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Chapter 249: Bitter Cold (4)
A frozen city.
Amidst the frost-covered ruins of buildings, a woman with deep violet hair stood, smiling warmly at Lanez.
“H-How…?”
A question tangled in countless emotions.
Lanez took hesitant steps backward, staring at the woman who slowly waved at her.
“H-How… How are you here, Mom…?”
Her mother, Seria Malam, had died 16 years ago at the hands of the ‘Holy Sword’ and the ‘Pope.’
Lanez still vividly remembered her final moments—her heart pierced, blood spilling out.
And yet, how?
How could Seria be standing here now?
“You’re wondering how I’m alive?”
Seria smiled sweetly.
Her eyes, however, were empty, as if they had lost all light.
“He brought me back to life.”
“…Brought you back?”
At the absurdity of her mother’s words, my face twisted.
“Nonsense.”
I knew better than anyone.
I had been resurrected thousands—no, tens of thousands—of times.
I had wandered through endless time trying to revive fallen comrades.
If even the Seven Gods themselves descended, reviving the dead would still be impossible.
“It’s not nonsense.”
Seria turned to me with a faint smile.
“The proof is right here, isn’t it?”
“……”
Though her lips curved in a smile, her eyes remained as empty as a winter night sky.
“Are you really… my mother?”
“Of course.”
Seria took slow steps toward Lanez, spreading her arms wide.
“Come here, my beloved daughter.”
“M-Mom…!”
Tears welled up in Lanez’s eyes as she ran toward Seria.
Faded memories resurfaced.
She longed for her mother to hold her tightly, just like she had in the past.
To pat her back and whisper words of love.
“Lanez!”
CRACK—!
Just before she could reach Seria, I urgently grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back.
A spike of pure white frost erupted from the ground right in front of her.
“…Ah?”
The frost had solidified into sharp, spear-like formations.
A few more steps toward Seria, and Lanez would have been impaled.
“Damn it.”
Standing in front of the pale-faced Lanez, I glared at Seria.
“Oh my, why aren’t you coming any closer?”
Seria let out a tinkling laugh, still holding her arms wide.
‘…Did she return in the same state as when she lost control?’
I had once heard that, in her final moments, Seria had tried to kill Lanez as well—after first taking her husband’s life.
I still didn’t know how she had been resurrected.
But if she intended to kill Lanez…
I slowly unsheathed my sword, stepping toward her.
“Burn.”
FWOOOOSH!
Ashen flames flared up around me, burning fiercely.
Seria Malam, the Archbishop of Frost.
A powerful demon who had only been defeated when the Holy Sword and the Pope—two masters—combined their strength.
No matter how much I had recently achieved, I couldn’t afford to underestimate her.
“Oh my, I called for Lanez, not you.”
Seria’s gaze settled on me as she smiled playfully.
“What’s your relationship with Lanez? Oh my, could you be her boyfriend?”
“……”
“Haha! My goodness, my daughter has a boyfriend…!”
She clutched her stomach, laughing hysterically.
“…I’m glad.”
Exhaling a breath filled with heat, she continued.
“Did you know? When my husband died… Lanez cried and screamed so desperately.”
Seria chuckled, her face filled with unbearable joy and anticipation.
“I’m so glad.”
Because now, once again—
“I get to see my daughter cry out in despair.”
Her lips twisted into a wide, almost grotesque grin as she crossed her outstretched arms into an ‘X.’
WHOOSH!
A white frost mist spread from Seria.
The ground that the mist touched froze in an instant.
CRACK!
A storm of condensed frost surged toward us at high speed.
“You…”
Gritting my teeth, I watched the incoming storm.
I swung my sword, wreathed in ashen flames.
FWOOOOSH!
A wall of fire melted the icy tempest.
“Oh my, such rude manners. Calling your girlfriend’s mother ‘you’? Where did you learn such language?”
“Shut up.”
I didn’t know what kind of person Seria had been before she lost control.
But the being standing here now was far too twisted to be called a ‘mother.’
I took a deep breath, summoning the power of the Primordial Flame.
Then, I kicked off the ground and charged straight at Seria.
FWOOOOSH!
The ashen flames burned fiercely, melting the storm of frost as I closed the distance in an instant.
“Hehe.”
Seria smiled deeply, her gaze locked onto my face.
“You look quite handsome up close.”
CRACK!
A frost storm surged up.
The flames around me wavered for a moment—
And then, the storm struck my body.
“Ugh…!”
The moment the frost touched my skin, my flesh turned a sickly shade of violet.
I quickly retreated, swinging my fist at the incoming storm.
Berald’s Martial Arts—
Mountain-Crusher.
BOOM!
A blast of ashen fire erupted from my fist, creating an opening in the frost storm.
I aimed my sword through the gap, gathering my mana.
Ashen Flame Sword—Third Form.
Flame Spear.
A single point of gathered embers shot toward Seria.
