Chapter 169
As Desir and Dracul were locked in fierce battle, there was a similarly fierce battle on the top of the spire as well .
The floor had sunken in places . Broken pillars lay strewn everywhere .
The traces of battle here and there told the story of just how fierce the fight had been up until now .
“I don’t like people like you, those referred to as magical swordsmen . ”
Raden spoke as he looked at the Frozen Palace, half of which had been destroyed .
“Those bastards who couldn’t commit to either side and ended up just snooping around both . They just don’t have pride as a magician or as swordsmen . ”
He raised his head .
“That is why you will lose . ”
It was quite the deliberate provocation .
Most people tend to lose it and desperately try to attack, when their skills are looked down upon and their pride is assaulted . Naturally, if that person was a good magical swordsman, they would hold immense pride in themselves .
Adjest set her foot on top of a pillar made of ice and looked down at Raden .
It was as if she was looking down all humans, as if it was a natural thing to do .
A queen .
An empress of ice who looked down upon everything .
“Ridiculous . ”
“… ?”
“Talking condescendingly with such pride . You are just a leader of bandits at best . Why don’t you become more aware of your character first before rambling on like that?”
Raden’s eyebrows curved into a frown .
“You wouldn’t understand . We are… ”
“You are a piece of shit . ”
Adjest cut him off .
“I’m not at all curious about your business . Do you want me to understand you? You want me to show you some sympathy? Ridiculous . You’re a criminal . Whatever circumstance you may find yourself in and whatever purpose you may have, is a product of your own doing . You’re still a criminal after all . ”
Raden was flustered . He was not able to refute the unexpected remark from someone many times younger than himself .
“Enough with your nonsense . What a waste of time . Just bring it on . ”
Raden stormed out, feeling humiliated beyond his endurance .
*Clomp*
*Clomp*
But he had to halt his charge .
A chilly storm bore down upon him .
Raden felt the arctic gale pouring out of the sword that Adjest had raised .
She had tapped into the power of her sword, the Center of Ice .
It exuded an enormous amount of chill that seeped out and froze everything nearby .
*Crraaaack*
The chill continued to spread without slowing . With just a simple opening move, the temperature of the room had lowered by several dozen degrees .
Adjest’s previously invoked ice spells were of no comparison to it .
“Keuukk!”
Raden felt his body stiffening . He did all he could to pull out his Aura and shroud his entire body in it, but he still felt the chill reaching his bones .
However, this was only the beginning .
Following this, Adjest invoked a spell .
[Ice Empress]
She shone in a blinding ball of silver light .
It was her Imagery Magic .
A secret weapon that rapidly increased the physical ability of the wielder, by absorbing and utilizing the surrounding chilly air .
*Vrooooom*
When the magical power emanating from Adjest’s body and the cold released from the Center of Ice combined, a transcendental power emerged .
Her radiant golden gleam lost its tone and was soon dyed white .
A powerful cold air raged forth like a storm and cloaked Adjest .
“… ”
Raden subconsciously shivered slightly . His whole body was chilled just by standing here near Adjest .
Feather Mask .
Not too long ago, Raden felt this kind of sensation from her .
Knowing what this meant, Raden shook his head as if he was trying to rid himself of his anxiety .
“… What a foolish effort!”
Raden’s head was filled with rage at the fact that he was momentarily afraid of the young girl standing before him .
The Aura on the hatchet that he held shimmered like a flame .
Even though the icy-cold air was clawing at his body, Raden did not think that he would lose . He was confident in his own skills .
The next moment, that very thought disappeared as though it had been washed away by a tsunami . Adjest’s presence disappeared before his very eyes .
“… … !?”
Raden instinctively swung his weapon towards his back .
*Claaang*
There was a massive explosion .
Platinum hair billowed in the breeze . Before he knew it, Adjest had approached him from the rear and was swinging her sword at his unguarded back .
‘I missed?’
Raden was appalled at the fact that Adjest momentarily left his sight, due to her abrupt increase in speed .
Lucky…
That was the only word for it .
His body, which has been through countless battlefields, moved instinctively and thanks to this, he had been able to barely escape death .
Adjest kept pushing Raden back without a break .
*C-Clang*
*C-C-Claaang*
Adjest’s chained attacks were all weighty and swift .
Raden could not believe the situation he now found himself in . She belonged to the Rook Class, but was exceeding his power and speed .
