Chapter 273 — The Game Difficulty Is Insane
Between Obenue and Deventer.
The winter forest, once filled with snow-covered coniferous trees, was now being brutally destroyed, with nothing left of its former appearance.
Kwaaaaaang—!
Pitch-black demonic energy exploded from every direction, raising clouds of black dust.
At the same time, the cold that seeped through the gaps between the dust particles instantly froze everything it touched.
Kajajak— Kajajajak—!
The air itself froze and formed blades.
Whioooooo—!
A fierce windstorm suddenly swept in from somewhere, sending the blades formed in the air flying.
They joined the ice fragments that had already covered the surroundings and rushed toward the enemy.
“Kugh!”
Seeing the ice fragments rushing toward him without leaving any blind spot, the Demon King released his demonic energy.
Goooooooo—
Kwaaang!
His sharp, unrefined demonic energy ran wild in its raw form and collided with the fragments flying in from every direction.
Among the demonic energy particles scattering like dust, finely shattered ice crystals glittered beautifully as they struck the Demon King's body.
However, instead of simply bouncing off and falling to the ground, the ice crystals clung to Lupellos's body and stole away his warmth.
“?!”
Lupellos hurriedly moved away and released more demonic energy to shake off the ice crystals stuck to his body.
But even though they had only remained there for a brief moment, the skin where the crystals had been attached had already become red from frostbite.
If he had reacted even a little later, the ice crystals would probably have caused the skin to die and decay.
“Huff… huff……”
His breathing became rough, and a desperate emotion appeared in his golden eyes, which were glowing with red murderous energy.
Nearly thirty minutes had passed since the battle began again after their confrontation.
But the current situation was completely different from what he had expected before the fight.
The cold that was slowly tightening around his breath was more troublesome than anything he had ever experienced.
But no matter how troublesome the enemy's ability was, it made no sense that an 8-star opponent could push him, a 9-star, this far.
Even though Nox had taken back the power he had given him, Lupellos was still a 9-star.
Even after exhausting a great deal of his strength in the previous battle, he should not have been at a level where an 8-star could defeat him.
Then how?
“Kuaaaargh……!”
Grinding his teeth, Lupellos adjusted his stance.
However, the accumulating cold was visibly making his body slower than before.
“You look tired.”
A woman with amber eyes walked forward through the deep blue cold.
Her red hair, contrasting sharply with the frigid surroundings, calmly fell downward despite the fierce wind swirling around her.
Blood had gathered around her eyes from using magic, but she still looked much more relaxed than him.
“Do you want to keep going?”
Killing intent appeared in Lupellos's eyes.
“You fucking… bitch……”
Since she was a blood relative of the previous Demon King, it was natural that she could control cold demonic energy.
But the cold she controlled was far more troublesome to deal with than the cold demonic energy Diaro had used long ago.
It was as if her ability had evolved by another level through the generations.
Honestly, its raw power was weak.
Even though he was exhausted, Lupellos could block all of her attacks simply by releasing his demonic energy.
But the troublesome part of the cold she controlled was not its power.
The real problem was the range of its influence.
The cold released by the woman could freeze anything it touched.
Not only surrounding objects, but even the air and demonic energy itself.
‘How… am I supposed to fight her?’
The temperature around him continued to drop.
His body was becoming slower with every passing moment.
If he did not make a decisive move now, his entire body would gradually freeze from that woman's cold, and he would die.
Forcing his frozen thoughts to move faster, Lupellos rolled his eyes.
Soon, his gaze fell on the small ice pick in the woman's hand.
“……”
Come to think of it, when the woman had attacked him from several kilometers away at first, the cold she used had not been like this.
It had been troublesome, just like Diaro's, but still within a level he could handle.
The moment the woman's cold began affecting everything was after she took the ice pick from inside her clothes and held it.
‘That's it.’
Lupellos smiled without letting her notice.
“……”
Romina's breathing was becoming heavier.
But she did not show it.
If her opponent realized that she was running out of strength, the situation could change.
He had probably already noticed because blood was flowing from around her eyes, but she had to hide any further signs of weakness.
The ice pick Regnes's Core that she had received from Glenn was truly an incredible artifact.
Using the cold of Regnes, the coldest place in the world, meant obtaining an enormous amount of power.
Thanks to it, she had been able to seize the initiative against a Demon King who had reached the level of a 9-star, surpassing even her father, despite the fact that she herself had not yet reached 9-star.
‘Of course, after receiving it, I had to train myself desperately to combine my demonic energy with Regnes's extreme cold and control them together…….’
Regardless, her long battle with her enemy was finally reaching its end.
Compared to the beginning, his movements had become noticeably slower.
The relaxed expression he had once worn was long gone.
If she accumulated just a little more cold inside him, the Demon King would no longer be able to move.
‘Finally…….’
One more step.
Revenge was right before her eyes.
“Why don't I tell you a little about your father?”
“……What?”
Romina's pupils trembled.
The Demon King, who had looked as if he would attack at any moment, was wearing a sinister smile.
“Aren't you curious what your father said in his final moments before he died?”
“Tell… me……”
“Don't you want to hear it?”
The Demon King took a step forward.
His body was covered in blue and red patches from frostbite, and there was hardly a healthy part left.
“If you don't want to die, then listen.”
“Heh heh… On the very day your father fell by my hand, right before I ended his life, he said this to me.”
The distance between them slowly narrowed.
The Demon King curled up the corner of his mouth.
“He said, ‘It's lonely going to the afterlife alone, so send my daughter with me too!’”
Boom—!
At that moment, the Demon King kicked off the ground.
The earth collapsed beneath his feet as the distance between him and Romina instantly disappeared.
In a fraction of a second, less than even one second, the Demon King swung his claws.
“Hahahaha!”
A red murderous aura flowed together with his wild laughter.
It was an attack that slipped through the brief disturbance in Romina's heart.
But—
“……Tch.”
Cold suddenly descended.
Swoosh—!
“Ugh?!”
A huge ice spike suddenly shot up from the ground and pierced through the Demon King's body.
“Cough… Guaaargh!”
“What a pathetic man……”
Romina had only pretended to be shaken.
