Chapter 140 - 46 (1/2)

Rozarria fell from the crevasse because some crazy woman pushed her. It wasn't exactly the kind of ending she was hoping for. But none of it matter. At that spec of the moment, everything turned slow for some reason, and all she could think was . . . she didn't want to die.

Her eyes traveled to Alvaro, who she knew was shock at the sudden turn of events. She was too. He was extending his hand at her, hoping to grab her. But she knew it was futile.

She never saw him so desperate before. Even with the mask and googles hindering his face, she knew he must be shouting her name. And she thought . . . she wanted to have a life with him.

The next thing she knew, she was freely falling without any lifeline, and she was going to die for sure. But what happened next, broke her cold façade and the thick layers of ice coating her heart shattered utterly.

Alvaro jumped after her, trying to catch her with arms extending, shouting her name in a frantic voice.

”Roz! Hold my hand! Quick!”

Ah . . . what an idiot.

Tears pooled beneath her eyelids, fogging her vision. Her hand extended, stretching to its limit, even if it was futile. At least, she wanted to hold hands if they were going to die together.

Truly an idiot.

”Roz!”

As soon as Alvaro caught Rozarria's hand, he grabbed his pickaxe and swung it at the block of ice, hoping it would be enough to stop their momentum.

cCRKCKrkk!!

The ice made cracking sounds, and ice shards and snow flew everywhere, even hitting his body and face. Some large blocks and sharp chards were shooting towards his head. But he didn't care about that, his grip tightened on the pickaxe, exerting all his force.

Eventually, the cracking sounds stop, and Alvaro and Rozarria found themselves hanging two hundred meters below their death, where deep layers of sharp glaciers and hard block of ice awaited them.

But even so, Alvaro didn't breathe a sigh of relief just yet. They were still not out from danger, and with the lack of oxygen, he didn't know how long he would last. Carrying two-persons weight with one hand on a pickaxe against a large block of ice proved to be a challenge.

”Alvaro . . .”

Even with the supplemental oxygen, it was still difficult to breathe, and their body was expending so much energy. With Alvaro's actions just now, Rozarria thought he was already hanging with everything he got.

”Don't look down,” Alvaro warned. He glanced up, taking a slow deep breath to calm down his body to stabilize it from expending too much energy.

”Sherak! The rope!” He then shouted toward the blurry group of people who were looking at them from above.

Alvaro didn't have to shout a second time because not long after, he saw a rope coming down their way.

Even with difficulty, he still managed to smile to ease Rozarria's worries even though she couldn't see his face amidst the mask and goggles.

Rozarria didn't reply. She grabbed the rope and shifted her weight towards it. That was when Alvaro had breathed the large lump of air stuck in his throat. With the help of Rozarria, Alvaro, too, grabbed the rope before Shura, Sherak, and the rest of the helpers pulled them up.

”I thought I'm going to die . . . ,” Rozarria mumbled after her breathing returned to normal. She was holding the rope with both hands while she snuggled close to Alvaro's c.h.e.s.t, and she never felt so safe. She heard it beating wildly. Or was it hers?

”Well . . . I, for one, won't allow it.”

Looking up, Rozarria saw amidst Alvaro's goggles how scary and murderous his eyes were. She even felt the threat and anger from his voice.

”Alvaro.” Rozarria walked towards him in a hurry and held his hand, afraid he might accidentally kill Maxine while everyone watched with a slack jaw.

Henry was already beside Maxine, inspecting her face while he glared at Alvaro. But seeing Alvaro's almost palpable murderous air, his parted mouth clamp shut.

Alvaro gazed at Maxine with dead eyes while the latter contended to lower her head, not even minding the pain of his slap.

”What were you thinking?” Alvaro hissed, controlling his anger, for he might strangle the woman for what she did.

”Alvaro,” Rozarria interfered, ”It's fine. I'm alright.”

”No!” Alvaro snapped. ”You almost died.”

Biting her inner cheeks, Maxine gathered her courage and looked over. Her face behind the mask was full of loathing directed at Rozarria.