Vol 2. Chapter 32: Taste My Ice-Iron Elbow!

“Two arrogant little brats like you actually think you can stop our noble cause?” the Fanatic sneered, voice deep and rough. “We have transcended the fragile shells of humanity, awakened from the slumber of ignorance, and now serve the boundless wisdom and craftsmanship of Truth and Elrunas.”

“How could weak and fleeting ants like you ever comprehend the greatness of our undertaking??”

“Oh boy, here we go again. Crazy talk. If you’re sick, go get treated. I suggest you check into the Church Hospital for mental rehabilitation. I’ve got some connections—I can help set up a referral,” Vinny shot back.

“And what’s with this obsession with Carillian Academy, huh? Why are you freaks always targeting this place? Is there a gold mine underneath or something??” he continued with a roll of his eyes.

“You mortal insects can’t even begin to grasp our path. Ignorance and weakness are not original sins—but opposing us, opposing Truth, is.” The Fanatic sharpened his claws as he spoke.

“The Supreme God will one day be born anew, descend upon the world, and cleanse this rotting filth. And our Lord Elrunas... is the sole candidate.”

“When Order collapses completely, the one and only Supreme God will awaken and return. All shall bow and tremble before Lord Elrunas’s descent and divine judgment. You could have continued to squirm and linger in His new world—He is merciful, after all.”

“But no. You had to stand in our way. Oppose our Lord. Now, no one can save you. In resisting the coming of the Supreme God, your fate shall be scorched to nothing by Truth itself,” the Fanatic said softly, almost dreamily.

“...Didn’t expect a deformed freak like you to have the makings of a bard. You’ve got a real talent for nonsense—line after line, just spewing it out,” Vinny muttered, utterly lost.

Truth? Supreme God? He didn’t understand a word of it. The game’s lore only skimmed over some basic worldbuilding—players didn’t buy this game to dig into complex cosmology. They came to see cute girls sticking to each other like candy.

Hell, Vinny hadn’t even finished reading the lore summary, so he had no clue what this monster was rambling about. To him, it was just cultist babble. After all, people who gave up their humanity to serve the Demon God Pillar were usually out of their damn minds. Honestly, what sane person would worship a walking tumor like the Pillar?

Aesphyra didn’t respond to the Fanatic’s cryptic, theatrical monologue. Her silence felt cold and sharp.

“Carillian Academy possesses something it should never have held. That thing is the greatest obstacle to the birth of the Supreme God. It should not exist in this world,” the Fanatic said, fists clenching tighter.

“It is only because of that accursed thing that your obsolete kind has survived this long. Without it, you heretics who deny our Lord would’ve long been cast into the dark rifts of the void—left to rot in silence.”

“That thing has stalled the evolution of this world... and ruined our plans. All things that resist change... must be eliminated.”

“All struggle is meaningless. In the world of the Supreme God, there is no seat at the table for you!”

Behind him, the Fanatic’s writhing tentacles suddenly extended—lunging straight toward the two of them.

[Alchemical Touch]

It was so fast that Vinny didn’t even have time to dodge.

Aesphyra calmly slipped on a pair of disposable gloves, gently pushed Vinny aside, and twirled through the air with practiced elegance, brushing just past the whipping tendrils.

“Crack! Crack!”

The tentacles slammed into the ground between them, corroding the earth into a deep, grotesque crater.

What the hell was that thing?!

Vinny stood frozen.

Was it poison? Or magic??

Either way, if that hit had landed, he’d probably be dead by now. Armor Fortress wouldn’t have stood a chance against that kind of non-physical damage.

The Fanatic wasn’t finished. When he saw both of them dodge successfully, he lashed his tentacles around the nearby pillars and launched his body like a giant slingshot—hurtling forward at full force.

Even at a glance, anyone could tell that Vinny looked like the easier target. The softest persimmon was always the first to get squeezed.

“Oh, so you think because I’m good-looking, I’m easy to bully? You think this Young Master is a pushover, huh?!” Vinny cursed as he realized the Fanatic had targeted him again.

Say what you want about his combat skills—when it came to trash talk, Vinny was undefeated.

