Ch.107Ice Dragon Sword

My senses suddenly opened wide.

There was no other way to describe it. The rotating circle behind my back amplified the mana I possessed. Not only that, it was drawing in all the mana flowing through nature itself.

It felt as if I was cultivating an internal energy technique or mana cultivation method outside my body.

An overwhelming sense of omnipotence.

The cold wind enveloping my entire body detected everything around me. People’s breathing, even the sound of blood flowing through vessels beneath their skin could be sensed.

‘My head is hot.’

My body was cold, but my head was burning. The immense spirit contained within the sword elevated Sei-rin to a higher dimension. My understanding of mana increased rapidly. Controlling mana became as natural as breathing.

With a slight gesture, wind and mana gathered like a whirlwind. In this state, it seemed possible. Sei-rin glimpsed the possibility of combining the Taebaek Snow Dragon Sword with the White Frost Tribe’s martial arts, and beyond, through the sparkling starlight consuming her mind.

It felt like borrowing someone else’s senses. In reality, it wasn’t different. All these sensations she was seeing and feeling originated from the Ice Dragon Sword’s original owner.

‘Who could it be?’

A tiny girl. Not much different in build from her own younger sister. Memories were clearly imprinted of golden shimmering hair and confident green eyes looking down upon the world.

Not even her name had been properly transmitted. Perhaps because she had crossed dimensions? The memories weren’t complete. Yet this was enough. Sei-rin continued breathing and felt her body becoming lighter.

This was because the mana swirling around her combined with the elemental wind, lifting her body into the air.

“G-give it back! That sword isn’t something just anyone can use!”

A voice flew in, breaking her contemplation, causing her eyes to open. Sei-rin took in the girl rushing urgently toward her. It was Handel, the girl wrapped in starlight.

Those eyes that had always been pure were now tainted with greed, and the lips that once smiled brightly were now twisted maliciously.

Disgust, anger, and all sorts of negative emotions swirled within her. Yet she didn’t reveal these emotions outwardly. The frozen mana cooled her inner self calmly.

It’s not easy to get angry in this state. What was it like for the girl who originally felt this sensation?

Then suddenly, a small question arose. Handel had said this sword, the Ice Dragon Sword, wasn’t something just anyone could use. It was an absurd statement. Who else besides herself at this moment could properly wield the Ice Dragon Sword?

Even if Deputy Commander Karnok came, it would be impossible.

This wasn’t arrogance. Through the blessing bestowed upon her, Sei-rin could perceive the sword’s true essence.

“This is a sword only I can use.”

Whiiiii-

The declaration flowing from the girl’s lips brought winter. Ice particles formed on the swirling wind. Those ice particles rotated rapidly, reflecting light.

The appearance was as if her entire body was wrapped in starlight. It contrasted with Handel, who was enveloped in pitch-black starlight.

Time is fair to everyone. Sei-rin had thought so until just moments ago. But that wasn’t true. The spirit contained in the sword, the cold it held, slowed down the time within her body.

She continued her thoughts, dividing the fleeting moment. Simultaneously, Sei-rin took a step. Blue wind spread across the ice-cold surface. All martial arts in her mind repeatedly decomposed and recombined.

Kiiing-!

The massive circle positioned behind her back increased its rotation rate.

One breath—the time Sei-rin spent taking a step. A new incantation was formed and began to dissolve into her meridians. The flow of mana was remarkably precise. There was not a speck of waste, not a single failure. Originally, this talent wasn’t granted to Sei-rin. However, the Ice Dragon Sword and the starlight contained within it substituted for everything.

Could this truly be called martial arts?

That’s how a new star was born.

“Let me show you. This is—”

How to use a sword.

Five strands of wind wrapped in cold energy shot from the small girl’s sword. All attacks occurred at the same moment. A strange phenomenon transcending space-time distorted the space.

“T-this…”

Handel recognized the attacks coming toward her. She only recognized them. Simultaneously, five directions were occupied. As if the attacks were thrown with the assumption that there was nowhere to escape.

She couldn’t evade. The speed was too fast. It was beyond what could be described as swift swordsmanship. Sound couldn’t keep up. The attacks, targeting the gaps in the fleeting moment, made Handel lose her cognitive abilities.

‘What on earth is that sword…’

The pitch-black starlight enveloping her body scattered. As the sensation in her arms and legs was severed, Handel’s world turned to darkness.

