Editor : Amethyst00



Crack—Crack—Crack—

The ground was freezing over.

It began in the center of Letin.

An ice pillar had risen from the ruins of the Palace of Purification.

The civil servants working in the government office sensed the abnormality and quickly evacuated.

Crack—Crack—

As if targeting them.

The cold surged across the ground, freezing it as it rushed forward.

"Kyaaaah?!"

"R-Run, now!"

It was literally a tidal wave of extreme cold.

That wave of cold soon swept past the government building and began to threaten the surrounding area.

Citizens passing by screamed and fled in terror.

Thud—

At that moment, a middle-aged man running away tripped and fell.

"D-Dad!"

A girl who had been running ahead screamed, her face pale.

"Forget about me, just keep running! Go!"

The man shouted urgently.

The frigid wave was upon him in an instant.

"Dad!"

"You idiot!"

The girl, crying, ran back and helped her father to his feet.

The man bit his lip hard.

Too late!

As he closed his eyes tightly and held his daughter in his arms—

Fwoooosh—! Boom—!

A burst of flame flew in from somewhere and blew away the wave of extreme cold.

Sssshhhhhh—!

A thick mist formed where the intense heat met the bitter cold.

The man and his daughter cautiously opened their eyes.

Step, step—

A red-haired girl walked through the mist toward them.

"Are you okay?"

Lunia reached out and helped the man up.

"Th-Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"It's thanks to you, Elf! I don't know how I can repay this kindness…!"

As the teary-eyed father and daughter thanked her, Lunia smiled gently.

"I was just doing what needed to be done."

At that soft smile, the fear that gripped them seemed to melt away.

What a beautiful and dignified young woman she was.

The daughter, staring at Lunia, gasped.

"W-Wait… Are you Lunia El Lunda, the Chaser of the Star?!"

"That's right."

Lunia nodded.

Whooooosh—!

The cold wind, blown back by Lunia's flame earlier, surged forward again.

"Step back, now."

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

The father and daughter ran off toward the crowd of fleeing people.

They kept glancing back at Lunia.

She was a hero beautiful enough to captivate anyone's eyes.

It was almost instinctual to keep looking at her.

At that moment—

A large man appeared in front of the pair.

Expressionless, with a body like stone.

And most of all, a menacing look.

The man froze, and the girl let out a hiccup without realizing.

Walden opened his palm.

Fwoooosh—!

"You're in the way. Get lost."

"S-Sorry!"

The pair scurried away.

Walden, having summoned a fire elemental, manipulated it and began drawing a magical formation.

Then— BOOM—!

A massive explosion erupted in front of Lunia.

The wave of cold surging toward them was repelled once more.

But it wasn't over.

Fwoooosh—!

A vortex of flame began swirling around Lunia.

"Huff!"

Lunia inhaled deeply and raised both hands.

Her crimson eyes were locked on something beyond the wave of cold.

A spark flashed in Lunia's eyes.

The fire elemental Walden had summoned was being drawn into Lunia's flame.

Flame Wave!

At that moment, Lunia unleashed a stellar spell.

A crimson wave of fire surged high and pierced through the frigid wave.

Fwoosh—!

The cold was completely obliterated.

Walden felt the heat on his skin as he approached Lunia.

The relentless wave of cold vanished without a trace.

Whoosh—!

Lunia withdrew her flames and glanced up at Walden.

"Was all that really necessary?"

"What are you referring to?"

"That father and daughter earlier. They would've escaped just fine. Did you really need to scare them?"

"They were in the way. And they were hesitating, staring at you."

Walden spoke in a flat voice.

"You made them too comfortable, and they forgot the situation."

"Isn't it better to give people courage than to paralyze them with fear? You really should practice smiling more."

Lunia raised a finger to the corner of her mouth and mimicked a smile.

The great hero Luna, known for calming people with her gentle smile—Lunia had always aspired to be like her.

"I'm not good at faking it like you are."

"Excuse me? Faking?"

Lunia's expression turned sharp.

Whooooooo—!

A chilling wind blew from the place where the frigid wave had vanished.

Lunia opened her palm to summon a flame, and Walden also summoned his elementals.

Step, crack—step, crack

Footsteps approached.

Lunia furrowed her brows when she saw the figure emerge.

"A woman?"

She had pale blue skin.

A beautiful face.

But her blue eyes, lacking whites, gave off an eerie feeling.

"A demon?"

"Never seen one like this before."

Tartaros monsters come in four main forms:

Beast-type, Undead-type, Giant-type, and Human-type.

Each has distinct characteristics.

But this demon was unlike anything they'd seen before.

