Hrrrng.
Tubang tubang.
Humming, footsteps.
I walked across the bridge connecting the outer and inner defenses, a place where the sky was visible. The softly fallen snow covered the bridge of the inner defense.
With each step, I slashed at the waists of the charging demons. Chwaak! Blood scattered across the pure white snow. The blood of the demon race is red.
Humming, footsteps.
“How about making a snowman together, Sister Chris~?”
Singing a song I remembered for a moment, I crouched down and started rolling a snowball. I made one snowball, slightly mixed with a reddish hue.
The second snowball, I’ll make it when I come to the dungeon with my sister.
The inner defense is close now. I jumped slightly and took down the Ice Golems guarding each side of the door diagonally, one, two. Kuung. They fell smoothly.
Walking down the straight corridor of the inner defense.
Humming, footsteps. And then silence.
I arrived at the audience room.
There, sitting on a throne in front of me, was a woman covered entirely in blue ice.
She had the height of an adult woman and was looking at me with a white smile.
Is she the Ice Witch?
“What a cute little guest you are.”
I’m not a little kid. I’m an adult!
Bow.
“Hello.”
“You’ve done well to reach this cold and humble place of mine. I apologize for my lack of hospitality.”
A being with whom I can communicate. A sentient demon race NPC.
Beep.
I turned off the broadcast screen. I paused the stream for a moment.
From now on, it’s Off The Record.
The conversation between the Hero and the owner of the Ice Castle will remain only in my memory.
“Um, Ice Witch? I have a question.”
“What is it? It’s been a while since I’ve had a guest, so should I at least listen before I turn you into one of my collectibles?”
Kuuguu.
Several statues covered in ice rose up around the Ice Witch’s throne.
They took the forms of humans, elves, dwarves, demon races, and monsters. A wide variety.
“You have quite an elegant hobby.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
Not that it was a compliment.
Unlike the demon commanders at the forward base who could only yap, or the half-chimera that only screeched, she was the first high-ranking demon that I could have a rational conversation with.
Anyway, I’m very curious.
Shall I delve into some fundamental questions?
“Why are you here in a place like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re a demon, right? How does the structure of the Demon Lord’s Army work? You are a Demon Commander like Aspero, right? There must be a commander rank above you.”
I thought I saw the Ice Witch’s eyebrows twitch slightly.
Ggik, the corners of her mouth made of ice lifted slightly.
“You know quite a bit. In this age, how would the humans of the land have a way to know about the structure of the Demon Lord’s Army?”
“Well, maybe if I said I learned it through ancient memories, would you understand?”
“I don’t understand.”
Well, that’s not the important part.
“Why are you just huddled here? Don’t you want to go out and conquer the world? Ah, maybe it’s just that you’re conserving strength until the right time comes. Why are the demons bound to things like ‘Instance Dungeons’? But if there are one hundred parties, there must be one hundred Ice Witches. Are you also a replica?”
Wow, I’ve never spoken this much in my life. Of course, it’s just an NPC, but maybe my social skills training is paying off.
Kuuguu.
The entire audience room covered in ice trembled. A cold aura was emanating from the Ice Witch’s body. It seemed like she was quite angry.
“To call me a mere replica, you have quite the guts. Should I slice you into pieces and display you instead?”
Chaeng.
I smacked my lips and drew out Astaroth.
After all, an NPC is still an NPC; they can’t cross the Fourth Wall. Even that dwarf sage, Chief Drugel, couldn’t get closer to the truth of this world.
If there are higher-ranking high-ranking demons above this sister, wouldn’t they know the essence of this world?
Anyway, the demon race is also bound by the system, by the ‘Instance Dungeon’. I wonder how they can even threaten this world.
The Ice Witch must have some threatening patterns that are difficult to tackle alone.
Of course, she’s just a demon who knows very little.
In that case, she can just peacefully die and fill my pockets.
It’s not strange for a hero to pursue money. It’s been this way since ages past. Stealing treasure chests from dungeons and looting treasure chests from homes. Heroes are legal.
I will rightfully claim the rewards I am owed.
And while I’m at it, I’ll uncover the truth of this world.
Gogogogogo.
Huhng huhng huhng!
Around the Ice Witch, ice blades began to spin. They probably possess enough cutting power to slice my squishy body in half with ease.
The number is a total of ten.
“Khaha!”
The Ice Witch let out a mad laugh as she lifted off from her throne and charged at me.
I raised Astaroth and faced her ice blades.
Kaang!
[3 Named]
[Level 48 Witch Frederica]
[HP 50,000,000 / 50,000,000 (100%)]
Hooong, hooong!
I could hear the sound of the icy air being sliced as the witch attacked, wielding massive ice blades as large as her own body.
I slightly pulled my body back. A blade exuding cold swept right past my face. Then I thrust my sword filled with starlight forward. Kagak! Another ice blade moved to block my sword.
This witch knows how to guard.
I spun my sword along the blade, turning my body to slash at the witch’s side. My blade slipped through the irregular path of the ice blades that couldn’t follow and pierced into her flank. Peurk! A chunk of ice broke off from the Ice Witch’s side.
The Ice Witch’s face contorted slightly.
“What a cheeky little brat!”
Bzing!
A momentary white flash radiated from the Ice Witch’s blade, crossing the entire audience room. In its path were my right shoulder to left flank. I slightly twisted my body. Kuuguu! The flash passed by me and sliced one of the ice statues near the throne.