“You half-human half-roadkill looking excuse for a thing—I swear you’re the purest, densest idiot ore I’ve ever seen. Ten years of gold mining wouldn’t dig up a block of stupid this rich. I’m gonna punch your insurance card into overdraft!”

Vinny’s mouth was moving faster than his brain. When the Fanatic lunged, Vinny wanted to dodge—but realized he might not be fast enough. Then he thought about countering—but could he really pull that off? Ultimately, he hesitated.

Before he could act, the Fanatic’s gnarly, lump-covered face was already right in front of him.

Shit! I’m gonna die!!

In that split second, a petite silver silhouette streaked through the air. The Holy Sword, wreathed in red lotus flame, struck the Fanatic square in the waist—knocking him off trajectory and sending him tumbling over ten meters before he finally hit the ground.

“In a battlefield where life and death are decided in an instant,” Aesphyra said, blade reversed behind her back as she landed beside Vinny with poise, “even a bad decision is better than hesitating.”

“Y-You think I don’t know that?!” Vinny snapped, forehead slick with cold sweat after his brush with death. Even now, he couldn't stop himself from being stubborn.

It was like “mouthy denial” had become his passive skill.

“Ahem... Anyway—thanks. Again. You saved me.” He coughed awkwardly to cover his embarrassment.

“That’s the third time now,” Aesphyra replied with a smile, flashing three fingers at him.

“...Huh? Third?” Vinny looked confused.

“Tonight, I’ve already saved you three times, Vinny~”

“Mm-hmm. So—how are you going to repay me~?” she teased, raising an eyebrow and curling her lips into a mischievous grin.

“Hey now, don’t start making things up! That was two times, tops!” Vinny frowned.

“Oh? So you’re saying that statue at the banquet—when it came crashing down on you—you think it just happened to break in half on its own?” Aesphyra’s smile deepened.

“...Tch. Just as I thought—you were watching me the whole time back at the banquet. And you even followed me all the way here,” Vinny muttered, raising a brow.

“Shouldn’t you be thanking me for being so vigilant and following you here?” she said sweetly. “Otherwise, you’d be chatting with Her Radiance in the afterlife right about now.”

“...Tch.” Vinny had no comeback for that. He clicked his tongue and turned to glare daggers at the Fanatic.

“You really still got the nerve to try shit after all that?!” Vinny snapped, flipping the Fanatic off. The ring on his finger glimmered with a ripple of lightning.

“Let me give you a °• N o v e l i g h t •° little shock therapy for your middle-school edgelord syndrome!”

As he spoke, a thundercloud appeared above the Fanatic. Lightning cracked through the air, and a bolt came crashing down on his head.

“Zzzzzap! You feel that? You feel that? What’s that? You don’t want to feel it anymore? Ahahahaha!” Vinny cackled with his hands on his hips. “Now you see what this Young Master can do, huh?!”

After the blast of thunder, a jagged crack split open the ground where the lightning had struck. The Fanatic, body smoking, stood frozen in the center. A few moments passed before he regained motor control and slowly rolled his shoulders—and in doing so, a thick stream of viscous liquid, laced with crackling static, dripped from his body.

“What the hell?!” Vinny’s eyes went wide. “Is this guy some kind of lightning-resistance freak?? Why didn’t the spell do jack?!”

“The Fanatic, as one of the more advanced retainers of the Alchemical Demon God Elrunas, possesses several typical traits of Elrunas’s followers,” Aesphyra recited as if reading from a spellbook. “One of them is called Alchemical Blood.”

“Alchemical Blood? What the hell kind of trait is that?” Vinny had absolutely no clue.

“It’s a trait that gives Elrunas’s followers resistance—or rather, absorption—to certain elemental magic. Each one randomly develops resistance to a few elements. This particular Fanatic happened to roll lightning resistance, so your enchanted thunder ring barely scratched him,” Aesphyra explained calmly.

“You see that thick blue stuff dripping off him, like potion fluid? That’s his ‘blood.’ A Fanatic’s body circulates several types of elemental-neutralizing fluids like that, each designed to absorb or nullify different types of elemental magic.”

“They use potion fluid for blood? That’s insane,” Vinny muttered.

