“I did say that, but I never specifically said you had to defeat it. I just said to consume it.”
He didn’t understand Otto Han’s words.
It sounded like a play on words. It was absurd.
“Still… shall I give it a try?”
Elric took his first step.
For now, the key seemed to approach where the Snow Mountain King was.
“【Armor Release】“
Paaah!
Elric deployed the magical armor he had memorized.
Even if this place were an imaginary world, all physical laws and the resulting phenomena and effects would be exactly the same as in reality.
“【Rise】“
Elric levitated about 1 centimeter above the snowy ground and slowly moved forward.
If he continued to sink into the snow, he would have quickly drained his stamina.
He tried hard not to make eye contact.
Even with mental protection magic, it was difficult to block his fear; it seemed like a significant curse.
“If we clash while I’m in this state, I will fail. Isn’t there a better strategy?”
Elric coolly assessed the difference in power between him and the Snow Mountain King.
Just scanning with his mana revealed that the Snow Mountain King’s power was truly remarkable.
Honestly, it was daunting.
“If only my magic were limitless, I’d trap and melt him with fire attribute magic… But that won’t work. My current weapons won’t do. It’s the same for rudimentary body strengthening techniques.”
The environmental constraints were too great.
“The Seal of Original Sin. Can I use this?”
Elric stroked the wolf seal with his hand.
The primary reason he didn’t want to learn dark magic from Mephisto was to maintain some ethical boundaries as the heir of the Melvinger family. However, hearing that even his ancestors harnessed and used the power of demons, he was gradually changing his mind.
But, contrary to Otto Han’s explanation that possessing the seal would allow one to utilize the demon’s abilities and talents, Elric had no idea how to use the seal.
Clearly, the Seal of Original Sin contained tremendous magical power in every stroke.
It had a nature entirely different from magic crystals.
Perhaps this was the ‘Wicked Thought’ that Otto Han spoke of.
But this intent showed no signs of manifesting.
“There surely is a trigger. What could it be?”
If he could use Mephisto’s abilities, it would be easier to capture the Snow Mountain King.
Just as he thought this…
Tssshhhh.
Suddenly, white mirages sprouted from various spots on the snow.
“…What is this?”
Elric, sensing something amiss, stopped.
The moment he quickly channeled magic into his fingertips for immediate deployment, the mirages wavered and slowly took form.
They all looked like Yetis.
However, they were entirely different from the typical Yetis he had faced outside.
They were shadowy, dark, and gloomy in appearance.
They had pointy fangs, symbolizing demons.
Luminous, menacing eyes.
Sturdy armor, sharp spears, and other heavy armor.
Above all, the creatures were emitting a fierce and malicious aura.
“They seem to be the Guardians…”
They appeared to be the soldiers protecting the Snow Mountain King’s tomb.
They were the souls of warriors who pledged loyalty to the Snow Mountain King when they were alive and lingered by his side even when they died.
It was clear they had fully embraced the traits of the demon race.
Kaaaaa!
With a sharp cry, as if not allowing any unauthorized entrance, the warriors charged in unison.
“【Explode!】“
Elric swiftly waved his hand forward.
Instantly, mines of flame erupted under the feet of the approaching warriors.
The flames surged with such intensity that they reached their heads due to the immense magical power poured into them.
Kiak!
But only one or two at the forefront were taken aback, and the rest emerged through the flames without showing any signs of fear.
Even those who fell managed to get back up and rush toward him.
“Damn it! 【Pierce!】, and then 【Erect!】”
Thinking he shouldn’t let them get close, Elric quickly retreated and summoned ‘Magic Missiles’ and ‘Wall of Ice’ consecutively with his right hand.
Simultaneously, with his left hand, he expanded a magical field to further ignite the flames on the warriors.
Both of his hands were invoking different spells.
Double Spell.
He was displaying a skill that even a magician would find hard to utilize.
However, Elric didn’t have the luxury to marvel at or feel proud of his prodigious capability.
Whoosh.
Vapor condensed in the air, creating numerous ice missiles that rained down on the warriors’ heads.
Boom.
The sound of ice shattering echoed across the snowfield.
——————
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The ground shook, and a tall earthen wall emerged between Elric and the warriors.
Although the warriors tried to circumvent the wall to approach Elric, they first had to deal with the pouring ice missiles.
On top of that, the flames on them only grew stronger and wouldn’t extinguish!
Whooosh!
Kiak, Kiak!
Kyaaaaak!
Engulfed in flames or hit by ice arrows, the warriors screamed in agony, and some parts of their bodies shattered.
Still, they didn’t flee. They either tried to circumvent the obstacles or selflessly threw themselves against the wall to break it.
‘…This isn’t easy.’
Elric gritted his teeth as he cast his spells.
If his concentration wavered even slightly, the Double Spell could break.
The Wall of Ice was riddled with cracks, barely holding its form in his magical field. The number of Magic Missiles he could produce was also dwindling.
He had to finish off the enemies inside the wall before the Double Spell broke, but it wasn’t easy.
Unless their heads were destroyed, they would somehow try to stand again, struggling.
He contemplated whether he should recklessly increase the dissolution rate of the Magic Stone to 4% when…
“Gasp!”
Spotting a dark shadow crossing his vision, Elric instinctively rolled onto the ground.
He didn’t have the time to worry about canceling the Double Spell.
A scimitar narrowly passed by where he stood just moments before.
Kiieeek!
The owner of the scimitar, who had deceived Elric’s senses and tried to ambush him, let out a light screech, expressing slight disappointment, and once again charged at Elric.
‘He seems like… the leader of these creatures!’
Faced with a warrior of a higher level than the ones he had faced so far, Elric once again cast another Double Spell.
