Chapter 183

Sre ascended into the sky riding a wind current.

Visible within a single glance were the enormous white lights and the chaotic chat window before my eyes.

I gave it a quick look and checked on Sugaredo’s status, now reduced to a mere shell.

The soul had undoubtedly been successfully transferred.

All that remained of ‘that thing’ was an empty husk.

If time went on or special conditions akin to before were met, the residual consciousness lingering in the body might cause it to move, but…

Kraaaaaa!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

“Ghaaahhhnn…”

“Fall back!”

All that remained of it was a fragment’s residue.

The consciousness created from the fragment awakened by the system.

And that fragment belonged to the ‘Demon King.’

[What the heck is going on?]

[Wait… seriously;;]

[Why is it getting stronger again?]

[Growth-type World Boss lol]

[Leveling up like he’s having breakfast]

[Riding Lily huh? lol]

[Are we supposed to defeat that?]

[Whoa]

[140?]

[The riding does look cool tho?]

[Dragon Master Lily ;;]

[lmaoooooo]

[That’s intense]

Spears were twirled with a crunch.

Holiness converged into a single point as the mana of the Ice Dragon resisted the biting cold around them, bit by bit.

Kiiing…

A tranquil spear moved within the snowstorm.

“I’m beginning the extermination now.”

A white spear flew towards the monstrous creature.

■

At the signal from Lily, the raid party that had been waiting struck deep into the snowy mountains.

Starting the charge was the 70th-ranked Mage, wielding potent flames.

A card from the hand of the guild master of the “Mage Guild” produced a single emblem.

The 7 of Hearts.

“Not bad.”

A burst of crimson flame from the card neutralized the extreme cold of the snowy mountain and imbued everyone around with the ‘Heart 7’ flame buff.

Until they reached the peak, the biting cold would no longer be an opponent to them.

“It’s chilly though?”

“Huh?”

“Hey! The buff is fading!”

“Shut up! Level-up, so what? It’ll last about 20 minutes!”

Taking the Mage’s buff with them, the Rankers capable of movement from the start swiftly ascended the snowy mountain.

“I’ll open the way.”

Rank 589, one of the elites of the Black Moon, the Dual Ranger, drew their bowstring, and another bow instantly formed by their side, pulling its own string.

Pang! Pang!

Two arrows pierced through the snowstorm and struck Sugaredo, hitting their mark.

The issue lay in the fact that they hadn’t caused any damage.

However, the Dual Ranger grinned and said,

“Bang!”

Booooom!!!

An explosion erupted from the giant body of Sugaredo.

‘Attribute Grant.’

The Dual Ranger could bestow attributes onto their arrows.

The arrows fired just now had been enhanced with ‘Inferno Boom’, bestowed by the Great Mage ‘An’ through enchanting.

A staggering cost of 40 gold per arrow, equivalent to 800,000 in cash.

But…

Grurrrrr…

“Huh?”

Spending 800,000, and the only result was a slight scorching.

An arrow powerful enough to kill a 70-level Field Boss with a single shot if aimed at the weak spot…

Just as my confidence wavered, my leader, wielding a black greatsword, approached.

“Hey, keep shooting that.”

“What?”

“Keep shooting. Shoot everything you’ve got.”

“Bro, you know these cost 800,000 each, right?”

Even if Black Moon was one of the top-tier guilds, it wasn’t something they could afford to use like water.

Normally, such arrows were mainly used for finishing blows or targeting vital points.

But Black showed no concern, exuding a dark aura.

“Just shoot them because of that.”

If we hesitated, we wouldn’t win.

“Ready.”

Standing next to the Ranger was a Priest serving the World Tree.

As the unofficial Ranker ‘Now’ emitted a green glow, green leaves sprouted amidst the white-covered snowy mountains.

Cracking sound!

Behind Sugaredo, a giant tree sprouted.

The tree bound Sugaredo’s massive body, and the Rankers seized the opportunity to unleash their powerful techniques.

Though major damage wasn’t inflicted, the attacks at least proved somewhat effective.

Explosive arrows increased the scorched areas, and sharp blades caused the creature to bleed slightly.

Black gathered all his power, recalling Lily’s words:

“Once my task is done, Sugaredo will become stronger. It’ll be almost impossible to confront it properly.”

“But there will be a chance. That sliver of an opportunity when I attract its full attention.”

Less than a minute of time where Sugaredo’s gaze was held aloft by the spear in the sky.

That moment was…

“Now!”

Grrrr…!

The sky darkened with the Black Destroyer’s dark moonlight emitting power.

The culmination of all gathered strength in a single technique.

‘Moon Splitter.’

A moon-splitting strike cleaved Sugaredo.

…And everyone froze in place.

[The freezing cold, Sugaredo is using ‘Absolute Zero’.]

[Enemies with less than 98% cold resistance will <certainly> freeze.]

[The freezing cold, Sugaredo’s remaining HP is <97%>.]

■

[?]

