## Chapter 284 – Winter Sonata
The wondrous fire of Prometheus illuminated the world and ushered in the golden age of humanity. However, as the price for delivering fire to mankind, he suffered the cruel punishment of having his liver eternally devoured.
Good deeds come with a price.
This Greek legend imparts a very fatal lesson: doing good only benefits others while you suffer. Yet, the Titan’s spirit of service was more sublime than anything else in this world.
ㅡWhoosh!
This hellish flame, like the hope of the little match girl, was undoubtedly the power of humanity, a fiery judgment to punish monsters.
Wasn’t it said that the Christian angel Michael purified demons with a fiery sword?
ㅡThat act would surely be sublime.
At this moment, I was no different from an apostle of the new Prometheus. Thinking so, a fanatical divinity settled within me, granting me otherworldly courage. Somehow, I felt like a sublime being.
The enemy is stronger than me.
Far from weak.
Even so, I do not lose courage.
“I’m warning you for the last time. If you don’t want to die, just let us go.”
ㅡThwack.
I declared, brandishing the blazing sword.
Frankly, if I ran away alone, I might have made it somehow. But it was too unclear whether Copson and Meria could escape as well.
Therefore, I confront the enemy.
ㅡThe Heavenly Demon never abandons his friends.
“…Kill him!!”
The girl shouted fiercely, like a beast excited by fire. Unlike her pretty appearance, her nature was savage from the start.
“Dialogue is useless.”
In the end, dialogue doesn’t work.
“Thus, violence is the only means of communication.”
In fact, if problems could be solved through dialogue, wars would never occur in this world. As long as war exists in the world, dialogue is impossible.
Fighting a life-or-death battle with the spirit girl suggested just that.
ㅡSlash!
ㅡSlash!
In the middle of the lake.
“You guys.”
The gathered ice spirits attacked me.
The three of us worked together to reduce their numbers diligently, but there were still many. The season was winter, and this was the spirit girl’s territory.
Countless ice picks flew towards me.
The situation is absolutely unfavorable.
“Too.”
Of course.
“Weak.”
ㅡYou’re no match for me.
“Flame Flower Severing Sword Technique.”
A profusion of blades and blooming flames.
ㅡSwoosh!
As the clear fiery trajectory cut through the space, the fired ice picks melted like a Melona ice cream on a summer day and returned to nothing.
It was already clear that the ice spirits were no match for me. There was no need to be afraid. So, I just crushed them head-on.
I am stronger than the spirits.
“…Ugh!”
The girl burst out in anger at the sight.
“You do have emotions.”
ㅡWhoosh!
I immediately unfolded a sword dance, destroying the ice spirits floating in the air.
ㅡThwack!
ㅡWhoosh!
These ice flake bastards couldn’t withstand my fiery sword strikes.
Each time I swung my sword, half-melted ice shards splattered. They were destroyed one by one, spitting out their cores as they died.
In an instant, a line of spirits was destroyed, and the only ones who survived were those at high altitudes, out of my reach.
If they were that high, the accuracy of their ice picks would be greatly reduced. They weren’t worth worrying about.
“…Don’t!!!!”
ㅡSwoooooosh!!!!
The girl, who had instantly created twenty or so icicles, got angry and tried to fire them. The momentum was unusual. It seemed best to evade, so I immediately leaped out of the ice lake.
ㅡThwump thwump thwump thwump!!!!
As soon as I left the scene, the icicles slammed into the trees with tremendous force.
The brutal attack made my balls shrink.
With that much power, it would be difficult to avoid a fatal blow even with armor. As expected, the spirit girl was a powerful monster.
The odds were slim.
A head-on fight was good, but I could lose my life if even one attack hit. Life is only once. Retries are impossible. Then, I had to find the best move and decide the outcome!
“Copson! Let’s take down the ice spirits!”
“N, now?! It’s too dangerous!”
“There’s no other chance!”
The time for the fire attribute enchantment wasn’t very long.
If I didn’t inflict effective damage now, there was no chance of winning…!
“Ugh… Copson! Let’s go!”
“M, even Miss Meria!”
Meria let her fractured arm hang down and raised her dented shield with her other hand. Judging from her grimace, it seemed quite painful.
Meria…! You’re a great warrior too!
“Alright! Let’s win! We can win!”
