Episode 31 : Absolute Zero (5)

There are so many skills and items that I could have used to prevent everyone from freezing too much, but if I were to use those, then how will my guild members improve themselves?

Despite myself feeling the same things they feel, I wouldn't want to use anything to give myself a safer solution.

Crackling…

"Haa…" I let out a chuckle even in a situation like this.

Although I was fine from the chill, it seemed the cold was getting into everyone's heads already.

"..C-cold.. Too cold.." Alaine grumbled with a body that was shivering a lot. "How long.. will we get up?"

Screak!!!!!

It was no doubt that half of us were surprised by that sudden shriek, not only was it too sharp of a sound that it left some ringing in our ears..

..It was also a signal to the next wave in this stage.

"What are those?!"

Startled by that scream earlier, I watched Louis exclaim while flinching with his glance narrowing at the bottom of the pit.

'Looks like it started.' Mused, I instantly called out to her. "Frostina!"

[Player '500' has activated the Hidden Skill, 'Fusillade of Icicles' Lv. ???.]

WHOOSH!!

In a flash, it turns out to be an icicles versus ice drops situation. Seeing that the icicles were advancing toward the bottom to crash into the tiniest ice drops.

Crackle! Crackle!

An ice drop of the tear of the ghosts underneath, enough to cause hypothermia by the slightest touch and force a small puncture wound within any objects.

Therefore, this frozen teardrop would force its way to anything and anyone that appeared in its way.

'There's more than I thought.' I pondered.

Not only does it freeze, it can also add weight to any objects by touching on the target and blasting out an extremely gigantic iceberg once it went through an object.

'I always wonder this, but isn't it overkill to make this stage too difficult? Ice drop that generates a literal iceberg on an object it touches? Seriously?'

That was why I didn't want to use cocoon shield nor Frostina's ice shield, because it will only poke holes instead of protection and bring our ascent downward instead of upward because of the increase in weight.

"Noel and Cryo, stop any ice drops that come our way."

With a nod, Noel and Crystal responded quickly. "Understood!"

[Imitation of 'Heaven-Sent' Lv. 2 has been activated.]

And just in case, if the ice drops got past our defense, I had to use Felix's skill to assist me with my horrible luck.

It will be sufficient for avoiding some ice drops that may or may not hit us, but…

..Is this what HwanGi meant by the ghosts getting stronger as seconds tick by?

Whoosh!

Even as Frostina continued on raining down icicles beneath us, the wave of ice drops haven't paused one bit, causing Frostina to use much more force by controlling the ice drops as well as shooting down her icicles.

"Darn.."

The reason why she couldn't manipulate most of the ice drops, isn't because her cryokinesis is weak.

As a result of the ice drops being the teardrops of the ghosts, it had the essence of the ghosts, meaning those ice drops aren't a piece of cake to control when ghosts essences are surrounding the ice and condensing the tiny sized icebergs.

'..Or Master could have described it as a frozen ghost's tear that could go past Miss Frostina's manipulation just like how ghosts pass through anything.' Lucifer examined.

'...Lucifer… Shh.'

I was too speechless of Lucifer to the point that if there was an author who wrote my story, they would be having a writer's block right now from the surprise.

…

Somehow, I sensed my left ear being very itchy, almost as if someone just cursed at me… "Hm.."

'Whatever.' I let out a sigh, ignoring what I wondered before I went back to being persistent of the frostbite around my coat and body.

———

Rustling…

In due course, time passed way more than expected and…

When I questioned why we hadn't reached the upper floor yet, I began to be doubtful and looked up.

Even though I had checked the top of the hole earlier, I didn't expect that the top would be this far..

'How in the world..?'

A few hours ago, the top of the hole wasn't this high, it was supposed to be an easy challenge to reach the upper floor without any difficulties.

…So how in the world did the hole's depths change?

'Master already knows who did it.' Lucifer spoke.

..I gritted my teeth angrily since I already knew who it was. 'Yeah, that bastard..'

An angel that gave HwanGi a hint, shouldn't be judged by one act of kindness.

Possibly because of her, the stage was set to be much more impossible than the previous ones, forcing this to be a tougher challenge than the rest.

