Chapter 169: Chapter 169. Blood Princess (4)

As Desir and Dracul were locked in fierce battle, there was a similarly fierce battle on the top of the spire as well.

The floor had sunken in places. Broken pillars lay strewn everywhere.

The traces of battle here and there told the story of just how fierce the fight had been up until now.

“I don’t like people like you, those referred to as magical swordsmen.”

Raden spoke as he looked at the Frozen Palace, half of which had been destroyed.

“Those bastards who couldn’t commit to either side and ended up just snooping around both. They just don’t have pride as a magician or as swordsmen.”

He raised his head.

“That is why you will lose.”

It was quite the deliberate provocation.

Most people tend to lose it and desperately try to attack, when their skills are looked down upon and their pride is assaulted. Naturally, if that person was a good magical swordsman, they would hold immense pride in themselves.

Adjest set her foot on top of a pillar made of ice and looked down at Raden.

It was as if she was looking down all humans, as if it was a natural thing to do. A queen.

An empress of ice who looked down upon everything. “Ridiculous.”

“… ?”

“Talking condescendingly with such pride. You are just a leader of bandits at best. Why don’t you become more aware of your character first before rambling on like that?”

Raden’s eyebrows curved into a frown. “You wouldn’t understand. We are… ” “You are a piece of sh*t.”

Adjest cut him off.

“I’m not at all curious about your business. Do you want me to understand you? You want me to show you some sympathy? Ridiculous. You’re a criminal. Whatever circumstance you may find yourself in and whatever purpose you may have, is a product of your own doing. You’re still a criminal after all.”

Raden was flustered. He was not able to refute the unexpected remark from someone many times younger than himself.

“Enough with your nonsense. What a waste of time. Just bring it on.” Raden stormed out, feeling humiliated beyond his endurance. *Clomp*

*Clomp*

But he had to halt his charge.

A chilly storm bore down upon him.

Raden felt the arctic gale pouring out of the sword that Adjest had raised.

She had tapped into the power of her sword, the Center of Ice.

It exuded an enormous amount of chill that seeped out and froze everything nearby. *Crraaaack*

The chill continued to spread without slowing. With just a simple opening move, the temperature of the room had lowered by several dozen degrees.

Adjest’s previously invoked ice spells were of no comparison to it.

“Keuukk!”

Raden felt his body stiffening. He did all he could to pull out his Aura and shroud his entire body in it, but he still felt the chill reaching his bones.

However, this was only the beginning. Following this, Adjest invoked a spell. [Ice Empress]

She shone in a blinding ball of silver light.

It was her Imagery Magic.

A secret weapon that rapidly increased the physical ability of the wielder, by absorbing and utilizing the surrounding chilly air.

*Vrooooom*

When the magical power emanating from Adjest’s body and the cold released from the Center of Ice combined, a transcendental power emerged.

Her radiant golden gleam lost its tone and was soon dyed white. A powerful cold air raged forth like a storm and cloaked Adjest. “… ”

Raden subconsciously shivered slightly. His whole body was chilled just by standing here near Adjest.

Feather Mask.

Not too long ago, Raden felt this kind of sensation from her.

Knowing what this meant, Raden shook his head as if he was trying to rid himself of his anxiety.

“… What a foolish effort!”

Raden’s head was filled with rage at the fact that he was momentarily afraid of the young girl standing before him.

The Aura on the hatchet that he held shimmered like a flame.

Even though the icy-cold air was clawing at his body, Raden did not think that he would lose. He was confident in his own skills.

The next moment, that very thought disappeared as though it had been washed away by a tsunami. Adjest’s presence disappeared before his very eyes.

“… … !?”

Raden instinctively swung his weapon towards his back. *Claaang*

There was a massive explosion.

Platinum hair billowed in the breeze. Before he knew it, Adjest had approached him from the rear and was swinging her sword at his unguarded back.

‘I missed?’

Raden was appalled at the fact that Adjest momentarily left his sight, due to her abrupt increase in speed.

Lucky…

That was the only word for it.

His body, which has been through countless battlefields, moved instinctively and thanks to this, he had been able to barely escape death.

Adjest kept pushing Raden back without a break. *C-Clang*

*C-C-Claaang*

Adjest’s chained attacks were all weighty and swift.

Raden could not believe the situation he now found himself in. She belonged to the Rook Class, but was exceeding his power and speed.

