How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game - Chapter 686: Frost Queen 5
Chapter 686: Frost Queen 5
They’re not Erebil’s worshippers, he concluded almost immediately.
That realization brought a small—but genuine—sense of relief.
Dealing with worshippers was rarely troublesome because of their strength.
At Riley and Snow’s level, such fanatics were insignificant obstacles at best.
The real nuisance was what came after.
Kill enough worshippers, and the being they adored would eventually notice.
And when gods or demons noticed… consequences followed.
Riley exhaled slowly, eyes never leaving the robed figures.
So, whoever you belong to… you’re bold enough to reach this far north.
“I’ll deal with them. Snow, you go ahead.”
Snow stopped mid-step and turned back toward him.
“Are you sure?”
Riley nodded without hesitation.
“Yes. I can’t follow you deeper inside anyway. I might as well help you conserve your energy for the trial you have to overcome.”
Snow studied his face.
Even without sensing his mana, she could tell—these robed figures weren’t ordinary cultists.
Their presence was dense, warped, and clung unnaturally to the frozen air.
Still… it was Riley.
“I know you’re strong,” she said softly, “and powerful… but please be careful, okay?”
Riley let out a quiet chuckle, light and unbothered.
“Don’t worry. They’re not exactly a threat.”
That confidence—calm, effortless—finally eased her worry.
Snow smiled, then turned and began walking forward, her white cloak trailing softly across the frost-covered ground.
“Oh my… oh my~!”
The old man’s voice rang out theatrically as he spread his arms wide.
“Such a magnificent display of trust and affection! Though your words have lowered the value of our threat, I cannot help but be moved by such tragic love laid bare before us!”
He pressed a hand to his chest dramatically.
“To think the young man would allow his woman to venture into death all on her own—how tragic! How beautiful! Please, do make your way onward, oh tragic heroine!”
With exaggerated reverence, he bowed.
His subordinates followed suit, parting like a ceremonial procession.
Snow hesitated only for a brief second, surprise flickering across her expression—then she ignored them entirely and continued forward, her footsteps gradually fading into the frozen depths of the dungeon.
Once her figure disappeared into the distance, the old man straightened.
Slowly… deliberately… he turned his gaze toward Riley.
A grin stretched across his aged face.
“Oh, young man filled with confidence and conviction!” he exclaimed. “Such faith! Such certainty! Surely a soul like yours could be guided toward worship of our great god—would you not consider joining us?”
Riley’s expression didn’t change.
“You sure talk a lot of nonsense.”
The old man froze for a split second—then burst into delighted laughter.
“Nonsense? Nonsense, you say?” he repeated gleefully. “Oh, how I love that word! Yes, yes—I do speak nonsense!”
He raised his arms once more, eyes gleaming with manic devotion.
“For that is what our faith embodies! Unpredictable anomalies! Truths that defy logic! A lack of understanding that births enlightenment!”
He leaned forward slightly, voice dropping into a reverent whisper.
“In chaos… we find divinity.”
Riley’s blue eyes sharpened.
The instant killing intent bloomed within him, the old man reacted on instinct alone.
The divine prowess he had borrowed—stolen—from whatever wretched being he worshipped surged outward, forming a dark, ominous aura that flickered like a dying flame.
But it was already too late.
[Hidden Blade Technique: First Form]
[Blue Moon]
Flash.
A single arc of blue light swept through the frozen hall.
For a fraction of a second, nothing seemed to happen.
Then—
Siiissshhh—
Blood erupted like crimson fountains.
One by one, the heads of the robed subordinates slid cleanly from their shoulders, their bodies collapsing in boneless heaps as the echo of steel cutting air finally caught up to reality.
The old man stood frozen, warm blood splattering across his face and robes.
Drip.
Drip.
Time returned to him in pieces.
“M-my… lambs…” he muttered, his voice trembling—not with grief, but with awe.
Riley walked forward, stepping over fallen bodies as if they were nothing more than debris on the road.
His blade was already gone, hidden once more, as if it had never been drawn at all.
“Hey, old man,” Riley said calmly, “I’ve been meaning to ask—who’s the evil god you’re worshipping?”
The reason he hadn’t cut the man down was simple.
This one could still speak.
And he seemed the most usable.
The old man lifted his head slowly… and then laughed.
“Haha… hahah… HUahahahaha!”
His laughter rang out wildly through the frozen corridor, echoing against the icy walls.
The gleam in his eyes was no longer human—it was the manic devotion of a man who had long abandoned reason.
“Oh, how our god has blessed us!” he cried. “To think my lambs would be allowed to embrace him so early in their lives! Oh, how truly enviable!”
