Chapter 487   - Frozen Temple (3)

Boom!

The ice giant with the spear stomped his foot.

[You have passed the trial of intelligence. Now, your strength will be put to the test.]

“That actually worked?”

Cha Yeon-Joo chuckled because of the absurdity. The ice giant aimed his giant spear at Oh Kang-Woo.

“Sigh, forget it.”

Yeon-Joo was about to scold Kang-Woo but stopped herself. She had known that was the kind of person he was from the beginning.

“Well, more importantly.” She glared at the ice giant despite knowing Kang-Woo would easily defeat him. “I can’t just stand around doing nothing when I came here to relieve some stress!”

Yeon-Joo smiled and swung her left arm.

“Red Lotus, Third Form.”

Clatter!

Dozens of lotuses made of red chains bloomed along the path of her arm swing and wrapped around the ice giant’s spear.

Rumble—!

“Urgh, he’s so damn strong.” Yeon-Joo frowned as she felt the immense pressure through her chains. She turned to Kim Si-Hun and Balrog to shout, “I don’t think I can hold him for long!”

Si-Hun and Balrog nodded simultaneously and jumped on top of the twenty-meter ice giant’s shoulders. They attacked the giant’s head together as if they had already discussed it.

Wham—!

[Y-You have... passed the...]

The ice giant’s head shattered and its giant body fell.

“It seems the only thing he had was size,” said Balrog as he kicked a fragment of the ice giant’s head.

Kang-Woo smirked and shrugged. “You should take into account our party’s combined strength. Just these two giants would be able to destroy Earth.”

“Yes... I guess that is true.” Balrog nodded.

Although only seven were in the party, more than half of them possessed Deific Essence. Even if they did not take Deific Essence into account, Kang-Woo, the Demon King who ruled over the Nine Hells, was in the party.

“Master Kang-Woo,” Lilith called as she examined the ice giant’s corpse with narrowed eyes.

“Hm?”

Kang-Woo, who was about to head to the gate, turned to Lilith with his head tilted in wonder.

Lilith placed her hand on the ice giant’s corpse and remarked, “I sense demonic energy from this ice golem’s corpse.”

“What?”

Kang-Woo frowned. He placed his hand on the golem’s corpse and used the Authority of the Beholder. As Lilith had mentioned, he could feel demonic energy; although very faint, it was demonic energy nonetheless.

“Why do these things have demonic energy?”

Based on what they had seen in the dungeon so far, it seemed to be in an outer world, just like the home of the Parasites, apart from the Triad.

‘There is also a power I’ve never felt before aside from the trace amounts of demonic energy.’

He had felt the same thing when he first made contact with the energy of the Parasites known as Vitality.

‘I thought such a thing was normal since they’re from the outer world like the Parasites, but why do I also feel demonic energy from them?’

“...” Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

“Do you think otherworldly beings also possess demonic energy?” Lilith asked.

“No. If they did, it would be weird for them to have such trace amounts.”

Even if one of the outer worlds was made of demonic energy like the Nine Hells, it did not make sense to feel such a tiny amount.

‘Moreover...’

Kang-Woo’s eyes shone sharply. He finally realized the source of familiarity that he felt when he entered the dungeon.

“...” Kang-Woo reached his hand toward the ice giant’s corpse.

Crunch! Crunch!

Black mucus oozed out of him and devoured the ice giant. Information about the ice giant flowed into his brain.

‘It wasn’t a golem; it was a lifeform.’

Kang-Woo had thought the ice giant was a golem that moved with magical energy, but after devouring it with the Authority of Predation, he found out that it was a bona-fide lifeform.

‘And...’

Kang-Woo focused on the demonic energy that flowed into him through the Authority of Predation.

“...!” Kang-Woo’s eyes widened. “This is...”

“What did you find?”

“...” Kang-Woo remained silent. He turned to Lilith and said quietly, “Bael’s demonic energy.”

“Pardon?”

“The demonic energy in these guys is Bael’s.”

“...” Lilith’s eyes widened, not having expected it at all. “Wait a minute. That means...”

“Hah, that crazy brat. Looks like he’s been busy, huh? No, I doubt Bael came up with this on his own, so it’s probably Amon.”

Kang-Woo laughed in spite of himself and swept his hair back.

“What do you mean? Who’s been busy?” asked Yeon-Joo as she frowned, not following what Kang-Woo was saying at all.

“Well, to put it simply.” Kang-Woo slowly turned to the giant palace made of white ice and continued, “This temple was already taken over by Bael.”

“...”

“I knew he was expanding his forces, but to think he even recruited forces from the outer worlds.”

Kang-Woo grabbed his forehead as if his head hurt.

‘No wonder he hasn’t shown himself all this time.’

Kang-Woo was curious about what Bael had been doing ever since he got his hands on the Demon God’s heart, but he could more or less understand now.

‘He’s been raising an army.’

Bael also likely knew that numbers were meaningless against Kang-Woo, but he was raising an army nonetheless for one reason.

‘Probably the same reason as me.’

Kang-Woo had not helped Si-Hun power up, turned Yeon-Joo into his incarnation, and spread the Church of Splendor so that he could get their help in his battle against Bael. All of that plus raising Guardians and getting aid from Olympus and Aernor were to protect the entirety of Earth, which was far too big for Kang-Woo himself to protect.

