Chapter 333: Resurrection, External Divinity

Chapter 333: Chapter 333: Resurrection, External Divinity

"???"

Three giant question marks instantly appeared over Lance’s head.

Demon King?!

Isn’t Atlas the Hero who saved the world?

What in the world is going on?

Are she and I really talking about the same person?

Just how much of this world’s history has been altered and hidden?

Just as Lance’s mind was reeling with questions and he was about to press for more answers...

Suddenly, he felt a pulling sensation from the depths of his soul.

[Special Talent detected: Ouroboros Ring is now in effect...]

[Soul Recall initiated. Returning to the Material Realm...]

"Looks like your ’vacation’ is over, handsome."

The Netherworld Witch keenly sensed the fluctuation in Lance’s soul and took a small step back.

"However, as an elder, let me give you a kind reminder."

"You seem to possess some sort of rare ability to forcibly Resist Death."

"But you must not rely on this power too much. Death, in the end, is always fair."

"Every time you escape the Land of Death, the Land of Death can feel the echo. Do it too many times, and one day, something bad will happen."

Unfortunately, Lance had no time to ponder the deeper meaning of her words.

SWOOSH—

An intense feeling of weightlessness washed over him.

Lance’s consciousness was forcibly torn from the black, mirror-like lake.

...

"Cough, cough!"

When Lance snapped his eyes open and regained consciousness,

he found himself resting his head on a soft lap.

As his vision gradually cleared, he saw Nieve’s delicate face, inches from his own.

But before he could speak, a chill suddenly ran through his entire body.

He looked down.

His entire body was completely frozen in a thick layer of solid ice!

If not for the hot steam radiating from his body as the resurrection process activated, rapidly melting the surrounding ice, he’d probably still be a giant ice sculpture.

"What’s going on?"

As the steam billowed, the remaining ice on his body began to shatter.

Shards of ice slid down his chin and fell to the floor with a crisp clatter.

Lance remembered clearly. Before he died, he had explicitly told Nieve to use the Flower of Frosty Snow’s ability to help reset his Talent’s cooldown.

So how did he wake up to find himself frozen like a popsicle by her?

However,

Lance’s gaze fell upon the girl’s hands. She was holding a sharp, thick icicle high in the air, its tip aimed right at his chest.

The two of them stared at each other, wide-eyed. The scene was incredibly awkward for a moment.

Seeing Lance’s eyes suddenly open,

Nieve was clearly startled as well.

She blinked her ice-blue eyes, and her hand trembled, letting go.

CLANG.

The heavy icicle fell onto Lance’s chest, making it feel tight and constricted.

With a sigh of resignation, Lance pushed the block of ice off his chest, propped himself up with his hands, and vigorously shook the ice shards from his hair and face.

"What was that all about?"

Lance asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, as he looked at Nieve, who was still holding her hand in the air.

"Didn’t I tell you to use the flower? Why did you suddenly freeze me? And what’s with the giant icicle? Were you trying to murder me?"

Nieve pointed a finger at the faintly glowing Flower of Frosty Snow above her left ear.

"Nieve used it."

She stated the fact with a deadpan expression, but her tone held a barely perceptible trace of grievance.

"But, Nieve saw that Lance still wasn’t breathing, and his heart had completely stopped."

"The flower definitely lit up, but you still didn’t wake up, Lance."

Hearing this explanation,

Lance froze for a moment.

’A delay?’

That was completely unexpected.

It seemed that frequently using his Resurrection Talent in battle, on top of directly facing death at the end,

had caused his soul to slip too deep this time, falling completely into the Land of Death’s Lake of Reflection.

So when the Talent activated to go and fish his soul back out of the Lake of Reflection, it took a little extra time.

"That’s my fault, then. I ran into a little mishap down there and got held up for a bit,"

Lance explained to Nieve.

"Still, even if I didn’t wake up right away, why did you freeze me into a block of ice?"

Nieve shook her head, shuffled forward on her knees, and drew a little closer.

She looked at Lance and began to earnestly explain the traditions of her Snow Lady race.

