Translator NoteAel –> Ale, this message will also appear in chapter 54 for the paid readers
The exit of the secret prison tunnel was hidden in a desolate hollow outside the village, densely concealed by brambles and shrubs.
When Igor rushed out of the tunnel opening, he only saw several chaotic, massive claw prints pointing deeper into the forest.
But the enormous figure of the magical beast had already vanished without a trace.
The morning mist lingered among the trees, mingled with the residual cold and chaotic aura of the beast.
Igor crouched down, his fingertips brushing over the ice crystals condensed at the edge of a claw mark, his brow furrowed tightly.
“Lost it…”
He muttered to himself, a flicker of frustration flashing in his blue-gray eyes.
The beast’s speed was faster than anticipated.
Or perhaps, its familiarity with this terrain far exceeded that of him, a newly arrived lord.
Those claw prints became elusive soon after entering the forest, sometimes appearing on tree trunks, sometimes sinking into the thick layer of humus, and finally breaking off completely beside a rushing stream.
Igor had not gotten closer in the pursuit; instead, he had fallen farther behind.
At times, he even had the illusion that what he was chasing wasn’t a mindless monster, but a seasoned mercenary with extremely strong anti-tracking awareness.
But the other party was clearly frenzied. Even if it had once been human, at this moment, it certainly possessed no reason.
The stream water was piercingly cold, washing away all scent and traces.
Standing by the stream, listening to the gurgling water, Igor forced himself to calm down.
‘It’s severely injured, just broke free from the seal, and its condition is extremely unstable. It can’t be running aimlessly. It needs to heal, to replenish its strength… and even more, a safe place to hide.’
‘The villagers risked their lives to save it, even willing to confront me, indicating they have extraordinary loyalty and dependence on this beast. They called it 【Lord】…’
‘It likely has a deep connection to this village, to this territory!’
Igor recalled the carpenter Ruben’s eyes, mixed with fear, fanaticism, and grief, and the villagers’ undisguised resentment and hostility towards their new lord.
Coupled with the monster’s extraordinary skills surpassing most mercenaries…
A vague yet absurd conjecture gradually surfaced in his mind.
‘Could it be… him?’
Igor’s gaze grew profound, even faintly trembling with shock.
He straightened up, his eyes looking deeper into the forest where the mist was thicker and the terrain gradually rose.
“The Ice Pool…”
He murmured.
【Ice Pool】.
This term was uttered by that carpenter apprentice who had just released the beast.
At the time, Igor hadn’t paid particular attention, but now, this word was like a torch in the darkness, suddenly illuminating a clue.
Ice Pool.
In the brief materials about the Frostwhisper Domain handed to him by Baron Leslie, this place was indeed mentioned.
The records stated that near Frostwhisper Village, there existed a natural ice-attribute mana node. Its manifestation was a deep pool located in a valley behind the mountain, perpetually cold and never thawing. The villagers called it the 【Ice Pool】. Read the latest chapters at novelping . com.
Due to its limited mana intensity and niche attribute, it had not been effectively utilized by the previous lord.
For ordinary villagers or low-rank Elementalists of other attributes, it was merely a very cold, deep pool.
But for a severely injured magical beast whose power core was clearly ice-aligned?
Could that become its ideal hiding and healing place?
“Must go and see.”
Igor hesitated no longer.
He took out the map he carried with him, his figure transforming into a swift, pale blue blur as he dashed along the stream, heading upstream towards the marked location of the back mountain on the map.
After advancing to the rank of Imprinter, his physical attributes far surpassed those of ordinary people.
With the support of 【Frost Resilience】, the rugged mountain path felt like level ground.
Icy mana circulated within his body, dispelling the damp chill of the forest and keeping Igor’s mind as clear as ice and snow.
The deeper he went into the back mountain, the more noticeably the air temperature dropped.
The ordinary early autumn coolness was gradually replaced by a bone-piercing deep cold. The white mist from his breath grew heavier, and the surrounding trees gradually became adorned with glistening frost flowers.
Roughly half an hour later, Igor passed through a coniferous forest hung with icicles, and his view suddenly opened up.
