Chapter 514 – Hellish frost [20]

I’m not going to lie and say I wouldn’t have liked a little more time to think about my next move. After all, as they say, haste makes waste. That said, my current situation was far from ideal. In short, I definitely wasn’t going to have as much time to think as I would have liked.

I barely had a chance to come up with an initial strategy before I had to throw myself awkwardly to the side in an attempt that was anything but graceful, narrowly avoiding the gigantic ice spear that tore through the spot where I’d been standing a moment earlier. And when I say gigantic, I’m not exaggerating.

That thing was probably bigger than my entire body. Actually, maybe “dodging the spear” wasn’t even the best way to describe what I’d just done. Considering its size, if it had hit me, I probably wouldn’t have simply been impaled. It would be more accurate to say I would’ve been crushed.

The tip of the spear looked sharp enough to skewer me first, but I seriously doubted that would make much difference. I’d probably be pierced and then, a split second later, crushed by the rest of the weapon. Definitely didn’t sound like a pleasant experience.

My train of thought was interrupted the moment I finally managed to get back on my feet after rolling across the ground like an armadillo. That was when I noticed it. Another spear, practically identical to the first, was coming straight at me. And this time, it was even faster.

The tip of the weapon tore through the air at a terrifying speed, closing the distance far too quickly for me to simply step out of the way. My last thought was pretty simple: Getting impaled and crushed by a spear like that would probably hurt like hell.

My first thought, on the other hand, was even simpler. Golden Dimension. The next instant, the Authority manifested. Golden light appeared around me and rapidly expanded, covering several yards of space in every direction.

As soon as the spear crossed the boundary of my dimension, its speed dropped dramatically. It was as though time itself had practically stopped for it. The tip advanced so slowly that, from my perspective, it looked completely motionless in midair.

“That was a little too close...” I muttered irritably, staring at the weapon suspended in front of my face.

Still, I couldn’t just stand there. My dimension gave me a huge advantage, but staying in that position for too long would be a terrible idea. After all, I wasn’t dealing with just one spear. More knights were arriving right behind it. And from what I could see, the shield-bearers were still forming the first line in front of me.

If I wanted to reach the crown on the other side, I’d have to get through them first. I sighed at the thought. This was going to be exhausting. My [Anomalous Presence] ability could be pretty useful here. The problem was that I had absolutely no idea whether it would work against the ice statues.

The basic principle behind the ability was relatively simple: it allowed me to pass through obstacles. The problem was that, up until now, the obstacles I’d passed through had generally been things like walls, doors, and other ordinary solid structures. But what about a gigantic construct made of ice that moved as though it were alive?

That was definitely outside my experience. I had no idea what would happen if I tried to pass through it. Maybe it would work perfectly, and I’d simply phase through the ice as if it weren’t even there. Or perhaps the ability would only work up to a certain point, encounter some kind of resistance, and fail halfway through.

In that second scenario, I could end up passing through only part of the structure before my body became stuck inside it. Or, worse, I could simply be split in half. I remained silent for a few seconds. Yeah... definitely didn’t sound like a pleasant experience.

Even knowing I wouldn’t feel any pain and that my body would probably regenerate without much trouble, I’d rather not find out firsthand what it was like to have my own body parts separated from one another. If I could avoid it, I definitely would.

No. I didn’t need to use that method. I already had another one in mind. Without thinking twice, I shot to the side, running toward the edge of the field where my power was still manifested. As soon as I left the area, time would start flowing normally for the spear again, but that wouldn’t be a problem. I just needed to get far enough away before it could hit me.

I kept running without slowing down. It didn’t take long to reach the edge. My field only extended a few yards around me, so the distance I had to cover was relatively short. The instant I reached the boundary, I reactivated my thermonuclear ability. Energy immediately began gathering in one of my arms, accumulating with increasing intensity as I kept moving.

I didn’t wait to see the result. As soon as the energy reached the amount I wanted, I started running again. And then I crossed the boundary. At that exact moment, time began flowing normally again. Just as expected, the spear came crashing down on the spot where I’d been standing only a moment earlier. The impact followed almost immediately.

Without thinking too much about it, I approached the shield-bearers and raised my arm toward them. Well... this was going to be pretty flashy. Which was a little ironic, considering the situation around me was already flashy enough. I didn’t worry too much about it.

I aimed my arm at the cluster of shield-bearers and fired. The laser crossed the distance in an instant and struck the enemies directly. However, instead of simply piercing through them as one might expect from an attack like this, the beam exploded upon impact.

