Chapter 121 – Frost Giant – [Seven]

Once we left the site of the battle, we were back in the blizzard. That was because we had left the ‘Sanctuary of the Brazier.’

Seo Yun walked in the middle of the group.

Up ahead, Han Siwoo was grumbling.

“The Frost Giant is dead, but Minor Weather Manipulation? Why hasn’t that spell’s effect disappeared? The Mind Domination Spell broke immediately…”

Gaeulbi, who clearly had not only memorized Martial Artist skills but also Priest Spells, explained.

“The Minor Weather Manipulation Spell lasts for six hours once activated! Spells like Mind Domination are maintained by continuously using one spell slot, so they dissipate if the caster dies or loses consciousness… Anyway, it’s information lowly Warriors and Martial Artists like us don’t need to know, right?”

It was irritating how she subtly dragged the Warrior class down to the level of her own race, but Seo Yun couldn’t scold the impudent chimpanzee or attempt to deceive her again by insisting that Warriors and Martial Artists were better classes.

That was because, for a while now, Arnold had been grabbing her arm and speaking in an excited voice. Starting with, “Did you see me earlier?” his words were still continuing.

“Did you see me cut off the giant’s head?”

“I regret not seeing that scene directly, but I did see the giant’s corpse. It was truly amazing…”

“It was amazing, really! I, I defeated an equal opponent for the first time! This is really…”

After that, Arnold continued talking one-sidedly, and Seo Yun accepted all his words with a smile.

He must be excited about finally defeating a proper, powerful enemy, right? He was so happy that Arnold’s face was completely flushed, with none of his usual stoicism to be found.

Honestly, with us talking like this, it felt a bit awkward.

No other voices could be heard besides ours.

Glancing around, everyone seemed on the verge of death from exhaustion, having just finished a rough battle and now trudging through the blizzard to climb the mountain.

Especially the soldiers were walking with completely frozen expressions, which was understandable as too many soldiers had died in the recent battle. They weren’t in a mood to savor the joy of victory.

Everyone climbed the blizzard-swept mountain with tired faces.

With visibility not extending more than a few meters ahead, everyone had to rely on Gaeulbi—who, thanks to her skill setting of seeing energy imbued in objects, could see through darkness and smoke screens—and carefully follow behind her. Having to let a chimpanzee lead a group of humans? It was the end times…

After walking like that for about ten minutes, the Dwarf Mage stopped everyone. Pointing somewhere, he said.

“Here. Behind that rock is the giant’s house…”

Due to the blizzard still raging fiercely, even that rock wasn’t clearly visible. Seo Yun said.

“Wait, I’ll recite the Hearth Sanctuary Spell again.”

As Seo Yun recited the spell, warmth spread, and the blizzard in this area subsided.

Finally, the giant rock blocking the entrance to the giant’s lair was revealed.

The Dwarf Mage looked at us, grinned, and said.

“Seniors, you’ve worked hard, so rest, okay? We’ll handle the difficult tasks…”

The Dwarf Mage saying this seemed extremely tense. The battle was already over, so why? Was he afraid there might be another monster inside the lair?

No, it was clear he was afraid there might be nothing.

Whether there was rice inside or not, no one knew except for the already dead Rogue Player. There was a chance they might have to return empty-handed after all this hardship.

Thanks to Arnold displaying his unique monstrous strength, the work of moving the rock progressed quickly. Receiving everyone’s astonished gazes, Arnold said in clumsy Korean.

“Go take a piss for a moment.”

So, after the rock was half-cleared, the reaction that emerged among the people upon seeing the revealed interior of the giant’s lair was not admiration.

“What is this?”

A deflated lament. Seo Yun also glanced inside the rock and understood their reaction.

There was rice inside the giant’s lair. However, it was definitely not the amount that everyone could eat for over ten years, as the Rogue had said.

Three sacks of rice. Placed inside the vast giant’s lair, it was a pitiful amount of rice roughly piled in one corner.

“There’s no way a giant could survive on just this… There must be more somewhere else…”

As if unwilling to believe this miserable scene, someone shone a light inside the lair, but indeed, that was all.

While everyone was lamenting, Seo Yun could imagine the giant who had lived in that lair.

In this cold world, the food needed for the giant’s body was woefully insufficient, but the giant could transform into a magpie to reduce its size. The giant, transformed into a tiny bird, probably firmly locked the entrance to its lair with a rock to avoid being eaten by other beasts, then pecked at the rice stored here to survive.

The people gathered around seemed to have lost all motivation. As a few people sat down, soldiers gathered in front of the lair.

A suffocating silence flowed.

The soldiers’ predatory eyes lingered on the three sacks of rice for a while, then turned toward the Dwarf Mage, whose expression had hardened after checking the spoils earlier. That is, toward the man who had brought them here.

Seo Yun thought. That Dwarf succeeded in winning over the soldiers in just one day. While doing so, did he honestly persuade them, saying the possibility of a rice warehouse on the mountain was low, but let’s take a risk as a last hope? Or did he coax them, saying there definitely would be some and they’d lose out if they didn’t participate?

