"Accept it."
The voice unfurled in Icariel's skull—calm, deliberate, and heavy as the tread of fate.
"This isn't only about her. It's about you. Your survival. This chance is far more than it seems… and those monsters? You're more than capable of facing them."
The voice never spoke without reason. For it to push this hard… it meant something big.
Icariel exhaled slowly, like releasing a blade hidden behind his ribs. "Fine," he said. "I'll help."
He turned to Virethiel, voice sharp as frost-hardened iron. "But you'd better keep your word. Also—send soldiers to protect Elena and Elif."
"I already have," Virethiel replied with a soft smile that didn't quite touch her eyes. "Do you take me for a fool?"
Icariel raised a brow.n "So, you were already sure I'd help you, huh? Not exactly the purest behavior for an elf princess."
"That may be true," she said, her smirk brittle with weariness. "But I'm desperate enough to ask you for help—keep insulting me, and I might just have you executed."
"Then I suppose I owe you an apology."
"Don't bother. I prefer honesty." She pulled her hood over her head like a shadow rewrapping itself around a blade. "Hit the front line. Support the soldiers holding there. I'll flank and take out the ones nearby."
Icariel nodded. "I'll take those two near the left square. The ones fighting by that broken statue."
There, a group of elven soldiers stood locked in grim struggle with two Yetis—towering beasts of winter's wrath, their alabaster fur matted red with fresh slaughter. Beneath their titanic feet lay the shattered remains of a marble statue, crushed like memory beneath time.
"Hold formation!" a soldier barked, voice cracking. "Deflect their strikes—we bring them down like the others!"
Icariel whispered the wind's name.
It answered with a scream.
A horizontal crescent of air tore forth, screaming as it slashed through the sky. One of the Yetis bellowed in agony as its arm was sheared off, blood spraying the earth like a war god's blessing.
"What—?!" a soldier gasped, frozen in disbelief.
Icariel stepped forward, black eyes locked on the maimed beast, body calm as if the chaos were an old friend. His forearm—still raw and torn from Grinis' claw—shimmered with mana as flame answered his call.
It surged into a spear, fire molded into hunger.
"Die."
FWOOM!
The spear shrieked as it launched, piercing deep into the beast's shoulder. A heartbeat later, fire erupted outward—consuming the creature in a furnace born of will and death.
The Yeti screamed until its lungs burst, thrashing in agony until only a smoking carcass remained.
The soldiers could only stare.
"Is that… a human?" one whispered.
The second Yeti bellowed—rage and mourning mingled in its icy roar. It reared, murder in its eyes, and charged.
"On guard!" the captain cried. "Brace yourselves!"
Icariel raised his hand for another spell.
"Spear of—"
SHRRKK!
A wet slash echoed through the air. Blood exploded from the beast's throat in a perfect, X-shaped arc. Its charge faltered. Eyes bulged. Knees buckled.
THUMP.
Its corpse fell like a broken star, nearly flattening the soldiers who dove away in shock.
From behind it, Virethiel emerged, her hood tumbling back. She landed without a sound, graceful as a falling leaf.
"I had them," she said, brushing blood from her cheek. "You were flanking. Don't tell me you thought I couldn't handle two of them?"
"I didn't," he replied. "But I changed my mind. Easier to drop them together."
She nodded and turned to the stunned soldiers. "Assist the other squads. He and I will handle the rest."
"Yes, Your Highness!" they barked, voices renewed with fire as they sprinted into the fray.
As Virethiel stepped down from the beast's carcass, she cast Icariel a sideways glance.
"You're not half bad. No wonder Aelar took you as his disciple."
"Thank you," Icariel muttered, brushing ash off his tunic.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You've bulked up since this morning. That kind of growth doesn't happen in a few hours… what's going on?"
He cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't care. What's with the sudden interest?"
"Just curious," she said, mouth twisting. "That's all. Don't worry."
Her smirk returned. "Shall we?"
"After you."
She vanished into stealth like a whisper folding itself into night.
Icariel turned, body already humming with focus. He sprinted toward the next clash of death.