The woman knelt and clasped her hands.

"Ahhh… The great master of Styx, Nyx, has returned… By her grace, residents of Styx, rise!"

Crack—!

The ground around her began to freeze.

Thud!

A hand burst out from the frozen ground.

Lunia murmured as she saw it.

"This is… a pretty grotesque sight."

"Get ready. They're coming."

Ice beings burst from the ground and charged at Lunia and Walden with feral roars.

bl

Similar scenes played out around the ice pillar.

Crack!

Lyl crushed the head of an approaching ice being with her battle hammer.

Whirrrr—

She began spinning her battle hammer with her fingers.

Soon, powered by wind elementals, it began spinning at incredible speed.

Lyl's feet lifted slightly off the ground.

Then, eyes glowing, she thrust her hand forward, hammer spinning.

Fwaaaaaaah—!

In a flash, Lyl charged forward with great force.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

She smashed through all the ice beings in front of her.

Watching this, Leah's jaw dropped.

"D-Do all elemental mages from Lumene fight like that?"

"Of course not. She's just weird."

Elena shook her head.

"Seriously. You need human-like techniques to not get called a monster."

Lyl had created many original techniques using her strong elemental skills and physical prowess.

The problem was that all her "original" techniques looked bizarrely inhuman.

Even now, using her hammer like a jet to pulverize enemies made her look downright grotesque.

Elena briefly watched Lyl before narrowing her eyes and turning to the praying woman who was summoning the ice beings.

The pale blue-skinned woman knelt in devout prayer, endlessly chanting praises to the entity called Nyx.

"You're Leah, right?"

"Yes."

"Can you check the battle status in the other areas?"

The group had split into three teams:

Elena and Lyl.

Chloe and Luca.

Lunia and Walden.

Leah was tasked with relaying information between the teams as a messenger—Elena's command.

Clack—clack—

Elena approached the praying woman.

"Lyl. Cover me."

Leaving those words, Elena curled her lips and pointed her finger at the woman.

Whoosh—BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

A massive pillar of flame erupted under the woman.

Screeeeeeech!

The ice beings screamed and rushed at Elena in rage.

Lyl smashed them down with her hammer.

Elena kept walking.

The flames cleared—

But the woman remained in her kneeling posture, praying.

Elena tilted her head.

"Let's see how long you can stay calm."

She smiled sweetly and snapped her fingers.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!

This time, lava erupted from the ground.

Dozens of lava snakes.

Like giant serpents, they opened their jaws and lunged at the woman.

Splash! Crack-crack-crack—!

Before the lava snakes could reach her, they froze solid.

Elena nodded.

"Well, that confirms it."

"You discovered something?"

"Yes. But it's not good news."

Elena stared at the woman.

"She's a demon of legion-commander rank."

Lyl's face hardened at those words.

bl

Leo and Lysinas quickly approached the ice pillar.

As they moved, Lysinas summoned spirits.

A thousand low-level spirits appeared at once.

Even if they were low-grade, summoning a thousand at once was something most spiritualist couldn't even attempt.

But Lysinas did it with ease.

Controlling them properly was even harder.

"Hey, guys."

At her voice, the various spirits chatting among themselves all snapped to attention.

"Help evacuate the people, okay?"

She smiled warmly, and the spirits saluted and dispersed.

"Always a marvel to watch."

"You can do it too, Kyle."

"Summoning multiple spirits isn't really my style."

Lysinas chuckled at Leo's annoyed tone.

Whoooooosh—!

Suddenly, a freezing storm blew toward them.

Leo and Lysinas stopped.

Crack—crack—crack—

A massive ice gate began to form.

Grrrrr—BOOM!

The gate opened, and heavily armored knights poured out.

They had pale blue skin.

Leo's eyes narrowed.

'Each one is a high-ranking demon.'

At the very front was a top-tier demon, on par with Archduke Artkan of the Mourning.

Clack—clack—

Mounted on an ice steed, the top-tier demon looked down at Leo and Lysinas.

"O foolish mortals. You now stand before the Second Priestess of the great goddess of death—Nyx! Kneel and offer your wor—"

CRACK—!

Before the demon could finish—

A flash streaked by.

Thunk—roll—

Its severed head rolled to Leo's feet.

Thud!

Leo stepped on the head.

"You… mere mortal…!"

"What was that about, not even being a legion commander?"

Leo pressed down harder.

CRACK! SNAP—!

The head began to fracture.

"Maybe you should kneel and worship."

CRUNCH! CLANG—!

Finally, the demon's head shattered.

Leo gave a cold smirk.

"You're looking at the great heroes who will end you once and for all."