Chapter 49: The Ice That Won’t Melt, The undead who won't rest.

The sleigh skidded to a smooth stop at the frozen gates of Arendelle.

Lioro, Elsa, and the others stepped down, their breath visible in the frigid air.

Arendelle's once-thriving streets were now nothing more than a frozen wasteland, buildings coated in thick ice, the fjord still frozen solid.

Guards and citizens peeked from their windows, eyes filled with fear and desperation.

Elsa's heart clenched.

"I… I really did this," she murmured, voice barely above a whisper.

Lioro crossed his arms. "No point in feeling guilty now. Let's fix it."

Kristoff nodded. "Yeah, standing here feeling bad won't help anyone."

Elsa took a deep breath.

She had run away before, but this time—

She wasn't alone.

Lioro stepped forward, rolling his shoulders. "Well let's do this."

However, the surface area of Arendelle was too large.

'Let's start with something weaker.'

Covering himself with infinity to prevent the spell from affecting those around him, Lioro said.

"7th tier spell: Hellfire Orb."

A faint golden glow surrounded his fingertips before erupting into a roaring inferno.

Everyone gasped.

Kristoff instinctively grabbed Anna and dived for cover. 

Elsa stumbled backward, using ice to shield herself, but to her surprise, no heat came out from the bright hellfire orb.

After all, it was being covered by infinity.

Controlling the massive orb of fire, Lioro levitated it above the entire city.

After it reached the appropriate distance, Lioro canceled infinity, and a warm heat flow was instantly emitted by the 7th-tier spell.

Within seconds the ice started melting.

The citizens looked in surprise.

The golden light spread through the air like a tidal wave over the frozen kingdom.

The ice cracked.

Then, with a loud boom, it shattered—melting into harmless water that started evaporating under the heat.

In mere moments, Arendelle was restored.

The sky brightened. The howling winds ceased. The streets were no longer frozen, and warmth returned to the land.

Lioro lowered his hand. "That should do it."

For a moment, there was silence.

Then—

"WOOHOO!" Olaf cheered, jumping up and down with his body melting. "Lioro, you're the best! We should have done this ages ago!"

"Olaf! You're melting!", Anna shouted.

Lioro looked at the snowman, pointed his hand toward him, and then covered him in infinity.

Olaf instantly stopped melting.

Still, without the cold weather, he would eventually melt into water.

Anna exhaled in relief. "Olaf you're okay!", Turning towards him she said in a grateful voice: "Thank you Lioro!"

Kristoff also smiled in relief.

Lioro shrugged.

Elsa, still processing everything, looked around.

The castle, the town, the fjord—

Everything was back to normal.

It worked.

She smiled.

But just as she was about to thank Lioro—

A cold breeze swept through the city.

Then, before their very eyes—

The ice returned.

The warmth was devoured in an instant.

Buildings refroze. The fjord turned solid once more.

The very land itself rejected Lioro's magic.

Elsa's eyes widened in horror. "No…"

Anna stumbled back. "You're kidding me…"

Kristoff cursed. "But he just fixed this!"

Lioro narrowed his eyes. "I see."

He extended his hand again, reigniting [Hellfire Orb]. The flames surged forward, melting the ice a second time—

Only for the ice to creep back the moment he dismissed the spell.

It was like an unbreakable cycle.

"Cursed energy."

Lioro muttered, narrowing his eyes.

Elsa turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"There's something mixed within your magic, its cursed energy."

Elsa's heart pounded. "You mean…?"

"Unless we take care of the curse, it will simply keep coming back, in an endless cycle."

The weight of his words settled over them.

Lioro crossed his arms. "That means normal magic won't be enough."

Anna frowned. "Then… how do we stop it?"

Lioro fell silent.

He could think of two ways to solve the issue.

First was for him to go to every nick and corner of Arendelle and absorb the curse energy then unfreeze the place using his magic.

The issue with this method was simple, it was too time-consuming and would fail if the cursed energy was able to regenerate itself.

As for the second method....Follow the original!

"The act of true love."

Elsa, Anna, Olaf, the reindeer, and Kristoff all blinked.

"…Huh?"

Lioro said. "An act of true love. A selfless, genuine act that comes from the heart. Will melt the frozen heart away."

Anna furrowed her brows. "Like… a kiss?"

Elsa unconsciously glanced at him.