"If a Snow Lady’s partner dies, they absolutely cannot be left outside."

"They have to be frozen in ice, made into an ice block, and then carried all the way back to the Great Snow Mountain in the Northern Territory."

As Nieve spoke, she raised her hands and earnestly traced the rectangular outline of a coffin in mid-air.

"Find a cave and put them inside."

"That way, Lance won’t disappear. He can stay with Nieve forever and ever."

Hearing this description,

Lance couldn’t help but shiver.

This chill was even colder than the ice that had just covered his body.

’Forget the fact that a Witch chasing someone all the way to the Gate of the Land of Death to block them off is already ridiculous enough.’

’These funeral customs of the Snow Lady race sound way too horrifying.’

’Turning your partner into an ice sculpture to put in a cave and stare at every day?’

’Are they all legendary yandere figurine freaks?’

’Just what kind of terrifying women have I gotten myself involved with?’

Just as Lance was silently congratulating himself on being alive,

Nieve seemed to have finally processed his resurrection.

She caught a flaw in what Lance had just said.

"Lance just died..."

Nieve suddenly leaned forward, planting her hands on either side of Lance’s thighs and backing him into a corner.

Her ice-blue eyes stared intently into his.

"You lied to Nieve!"

"Just now, Lance said with his own mouth that as long as Nieve used the Flower of Frosty Snow, he would wake up right away."

"That was an accident, I didn’t expect it to—"

Lance tried to explain, feeling a bit guilty. After all, he had broken his promise on this matter.

But the now self-aware Nieve wasn’t about to listen to his excuses.

She swung one leg over, planting her knee firmly on the bronze floor beneath Lance. Using her body weight, she pushed him back down to the ground just as he had sat up.

"Nieve found out. It was a lie."

The girl looked down at him, her voice calm but laced with a hint of danger.

"The punishment we agreed on before."

"One hundred frostings! To be paid in full!"

"Right now!"

Seeing that Nieve was already puckering up,

Lance panicked and quickly put his hands out, holding her firmly by the shoulders.

"Wait! Calm down, now’s really not the time!"

But before Lance could continue to reason with her...

Suddenly!

RUMBLE!

The entire, massive Bronze Hall was suddenly rocked by a violent tremor.

The shaking was so intense that some of the bronze decorations on the walls broke off and crashed to the floor.

Immediately after,

an immeasurably vast will, tinged with palpable anger,

descended upon this space without any warning!

This will was not directed at them.

Lance immediately recognized it as the will of the Underground City itself.

At this moment, that massive will was clashing violently with the Evil God’s presence that the Faceless Hermitage Association had summoned outside!

Amid this terrifying clash of wills,

both of them heard a voice in their minds.

[Due to interference from an external Divine Power,]

[The Summer Crown: Earth-Sundering Monarchy will now end its finalization process prematurely!]

Hearing this voice,

Lance was stunned.

’A finalization at the Earth-Sundering Monarch Level?’

Lance understood instantly.

This meant that the Faceless Hermitage Association’s sacrificial ritual outside, though hindered, had ultimately been forced to a successful conclusion!

They had truly used the Evil God’s power to forcibly elevate the reward level of these dozen or so Underground Cities to the "Earth-Sundering Monarchy" level—a level capable of influencing the historical course of an entire Province!

’This is the first time I’ve seen the Underground City’s will look so furious and flustered.’

Lance sneered inwardly.

’But the core reward that the Faceless Hermitage Association went to such great lengths to steal is probably out of their reach now.’

Because among the dozen or so Underground Cities covered by this Earth-Sundering Monarchy, the most crucial pawn responsible for achieving the highest Crown Value and acting as the final reaper—the Crimson Bell Squad—

had already been wiped out by him in one fell swoop!

They didn’t even leave a single hair behind.

Without this receiving end, even if the Evil God tore a hole in the rules, it would be impossible to take the reward out of the Underground City.

Therefore,

’Don’t tell me this giant peach that just fell from the sky is going to land on my head?’

Lance rubbed his chin, a peculiar look in his eyes.