It was hard to believe that she was even the same person from before. ‘That’s impossible.’

As he found himself stuck on defense, his blood rushing toward his head seemed to have instantly froze.

‘I was too fast to judge.’

He regretted a little too late and the lost time could not be returned.

Raden barely was able to endure Adjest’s frenzied attacks, since he still had the upper hand in the technical aspect of sword play.

He would predict the enemy’s way of thinking and identify the trajectory of the approaching sword.

However, he was barely coping.

Raden was slowly falling behind regarding power and speed.

Slowly but surely.

Little by little.

This forced him into a difficult situation.

It was an unpleasant, defensive battle. As time passed, his face slowly distorted. *Crackkk*

On the other hand, Adjest had a composed expression on her face.

‘I already have experience fighting against a person with more advanced skills than me.’

It was her battle against Donape. An experience of facing off against one of the strongest people in the whole continent.

But there were two things that differed from back then.

‘Firstly, this person is much weaker than Donape in regards to power and speed.’ Raden, King of Mountains, was clearly a strong swordsman.

However, he was obviously lacking in comparison to a transcendental being like Donape Aslan.

Above all, she did not feel the presence of an overpowering wall, like she felt from Donape. ‘Secondly, I am much stronger now than I was before.’

Adjest took a step and struck a blow with all of her might. *Claaang*

The hatchet’s blade that clashed against the Center of Ice broke off, and pieces of shrapnel flew in all directions.

Raden quickly took a step back. There was no time to panic. He quickly pulled out a new axe from a pocket near his chest.

Raden calmly concentrated in order to read Adjest’s sword trajectory.

‘Block the lower right corner of the sword trajectory, then catch her off guard with a counter attack… ’

*Claaang*

However, things didn't work out as Raden expected.

Adjest moved slightly faster than him.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t able to read the trajectory. “Keeeuuuk!”

His body had slowed down for some reason.

Just by sharing an exchange of blows with Adjest, and from standing near her… Damage was slowly accumulating.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Raden’s Aura was continuously being consumed and the unrelenting chill burrowed deeply into his bones. His body was not moving like he wanted.

His body started to become unresponsive to his thoughts. “Sh*ttttttt!”

*Crashhh*

*Clang*

Another axe shattered into pieces, not being able to withstand Adjest’s blow.

He had no more spare weapons left. Raden tightly gripped the last hatchet he possessed. His decision was fast and precise.

Raden started to scrape together the leftover Aura from the ground. Being pushed to his very limit, he prepared to unleash the strongest attack that he was capable of… and for death.

The desperate effort of a near King Class swordsman who was going to invoke a technique using every fiber of his being.

The moment Raden took a step in order to swing with everything he had. *Pkkkhht*

Adjest’s sword penetrated his heart.

Raden’s body, which was currently skewered by the Center of Ice, slowly started to freeze over… starting with his heart.

The Aura that Raden gathered with all of his effort dispersed harmlessly into the air. He spoke in disbelief.

“Became… Faster… ?”

If he attacked with the thought of mutually assured destruction, then the situation wouldn’t have turned out like this.

Even for Adjest, who was strengthened by her vision technique, there was no guarantee that she would be able to handle such a blow from Raden… a being only one step away from King Class.

Adjest took that situation into account and intentionally exerted a level of force that would be a step ahead of Raden, preventing him from executing his dying blow.

In the end, by consuming his power little by little, it was not difficult for her to employ her best effort to handle Raden’s power, which had already been weakened.

“Damn… ”

He seemed to have realized that fact from Adjest’s impassive face. “You… won.”

His body froze totally into a statue-like form. *Crasshhh*

When Adjest pulled out the sword from his body, he broke apart like a glass and pieces scattered across the floor.

“Ha… … ”

After seeing the scattered pieces, Adjest let out a sigh. She then cancelled the spell that she was invoking and reasserted control over the power within the Center of Ice.

As Adjest’s hair returned to its former golden appearance, the surrounding temperature returned to normal.

Even though she just ended a battle, she took stock of her exhausted mana and examined the remaining duration of her Imagery Magic.

The battles that continued around them seemed to be ending as well. *Baaang*

At that moment, there was a sound of explosion not too far from them.

Adjest turned around to look towards the location where the explosion was heard from. ‘Desir… ’

Now, there was only the battle between Desir and Dracul left.