Not long after, I groaned inwardly as I was thinking about that 'Helper', Pearl. 'Does that bastard want to kill us all?'

Due to the hole's depths being adjusted, it would be hard to estimate how long my guild members could handle the cold.

"And.."

Judging from everyone's facial expressions, they obviously appeared to be having a rough time with the cold slipping into their bodies and layering frostbites everywhere.

"Tch!"

The 'Ice Resistance' Skill can level up once or twice because of this adjusted stage's decreasing temperature, but it won't matter if my guild members die!

Even with the effect of 25% ice resistance to the cold from the Yeti's fur coat and the 15% from the unfreezing bracelet, it won't be enough to combat the cold.

Do I have to use my plan B already? I was planning not to use that in case of an emergency, however, does the situation count as a dire one?

'.. I'm sure my guild will be fine until they reach the top. I hope my enhanced luck will make it plausible.' I told myself.

Eventually, I knew Lucifer would be warning me. 'Master, it's wiser to use plan B now to minimize your chances of having one of your guild members dead.'

'Not now. If I'm going to use that plan anyways, I might as well wait until my guild can't handle it and start plan B.'

'Is Master afraid that they would get mad at you later because of plan B?'

'That's not important. And I won't use plan B until it truly is a dire situation.'

'How could Master be so stubborn?'

Afterwards, I grinned at myself. 'You know my personality when I started, so you must know my stubbornness by now.'

'Master's personality always changes slightly or significantly. Thus, it is hard to understand you.'

'Despite having my memories inside you, really now?'

Out of the blue when I was talking inwardly with Lucifer, I heard an unexpected cry for concern.

"MYA!"

..It was Louis who was calling out to the frozen child.

"Mya! Hold on much longer!"

When I saw how Louis, who was barely holding on from the chilliness, was too bewildered by Mya's state.

…I immediately knew that it would lead to a deformation to my plan.

As soon as possible, I warned him. "Don't let go of your han—"

Swish!

..I was too late when Louis let go of his hands to go embrace Mya with his warmth yet frosty body.

RUSTLE!

In a blink of an eye, our circle formation was broken off by Louis, prompting most of us to dangle aimlessly from the windful air.

'Damn it. What a way to ruin the formation!'

If it weren't for Mirai's strings to be wrapped around our waists, we would have scattered throughout this tempestuous pit.

..It would have been pointless trying to get a hold of each other again if we didn't have Mirai's strings.

"Whoaaa!! This is not good!" Alaine cried out as she was desperately grasping onto the string.

Without expecting it, I found Crystal gasping in shock as she couldn't hold onto the string just like Alaine did.

Though, she did have strings wrapped around her small body. "G-Gahh! That boy! What is he doing!?"

"Everyone, stay where you are and hold on!" I exclaimed at the top of my lungs.

"Is Mya okay, Louis!?!"

As I looked at HwanGi crying out for Mya's well-being, I could see his concerns on his face so easily, minus his handsome appearance.

Me, a man with a villainous face, pondered. 'Even while he's like this, his darn looks still shine brightly..'

Anyways, the situation was slowly but surely getting worse and worse as it seems Mya is faintly losing her consciousness from the cold.

The symptoms for hypothermia, I can see those within a moment by observing Mya closely.

From the glimpse of her arms and legs shivering by the low temperature to her lack of breathing.

I thought. '..She would definitely faint soon.'

Of course, with the help of Louis who was currently hugging Mya, he will warm up Mya just a little bit enough to not make her faint or shiver a lot.

'Should I use plan B now?'

"Captain!"

"What is it, Mirai?"

Even before I could turn to gaze at Mirai, I understood why she was calling for me at that moment.

..It was because someone was attempting to cut off her string during this dilemma.

And that someone being…

"You imbecile!" I shouted at that one heroic and kind-hearted guy right below me.

I yelled again at the sight I was witnessing with my own eyes. "What are you trying to do, HwanGi!?"

No more honorific for him, I was so infuriated by him that he planned to sacrifice himself for everybody's safety.

[Imitation of 'Snowflake Barricade' Lv. 3 has been activated.]

In a matter of seconds, I planned five shields on HwanGi to mostly protect him from the ice drops.

Eventually, I bellowed at HwanGi who was falling down to the pit. "You sick moron!!!"

