episode_0124

I can’t see anything.

I can’t hear anything.

I can’t feel anything.

I can’t even breathe.

The moment she sensed something was wrong, Yuria realized she was frozen.

Rolling her eyes, Yuria spotted Arina approaching, ready to shatter her along with the ice.

Crack! Arina’s fist pierced through the ice.

But Yuria, slipping out just a split second faster, barely managed to escape.

Her entire body trembled uncontrollably. Severe hypothermia had rendered her muscles useless, and her drowsy, foggy mind refused to function.

What the hell did you just do?

She tried to voice her complaint, but no sound came out.

To be precise, her lips moved, but no voice escaped.

It was only then she realized she still couldn’t breathe. Every attempted inhale didn’t bring air into her lungs—instead, tiny particles stabbed at her throat.

The very air had frozen, making proper breathing impossible.

Sound travels through vibrations in the air. With none of that, no sound reached her ears, and she couldn’t speak.

Meanwhile, Arina and her companions seemed completely unaffected.

Of course. For the woman who loves her beyond reason, fine-tuning something like this wouldn’t be difficult.

“Still, isn’t this speed cheating?”

Her delayed realization wasn’t a mistake—it had happened in an instant.

The moment she sensed Arina’s magic and tried to react, Yuria was already frozen.

Even then, only someone with reflexes beyond human limits could have perceived it at all. Anyone else would’ve been helpless.

“First, I need to breathe again.”

Even a hero can’t survive without air.

Yuria quickly dashed backward to escape the magic’s range. Naturally, Arina pursued her, clearly unwilling to let her go.

Whoosh!

The fist that grazed past her head felt like a genuine threat in Yuria’s current state.

Normally, she could’ve dodged it blindfolded, but with her body refusing to obey, it was no easy feat.

Dodging attacks from all directions while darting around had its limits.

“I can’t… breathe!”

Despite putting considerable distance between them, she still hadn’t escaped the magic’s range.

Finally, the moment she moved, Arina lunged mercilessly and kicked Yuria away.

After tumbling dozens of times, she crashed into a cliff and stopped. Warm blood trickled down her face before quickly turning cold.

But at the same time, it allowed her to assess the situation calmly.

Even at this distance, the magic’s range still held, meaning it likely wasn’t tied to a fixed location but centered on Arina herself.

“And she hasn’t used any other spells since earlier.”

Probably because the recoil from ultra-fast spellcasting left her unable to. That penalty must be why she hadn’t used it until now.

The once-lush Linebear Mountain Range, with its vibrant forests and flowing rivers, had transformed into a blinding white snowscape the moment Arina set foot on it.

Brushing back her snow-like hair, Arina gazed down at Yuria with icy blue eyes.

“So this is Riel Frost as an enemy.”

Strength and combat skills that rivaled even hers—the strongest hero in history. And the sheer variety of tactics.

Even when she thought she had the upper hand, the tide had turned in an instant.

A mage so absurdly powerful, it was as if she was designed never to lose. Yuria could almost understand how the demon army must’ve felt fighting her.

“Still… it’s too early to fall.”

Using the holy sword as support, Yuria forced herself up. The moment she did, she noticed something off—the sword creaked unnaturally.

A large crack ran through the indestructible holy sword.

The tiny flaw Cecil had created had given Arina an opening, widening the damage.

Whether this day had come now or later, one thing was certain: the holy sword was about to break.

Arina paused briefly to gather her magic. The recoil from her rapid spellcasting was finally wearing off.

Just as she prepared to finish things, Yuria made her move, darting forward and burying herself in Arina’s embrace.

“Hah…! I knew it. The area around you is outside the effect.”

Yuria gasped, greedily gulping down the air she’d been deprived of.

“Feeling better now?”

As Arina asked, a sphere of freezing energy materialized in her hand.

“Though that might be the last breath you take.”

Cradling the sphere delicately, as if handling a precious gem, Arina aimed it at Yuria.

“Planning to end this with that? Fine by me.”