Seria spread her hands toward the incoming embers.
Ssshhhhhhh!
Frost clashed with embers.
As the frost melted, thick steam formed, spreading like a dense fog.
“…Amazing.”
Seria looked down at her charred arm with wide eyes.
"Where did my daughter find a man like you?"
Even when fighting the Holy Sword Johan Basilio and Pope Marianne in the past, she had never felt something like this.
The ferocious, gray flames were more alien than any power she had ever seen.
But what surprised her even more—
“You don’t even seem to be using your full strength.”
“…….”
She was right.
I hadn’t yet exerted my full power.
“Fufu. Is it because I’m the mother of the woman you love?”
“…Shut up.”
I tightened my grip on my sword.
“Who brought you back to life?”
“Ah, you must mean the Cult Leader.”
“…Cult Leader?”
“Yes, that’s right. The great Cult Leader, who embraces ‘Eternity.’”
“…….”
No way.
Was Seria resurrected by the leader of the Cult of Eternity?
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Eternity…
Come to think of it, the wolf mask and fox mask I fought in Valhalla City were abnormally old.
‘If their extended lifespan came from the Cult Leader’s power…’
I didn’t know who this “Cult Leader” was.
But he clearly had the power to directly influence human life.
“He gave me a second chance.”
Seria caressed her charred arm with a radiant smile.
As if time had reversed.
Fresh skin regenerated where the flesh had been burned black.
“A chance to see my beloved daughter again.”
“…….”
The power to bring the dead back to life.
The power to extend a living person’s lifespan.
And now—
Even the ability to heal wounds caused by the embers.
‘What the hell is this Cult Leader?’
I bit my lip and tightened my grip on my sword.
"Now, don’t get in my way any longer."
Seria raised her fully regenerated arm.
Her empty eyes fixed on Lanez.
Lanez paled and took a step back.
“I want to hold my daughter in my arms, even a second sooner—!”
KWAJAZAZAZAK!
The dense steam instantly froze over.
A storm of frost gathered in midair.
Not just tens of meters—hundreds of meters in size—the frost sphere floated high in the sky.
Whoooosh!
A massive white sphere of frost swirled fiercely in the air.
"That’s…."
I had heard of this before.
During the rampage of the Archbishop of Frost—
A white meteor fell and froze an entire city in an instant.
“Haa.”
Seria exhaled a soft sigh and lowered her raised arm.
And then—
Kugugugugung!
The massive white frost meteor plummeted toward the earth.
Frozen buildings trembled as the city echoed with deafening roars.
“Tch.”
I clicked my tongue at the apocalyptic scene and looked up at the falling frost meteor.
An attack that would engulf the entire city.
Though it was an abandoned ghost town, if the meteor fell as it was, Lanez would be caught in the aftermath.
‘I don’t have any battle-tested techniques for this yet, but…’
Given the circumstances, I had no choice.
Whoosh!
Calamity Fire.
Gray flames spread in a circle from my body, forming a domain.
The flames dyed the surrounding space in their ashen hue.
‘This isn’t enough.’
The current domain was far too small to consume a frost meteor spanning hundreds of meters.
To engulf it completely, I needed ten times—no, perhaps even more mana.
‘If I lack mana…’
Whoosh!
The embers engulfed my entire body.
My flesh itself transformed into flames.
And then—
Rumble!
The entire land trembled as an enormous blaze erupted.
It lasted only a few seconds.
But as my body burned, the infinite magic it produced expanded the Calamity Fire’s domain to cover the entire city.
“What…?”
Seria’s eyes widened in shock.
Ignoring her, I reached for the sky.
“Devour it.”
KWA-GWAGWAGWANG!!!
The colossal embers swallowed the frost meteor whole, making it seem as small as a mere marble.
“Hi-Hiiiik!”
Seria stumbled backward in terror.
I kicked off the ground and rushed toward her.
Raising my sword high, I aimed to pierce her heart.
But then—
“Ah….”
My eyes met Lanez’.
Flinch.
Without realizing it, my grip on the sword loosened.
And then—
“Guh…!”
My body, once transformed into embers, returned to its original form as the backlash of ‘Incarnation’ wracked my body.
It felt as if lava flowed through my veins instead of blood.
Clang!
The sword slipped from my trembling hand and fell to the ground.
“Huh?”
A strange glint appeared in Seria’s eyes.
“Oh my, did you push yourself too hard just to protect my daughter?”
A deep smile curled on her lips.
“Fufu. How sweet. I might just fall for you.”
Seria reached out and stroked my cheek.
“How about me instead of Lanez? My husband is dead, and I’ve been feeling quite lonely.”
“…….”
Just as she tried to pull me in—
“Take your hands off Dale, Mom.”
Lanez harshly slapped Seria’s hand away from my cheek.
And then—
SLAP!
Lanez mercilessly struck her mother across the face.
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