It was hard to believe that she was even the same person from before .
‘That’s impossible . ’
As he found himself stuck on defense, his blood rushing toward his head seemed to have instantly froze .
‘I was too fast to judge . ’
He regretted a little too late and the lost time could not be returned .
Raden barely was able to endure Adjest’s frenzied attacks, since he still had the upper hand in the technical aspect of sword play .
He would predict the enemy’s way of thinking and identify the trajectory of the approaching sword .
However, he was barely coping .
Raden was slowly falling behind regarding power and speed .
Slowly but surely .
Little by little .
This forced him into a difficult situation .
It was an unpleasant, defensive battle . As time passed, his face slowly distorted .
*Crackkk*
On the other hand, Adjest had a composed expression on her face .
‘I already have experience fighting against a person with more advanced skills than me . ’
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It was her battle against Donape . An experience of facing off against one of the strongest people in the whole continent .
But there were two things that differed from back then .
‘Firstly, this person is much weaker than Donape in regards to power and speed . ’
Raden, King of Mountains, was clearly a strong swordsman .
However, he was obviously lacking in comparison to a transcendental being like Donape Aslan .
Above all, she did not feel the presence of an overpowering wall, like she felt from Donape .
‘Secondly, I am much stronger now than I was before . ’
Adjest took a step and struck a blow with all of her might .
*Claaang*
The hatchet’s blade that clashed against the Center of Ice broke off, and pieces of shrapnel flew in all directions .
Raden quickly took a step back . There was no time to panic . He quickly pulled out a new axe from a pocket near his chest .
Raden calmly concentrated in order to read Adjest’s sword trajectory .
‘Block the lower right corner of the sword trajectory, then catch her off guard with a counter attack… ’
*Claaang*
However, things didn't work out as Raden expected .
Adjest moved slightly faster than him .
It wasn’t that he wasn’t able to read the trajectory .
“Keeeuuuk!”
His body had slowed down for some reason .
Just by sharing an exchange of blows with Adjest, and from standing near her… Damage was slowly accumulating .
Raden’s Aura was continuously being consumed and the unrelenting chill burrowed deeply into his bones . His body was not moving like he wanted .
His body started to become unresponsive to his thoughts .
“Shittttttt!”
*Crashhh*
*Clang*
Another axe shattered into pieces, not being able to withstand Adjest’s blow .
He had no more spare weapons left . Raden tightly gripped the last hatchet he possessed .
His decision was fast and precise .
Raden started to scrape together the leftover Aura from the ground . Being pushed to his very limit, he prepared to unleash the strongest attack that he was capable of… and for death .
The desperate effort of a near King Class swordsman who was going to invoke a technique using every fiber of his being .
The moment Raden took a step in order to swing with everything he had .
*Pkkkhht*
Adjest’s sword penetrated his heart .
Raden’s body, which was currently skewered by the Center of Ice, slowly started to freeze over… starting with his heart .
The Aura that Raden gathered with all of his effort dispersed harmlessly into the air .
He spoke in disbelief .
“Became… Faster… ?”
If he attacked with the thought of mutually assured destruction, then the situation wouldn’t have turned out like this .
Even for Adjest, who was strengthened by her vision technique, there was no guarantee that she would be able to handle such a blow from Raden… a being only one step away from King Class .
Adjest took that situation into account and intentionally exerted a level of force that would be a step ahead of Raden, preventing him from executing his dying blow .
In the end, by consuming his power little by little, it was not difficult for her to employ her best effort to handle Raden’s power, which had already been weakened .
“Damn… ”
He seemed to have realized that fact from Adjest’s impassive face .
“You… won . ”
His body froze totally into a statue-like form .
*Crasshhh*
When Adjest pulled out the sword from his body, he broke apart like a glass and pieces scattered across the floor .
“Ha… … ”
After seeing the scattered pieces, Adjest let out a sigh . She then cancelled the spell that she was invoking and reasserted control over the power within the Center of Ice .
As Adjest’s hair returned to its former golden appearance, the surrounding temperature returned to normal .
Even though she just ended a battle, she took stock of her exhausted mana and examined the remaining duration of her Imagery Magic .
The battles that continued around them seemed to be ending as well .
*Baaang*
At that moment, there was a sound of explosion not too far from them .
Adjest turned around to look towards the location where the explosion was heard from .
‘Desir… ’
Now, there was only the battle between Desir and Dracul left .
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