Chapter 77: A Step Forward

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: A Step Forward

The battlefield never had the chance to calm down.

The moment Damon cleared one opening, another wave of ice beasts rushed in to fill it.

Roars echoed across the frozen grounds.

The snow itself trembled beneath hundreds of charging claws.

Damon only grinned.

"Perfect."

His fingers tightened around Freya’s spear.

"I was hoping you wouldn’t run out."

A pulse of excitement came from Freya.

She agreed.

Beside them, Sylphie chirped happily before shooting into the sky once more.

Her six wings spread wide.

The wind gathered.

WHOOSH!

Dozens of razor-sharp wind blades burst forward.

They swept across the battlefield like an invisible storm.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Several C Rank beasts were cut down before they even realized they had been targeted.

The pressure around the Winterbourne guards instantly lessened.

Damon didn’t waste the opening.

He stepped forward.

Lightning exploded beneath his feet.

BOOM!

He vanished.

The next second...

He was already inside another pack.

"Lightning Art... Flashstep Pierce!"

CRACK!!

Freya answered instantly.

Silver lightning wrapped around the spear before compressing into its tip.

The thrust pierced straight through the chest of the first beast.

Before its body could fall...

The condensed lightning exploded from inside.

BOOM!!

The beast crashed into the others behind it, throwing them across the snow.

Damon pulled the spear back with a smile.

"Still feels good."

Freya practically purred through their connection.

Again.

"I was thinking the same thing."

He spun the spear once.

Another beast lunged from behind.

Without even looking...

"Lightning Art... Thunder Reversal!"

The spear shaft met the beast’s frozen claw.

CLANG!!

The stored lightning erupted immediately.

ZZZZT!!

The current raced through the claw and spread across the beast’s body.

Its muscles locked.

Its body stiffened.

Before it could even recover...

Damon drove the butt of the spear into its jaw.

BANG!!

The beast flew backward and rolled across the ice.

Sylphie circled overhead.

"Criii!"

"I know."

Damon laughed.

"You want one too?"

She chirped proudly.

The air behind several beasts suddenly twisted.

A roaring cyclone descended.

"Wind Art... Tempest Wings!"

BOOOOM!!

The tornado swallowed an entire group before hurling them high into the air.

Some were shredded by countless wind blades.

Others crashed back down without moving again.

The Winterbourne elemental users could only stare.

"...What exactly are we watching?"

One elder blinked repeatedly.

"He..."

"...He cleared another group."

Another guard lowered his sword.

"I haven’t even finished one fight..."

Everywhere Damon went...

The battlefield emptied.

Lightning flashed.

Wind followed.

Beasts continued falling.

It almost looked rehearsed.

Damon and Sylphie never interrupted each other.

Whenever Damon committed to an attack, Sylphie naturally covered his blind spots.

Whenever Sylphie forced the beasts together, Damon appeared to finish them.

It was seamless.

Like they had fought together for years.

One guard swallowed.

"The spirit..."

"It fights like they can read his thoughts."

Another slowly shook his head.

"No."

"...It’s beyond that."

"It trust him completely."

Damon, however, wasn’t paying attention to any of them.

His focus remained on the battle.

His spear danced.

Sometimes he thrust.

Sometimes he swept.

Sometimes new ideas simply came to him.

One beast leaped high above him.

Instead of meeting it head on...

He slid beneath it.

His spear traced an upward arc.

"Lightning Art... Rising Sky Fang!"

SHIIIIING!!

A crescent of compressed lightning shot upward.

The beast split cleanly in two before either half even reached the ground.

Freya buzzed excitedly.

That one was new!

Damon chuckled.

"We’re keeping it."

Another three beasts charged together.

He didn’t retreat.

Instead...

He planted one foot.

Lowered his stance.

Then spun.

"Lightning Art... Stormwheel Sweep!"

WHOOOOM!!

The spear carved a complete circle.

A wide ring of lightning exploded outward.

Every beast within range convulsed as electricity tore through their bodies.

The stronger ones staggered.

The weaker ones collapsed instantly.

Sylphie dove immediately afterward.

Her wind blades finished the survivors before they could recover.

The combination was so smooth that Damon almost laughed.

"You’re getting scary."

Sylphie puffed her little chest.

"Crii!"

"I know."

He pointed his spear forward again.

"And I like it."

Meanwhile...

On the other side of the mansion...

The battle was completely different.

The Winterbourne family’s strongest elemental users held their positions carefully.

Ice walls rose.

Spears flew.

Formation after formation slowed the advancing beasts.

They weren’t flashy.

They simply fought with years of experience.

At the center stood a tall man with silver-white hair.

Every swing of his ice greatsword froze another beast in place before the surrounding guards shattered it.

This was Cornelius Winterbourne.

The head of the Winterbourne family.

When he saw Caelia running toward him...

The stern expression he had worn throughout the battle disappeared.

"Caelia!"

He immediately rushed over.

She barely had time to react before he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"You reckless child."

His voice sounded both angry and relieved.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Caelia smiled awkwardly.

"...Probably."

"You disappeared without telling anyone."

"I know..."

She lowered her head.

"I’m sorry."

Cornelius sighed deeply.

He wanted to keep scolding her.

He truly did.

But seeing her standing safely before him...

That alone was enough.

He simply patted her head.

"Don’t do it again."

"...I’ll try."

"You’d better."

Several elders nearby smiled helplessly.

One of them laughed.

"The young miss is finally back."

"Thank the heavens."

Another nodded.

"We were preparing another search party."

Cedric finally stepped back.

"Tell me."

"What happened?"

Caelia quickly summarized everything.

The hidden passage.

The guardian.

The Frostfang Tyrant.

How she nearly died.

How a mysterious young man arrived at the last moment and saved both her and Snow.

She even mentioned that he had defeated both guardians.

Silence followed.

The elders exchanged looks.

Cornelius frowned slightly.

"...Both?"

"Yes."

"He defeated the one protecting the passage..."

"...then killed the Frostfang Tyrant."

One elder sucked in a cold breath.

"Impossible..."

Caelia simply smiled.

"I thought so too."

Cedric folded his arms.

"And where is this young man now?"

"Still fighting."

She pointed toward the wing she had entered from.

"He told me not to worry."

"He said he’d handle it."

Cornelius’sbrows furrowed.

"That wing has the largest concentration of beasts."

"I know."

"But..."

She smiled without realizing it.

"...I believed him."