Return of the Frozen Player

Jun-Ho lightly took a step.
As he walked forward, his body slowly began to disappear.
No, to be exact, his whole body began to turn into “darkness.”

“You talk too much.”

Saaaaak!

Seo Jun-Ho had completely transformed into darkness itself, flooding the snowfield soldiers.

– Kill him!

Thousands of soldiers rushed in, wielding swords and spears.
Each weapon contained magic and could actually strike the darkness.
However, not a single one could touch Seo Jun-Ho.
Having turned into darkness, he whirled among them like the wind.

Pasasak!

The soldiers' weapons shattered and their arms and legs were broken.

– Surround him! Don't even give him a chance to move!

Soldiers gathered to besiege him in a way that was almost impossible to escape from.
On top of this, the soldiers built a wall by climbing on top of each other's backs and heads.
It was an operation that could only be done because they were snowfield soldiers who only obeyed orders.
This was absolutely impossible for humans.

– Got him!

Only then did the lich spit out a jubilant voice of joy.
The lich didn’t know what skill Seo Jun-Ho was using, but she could see that he had become the darkness and ravaged the soldiers.

– It's a pretty annoying technique, but that's it for the tricks.

The soldiers’ siege was perfect.
The mountain of dense soldiers, which could not be escaped from so easily even if he was darkness itself, was complete.

– Hold him still like that!

The Ice Witch began to chant a spell.
At the same time, all the magic in the area moved over to her.
She sucked in the magic power that seemed to be struggling for freedom as if she was a vacuum cleaner.

'A strong bombardment after immobilizing the opponent.'

This was the picture that she had in mind from the time she ordered the soldiers to surround her opponent.
However, Seo Jun-Ho's experience in combat was several notches higher.
He was basically looking over her shoulder while she was painting.

Woooong!

He was currently darkness, but he could feel his hair standing up.
It meant his that opponent’s lethal spell was aimed at his head.

‘It's time.’

Seo Jun-Ho went under the ground.
This was the biggest reason why he had spilled the darkness across the land before the battle.

‘It's dark.’

He couldn’t see anything in the dark space, but strangely, he felt calm.
It was the same as when he had gone through the 'dark ordeal' in the Cave of Trials.
The only difference was that he had his senses this time.
Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes.

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‘It’s the front.’

There was only one thing he remembered.
The fact that the Ice Witch was about 27 meters ahead.
Seo Jun-Ho flew forward, only focusing on that.

Craaaassh!

The area where he had been swirled and collapsed.
An explosion could be heard.

– It's the end of that insect-like human! Everything within the range of my spell will be reduced to nothing!

That brutish witch had destroyed everything along with her soldiers.
If he had been there, regardless of whether he was darkness or not, he wouldn’t have avoided the disaster.

‘This is a very consequential story, but…’

Seo Jun-Ho slowly opened his eyes.
Darkness came, but now, he could feel it even if couldn’t see it.

‘I’m better than you.’

Seo Jun-Ho ran out of the darkness and turned his back.
The Ice Witch's empty defenseless skull appeared in his eyes.

“That's all…”

Craaaack!

A sharp blade made of darkness cut through the Ice Witch's skull like slicing through butter.

– Ah? Uh, huh?

Like a broken toy, the lich spat out strange sounds.

– Senses? It's back? How?

Her head felt cool for the first time in hundreds of years.
She was so happy that she tried to clap her hands, but for some reason, the distance between her hands was far.

It was too far.
She wanted to clap, but her two hands never met.

This was the end of the Ice Witch.

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho stared down at the lich who had been split in half and was starting to disappear.
He wasn't just looking at the skeleton; he was contemplating the end of a person who had been dragged along by desire.

“Is it over?”

With a tired voice, the Frost Queen came and took her place on his shoulders as if it was natural.
Before he knew it, her mask had been covering her face once again.

“Yeah.”

“It was just a trivial skeleton.”

As the crashing sound of ice that covered the battlefield disappeared, only the sound of drifting snow remained.
The snowstorm was also gone.

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho looked at the banshee approaching him.
The banshee stared at the lich, who lay in two pieces, and wept silently for a long time.
About 10 minutes later, Seo Jun-Ho spoke, “Are you done crying?”

“Contractor, how can you be so tactless?” The Frost Queen tugged at his hair and gave him a hint.
“It is a gentleman's duty to pretend that he did not see a lady’s tears…”

“I'm not a gentleman.
You can ask Gilberto when you see him.” Seo Jun-Ho shook his head and continued.
“And if I lose my hair, I’d become like Deok-Gu, so don't pull it.”

[Pffft!]

When Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen squabbled over their usual pet peeves, Ella burst into laughter.

[What’s this? The Ice Witch looked so scary like she was the goddess of snow, but did she really just die… just like this?]

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“Well, as you can see…”

[…]

Ella finally looked up and made eye contact with the two.
Her moist eyes curled into half-moons.

[Thank you so much.
Thanks to you two…
I'm relieved of my regret.]

“Then, you don’t have any more lingering feelings in this world?”

[It's gone.
Cleanly.]

Ella looked down at her hand.
Her fingertips were slowly turning into specks of light that rose into the sky.

“Your parents must have been waiting for you for a long time.”

[Will they still be waiting for us, I wonder? Will they still remember us?]

“They will.
That is how parents are…”

“Yeah, they’ll be waiting.”

The vengeful spirits, who had been chasing after her, bowed deeply and flew toward the sky.
Left alone, Ella smiled brightly as she looked at the skies up above.

[They’re calling me.
My parents and siblings!]

“Go ahead.”

[Goodbye, kind human.]

Leaving behind a bright smile, Ella eventually turned into light particles that disappeared into the sky.
The snowstorm stopped, and the darkened earth returned to being the white snowfield from before.

 

[You have cleared the hidden quest of the Ice Witch's Castle Dungeon, “The Banshee Girl’s Wish.”]

[You have earned the ‘Lich's Magic Book’ as a reward.]

[You have earned a ‘Frozen Heart’ reward.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

…

[All stats have increased by 6.]

[You have recovered 12 lost strength stats.]

[Thanks to the Limit Breaker’s effect, your stamina has increased by 3 and magic has increased by 3.]

[The sad story of the Ice Witch and the banshee girl has spread throughout the world via word of mouth.]

[Your fame has increased by 2,500.]

 

The Frost Queen murmured while staring at the sky, “Will Ella be happy from now on?”

“I don't know.
I have never been to heaven.” Seo Jun-Ho shrugged and grinned in response, “Rather, wouldn't you know better?”

“…I do not know about heaven.
I do not remember.”

She shook her head softly and murmured, “I hope she’s happy.”