Yuria’s holy sword swept through the air, tracing a semicircle. Flames erupted along its path, rapidly melting the frozen ground and sending up massive plumes of steam.

No trace of restraint remained. White flames erupted from Yuria as her freezing energy clashed violently with Arina’s, creating a storm of heat and cold between them.

Yuria’s eyes widened in shock.

How much magic power does she have to match my holy energy like this…?

Both scraped together every last ounce of strength for their final strike.

Yuria swung her sword down first, unleashing a blaze of white fire.

“Sun Slayer.”

The balance shattered instantly as Yuria’s flames overwhelmed Arina’s frost.

But as the fire closed in, melting away her ice, Arina finally finished her own preparations and released her magic.

“Ice—Age.”

A burst of freezing energy erupted, suppressing Yuria’s flames in an instant. It pushed halfway through effortlessly but struggled to advance further.

Their magic was perfectly balanced.

The first to exhaust their power would lose.

Though Arina was using far more magic to maintain the equilibrium, she also had a greater reserve.

Yuria was confident in a battle of attrition one-on-one, but the two prior fights had taken their toll.

Arina’s magic began to waver. If this continued, she’d lose. So she poured everything she had left into a single point.

The concentrated cold pierced through the flames, aiming straight for Yuria.

“Ghk—!”

She blocked with her holy sword, but the force showed no sign of weakening.

Crack. Crack.

The damage to the sword spread visibly, the small flaw now a web of fractures.

Snap! Finally, the holy sword shattered, and the freezing energy engulfed Yuria.

Meanwhile, it was Arina’s turn to be swallowed by flames. Though only a small hole had been torn through, the fire surged toward her relentlessly.

“This is enough.”

She’d forced a draw. Without Yuria, Ian and Millen would be safe. If she could just survive—however unlikely—it’d be her victory.

Even if she died, the loss of a key player would soon make the enemy pay.

Closing her eyes against the approaching flames, she failed to react to the sudden flick to her forehead.

“Ow…! Ian?”

At the critical moment, standing beside Arina—as he had so many times before—was him.

The man who loved her more than anyone, the most obsessively devoted husband in the world.

“Don’t even think about something so stupid. I didn’t follow you just to be a burden.”

Drawing his sword, he blocked Yuria’s flames. A magic-deflecting demon blade.

A useful tool, but it had its limits.

There was no way it could fully stop Yuria’s full power.

Yet Ian poured all his magic into the blade. The techniques he’d honed while chasing after her, the way he wielded the demon blade—by now, he’d reached mastery in this one aspect.

A year of training for this single moment. Ian bisected the flames. Even with the demon blade’s power, the best he could do was barely alter its trajectory to spare Arina—but that was enough.

Whoosh! The deflected flames reduced the landscape behind them to ashes.

Arina muttered in disbelief.

“No way…! Even if I weakened it, this shouldn’t be possible! You weren’t this strong against the Guardians!”

“I kept training even after that. And, not to bring it up now, but I think I got a little stronger every time with you.”

“E-Every time?! I’ve heard of dual cultivation techniques in the Eastern Continent, but… don’t tell me it was real?!”

As Arina fell into serious contemplation, the demon blade in Ian’s hand crumbled into ash and scattered.

“Ah! What a waste.”

“It’s fine. I got it to help you in the first place. It served its purpose.”

“But after all that effort, doesn’t it feel like a loss? Should I ask the Elder to make another?”

“That sounds like you’re planning to make me use it again.”

“N-No, that’s not what I—”

When the man whispered while stroking her waist, the woman blushed and stepped back—but not too far, because she didn’t dislike it.

They were a perfect match, undeniable to anyone who saw them.

Watching the scene, Yuria felt a complicated mix of emotions, unsure what expression to wear.

The most vivid one—bitterness—twisted her lips into a wry smile.

“Well… I’ll barely call that a pass.”

With those unheard words, Yuria Railani fell into a sleep from which she might never wake.