Handel’s body collapsed in the same posture she had been running in. Not a single drop of blood flowed from the severed body parts. As if she hadn’t recognized her own death until the moment she fell, Handel’s eyes blinked slowly.

“Huff…”

Sei-rin’s breath cut through the silence. At the same time, the ice crystals positioned behind her back stopped rotating.

Crack-crack-

The circle made of ice crystals began to shatter. As if it had fulfilled its purpose. Sei-rin silently looked down at the ice scattering at her feet. Simultaneously, the spirit that had heated her head began to lose its light.

Ice Dragon-Heart

For some reason, because the image of a massive dragon covered in blue scales flashed before her eyes in the final moment, she gave it this name. It wasn’t a sword technique. It was the essence for handling the power Sei-rin possessed, for moving her body.

‘The heart of a dragon.’

Sei-rin came to possess the cold heart of a dragon. When she moved her body, wind infused with cold energy naturally followed. The constantly operating Ice Dragon-Heart made this possible.

“Sei-rin, you…”

“What was that just now…?”

She had displayed an incredible divine skill that surprised even herself. It was natural for the members she normally knew to feel surprise, doubt, and shock. Sei-rin lightly rotated the Ice Dragon Sword in her hand.

Whisk-

The Ice Dragon Sword spun once in her hand. Surprisingly light. As if it had no weight. But the weight definitely existed. A strange sword. Sei-rin had collected various swords before. She had carefully checked rumors about unusual swords. But this kind of sword was definitely a first.

“This must be the Dragon Heart.”

She had obtained this sword and gained the Ice Dragon-Heart. It was hard to say that was wrong. At Sei-rin’s words, all gazes that had been directed at her turned toward the sword. The sword, with a faint wind residing in it, occasionally sprinkled a dim breeze.

It was a sword that looked extraordinary at a glance. Even the reincarnated girl, after obtaining the sword, had easily handled the combined attack of more than ten Blue Wing members. Everyone knew that if more time had passed, Blue Wing would have lost.

“Oh my…”

A sigh releasing a strange tension flowed out. It was Karnok. Slumped down, he sat on the ground with no intention of getting up. He didn’t even glance at the Ice Dragon Sword that Sei-rin had obtained, as if he had not the slightest interest in it.

Karnok said:

“Let’s rest for a bit.”

Rest. Everyone had been waiting for those words. There were many who were tired from giving their all. Those who had been watching cautiously sat down one by one.

Theo and Flora naturally approached and sat beside Sei-rin.

***

Blue Wing was no longer in a situation where they could fight. Although they knew many reincarnators remained inside the ice fortress, they had no choice but to turn back. Sei-rin’s situation was no different.

The sense of omnipotence that had filled her body was gone. Like a momentary dream, it all flew away the instant the ice crystals behind her back melted. Everything became limp.

But for now, that was enough. It felt like she had stepped into the realm she would eventually reach. If she knew the path to take, she just needed to work hard.

As the Blue Wing group quietly descended the mountain range, Sei-rin stopped. Her gaze turned toward the snow-covered ground that had coldly settled. Beyond the blowing wind, a faint, very faint thread-like thing entered her vision.

Was she seeing things wrong? It didn’t disappear even when she rubbed her eyes. Sei-rin pulled Flora, who was walking beside her.

“Flora.”

“Yes?”

“Can you see that?”

“See what?”

Flora turned her head at Sei-rin’s gesture. But she couldn’t discover anything. All that entered her vision was the pure white snow field. When one of her few friends expressed doubt, Sei-rin frowned.

“What are you looking at? Aren’t you coming down?”

Even Deputy Commander Karnok seemed not to have sensed its existence. Sei-rin didn’t turn around. Instead, she lightly swung the Ice Dragon Sword in her hand.

Whisk-

The wind arising from her light gesture sent forth a sharp blade imbued with cold energy. The wind she created passed through the empty air.

But Sei-rin could see it. That a faintly rippling thread had been cut. At the same time, a pure white wind blew.

The swirling wind seemed to take the form of a man for an instant. But in the blink of an eye, the wind scattered. She had cut something that had been bound. Had he regained his freedom?

Like the faintly scattering wind.

“Sei-rin!”

“…I’m coming.”

The small girl turned around. Due to her exhaustion, she couldn’t walk on the snow. Plop, plop—her short legs sank deeply into the snowfield.

Eventually, Flora, who had been watching, carried Sei-rin on her back.