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Chapter 4
However, just like I was not very sensitive to the cold, the boy riding on top of the wolf also did not seem to feel cold despite having his upper body exposed.
Rather, there was a different important problem.
Swish!
The moment the boy raised the spear in his hand high into the air, the wolves running along the mountain path stopped one after another and suddenly turned around.
The wolves lowered their bodies, bared their teeth, and began growling.
Grrrrr….
Even I, watching from far above, felt chills run down my shoulders.
At the same time, a terrifying figure was slowly walking up from below the mountain path.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the air.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A gigantic bear-shaped creature that looked as if it were made of black mud approached the boy and the wolves while thick tar-like liquid dripped from its body.
I widened my eyes.
‘Ah!’
Then I realized it.
“So that’s a magical beast.”
At that moment, I remembered reading about magical beasts in The Beloved Daughter of the Grand Duchy.
Creatures of darkness and destruction shaped like animals.
Monsters filled completely with malice.
…There were many descriptions like that, but in the end, magical beasts only had one role in the novel.
“They existed so the heroine could show off her powers.”
The heroine could create pure ice crystals with her “real ice ability,” crystals harder than diamonds that could never break.
And those ice crystals could instantly purify the evil inside magical beasts.
‘Of course, my ice couldn’t purify anything at all.’
In the novel, Genuere desperately tried to hide that fact from Kaid Enar. Eventually, she became jealous of the heroine who possessed the “real ice ability.”
Of course, the current me had already completely left the original story’s path behind, so I had absolutely no intention of envying or hating the heroine.
If anything, I wanted to cheer for her.
“Because the heroine’s ice crystals were seriously overpowered!”
No matter how terrifying a magical beast was, the moment the heroine threw one of her ice crystals, the monster would instantly crumble into dust.
‘…Though the problem is that those crystals only appear much later in the novel.’
Anyway, the novel’s descriptions of magical beasts had always been simple. They were just incredibly strong monsters based on animals.
After all, The Beloved Daughter of the Grand Duchy was a story about the heroine being loved, not about her personally fighting magical beasts in action scenes.
‘It definitely was….’
I stared at the scene unfolding below with wide eyes.
The giant bear magical beast swung its fist toward the wolves.
Boom!
The growling wolves dodged the fist and bared their curved fangs before leaping toward the beast’s arms and body.
Roooar! Bark! Bark!
The moment the battle between the bear magical beast and the wolves began, I could not take my eyes off it for even a second.
More specifically, I could not take my eyes off the bear magical beast.
‘What exactly is that thing?’
The movements of the bear magical beast did not look natural like a real bear.
Instead, it moved awkwardly like an artificial robot.
As if delicate machines were hidden inside it, its body moved stiffly while making creaking noises.
It was merely imitating a bear.
The reason I could notice this subtle difference was probably because I had spent thirteen years in the underground laboratory watching all kinds of engines and mechanical devices.
The priests who worshipped the evil god Leventos performed many experiments besides giving me powers.
Some of those experiments involved creating moving machines powered by engines.
Before I knew it, I had spent thirteen years growing up surrounded by things like that.
‘Could there actually be engines and machinery inside magical beasts?’
Of course, the novel never explained things in that much detail.
But more importantly—
The battle was turning bad.
The giant bear magical beast slammed both fists into the ground.
BOOOOM!
The wolves were blown into the air and crashed into the snow.
Whine….
The fallen wolves let out painful cries.
Out of the six wolves, four were already bleeding heavily and could barely move.
The boy riding the leader wolf looked back at the fallen wolves and tightly gripped his spear while gritting his teeth.
He swung the spear fiercely, desperately trying to wound the bear magical beast somehow, but every time he was struck away by the beast’s gigantic fists.
And as the battle continued, more injuries appeared across his bare body.
I took a deep breath.
“At this rate, he’s going to die.”
Then I thought desperately.
‘Is there some way I can help?’
My ice was not a real ability like the heroine’s, but if I used it well, maybe I could still turn the battle around.
Most importantly, I was standing above the cliff while the bear magical beast was below it.
At that moment, I noticed a huge icicle hanging halfway down the cliff.
‘Right. I’ll make an icicle and drop it onto the bear’s head.’
The “Icicle Skill.”
It was a skill where I pointed my palm downward and created an icicle like one hanging from a roof edge.
