The Aftermath and Lingering Shadows

Ice-type skills have the drawback of being weak in damage, but they come with a built-in CC, ‘Freeze.’

However, most high-level monsters are immune to CC or have ‘Freeze Resistance,’ so it was not a highly-rated skill.

“K-kuhuk! W-what’s going on! What is this!”

…But, the man’s ice skill was different, very different.

[<Karvan Baharga> has cast <Hell of Ice>. (※ 100% chance to fall into the ‘Freeze’ status abnormality. Temporarily ignores the ‘Freeze Resistance’ option.)]

Boom, crash!
My meteor skill, as one of the guys had said, fell on the front yard of the Igra nest.

But no one could escape.
The frozen Igra tribe were hit directly by my skill.

The fireballs that melted on the ice evaporated, and a thick steam spread out.
As the thick fog cleared, there were only bright red ice fragments on the ground, which was dented like a sinkhole.

Of course, there were no survivors.

I glanced at the man with a disgusted face.

‘Is it because he’s the chief of a race that was originally supposed to be deleted?’
‘No matter how I look at it, his skill set is too broken.’

‘…It was crazy to attack him then.’
‘I was extremely lucky that he said he wouldn’t kill me.’

“Karvan. You’re, really good.”

The man extended his hand to me expressionlessly instead of answering.

As I flinched but didn’t avoid him, he looked at me intently and then brushed the ice off my hair.

“Don’t you think our skill compatibility is pretty good? If you freeze them, and I burn them, there’s nothing to be afraid of…”

“Kraaah! Y-you, to cooperate with an Awakener!”

…Ah.
There was one survivor.

A lion beast-kin who was letting out a roar of rage.
His hair, which was sticking out in all directions like the sun, was blazing.
The Nemea tribe was immune to fire skills, so he must have survived even after being hit by my meteor.
Seeing the large skull mark floating above his head meant that he was the chief of the race.

[Nameless Nemea Tribe (Chief)]

‘Right, a monster should normally be displayed like that.’

I glanced at the man standing expressionlessly next to me, and then, without thinking, I threw my Leviathan at the guy.

[<Stigma Theory> – <Ice Fang> attribute buff is in effect.]

‘Ugh, right.’
‘The Nemea tribe is a fire attribute, so ice skills have their damage halved.’

As expected, the attack didn’t seem to go in properly, as he pulled out the spear stuck in his leg, threw it, and then jumped off the cliff and ran away.

“Hey! Stop right there…!”

I was about to hastily follow him, but what came flying was a gourd full of fluffy lion’s mane.
Thud, thud, as the gourd rolled to my feet, a flame shot out.

‘Ugh.’
I reflexively covered my face and was about to retreat, when an ice wall shot up from under my feet and protected me.
Soon, the flames subsided.

Waving my hand through the thick smoke, as I looked down at the cliff where the guy had fallen, it was a soft, bushy area.
With that sturdy iron armor, he would have survived without a scratch.

‘Ah, if only I hadn’t made a mistake, I could have caught him.’
‘It was a chance for revenge from the prison.’

“…Sorry. I let him get away.”

Scratching my head, I picked up the Leviathan, which was stuck in the ground and emanating a cold aura, and reported to him sullenly.

“I should have switched to another skill besides ice, I was so stupid…”

“What is that power?”

The man, who was watching me bite my lip and make excuses, suddenly asked.

His gaze was on my Leviathan.
Perhaps because the ‘Ice Fang’ buff was applied, instead of the usual pink cherry blossoms or flying embers, a white ice crystal effect was scattered.

“I don’t think it was that kind of weapon before.”

He had seen it for a long time and had even held it in his hand, so it wasn’t that he was amazed that it was an SL weapon now.
‘He must be asking how I’m using the same attribute as him.’

“Ah, you mean this ice ability? It’s the Hyena tribe’s power.”

“……”

“I didn’t have high hopes, but it’s surprisingly good.”

The ice-attribute skill, which I had used properly for the first time, was more useful than I thought.
The fact that it could incapacitate the enemy with the CC, ‘Freeze,’ was definitely a big merit.

But it was definitely not my taste.
‘A skill should be flashy and explosive to be fun.’
‘Well, but it was fun.’
‘How long has it been since I’ve fought with a peaceful mind, without the Observer’s interference.’

“When are you going to remove it?”

As I was happily lost in thought, savoring the exhilarating battle I had tasted for the first time in a while, the man suddenly asked.

“…Huh? What?”

“The imprint on that bastard.”

“Again, again! It’s not an imprint, it’s a…”

“Release it.”

