Chapter 382 What exactly is happening to me?

Tharlyssa bit her nails as she stared at the blazing World Tree from above.

"No, no, no! I made a mistake! Damn you, bitch! You let me lose the best food ever! Bitch!!!"

Her breathing grew heavier as she clutched her hair and pulled at it in frustration. Her crimson eyes trembled with a mixture of rage and despair.

She had let him die. The thought alone was enough to drive her mad. Meanwhile, amid the blazing inferno atop the World Tree, something stirred beneath the flames.

A figure emerged from the sea of fire.

Noah Eldritch. Despite the raging flames engulfing everything around him, his body remained completely unharmed.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

His heart pounded faster and faster.

An intense chill spread from his heart, rapidly coursing through every part of his body. It was as though his entire existence had begun to defy the very laws of physics, his body reaching temperatures far below zero.

His ability, Heart of Absolute Frost, was undergoing a drastic change. It was as if his body were instinctively adapting to the mysterious flames, altering its very nature to ensure that he would not be consumed by them.

Wherever the fire approached him, the flames simply dissipated, unable to touch his skin.

Noah slowly exhaled, a cloud of white mist escaping his lips.

His glacier-blue eyes glowed with an intense, frosty light as he raised his head and looked toward the woman screaming in the distance.

Tharlyssa.

She looked as though she had lost something precious beyond measure, her expression twisted with grief and regret.

Noah couldn’t help but find the sight somewhat strange.

His summoned frost dragon, however, had not been so fortunate. The enormous creature had already melted into steam beneath the overwhelming heat of the flames.

Noah raised his hand and cautiously reached toward the fire.

The flames danced before his fingertips.

Yet, even when he brought his hand closer, they couldn’t burn him.

He narrowed his eyes.

Then, he began circulating his mana.

An overwhelming wave of coldness spread through his body as his frost mana grew increasingly frigid, reaching temperatures far below zero. The mana flowed out of him, spreading across the burning branches of the World Tree.

Gradually, something extraordinary began to happen.

The flames surrounding him started to swirl.

A cold wind emerged from the currents of his mana, drawing the fire into a strange, spiraling motion. Countless frost particles appeared in the air, circling his body like snow caught within a raging blizzard.

The phenomenon continued to intensify.

The more mana Noah circulated, the stronger the cold wind became. The frost particles multiplied, forming an expanding vortex around him, while the surrounding flames twisted and danced as though caught in an invisible storm.

Above him, the silver moonlight continued to bathe the World Tree.

Under its gentle radiance, a faint silver-blue aura began to envelop Noah’s body, blending with the familiar color of his mana.

At the same time, he felt his strength increasing.

Not just his physical strength, but something deeper.

Something that seemed to be strengthening his very existence.

’What’s this?’

Noah lowered his gaze to examine his hand.

Something had changed.

No, it wasn’t his mana itself. His mana was still the same, yet something new was being produced whenever he circulated it.

An unfamiliar energy was flowing alongside his frost mana, reinforcing his body and empowering his ice element.

The sensation felt strangely familiar.

It reminded him of the time he had fought a Monarch and wielded the Divine Power of the Moon Goddess.

However, this was different.

Back then, he had borrowed that divine power. This time, the energy was emerging from within his own body.

’It’s forming just like when I use mana to create ice...’

He watched as frost gathered around his fingertips, accompanied by that faint silver-blue radiance.

’Except now, it’s producing both ice and another kind of energy. This energy is strengthening my ice element from within.’

Noah clenched his fist.

The surrounding frost swirled more violently in response.

He had no idea what this new energy was or how it worked. He could only sense that it was fundamentally different from ordinary mana.

And it all seemed to have begun when his Heart of Absolute Frost started beating wildly.

’What exactly is happening to me?’

He couldn’t tell.

While above him, Tharlyssa looked down as she sensed a sudden change in the air.

The flames surrounding the World Tree were swirling violently, forming something resembling a blazing hailstorm. And at the center of that extraordinary phenomenon stood a familiar figure.

Noah Eldritch.

"H-He’s alive?! How is he still alive even inside those withered flames?!"

Her crimson eyes widened in disbelief.

She had watched him plunge into the inferno with her own eyes. Yet, somehow, he had emerged unscathed.

However, Tharlyssa barely had time to process the shocking sight.

Beneath Noah’s feet, an ice sword began to materialize.

Unlike its creator, the weapon did not possess the ability of the Heart of Absolute Frost. Nevertheless, the mysterious silver-blue radiance surrounding Noah’s body spread across the blade, enveloping it in a protective layer of energy.

The sword slowly rose into the air.

Noah glanced at it before lifting his gaze toward Tharlyssa. A faint smile appeared on his face.

’Maybe... I still have a chance.’

The moment he issued his command, the sword shot upward, tearing through the air at an unbelievable speed.

Noah followed close behind, his right hand gripping the weapon as silver-blue light shimmered across its icy surface. Under the moonlight, its radiance became even more beautiful, resembling a blade forged from the very essence of the moon itself.

His glacier-blue eyes remained fixed on Tharlyssa.

There was no hesitation in his gaze.

There was no anger, no fear, no hesitation as each of those emotions slowly started to erased.

Only cold, unwavering determination.

It was because of his another ability.

[Monarch’s Decree]

The ability activated, suppressing his emotions and enveloping him in an unsettling aura like a real Monarch.