Chapter 88: True Purpose (4)

The Winter King.  

A monstrous being that had existed since the dawn of time, the pinnacle of evil gods. 

Among the gods, he was considered the most powerful and formidable. 

Even in situations where lesser gods would have perished, he had managed to endure by sheer force of will.  

The reason the Winter King, now reduced to a pitiful state, still clung to existence was singular: to exact revenge on the human who had brought about his downfall.  

And there was someone who sought to exploit that vengeance.  

A being who had gone unnoticed, overshadowed by the colossal presence of the Winter King.  

A being who had usurped the seat of the goddess and become a new deity in her own right.  

She had loved the one who created her, her parent, dearly.  

Yet, at the same time, she harbored a greed to ascend to her parent’s throne.  

It was only natural—she was a god created for that very purpose.  

However, until now, she had not dared to act.  

The overwhelming presence of the Winter King meant that even if she betrayed him at a critical moment, he could erase her existence in an instant.  

But now, things were different.  

The Winter King had been defeated by a human and had fallen into ruin, losing not only his immense power but also most of his intellect.  

Meanwhile, she had followed her parent’s orders, meticulously carrying out a plan to devour the kingdom.  

Unlike her parent, she had ascended to a proper divine throne, gaining immense power and faith.  

[Thus, it is not impossible for me to succeed my parent.]  

But to do so, certain conditions had to be met.  

And now, those conditions were about to be fulfilled.  

Meanwhile, Wolfgang, unaware of the other’s schemes, was clashing with all her might.  

Golden flames began to engulf the surroundings as she and the Winter King entered a completely different realm.  

The activation of Muspelheim immediately provoked a reaction from the Winter King.  

Though he had been reduced to a mere puppet, devoid of will, the Winter King still reacted strongly to Muspelheim.  

It was a place etched deeply into his memory.  

How could he forget?  

This was the world that had marked the beginning of his downfall.  

Before his fall, the Winter King had fought countless battles against Wolfgang here.  

At first, he had held the upper hand, but he had been unable to end the fight as he wished.  

In the end, overwhelmed by her power, he had been miserably slain.  

Thus, he was filled with rage.  

Rage at being defeated by a mere human, but also rage to suppress another emotion.  

The Winter King immediately exhaled a breath of icy fury.  

The breath transformed into a massive blizzard, threatening to extinguish the flames of Muspelheim.  

Even in his weakened state, the power he displayed was formidable.  

“As expected, you’re a foe I must defeat with everything I’ve got.”  

[Krooooooar!!]  

“Fine. If you’re so eager to fight, I won’t back down either.”  

Wolfgang had no intention of avoiding this battle.  

Well, she would have preferred to avoid it if possible, but she knew that life didn’t always go as one wished.  

She also knew better than anyone that avoiding problems only led to bigger ones later.  

So, she had to face this head-on. Only then could she find peace later.  

In the world engulfed by golden flames, the fire-forged swords, Lævateinn, surged toward the Winter King at her command.  

The Winter King did not remain idle either.  

With a wave of his hand, swords of frost emerged from the ice, clashing with the Lævateinn and evaporating upon contact.  

While Wolfgang held the advantage in raw power, the elemental disadvantage was evident.  

Even a rotting fox is still a fox.  

This was the body of a being once called the pinnacle of evil gods.  

But what Wolfgang needed to be wary of now was the fact that the Winter King had begun to mimic her.  

Originally, gods disliked copying humans, as they believed it diminished their divine authority.  

Especially the Winter King, who had once viewed humans as mere insects.  

Thus, even though he could have wielded the same power as Wolfgang, he had refrained until the very end.  

But now, he had nothing left.  

No divine dignity.  

No divine authority.  

No faith.  

All that remained was hatred and a desire for revenge.  

But even that was beginning to wane.  

No matter the elemental advantage, even if he had mimicked Wolfgang’s techniques from the beginning with his full power, the outcome would not have changed.  

In the end, a fake could never defeat the real thing.  

Wolfgang began to push the Winter King back with all her might.  

Around the time Wolfgang began her battle with the Winter King, the Vendetta Legion engaged the saint and the hero Van.  

Though they were the legendary legion that had shone during the Winter War, facing Van was no easy task.  

No, to be precise, facing Van, who was under the goddess’s protection, was incredibly difficult.  

Leifen clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath.  

“None of our attacks are working.”  

“He’s not taking any damage at all. Even the Wendigos weren’t this tough.”  

“Indeed, this doesn’t look good.”  

The Vendetta Legion wasn’t idle either.  

Influenced by Wolfgang, they unleashed their secret techniques without reserve, all aimed at Van.  

But even if he hadn’t been a hero, Van was the strongest of the four heroes, and with the goddess’s blessing, no attack could so much as scratch him.  

All the Vendetta Legion could do for now was use Natascha’s undead army to keep Van at bay.  

Watching this, Leifen felt increasingly frustrated.  

“Damn it, we’re at a stalemate. That saint is definitely plotting something.”  

Leifen’s mind raced.  

Should he force Van into another space, even at great cost, and then focus all their strength on subduing the saint?  

No, that was too risky.  

This place was a distorted space, and a single misstep could lead to unimaginable consequences.  

Moreover, even if they somehow managed to break through and reach the saint, she undoubtedly had tricks up her sleeve.  

So, their top priority had to be subduing this damnable foe first.  

The saint seemed to be enjoying the situation rather than intervening.  

‘She doesn’t seem to be planning to interfere for now. In fact, she looks like she’s enjoying this.’  

Indeed, even before the direct confrontation, Wolfgang had warned him about her.  

She was a deeply suspicious character.  

But just then, Van swung his greatsword and charged at Leifen.  

Leifen’s sword clashed with Van’s greatsword, sending a massive shockwave rippling through the area.  

The impact sent Galina, who had been preparing to counterattack beside Leifen, flying backward.  

“Ugh!! This is driving me crazy!!”  

Galina, her pride wounded, glared at the clash between Leifen and Van.  

She didn’t like it, but there was nothing she could do.  

If only their attacks could land, it might be different.  

But unfortunately, nothing seemed to work against Van—no, against the hero controlling Prince Jaiha’s body.  

In fact, even recognizing him as Van was difficult.  

At this very moment, Galina was still perceiving the man before her as Prince Jaiha, not the hero Van.  

As a result, she was fighting him as if he were Jaiha, leaving her wide open to Van’s counterattacks.  

This wasn’t even a problem anymore. If their attacks had been effective, they would have already taken his head.  

‘We can’t even overpower him with brute force. What kind of monster is this?’  

The moment they realized their attacks were useless, Jackal and Dena had tried to physically restrain Van.  

But just as they thought they had him pinned down, a golden explosion erupted.  

The golden flash, though she hated to admit it, resembled their captain’s power in its intensity.  

By the time they regained their senses, Jackal and Dena were already unconscious.  

No, that was putting it mildly.  

The two, being nearly immortal, had only been knocked out.  

If it had been Leifen, he might have been killed instantly.  

“Vice-captain, you should be more careful. You might really die.”  

“Foolish. If I can’t handle this much, I don’t deserve the title of No. 2.”  

“Ha, fine. Do as you please.”  

A single misjudgment had left two of their members incapacitated.  

If it weren’t for Natascha’s undead restraining Van’s movements, they might have been wiped out entirely.  

So, they had to proceed cautiously.  

Against this nearly invincible foe.  

If they could just hold out, their captain would return.