“【Bloom】, 【Scatter】!“
‘Ice Flower’ and ‘Scattering Blade’. The condensed vapor around the opponent’s body crystallized, rapidly blooming like flowers made of ice.
Chunks of its frostbitten flesh fell off, and the shattered pieces of ice revealed their sharp edges again, slashing at its wounds.
Tssshhh.
In an instant, the opponent was covered in wounds. Its blood spurted out and froze, raining down like hailstones.
Yet it carelessly trampled over them, seemingly unfazed by the pain of its wounds, much like the other opponents Elric had faced.
Grrrr!!
It was a natural swordsman. Its swordsmanship and movements were comparable to those of the best human knights.
Ordinarily, even if Elric had magical weapons, it would have been impossible for him to face this foe with his novice skills.
“【Bleed】again 【Bloom】!“
The Ice Flower continued to obstruct his movements, inflicting more injuries.
“【Burst】 and again 【Burst】!“
The wounds showed no signs of healing and spread even more instead.
Thanks to this, Elric deftly read his opponent’s every move, dodging and rolling out of the way. The scimitar barely missed him each time.
Roaaar.
Frustrated with Elric’s evasive maneuvers, the opponent let out a furious roar.
However, Elric himself was in a critical state.
‘This is getting really dangerous.’
The dissolution rate of the Magic Stone had already exceeded 4%.
The mana load was overheating, and his body was nearing its limit.
‘But he’s also in danger. His movements are slowing. Just a bit more. Let’s press on harder.’
Elric clenched his teeth and squeezed the Magic Stone even tighter.
The moment the dissolution rate reached 5%,
Spark.
Mana sparks, which only appear when the mana load overheats beyond its limit, splashed all over his skin.
Boom.
Elric forcefully launched consecutive double spells, causing his opponent’s injuries to multiply and become clearer. Then, at a certain point, a concentrated ‘dot’ formed in the opponent’s abdomen.
“【Impale】!“
He aimed an even larger and thicker Magic Missile into the dot than before.
BOOM.
Crack.
For a moment, it seemed as if the world had paused and the opponent’s movements had frozen.
Ice rapidly spread across its body through its wounds, stiffening its joints all at once.
And then…
‘Now!’
Crash.
Like hammering a nail, Elric forcefully struck the end of the Magic Missile with his fist.
Psssh.
Just like breaking ice, the opponent shattered into dozens of pieces and crumbled.
“Haah, haah, haaah!”
Elric breathed heavily.
It had been a dangerous fight, and he was at risk of dying every second.
Despite his efforts, he couldn’t completely dodge the scimitar, resulting in wounds all over his body.
Only now did he realize the deep gash on his side.
The pain he hadn’t felt until now rushed in all at once.
Despite being armed with magical power, his health was constantly recovering, and his wounds were being healed in real time.
However, due to a mana dissolution rate of over 5%, his physical body was already in an overloaded state, making even simple movements difficult.
“Damn it…! I might really die at this rate.”
But he had no time to relax.
Kiiieeek! Kiiieeek!
Kiiieeek!
More and more Yeti warriors had gathered, now encircling him.
At a quick glance, there seemed to be dozens of them.
Elric broke out into a cold sweat, forcibly squeezing the Magic Stone.
The mana overload couldn’t continue like this, he thought as he screamed internally. There was a huge risk of mana backlash, but there was nothing he could do.
“Damn you, Otto Han. Why the hell did you create such an impossible test? What do you expect me to do?”
Elric gritted his teeth, pondering what would happen if he ‘died’ here.
If he just got kicked out of this imaginary world, that would be fortunate. But if not, he might break mentally.
Normally, it would be the former.
It was hard to imagine that his ancestors would set such an impossible task for their descendants. Yet Elric thought the latter might be possible.
‘My ancestors are such unpredictable lunatics!’
Elric, risking physical breakdown, increased the mana dissolution rate to 6%.
He wanted to eliminate all the enemies before him at once.
Psshhh!
Mana sparks began to surge even more violently, and at that moment,
Psssh!
From the corpse of the Yeti leader that had shattered earlier, a dark, ink-like glow flared brilliantly.
The corpse of the Yeti leader disintegrated. Then, the fragments and dust gradually absorbed the glow, increasing its brightness, and soon turned into smoke that rushed toward Elric.
Elric tried to step back in surprise, but the smoke was faster. It latched onto the back of his right hand and quickly seeped in through his pores.
Tsshhh.
Behind the Seal of Mephisto’s Original Sin, a new engraving appeared.
Although it wasn’t as prominent as the Seal of the Original Sin, it vaguely resembled a mountain.
And from there, similar dark glows shot towards him from the Yeti warriors he had defeated earlier.
With each addition, the line became clearer.
Simultaneously, the volatile mana sparks began to stabilize.
The seal’s absorption made the mana overload more durable. And naturally, the dissolution rate had to increase!
At that moment, without anyone telling him, Elric ‘knew’ how to use the absorbed seal.
The seal contained the skills of the demon race. Skill was rooted in thoughts, thoughts in emotions, and emotions in something primal.
It didn’t have a definite form and couldn’t be defined, but when it consolidated, it took on a clear nature.
It could be called an intrinsic nature, status, or rank.
However, demons referred to it as…
True Name.
Their ‘real name’.
And.
The True Name of the snow wolves was ‘Cold Ruthlessness’.
It was the real name that their progenitor had grasped but couldn’t handle properly. It was only recognized by the Snow Mountain King and then buried in the sands of time.
This was exactly the trigger of the seal that Elric was looking for.
“【Cold and Venomous】.“
The moment Elric activated their True Name by chanting it…
Whoooooosh!
Centered around Elric, a fierce blizzard swept through, engulfing all the surrounding Yeti warriors.
