Editor : Amethyst00



Chloe's Unique Magic.

Fimbulvetr descended upon the orc settlement.

"Kyaaahhh!"

"Kreeeehh!"

The orcs screamed under the sudden onset of freezing cold.

"Humans! Humans! Kyaaah!"

"It's a human attack!"

Despite a massive number of orcs freezing to death in an instant, their response was calm.

"Human mage! They can't use this kind of magic multiple times!"

Orc warriors stood at the front, swinging axes and commanding their forces.

"Encircle them! Surround!"

With a roar, the orcs quickly formed an encirclement.

Orcs with bows approached from the direction the magic had come, aiming their arrows.

'This isn't just some disorganized orc group.'

Leo narrowed his brow.

They were a battle-hardened orc clan.

'Having a Shaman King means they're the orc elite.'

A Shaman king didn't just wield powerful dark magic.

As the name "king" suggests, they also had immense leadership abilities.

An orc clan led by a Shaman King was practically a formidable army.

'Though that won't mean much in front of Chloe.'

Even as the orcs closed in around them, Chloe remained unfazed and began preparing her next spell.

With Leo holding the front line, there was no way the orcs would reach her.

Of course, Chloe's composure wasn't because of Leo's presence.

This situation, with the enemies drawing in, was actually more favorable for her.

Crackle—

The ground beneath Chloe's feet began to freeze solid.

Not just the ground.

Even the air itself began to freeze.

The rain, which had been falling like icy beads, now pelted down like hail.

This area alone seemed to have turned into the dead of winter.

And not just any winter—but the kind of extreme cold found in the northernmost regions of the continent.

"Hoo."

Leo exhaled, his breath turning into visible white mist.

Chloe opened her eyes after focusing with them shut in deep concentration.

With a face like an ice doll, she gazed at the orcs.

"Ice World."

Chloe's signature magic, her unique spell, was complete.

The pouring rain only strengthened her already powerful magic.

The orcs who had been roaring and charging froze in an instant.

Seeing this, Chloe slammed her staff into the ground.

Ching!

The frozen orcs shattered all at once.

"It's over."

Chloe looked at Leo.

Leo brushed off the frost that clung to his body.

"You look pretty cold."

"Gee, I wonder whose fault that is."

Chloe giggled as Leo gave her a side glance.

"Let's move to the next area. It's freezing."

"Alright."

Just as Chloe smiled and nodded while watching the grumbling Leo—

Crack—!

A sound of ice breaking echoed.

Leo and Chloe stopped walking.

Clink—!

Amid the frozen orcs, a chunk of ice cracked.

Chloe tilted her head as she looked at the orc shaman king.

"Was the spell not powerful enough to take him out in one shot?"

Her expression turned serious.

"Should I boost the power even more?"

"It seems plenty strong already."

"Hm? Isn't it still lacking?"

Chloe blinked innocently.

Leo clicked his tongue as he looked at her.

'This is why mages…'

Mages often became obsessed with magical power.

It wasn't uncommon for them to stack power-enhancing spells onto ordinary ones, ignoring balance.

'Luna was like that too.'

And the reason they obsessed over power was simple—

'Because they could.'

Sometimes the power grew so overwhelming it could harm allies too.

Of course, no sane mage would intentionally do that.

The problem was when a mage partied with just one other person, like now.

'If it were Kyle, he wouldn't die from this much.'

Luna used to say that and lift all limits when partnered with Leo.

And now, Chloe's eyes looked just like Luna's back then.

"I really should increase the power more—Hey! What are you doing?!"

Chloe swatted away Leo's hand as he pinched her cheek and cupped it protectively.

Leo spoke to the blushing, indignant Chloe.

"I'll take care of it. You just watch."

Chloe looked slightly dissatisfied, but stepped back obediently.

Step—

Leo stepped onto the frozen ground and walked forward.

'This is strange.'

Leo stared at the Orc Shaman King.

In the current era, Orc Shaman Kings were rare mutations.

But 5,000 years ago, they were fairly common.

Leo had extensive experience hunting them.

As far as he knew, a Shaman King—while powerful, it shouldn't have been able to withstand Chloe's magic.

Yet this one still stood.

'And he doesn't even look seriously injured.'

Something felt off.

Sching—

Leo drew his sword.

At that moment—

Wham!

The Orc Shaman King slammed his staff into the ground.

Suddenly—

Crack-crack-crack-crack—!

A dragon's head erupted from the earth.

An ice dragon, jaws wide open, lunged at Leo.

Fwoooosh—!

Leo's sword erupted in flames—Zerdinger's fire.

Slash—!

The ice dragon was cleaved cleanly in two and melted into a crashing waterfall.

'Does he wield ice magic?'

That would explain the partial immunity to Chloe's spell.

But the sense of wrongness lingered.

Even Luna said Chloe's ice magic was special.

For a monster to endure it was astounding.

