"Hmm."
Thud, thud.
Humming softly, I walked with light steps.
Crossing the bridge that connected the outer wall to the inner wall, under the open sky. The snow had gently blanketed the bridge.
Slashing through the waist of the incoming demonic soldiers, I took one step, then another. Splat! Blood sprayed across the pristine snow. The blood of demons was red.
Humming, walking.
"Wouldn’t you like to build a snowman with me, Chris?"
I sang a brief melody I remembered, crouching down to roll a snowball. A slightly red-tinged snowball was complete.
I’ll make the second snowball when I come here with my sister.
The inner wall was now close. Tap, I lightly leapt forward, slicing through the two ice golems guarding the gate diagonally, one after the other. Boom. They fell easily, cut clean through.
Walking down the straight hallway of the inner wall.
Humming, walking. And then, silence.
I arrived at the audience chamber.
On the throne in front of me sat a woman completely encased in a shimmering blue of ice.
She was about the size of a full-grown woman, her white smile fixed on me as she gazed in my direction.
An ice witch, perhaps?
"A cute little guest, aren’t you?"
I’m not a child. I’m a full-grown woman.
I gave a small nod.
"Hello."
"You’ve done well to reach my cold and humble abode. Forgive my poor manners in welcoming guests."
A demon NPC that could hold a conversation, a rational being.
Beep.
I turned off the streaming feed. I paused the broadcast for now.
From this point on, it’s off the record.
The conversation between the "hero" and the "master of the ice palace" would remain only in my memory.
"Hmm, ice witch sister? I have a question."
"What is it? It’s been so long since I’ve had a guest, I suppose I can hear you out before I turn you into my collection."
Rumble.
Several statues encased in ice rose from around the ice witch’s throne.
Their forms varied—humans, elves, dwarves, demons, and even monsters.
"You’ve got a refined hobby."
"Thank you for the compliment."
It wasn’t a compliment.
Unlike the mindless demon commanders at the outpost, the groaning half-chimeras, or the demonic general Aspero, she was the first high-ranking demon capable of intelligent conversation.
I had a lot of questions.
Let’s start with a fundamental one.
"Why are you here?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Hmm, you’re a demon, right? How does the Demon King’s army hierarchy work again? You’re a demon general like Aspero, right? Above you are the legion commanders."
The ice witch’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
Creak, her lips formed a slight smirk through the ice.
"You know quite a bit. How could humans of this era possibly know the structure of the Demon King’s army?"
"Well, what if I told you I learned about it from memories of a long time ago?"
"I cannot fathom such a claim."
Well, that’s not the important part.
"Why are you crouching here in this place? Don’t you feel like going out and conquering the world? Or is this one of those situations where you’re biding your time, storing your strength because it’s not yet time? Why are demons stuck in 'instance dungeons' like this? And if a hundred parties enter, does that mean there’s a hundred ice witch sisters? Are you also a copy?"
Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever spoken this much at once. Even though she’s just an NPC, maybe all that socializing training is paying off.
Rumble.
The entire audience chamber, covered in ice, shook. Cold air began seeping from the ice witch’s body. She was definitely furious.
"Calling me a mere copy... you’re bold. I should cut you into pieces and put you on display."
Clang.
I clicked my tongue and drew *Astaroth*.
After all, she’s still just an NPC and can’t break the fourth wall. Even the dwarven sage, Village Chief Drugel, couldn’t approach the truth of this world.
Perhaps higher-ranking demons than her know more about the nature of this world.
Anyway, demons are also bound by the system—by "instance dungeons." It’s still a mystery how they can be a threat to this world.
The ice witch would surely have her own dangerous patterns that made her difficult to face solo.
Of course, she’s still just a demon without much knowledge.
In any case, she’ll die quietly and feed my belly.
It’s not unusual for a hero to seek wealth. It’s been that way since the beginning. Looting treasure chests in dungeons and in homes. It’s all perfectly legal for a hero.
I’ll claim my rightful rewards.
And while I’m at it, I’ll uncover the truth of this world.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Ice blades began to spin around the ice witch. With enough cutting power to easily slice my soft body in half.
A total of ten blades.
"Kya-ha-ha-ha!"
Laughing wildly, the ice witch lifted herself from her throne and rushed toward me.
I raised *Astaroth* and charged to meet her ice blades.
Clang!
[Third Named Boss]
[Level 48 Witch Frederica]
[HP: 50,000,000 / 50,000,000 (100%)]
Whoosh, whoosh!
This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.
The sound of air being torn apart echoed as the massive ice blades, as large as her body, were manipulated freely by the witch’s attacks.
I quickly stepped back. One of the blades, radiating cold, barely missed my face. I thrust my starlight-infused sword forward. Clang! Another ice blade moved to block my attack.
This witch knew how to guard.
Spinning my sword to redirect the force, I twisted around, slashing at her side. My irregular sword trajectory let me slip through the gap between the ice blades. Thud! A piece of ice broke off from the witch’s side.
Her face twisted slightly in anger.
"You impudent little brat!"
Flash!
A bright white light suddenly erupted from the ice blade, cutting through the entire audience chamber. Its path was aligned with my right shoulder to my left side. I twisted my body just in time. Rumble! The light sliced through an ice statue near the throne, cutting it diagonally.
A terrifying attack, nearly the size of a map-wide ability. Is this really part of her normal pattern? It’s going to be tough for ranged attackers.