“You fearless barbarian! Fine, barbarian! I’ll die once, not twice! It wouldn’t be bad to defeat him in place of the Owlbear!”
ㅡWhoosh!
Copson jumped like a flying squirrel and struck an ice spirit with his sword. Of course, it didn’t split in one blow. It just slammed into the ground from the impact.
“Miss Meria!”
“Got it!”
Then Meria, holding the shield, protected Copson, and Copson could safely beat down the spirit stuck in the ground. As they coordinated like that, the spirits’ aggro was drawn to them.
“I believe in you! Friends!”
“Believe in me! Barbarian!”
If there were no interruptions from the spirits, I could have a one-on-one fight with the girl!
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!”
I rushed out madly once again!
The girl seemed to be watching me, trying to use some kind of magic, gauging the timing. What kind of technique was it? A barrage of icicles had a long casting time. An ice spear also took some time… Could it be!
“…Freeze!!!!”
ㅡCold Shout!
“I knew it!”
With the girl’s roar, I recalled the memories of Brutal Angel Kim Kat and performed a soaring vertical jump.
ㅡSwoosh!
“…Uh, uh?!”
Jumping was the right answer.
On the ice floor of the lake I had been standing on, cold air concentrated, and an ice mass was created like a sandcastle. That’s right. I had evaded the crowd control!
“And I land like a butterfly.”
I avoided the spot and landed safely.
An angel descended.
The appearance of a sublime saint.
And I was the master of the flame magic sword, the true Heavenly Demon.
There’s no way I could lose.
“It’s a showdown! Spirit Girl!”
“…Eek! Freeze! Freeze! Freeze!!!!”
ㅡClang!
ㅡClang!
ㅡClang!
“Haha!”
The girl, bursting with anger, cast crowd control spells in rapid succession.
The girl was strong, but she wasn’t a master who had entered the realm of chantless casting. It wasn’t difficult to gauge the timing just by looking at her mouth and listening to the sound!
“Start Dash!!!”
I sprinted across the frozen lake, continuously jumping like Super Mario to evade all the crowd control spells.
It seemed that this crowd control spell wasn’t ‘spatial manifestation’ but was cast through the ground as a medium.
If I timed my jumps right, I could avoid it!
A magician whose weakness had been exposed was nothing more than a jester. Fiercely raising my flame sword, I stopped sprinting and stepped on the Illusory Step, approaching the girl as if sliding in a zigzag pattern.
I aimed for her vitals in one go!
My victory was near!
“…Help me! Friends!”
ㅡRumble rumble rumble!
ㅡRumble rumble rumble!
ㅡRumble rumble rumble!
Then, the girl, stepping back, chanted frantically.
Then, as the chill of winter swept in, ice masses like stalactites began to rise from the floor. Crackle, crackle! Breaking and freezing, it formed a shape quickly, as if being sculpted.
ㅡWhoooooosh!
And what was born was an ice golem in human form, about 160cm tall!
“Ah, no! You cheating bastard!!!!”
“…Kill!!!!!!”
This bitch could also use summoning magic! Following the girl’s command, three sluggishly moving ice golems swung their club-like arms!
“Shit!”
ㅡRoll roll!
Because they were summoned just before I approached, I couldn’t react immediately. I rolled once on the floor to evade the attack, being careful not to drop my sword.
“But this doesn’t work on Kim Kat!”
ㅡWhoosh!
They were just summoned mobs!
Swinging my sword at ice masses wasn’t efficient, so I immediately kicked. Of course, I couldn’t strike. I had to attack by ‘pushing’ with my foot!
“Kim Kat Dropkick!”
The slow movements of the golem couldn’t possibly evade my kick! The golem, hit by a dropkick loaded with weight and strength, fell over with a ㅡThud!
ㅡWhoooooooosh!!!
The remaining one swung its arm. I simply evaded by moving and kicked using the momentum “Magnum Kick!” The golem fell over coolly! Only one remained. If I dealt with this one, I couldㅡ
ㅡGooooooo!!!
“No!”
But as if the golems were bait, the girl had created more than ten sharp icicles above her head. The girl, smiling faintly, reached out her hand, and ㅡThud thud thud! They were fired!
“Shiiiiiiiiiit!!!”
Greatly alarmed, I immediately stopped attacking and instinctively hugged the golem. ㅡWhoosh?! Then, the icicles slammed into the golem’s back!