“That’s what Alchemical Blood is. Now you know why Fanatics are such a pain to fight,” Aesphyra said with a glance.

“Man... potions that absorb elemental spells? Those things are worth a fortune! I wonder how much these freaks would go for if we sold them off.” Vinny couldn’t help but grumble.

“No use. Once those fluids leave the body, they immediately destabilize. So theoretically, they’re worthless on the market,” Aesphyra said, arching a brow.

“So what you’re saying is... they’re basically immune to magic?” Vinny asked, frowning.

“Of course not. While their blood does allow them to absorb certain elements, it’s not infinite. Once they burn through that fluid, they lose resistance to that element. And even then, they only have absorption fluid for some elements—not all,” Aesphyra clarified.

“There’s only one bloodline on the entire continent of Tyrelis that’s truly known for full-on magic resistance.” As she said this, she cast a meaningful glance at Vinny—then shook her head lightly. “But if that bloodline’s dead, then it doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”

Vinny said nothing. He just pressed his lips together and stayed quiet.

The Fanatic, having recovered from Vinny’s lightning strike, flexed his thick arms. Sparks danced around his sharp claws like streaks of electricity.

“So this one’s been infused with lightning,” Aesphyra said. “No wonder he has lightning-resistant blood.”

“You little brat—I’m going to tear you apart!!” the Fanatic roared. His ash-gray hair whipped around as he slammed his claws together, and a surge of electricity exploded toward Vinny.

Aesphyra’s Holy Sword ignited in Red Lotus Flame, slicing the lightning in mid-air. Her blade plunged into the ground, and waves of heat rippled outward.

[Crimson Path]

The earth bubbled and melted, and a blazing carpet of lotus fire surged toward the Fanatic.

The Fanatic stabbed his tendrils into the ground on either side and lifted his massive body upward—dodging the fire path as he flung himself through the air like a launched spear. A thunderous shockwave burst out behind him as crackling lightning followed his arc through the sky.

Here it comes again.

Vinny spun his spear into position, gripping the tail end tightly. The ice-forged blade gleamed, and he swung.

[Frostmoon Crescent Slash]

The bluish arc of the spear carved through the air. Everywhere it passed, icy thorns burst forth, creating a thick, reinforced wall of frost between them and the oncoming strike.

The Fanatic’s massive claw came crashing down on the ice wall—but it didn’t shatter.

Ice, water, and earth were all defensive-type elements. Shields and barriers made from them generally had strong protective power. The difference was that water and earth lacked offensive traits—whereas ice possessed both.

That was why high-affinity ice-elemental users were so rare: their element covered both offense and defense.

Thanks to the inherent resilience of ice, and the exceptionally high spell tier of Frostfang, the barrier created by Frostmoon Crescent Slash held strong. A strike that could’ve shattered Vinny’s Ice Skin in an instant... couldn’t break through this wall.

But if one strike didn’t work—then two would.

The Fanatic, tall and grotesquely muscular, slammed both lightning-charged fists into the wall over and over. In mere seconds, the ice wall took more than ten electrified slaps—and, under the barrage, finally gave in and shattered from a single charged blow.

But just as the wall crumbled and the Fanatic caught his first glimpse of what lay beyond it—he saw a silver-haired girl descending from the air, Holy Sword blazing with Red Lotus Flame, cleaving downward toward his head.

At the same time, a suit of ice-armored metal came crashing straight into his gut.

While he’d been tearing through the ice wall, he couldn’t see what was behind it.

But the two behind the wall could see everything he was doing.

They’d timed their moves to hit him right after his commitment frames ended—when he had no way to react.

They’d played the information gap perfectly.

Caught off guard, the Red Lotus Flame slammed into his skull, and the armored iron elbow—reinforced with Ice Skin—crashed into his stomach.

[Flame Cleave Sword]

[Ice Skin]

And with it came the shout of a blue-haired bastard, practically giddy with spite:

“Eat my elbow, you rabid cult freak!”

“Taste my Ice-Iron Elbow!”

BOOM! BOOM!

The Fanatic flew backward like a severed kite, limbs dragging deep furrows through the dirt as he skidded across the ground—only managing to stabilize himself after tumbling several dozen meters.