But judging by the size of the bear magical beast, I would need to create an enormous icicle.
“Think of it as making a giant icicle sculpture.”
The moment I decided that, my mind became calm, and the crystal engine beneath my heart began spinning faster.
Thump thump.
Just then, the bear magical beast staggered after receiving a wound on its arm and leaned against the bottom of the cliff with a loud thud.
“Now!”
I threw myself forward and stretched both hands toward the cliff below.
White mist billowed beneath my palms as an icicle slowly began to grow.
At first, it was tiny like a gummy bear candy.
But when I tightly shut my eyes and focused harder, the crystal engine roared loudly while energy burst from my fingertips, causing the icicle to instantly grow as tall as I was.
The moment the giant sharp icicle was completed—
The bear magical beast seemed to sense danger and slowly lifted its huge head upward.
At that instant, I opened my eyes wide.
Then I clenched both fists and dropped the icicle downward.
Fwoooosh—!
The falling icicle collided with the icicles hanging midway down the cliff.
Crack!
The hanging icicles shattered and began falling together with my own icicle at terrifying speed.
The bear magical beast sensed danger and let out a horrifying roar.
ROOOOOOOAR!
But unfortunately for it, the roar was immediately cut off—
CRASH! BOOM!
Countless icicles rained mercilessly onto the bear magical beast’s head, and the impact caused the snow piled all over the cliff to collapse as well.
Whoooooosh—
After all the snow poured down, the place where the bear magical beast had stood became nothing more than a huge mound of snow.
The boy holding the spear stared at the snow mound with a shocked expression.
Then he slowly lifted his head and looked toward the top of the cliff.
And our eyes met.
I was lying there like Superman at the edge of the cliff with both hands stretched forward.
Only then did the fallen wolves stagger back toward the boy.
They looked up at me and barked fiercely.
Bark! Bark bark!
‘Whoa!’
The wolves’ eyes looked unbelievably vicious.
It felt like they might climb the cliff at any moment and tear me apart.
‘What do I do?’
I tightly shut my eyes.
“I feel like I’m going to die….”
Because of the wolves charging at me?
Or because the fierce snowstorm had started blowing again?
No.
“…Because I’m hungry.”
Extremely hungry.
‘Forget the cold, I’m starving to death….’
Come to think of it, there was one thing I forgot.
I could not even remember the last time I had eaten.
And on top of that, I had unintentionally used up all my energy.
Grrrrrrk!
The loud growl from my stomach echoed through the air—
And then I lost consciousness.
‘Am I… going to starve to death?’
Dying from hunger.
For some reason, that felt really sad.
So with all my heart, I made a desperate promise.
“If I open my eyes in another life, I’ll make sure to always eat properly.”
Crackle crackle….
‘What is that sound?’
Probably the sound of a campfire burning.
Drip. Drip….
And that was the sound of water falling from above.
Listening to the noises tickling my ears, I slowly opened my eyes.
‘Umm….’
The blurry ceiling of a cave entered my vision.
Then—
As my numb sense of smell slowly returned, the rich smell of meat roasting over the campfire instantly filled my nose.
‘Huh?!’
My entire body reacted immediately.
My heart pounded wildly.
Fat dripped from the meat as it sizzled over the fire.
Saliva filled my mouth nonstop.
An instinctive desire surged inside me.
“I want to eat that! Seriously!”
The desire to eat it was so strong that even the crystal engine inside my body seemed to roar along with it.
But wait.
‘…Didn’t I already starve to death?’
Yet the fact that I could feel such intense hunger right now meant—
“I guess I didn’t die after all.”
Blinking slowly, I carefully recalled what had happened earlier.
“I dropped the icicles onto the magical beast, and the half-naked boy leading the wolves looked at me.”
Sure enough, on the other side of the campfire sat the boy with exposed upper-body muscles, leaning against the cave wall.
His eyes were closed as if he were exhausted.
Judging from his steady breathing, he seemed to be asleep.
‘…So he’s the one who brought me here?’
I blinked.
At that exact moment, my stomach let out another loud growl without any sense of timing.
I swallowed nervously.
‘It should be okay if I eat just a little of that meat.’
Weakly, I staggered to my feet and reached toward the meat.
But then—
Grrrr… BARK BARK!
Suddenly, a wolf deeper inside the cave opened its glowing eyes and rushed toward me at terrifying speed.
(To be continued)
