Chapter 352. 17 Years (6)
Unlike last time, Seo Jun-Ho didn’t recklessly muster his magic energy.
‘I can’t take an explosive approach and use up all my energy from the very beginning.’
He already knew just what kind of attack Erebo would use whenever he received major damage and became enraged. As such, Seo Jun-Ho had to conserve his magic to survive the barrage of one million thorns.
‘And I have only one skill that doesn’t use magic energy.’
He turned to the Frost Queen and fixed his eyes on her. “Frost.”
“Yes?”
“You can use as much of my mental energy as you want. Give him a big blow.”
“I shall,” she said, glaring at Erebo with narrowed eyes. After going through countless regressions, her hatred of him had naturally piled up. “If I am being honest, I have always wanted to give him a hard beating.”
An ominous amount of energy poured off her small body.
- Hm…? A Spirit! You are a Spirit?
Erebo shouted. He could now see her after absorbing enough of the World Tree.
“You vulgar thing. I shall personally offer you a chance.” The Frost Queen gave a small stomp on the ground, and her eyes grew as cold as ice. “Cease your impertinent remarks and pay your respects to the Queen of Niflheim.”
“...!”
Crackle!
A large sheet of ice sprouted from her foot and shot out toward Erebo. The closer it got to Erebo, the taller and wider it became. When it arrived right under Erebo’s nose, it had practically become a mountain made of ice.
- Guahhh!
Erebo screamed as he was hit by the giant mountain of ice. He went flying and even started freezing over.
However, Seo Jun-Ho was the most surprised.
‘W-woah.’
Was she really the loser Frost Queen that he knew?
He extended his hand and stroked his temple at the same time.
‘My head doesn’t even hurt.’
The Frost Queen used his mental energy rather than his magic energy. As such, he always tried not to use her in battle if possible. The more she used her powers, the more his head started to hurt, which would make him unable to concentrate.
‘But…’
He couldn’t feel anything at all. He couldn’t feel his focus slipping, and his head didn’t feel like it was about to split. His mind felt as clear as always. “Is it because you’ve become a Common Spirit?”
“Indeed, it is because—wait. Yes, because I have become a Grade 3 Arch Spirit, I am now able to make use of your mental energy more efficiently. However, more than that…” The Frost Queen looked at him warmly. “It was you who changed.”
“Me?” Seo Jun-Ho asked. What change?
“Contractor. What do you think is the most dangerous mental shock an organism can receive?”
“Mental shock?”
A few things came to his mind: heartbreak, fear, loneliness, loss, and…
“...And death.”
“Indeed, it is death. You have died hundreds of times, but you overcame the shock and stood back up, did you not?”
Yes, it made sense. In short, his mind had grown stronger after experiencing death hundreds of times.
“Then, how many times can you use something like that without hurting me?” he asked.
“I am not sure. But based on my current assessment… I believe I can do about three more attacks of a similar scale.”
Three more…
‘That’s more than enough.’
Seo Jun-Ho gripped the shaft of his spear tightly. “Then what are you doing? Give him a hard beating.”
“I like that strategy.”
Erebo groaned as he writhed on the ground. With great difficulty, he tried to stand back up. Since the World Tree was on his back, he laid on his stomach rather than on his back.
The Frost Queen haughtily snapped her fingers. “Destroy my enemies. Queen’s Lance.”[1]
Crackle!
Hundreds of lances were created above her head. They were the same ones ancient calvaries used to pierce their enemies while charging on horseback. The lances slowly rotated before flying out.
‘I can’t make Frost do all the work.’
While she attacked, Seo Jun-Ho started to warm himself up until he reached a hundred percent Overclocking output. He charged at Erebo with everything he had and held nothing back.
- You…You…How dare you lowly things attack meeee!
It was a rare moment in which the insect was spouting bullshit.[2]
However, he didn’t stop there.
-Mil espinas[3]!
A thousand thorns shot out from his body and flew toward Seo Jun-Ho.
‘Only a thousand? Looks like he hasn’t been hit enough yet.’
With his magic-enhanced eyes, he quickly scanned the scene.
‘I can see their trajectories.’
Seo Jun-Ho didn’t slow down. Gritting his teeth, he started to accelerate.
Slice!
‘Cut them down.’
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ Slice! Slice!
‘Cut all of them down.’
The spear in his left hand would move over to his right from time to time and vice versa. His movements were captivating. He aggressively dodged the ones he couldn’t hit away, and he didn’t bother dodging the ones he couldn’t dodge.
- H-how?!
To Erebo, humans were like tiny insects. That was all they were. He knew that they were feeble creatures who would die without struggling if he stepped on them. However, the very same creature was actually fighting him with the intention of killing him.
- Ha. Hahaha. Hahahahaha!
Erebo couldn’t help but laugh. Similar to how a human might feel if an ant were trying to kill them, he laughed without stopping.
“Cease your laughter and shut your mouth. You’ll grow on me,” the Frost Queen sarcastically warned.
- ...!
With that, a giant lance flew toward his abdomen. Erebo hastily summoned his magic power and created tens of enormous walls to shield himself. They were stronger than most fortress walls, and he cackled at her.
- Ignorant Spirit. Do you really think that I would fall for the same trick twice?
“Ignorant cockroach. Don’t you know?” The Frost Queen smirked before saying, “My Contractor is Specter.”
Fwooosh!