Lioro didn't notice.

Clearing his throat, he said: "It doesn't have to be romantic. Family love counts too."

Elsa and Anna immediately perked up at that.

"So, if we do something to show our love as sisters…" Anna began.

"Then maybe…" Elsa murmured.

Lioro gave a thumbs up. "Go for it."

The sisters stood together in the town square.

They closed their eyes, focused on their bond, and reached for each other's hands.

The moment their fingers touched—

A soft, warm glow surrounded them.

Elsa gasped. The cursed ice trembled.

For a split second—

It felt like something had changed.

But then—

CRACK!

The ice surged back, stronger than before.

Lioro's eyes darkened.

Anna and Elsa stepped back, stunned.

"It didn't work…" Anna whispered looking at her freezing finger.

Elsa's shoulders slumped.

Lioro came beside Anna and used a healing spell.

"5th tier spell: Major Recover."

A warm glow surrounded Anna before the frost on her fingers disappeared, her hand returning to its original condition.

Anna looked at the warm golden light around her in surprise.

The light, made her feel comfortable, like she was back in her mother's embrace.

"He can even use his magic to heal?.....", Kristioff murmured in a dumb voice.

"Anna are you alright?", Elsa asked in a worried voice.

"Yes? oh yes! I'm fine sister, In fact...I feel great!"

Anna raised her arms and made a posture highlighting her nonexistent biceps.

Lioro gave her a weird look.

Elsa sighed in relief.

"It seems we have more trouble in our hands than expected...", Lioro said, looking at Elsa.

Elsa lowered her head and bit down on her lower lip.

Kristoff frowned. "So what do we do now?"

Lioro closed his eyes for a moment before answering.

"There's only one option left."

Everyone turned to him.

Lioro met Elsa's gaze.

"You need to train yourself."

Elsa stiffened. "What?"

"If we can't undo it with an act of true love, then we can only use hard work," Lioro explained. "You need to master it. Control it. Only then can you stop this winter."

Elsa hesitated.

"…But that could take time."

Lioro replied. "That's why I'll keep the spell going."

Elsa's eyes widened.

"You mean—?"

"I'll maintain [Hellfire Ord] to keep the kingdom from freezing over," Lioro confirmed. "As long as I keep it active, the ice won't return."

Anna looked at him in shock. "But won't that… I don't know, hurt you?!"

"Nope."

With the help of six eyes, he can maintain that thing for eternity.

'Hm but that will mean I will have to keep myself awake, well that's nothing new to me.....'

Sleep is for the weak! He was simply built different!

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna be burning nonstop? Isn't that exhausting?"

"Nope."

Elsa clutched her hands together.

As a magic user, she knew full well how exhausting it was to keep magic running continuously like that.

Lioro was willing to do this—

For Arendelle.

But why?

Why would he go so far?

She felt a strange mix of emotions, but more than anything—

She felt grateful.

She met his gaze and nodded.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Lioro smiled. "Good."

Seeing his bright smile, Elsa was also affected.

'You smile even in the most troublesome of situations.....'

Placing her hand on her chest, Elsa forcefully raised the corners of her mouth and said.

"Please teach me, how to use magic."

Her awkward smile filled with determination entered Lioro's vision.

But instead of being happy, he was confused.

'Um...why are you asking me?'

Heck, he wasn't truly a mage, he only learned magic by spending skill points.

Sure he can explain the magic he has learned but that is all he could do.

What does that mean?

Let's look at it like this, to learn tier 3 spell you need tier 3, tier 2, tier 1, and tier 0 knowledge.

Well, Lioro directly knows the final product, the tier 3 spell.

He only understood the spell at a level that was enough to use it.

Meaning he had zero basic knowledge.

So how was he supposed to teach Elsa?

Barely controlling the corners of his mouth from twitching, Lioro said in a small voice.

".....ok."

"Thank you.", Elsa said gratefully.

"Oh... it's....nothing...."

Lioro maintained a poker face, quickly going through his inventory to find something useful.

Fck where did he put that basic explanation of the magic book from the magician guild?!

The inventory was so full it was getting hard to find things!

----

Fortunately, Lioro managed to find the book.

Inside the royal palace.

Lioro handed the book and a ring to Elsa.

----

Item: Ring Of Magic Translation.

Grade: Medium.

Requirements: None.

