Chapter 843: Frost [1]

"Haa..."

A thin mist escaped with my breath as a pair of eyes locked onto mine. His blue hair swayed in the wind, and my heart tightened in response.

He looked confused.

As if he couldn’t quite remember what had happened.

But soon—

"You..."

His gaze changed. The way he looked at Evelyn changed.

Memories flooded his mind, and I felt the surroundings grow even colder. So much so that my entire body began to stiffen. In spite of the change, I didn’t feel scared. Whilst the cold made my entire body tense, it wasn’t enough to threaten me.

It was obvious.

’He’s injured.’

"Calm down."

I first tried to reason with him.

But that was easier said than done.

"You’re with them!"

His shouts filled the surroundings.

"I can feel it! You have the same energy as that monster! You’re with them! You’ve tricked us! I should’ve never trusted you!!"

His eyes seemed to have lost all reasoning. There was only hatred left. But it wasn’t like I didn’t understand. This place... that had once been beautiful had changed. It was no longer the peaceful place that he had once known. Where children roamed, and families lived. Despite the harshness of the Mirror Dimension, this place was still a place that held some hope for those who were living.

...And all of it had come crushing down with one incident.

One ’God Hunter’.

"You... You didn’t have enough, right? You want to get rid of every single remaining person in this place, right? You’re not satisfied until everyone is gone, right? No, no, no..."

The usually calm Velar was gone.

In its place was a Velar filled with nothing but hatred.

Thankfully, I existed.

"Calm down."

My voice came out calmer than I’d expected. As I addressed Velar, my focus never left the massive red orb within his body. It enveloped him completely, continuing to swell with each passing moment. There was no mistaking it. His hatred ran deep.

But it was nowhere near as deep as the hatred that ran down Evelyn’s body.

The artificial hatred that resided deep within her.

"You... You’re also with her, right? There’s no way you wouldn’t be. How can you not feel the energy within her? You feel it, right? There’s no way you don’t feel it!!"

I pushed my hand down.

The red orb started to compress with my actions.

And Velar’s voice was softening.

"Did you know since the start? Have the two of you been working since the start? What is your relationship with the ’God Hunter’? Are you its followers? Is your job to get rid of us so that we don’t speak about it? Is that what it is...?"

Along with the softening, a new orb appeared.

One in deep blue color.

And the moment it appeared, Velar’s voice started to crack.

"Why...? Why can’t... You just leave us alone? Why can’t you just let us live? What... have we done wrong? What have we..."

"You’ve done nothing wrong."

I answered calmly.

"Nobody did anything wrong. Neither us, nor you. This isn’t a situation that we can control, and I can assure you, we’ve got nothing to do with what has happened to Eisylra. Otherwise, if we truly had something to do with the place, we wouldn’t have been affected by the cold like we are."

I reached for my sleeve and tugged it down, revealing the chunks of ice that had latched onto my arm, creeping along my skin. My entire arm radiated the moment I exposed it to the cold, the ice growing even thicker as I channeled my mana and covered my arm once more.

’...I really need to figure out a solution to this soon. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to last.’

To make matters worse, Leon and the others had even less time.

I needed to get Velar to trust us once more.

"There’s also the matter with our friends. They’ve turned into ice, and the reason we’re even here is to try to resolve the curse around them. There’s no other reason why we chose to remain here."

"That could all be an excuse."

"I know."

There was no denying that.

But—

"We could’ve also killed you right here, and right now, and yet, we didn’t."

I looked at Velar meaningfully.

His lips parted. Seemingly trying to rebuke me, but as if also realizing the situation, he stopped talking.

He understood that I was right.

If I really wanted to kill him, he would’ve already been dead by now.

"There’s no reason for me to keep you alive if I’m really against you."

Now that I had taken control of his anger, the irrationality that gripped his mind was gone. In its place was the calmness that I was used to seeing. But within that calmness, I could still see doubt.

Especially when he took a glimpse of Evelyn.

"I..."

"She’s cursed."

I spoke before Evelyn could.

I already had an idea of how to convince Velar.

"You must’ve seen it yourself. That strange energy that is covering her body... It’s a curse."

"..."

"It’s a curse similar to that of the ’God Hunter’. I can’t say for sure if it’s the same, but I’m sure you can tell that it’s not something that she can control. In fact, I believe that the ’God Hunter’ is also experiencing a similar situation."

If the ’God Hunter’ was truly Delilah, then there was a high chance that the darkness had consumed a better part of her rationality. I hoped things hadn’t degraded to that point, but my hopes were slim.