Fwoosh—

Leo intensified the flames.

The frozen earth began to thaw.

Whoooom—

A tremendous heat pressed in on the Shaman King.

Just being near it felt like turning to ash.

When Leo aimed his sword at the Orc Shaman King, the heat surged.

Then—

Whoooooom—

A fierce chill erupted from the Shaman King, pushing back Leo's fire for a moment.

Leo's shoulders trembled.

Crack-crack-crack-crack—!

Ice spread out from the shaman king in all directions.

Leo leapt into the air.

Shiiing—!

Snowflake-shaped ice crystals began to spin around Leo, shielding him like a barrier.

Leo glanced at Chloe.

She, too, had sensed something was wrong and cast an ice shield.

Leo's crimson eyes gleamed.

Fwoooosh—!

Golden flames enveloped his sword.

It was Dweno's fire.

Slash—!

Leo's sword cleaved the Orc Shaman King in half.

The Shaman King died instantly.

But something still felt off to Leo.

'It felt like I cut through ice.'

Indeed, the Shaman King's body was entirely frozen.

Leo shuddered.

He knew Dweno's fire, rivaling the Flame Emperor's power—king of phoenixes.

It was the only fire capable of resisting Erebos' flames.

'So then… why didn't it melt?'

Then—

The dead Shaman King's eyes rolled and locked onto Leo.

A gaze filled with cold hatred.

Without hesitation, Leo ran toward Chloe.

"Leo. What—?"

Chloe looked confused, then widened her eyes as Leo pulled her into his arms.

He summoned a jet-black cloak to shield them.

BOOM—!

The Shaman King's body exploded.

A devastating wave of cold swept through.

Chloe kept her eyes shut, then cautiously opened them.

She gasped.

Familiar red eyes stared back.

"You okay?"

Leo's face was close enough that their breaths mingled.

Wide-eyed, Chloe nodded.

"I'm okay."

Leo chuckled at her answer and stood up.

Whooooosh—!

A blizzard began to rage.

Like being trapped in a snowstorm on a mountain in midwinter.

"What… is this?"

Chloe looked stunned.

Leo brushed frost off his cloak and said, "Feels like a curse."

"A curse?"

"Yeah. I've seen something similar before."

Thankfully, the explosion hadn't harmed them seriously.

But the surrounding environment was transformed.

Leo had seen this four times before.

'Though back then, the phenomenon was the opposite.'

When Erebos was heavily wounded—

The surroundings were consumed by eternal flames that wouldn't extinguish.

The burning flames devoured all mana nearby, disabling all abilities.

'Well, compared to that, this is still better…'

Those flames had turned even great heroes into ashes.

But this current cold wasn't quite lethal.

'Still… what is this?'

Leo stared grimly into the blizzard.

Just like when Erebos was injured and fled.

Mana wouldn't move.

But unlike then, when all mana was burned—

Now, it was frozen still.

Same outcome, but totally different mechanism.

"Leo, this snow… something's weird."

"What is?"

Leo turned to see Chloe staring at the snow on the ground with a puzzled face.

"It's not melting."

Just as she said, the snow in her hand slipped away like grains of sand—

But it didn't melt.

No matter how cold it was, body heat should've been enough to melt snow.

After a moment of thought, Leo said, "Let's find shelter from the blizzard first."

"Okay."

bl

Leo and Chloe soon found a cave not far away.

As they entered, they felt the warm, slightly stuffy air.

"This is perfect."

"For what?"

Chloe, shivering, looked at Leo.

Even as an ice mage, with her mana frozen, she was fully exposed to the cold.

Her innate resistance and trained body kept her standing, but her stamina and body temperature were depleted.

"There's a hot spring inside."

Chloe's eyes lit up as she peered deeper into the cave.

Leo gathered dry branches and leaves scattered around to build a fire.

Then he crafted a torch and ventured inward.

Following behind, Chloe saw steam rising from a natural hot spring.

She checked the water quality and smiled brightly.

"It's fine! We can warm up in here!"

Leo nodded and said, "Then start undressing and get in."

"Okay. Got i— What?!"

Chloe whipped her head toward him in shock.

"W-what did you just say?"

"Take your clothes off."

"Why?!"

"You're going in like that?"

"Oh…"

Her face flushed bright red.

Leo clicked his tongue at her expression.

"What kind of nonsense are you imagining?"

"I-I wasn't imagining anything! I-I just got startled, that's all!"

"Sure, let's go with that."

"'Let's go with that'?! I said I wasn't!"

Chloe grabbed Leo and shook him wildly.

A moment later, calming down, she asked hesitantly,

"A-Are you going in too?"

"…"

"Hey! Don't look at me like that! I'm just asking so I don't feel bad going in alone!"

Face beet red, Chloe fussed as Leo clicked his tongue again.

"You kids these days…"

"What's that supposed to mean?! You're one of us too!"