There was no need to doubt it wasn’t the latter. That Dwarf was closer to being half a swindler.

Seeing the soldiers’ reactions made it clear.

“What is this.”

The soldiers’ faces were expressionless, but they were angry. In the cold of the snowy mountain, their anger and disappointment were frozen solid. Their icy gazes turned toward the Dwarf.

The Dwarf flinched but didn’t yield meekly.

“Why are you confronting me?”

“I’m asking what this is.”

“I’m upset too, man. Don’t mess with someone who’s already pissed off…”

At this point, Seo Yun thought the soldiers would get angry. She thought shouts like, “Isn’t this too much?” or “Did we come here to get this?” would burst from the soldiers’ parched mouths.

But that wasn’t it. The soldiers raised their gun barrels and fired immediately.

A ‘bang’ of gunfire rang out.

At that moment, including Han Siwoo, everyone’s reaction was delayed. It was too sudden an event to react to immediately.Han Siwoo watched the Dwarf Mage dissipate into smoke. It took him a moment to process what had just happened.

The soldier had fired his gun. It was an act of retaliatory betrayal against the deceitful employer.

The Players gathered around the Dwarf recoiled in shock.

“What are you all…”

Another gunshot rang out, not just once but multiple times this time.

Three Players were hit by bullets and collapsed. Amidst their screams, Seo Yun’s voice echoed.

“Han Siwoo, take Gaeulbi!”

Han Siwoo immediately complied. He pulled Gaeulbi, who was wide-eyed, behind him.

The next moment proved it was the right move. Bullets flew, striking his shield and armor in rapid succession. The soldiers were firing indiscriminately at every Player present.

Thanks to his protection, Gaeulbi was unharmed. From behind him, the girl shouted.

“Seo Yun!”

Han Siwoo looked over at Seo Yun. She was still among the Gangwon-do Players.

Seo Yun shouted.

“Stop!”

Seo Yun didn’t just shout; she took action.

Wherever her gaze fell, the guns held by the soldiers exploded one after another. It was the Hearth Priest’s Pyrokinesis ability.

Yet, despite this attempt at neutralization, ‘Bang, bangbang…’ gunshots continued to ring out from various directions. Of course, that Hearth Priest ability had its limits. It required concentration on specific objects and had a range limitation, making it impossible for her alone to stop all the gunfire.

While Seo Yun was doing this out in front of everyone, the soldiers’ dull, vacant gazes turned toward the girl. The gun barrels in their hands moved in tandem with their eyes.

And then, ‘Bang…’

As the gunshot rang in his ears, Han Siwoo’s eyes widened. In his dilated pupils, he saw the image of Seo Yun collapsing, bleeding from her chest.

Seo Yun had been shot and fallen.

And she didn’t even stagger. She just slumped sideways in one go.

It seemed the shot didn’t reflect the will of all the soldiers, as dissent arose among them.

“Why did you shoot her?”

With too many voices overlapping, it was hard to make out each word clearly, but the soldiers roughly exchanged words like this:

“That fire monster she summoned earlier, the one that protected the murderers’ village…”

“Even so, you shouldn’t kill her, there was no need…”

“If we don’t kill her, then what…”

“We should take her to where we are… she might still be alive, to our headquarters…”

Many opinions favored taking her alive. It might have been their own form of goodwill toward the kindness the girl had shown. Even in a situation where rage had flown away with reason, they were suggesting showing mercy.

But to Gaeulbi right now, that kind of mercy would not be seen as goodwill at all. Not for a girl who had experienced her people being taken away twice before.

Sure enough, from behind Han Siwoo, Gaeulbi screamed.

“Those bastards!”

Her voice was drowned out by a roar far more immense.

Arnold, who had just returned from relieving himself, saw the scene.

“Seo—Yun—!”

The Barbarian Warrior’s battle cry caused the surrounding soldiers to stiffen, bleeding from their ears, with some even collapsing.

Arnold charged toward the soldiers with guns. His speed was monstrously fast. But a Barbarian Warrior’s half-naked body was ill-suited for defending against bullets, and his roar had already drawn everyone’s attention to him.

Once again, gun barrels spat fire from all directions. It was an excessive concentration of fire for one man. Arnold deflected bullets with his greatsword as he charged, but bullets came from everywhere.

There were too many soldiers shooting.

Even at a glance, Han Siwoo saw dozens of bullets strike the Barbarian Warrior’s half-naked body. Yet, Arnold took all those bullets with his bare chest, stomach, and sides, kept running, and stood blocking the path in front of Seo Yun.

It was an incomprehensible scene. If his skin had deflected the bullets, one might have assumed it was some magical protection. But Arnold’s skin splattered blood with each bullet impact, and even now, blood streamed from his entire body.

Yet, the fact that he moved perfectly fine meant that Barbarian Warrior’s physique was on par with a massive monster. Just what Level and how much HP did he have to be like that?