The more I thought about it, the more my heart clenched.

"...I can’t tell you what it is since I don’t know it myself, but as of right now, she’s the only one who is capable of getting rid of the curse."

I looked towards Evelyn.

If the curse truly originated from the ’God Hunter’, then she was no doubt the key to solving the entire situation.

Her control had also improved significantly.

Just a little more, and...

"The others..."

As if suddenly recalling something, Velar’s face paled.

He hurriedly reached for the snow beneath him, trying to push himself up, but the effort alone nearly sent him stumbling back. Thankfully, Evelyn appeared at his side and helped steady him, pulling him to his feet.

"T-thank you."

Velar looked at Evelyn, his expression haggard. There seemed to be many things that he wanted to say. There was both doubt and reluctance. He was still clearly wary of her, but at the same time, he looked worried.

Extremely worried.

Not about her, but something else.

I took note of his expression and opened my lips.

But—

"We have to hurry."

He spoke before I could.

"...Because of what happened, I lost control. I... wasn’t able to keep my connection with the safe-house. The others... The others..."

Understanding quickly dawned on me as I thought about the children in the safe-house.

’Oh, shit.’

Looking at Evelyn, we both moved.

"Let’s go."

*

Swoooosh! Swoosh—!

All of us had been weakened by what had happened not long ago. Velar was a shadow of his former self, and the same was true for Evelyn. Out of the three of us, she was by far the most drained.

I was in no better state.

I had also gone through a lot, but I knew that I had to persist.

I had to push through my tiredness.

At this moment, I was the only one who could get us back.

But things weren’t easy.

As a silhouette emerged from the white haze surrounding us, I halted and turned, picturing a red orb in my mind as I drove my fist forward with all my strength.

BANG!

My fist met with something hard, and my heart shuddered.

"———!!"

When I pulled my fist back, I took note of all the frost that had encased it as the statue before me shattered into thousands of pieces.

"Juli—"

"Keep moving." My voice came out harsher than I meant. "Don’t stop."

I turned again.

Swooosh!

The wind howled, and the fog was so thick I could barely see anything ahead of me. The crunch of footsteps beside me was the only sound I could make out. J

Just footsteps.

Crunching against the snow.

There were many.

From every direction.

I looked down at the snow beneath.

I slammed my hand against the snow, threads shooting in every direction.

They spread out blindly, greedily.

The rate at which my mana drained was incredibly quick, but this had to be done as I quickly turned my head and flicked my finger up. Instantly, several threads shot up and pierced whatever had stepped on it.

The threads were like a safety net.

Whenever I felt something step on them, I quickly dealt with it, making the journey far smoother.

’...This is really draining.’

My vision swam for a moment.

I clenched my teeth and turned my head again, punching out in a specific direction.

BANG!

Another fist met mine.

The impact sent a jolt through my arm, and more frost spread across my skin.

"Kh!!"

By now, my entire fist was numb, my fingers stiff and unresponsive, the frost threatening to crawl even further up my arm.

I couldn’t afford to slow down.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to struggle for much longer. Through the fog, the outline of the safe-house finally emerged, and Evelyn and Velar’s steps grew hurried, uneven but desperate.

"We’re... almost there."

Almost.

That word didn’t make me feel better.

Quickening my pace, I flicked my finger again, carving out a narrow path ahead as the three of us rushed toward the building.

Although I couldn’t see clearly, I could feel it.

The countless presences closing in from behind.

The snow crunching louder.

Faster.

Closer.

’Shit. Shit. Shit.’

I was beyond exhausted now. My lungs burned with every breath, ice scraping my throat as I forced myself forward. The footsteps behind us surged, and for a brief, horrifying moment, it felt like they were right on top of me.

Something cold brushed against my back.

My heart lurched—

But before I could react, Evelyn struck.

Cra—CRACK!

The surroundings flashed purple for a split second as a deafening crack of thunder tore through the air. Evelyn reached out from ahead of me, grabbing hold of my arm and dragging me forward with what little strength she had left.

We stumbled inside.

CLANK!

The door slammed shut behind us, cutting off the frozen figures just as they reached it.

None of us stopped.

None of us even looked back.

The familiar corridor greeted us, and we ran.

We ran toward where the others were.

"Please... Please... Please..." Velar’s soft voice echoed through the corridor, the desperation in it raw and unfiltered.

And then—

We arrived.

"A-ah... S-shit."