C429: Like Ice (3)
As soon as [Spiritization] was activated.
[A spirit of wind resides within the character’s body]
A translucent wind began to swirl around my skin.
We couldn’t exchange words or glances, but I could sense what Erwin was aiming for.
「All incoming damage receives an avoidance bonus.」
An avoidance bonus that is activated on a probabilistic basis.
For reference, this avoidance bonus provides the highest probablility of success against magical attacks .
Perhaps because of that, there was also another condition attached to this mode:
「All magical damage received is doubled.」
That’s why I didn’t use the wind mode when facing mages or support types.
I felt the risk was too high.
A 50% chance to evade?
It sounds good, but if you fail and take double damage, it can be even more dangerous given the nature of the game.
Still…
Whooosh—!
The coin was already tossed.
So there was only one thing to do.
Thump.
Just watch the outcome.
Whiiiiish-!
In a moment where everyone’s fate might hang in the balance.
Without dragging it out, the result appeared immediately.
[The character has successfully evaded]
The [Edge of the World’s End] that seemed to pierce my body was pushed aside by the whirlwind, barely grazing my skin before its trajectory changed.
And then—
KWA-AAAAANG—!
With a thunderous crash, the black spear lodged itself into the ceiling.
“……!”
The wind that had been wrapped around my entire body dissipated, leaving a hollow feeling, as if my heart had plunged downwards.
「All of Erwin Fornacci di Tercia’s natural power has been exhausted.」
「[Spiritization] is canceled.」
So, that was all she had left.
…I’ll think later.’
Still holding Erwin’s body, I rolled once on the floor and got back on my feet.
“Bjorn…”
Huh? What happened to ‘mister’?
The sudden name change felt strange, but I didn’t dwell on it.
Checking her condition came first.
“It’ll be tough, but can you handle that support type user over there? Just keep him occupied.”
“…I can do it.”
Good, the baton’s been passed.
“You bastard…!”
As soon as I took up my position and turned, a shock reverberated through my shield.
Crack!
Regal Vargos, the dragonslayer.
The one who first taught me what it meant to lose a companion.
Crack!
He swung his blade wildly, but not without force. I parried each blow and thought:
‘I thought I’d be overjoyed to tears…’
But I’m not.
Well, it’s not so surprising.
Though I’ve longed for this moment, I’ve lost so much along the way.
“You… how are you this damn stubborn?”
“And you, who followed me all the way here to kill me, have the nerve to say that?”
“I’ll finish this!”
He put more strength into his blade, Wringing himself out like a dry towel.
The source of his drive was obvious.
Sure, he hated me, but more importantly he knew there was no other way out of this place alive unless he killed me.
Ka-chak—!
The situation is simple.
Having returned from the brink of death, Erwin is squeezing out her last bit of energy to keep the support type user busy.
“Emily! We don’t have to worry about that bastard, right?”
“…Stating the obvious.”
Amelia was engaged in a close battle with the bald Rephless.
Everyone else is down.
Some might still be breathing, but they’re clinging to life by a thread. They have no strength left to fight.
In other words…
Clang—!
The winner of this long battle will be decided soon.
Ka-chak—!
The winner of this long battle will be decided soon.
I push against his blade with my shield.
Though my resistance stat had been wrecked by Recoil, my strength hadn’t decreased.
With my simple shove, he stumbled back three steps.
Having taken several of his blows, I’d roughly gauged his condition. Now it was my turn.
“Bethel—RAAAAAH!”
I charged forward, shouting the name of my ancestors.
No matter how loudly I scream, the [Wild Burst], which is classified as an active skill, will not activate. …. But I couldn’t help doing it to get into the mood.
Whooong—!
With the strength of my ancestors, I brought down the hammer.
The bastard took two steps to step back, and as my hammer swung down, he stretched out his blade toward the opening.
He’s certainly had a lot of real combat experience.
But…
‘That’s why his judgments are so predictable.’
Before long, his sword sank into my side.
Because my resistance stat was lowered, the wound felt all the more vivid.
Puuuk—!
I could have dodged or blocked if I really wanted to.
But if I had, the fight would’ve dragged out longer.
Whoosh.
As soon as his sword struck my side, I reached out as if I had been waiting for the chance
My target: his neck.