What a fearsome attack. Almost map-level weaponry. Is this the standard pattern? Ranged attackers might have a tough time.
The Ice Witch’s assaults were fierce and swift. Without giving me a moment to catch my breath, three ice blades came crashing toward me. One from the left, one from the right, and another from above. They swung down simultaneously as if they were trying to punish the thief hero who came to loot the dungeon’s treasure.
Slith.
My vision blurred. When it cleared, I could see the Ice Witch’s back. This is a counterattack skill from behind.
The ice blades revolved around the Ice Witch. Kaakakang! With the Just Guard effect, I gained the ‘Vitality’ buff and began to slash at the Ice Witch with even stronger attacks.
I swung Astaroth, carving lines of cuts into the statue known as the Ice Witch.
Fast and powerful attacks, plus the guarding ice blades that seemed to have minds of their own. She is definitely no trivial opponent. However, my sword continued to pierce through her defenses, leaving wounds on her body.
The Ice Witch’s HP had reached about 90%.
“Kyah! Annoying little rat!”
After letting out a shriek, the witch lifted into the air and landed a little distance away from me.
Entering a special pattern.
Kuuguu. Puhsuk, pusuk, pusuk.
As the magic releasing from the witch shook the entire audience room, icicles began to fall from the ceiling, forming a cold area.
A total of five.
I quickly surveyed the battlefield’s situation.
This pattern feels familiar.
It’s the same method as the ‘Ice Ogre King’ from the Ice Dungeon.
Soon, the witch would absorb the cold and suck all of these areas into her.
Since there are five areas, will there be five area-wide attacks? No, it can’t be that kind. ‘Witch Frederica’ is a final named enemy from an Elite Dungeon. She’s not comparable to the Ice Ogre King, who was just a timid 1-on-1 boss.
If I let her absorb all that cold…
At the very least, it would be a rampage.
Tatatat!
Quickly making a decision, I immediately engaged in removing the areas.
There are no special objects to remove the cold areas. The only option left is to remove them with my body.
I stepped onto a cold area that was emanating near the Ice Witch without hesitation.
Woon!
The area I stepped on radiated strong light and disappeared. I braced myself for any potential pain but took no damage.
Thud.
Instead, my foot froze solid. I am now afflicted with the debilitating state known as ‘Freezing’.
No matter how much I flail, I cannot release the ‘Freezing’ state simply by moving my body.
Of course, there are ways to eliminate the ‘Freezing’ state.
Skills that invoke ‘Teleportation’. ‘One Flash,’ ‘Backward Evasion,’ and ‘Counterattack’ are some of these.
This time, I need to rely on the system’s power.
Kwaaaaa!
The witch began absorbing the cold. The cold throughout the audience room was being pulled into her body. Before long, she would have absorbed all the cold areas.
There’s no time to lose. For now, since the Ice Witch is nearby, I will first use Counterattack to remove the ‘Freezing’.
Slith, pusuk.
My body became blurry, and the ice fell away from my feet. I soon revealed myself behind the Ice Witch.
Four cold areas remain.
I dashed to stomp on the next area closest to the witch and release the ‘Freezing.’ I quickly ran back to observe the positions of the remaining areas.
It’s too far. I have to cross the entire audience room. But the remaining three areas are pretty close to each other.
Goooh!
Time is running short. The cold areas were already radiating bright light, about to be absorbed by the witch.
I turned my back to one and, Tap! used my Backward Evasion on the other two. Before the invulnerability period faded, I turned to look at the last area and Bam! used One Flash on it.
By using all my teleportation skills, I succeeded in clearing all the cold areas. However, my foot that stepped on the last area remained frozen.
I have no remaining teleportation skills to remove the freezing status.
If I get attacked in this state, I will retire right away.
Should I use the cooldown reset function of my items? No, I might need it for a critical damage move.
I feel like there’s one more skill that forcibly moves my body.
Chick.
I took a stance, looking at the witch, and grasped my sword in reverse.
[Starlight Swordsmanship]
[Cooldown: 1 minute]
[Sends out five sword waves infused with starlight in a front 15m x 3m range (500% damage multiplier x4, 2000% damage multiplier x1)]
Papapapapat!
Four rapid sword swings cleaved through the witch’s body, each infused with starlight. Bam! At the same moment, a white flash unleashed from the witch’s hand, accurately targeting my body, and shot diagonally.
A guard-unblockable pattern.
If I couldn’t remove the freezing status, I would be sliced in two. But I still hadn’t activated the cooldown reset.
I needed to land the 2000% damage multiplier for the final hit.
Without hesitation, I swung the sword imbued with starlight.
Kwaaaaa!
“Kraak!”
The sword wave that went past the white flash struck a significant blow against the witch’s body. The flash that interfered didn’t touch me directly.
Slith, I slightly moved my foot to the side and evaded the witch’s flash.
Of course, I could do that because the freezing status had been removed.
The final hit of the Starlight Swordsmanship pushed me back a bit and released the freezing.
Kaakakang!
With a face resembling sheer wrath, the witch charged at me. The ice blades swirling around her collided with my sword.
We returned to the standard pattern. However, I couldn’t help but feel a doubt.
Could this really be the end of the special pattern?
Sure, it took all my skills to clear the areas alone.
But if it were party play, they could have cleared it in an instant.
It feels like there’s something more.
And my instincts proved correct.
Uuuuung!
An ice blade that had been circling around me, not targeting me, soon began to rise, glowing strongly in the center of the combat area.
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