Description: Basic ring enchanted by the divine smith.

Added effect: Able to convert the texts from Overlord into Frozen World's language.

----

Due to the specified effects, it only cost 12,000 exp.

"You will need to first sort out your basics before you can learn from me."

With a dignified look on his face, Lioro entered the room next to Elsa and closed the door.

For her and the kingdom's security, he will be staying right next to Elsa's room.

Holding the simple metal ring in her hand, Elsa wore it on her finger.

Touching the cover of the magic book she carefully opened it up and started reading from it.

Her sister Anna gave her an encouraging look.

----

A few hours passed.

Lying on her bed, Elsa quietly read through the book of basic magic explanations, her fingers lightly tracing the words. She had already read it once and was now going through it a second time, determined to absorb as much as possible.

But exhaustion was catching up to her.

A yawn escaped her lips.

She hadn't slept in over a day—ever since she ran away from the castle, she had been awake, constantly on the move. Now, with the warmth of her bed and the dim candlelight flickering beside her, her eyelids grew heavier.

Her vision blurred momentarily.

Then, a sudden thought jolted her awake.

"For a spell to continue working… the user needs to be awake—"

Elsa's eyes widened as if struck by lightning.

Throwing aside the blanket, she grabbed her winter shawl and the book before slipping out of the room, her steps silent against the icy floor.

She paused outside, glancing to her left—toward Lioro's room.

A faint, golden glow leaked from beneath the door.

He was still awake.

Curious, she stepped closer, peeking through the slightly open doorway. Inside, Lioro sat calmly on the bed, his gaze fixed on the ceiling, lost in thought.

As Elsa pondered whether to enter, Lioro suddenly lowered his head, his sharp eyes locking onto hers through the gap in the door.

Panicked, she quickly pulled back, pressing her back against the cold wall.

"Maybe he didn't see me—"

"Nope, I definitely caught you," Lioro's voice called out, amused. "Come in."

Elsa slapped her forehead before stepping inside.

Seeing Lioro looking at her with a smile she couldn't help but blush.

"You know," he mused, tilting his head, "where I come from, they call people like you a pervert."

Elsa's face turned bright red.

"I'm not a pervert...", She retorted in a small voice while looking away.

Lioro smiled and asked:" So? Did you need anything?"

Elsa calmed down and looked straight at Lioro.

After thinking for a moment she asked in a roundabout way.

"Aren't you? going to sleep?...."

Lioro waved his hand dismissively.

"I can't sleep, I need to be awake to maintain the magic."

He said in a casual voice like it was no big deal.

But this also meant that he wouldn't be able to sleep until Elsa finished mastering her magic.

Elsa couldn't help but lower her eyes in sadness.

Because of her, he will have to suffer.

Seeing her changed expression, Lioro asked.

"What's the matter?"

"it's nothing...", Elsa shook her head. She wanted to thank him, but after saying it so many times already, the words felt hollow.

Lioro stretched, swinging his legs off the bed. "Come and sit down."

She followed his words, settling before him.

His gaze drifted to the book in her hands. "How's the progress?"

"It's...a little hard to understand."

Elsa said as she raised her hand and tried to form an ice flake.

It was a tier 0 spell she tried making by inferring to the examples in the book.

Seeing the scene, Lioro was speechless.

Hard to understand?

Did she understand the words that were coming out of her mouth?

Most people in Overlord spend the year before mastering this basic book and using tier 0 spells.

But she almost did it in a few hours?

He originally just wanted her to get a basic idea of magic by reading the book and never expected her to actually understand something so quickly.

It seems we have another genius here!

"There were some parts which confused me....."

'Please don't ask me.', Lioro said in his mind while controlling the corners of his mouth from twitching.

"Lioro please tell me how this is done....", Elsa asked, flipping open a page.

'Goddammit Elsa! Is it too late to say that I'm a partial warrior?!'

Taking in a deep breath, Lioro grabbed the book and closed it.

Seeing Elsa's confused eyes, he said.

"Elsa magic is.....emotions."

Time to activate bullshit mode.

Elsa blinked.

"But the book had clear theories--"

"That's for the normal person, you however are different."

"Different?"

"Yes, your talent for magic is far higher than the one who made this book, you can control it based on feeling alone."

"So what should I do?"

"Take reference from the book and just keep practicing, I''ll have you know hard work beats genius....."