Seeing him cut me off without listening to my rebuke as usual, he seemed to be in a very bad mood.
His coolly sunken face, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, was somehow unfamiliar.

“If I use it once, I can’t release it for a week.”

“……”

“…But, do I have to release it?”

His face, which was getting harder and harder, was starting to get scary, but it was a real waste to erase it.
Especially ‘Corpse Scavenger.’
This one.

“It’s surprisingly good. It’s an ability to see valuables, and I found the antidote earlier thanks to this.”

“……”

“If it’s because of the scent, it won’t matter. Everyone already knows I’m an Awakener anyway.”

A few hours ago, I remembered the gazes of the Varg as they looked at me.
They didn’t say it out loud in front of me because I was the Valtael, but I had heard them whispering about my identity.

“So, now.”

Karvan, who had been staring at me without a word, slowly opened his mouth.

“Are you saying you won’t release the imprint on that bastard.”

“Yeah. I want to use it a little longer. And, anyway…”

‘I can’t even release it right now because of the cooldown.’
But the rest of my words could not be continued.

“……”

Because the golden eyes, which had been staring at my lips, had turned chillingly.

Tegen, the current Valta’s right-hand man and the number one Sura of Bahalgras, held his breath.
Black eyes glinted in the bushes.
Hunting live prey is all about patience.

Finally, with a flutter, the sound of wings brushed past his head, and in a flash, he jumped up and broke its neck.
The head feathers were so splendid that it seemed to be a battle chief like him.

“Break the light towers first and lure them into the dark forest.”
“What if they use a holy relic to light up the area?”
“That’s a headlamp, and if you hit the gem in the center of the forehead and break it, the light won’t come out.”

The plan that the Valtael had told him was a great success.
Three of them held hands, and with a sniper in the middle, they approached the watchtower and broke the light tower.

The blind bastards couldn’t even draw their proud bows and just stumbled around, fighting amongst themselves.

In that gap, when the unit hidden in the forest made a loud noise, they came flying, raising their claws.
As they flapped around, caught in the ropes that had been set up in the gaps of the forest branches, he easily broke their wings, like catching a roe deer that had fallen in the snow.

For the feathered bastards, their wings were their hearts.
They would strut around, thinking they were on top of the world just because they had some feathers that could cut the wind, but if you break their wings, they can’t do anything.

“The watchtower?”

“We’ve taken care of all of them. When we broke the strange gem on their heads, they couldn’t do anything, just as the Valtael said.”

More than half of them were staggering, poisoned by the hyena bastards, but they had easily won with an absurd amount of force.

“Uh, but. There’s a problem. Valta…”

The guy who was diligently examining the enemy’s nest with a picked-up holy relic reported with a pale face.
He said that Valta and the Valtael, who had left for the Igra nest, had been discovered.

“Heh! You’re finished! We knew this would happen, so all our top forces remained in the nest! If the Nemea chief and our chief join forces, they’ll pull out their intestines!”

As he was kicking the shin of the Igra bastard who was chattering triumphantly as a prisoner, he waited anxiously.

‘I should have left one of their wings unbroken.’

‘Should I treat him now and threaten him to take me to your nest?’
As he was contemplating, something whitish came flying through the night sky in the distance.

Like a shooting star, a clump of mist flew in and fell to the ground with a thud, taking shape.
It was Valta, holding the Valtael tightly in his arms, as if they were a loving couple.

“I’ve asked you thirty-three times already. Midval… no, why do you need the map of Dowongyeong!”

“……”

“Did you decide not to tell me again?”

Tegen, who was about to greet them happily, thinking they had returned safely, flinched and retreated at the unusual atmosphere between the two.

“You don’t listen even when I tell you, so what more is there to say?”

“Are you still sulking about that? It’s not like I’m never going to release it, the cooldown is… Ah, Tegen! Did you come out to meet us?”

The Valtael, who had been chattering with her mouth pouting, saw him and waved her hand happily.

“……”

On the other hand, Valta, who was holding his beautiful mate in his arms, had fierce eyes as if he would drown someone alive.

Tegen swallowed dryly and remembered the day Shinbi-nim had gone for a long walk.
It was a good thing she had returned to his arms soon.
Otherwise, the fox tribe would have been annihilated on the spot.

“Let me down. I’ll walk.”

“No.”

“Why? I have feet too!”

“If I let you down, who knows if you’ll go find that bastard you imprinted on.”

“Ugh, are you really going to be this childish?! Let me down!”

The sight of the two of them seemed sweet yet frozen, like the ice… something dessert that Shinbi-nim enjoyed eating.

In that strange atmosphere, Tegen escorted the Valta and his mate back to Bahalgras.