Return of the Frozen Player

“He fired,” one of the fiends suddenly said while battling against the Leviathan. They could tell because they had marked the Gray Envoy earlier after discovering him.

“What? Again?”

“Doesn’t he ever get tired?”

“He should’ve already figured out that his attacks won’t work…”

“It must be an old man’s stubbornness or something.”

The fiends looked unconcerned, ignoring his attack. Still, they didn’t slack on their duties.

“The bullet’s coming this way.”

“The bullet has a lot of magic in it. Be careful not to get hit.”

“That bastard…Was he trying to hit us when we were all crowded together?”

“...How was that idiot ever a Hero?”

The fiends didn’t even sneer or curse him. They knew it would be impossible for him to hit any of them.

‘He’s supposed to be a sniper, but he didn’t even consider the speed of the bullet.’

They were currently several kilometers away from Port Lane. Obviously, it would take time for the bullet to reach them.

‘It\'s not like the bullet is flying that fast either.’

It was drawing a slow arc in the air. They would have plenty of time to dodge.

‘It’s not gonna work.’

The fiends truly thought that the bullet would never hit them.

“Pekka, get the bullet like what you did before. We’re almost done here.”

“Alright. This damned Leviathan… I suppose it’s called a divine beast for a reason.”

“It’s annoying. But that means it’ll be very useful once we feed it a demon jade.”

“I’m already looking forward to it.”

The Leviathan of Frontier was quite different from the one in Earthen folklore. It resembled a thin snake, and instead of terrorizing humans, it controlled the weather to protect fishermen. In coastal cities, most households even carried a Leviathan statue.

“I’ll admit that you’re a strong monster…”

However, the Despair Squadron was even stronger. Each member had outstanding abilities, and unlike most fiends, they had a lot of experience fighting together. Their combined attacks were actually wearing the Leviathan down, and it was slowly growing weaker.

“Hup.” Pekka hoisted his claymore over his shoulder.

He intended to slice the speeding bullet in half.

‘I’ve already done this a few times. I bet I could even do it once with my eyes closed.’

The moment the bullet approached, Pekka swung his weapon and sliced it in half.

‘Huh?’

His eyes widened, full of confusion. Unlike the ones from before, the bullet fragments gave off an ominous, gray aura.

‘Something feels off…’

The moment suspicion started to creep in his mind, a violent gale enveloped his body.

‘Wind? Where did it…’

He didn’t realize what it was even until his death. It was a sonic boom. Similar to what a speeding missile could cause, it left shockwaves in its wake.

Woooosh!

Everything caught in the explosion was destroyed. It looked like nothing had ever been there, and even the air had been sucked out of the space itself.

“...”

“...”

The fiends were silent. Pekka hadn’t been the only one caught in the blast. Two of the fiends had been standing behind him, trusting that he would take care of the attack, but they had also been swallowed up by the explosion.

The sound of someone swallowing could be heard even over the sound of the waves. The fiends were all thinking the same thing.

‘I’m glad that wasn’t me.’

‘I’m really lucky that Pekka was the one ordered to block it.’

However, they didn’t have time to dwell on their comrades’ deaths. The Leviathan created a giant wave, and it was quickly approaching.

“Dammit, it’s that annoying attack again…”

“Well, no matter how big a wave is, we can just dodge it by going higher.” The fiends here all had skills that allowed them to fly.

The 50-meter wave was akin to a tsunami, but it couldn’t even touch them.

At least, it hadn’t been able to touch them until now.

“...?”

“What…!”

The four fiends paled when they tried to fly upward. They looked up and stared desperately at their comrades with red eyes.

“H-Help me! My body won’t move!”

“The Archmage… It’s the Archmage’s doing!”

“It’s Reverse Gravity!”

“Hurry up and help!”

The fiends in the air remained silent as they watched the ones below holding their arms up.

‘...Help them?’

‘Skaya Killiland has probably placed Reverse Gravity all around that area.’

‘As soon as I go down, I’ll be caught in it too.’

The fiends were quick-witted, so they quickly came to a decision. All they could do was stare at their former comrades. When the fiends trapped below saw the indifference in their comrades’ eyes, their outstretched arms started to tremble.

“You bastards...”

Craaaaash!

The giant wave came crashing down, and their fragile bodies were torn apart in the brutal attack. It would be impossible to find their corpses in the aftermath.

The Leviathan glanced to the side. It wasn’t sure why, but there was a human beside it. It seemed that the human was helping it.

“Gilbe! I got one more than you!”

[...]

The Leviathan turned its attention back to the remaining fiends and counted. There were still eleven of them left. A deep sense of fatigue settled in its eyes.

“Hey, snake.” Skaya approached the Leviathan. “I heard what people were saying at the shelter. They begged me to come and help. I heard you’re some kind of guardian deity of the ocean, no?”

[...]

Instead of speaking, the Leviathan spoke with its sharp yellow eyes, telling her to leave.