Looking closely, the bullets embedded in his body glinted—they hadn’t even penetrated deeply. His skin and muscles seemed impossibly tough.

The soldiers standing before the Barbarian Warrior seemed to freeze in panic.

If Arnold had swung his greatsword then, he could have cleaved through ten soldiers in an instant. But for some reason, Arnold did not attack them. The Barbarian Warrior just stood firm in front of Seo Yun, remaining still, while the soldiers continued to pull their triggers, aiming at his muscular frame.

Perhaps unable to hold out any longer, Arnold dropped to one knee.

While hiding Gaeulbi safely behind a rock, Han Siwoo watched. Even though he was helping them, it was unbearably frustrating. That barbarian bastard, why isn’t he attacking? Protecting Seo Yun with his whole body was appreciated, but it was utterly incomprehensible…

Gaeulbi screamed.

“Han Siwoo!”

Even before Gaeulbi shouted, Han Siwoo was already running.

It wasn’t just Gaeulbi who was frantic now.

Sweat poured from his entire body. His hand gripping the sword was clenched so tightly it hurt. The weight of the armor slowing his sprinting speed was infuriatingly frustrating.

Charging forth with furious rage, the soldiers aimed their gun barrels at him too.

The armor he wore now could deflect most bullets, but some weaker spots were still vulnerable. While most bullets ricocheted off the armor, a few pierced the iron plates and stabbed into his skin.

Han Siwoo paid no heed. Holding his shield forward, protecting only his vitals, he charged.

He reached the side of Seo Yun and the Barbarian Warrior.

Before charging at the soldiers, Han Siwoo looked at the fallen Seo Yun and thought.

A Healing Spell, why isn’t she using a Healing Spell to heal herself?

Looking immediately at Seo Yun’s bleeding wound, it was right in the center of her chest. Also, despite having 11 Health, she couldn’t move at all.

A critical spot, it seems the bullet hit her heart or lungs. With the bullet lodged there, she can’t regenerate.

Perhaps she really was dead.

The moment he realized that, Han Siwoo also realized that he, who thought he was already as angry as he could possibly be, could become even angrier than he was just moments before.”Fuck—!”

The lightning sword I thrust forward pierced a soldier’s chest. Though it was my first time killing a person, that fact didn’t bother me at all right now. It was the moment when sparks seared my frantically beating heart.

Fierce snowflakes struck the helm’s visor.

The caster who had placed a spell to drive the blizzard away from this location could no longer maintain it. As the spell vanished, the mountain’s harsh weather once again dominated the area.

A blizzard swept in. A blizzard that completely blocked my vision.

That was probably why the Frost Giant hadn’t equipped the Yetis with firearms for this assault. Guns are useless when you can’t see a few meters ahead.

Gaeulbi seemed to have realized that too. Instantly, her voice sounded close by.

“You fucking piece of shit bastards!”

It was the first time Han Siwoo had heard such venomous curses from that girl during their time together. A dull impact sound followed, then a sharp scream echoed.

Though the blizzard obscured what exactly happened, the scream that erupted from a soldier’s mouth was unmistakable.

From the very spot that scream originated, Gaeulbi’s shout rang out.

“You fuckers all deserve to die!”

In the Immortal Kingdom, the Martial Artist is considered a symbol of a rather weak profession, but it’s not entirely useless. With their characteristic speed, Martial Artists can close the distance to an enemy in an instant, making them suitable for dealing with foes with poor long-range defensive capabilities, including spellcasters.

The soldiers were exactly that kind of enemy.

Within the blizzard, screams—horrible screams—echoed several times.

Meanwhile, Han Siwoo saw Arnold. Arnold was looking down at Seo Yun with a desolate expression, but the bleeding from his muscular body had already stopped. Even if the bullet was removed later, he seemed capable of moving somehow.

Han Siwoo recalled how that man had carried Oh Haengun and run a long distance. Kicking the stomach of the soldier impaled by his own sword, he shouted.

“Seo Yun, take him and run!”

“What?”

“Get to a place where he can be treated! Need Cure!”

Pointing at Seo Yun as he spoke, she seemed to roughly understand. As Arnold, his face hardened, picked up Seo Yun and began to run, Han Siwoo remembered Seo Yun’s words.

What had that girl said? That they had to stop Gaeulbi’s indiscriminate killing of soldiers, and the reason they should was for Gaeulbi’s own sake? That they couldn’t let her get her hands drenched in blood like that…

If Seo Yun could speak now, she would probably have firmly refused revenge on her own behalf. She wouldn’t have wanted her teammates to slaughter for her sake.

But now, no matter what anyone said, stopping that Martial Artist girl seemed difficult. A friend who had abandoned a comfortable life to follow her on the run was dying, shot by the soldiers she detested so terribly.

And Han Siwoo also had no mind to stop that slaughter right now.

Han Siwoo also charged into the blizzard, sword in hand.

That day, nearly eighty people ascended Mount Taebaek, but fewer than twenty came down alive.