The Last Place Hero's Return

Chapter 251: The Frost (6)

A savage blizzard swept over the frozen city, and a murderous cold that could make one’s lungs freeze solid just from breathing raged. Snowflakes whipped violently through the air. In the blink of an eye, the land had transformed into a vast, white snowfield.

It was a sight far too familiar to me. In my past life, I had wandered for thousands of years in search of the Primordial Flame, my soul crushed under the weight of seeing this very scene over and over again. The trauma I had long forced down surged back up, nausea rising in my throat, but still I managed to hold myself together.

“Ah! This is....”

The snowflakes that touched my skin melted softly away. What I felt wasn’t the biting cold of extreme frost, but a strangely warm, gentle sensation. This didn’t happen because Laneige’s Blessing of the Frost was weak. Laneige was controlling her Blessing so that I wouldn’t be swept up in the raging snowstorm. In fact, everything else besides me had frozen solid the instant the snowflakes touched it.

I looked at her back as she stood facing Seria, a faint smile forming on my lips. Laneige had changed. The Witch of the Night, who had once slaughtered tens of thousands and frozen half the continent, was gone. What stood there now wasn’t a witch, but Laneige Maram—a proper hero, one no one could deny.

Laneige muttered, “F-first, I’ll freeze Dale’s arms and legs so he can’t run away, a-and then I’ll t-take his clothes off. Hehehe!”

She is a hero, right? I wondered.

* * *

Seria stared around at the vast, white snowfield, her mouth hung open. “What in the world?”

She could also freeze an entire city. Summoning a blizzard, covering the land in snow, was also possible given enough time. Yes, the key point was that she needed time.

“N-no way. How could this happen so instantly?” she muttered.

Not even ten seconds had passed from the moment the blizzard began to rage to the land being buried beneath snow. Needless to say, this wasn’t a phenomenon that could occur naturally. Unless an avalanche had poured down, there was no way that much snow could accumulate in just ten seconds. It meant that the power Laneige was displaying now transcended physical laws entirely; it was power brushing against the realm of the divine.

Seria stared at her daughter. “Laneige, you!”

“Mother.” Laneige slowly walked toward Seria. She looked at her with sorrowful eyes and slowly raised her hand high into the air. “Bloom.”

The raging blizzard came to an abrupt halt. Then, in the empty air, dozens, no, hundreds, of snowflakes bloomed into existence.

“Full Bloom.”

The snowflakes burst wide open. These were not ordinary snowflakes; every one of them was imbued with the power of her Blessing, which had turned them into sharp and frosty.

Seria hurriedly tried to conjure a frost storm to block the blizzard, but it swallowed her up instantly, forcibly dispelling her magic. The backlash made her scream as she vomited blood. Laneige stood before her. With eyes gone cold, she looked down at Seria.

“L-Laneige, w-why are you looking at your mother like that?” Seria asked.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

Snowflakes gathered at her fingertips.

Seria was flustered. “H-hii! W-wait a second!”

“I’m sorry.”

Laneige took a step toward her mother, whose face had gone deathly pale as she staggered backward. She aimed the finely honed blade of ice at Seria. At that moment, a childhood memory suddenly surfaced. It was the memory of Seria gently pulling her into an embrace after her father had scolded her.

“Oh dear, my daughter. Did Daddy scold you again?”

“Come here.”

“Don’t cry, Laneige. You’re much prettier when you smile.”

The warm comfort and the gentle hand patting her back vividly remained in her memories. That memory and that warmth flooded her mind like a dam bursting. Her hand stopped. Laneige looked down at Seria with eyes so full of sorrow that it seemed she would collapse at any moment. Clear tears slid down her cheeks. However, she knew she had to end this. This was her responsibility and something only she could do.

“Ah! Uh!”

Yet, her hand trembled violently. Her chest ached as if it were being carved out with a knife. She didn’t want to do it. Even knowing her mother was no longer sane and even knowing she had committed unforgivable sins, Laneige still loved her mother.

She didn’t want to kill her. She wanted to cling to that rotten rope tied to faded memories. “M-Mom, p-please, c-come back.”

“Yes, that’s right, my daughter.” Seria smiled brightly and reached out toward her. “Come here, Laneige. Just like old times, Mommy will hold you tight.”

She knew that Seria hadn’t returned to her senses. She knew the savage dark mana writhing around the hand reaching for her. She knew all that, but still, she reached out to take Seria’s hand. “M-Mom....”

Just before their hands could touch, a wave of Ashen Flames flared up between them. Then, a sword wreathed in Ashen Flames pierced straight through Seria’s chest.

“Ah!”

Seria’s eyes flew wide open. The Ashen Flames traveling along the sword burned her heart to ash.

Laneige rushed toward her in panic. “M-Mom!”