Then he started talking about contemporary nonsense, just like his university professors from his previous life.

Listening to Lioro's words, Elsa fell silent.

'Use theorems and combine them with feelings....'

She raised her hand and formed the ice flake again.

This time the ice flake trembled for a few moments before stabilizing.

Elsa's face lit up.

"Lioro I did it! Just like you said! Combine theory with feelings!"

'I did? Damn my talk-no-jutsu works!'

He coughed, feigning composure. "Good work."

Elsa showed him the ice flake in excitement.

"Look this is my tier 0 spell, Ice Flake."

Lioro blinked and brought his face closer to the ice flake.

It was.....tiny and quite weak.

Though it looked beautiful, which was a plus.

[Tier 0 spell 'Ice Flake' detected, would you like to learn it?]

Even the system recognized it.

Suddenly a light bulb lit up in Lioro's mind.

'If I learn the spell and upgrade it...'

He will instantly know the ice magic of a higher tier.

Which meant he would be able to teach Elsa by simply explaining to her the higher-tiered ice spells.

And with her genius, she should be able to quickly master it!

Lioro's eyes glowed.

It could totally work.

On the other hand, Elsa blushed seeing Lioro's face fo close to her hands.

It was too close....

Her heart pounded in her chest

As her emotions became unstable the ice flake trembled before blasting straight on Lioro's face, covering it in frost.

"I-I didn't mean to do that!", Elsa panicked.

Lioro raised his frozen head and summoned a small fireball to melt away the snow.

Elsa looked at the entire process in awkwardness.

After the ice was gone, Lioro said flatly.

"Let's not do that again."

"...ok.."

Wiping away the water from his face, Lioro learned the ice spell and spent skill points to increase its level.

[Ice Flake(Tier 0)-> Frost Petal (1st tier)]

[Frost Petal (1st tier)-> Snow Blossom (2nd tier)]

[Snow Blossom (2nd tier)-> Frozen Lily (3rd tier)]

[Frozen Lily (3rd tier)-> Crystal Lotus (4th tier)]

[Crystal Lotus (4th tier)-> Frostvine Wisteria (5th tier)]

[Frostvine Wisteria (5th tier)-> Permafrost Orchid (6th tier)]

[Permafrost Orchid (6th tier)-> Eternal Winter Bloom (7th tier)]

[Eternal Winter Bloom (7th tier)-> Glacier Rose (8th tier)]

[Glacier Rose (8th tier)-> Absolute Zero Camellia (9th tier)]

[Absolute Zero Camellia (9th tier)-> Frozen Nirvana Lotus (10th tier)]

[Skill points 29-> 19]

And he instantly became a master of ice magic.

Looking at Elsa, he opened his mouth and started explaining the workings of the tier 1 ice spell Frost Petal.

The more she heard Lioro's words the more Elsa's eyes glowed.

Then inside the room, sitting on top of the bed the two started an academic discussion of their own.

Elsa absorbed the knowledge like a sponge, improving rapidly.

Lioro simply explained what he knew.

After some time.

In between their discussion, Elsa's eyelids started dropping on their own.

Seeing this, Lioro said: "You're tired Elsa."

"I can't sleep.....when you are working hard..."

She said while letting out a big yarn.

Lioro smiled and shook his head.

"Our physical fitness is different, even if I don't sleep for a week it will not affect me much."

"But still.....yarn~"

"Your magic is tied to your emotions, remember? Rest is important. Sleep, Elsa."

"hm...ok..."

Finally giving in, Elsa closed her eyes.

Her body instantly lost strength and dropped forward.

Lioro supported her with his hand then got up from the bed and let her lay down peacefully.

Pulling up the blanket he covered her with it, then just as he was moving back, he saw that his hand was being held tightly by the sleeping Elsa.

Scratching his nose he tried to slowly pull it out but then maybe because of the movement, Elsa's sleeping face furrowed, she tightened the group around his arm and pulled it near her face, using it as a pillow.

Now Lioro was stuck in an awkward position.

He could just wake her up and take his hand back but remembering how hard she was studying just now, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

So he let Elsa have his left hand and sat on the ground right next to the bed.

After settling down, he couldn't help but think about the situation and found it quite funny.

Elsa came to his room, worried he would be unable to sleep only to end up taking over his bed at the end.

