Extra's Path: The Eternal Frost Monarch

"Just in case."

He continued forward. A thin stream of crimson energy drifted toward him. The moment it touched his ice.

HISSSSS

Noah’s eyes narrowed. The ice began dissolving. It was not melting.

’Eroding.’

"Shit."

He immediately supplied more mana.

Crack!

Fresh ice replaced the destroyed layer. Another stream struck his shoulder.

Hissss!

More ice disappeared. Noah restored it again.

’So it can eat through mana-created ice too.’

That was bad. But Noah kept moving.

SCREECH!

A monster rushed toward him from the side. Noah swung once.

Slash!

Its head separated from its body. Another came from behind. Without turning, Noah conjured an ice blade.

Whoosh!

The weapon shot backward and pierced straight through its chest.

Noah continued walking. The closer he got, the heavier the atmosphere became. It felt as though invisible weight was being placed upon his shoulders.

His breathing gradually changed.

"Hah..."

Then took Another step.

"Hah... hah..."

His instincts screamed at him to retreat. The energy surrounding the portal felt fundamentally wrong. Still, Noah forced himself forward.

"Almost..."

Suddenly a wave of crimson energy surged from the portal. Noah’s eyes widened. He instinctively turned his head away.

WHOOSH!

Most of it passed beside him. But a tiny strand brushed across his exposed cheek.

"ARGHHH!!"

Noah stumbled backward. His hand immediately shot toward his face. Pain exploded across his cheek. It didn’t feel like burning. It was worse. It felt as though the flesh itself was being rapidly decomposed.

"Fuck!"

Noah pulled his hand away. A dark, sticky patch had appeared across his cheek where the energy had touched him. The upper layer of skin had partially broken down, leaving behind an ugly, raw wound.

His stomach twisted.

"What the hell is this energy...?"

Noah immediately covered himself more thoroughly.

CRACK!

Ice spread across his neck and face, forming a crude helmet that left only narrow openings around his eyes and nose. He tightened his grip on his sword.

Mana flowed into the blade. A thin layer of highly compressed frost formed along its edge, sharpening it further while Noah reinforced the weapon with mana.

"One attack."

He stared at the crystal.

"I’ll put everything into it."

He stepped forward.

SCREEECH!!

Another creature charged him. Noah didn’t even turn. An ice sword materialized beside his shoulder.

WHOOSH!

It shot past him.

SHRK!

The monster collapsed with the weapon buried through its skull. Noah reached the pillar. He planted his feet. Both hands wrapped around his sword.

Mana surged through his arms, shoulders, waist, and legs. The blade glowed intensely.

"BREAK!!"

Noah swung with everything he had.

CLAAAAANG!!!

A violent shockwave exploded outward. Dust and dead leaves were blasted away. The stone beneath Noah’s boots cracked from the force transferred through his body.

His arms went numb. The vibration traveled from the blade into his wrists, through his elbows, and all the way into his shoulders.

"Argh!"

Noah staggered backward. He stared at the crystal. His breathing stopped.

"...No."

Not even a crack. Not even a tiny chip. There wasn’t so much as a scratch upon its glowing red surface. Noah’s expression finally changed from frustration...

To horror his strongest direct strike hadn’t done anything. Behind the crystal, the crimson portal continued to churn. More monsters crawled through.

More corruptive energy leaked outward. And the red orb continued glowing as though Noah had never touched it. Noah tightened his trembling fingers around his sword.

"...What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Unfortunately for Noah, his luck had always been terrible. Just as he was desperately thinking of another way to destroy the crystals—

GRRRRRRROOOOOOOWL!!!

A deep growl emerged from the portal. Noah froze on his position. It wasn’t like the screeches of the monsters he had been slaughtering.

This sound was deeper and heavier. The growl seemed to come from somewhere unimaginably far beyond the crimson portal, yet its vibrations still traveled through the entire clearing.

Noah slowly turned his head. His frost-covered face became tense. Despite the cold armor covering his body, a chill crawled across his skin.

GRRRRROOOOOOOOWL!!!

The portal trembled. Noah took a step backward. Then another. His instincts were screaming.

They were not warning him to prepare for battle, not telling him to defend himself. They were giving him one simple command.

RUN.

’Something dangerous is coming.’

Noah’s eyes widened.

"Fuck..."

He didn’t hesitate. "I need to get out of here!"

Noah turned and dashed away.

BOOM!

Mana exploded through his legs as he sprinted toward the forest. Behind him the crimson portal distorted. Its surface bulged outward.

Then something emerged. Five enormous fingers slowly pushed through the portal.

They were blackish-red in color, covered in distorted, decaying flesh. Some sections looked burned while others appeared rotten and swollen. But what made the sight truly horrifying were the things embedded within that flesh.

Monsters, dozens of them, their faces, their arms. Half-formed bodies.

The same pale creatures Noah had been fighting were seemingly fused directly into the gigantic hand, their bodies merged together as though they were nothing more than pieces of flesh used to construct something larger.

Some of their heads were still moving. Their mouths opened soundlessly. The enormous hand continued emerging.

It was so large that a single finger was comparable to the trunk of an ancient tree.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The hand crashed down outside the platform. Several enormous trees disappeared beneath its palm. The earth shook violently.

Noah nearly lost his footing.

"What the hell?!"

He looked over his shoulder while running. And immediately regretted it. The ground beneath the creature’s hand was changing.

HISSSSSSS

Grass withered instantly. Trees blackened. Their leaves collapsed into dark sludge before their trunks began rotting away.

Even the soil itself seemed to decay, turning black and lifeless as the corruption rapidly spread outward from wherever the hand touched.

Noah’s eyes widened in horror. The smaller streams of crimson energy had taken time to erode things. This was different. The creature itself carried that corruption.

Anything it touched simply died. Noah faced forward again.

"Nope!"

Mana surged harder through his legs.

"I am absolutely not fighting that thing!"

Behind him, the gigantic fingers dug into the earth.

CRUNCH!!

The arm tightened. As though whatever existed on the other side of the portal. Was beginning to pull the rest of its body through.

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