“Kurgh!”

“Arghhh!”

The Frostborn knights in the range of Balrog’s explosive Demon Roar crouched with their ears covered. Some were even passing out as they vomited white snow. The roar of one demon destroyed the morale of ten thousand soldiers.

“Kurgh,” the Frostborn general bit his lip.

The soldiers’ formation broke down from one roar and they were in chaos. The knights standing by in the rear were fine because they were far away, but the ones who had been shrinking the encirclement were in terrible condition.

“Pull yourselves together!” the general yelled hurriedly to restore the soldiers’ morale. “There are merely seven of them!”

Emphasizing one’s advantage over their enemy was the most effective morale booster; it guaranteed victory against the enemy. The panicking knights gradually began to calm down.

“Keep pressuring them without giving them any time to rest! Fatigued knights, retreat to the rear! We will tear them down little by little!”

They outnumbered the intruders by an overwhelming margin, but the Frostborn general did not outright command the knights to charge at them. He knew very well that each intruder was very powerful. Since they already had the intruders surrounded, gnawing at their stamina little by little would be the most effective strategy. The knights fixed their formation and slowly shrank the encirclement.

“Kehehehe,” Balrog laughed quietly as he stared at the knights. “They sure have thought it through.”

It was indeed a perfect strategy for the overwhelming numbers of the Frostborn, but it was pointless against Balrog’s destructive capabilities.

“GRAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

Balrog stomped his foot and let out another Demon Roar. He tore apart the encirclement and charged into the enemy’s formation without hesitation.

“Wh-What the—!”

The Frostborn general was left with his mouth agape. Who in their right mind would break the encirclement meant to trap them and jump into the enemy’s formation? It was as if the intruder was asking to be killed.

“Kill him!” the general shouted.

The encirclement around Kang-Woo’s party immediately focused on Balrog.

“Kahahahaha!” Balrog laughed in joy as he ran wild, destroying Frostborn with each swing of his fists.

Almost a hundred knights shattered into little pieces in just a moment.

“Hup!”

Balrog took a deep breath and grabbed the torso of one of the knights charging at him with one hand.

“Kurgh!”

The knight’s body was crushed by Balrog’s muscular hands, white blood pouring out of him. Balrog turned to look at someone with the Frostborn knight’s corpse in hand. His ferocious eyes were visible from within the black helmet surrounding his entire head.

“E-Eek!”

The Frostborn general’s face turned pale after locking eyes with Balrog. Balrog smiled and pulled his right arm backward. He raised his left foot and twisted his body.

White steam poured out from the gaps in his armor. Balrog threw the corpse in his hand as hard as he could as if he were a baseball pitcher.

“S-Stop h—”

The Frostborn knight’s corpse smashed into the general like a cannonball.

The general raised his shield in shock, but the speed at which the corpse smashed into the general blew him away.

“Gaaaaahhh!” He tumbled on the ground, shouting in extreme pain. “A-Arghh.”

The general trembled. His arm was blown off by the massive impact along with his shield, white blood pouring out of the site of injury. Intense pain took over him, his breathing became erratic, and his sight was getting blurry.

“You’re a persistent one.”

The general could faintly see a grim reaper wearing black armor.

“Ah…”

Balrog grabbed the general’s head before he could even say anything and ripped off his head.

He then shouted, “I’ve killed the enemy general!”

The general’s head rolled on the ground.

“G-General!!”

“Kurgh!”

The general’s death caused the soldiers to spiral into greater panic compared to when they were hit by the Demon Roar. Their formation broke down almost instantly.

“P-Pull yourselves together! Keep pressuring them!” shouted a knight who seemed to be the second-in-command, trying to calm the knights down.

“Red Lotus, Fourth Form.”

Red lotuses made of chains spread past the encirclement and throughout the battlefield.

“Explosive Chains.”

The red lotuses exploded one after another. Ice fragments and white blood splattered all over the place.

“Hmmm!” A black-haired girl opened her mouth wide and snorted energetically. “FUS RO DAH!!”

Echidna’s dragon tongue created a powerful storm, which mixed with the explosions that Cha Yeon-Joo caused and turned into a massive fire tornado that engulfed the Frostborn knights.

“Sanctuary Expansion.”

The twelve wings on Han Seol-Ah’s back emitted light so bright it could burn. She cast an overpowered wide-area buff that provided immunity to all debuffs, drastically raised all stats, and even replenished their stamina over time.

“Whoa, what the hell? This is awesome!”

Yeon-Joo looked back at Seol-Ah wide-eyed. She had received many of Seol-Ah’s buffs until now, but it was her first time seeing such extraordinary effects. She was brimming with power like back when she was given Deific Essence for the first time by Kang-Woo.

“Alright.” Yeon-Joo opened her arms widely with a smile and chanted the magic spell that filled her to the brim with energy. “Motherfucking Oh Kang-Woo!!”

Red chains swept the surroundings like a storm, wiping out the nearby Frostborn knights as if they were autumn leaves.

“Son of a bitch! Coward! You call yourself a man?! Huh? After toying with a woman’s heart?!”

Yeon-Joo released her stress as she barraged the Frostborn knights with attacks. Kang-Woo dumbfoundedly stared at Yeon-Joo in battle.

“The fuck?”

“Looks like… there’s nothing for me to worry about here.”

Kang-Woo turned his attention away from the encirclement that was falling apart due to Balrog and Yeon-Joo’s rampage.