“Don’t worry.” Skaya glanced at the clock. “Our job here is done.”

[...?]

The Leviathan looked at her quizzically, but the girl just looked toward Port Lane. It was about to ask a question, but it decided not to, as its head turned in the same direction.

[This…]

The Leviathan was a guardian deity of the southern sea, but there was a powerful aura that made it shiver from that direction. However, it didn’t give it an ominous feeling. It felt somewhat relieving. The girl acting all friendly had suggested as much.

[What is that?] The Leviathan asked.

“Hm, how should I put this…” Skaya considered this for a second, and she clapped when the perfect words came to her. “He’s like a protagonist!”

***

Gilberto pulled away from his scope. His mission was no longer on the beach, but right before him.

“The Frost Queen didn’t grow as much as I thought,” he commented.

pᵃпdα-ňᴏνê|·сóМ “But of course. I must eat and rest well to grow, but I could not sleep or eat cake there.”

“Um, sure.”

The Frost Queen didn’t seem very different. Meanwhile, Seo Jun-Ho seemed to have completely changed.

‘What is it?’

Gilberto looked at his friend curiously.

Seo Jun-Ho hadn’t had this kind of aura when Gilberto met him not too long ago after twenty-six years.

‘Back then, I was happy to see him. It was just like meeting an old friend.’

It had felt that way, as Seo Jun-Ho had still been the same person he had known.

But now, he had become different.

‘I…I don’t know this Jun-Ho.’

The look in his eyes resembled a normal person more than a Player. He didn’t seem to possess any strength or experience.

However, that made him feel all the more dangerous…

‘I know just how much power that guy had.’

But still, Gilberto couldn’t sense anything from Seo Jun-Ho.

“If I had met you like this after twenty-six years, I might’ve thought that you were just someone who looked like my friend,” he remarked.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Seo Jun-Ho grinned and looked around the clock tower. “Seeing how you’re still holding a sniper rifle, I suppose not much time has passed.”

“It has been exactly an hour...”

“An hour… Nice.” That was a lot shorter than Seo Jun-Ho had expected. He smiled, relieved. But his smile quickly grew cold as he remembered a certain someone. “Where’s Gu Shi-On?”

“The one we met was a clone. It’s probably his skill. The body disappeared once I killed him.”

“He got lucky.” Seo Jun-Ho looked through the gaps of the tower toward the ocean. “Seems like you guys cleaned up the downtown area. Are they the only ones left?”

“It seems like it...”

“I’ll be right back, then.”

“Wait!” Gilberto stopped him. “The battle’s taking place in the middle of the ocean. As far as I know, you don’t have any flying-type skills.”

“Actually, I do. I can turn my body into a shadow and fly around,” he replied. After clearing the maze Dungeon with the fiends, the Watchguard of Darkness had been strengthened as a reward. Flying was nothing; he could even melt into the shadows if he wanted.

“But you can’t use darkness right now,” Gilberto pointed out.

“Of course…” Right now, Seo Jun-Ho could only use Frost in front of others. He patted Gilberto’s shoulders. “But just because they’re fighting at the ocean doesn’t mean I have to fly, does it?”

“...?” Gilberto squinted. He didn’t understand what Seo Jun-Ho was saying. “If you’re not gonna fly—Wait.”

Jun-Ho laughed. It was rare to see such a look of shock on Gilberto’s face. He waved as he went down the tower.

“Just watch, you have good eyes anyway. I bet you’ll be surprised.”

Leaving Gilberto behind, Seo Jun-Ho started toward Port Lane’s harbor.

They stood right in front of the violent waves.

“Will you be able to do it?” the Frost Queen asked.

“Who knows? It’s my first time doing it for real, so I’m not sure.” Seo Jun-Ho shrugged and leaped into the ocean. But instead of a splash, there was a loud crackle as the water froze.

“...That was easier than I thought.”

Seo Jun-Ho placed his foot down, and his face lit up in awe. He was literally walking on water.

“It is not that difficult of a technique if you understand the principles,” the Frost Queen said.

“I like it even more since it doesn’t consume that much magic power.” Seo Jun-Ho grinned and started to walk around some more. Every time he took a step, the ocean\'s surface froze below him.

The freezing point of water was 0 degrees Celsius, while the average freezing point of seawater was about -2 degrees Celsius. Moreover, there weren’t many prerequisites to do this either.

‘The higher the salinity of an ocean, the faster the ice melts.’

Oceans with strong warm currents were also much harder to freeze.

However, the science behind it didn’t matter. The Frost skill surpassed the laws of physics and science.

‘Even though I’m looking at it with my own two eyes, it’s still hard to believe.’

Dark clouds covered the sky, and the storm waves crashed violently. Even a fisherman who had sailed their whole life wouldn’t go to the ocean on a day like this.

“What nice weather...”

Crackle!

But Seo Jun-Ho held an umbrella made of ice and slipped his hand into the pocket of his jet-black coat. His steps were light as he started to cross the ocean looking like he was on a stroll.