Given our difference in strength, if I grabbed him once, he’d never escape.
But maybe he knew this.
Tap.
He quickly retreated backward.
So urgently that he left behind something he shouldn’t have.
“You leaving this behind?”
I gritted my teeth and pulled out the sword stuck in my side.
And with lips crusted in dried blood, I grinned.
“I don’t need any more swords”
“……”
“And seriously, what kind of swordsman keeps losing his sword?”
I clicked my tongue as if he were pathetic. His face hardened and his eyes seemed ready to shoot lasers.
However, his actions didn’t match his eyes.
Panicked by losing his sword, he didn’t know what to do.
Thud.
Suddenly, he dashed.
Not towards me, but to the side.
Again, his intention was crystal clear.
‘He’s thinking of using the sword on the ground?’
Back in the maze, when he couldn’t use his sword, he had rushed to Misha to steal hers. He claimed it as“ours,” and until Rotmiller blocked him and stowed the weapon into his [Treasure Vault], I could only watch helplessly as he rampaged.
But…
‘This time it’s different.’
I no longer have to pick between the worst evil and a lesser evil.
Back then, when he presented us with two options, we had to choose one of them.
Now the tables have turned completely.
He’s the one forced to choose.
Tap.
The moment he moved, I also lunged forward.
“······!”
The distance closed in an instant, and his pupils shook.
He’s wondering if it’s right to pick up that sword, or what else he could do..
As the hammer whirled above, the choice he made was pitifully poor.
Thud.
He rolled on the ground, abandoning the sword that lay there.
‘Did I worry needlessly about a feint?’
If I were him, I’d pretend to reach for the sword and then exploit an opening.
Well, he’s a swordsman, after all. Maybe he’s just not that cunning.
Hmm, if the sword was that important, he might have considered sacrificing a shoulder to secure it.
‘…Maybe he’s aiming for something else.’
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t disappointed in him, but I chose caution over complacency.
Better to remain wary than to let my guard down.
No underestimating the enemy.
So, in that sense…
Whoosh!
I swung the hammer carefully to avoid getting too close.
Thud!
He retreated again.
And when this had happened several times…
Pop.
He finally backed into a wall.
At the same time, his eyes widened in panic.
I realized then—
‘This bastard… Didn’t he think about the wall?’
His secret weapon?
There was none.
He was just dodging desperately and ended up cornered.
That’s all.
KWAJIK—!
I brought the hammer down on his left shoulder to confirm it.
“Ugh…!!”
With bloodshot eyes, he groaned and tried to flee to the side.
The feeling was odd.
Was it a sense of emptiness?
“If you were going to give up your shoulder, you should’ve at least secured a weapon.”
If he was going to let me crush his shoulder anyway, he might as well have picked up a sword while doing so.
Instead of feeling glad, I was frustrated.
So…
Crunch.
Like an eel slipping away, he tried to get away, but I grabbed him by the neck and threw him against the wall.
Boom!
He coughed up blood, his mouth gaping wide.
“Cough…!”
I swung the hammer once more.
The target was his crown, but in the midst of it he threw his body to the side to avoid it.
Crunch!
Thanks to that, his left leg was completely crushed.
“Aaaaah…!”
He screamed.
It was not at all satisfying.
Even Six, the woman I killed earlier, remained calm as her head was crushed, but he was screaming like a child.
“Because of a bastard like you…”
Still, his will to survive was remarkable.
Drag.
He dragged his shattered leg across the floor, trying to distance himself from me.
Where was he heading? To where Amelia was fiercely fighting the bald boxer.
Is he trying to rely on him?
Squish.
I stepped on his back, stopping him.
Perhaps now he is realizing?
“…Kill me.”
He gritted his teeth and shouted.
It was rather fortunate.
He stuttered a bit, but at least he wasn’t pathetically begging for his life.
That would have really soured my mood.
Boom!
While Amelia was still fighting, I quickly finished my contemplation.
No need to drag this out. I’d say what I need to say and end it.
“Do you remember Leor Wuerv Dwalki?”
“Kuh… kehuhuhuhuh…”
Facing death, he sneered as if he had found my weak spot.
It didn’t matter.
“Are you talking about that half-mage from back then?”
We never recovered his body from the labyrinth.
