The next morning.
What transpired in Volantis was, of course, completely unknown to Leya, who was deep within the Netherworld Forest.
Moreover, Leya was currently engaged in a critically important magic test!
Taking a deep breath, her brow furrowed with tension, she cautiously channeled magic from her right arm into the ethereal space before her, where a faintly glowing, pale white magic array shimmered.
Sweat, born of her intense nervousness, trickled down Leya’s silver hair, falling drop by drop onto the ground.
She let out a heavy sigh, expelling a turbid breath. Then, in a solemn voice, she began:
“Ice and snow demon god, lurking in the distant frigid lands, heed my summons! Black blizzard that freezes all, transform everything into white snow!”
As each word of the incantation was chanted, empowered by her magic, the magic array before Leya grew progressively brighter.
‘So far, so good…’
‘No, there couldn’t be any problems, could there? After all, I’ve practiced countless times before, and the success rate has climbed from an initial thirty percent to a solid ninety percent now.’
Thus, brimming with self-assurance, she watched as the magic array before her transformed from a pale white glow into a shimmering, holy-light ice curtain, emanating a chilling aura. A slight smile touched Leya’s lips, and her eyes sparkled with the brilliance of confidence. She slowly articulated each word…
“Ice Annihilation Array!”
****
The world that emerged after the spell’s activation was one entirely consumed by white!
Though this ethereal expanse spanned only a few dozen meters in radius…
As a Level 1 Sacred-tier spell, its power was naturally not overwhelmingly impactful. This was evident in the linear decrease of the spell’s potency as it spread outwards.
Near the center of this white world, not far from Leya’s position, stood a towering, majestic tree, several meters tall. It was now entirely encased in a thick layer of ice!
According to Leya’s previous tests, this tree should have been rendered ‘dead.’ If it were to suffer a strong external impact, the ice and the tree would shatter into icy fragments.
While this level of power was indeed impressive, it was unfortunate that the further from the spell’s epicenter, the less pronounced its effect became.
For instance, trees ten meters away had only a noticeably thinner layer of ice. Beyond that, some were merely cloaked in a thick blanket of snow, entirely devoid of ice. At the outermost perimeter, the spell’s influence was virtually nonexistent.
“It seems this spell was a success!”
Leya surveyed the silver-white world she had created around her, nodding in satisfaction. Though, she couldn’t help but feel… a little cold.
“Now, for the experiments with the second and third spells, but before that…”
Gazing at the pale yellow sun already ascending in the eastern sky, Leya shook her head with a sigh.
“Angela and the others must be awake by now, right? Ah… what should I have for breakfast? I hope it’s not wolf meat again, like yesterday…”
A memory of yesterday’s pungent, gamey flavor resurfaced. It had been impossible to chew. The thought alone completely killed her appetite.
Though she recalled only glancing at the black wolf meat yesterday, deciding she could never love it, and promptly leaving to practice her sword. She hadn’t actually tasted its chewiness herself.
Lost in these anxious thoughts, Leya began to tread with heavy, cautious steps. She feared slipping on the ice and landing face-first in the mud.
****
Meanwhile, in the village nearby.
Something truly dreadful had just occurred!
“How could this happen?”
“Indeed, it’s too tragic!”
“Could it be that we angered the gods and received divine punishment?”
Outside the church entrance, a throng of onlookers—adventurers and ordinary villagers alike—had gathered. They clustered in small groups, passionately discussing the unfolding event.
This event referred to the three grotesque corpses lying on the ground, their faces blackened, eyes wide and staring, as if unable to rest in peace.
Among the crowd were Chapman and Thorne. They stood silently, brows furrowed in contemplation.
“Ah, look, look! Elder Ingmar has arrived!”
“That’s right, if it’s Elder Ingmar, he’ll surely get to the bottom of this!”
“Quiet, everyone, quiet down! Let the Elder take a good look first!”
At this pronouncement, an immediate hush fell over the surroundings. Everyone leaned in, eyes wide and ears straining, eager for Ingmar’s explanation.
Ingmar, his brow deeply furrowed, slowly made his way through the gathered crowd. He first approached the three corpses, observing them meticulously. Then, stroking his beard, he fell into a contemplative silence.
“Does anyone know the identities of these three bodies?”
Upon hearing this, the crowd exchanged glances, looking from one to another. Most shook their heads helplessly. Only four middle-aged men, dressed as adventurers, stepped forward, pointing at one of the bodies.
“Great Elder, this body belongs to our team’s vanguard member… He suffered severe abdominal injuries yesterday while fending off the beast tide. His wounds were too grievous to heal quickly, so we placed him in an outer villager’s home… Damn it! If I find out who did this…”
Ingmar took in the adventurers’ words and demeanor. He merely nodded impassively.
At that moment, several more villagers exchanged glances before stepping forward, pointing to the central corpse. “Elder, this person is from the village… he was also gravely wounded during the beast tide yesterday, but the healer said he should have been out of danger.”
No sooner had they finished speaking than five more adventurers stepped forward, pointing to the last body. “This man was our team’s archer. He, too, was severely injured…”
‘Severe injuries, all severe injuries? Could it be that they succumbed to their wounds overnight?’
The surrounding onlookers considered this a very plausible explanation.
Ingmar, however, showed little emotion. He merely stated plainly, “If that is the case…”
“Wait, Elder, I have something to say!”
