Chapter 200 (1/2)

After a moment of trembling focus, Randidly forced himself out of that ideal suspended state, following the thin warning of enemy that came from his soul skill. Immediately, his return threw off his focus, and he faltered, switching from one skill to the other. The weight pressed downward, and his shoulders dropped two inches.

Growling, Randidly switched to the active version of Golden Roots of Yggdrasil, strength flooding through his limbs. He had gained quite a few skill levels since the last time he had used the active skill, and it showed by how much warm, powerful heat flowed through his limbs.

But he knew intimately that this warm power was fueled by Stamina, so after pressing upwards and righting his equilibrium with the weight, Randidly let it drop and glanced around, chest heaving, Mana Strengthening pushed to its limit.

Orangey was there, even more drool coming out of his mouth. But the drool had pooled on the ground, and frosted over slightly. The temperature… had definitely gotten cold.

Enemy.

Randidly turned to his right, where the female attendant was standing bored, and then to his left, only to discover a figure walking slowly towards him and Orangey. He blinked slowly. The figure was composed entire of ice.

His eyes focused. It was a female figure, slight and short, with hair cropped short, falling around her face to the base of her skull. Other than that, most of the features were indiscernible, but it noticed Randidly’s gaze, and turned to meet it. An instinctual hatred rose up in Randidly’s gut, and he felt very instinctively that this was an enemy. And the system confirmed it.

Warning! You have encountered an Initiate of Frostbite. As there is currently a Judgement of Frostbite hanging above your head, unvanquished, this Initiate will experience increased power and regeneration while fighting you. In addition, the Judgement will be informed of your location. Vanquish your foe if you wish to continue to flee.

Randidly’s expression soured. He supposed it was foolish to think that his spell would have killed the Judgement, but it would have been convenient. And if it was still looking for him…

And it had all this time to grow stronger and spawn minions while stuck in the prison…. If it came for him….

But the ice girl smiled at Randidly in a way that forced his focus back to the problem at hand; she was coming. She began to run forward, her ice toes tapping lightly on the ground. In her hands was a long and thin spear made of ice, and she pointed it towards Randidly’s heart.

Then she accelerated, becoming a blur of ice. Randidly’s eyes narrowed.

When the strike came, it was faster than he could believe from the strange ice statue. But it wasn’t as fast as Shal or Divvet could move. Roaring with all his strength, Randidly’s feet twisted as he activated Footwork of the Spear Phantom and moved to the side, while still maintaining the weight up in the air.

His strength exertion meter dropped to -6% at a point, but he was able to get out of the way and support it again before he dropped any lower.

Then Randidly froze.

“Circle of Fl-”

“Too late,” Came the whispered reply from the ice statue, as the ice spear took Orangey in the throat, ripping a large hole in his flesh and causing his eyes to spring open. Randidly saw him tremble and reflexively go to reach for the wound, but then Orangey resisted that urge and continued to support the weight.

Blood oozed up from the wound, dribbling out and quickly soaking his shirt. Randidly hastily canceled the spell, realizing it would injure Orangey just as much, and turned his attention to the ice statue.

The thing shrugged at him. “No hard feelings I just need to obtain the reward for lasting the longest. Surrender, and I’ll spare you-”

“I reject.” Randidly hissed, his heart beat rising quickly. A strange, furious heat had filled him. The Aether in his chest was roaring and spinning. The heat grew and grew, mixing with the anger. Orangey remained stoic, even as he eyed them both.

“Then you have my permission to die.” The ice woman raised her spear, but her ankles were crushed by roots that had wormed their way upward through the contraption beneath them to seize the ice creature. Although it was harder than typical ice, it was still child’s play to shatter it to pieces.

The ice woman yelped in surprise, and then began to twitch and curse. “IT HURTS, IT HURTS GOD DAMNIT. I’ll KILL-”

Randidly crushed the skull. The rest turned to water and flowed away from them, quickly disappearing. Already, Randidly could feel the temperature rising, and he turned to Orangey.

The man immediately grimaced. But Randidly shook his head. The man was trembling, and it wasn’t the trembling of strain. It was the trembling of weakness.

“...if we continue, I will die. Do the honorable thing and surrender.” Orangey said boldly, his eyes narrowed.