Before his eyes was a secluded valley embraced by steep cliffs.
At the center of the valley was a massive pool.
The pool water displayed a profound dark blue hue.
Despite the extremely low temperature, it was not frozen.
The water surface was smooth as a mirror, without a single ripple, yet it continuously emitted a faint, visible cold mist.
Everything by the poolside: rocks, withered grass, deadwood, were covered in a layer of pure white frost, reflecting a cold gleam under the thin natural light filtering through the gaps above the valley.
It was eerily quiet here.
No birdsong, no insect chirps, even the wind seemed frozen.
Only the silently spreading cold mist enveloped everything.
“This is the place… the Ice Pool, the ice mana node.”
Igor slowly approached the pool’s edge, the frost underfoot making faint crunching sounds.
He closed his eyes, carefully sensing the flow of mana around him.
The ambient ice-elemental mana in the air was indeed several times denser than outside.
The mana attribute here was pure and cold, an excellent environment for meditation and recovery for ice-aligned beings.
But… there was no trace of the beast’s aura.
Igor walked a circle around the Ice Pool, his vigilant gaze sweeping every corner.
Aside from his own footprints and some traces of small animals, he found no other marks by the poolside.
The pool water was deep and calm, also showing no signs of anything having submerged.
“It’s not here?”
Igor halted, suspicion rising in his heart.
Was the guess wrong?
Did the beast not come here? Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Or perhaps… it had already left?
“Lord Ale, can you sense its trail?”
Igor asked softly in his mind.
At this moment, the only one he could rely on was this mysterious High-Level Spirit.
After a brief silence, Aivrel’s clear, cold voice sounded in his heart, carrying a rare gravity:
“The ice elements here are active, masking many traces. That beast’s aura… has become very faint here, as if deliberately dispersed or assimilated. Furthermore…”
Her voice paused slightly, as if integrating the information just obtained, then continued:
“Although the mana of this Ice Pool is dense, its nature is overly pure and piercing. For a magical beast deeply tainted by corruption, such an environment is not nourishment; instead, it might be like scorching flames on a wound, exacerbating its pain and frenzy.”
“Its residual chaotic instincts would subconsciously avoid such a pristine place.”
Since she had decided to intervene, Aivrel no longer intended to pretend to be asleep to maintain an air of mystery.
From now on, she would be fully involved until the matter was completely resolved.
“And…”
She hesitated slightly, then added:
“In that shred of chaotic consciousness it retains, hunger and pain far overwhelm everything else. Its most urgent need right now might not be finding a safe place to recuperate, but the most direct form of replenishment.”
Hearing Aivrel’s words, Igor’s heart tightened:
“You mean…”
“Feeding.”
The young girl’s voice turned solemn:
“It’s injured too severely. Its spirit and mana are in intense conflict. Maintaining that pitiful bit of awareness requires consuming enormous energy.”
“To recover quickly and suppress the chaos, it must devour vast amounts of life essence, especially… the essence of intelligent life. That’s what it’s most familiar with and can most quickly replenish its source.”
Hearing this, Igor instantly realized, his expression changing:
“It will return to the village and attack the villagers!”
“A high probability.”
Aivrel affirmed:
“For it, the villagers are both followers and readily available sustenance. In a state of extreme hunger and chaos, that tiny bit of remaining reason might not be able to suppress the instinct to devour.”
“Damn it!”
Igor cursed, no longer concerned with carefully investigating the Ice Pool. He turned and sprinted back along the path at full speed.
He had personally experienced the beast’s strength. Even severely wounded and weakened, it was absolutely not something ordinary villagers could withstand.
Once it lost control and ran amok in the village, it would inevitably be a bloody massacre of the villagers!
Even if those villagers were resistant towards him, he was, after all, the future lord of Frostwhisper Village. The northern lands were already sparsely populated; every person in his territory was precious.
He had vaguely guessed the beast’s identity, but precisely because he had guessed it, he wanted even more to prevent the most tragic outcome.
With this thought, Igor immediately activated 【Frost Resilience】 again and hastened towards the direction of Frostwhisper Village.