The entrance to the secret passage opened, and a gust of icy wind carrying a mix of mustiness, blood, and a deeper, colder, more frenzied scent assaulted their faces.
“There… there really is a secret passage!”
The guards widened their eyes.
“Guard the entrance! No one is allowed to enter or leave without my order!”
Igor commanded without looking back, his steps already entering the damp passageway.
The passage sloped downward, with rough excavation marks faintly visible on the walls, seemingly of considerable age.
The air grew colder and colder, carrying a chaotic, oppressive chill.
After advancing about twenty meters, faint firelight and muffled human voices could be heard ahead.
Igor held his breath, suppressed his aura to the extreme, and peered quietly inside.
At the end of the passage was a natural stone cavern, roughly ten meters square, with obvious signs of modification, deliberately converted into a secret prison.
In the center of the cell stood a massive iron box, nearly twice the height of a man, wrapped layer upon layer with thick iron chains!
The material of the box was unknown, its body pitch-black, densely inscribed with long-faded, now dim, sealing runes, many of which were broken and worn, having lost their effect.
At this moment, the iron box was trembling and shaking violently, from within came heavy, “Bang! Bang!” impacts, and a low, hoarse, inhuman roar of pain and choking sobs.
The remaining sealing runes on the box’s surface flickered with weak, turbid red light with each impact, as if desperately trying to restrain the monster inside.
But that light flickered unsteadily, clearly on the verge of collapse.
And standing beside the iron box were several people.
They were the carpenter apprentices who had disappeared during the day, and… the carpenter Ruben!
They held torches aloft, the firelight illuminating faces filled with tension and worry, yet also bearing a trace of hope.
Ruben held a peculiar key, inserted into a hidden keyhole on the side of the iron box, and was slowly turning it.
“Hurry, Uncle Ruben!”
A young apprentice’s voice trembled, unsure if from cold or excitement:
“The seal is about to fail! We must lure him to the Ice Pool before the master loses control completely!”
“I know… I know…”
Cold sweat beaded on Ruben’s forehead, his movements somewhat tense:
“Almost there… Master… hold on a little longer…”
Click.
The sound of the lock core disengaging was unusually clear in the silent cavern.
The thick iron chains wrapping the iron box seemed to instantly lose some core restraining force, clattering and slipping loose on their own!
“Back! Everyone back!”
Ruben growled in a low voice, pulling the apprentices rapidly back to the edge of the cavern.
Freed from the chains, the iron box’s vibrations reached their peak!
“Roar—!!!” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
An even more violent roar, filled with endless pain and chaos, exploded from inside the box!
The sound was nearly bestial, yet one could faintly discern a trace of human despair and hoarseness.
“Boom—!!!”
The box’s lid was violently slammed open from the inside by a terrifying force, twisting and deforming as it smashed into the cavern wall, embedding itself deeply into the stone!
A dazzling, intertwined light of icy blue and filthy black-red gushed from the opening!
Immediately after, a massive, twisted shadow slowly rose to its feet.
Igor’s pupils contracted sharply.
What kind of monster was this?!
It stood nearly three meters tall, vaguely retaining a humanoid outline, but its entire body was covered in a thick, rough, gray-blue carapace resembling a mix of rock and ice. Between the cracks of the carapace oozed a viscous, dark red, nearly black substance.
Its head was huge, its features blurred, with only a pair of eyes burning with frenzied icy flames and turbid, bloody light visible, and a giant maw filled with interlocking fangs, constantly dripping foul-smelling drool.
An immensely thick tail, ending in a hideous bone hammer, slowly swayed behind it, scraping the ground and leaving deep grooves and frozen trails.
Most striking were its mutated forelimbs.
The right arm resembled a beast’s claw covered in ice crystals, enlarged several times over. The left arm, however, was bizarrely semi-transparent and crystallized in ice, still vaguely retaining some shape of a human arm, with fingertips wreathed in pure yet extremely unstable ice-blue mana motes.
Looking at the monstrous creature, Igor’s expression was exceedingly grim.
A magical beast!
A living, terrifyingly powerful magical beast!
And… judging from the essence of the icy mana emanating from it, as the High-Level Spirit Ale had said, its power was indeed of the same origin as hers!
Combined with its semi-human, semi-monstrous appearance…
This magical beast was, in all likelihood, transformed from a human!
And its former self or its core was most likely deeply connected to Ice Elemental Spirits, or even an Ice Elementalist!
The magical beast stood within the shattered iron box, its chest heaving violently, exhaling mist mixed with ice crystals and a foul stench.
Its chaotic eyes scanned the cavern, finally settling on Ruben and the others, who had retreated to the edge, trembling but forcing themselves to remain composed.
“M-Master…”
Ruben forced a smile uglier than crying:
“It’s me… Ruben, we… we’ve come to save you!”
“Ru… Ruben…”
The magical beast’s throat emitted a “hah… hah…” sound. The madness in its eyes seemed to recede for an instant, revealing an extremely human-like flash of painful confusion.
But the next second, an even more overwhelming frenzy and hunger drowned out that glimmer of clarity.
With a low growl, it lunged towards the nearest villagers.
“Halt!”
The moment the monster lunged, an ice-blue curved shield【Ice Barrier】materialized out of thin air, precisely blocking the path between it and the villagers!
The magical beast crashed into the shield and was directly rebounded.
Igor’s figure stepped out from the shadows of the corner, placing himself between the magical beast and the villagers.
His expression was solemn, the icy mana around him surging like a tangible tide, rivaling the chaotic icy aura emanating from the magical beast.
“K-Knight Bolo!”
Seeing Igor, Ruben and the others’ faces instantly turned deathly pale.
Igor didn’t look at them. His full attention was focused on the terrifying magical beast before him.
Feeling its presence up close, he more acutely sensed its power.
This was absolutely not an existence that he, having just stepped into the Imprinter realm, could easily defeat, even if the other party seemed to be in poor condition and covered in wounds.
Fortunately, the other party also seemed quite wary. After he appeared, it began to retreat uneasily, emitting whimpers and low growls.
“Leave this place.”
Igor’s voice was low, carrying an unquestionable command, directed at Ruben and the others:
“Now! Go!”
But the villagers did not move.
Their lips trembled, intense struggle flashing in their eyes. After looking at each other, they actually shakily positioned themselves in front of the monster:
“Master! You must escape! We’ll hold him off!”
They shouted towards the magical beast.
Igor: ???
“Damn it! Are you all insane?!”
The young man cursed, his composure shattered.
Icy mana surged around him, freezing the villagers in place. He kicked them aside, then charged towards the monster again.
However, the monster was already gone.
It had fled through another entrance in the tunnel.
That was the direction it had initially lunged towards.
Igor suddenly understood.
From the very beginning, it had actually intended to escape.
That wouldn’t do.
A magical beast on the verge of complete loss of control would become a nightmare for the entire Frostwhisper Knight’s Domain!
“Trying to run? It’s not that easy!”
A glint flashed in Igor’s eyes, and he swiftly gave chase.
…