Chapter Sixty-Four: Raging Wildfire (Part Two)
The setting sun was about to dip below the horizon.
Beneath the clouds, the last remnants of daylight flickered before the arrival of night—a dim, yellowish glow that, although bleak, illuminated the magnificent expanse of pristine white snow.
Atop the ruined tower, angry shouts echoed.
“What are they… doing? Hundreds of them… little girl… has gone crazy…”
“…We… Lord Count… fight…”
“Eat them alive…”
The voices broke up like a poorly tuned radio, nearly drowned out by the marching steps and shouts of the City Guard. I could barely make out whether it was Lafael or someone else, but honestly, it didn’t matter.
In this moment, all I saw were the swirling ice crystal mist around me and the soldiers bearing down like a mountain.
“Ahhh—!!”
The cries of the City Guard shattered the air, as the soldiers charged forward, with a segment from the side gradually peeling away from the formation, attempting to flank me from the left. When I saw this, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
This back-and-forth military tactic seemed utterly pointless to me.
I casually strolled forward, the gap between the City Guard and me growing smaller by the second. The air chilled noticeably, with even the snowflakes floating down seemingly frozen in time.
Crack, crack.
Accompanied by the terrifying sound of shattering ice, enormous ice blocks rapidly converged above the soldiers, colliding and compacting until they formed a massive iceberg floating in the air.
Perhaps sensing the shadow overhead, the commander at the front of the City Guard suddenly looked up, his eyes going wide.
“Hold the formation—!”
In the next instant, the iceberg exploded.
Boom—!
“Uwaah—!!”
“Ugh…”
Shards of ice rained down like a furious storm, knocking countless City Guard soldiers off their feet, causing a chain reaction as unbalanced comrades were trampled in the chaotic rush forward, completely disrupting their formation.
Having probably never faced an enemy like me before, or maybe because the soldiers were obviously hesitant about thrusting their sharp swords at a young girl like me, they faltered. The momentum of their charge hit a snag.
At this critical moment, the commander barked, “Charge with me, or be deemed a traitor!”
His face bore a resolute expression, eyes fixated on me like I was the last cookie in the jar.
I sighed softly.
Honestly, I only wanted to k*ll Edward… perhaps toss in Valar for good measure, but I didn’t want to drag these City Guard soldiers into this mess. After all, they were just following orders. Given the current situation, communication… was clearly out of the question.
They wouldn’t let me go after Edward. He was still the grand prince of the Valen Empire and their loyalty was pledged to him, making this battle unavoidable.
The soldiers were closing in, now less than twenty meters away; I could even see the hesitant expressions on the frontline soldiers’ faces.
Alright then. If you’re going to attack, I’ll just have to scare you a bit first.
With that, I raised my left hand.
Boom!!!
A torrent of ice mist exploded from my palm, gradually spreading across the battlefield. A fierce wind whipped up the snow from the ground, scattering the frontline soldiers like leaves in a storm, while the approaching mist froze them solid.
The temperature continued to plummet. The soldiers’ teeth chattered; their leather armor was insufficient against the chilling invasion. The closer they got to me, the more they trembled.
Some fell, but the remaining ones pressed on, now within less than ten meters of me.
In the next moment, I bent my knees and leaped high into the air, using the icy platform as a springboard, and with the roaring wind at my back, I swung my sickle into the ranks of the City Guard.
Smash! Smash!
As I landed, I slammed my knee directly into the chests of two soldiers in the front row, sending them flying back like rag dolls, crashing into others behind them and creating a gap in their formation.
“Hah—!!”
The commander charged at me with his sword raised high. I squinted my eyes.
Just what I wanted. Time to take you down a notch.
I sidestepped his strike and swung my sickle downward, the blade hissing through the air and leaving a trail of white mist.
Thud.
The blade sank deep into his shoulder.
“Ah!!”