BOOM!

A wave of energy spread across the area, engulfing the shield-bearers in a massive explosion. This was a pretty fun alternative to my thermonuclear power. The main difference was the way the energy behaved. Instead of concentrating all its force into a single point, this technique allowed me to spread the explosion across a considerable area.

It was especially useful against groups of enemies packed closely together. Not that I’d had many opportunities to use it until now. Either way, after the explosion, a thick, freezing mist spread throughout the area, covering everything for several moments.

Visibility disappeared completely as particles and small fragments continued to drift slowly through the air. I waited a few seconds. Then, as the mist began to clear, the path ahead finally came back into view. Or rather... a path had appeared because the knights' bodies were now simply missing large chunks.

I blinked a few times, taking in the result: “Huh... That actually worked a lot better than I expected”

It took me a few seconds to realize just how ironic my own words had sounded, but, well... it wasn't as if I'd tested this mode of my thermonuclear power before. It would have been a little strange to expect me to know exactly what the result would be. Putting those casual thoughts aside, I started running through the opening my power had created between the knights.

I passed through their formation without slowing down, moving through the gap that had been forcibly carved open by the blast. As soon as I emerged on the other side, I briefly glanced around. That's when I noticed something that surprised me. The spearmen positioned behind the knights had been hit too.

I blinked a few times. Seriously... how far could that explosion reach? I hadn't exactly been holding back when I fired my attack earlier, but that didn't mean I'd used all the power I could gather. In fact, judging by what I could estimate, what I'd used earlier probably hadn't even come close to my limit.

Maybe it had been around twenty-five percent. Just thinking about that sent a small shiver down my spine. Because if this had happened while using only a fraction of the ability's power... what would happen if I decided to use the same attack on a city? And, even worse, what would happen if I used the ability's full potential?

... Yeah. Definitely better not to think about that. Especially not about the absolutely terrifying amount of destruction I could potentially cause. Some thoughts simply didn't need to be explored. I shook my head, pushing away the thoughts that insisted on piling up, just as an icy wind swept across my body and made me shiver slightly.

The sensation was unpleasant, but it was enough to bring me back to the present. I turned my full attention forward. The throne was already visible, imposing in the center of the hall, but there was one problem. I couldn't see the slightest sign of the crown. I quickly scanned my surroundings, examining every corner within my field of vision, but I found absolutely nothing.

I frowned slightly. It didn't make sense for her to have escaped that quickly. When I'd encountered her earlier, she'd practically had to crawl just to get away from me, and I hadn't even been that far from her at the time. There was no way she could have simply disappeared from this place without me noticing.

She had to be somewhere in this hall. Somewhere. Since I couldn't find anything at first glance, I decided not to waste any more time searching. Instead, I simply raised my hand and concentrated my thermonuclear energy. The next instant, a concentrated blast slammed into the throne.

BOOOOM!

The structure was consumed by the energy in an intense flash, shards of ice being hurled across the hall before disappearing into the flames. I was almost certain the throne wasn't affecting anything in this situation, but honestly, it was better to be safe than discover later that it served some kind of important purpose. Besides, there was something else strange happening.

The statues had simply stopped attacking me. I had no idea why. They'd been trying to kill me just moments ago, and then, all of a sudden, they just... stopped. I glanced at a few of them, expecting them to start moving again at any moment. Nothing. Well... Not that I was going to complain.

After everything that had happened, not having something else trying to kill me was definitely something I could appreciate. That said, I turned my attention back to the search. I searched. And searched. And searched some more. Until my eyes finally landed on something... interesting. It wasn't exactly close, but it wasn't particularly far from where I was either, near the shattered throne.

Among the rubble and the shadows cast by the destroyed structures, something caught my attention. There seemed to be something hidden behind one of the enormous pillars standing there, apparently supporting part of the castle's structure. Although, to be honest, I had absolutely no idea whether those pillars actually served any structural purpose or were simply there to look imposing.

But that hardly mattered. Because there was something there. And simply because it was hidden, it immediately became interesting. If I could have seen my own face at that moment, I probably would have realized that I was smiling in a disturbingly menacing way. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no idea.

So the poor crown had no choice but to endure my fixed, silent stare. My eyes remained locked onto it as my usually impassive expression displayed a rare hint of emotion. An expression that, in my head, probably looked like nothing more than a satisfied smile. From anyone else's perspective, however... It was absolutely terrifying.