When her words fell, a curtain of darkness pervaded the air like magic, and it wrapped around the giant lances.
“This may hurt a little—no, a lot.”
The power to scorn, activate…
Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen’s joint attack ripped through the defensive walls like they were paper until it reached Erebo.
- Guahhhhh!
Erebo roared like a lion while facing the sky. The clouds covering the moonlight dissipated.
“...Heh.” With a satisfied smile, the Frost Queen sneered. “I don’t believe you have time to scream.”
The Frost Queen had predicted it. The thorns attacking Seo Jun-Ho slowed down just a bit while Erebo was howling at the sky.
‘There it is!’
He spotted an opening. He slipped out of the thicket of thorns and climbed onto Erebo’s stomach.
“It’s your turn, Cold Spear.” He glanced at the spear before thrusting it into Erebo’s stomach, causing Erebo’s upper body to shoot up.
Rrrrip!
When Seo Jun-Ho pierced the hide of Erebo’s stomach, Cold Spear started to freeze the monster.
- Gahhh! It hurts! It hurts! I said it hurts!!! I’m going crazy!!!
Erebo’s body flailed like mad. Every time he moved, Seo Jun-Ho would sway this way and that way, and he looked like he would fall over anytime soon.
‘...’
However, Seo Jun-Ho was practically in a trance at this point. He held on as Erebo thrashed violently. Somehow, he managed to climb until he could see Erebo’s head, and he finally pulled Cold Spear out from Erebo’s body.
- Ugh, ugh, gah…!
Erebo sounded like he was choking. As his body twitched, he fixed his eyes on Seo Jun-Ho.
- Y-you…What are you trying to do…?
His stomach was as big as a human body, and now, it had a long cut running from the top all the way to the bottom.
Seo Jun-Ho looked at the line of ice that had frozen all the way down to Erebo’s feet and crouched.
“...Watchguard of Darkness.”
Darkness pooled in his hands, and he moved it onto the ice.
The azure sheet unwittingly became jet-black, and Erebo’s eyes widened because he could recognize the feeling it gave off.
- T-that’s…! That is what you used when you killed my clone!
“You just noticed? Do you have PTSD or something?”
He infused the long line of ice with darkness, transforming it into his desired form.
‘It works the same way as Moon Eye.’
Moon Eye was just one single flower, so what should he call this one? He couldn’t come up with a name for Cold Spear to save his life, but this one’s name came to him quite easily.
“Path of Flowers.”
Crackle!
A long path of flowers bloomed from thin air, and they fell like cold snowflakes.
- Guuaaah!
The attack consumed almost all of Seo Jun-Ho’s magic at once. However, it was incredibly powerful.
“This attack will tear you apart, cell by cell.”
In an instant, Erebo’s stomach was dyed black as the ice and darkness in his body quickly spread necrosed his cells.
- I-impossible…I absorbed the World Tree’s powers! My regeneration rate should be near invincible!
“Well, this destroys your cells, and those cells are the ones that let you regenerate, so how can you survive this?”
- T-this…Is unfair!
“Sue me.”
In response, Erebo squawked, and magic gushed out of him.
- Partner! Something big is coming.
Keen Intuition warned. Seo Jun-Ho immediately kicked off of Erebo’s stomach and retreated. Anyway, he had already fulfilled his role.
“You did well,” said the Frost Queen.
“You, too.”
They took a second to stare at Erebo writhing in pain. “Contractor. Even if this is a power that combines Watchguard of Darkness and Frost and destroys his very cells similar to what Moon Eye does, it will still take several hours to destroy a body as big as his.”
“I know…”
Surprisingly, it turned out that everything up until now was just an appetizer.
Now, it was finally time for the main dish.
“Will you be able to handle those one million thorns?”
“I don’t know.”
“...Then what do you know?”
Whatever. How was he supposed to know when he hadn’t done things like this before?
Seo Jun-Ho peeked behind his shoulder.
‘The battle with the cockroach army… It will also take four or five more hours.’
When he looked at the other side, he sensed intense tempestuous energy.
‘And it’ll take at least two hours to kill Black and White.’
In other words, it would be at least two hours until he could receive backup.
In the next two hours, he had to fight on his own.
It was his final mission.
“...May you bloom like a winter tree.”
“What does that mean?”
“It is a plant that blooms miraculously, even in Niflheim’s harsh weather.”
The Frost Queen hoped that her contractor would have that very miraculous power.
As she blessed him, Erebo pulled himself together and turned over.
- Guh, krrr…krrrrrrr…
He let out a weird sound that resembled a lagging computer. Necrosed tissues fell piece by piece from his stomach.
- I-I will not die like this…How dare you…Do you even know who I am, ah?! If I kill you and eat you…!
Thorns emerged from his crumbling body. Like a peacock showing off his feathers, they shot out and flew into the night sky.
- You will die under these million thorns!
It was coming…
Seo Jun-Ho retrieved Sawtooth Sword from his Inventory.
“...No thanks. It hurts, you know?” he muttered under his breath.
1. Interestingly, she uses a different first pronoun than she usually does. It is reserved specifically for rulers and monarchs. The one she typically uses is less common and used for female royalty (including princesses) and for female masters in murim/wuxia. ☜
2. This is a pun. The literal meaning of the word for bullshit/nonsense means ‘dog noises/sounds’ ☜
3. Means one thousand thorns. ☜
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