He let out a piercing scream and grasped the blade’s edge, bl**d gushing from his palm. Yet, he refused to let go, raising his right hand to swing his sword once more, his reddened eyes glaring at me.
Yet, the strike never came.
The frost spread from his wound, enveloping half his body in icy chill, frost creeping up his face as his previously clean skin turned an alarming shade of purple—he was done for.
I yanked my sickle free, pulling along chunks of frozen bl**d and flesh, his grip on the sickle’s blade causing three fingers to snap off.
“Grrgh… ugh!”
His face twisted in pain, the frost rendering half of it immobile, preventing any cries from escaping his lips.
“Milton!”
Some soldiers shouted in anguish. I kicked the commander away with a casual flick of my leg, the sound of the wind rushing past my ears as I dodged a sword slashing at me from the side, then swung to slash at the soldier’s arm, bl**d spraying as the temperature in their bodies plunged. The soldier stiffened and collapsed.
I dodged to the side again, evading another soldier’s lunge, then swung my sickle at his side, before kicking another to the right away. More soldiers poured in, perhaps angrier since I had downed their commander. With the last remnants of hesitation gone, they glared at me fiercely. Despite being covered in frost—with even their hair and eyebrows frosted over—they still trembled as they brandished their swords.
I was getting a little impatient.
Boom!
An ice pillar exploded upwards from beneath my feet, propelling my petite form into the air as I swung my arm.
A surge of ice mist cascaded down towards the soldiers below, an icy gale howling, while my hair whipped across my face. I heard the agonized cries rising beneath me. And then, I heard the telltale twang of drawn bows.
Whoosh—
An arrow whizzed past my ear.
Clang!
I swiftly swiped my sickle, deflecting it, and turned to see Valar lurking at the back of the ranks, crossbow in hand.
“Valar!”
I hadn’t even been looking for you, and here you were, popping up like a Whac-A-Mole! Let’s break your legs first.
Boom—
I pivoted on the ice platform and dove towards him.
But to my surprise, Valar, realizing the danger, used Moon Step to slide backward and took off running in the opposite direction, not once glancing back.
…What a coward!
Rolling back to the ground, I found myself encircled by soldiers once more.
“How dare you come for our commander—”
They clanked their swords against their armor, and someone stepped forward to shout.
“Frost Moon—!”
“Roar!”
“Frost Moon—!”
“Roar!”
The encirclement tightened, the frontline soldiers pointing their sword tips at me, wearing expressions of excitement.
I was getting pretty fed up with this.
“Get lost!”
A breeze swept up from beneath my feet, and in the next moment, brilliant blue light glowed in my eyes, my black hair dancing wildly.
Boom—
Ice mist erupted from my body like a powerful explosion, rapidly expanding.
Countless ice crystals and snowflakes swirled towards the enemies. The soldiers closest to me were engulfed in the white mist, collapsing and stiffening, unable to move, while those further away stood dumbfounded, glancing at their fallen comrades, a shared sense of hesitation freezing them in place as none dared to advance.
Whoosh—
I tilted my head just in time as another arrow clipped my ear, hitting a soldier behind me. I looked over and saw Valar running back.
He still wore that metal mask, and upon noticing my gaze, he hurriedly ducked behind the soldiers, too scared to come at me directly, clearly trying to find a chance to sneak attack again.
Not on my watch.
I strode toward him, but then a commotion erupted from the back.
My heart raced, and I turned to look, only to find tall soldiers from the City Guard blocking my view completely, obscuring everything.
“…”
I fumed and slowly raised an ice pillar three meters high to stand upon. There stood the cold-faced black-haired man—Lafael—having somehow made his way down from the high tower, now leading over thirty leather-clad guards racing towards me.
“Lafael!”
Lafael withdrew his long sword from a soldier’s chest and looked up to meet my gaze: “Pepé, go catch Edward!”
Edward…
Edward had already skedaddled over to the War Chariot. His face was a picture of panic—looks like he sensed trouble brewing and was preparing to bolt.