At that point, Alaine was baffled when she saw what I was doing. "JoonChul?! Why are you doing that?!"

Immediately after my shout, I had let go of Mirai's string and gave everyone around me a ride up.

"Brace yourself, everyone!" I warned them quickly since I had no time to waste now.

[Imitation of 'Ballistic Blossom' Lv. 1 has been activated.]

My words to my comrades. "Protect them!"

A giant of a flower was soon summoned right in front of me, letting it capture my guild members inside its petal before sending it off to the top.

BOOM!

With a blast from the stem, it soared to the top in a way that could be destructive to the people inside, in spite of that, I knew my comrades would be enough to defend them.

"Lucifer!"

In my hand, a bow soon emerged within my grasp before I immediately shot an arrow toward the stem of the ballistic flower, attaching it with that giant flower as well as a string on the arrow.

"Now.. to deal with these."

At that minute, when my eyes shifted back to below the pit, I was greeted with a large amount of ice drops.

The ice drops that were supposed to be Frostina's duty to destroy, now fell on me since I had sent her to the top with the others.

"This is going to be rough." I grumbled.

If I don't do anything to these ice drops, then the giant flower will be the one that gets pierced with plenty of holes, including my guild members.

[Imitation of 'Fusillade of Icicles' Lv. 3 has been activated.]

This would be enough to handle against the ice drops, but it wouldn't hold on for long since my MP isn't infinite.

However, my important role is to get that heroic imbecile back before he could stupidly surrender himself to the ghosts.

We weren't so close to get to the top but we were close enough to survive through the cold.

"Damnit!"

And to think HwanGi would ruin that by sacrificing himself. Why would he do that without my order!?

Swoosh!

In a blink of an eye, I fell down quicker than expected, only because I had held onto one of the icicles to help me descend much faster that I got to get nearer to HwanGi.

"Your hands now!"

Clap!

My hand, which was fueled with my fury, aggressively grabbed hold of HwanGi's freezing hand to cause a clapping sound.

The instant I gazed on HwanGi's eyes, I saw something flashing in the faintest pink light.

'What is this? His eyes.. What's going on?'

All of a sudden, my question was left unanswered since HwanGi decided to idiotically ask me.

"What are you doing, JoonChul-ssi!? Can't you see they were suffering?!"

I bawled. "And you think that by giving up your life wouldn't make them suffer more?!"

"But they'll at least be alive!"

..This imbecile knows nothing of the guilt that befall on those that got their lives saved by another life.

I knew this emotion better than anyone, but there are some who understood this more than I do.

Because those are my comrades who had to watch me die and die countless times.

And to think HwanGi was planning to waste his one and only life over something so trivial..

This guy.. knows nothing.

…

…And so, I am being suffocated by my rage… Eventually, I couldn't help it anymore.

As I was incensed by an outburst of my wrath, I yelled at HwanGi at the top of my lungs, almost damaging my throat from this frustrated shout.

"SO WHAT IF THEY'LL BE ALIVE?! WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR THEIR THERAPY WHEN THEY KNOW THAT YOUR LIFE WAS SACRIFICED FOR THEIR LIVES TO REMAIN?!"

"..!?" HwanGi looked shocked.

Of course, he would be when I'm literally shouting toward him at the top of my voice.

THUD!

Immediately after that, I pulled him toward me as I brutally headbutted him to the forehead to get his brain set on the right track.

"SO SHUT THE HELL UP, HANS!"

..I didn't know why that name came out of my mouth, perhaps because that nickname was what that childhood friend of HwanGi would call him occasionally in that maze of reflections.

Which made me think that I must use his childhood's nickname to persuade him a little.

'Sans and then Hans.. Is that a stupid way to get matching nicknames? Haa.. I'm so furious..'

So will this be enough to stop HwanGi from doing this? Whatever his answer may be, I was tired of this shit.

"Your answer and refusal won't matter because I'm getting us outta here." I told HwanGi after I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

By the way, HwanGi's eyes went back to normal after I had headbutted him. Even though I didn't get to observe it since I was too outraged by HwanGi, it should be alright now.

I narrowed my eyes. 'What a pathetic hero you are, HwanGi.'

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