episode_0057

Alice swiftly swung her sword.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

She slashed around her distracted opponent, freezing everything in her path.

Crackle!

“!!!!!!”

The moment Geum Taeyang was trapped in the ice pillar, he snapped back to his senses.

“We’re in the middle of a fight, you know?”

“If this were real combat, your head would’ve been gone by now.”

“……Were you going easy on me?”

“I wanted to see your real strength. What’s the point if you go down in one hit because you let your guard down?”

She could’ve ended it in one strike and asked about Cain.

But.

More than that, she wanted to properly gauge his strength.

He claimed he could stand against the Demon King.

If she could overwhelm him with sheer power,

then that would mean she, too, had reached the Demon King’s level.

If she could defeat even the Four Heavenly Kings or the Demon King in a one-on-one fight,

then it would mean Ria could keep up her crying act until the very end.

‘It’s possible.’

Cain had said it.

The current Alice was stronger than any version of her he’d seen in the Prophecy RPG.

She had mastered techniques that were only usable in the late-game stages,

and even evolved beyond them.

Level? He mentioned she hadn’t fully grown due to lacking in that regard,

but in terms of combat power alone, she had surpassed the max-level Alice from the Prophecy RPG.

Ranked as S-class.

…At least, that was Cain’s assessment.

But.

She had never fought against someone on the level of the Demon King or the Four Heavenly Kings.

She didn’t know if she was truly S-class.

So.

She had to fight properly.

She had to go all out against this man who claimed he could fight until the Demon King grew exhausted.

…With that thought, she swung her sword.

‘First, let’s test the waters lightly.’

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Whirl! Fwoosh!

Her blade moved in rapid succession.

“This much is nothing.”

Geum Taeyang dodged every attack with lightning-fast reflexes.

“Oh…”

“So it wasn’t an empty boast—that you could fight until the Demon King tires?”

“I am Lightning Thunder!”

“A man as fast as lightning, as strong as thunder! Did you really think a mere sword like that could—”

Crackle!

His legs froze over, ice blossoms blooming across them.

“Wh-when did you—?!”

“In your world, you called this ‘Sword Qi Control,’ right?”

The realm of manipulating a sword with energy.

Not swinging it with one’s hands,

but levitating it in midair to strike—the domain of a supreme master.

Not just throwing the sword,

but wielding it like dual-wielding or even triple-wielding.

‘Right now, triple-wielding is my limit.’

Gripping one sword in both hands,

while two more blades of ice hovered in the air, controlled by magic—Sword Qi Control.

The ice blades were fragile, a clear weakness,

but their transparency and thinness made them perfect for ambushes.

And.

A single successful strike would make snow blossoms bloom.

Flowers of death, growing by draining the opponent’s life force, magic, and all other energy.

Cracklecrackle!

“Wh-what?! Why are they getting bigger?!”

“My snow blossoms grow by devouring your energy.”

“What?!”

“You have an ability like that too?!”

“Yep.”

“That wasn’t in the game?!”

“All thanks to Cain.”

“Wow…”

“Insane… He turned a monster into something even more monstrous…”

Geum Taeyang’s face twisted in disbelief as he concentrated electricity into his legs.

Zap!

The heat from condensed lightning burned away the ice blossoms.

“Damn…”

“A crazy flower that even absorbs electricity… And these sprout every time you land a hit?…”

A single flower could be dealt with.

Even if it absorbed electricity,

overloading it with more than it could take would burn it away.

But.

If multiple attacks landed, his entire body would bloom with them.

And then—game over.

Humans, of course,

but even demons with high regeneration would wither and die, drained of all energy.

“That’s terrifying…”

Just imagining himself falling victim to Alice’s ability made Geum Taeyang shudder.

Thus, his conclusion:

Move fast enough to avoid every single attack.

“Change!”

[Go! Go! Go! Speed Warrior!]

Mode Change – Speed Warrior

His armor thinned, becoming lighter,

while boosters emitting blue flames covered his body, allowing him to move at ultra-high speeds.

Defense dropped,

but his speed increased to a level where no one could match him.

With this, he’d never get hit.

…Or so he thought as he dashed.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Swoooosh!

He moved faster than even Ria equipped with speed-type gear.

“Wow…”

“So fast I can’t even see him… Amazing…”

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

“This is the true power of !”

Geum Taeyang circled around Alice relentlessly.

And then—

Thud!

He lunged from behind at blinding speed.