“Haaa, haaa.”“Kyahahaha! Die! Die!!”

Kang-Woo focused on the heated battle between Kim Si-Hun and Arianne. Arianne was swinging her white sword furiously, laughing hysterically as if she were fully immersed in the battle against Si-Hun. However, it did not mean that she had lost her sense of reason; although she was swinging her sword as if she were a wild beast, each swing carried a sense of refinement.

“Kurgh!” Si-Hun grunted after deflecting a swing aimed at his neck. “Haaa, haaa.”

He was panting even harder and covered in cold sweats. He felt a vivid sense of fear that he couldn’t feel during a duel purely for training. The anxiety of knowing that death would arrive with even the tiniest mistake felt like it was burning him alive.

“H-Haha,” Si-Hun laughed despite being on the boundary between life and death.

He was not hysterical like Arianne, but sparks of ecstasy were crackling throughout his body.

“Fuuu, haaa,” he took a deep breath in and out.

He let the sparks of ecstasy take control of him; he grasped the Mind’s Sword, the sword that transcended physical limits.

“Hihi! What the hell?! You’re amazing!”

Si-Hun ignored Arianne’s shouts. His focus was only on the edge of the sword covered in white frost. Its every movement was engraved into his mind.

He could feel an enormous amount of weight on his shoulders. He was confident that he would be able to surpass her, purely in terms of swordsmanship.

“...”

Si-Hun looked down at his hand with deeply sunken eyes. He had only just realized that his trembling hands were covered in white frost. His entire arm felt numb from the cold each time he clashed swords with Arianne.

Si-Hun stared at the sword of white frost in Arianne’s hands. The cold energy infused in the sword was easily penetrating the Deific Essence of and freezing him. The longer the fight went on, Si-Hun’s senses would dull and he would continuously take damage.

“Hmm, let’s finish this up. Man~ what a shame. I wouldn’t have used Father’s sword if I knew it was gonna be this fun! It doesn’t make things fair,” Arianne complained with a pout. “Hihi, but I’ll bear with it since the faster I kill you, the faster I get to kill your leader! Hehe, I’m gonna kill you all super quickly and be praised by Father~!”

Si-Hun closed his eyes and tuned Arianne out.

He stared at the tip of the white sword that gave him chills just looking at it. He continued to analyze everything about the sword.

Si-Hun couldn’t see a way to surpass that sword. Only the white sword was vivid within his darkening consciousness.

“Haaa,” he sighed heatedly as sparks crackled all over him.

His head felt hot as if he had taken a stimulant.

Analyzing the sword’s movements was not the right answer. Si-Hun gripped his sword tighter but he could no longer feel the sword in his hands; it was as if he and the sword had become one.

He did not become one with the sword; he had become a sword.

“Right then, let’s end this,” Arianne said leisurely.

She charged toward Si-Hun, her sword exuding freezing energy. Si-Hun froze, wondering whether or not he should enter the Sanctuary that Seol-Ah made. However, he shook his head. It would be pointless if he were to receive Seol-Ah’s help.

Si-Hun’s eyes shone sharply. It felt as if his mind was burning within his heated head.

“Heavenly Dragon…”

He lowered his stance and gripped the formless sword. He felt like he could now reach the unreachable peak of Tai Wuji’s swordsmanship.

“Flash.”

“...!”

Arianne’s expression filled with shock. She could see space itself being severed as if the world was being split.

“Wh-What the—!”

Her expression was dyed in shock for the first time. Her instincts were warning her, saying that the attack was dangerous.

“Kyaah!”

Arianne halted her charge and shut her eyes tightly. Just as the slash resembling a ray of light was about to reach her neck—

Someone appeared from behind Arianne and grabbed her hand to move the sword.

“Kurgh!” Si-Hun was blown backward, coughing blood.

“Ah…” Arianne turned back to look at the person who grabbed her hand. Tears filled her eyes. “Father!”

“You must have been scared, Arianne.”

The white-haired man who appeared from behind the trembling Arianne carefully embraced her. Arianne bawled her eyes out with her head buried in the man’s embrace.

“ F-Father!!”

“There, there.”

“I-I’m so sorry, Father. . I… , l-lost to these… , f-filthy intruders.”

“It’s okay.” The white-haired man patted Arianne’s head and took the Frost Sword from her hand. He coldly turned to look at Si-Hun and pointed the sword at him. He commanded, “Freeze.”

An enormous frost storm shot toward Si-Hun.

“Kurgh!”

Si-Hun crouched in shock. It was not an attack he could dodge or block. Just as the frost storm of death was about to engulf him—

“Dayum, just look at that impeccable entrance timing. It’s a work of art, really. And your lines… Sheesh, I could fall for you.”

The frost storm was devoured by a black sun.

“Be honest with me. You were aiming for it, right? Right? I bet you’ve been watching for the past five minutes thinking right? Am I right?”“...”

“Bwehehehehe! You don’t have to look at me so coldly, man! Wow, I guess it means you were, huh? Come on, you thought your entrance just now was pretty fucking cool too, didn’t you? Hm? You’re getting teary-eyed just replaying it in your head, right?”

A vulgar laughter echoed throughout the battlefield and destroyed the heavy and serious mood within five seconds.

“Sheesh, it sure sucks for you when you worked so hard to look badass. Your entrance scene would’ve been gushing with badassery in any other novel, but we’re pretty harsh critiques of badassery up here, you see.”

A young man with sharp eyes walked out of the black sun as he cackled.