Chapter 278: This Is War
"Fuck..." Dhruv cursed, but this time his reason was totally different.
Dhruv hadn’t imagined he would ever be impressed by the looks of any monster, but sure enough, he was proved wrong. He didn’t want to admit it, but his heart truly was fluttering after seeing the beauty in front of him.
Instinctively, he checked the monster out. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say he was looking at probably the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. No one on Earth could ever hope to compare with her in terms of beauty.
The monster in front of him was unlike anything Dhruv had seen before. Her skin looked pure light blue, and a magnificent crown adorned her head. A royal dress increased her radiance.
Dhruv seemed enchanted by her flaring blue eyes as he couldn’t stooped looked into them. Her face... it looked as perfect as it could be. Her long, cascading light blue hair fluttered in the wind, increasing her beauty multifold.
It didn’t stop there... beauty wasn’t the only thing she was armed with either.
"Shit..." Dhruv couldn’t help but curse once again as he evaluated the tier of her core.
Dhruv understood from a single glance that the monster in front of him was a tier IV... no, a unique tier IV monster. He could even notice that her core was overflowing with mana, suggesting she was at the very peak of her tier.
From his understanding he could feel that the monster had long reached its required level, but for some reason, it wasn’t evolving further. No matter the reason, Dhruv was happy with her decision nonetheless.
Shaking his head, he tried to calm his heart, which had been beating wildly for the past few second. He was lucky that his illusion resistance even worked against things such as beauty, after some focus his heart finally seemed to calmed down.
Feeling the fight could start at any moment, Dhruv began manipulating his mana. Midway through manipulating, he stopped after feeling something weird.
Dhruv could feel something poking his head. There was nothing physical around him, so he was sure of the culprit. Activating his mana sense, he looked around.
Sure enough, Dhruv found a thin thread of mana trying to enter his head. Quickly, he tried to disassemble the mana thread or block it in some way... but he was a second too late.
The mana had already entered his mind. He was expecting something horrifying, but what happened next managed to shock him... again.
[Why.] A single word resounded in his head.
’What?’ Dhruv was taken aback as he realized someone was talking to to him mentaly. Looking around, it didn’t take long to figure out where this voice was coming from.
’Huh! She is capable of speaking with me... huh! Interesting.’ Dhruv wasn’t sure how she was talking with him, but he was sure of one thing: she seemed eager for his answer.
Even with all the destruction Dhruv had caused, there wasn’t a hint of emotion on her face... or maybe she was just that good at hiding it. There was a simple, but cold expression radiating from her.
Looking into her eyes, Dhruv was sure she wasn’t going to attack untile she have her answer.
Dhruv was happy to satisfy her, but the problem was he didn’t really understand her question. Looking back at her, he tried to talk... somehow it worked as two words reached the monster’s mind:
[What, why?]
Having all his focus on her, Dhruv saw the slight movements she made. When he asked the question back, he saw her look around herself... she looked at her destroyed city for a second.
[Why did you feel the need to kill them? You could’ve kill them mercilessly.] A calm but cold feminine voice resounded in his mind... asking yet another question.
"Huh!" Dhruv could understand everything loud and clear but he... he just looked at her with a frown.
He understood what she was asking. He knew why she was asking... but instead of answering, he just started...
...laughing.
"Hahahahahah"
"Hahahaahahahahahah"
"Hahahahhhh"
Even the monster seemed to be perplexed by his actions as she stared at him with a hint of curiosity.
Stopping himself midway, Dhruv tilted his head a bit while looking directly into her eyes he announced...
[Are you for real? Are you really asking why I did that? Are you really asking why I didn’t kill them mercilessly... hahaha, you’re really asking for my reason? Do you really not know, or are you just ignorant... princess? Do you really not understand what is going on?]
[...This is war.]
[The war in which you were the first one to send your soldiers. A war where you forced me to participate. Are you really asking the reason why I killed them mercilessly? Let me tell you once again...]
[...This is war.]
[This isn’t some game you can play, princess... this is a reality where real life is at stake. You... your actions define their destiny. Your words hold the string of their fate. You choose when they live or die.]
[This is a war, princess... so treat it like one.]
Dhruv took a deep breath as he finally stopped. He anticipated some reaction, but he was wrong... there was still no reaction on her face. She was as indifferent as always.
Suddenly, the mana stirred as she spoke:
[You are right... and I will surely treat it like that...]
’Really!?’ Dhruv almost stumbled upon hearing the answer. He was expecting a reaction, but he couldn’t have imagined it would be this much.
Before Dhruv could say anything, the words resonated in his mind once again:
[...And one more thing. I’m not their princess... I’m their queen. I’m the Ice Empress.]
Dhruv didn’t have much time to think about what she meant by the last part, as he saw her murmuring something. He didn’t know why she was murmuring, but he was sure of one thing... she was manipulating mana at an extreme speed.
’What the fuck... what is this speed? And is she manipulating the mana of the surroundings as well?’ Dhruv quickly began to manipulate his mana as well, but still, he couldn’t match her speed.
"@#% &%# @#$"
Dhruv couldn’t understand what she was saying, but the moment those words resonated, a change began to happen. The already chilly city began to get even colder. Snowflakes began to fall as he felt the air he was inhaling freeze.
Deep blue mana began to surround them as everything started to get covered in a deep layer of ice. Dead crystallions, alive crystallions, objects... even the air seemed to freeze around in a 30-meter circle around him.
’Is she always this indifferent about her people or is this my doing?’ Dhruv couldn’t help but think.
All of Dhruv’s planning went downhill as the Ice Empress had taken the fight seriously. She wasn’t paying any attention to the damage she was doing to her own people. All her focus was solely on him.
’Sigh! I have to take this fight even more seriously now then...’ Letting out a sigh, Dhruv unleashed his own spell.
"Blazing land." A whisper left his mouth as fire erupted from the ground.