We held a funeral with just a few of his belongings.
On that day, I made a promise.
When the time came, I would say these words to this bastard’s face.
So…
“You just listen.”
I smashed his other shoulder with the hammer and said:
“Leor Wuerv Dwalki…”
It’s been nearly three years…
“That so-called half- mage who saved all of us that day in the labyrinth…”
It took a damn long time, but—
“Did not lose.”
He didn’t lose to you.
“Because now I get to kill you.”
“······.”
“Which means he won, understand?”
He still didn’t reply.
Pride, I suppose.
I flipped him over, lifted him up on my toes, and forced him to nod.
‘Phew, is it all finally over?’
It still doesn’t feel real, but I think so.
Anyway, that’s enough…
KWAJIK—!
Now die, you mother fucker.
***
Crack!
Following the dragon slayer, I smashed the bald boxer’s head with a hammer, joining forces with Amelia.
[You have killed Manua Rephless]
Next was the support type user, who was desperately trying to escape Erwin’s pursuit, causing chaos.
「You have killed Kael Elvad Jeneger」
With that, all the enemies’ heads were smashed.
As soon as my mind registered that fact—
The feverish heat of battle drained away, replaced by the cold air wrapping around me.
Whoooo—
With the enemies gone, silence fell as if a storm had passed.
Because of that, I finally felt it sink in.
“It’s over…”
At last, the battle ended.
But there was no time to rest.
“Amelia, check if any enemies are still breathing.”
“I-I’ll help, too…!”
“Help by resting. That’s enough.”
I left the kills-confirmation to Amelia, and forced Erwin, who had spent her last energy, to rest.
And I…
Creak.
Gathered the fallen members lying on the cold ground.
For those still breathing, I checked their injuries, and for those who were now cold and still, I gently closed their eyes.
Even calling it “devastating” felt insufficient.
‘Sven Parab, Melend Kaislan, Lyris Marone, Titana Akuraba, Rabien, James Carla, Vercil Gowland, Erwin, Amelia.’
And me.
“Ten…”
The number of our expedition members who survived.
Everyone else was dead.
“Jandel… I found some potions for you.”
After rummaging through the corpses of the Rose Knights and the Noark members, Amelia returned with potions. They were distributed based on the severity of the wounds.
“I’ll look for more potions.”
“Thanks, Emily…”
The potions were insufficient for everyone’s full recovery, but by administering them in order of urgency, the members hovering between life and death gradually regained consciousness.
And…
“It’s really just us left.”
The surviving members of the expedition bore a deep darkness beneath their eyes.
It was simple.
We knew each other too well by now, so there was no joy in surviving alone.
Instead of relief, fury and grief came first.
“Uwaaaah…!”
Unlike Mage Marone, who wept openly, most just clenched their fists, enduring their sorrow in silence.
“Ashid had a wife waiting at home. Eriavosti’s priest had children.”
“Ventis Gerod dreamed of reaching the abyss someday.”
“Iribon said he’d open a shop when this expedition was over.”
“None of them deserved to die here. Not like this… Then why… why did they have to die…?!”
It didn’t take long for their grief to turn into anger.
“Jandel… please tell us. What did we do so wrong to deserve this fate? Why did we all have to die here?”
At last, the fundamental question arose.
“Did we commit such a terrible sin that we had to be punished like this?”
“If I get out of here, I’ll kill that clan leader. Even if it costs my life.”
“That won’t help. We need to go public! Let everyone know what happened here!”
“Royalty’s involved, so it’ll be difficult, but maybe possible. Rabien is of the Dragon tribe, and Akuraba, you’re a Dwarf with some influence.”
“Jandel was also a tribe chief candidate, right? And Miss Erwin holds an important position among the Fairies”
“Yes! If all four major races come together, then maybe—!”
As they poured out their emotions, my head and heart grew cold.
I too wanted to rage with them.
But I shouldn’t.
[Indeed… you are… meant to be… a giant…]
If I am to become the giant that old Didi foresaw, I can’t give in to anger like that.
“Jandel! What do you think? You’re not just going to sit and do nothing, right?”
As they trembled with their hot emotions, I answered:
“I… No, we are going to do nothing.”
“…What?”
“The only way for us to survive is to remain silent.”
“······!”