However, Dale grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back, holding her firmly. “Laneige, I killed her.”

“D-Dale?”

“Look me straight in the eyes and listen. You didn’t kill her. I’m the one who drove the sword into your mother’s heart.”

* * *

Yes, the one who took the life of Laneige’s mother wasn’t her; it was me. I said, “You don’t need to feel any guilt.”

You don’t need to think that you killed your beloved mother with your hands. You didn’t kill her. I did. I’m the one who burned your faded memories to ash, I said internally.

I wiped away the tears streaming from the corners of her eyes. She had always been timid, fearful, and constantly worrying about how others saw her. Seeing her try to stand on her own, using only her own strength, was admirable. I had cheered for her from afar. But that didn’t mean she had to carry it all alone.

“Laneige. Don’t try to shoulder everything by yourself.”

“D-Dale...”

Laneige burst into tears and threw her arms around me. She buried her face in my chest, sobbing for a long while. However, a sudden voice from behind interrupted us. It was a voice so faint it felt as if it would break at any moment.

Seria, her chest pierced by the sword, was looking at Laneige with blood trickling from her mouth. “L-Laneige?”

“Mom?”

Seria smiled gently. “H-haha. T-that’s a relief. You’re... alive.”

“M-Mom! Mom!”

I knew instinctively. At this moment, Seria wasn’t the Archbishop of Frost who had rampaged and slaughtered people; she was the mother Laneige remembered. I widened my eyes as I saw light return to Seria’s once-empty gaze. Had she come back to her senses when her heart burned in the Ashen Flames?

The Ashen Flames had the power to burn away a soul stigmata. Since her rampage had stopped now, it meant someone had tampered with her soul stigmata. Her soul stigmata had been tainted by someone else’s power from the start. At this moment, only one person came to mind as the most likely culprit: The Prophet of Eternity. Thinking of that man, whose name I didn’t even know, I slowly closed my eyes.

Laneige cried out, her face pale as she stared at the sword lodged in Seria’s chest like a wedge. “M-Mom! J-just wait... I-I’ll contact Iris. I’ll ask Iris to heal you, Mom!”

Seria gently shook her head. “No. That won’t be necessary. I... died a long time ago.”

“B-But...”

Seria reached out with a trembling hand and stroked Laneige’s cheek. “It’s okay. Just being able... to see you again like this is more than enough of a miracle.”

“M-Mom.”

“Laneige, come here.” Seria carefully pulled Laneige into her arms and patted her back. “My little girl, you’ve grown so much.”

How long had it been since she had felt this warmth? All the emotions Laneige had kept suppressed exploded, and tears poured out. “Mom! Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom!”

With a faint smile, Seria tightened her arms around Laneige. “That’s right.”

After holding her like that for a long while, Seria turned toward me. “Your name is Dale, right?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, even if only for a moment, I was able to come back to my senses.”

I kept quiet.

“Hehe. You’re wondering who did this to me, aren’t you?” she asked.

I nodded silently.

Seria continued in a voice so weak it sounded ready to fade at any moment, “Well, I don’t really know who that person was either. He always wore a mask. All I know is that he was a man with hair as black as the night.”

That could hardly be even called a clue. The description was far too common to narrow down to one person.

“Hehe. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” Seria said.

“No.”

“If I told you everything that happened after I met him, you might find a new lead, but...” She glanced down at Laneige, who was crying in her arms. “I don’t have much time left. I know it’s selfish, but may I spend my final moments with Laneige?”

“Of course,” I replied.

No matter how important information about the Prophet of Eternity was, it wasn’t something to press for in a moment like this. I nodded and stepped back, giving them space.

***

Seria looked at her daughter. “Laneige.”

“M-Mom, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing, Laneige? I’m the one who should be apologizing.” Holding Laneige tightly, Seria let out a quiet sigh. “There, there. Stop crying now.”

“M-Mom.”

“You’re much prettier when you smile than when you cry, Laneige.”

Biting her lip, Laneige tightened her arms around Seria.

Seria drew shallow, fading breaths, yet smiled brightly. “I’m glad I came back to life.”

She knew that the Prophet of Eternity had revived her only to use her as a tool. Yet, she thanked him in her heart. He had given her a short extension of life, allowing her to say what she never could before.

She looked at her sobbing daughter and smiled warmly. “Laneige. I love you.”

“M-Mom!”

“I may have been a useless mother who couldn’t even protect her own daughter... But giving birth to you was a miracle I’ll never have again in my life.” She kissed Laneige on the forehead and held her close, as if cradling a precious treasure. “So warm, my daughter.”

Warmth spread through her body as it grew cold. Amid the raging blizzard, melting even the brutal cold of the frozen storm, a gentle and tender warmth permeated the atmosphere.