“Huh…”

“I’ll admit, you’re fast.”

“H-huh?…”

“But if I catch you, speed means nothing, right?”

Geum Taeyang was fast.

So fast Alice couldn’t react.

But.

The moment he got close, he gradually slowed down.

Crackle!

His entire body froze over,

and by the time he reached Alice’s face, he had completely stopped.

“Spatial Freeze.”

“A technique that freezes everything within a set range.”

“Everything?…”

“It freezes all matter except air, nullifying every attack—an absolute defense.”

This technique was powerful enough to even freeze and block Ria’s attacks.

The downside was the massive mana consumption,

but that was actually a good thing.

Using this technique let her maintain 50% mana even without the ring.

…That said,

today, she deliberately held back.

‘Can’t freeze Cain’s friend to death.’

Anything touched by Spatial Freeze would freeze and shatter.

All magic turned to dust,

all weapons frozen and broken.

Naturally, people would be reduced to pieces.

That wouldn’t do.

So she only froze him enough to be healed with potions and fire magic.

Tap!

“Thaw yourself out first.”

Geum Taeyang, still frozen, collapsed near the campfire.

“I’ll heal you.”

Ria, who had been watching, emitted a warm light and restored him.

“Ready to go again?”

“……”

Even Geum Taeyang couldn’t deny it after this.

He had lost.

Both Ria and Alice were toying with him like he was a plaything.

But.

He didn’t want to admit defeat just yet.

‘Just once… I just need to win once.’

Even if he lost a hundred times,

if he won just once, he could proudly say he had defeated humanity’s strongest Sword Master, Alice.

That would be enough.

So.

Even if it looked pathetic, he’d keep struggling.

[Go! Go! Go! Sky Launcher!]

Mode Change – Sky Launcher

Abandoning close combat,

he went all-in on flight and ranged attacks.

His back was equipped with for flight,

while his arms bore capable of firing laser beams.

Missiles and lasers erupted from his entire body as he unleashed wide-area bombardment,

with the in his arms switching between standard, artillery, and sniper modes.

If getting close was dangerous,

he’d resort to spamming laser fire from a distance.

‘Might be a cheap tactic against a swordsman.’

But fighting dirty was the norm.

‘Honestly, fighting the world’s strongest swordsman in close combat was a dumb idea to begin with…’

Thinking about it, engaging in melee was foolish.

Ranged combat was the answer from the start.

…So thought Geum Taeyang.

Alice quietly observed him and pondered.

‘How should I end this?’

Close combat was her forte,

but she had also learned ranged combat to some extent.

Thanks to Cain’s magic training.

She could throw ice swords to detonate them,

or create ice birds to function as homing missiles.

But.

This felt like the final round.

If she lost in ranged combat too, she’d have no choice but to admit defeat.

So.

One big attack to end it all.

Hweeeeeeeeng!

She released a massive amount of mana, creating a domain.

Her own domain.

A world where she reigned as king, dominating even the natural mana.

Swoooooosh!

The world turned white.

Snow piled on the ground,

snow gathered on the trees,

snow covered the world.

This was the Snow Field—

a world where everything was made of snow.

Cracklecracklecrackle!

Ice blossoms sprouted from the ground,

flowers bloomed on the trees,

the world filled with ice blossoms.

This was the Blossom Field—

a world where everything was made of flowers.

A world of snow and flowers.

Thus.

She named this world “Snow Blossom Field.”

A world where snow blossoms bloom.

A world where everything is a snow blossom.

A world where the countless snowflakes falling from the sky become her snow blossoms.

“Slash.”

“Agh!… It hurts! Aaaaah! It hurts!!!”

A world where the raging blizzard becomes her sword.

“Pierce.”

“Ghk!… Ugh…”

A world where the ice blossoms rising from the ground form spears, impaling all enemies.

When she swings her sword,

the world becomes a blade that cuts down her foes.

Fwoosh!

A light swing.

But.

The world responded to her slash, transforming into sword energy.

The scattered blizzard and ice blossoms connected as one, becoming a sword that split heaven and earth.

This was the realm she had reached.

Beyond Unity of Body and Sword,

she had attained the realm of Unity with Nature.

Snow Blossom Sword Art – Ultimate Technique

Annihilation (滅)

A name meaning nothing remains where the snow blossoms pass.

“Alice?…”

“Did you kill him?…”

“……”

Ah.

She forgot to hold back.