Shaking his head at the absurdity of the situation, Lioro leaned against the bed frame and continued controlling the spell.

Time passed quickly.

Nine hours passed by.

Elsa's eyelids trembled before opening up.

Seeing the familiar hand she was holding, Elsa moved her eyes and saw Lioro sitting on the ground beside the bed.

She instantly understood what had happened.

"Awake?", Lioro asked with a smile.

Seeing his unfaltering smile.

She couldn't help but remember everything he had done till now.

Met her in the castle, helped her control her powers, entertained her with new games, protected her from harm, saved her kingdom, and taught her magic.

His actions, selfless.

'I understand now...'

Raising her hand she pulled back silver hair covering her face.

'A pure act of true love.'

The knot in her heart unwinded.

Casting away the curse placed on the land.

....preventing Lioro from days of sleepless nights.

----

A few days ago…

Dungeon: 59th Floor.

The Abyssal Dread Knight raised his greatsword, slashing through a Demi-Spirit with an arc of pure negative energy. The creature's head separated cleanly from its body before disintegrating into nothingness.

Compared to its once-imposing presence, the Dread Knight now looked worn—its armor cracked, its dark energy flickering unsteadily, and flames burning wildly around it.

"These monsters… are getting troublesome....," the Abyssal Dread Knight muttered in a distorted, hollow voice.

From the darkness, a pair of glowing red eyes slit open.

Void Phantasm.

"...Stronger… Different… Coordinating..." it whispered, its voice a haunting echo.

Not far from them, the Night Lich sat hunched, his skeletal form partially broken. Among the three, his condition was the worst, his right arm was missing, and his left leg was severed at the knee. The only thing keeping him upright was his mastery of magic.

Fortunately, he was not a warrior. For a spellcaster, limbs were secondary.

Despite his injuries, his gaze burned with intelligence as he surveyed the battlefield.

"Even you fools should have noticed?" he said in a rasping voice. "These monsters they're adapting."

It happened from the 49th floor, they realized something was different.

At first, the strange plant-like creatures seemed manageable, just another variation of dungeon spawns. But then, the Demi-Spirits appeared.

And the real battle began.

Their enemies had learned.

All the undead the Night Lich summoned had been obliterated within moments, scorched by a massive preemptive fire attack.

Before they could react, a barrage of spells rained down on them from multiple angles, forcing them onto the defensive.

They had barely survived.

It wasn't luck. It was teamwork.

For the first time since they had been created, the three had fought as a unit.

Still, the situation was dire.

"They analyzed our weaknesses," the Night Lich continued. "And they used them against us."

He exhaled, his skeletal fingers curling around his staff. "Going any further is suicide. We should retreat."

But his words were met with instant resistance.

"I will… follow Master's will…" the Abyssal Dread Knight growled.

Lioro had given them a command: explore the dungeon for a week before returning.

Six days had passed.

For the Abyssal Dread Knight, failure was not an option.

Even if death was certain, he would not turn back.

With unwavering resolve, he lifted his massive sword onto his shoulder and stepped forward, toward the next floor.

The Night Lich and Void Phantasm exchanged a glance.

They knew it was foolish. They knew the odds were against them.

And yet, they followed.

After countless battles together, a silent agreement had formed between them. A party had been forged in the fires of combat, each covering the other's weaknesses.

If not for this, they would not have survived the last ambush.

Now, it was time for the final trial.

They passed through the massive stone gates to the 60th Floor.

And there, waiting for them, was an army.

An endless horde of creatures, stronger than anything they had faced before.

Demi-Spirits filled the battlefield, their spectral forms radiating overwhelming energy.

But unlike before, there was another.

Sitting upon a throne of twisted plants, a Queen watched them with cold amusement.

The corrupted spirit.

The moment they saw her, they understood.

They had reached a dead end.

This wasn't an opponent they could simply cut through.

Their opponent was in a different league.

Abysall Dread Night's two red eyes behind his broken helmet glowed in a calm light

Death was not an end for them.

It is simply, another beginning.

A battle wasn't simply determined by strength.

Meaning their defeat was not yet set in stone.

Taking a step forward the Abysall Dread Night raised his sword, pointing it straight at the queen of monsters, he said in a creepy voice.

"Come....."

Who said only humans can go on an adventure?

Today against all odds they shall prove them wrong.

For their lord.

By having their own adventure.