The ice witch’s attacks were fierce and fast. Before I could catch my breath, three more ice blades swooped in from all directions—left, right, and above me. It was as if they were punishing the thief hero who had come to steal the dungeon’s treasure chest.
Swoosh.
My vision blurred. When it returned, I was behind the ice witch. I had used a skill to reposition—Reversal Strike.
The ice blades whirled around the witch. Clang, clang! But I landed a perfect just-guard, triggering a "Vigor" buff. With renewed strength, I began unleashing a flurry of slashes against the ice witch.
With *Astaroth*, I carved a picture of sword scars on the sculpture that was the ice witch.
Her attacks were fast and powerful, and the ice blades guarded with precision. She was no easy opponent. But my sword continued to slip through the defenses, leaving wounds on her icy form.
Her HP soon dropped to 90%.
"Kyaa! You pesky rat!"
With a shrill cry, the witch lifted herself into the air, landing a short distance away from me.
It was the start of a special pattern.
Rumble, rumble. Crack, crack, crack.
As the witch unleashed her dark magic, the entire audience chamber shook. Icicles began to fall from the ceiling, forming icy zones on the ground.
There were five in total.
I quickly scanned the battlefield.
This pattern felt familiar.
It was the same as the *Ice Ogre King* from the Ice Tower.
Soon, the witch would absorb the icy energy and draw these zones into herself.
Five zones—would that mean five AoE attacks? No, this pattern wouldn’t be that forgiving. *Witch Frederica* was the final named boss of an elite dungeon, far more formidable than the Ice Ogre King, who was just a sturdy solo boss.
If she absorbed all the ice zones...
At the very least, she’d enter a berserk state.
Tap, tap, tap!
Quickly deciding, I moved to clear the zones.
There were no special objects in sight to remove the zones, which meant I had to use my body to clear them.
I stepped on one of the icy zones near the witch without hesitation.
Wooong!
The zone emitted a bright light and disappeared. Expecting some kind of pain, I braced myself, but no damage came.
Crack.
Instead, my feet froze to the ground. I was now under the *Frozen* debuff, which immobilized me.
No matter how nimble I was, I couldn’t break free from the *Frozen* debuff with just physical movement.
But there were ways to remove it.
Skills with repositioning properties like *Reversal Strike*, *Backward Evade*, and *Slash* could do the trick.
For now, I would have to rely on the system’s help.
Whoooosh!
The witch began absorbing the icy energy. The cold from the entire chamber was being drawn into her. Soon, all the icy zones would be absorbed.
There wasn’t much time. Since I was close to the witch, I used *Reversal Strike* to break free from the ice.
Swoosh, crack.
My body blurred as the ice broke away from my feet. I reappeared behind the witch.
Four zones remained.
Tap. I quickly stepped onto the zone nearest the witch. Using a movement skill, I positioned myself near her and cleared the zone. I then dashed backward, scanning the battlefield for the remaining zones.
They were far. I’d have to cross the entire audience chamber. Fortunately, the remaining three zones were clustered together.
Whoooosh!
There wasn’t much time left. The icy zones were already glowing brightly, being drawn toward the witch.
First, I turned my back to the last two zones. Tap, tap! Using *Backward Evade* to reach the second zone, I then twisted my body before the invincibility frame ended, turned to face the final zone, and flashed! I used *Slash* to close the distance.
I successfully cleared all the zones using every repositioning skill I had. But as I stepped on the last zone, my foot was frozen.
I had no remaining repositioning skills to free myself from the *Frozen* status.
If I were attacked in this state, it would be game over.
Should I use an item to reset my cooldowns? No, I might need it for a burst damage phase.
I think I had one more skill that could force my body to move.
Click.
I crouched slightly and reversed my grip on the sword, looking at the witch from afar.
[Starlight Sword Slash]
[Cooldown: 1 minute]
[Unleashes five starlight-infused sword slashes in a 15m x 3m range in front of you (4x at 500% multiplier, 1x at 2000% multiplier)]
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
I quickly unleashed four slashes, each imbued with starlight, sweeping toward the witch. Flash! At the same time, a white light shot from the witch’s hand, aimed directly at me, slicing diagonally across the field.
A pattern that couldn’t be guarded against.
If I didn’t clear the *Frozen* debuff, I’d be sliced in two. But I still didn’t trigger my cooldown reset.
I had to land the final 2000% multiplier slash.
Without hesitation, I swung my starlight-infused sword.
BOOOM!
"Kyaaak!"
The final sword slash pierced through the white light, dealing massive damage to the witch. However, the light beam she unleashed wasn’t affected by the slash and came straight for me.
Swish, I lightly shifted my foot to the side, dodging the witch’s beam.
Of course, I was only able to do this because the *Frozen* debuff had been lifted.
The recoil from the final strike of *Starlight Sword Slash* had shifted my body just enough to break the ice.
Clang, clang!
Now with a wicked expression, the witch lunged toward me, her ice blades clashing with my sword.
The fight had returned to its usual patterns. But something still felt off.
Was that really the end of her special phase?
Surely, in a party play setting, clearing the zones would be much easier, with each member handling one.
It felt like there was something more.
My instincts were correct.
Woooom!
One of the ice blades that had been floating aimlessly in the air suddenly rose to the center of the battlefield, radiating a strong light.