“Hmm?” Ingmar frowned, looking toward the source of the voice. It was Thorne!
Ingmar had to admit he had quite an impression of this young man, Thorne. ‘Well… after all, there were two young and beautiful girls on his team. Not to mention one of them was a particularly striking silver-haired girl!’
‘Ah… she was indeed the youngest and most beautiful among all these adventurers. Ingmar recalled personally greeting her. Though, regretfully, her demeanor had been extremely cold; she hadn’t uttered a single word from beginning to end…’
“Yes, Captain Thorne, do you have anything to add?”
“Elder, isn’t it too hasty to simply classify this incident as death from severe injuries? Can’t everyone see? The tragic state of these bodies; if it were merely death from wounds, it wouldn’t make sense. And even if they did die from severe injuries, why would they come to the church entrance before their deaths?”
Hearing Thorne’s words, everyone again exchanged glances, finding merit in his argument. After a closer look at the corpses’ contorted faces, their conviction in Thorne’s perspective only deepened.
“Heh, then, Captain Thorne, what exactly do you mean…?” Ingmar asked with a chuckle.
“What I mean? What I mean is… our team requests to withdraw, to withdraw from this mission!”
“What?! Thorne, what are you saying? What do you mean, withdraw?”
“Exactly! We all agreed to face the enemy together at yesterday’s meeting!”
“Can you afford the penalty for breach of contract? This is a B-rank mission, you know! Abandoning it means a huge fine!”
“Haha, I recall your team is only D-rank, right? Having even one gold coin in liquid funds would be a miracle, hahaha—”
A single stone had indeed stirred a thousand ripples!
Instantly, the surrounding adventurer teams erupted like ruffled roosters. Their necks flushed crimson as they vehemently denounced Thorne.
Chapman, too, gritted his teeth. He shot Thorne a fierce glare.
Thorne, however, ignored them all. Facing the torrent of sarcasm and ridicule, he practically shouted: “Penalty? So what if there’s a penalty! You all saw ‘that thing’ Chapman’s team brought yesterday, didn’t you? How could we possibly deal with something like that? I’m sorry, but I believe life is more important than any penalty!”
“Wh-what, Thorne, you…”
“Bastard! Didn’t we agree yesterday at the meeting that this matter was top secret? And now you’re blurting it out in front of all these villagers, Thorne, are you insane!?”
“Damn it! Coward! Do you have no sense of honor? There are hundreds of villagers here! Can you really bear to abandon them!?”
In an instant, Thorne’s single declaration plunged the entire scene into unprecedented chaos!
The adventurers were furious, incensed that Thorne had unilaterally withdrawn, disregarding the collective decision made at yesterday’s meeting. The ordinary villagers, meanwhile, looked utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend what the adventurers were talking about. ‘What meeting? What decisions? Why are we completely unaware of this!?’
Even some of the regular adventurer team members stared blankly at their red-faced, vein-popping captains. They truly couldn’t fathom what kind of deal their captains had struck yesterday afternoon, or why they, as team members, were completely out of the loop.
“Silence! All of you, quiet down!—” A roar, imbued with a pressure only a Level 3 martial artist could unleash, instantly silenced everyone present.
Everyone looked up, to see that the speaker was Chapman, captain of an A-rank adventurer team!
Though, by now, the strength of his A-rank adventurer team was a shadow of its former self…
“Hmph—a trivial, useless team wants to withdraw, so let them go! One more won’t add much, one less won’t subtract much!”
“What! Chapman, you…”
Hearing Chapman so brazenly insult his team, Thorne, boiling with indignation, flushed crimson. He wanted to retort, but a ferocious glare from Chapman made him shrink back, unable to utter another word.
Following this, Chapman continued: “Exactly! I thought a lot about this after returning last night. So, again, I’d like to propose a few additions regarding the results of yesterday’s meeting!”
“Oh? Captain Chapman, what ideas do you have?” Ingmar asked curiously, looking quite interested.
Those nearby eagerly craned their necks, awaiting his words.
Seeing their anticipation, Chapman spoke on, neither arrogant nor humble: “From our remaining eight teams, each team will select one member to return to the Volantis Adventurer’s Guild to report the situation and request reinforcements!”
He paused after speaking, then cast two disdainful glances at Thorne before adding: “No, my mistake, it’s seven teams. Heh, it’s seven teams of warriors who will ultimately stand firm here! Seven great adventurer teams dedicated to completing this A-rank mission!”
As if deliberately mocking Thorne, Chapman drew out the end of each sentence, watching Thorne with a taunting gaze.
Thorne’s face turned a ghastly shade of purplish-red, and his entire body trembled. He muttered under his breath: ‘Damn it! If he had this idea all along, why didn’t he say so sooner? Is he deliberately playing with me? Bastard!’
“Hmph!—”
Ultimately, Thorne could no longer endure the suffocatingly awkward atmosphere. After shooting Chapman a furious glare, he swiftly departed.
At this point, everything seemed to have come to a temporary halt.
At least, most of the remaining adventurers were thinking only of the generous rewards and honor they would receive after this mission. A small portion, however, watched Thorne’s retreating figure, lost in thought.
As for the other onlookers, it must be said, they truly embodied the meaning of ‘bystanders,’ completely oblivious to the underlying drama throughout.