blizzard raged before them.
Leo and Risinas stopped in their tracks.
Craaack-!
A massive ice gate began to form.
Grrroooan- Thud-!
The ice gate opened, and heavily armed knights began to pour out from within.
Knights with pale blue skin.
Leo's eyes narrowed as he saw them.
'Each one is a high-ranking demon.'
The one at the very front was a supreme-ranking demon, comparable to Archduke Atkan of the Funeral.
Clip-clop-
The supreme-ranking demon, mounted on an ice horse, looked down at Leo and Risinas with chilling eyes and spoke.
"Foolish mortals. You have been granted an audience with the great goddess who presides over death! Nyx's second saint! Lady Ameriol's Knights of Rest. Hurry, kneel and worship…"
Slash-!
Before the supreme-ranking demon could even finish speaking.
A flash of light gleamed.
Thud-! Roll, roll, roll-
The demon's head, severed and fallen to the ground, rolled in front of Leo.
Thump-!
Leo stepped on the demon's head.
"Th-this… this mere mortal…!"
"You're not even Legion Commander-class, so what are you muttering about?"
Leo applied pressure with the foot on the head.
Crunch-! Crack-!
Cracks began to form on the supreme-ranking demon's head.
"You all should be kneeling and worshipping instead."
Snap! Shatter-!
Soon, the demon's head shattered into pieces.
Seeing that, Leo let out a chilling sneer.
"Because what's in front of you are the Great Heroes who will end you forever."