Far behind them, Floon—the vice leader—watched with awe chiseled across his face.
"The Highness herself… fighting beside the Warleader's disciple," he breathed. "If this isn't worth dying for, what is?"
He raised his fist, eyes burning.
"If they risk their lives, we will not be outdone! Soldiers—advance!"
"For honor!" came the roar behind him.
Weapons surged. Eyes gleamed. Wills ignited.
They charged.
The battlefield howled with chaos. Cracked stone boiled with flame. Frozen beasts shrieked and died. Steel clanged like chimes from hell. Magic tore the air into ribbons of heat and color. The tide was shifting.
Virethiel and Icariel sprinted across the square, weaving through ruin and corpses. She moved like fog, cloaked in stealth that turned her nearly invisible.
He whispered again.
The wind shrieked.
Icariel raised his hand. A screaming arc of wind sliced from his palm and slammed into a Yeti mid-swing, splitting flesh from rib. The beast stumbled with a blood-choked roar—wounded, but not yet dead.
A flicker.
Virethiel appeared by its leg. Her dagger flashed—then buried itself into the tendon behind the knee.
The creature howled and dropped like a gutted tower.
"Finish it!" she shouted, vanishing once more.
Icariel didn't wait. A new spear formed—hungrier, brighter.
It flew like a meteor, trailing fire.
The Yeti died before it hit the ground—skull incinerated mid-fall.
But the end hadn't come yet.
THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
Three more Yetis emerged from the ruined streets, earth shaking beneath their charge.
One veered toward a squad of exhausted soldiers—barely standing.
"Too far!" Virethiel shouted. "I can't reach them in time—do you have something"
Icariel grinned. "Watch me."
"Will your aim hold from this distance?"
"I lived by hunting. Eating meat kept me alive," he said with a smirk, fully aware how much that would disgust an elf.
Virethiel visibly grimaced. "Disgusting."
He stepped forward and twisted his stance. Another spear formed in his hand, a sun forged from hate.
"Air's nothing."
He hurled it.
FWOOOOOM.
The lance shot through the sky like a cursed star. It buried itself in the Yeti's gut—
BOOM.
The explosion painted the square in orange death. Flames devoured fur and flesh, the beast screeching until its voice was nothing but smoke.
In that hellish light, Virethiel soared—dagger poised.
She landed on the back of another Yeti and rammed the blade into its spine, twisting deep.
The creature shrieked and toppled.
The final Yeti turned to flee.
The soldiers met it with a rain of steel.
It didn't scream.
Virethiel stayed still, breathing hard.
Icariel approached, sweat dripping into his eyes.
"You alright?"
She nodded. "I'm fine. Floon and the others will finish this. Then it's over."
All around them, elves surged forward, reclaiming ground. The battle waned.
Icariel dropped to a knee, chest rising like bellows.
"You pushed yourself," Virethiel said. "Your mana must be drained. Thank you—you've done enough."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Empty mana reserves? Is she… provoking me?"
His body thrummed with mana. Each breath drew in more—White Sense drinking deep.
"Maybe she hasn't checked yet."
Good.
He knelt beside the broken statue, letting the smoke wash over him. No more effort. No more sweat.
The ash settled on his tongue—bitter and dry. Blood misted the air. The ground still trembled beneath his boots, echoing the dying roars of monsters he'd already slain. For a second, everything slowed—just long enough to feel real.
Let the reward come.
He'd earned it.
But—Virethiel slowed.
Then stopped.
Her eyes flicked toward him, pupils narrowing.
She scanned him again—tracing the flow of mana pulsing through his skin like a living storm.
Full. Untouched.
"Never mind," she murmured, brushing dust from her cloak. "Come help me."
Her voice was steady—but her thoughts weren't.
Icariel froze.
"I just thought this was over…" he sighed. "What changed?"
She turned, calm. "You seem… well enough for a few more monsters."
But her mind was spinning.
"He's still full of mana. As if untouched. As if… this fight never even happened." She looked to the sky, frowning.
"Damn it, Master Aelar… you haven't told me everything about him, have you?"
[End of Chapter 58]