[?]

[What is this?]

[Crazy skill;;;]

[Is Lily alright?]

[Crazy raid party is frozen over?]

[Lolllllllll]

[This difficulty legit?]

[Is Lily frozen too?]

[Holy crap, I’m not even on the mountain but it’s freezing af]

[Whoa]

[Can we defeat it?]

Swoosh…

The biting cold swept past my body.

I exhaled deeply, my body slightly slowed.

It’s cold.

No, it’s even colder.

Even the Celestial Race, which hardly perceives temperature changes, was feeling the intense chill keenly.

I shrouded my body in holiness, the intense holiness like a live volcano covering me as if to assert my ownership of the premises while keeping out the cold. After that, my sluggish body returned to normal.

“Are you alright?”

“Yep.”

Even in this extreme cold, the wind current remained perfectly fine.

Given that it uses the same cold, it seems it didn’t feel the chill.

“Uuuugh…”

The harsh snowstorm appeared to be making it somewhat difficult.

“Absolute Zero…scary.”

This level of cold was close to that of the ancient glacier during Sugaredo’s prime.

In Celestial Race terms, around the lower level of a growing Celestial, perhaps?

Of course, if innate powers were awakened, it wouldn’t compare. But if they hadn’t cultivated anything, it seemed fittingly balanced.

“Isn’t this crazy?”

“Lol yeah.”

“Not ;;; kids are frozen.”

“At least 3% HP has been cut by the laughable skill lol.”

“3%…”

“Isn’t that quite a bit?”

“Considering the level gap, it seems reasonable.”

“We probably can’t do this multiple times.”

With a click, I gripped the spear again, observing the monster.

This much cold can’t be sustained in such an incomplete state.

It’s possible because the Demon King’s fragment indirectly draws power through the system.

No matter how powerful the Ancient Dragon Race is, if they keep using such dark powers, they’d freeze stiff and turn into an ice block.

“Sre.”

“Uuuu!”

Sre sped off at an incredible pace.

Its small frame moving so fast made it resemble a flying beetle buzzing around.

Reaching close, I twisted the spear quickly.

I poured far more holiness into it than usual.

More. More.

The twisted spear emitted a bright white light, splitting not just into a few, but dozens of branches.

Like a flower blooming, the wave of the spear spread widely around Sre and me, creating a picture in the process.

Dozens of spears formed the pristine white petals.

And those petals came together to form a snow-white flower.

The flower of unparalleled beauty completely covered the monster.

Ghhhhhhoooaaaarrr!!!

Hundreds of spears impaled the monster’s body.

Amidst its cries of agony, I watched with fading eyes as its form was enveloped.

‘Flower of Spears.’

A technique made by reformatting the Split Spear.

They say it was made by a high-ranking Celestial who loved flowers…

“Even if you tell me this, it’s not like it’s a fundamental technique. This is what happens when young ones prioritize aesthetics over efficiency—such wasteful techniques…”

“And why do you teach me this?”

“…Well.”

[Woah]

[?]

[kek kek kek kek kek What?]

[Crazy lmao]

[???]

[This technique is nuts tho]

[Hell yeah!]

[It’s intense though]

[Isn’t this a new technique?]

[How many spears are there!]

[This is almost magic level, isn’t it?]

“As the man said, it is indeed a good technique for drawing attention.”

[The freezing cold, Sugaredo’s remaining HP is <87%>.]

■

The Flower of Spears, as he said, was a technique of immense wastage.

Requiring multiple times the holiness and stamina of techniques of similar power, I soon felt fatigued and collapsed on Sre.

Sre, almost as if about to burst into tears, bolted out of the snowy mountain, and the first raid ended in failure.

[The freezing cold, Sugaredo’s remaining HP is 87%.]

We only made the tiny progress of 13%.

“Well, it’s not completely awful, right…”

“Is it?”

“Yup.”

And as I lay in a lavish room, with Yena peeling an apple beside me,

“Hooooo… Good job, champ…”

By the bed underneath, a dragon the size of a bear, Sre, slept. Judging by the mumbling, it seemed to have been troubled.

I gently stroked its much smaller hand.

“Looking at the numbers.”

“…”

“A world boss raid with 13% in one attempt. It’s not bad. If we calculate it purely mathematically, we’d clear it in about 8 trials.”

With the time limit now extended to 100 days, we had a bit more leeway.

However, unlike what I said, Yena’s expression was a little gloomy.

“The problem is that. Lady Lily alone managed to cut off nearly 11%.”

“But others must have done a decent amount right?”

“Black cut off 2% on his own, which leaves 1% for the rest of us. Fact is, it’s nearly impossible to clear without Lady Lily.”

Although we hadn’t entered the Leo phase yet, everyone else was wiped out by ‘Absolute Zero’.

Even I, who was one of the few to manage a significant damage output next to Black, collapsed after a single technique.

Judging by the situation alone, the future seemed quite hopeless.

“And there’s more.”

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