A clear team kill!
The ice shards that scattered as the golem collided and was destroyed felt like mist.
The ruined golem collapsed and shattered.
“Hehe, you executed your friend yourself.”
In conclusion, the girl made a mistake. She didn’t think about the golem she summoned and just blindly fired magic.
“…Th, that’s not it!”
“What do you mean it’s not? Look at this completely ruined golem here. You did it all. Its back is a honeycomb… You killed it! It’s all your fault!!”
“…No! That’s not it!!”
As expected, she lacked combat experience.
Now the girl had no moves left. I rushed out and quickly closed the distance with her. I had to finish her before she could chant another spell.
The fight between a magician and a warrior was, after all, a fight for distance.
“…D, don’t come near me!!!”
As the girl gestured, an ice barrier was created along with the cold air.
However.
ㅡIt’s thin.
“Secret Sword!!!!”
ㅡCrash!
Still raising the flame sword, I charged and shoulder-tackled the barrier, breaking it with my shoulder, and approached the girl. Beyond the broken barrier, the girl was stepping back in extreme panic!
“…Don’t come near me!!!!”
My victory!
“Vain Breast Splitteeeeeeeeeeerㅡ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
ㅡWhoosh!
An extreme slash filled with the hellfire of the blazing sky!
The flickering heat haze, clearly adorning the empty air, struck the girl directly!
“Kyaaaaaaaaack!!!”
ㅡA scream resounded.
“Uwooooooooooooot!!!!!!!!!!!!”
But I couldn’t sever the girl!
A large ice hand that had appeared grabbed the burning blade. ㅡDrip, drip. But it was just a last-ditch effort. The ice was melting, and the girl seemed to be having a hard time.
“…Get away!! I said get away!!!!”
“How dare you! Order the Heavenly Demon!!!”
Enraged, I focused my strength on my arm!
At this momentㅡ! It was time to truly decide the outcome!
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeekㅡ!!!!!!!”
The mana that had gone berserk within my body moved to my arm! It moved again to my shoulder, my waist, my leg! And it moved to my foot, infusing strength into my muscles for the「strongest」「strike」!
True: Illusory Step Sword Technique.
First Secret Technique.
ㅡThe ultimate.
“Illusory Step Slaaaaaaash!!!!!!!!!”
ㅡCrack.
That beautiful and intense strike.
It had clearly reached the Heavenly Demon.
ㅡBoom.
Time felt slowed down.
With a powerful strike surpassing an industrial press, the ice hand shattered. As it shattered into pieces, the girl was left defenseless.
It was at that moment that the flame blade, not losing its momentum, fell like a guillotine.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!”
The blade covered the girl!
ㅡCrash!
At the same time, a tremendous amount of steam was emitted, and the flame enchantment ended. I forgot the cold from the fiercely burning flames, and sweat poured from my body.
In the steam that made it impossible to distinguish front from back, the sensation of ‘cutting’ was conveyed through my grip.
“…It’s over.”
ㅡSwoosh!
But I was Kim Kat, a man who never let his guard down. Even as the world rang from the impact of the instantly consumed mana, I swung my sword greatly to eliminate any possible threat.
ㅡWhoaaaa.
With that, the steam cleared.
“…Gone?”
But the girl’s body wasn’t visible.
C, could it be! Had I been caught from behindㅡ
ㅡOr so I thought.
“…Ugh!!! I will never forgive you!!!”
From above, I heard the girl’s shrill voice.
When I raised my head, the spirit girl, with wings like ice shards created behind her back, was flying in the sky. Her face was cracked, as if I was looking at a broken doll.
“I will definitely!! Have my revenge!!! Human!!!!”
Pathetic bastard.
She had suffered a fatal blow and ran away.
“Revenge? Revenge, you say… Haha! Hahahaha!!!”
But that loser’s excuse that the girl left behind was quite amusing. This bitch ran away all the way over there and still ran her mouth?
Amused, I burst into laughter.
“Good! The Heavenly Demon never avoids revenge or challenges! Come! Come as much as you want! Nurture your hatred and skill and come at me again anytime! This Heavenly Demon will be waiting there!!!”
Squeezing out the last of my strength and shouting loudly, the girl, turning her body as it was, disappeared into the distance of winter.