Riley’s expression didn’t change.
“Answer me,” he said flatly, “and I’ll let you share the same gentle fate as your ’enviable’ subordinates.”
The old man pressed a hand to his chest and bowed mockingly.
“Ahh, such mercy from one so powerful! A tempting offer indeed,” he said with exaggerated reverence. “But I must humbly refuse, oh radiant anomaly.”
His smile twisted wider.
“I still have a mission—to spread our god’s gospel, to herald his holiness! I cannot die yet, for I am his one and only apostle!”
Silence followed.
Riley tilted his head slightly.
“Is that so?”
He knew talking to crazed fanatics was bound to earn him nothing but incoherent rambling, but he tried nonetheless.
Awareness mattered—especially when it came to unknown evil gods.
Since it’s not Erebil… I can deal with the consequences later.
Even if killing them drew the attention of some obscure, forgotten deity, the moment that god attempted to peer into him, Riley would know.
His own divine nature made that unavoidable.
There were very few beings in this world capable of facing him directly anymore—game or reality, it made little difference.
Aside from Erebil… Liyana… and the White Queen…
There really weren’t many who could threaten him at his current level.
…This might even be a good opportunity.
A way to test himself against another god.
With that thought settled, Riley began channeling mana into his blade once more, the familiar hum of power wrapping around his arm—
And then something strange happened.
SIIISHHH!!!
Black smoke began to rise from the corpses.
Not steam.
Not mana dispersion.
Something else.
The dark vapor coiled upward like living tendrils, writhing with faint screams and distorted emotions that scraped against Riley’s senses.
His skin prickled, a strange tingling sensation crawling up his spine.
“Ohhh!!!” the old man cried, his eyes rolling back in bliss. “Our god has finally graced these lambs! What an honor—to be consumed!”
Riley’s gaze snapped toward the bodies.
He expected the energy to be drawn deeper into the dungeon.
Into an altar.
A summoning circle.
Anything.
But instead—
The black smoke shifted.
Its trajectory bent unnaturally… and flowed straight toward him.
“…What?”
Before he could react, the dark energy surged forward and slipped into his body as if it belonged there—no resistance, no rejection, no corruption.
[Congratulations. You have acquired a follower’s divine energy!]
[Divinity +10,000]
“Huh?”
…I was their god?
The old man collapsed to his knees, tears streaming looking at Riley in a daze.
…
Inside the frozen tapestry of the dungeon, Snow walked alone.
Her footsteps echoed softly through the cavernous passage, each step crisp and clear despite the floor being nothing but ice and compacted snow.
The sound lingered unnaturally long, as if the dungeon itself were listening.
All around her, towering walls of frozen stone and crystal rose like sculpted pillars, their surfaces etched with intricate, almost deliberate patterns.
They weren’t random.
There was an elegance to them—curving lines and symmetrical motifs frozen in place, as though an artist had once shaped the dungeon by hand before time itself was locked away in ice.
Even the ground beneath her feet felt less like uneven terrain and more like a road… a path meant to be walked.
“Hoh…”
White mist escaped her lips, dispersing quickly into the cold air.
She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t afraid.
Or nervous.
The absence of monsters was unsettling.
No roars. No movement. No ambushes.
Just silence—thick, oppressive silence that pressed against her senses far more heavily than any enemy ever could.
But still… she moved forward.
Step by step, careful and deliberate, her grip tightening around her wand as she advanced deeper into the dungeon.
With every passing moment, the cold intensified—not the biting chill of winter, but something deeper.
Heavier.
As if the air itself was growing denser, seeping into her bones.
Yet despite it all, her mind remained sharp.
Too sharp to relax.
Monsters could be hiding anywhere.
Or worse—something intelligent could be watching.
Her eyes scanned every shadow, every bend in the frozen walls, her senses stretched taut as a drawn bowstring.
And then, in the distance, she saw it.
A pale blue glow.
It shimmered softly at the end of the passage, spilling out from a massive, circular opening carved directly into the ice.
The entrance was cavern-like, yet unnervingly familiar—nearly the same size and shape as the portal outside.
Her steps slowed.
Her expression hardened.
As she drew closer, the light intensified, bathing her figure in a gentle blue radiance that reflected off her white coat and silver hair.
The air here felt… different.
Not hostile.
Welcoming.
And then—
’You’re finally here…’
The voice echoed directly inside her mind.
Beautiful.
Clear.
Cold as falling snow.
Snow froze mid-step, her breath catching in her throat.
Before she could react—before she could speak or raise her wand—the blue light surged outward, expanding like an opening bloom.
In an instant, it swallowed her whole.
And the dungeon fell silent once more.