“Kaislan, as a knight you know this. Even if all four races marched on the royal palace, we’d just be massacred.”
Even Kaislan, who had always been on my side in steering public opinion, didn’t respond this time.
Yeah, he didn’t want to answer.
I just continued speaking.
“Uniting the four races is impossible from the start. Do you really think they would all risk their lives and fight with us? Stake the fate of their entire races?”
I don’t think so.
This world isn’t a fairy tale.
Here, everyone carefully calculates before taking action.
“But still… we must do something!”
“And if that something kills us all?”
“It’s better than doing nothing!”
“Marone, do you really think so? If we throw away these lives we barely managed to hold onto, would our dead comrades be happy about that?”
“Then… what do you propose we do?!”
Marone, who always managed to smile even in hardships, was now yelling, but I kept speaking:
“As I said, we do nothing.”
“······.”
“We won’t complain, or even speak a word about it.”
“······.”
“We’ll assume that the main force didn’t come for us due to some unavoidable circumstances, and…”
“······.”
“We must also say that the secret forces of Noark raised on the 8th floor weren’t killed by us.”
If we admitted to defeating those soldiers, it would be considered a significant achievement, but we can never reveal it to anyone.
“The Rose Knights, regarded as a city legend?”
It’s the same with them.
Facing them would be a lifelong boast-worthy feat, an achievement to share over drinks for decades—
“But we have to say we never even encountered them.”
That’s how it must be.
Only we know what happened here.
If we remain silent and pretend to know nothing, those who sent us here will piece together their own version of events—
In a way that makes sense to them.
They’ll probably think something like: The enemies who’d been pursuing us ended up clashing with the Rose Knights under strange circumstances—and we just got lucky and made it out.
“Then… what about the dead?” Marone asked, her voice trembling with tears.
“Those people…” I bit my lip as I spoke.
“Those people… after escaping the Glacier’s Eye, we’ll say they died to monsters.”
“M-Monsters…?”
“Yes, because we were exhausted from escaping the Glacier’s Eye. We had to abandon our gear; we ran out of food. It’s not an unbelievable story that…”
“That’s a lie! They didn’t die like that! They fought with such strong people. There were so many times when it seemed better just to die…”
“…”
“And yet we fought… all of us… until the very end, none of us gave up, and we won! But now… monsters? Saying they died to monsters…?”
“Stop it, Marone…” Kaislan embraced her, trying to calm her down.
As Marone wailed, Sven Parab stepped forward.
“Then… what happens next?”
“In the end, the world will hear that we survived until the closure by hiding, barely clinging to life. That will be the final tale of our expedition.”
“I see. That certainly seems like the safest way to survive. But…”
He turned to me, speaking with a firmness I’d never heard from him before.
“I still don’t like it.”
His voice was steady, but there was no hostility in his eyes.
Why not?
“But I’ll do as you say.”
“Why?”
“Because just looking in your eyes, I can tell. You’re the one who dislikes this whole affair the most.”
I was at a loss for words, and this time Akuraba spoke up.
“You… you’re not going to remain silent forever, are you?”
“…Of course not.”
“Then I’ll wait.”
Akuraba stepped back, and then James Carla took his turn.
“I’ll… try it too. I’ll have to face that damn clan leader and pretend nothing’s wrong… but that will still be better than today, when I couldn’t even see my comrades as they died…”
I could feel the intense heat of their determination, even with my eyes closed.
I approached each of the other surviving members, seeking and confirming their intentions.
After that was all done—
“Lyris Marone.”
Finally, I approached the mage who sat slumped on the ground.
When our eyes met, she looked up at me and asked:
“How long…?”
“······.”
“How long do we have to endure this?”
I don’t know.
But if I have to answer honestly—
“A very long time.”
It will take more than just a few years before we can finally draw our swords.
But still, one thing is certain—
“······I see.”
On the 71st day of the expedition—
Inside the icy cave on the 7th floor of Ice Rock—
On the frozen ground where the cold seeped up from beneath—
“If waiting… If waiting works…!”
It’s not a white-hot fury that burns itself out quickly.
It’s precisely because it’s not that kind of rage that, even over time, it will never extinguish—this cold fury.
“I’ll wait too.”
Each of us etched it into our hearts.