For a similar reason, Bael was raising an army and formulating a plan to decimate Earth; to destroy everything that Kang-Woo was desperately trying to protect.

“Hah,” Kang-Woo chuckled.

‘That’s cute.’

Kang-Woo smiled and looked up at the giant temple of ice. He did not know how many other outer worlds were under Bael’s command, but Kang-Woo had only one thing he could do.

“Now, then.” Kang-Woo slowly walked toward the massive fortress wall encircling the temple and stood in front of the gate.

“Let’s see the bastards who decided to lick Bael’s ass.”

He raised his right leg and kicked the gate.

Smash—!!!

The giant gate made of ice crumbled into pieces.

***

A white-haired man sitting on a frozen throne inside the temple of white ice slowly opened his eyes. He was made of translucent ice, not flesh and bones. He stared at the entrance of the temple, his eyes shining blue.

“We have intruders,” he mumbled.

His voice was as clear as his body made of ice.

“W-We will send out the guards right away!” shouted a vassal standing at attention in front of the throne as they bowed on their knees.

They were also made of translucent ice, just like the white-haired man.

“Wait,” the man commanded.

Just then, someone shouted, “Hmph! What kind of fearless punk dared to trespass on Father’s temple?”

A woman with long, white hair and wearing a beautiful dress made of ice ran toward the throne.

“Arianne. How many times must I tell you that we Frostborn must always act with dignity?” The white-haired man scolded the woman who was running toward him as her dress fluttered.

“Hehehe. I’m sorry, Father.”

The woman known as Arianne jumped on the man’s lap as she giggled.

“Haaa. When will you grow up?” The man sighed and lightly conked Arianne’s head. “Do you think Lord Bael will accept you as his wife if you keep acting like this?”

“Ah! What are you saying, Father?! Lord Bael complimented me a while ago, saying that I looked like I would be refreshing if shaved!”

“Is that even a compliment?” The man groaned as he watched Arianne acting proud. “Intruders when the day of the Apocalypse is just around the corner...”

Arianne raised her hand high and shouted, “Hehe! Father! I’ll go! I’ll go kill them all!”

The white-haired man narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “They instantly killed the guardians of the ice wall. It’s far too dangerous.”

“Hihi, aren’t you being way too cautious over those pieces of junk getting destroyed?” Arianne swung her legs made of translucent ice back and forth and giggled. She rested her head on the white-haired man’s shoulder and continued, “However strong they are, they are but mere insects compared to you, the master of the First Heaven.”

Eilles, the master of the First Heaven, was the king of the Frostmen and the guardian deity of this frozen world. He possessed the title Freezer of Worlds, as well as the captain of Bael’s elite force known as the Four Heavenly Kings.

“I told you that you must never let your guard down,” Eilles reprimanded fiercely.

“Hehe, I know, Father!”

Arianne paid no concern to Eilles’s scolding and kissed him on the cheek before standing up. She twirled elegantly as if dancing, the hems of her dress fluttering.

“Haaa. Oh, you...”

Eilles sighed and shook his head, regretting raising his beloved daughter too spoiled.

‘She needs to wed Lord Bael one day.’

He recalled the master to whom he swore his loyalty.

- Hihi, what’s this? Blocks of ice are moving?

Hidden within his laughter as clear as ice was an unfathomable darkness. Eilles recalled the terror and ecstasy that he had felt when facing that darkness.

‘He is the true master of the Triad.’

Eilles’s heart beat rapidly. On the day of the Apocalypse, humanity would meet its end and the new masters of the Triad would be born. One of its masters would be the Frostborn.

‘And the insects who have trespassed on the temple must be eradicated to prepare for that day.’

Eilles’s eyes shone coldly. He looked down at his vassal bowing on their knees and commanded, “Send the guards imm—”

“Me! I’ll go, Father!”

“...”

Eilles stared at Arianne, her eyes shining brightly, in silence. He knew that his daughter couldn’t be stopped once she set her mind on something.

“Haaa,” he sighed and then nodded.

“Yahoo!” Arianne clapped her hands together. “Oh right, may I borrow your sword, Father?”

“Hmm.”

‘Well, she would be safer that way.’

Eilles tapped on his throne and stood up.

Crack—!

His ice throne slowly changed into the shape of a sword enveloped in white frost. It was infused with the power of the Frost Queen, the ruler of the Frostborn long ago.

“Be careful with it.”

“Okay!”

Arianne accepted the sword with a smile.

The bowing vassal cautiously remarked, “Um... I do not believe it is wise for Her Highness to join the b—”

Slash!

Arianne swung the Frost Sword, beheading the bowing vassal. White blood splattered all over the place.

“How dare you run your filthy mouth without permission?” Arianne said in a brutal tone that she had not used when speaking with Eilles. She then began to hum and trotted. “Hihi, How long has it been since I’ve let loose~?”

She twirled as if she were having the time of her life.

“Haaa.” Eilles sighed deeply as he stared at his daughter dancing with a crazed smile. “I just told you to be careful with it.” He frowned in displeasure and remarked, “Do not taint it with the blood of filth.”

Eilles snapped his fingers and the vassal turned into ice fragments and disappeared.

“Hehe. Yes, Father!”

Arianne smiled brightly as she hugged the Frost Sword.