Chapter 53: Ice-Yetis [3]

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck my luck!"

Lorenzo cursed as he sprinted down the slope of Falcon Mountain.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The ground trembled beneath his feet as a ten-meter-tall Ice-Yeti pursued him, smashing through everything in its path.

Trees snapped like twigs.

Boulders shattered beneath its enormous fists.

Even the thick layers of ice covering the mountainside crumbled as the monster descended, leaving a trail of destruction behind it.

And the worst part?

The bastard was getting closer.

Lorenzo glanced over his shoulder.

The Ice-Yeti’s enormous blue eyes were fixed on him, and its mouth was twisted into a vicious grin.

Yes.

A grin.

It was a disgusting sight.

For someone like Lorenzo, whose [Perfectionist] trait made even the slightest imperfection unbearable, the monster’s grotesquely crooked grin was enough to make him want to puke.

He forced himself to look away.

He couldn’t afford to let his \[Perfectionist\] trait overwhelm him right now.

Not when his life was on the line.

But one thing was certain.

The damn monster was enjoying the chase!

"You fucking piece of shit! Just wait until I get stronger!"

Lorenzo turned his attention back to the slope and ran even faster.

He had spent the past four hours hunting Ice-Yetis across Falcon Mountain, killing several E-rank and E+ rank monsters along the way.

It had been a reasonably productive morning.

His \[Axe of Slaughter\] had become more familiar to him, and he had gained valuable experience fighting monsters stronger than himself.

Everything had been going smoothly.

Until he encountered this monstrosity.

At first, Lorenzo had mistaken it for an ordinary Ice-Yeti.

Then the creature had casually shattered a massive boulder with a single punch.

That was when he realized something was wrong.

He checked its rank.

\[D-\]

The moment he saw those two characters, Lorenzo immediately decided to retreat.

He wasn’t stupid enough to fight a D-rank monster with an E-rank body.

Even with his S-rank weapon art, the difference in their physical abilities was simply too great.

His weapon art could amplify his offensive capabilities, but it couldn’t magically eliminate the gap between their ranks.

If he tried to fight the monster head-on, he’d be lucky to escape with his limbs intact.

And Lorenzo had absolutely no intention of sacrificing his beautiful body for a stupid practical lesson.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t even the worst part.

Behind the D-rank Ice-Yeti were hundreds of E-rank and E+ rank Ice-Yetis, all charging down the mountainside in pursuit of him.

Lorenzo’s expression twisted.

"Fuck you, Yuki Hayasaka!"

He had no idea whether the woman had deliberately sent them into this frozen hell, but he was beginning to suspect that she had a personal grudge against him.

First, she had become his homeroom professor.

Now, he had encountered a D-rank monster accompanied by hundreds of lower-ranked Ice-Yetis in an area supposedly intended for first-year students.

What was next?

An S-rank monster waiting at the bottom of the mountain?

The Ice-Yeti responded with another deafening roar.

BOOM!

Its enormous fist slammed into the mountainside.

A wave of snow and shattered ice swept down the slope, threatening to bury Lorenzo beneath an avalanche.

"Shit!"

Lorenzo threw himself sideways.

The avalanche swept past him, swallowing the path he had been running along moments earlier.

He rolled across the snow, quickly regained his footing, and resumed running.

His body was already approaching its limits.

He had spent four hours hunting monsters, and although his stamina had recovered slightly between battles, it was nowhere near enough to sustain an extended fight against a D-rank creature, let alone the hundreds of monsters following it.

His mana was also running low.

Using \[Axe of Slaughter\] against the Ice-Yeti would consume even more of it, and there was no guarantee he could inflict a meaningful injury before the monster crushed him.

Think, Lorenzo. Think!

He needed a way out.

Fortunately, he had prepared for this possibility.

Before leaving the area where Class A had been transported, Lorenzo had sent its coordinates to Salvatore.

He had instructed the old man to open a teleportation gate at that location if Lorenzo ever needed an emergency exit.

At the time, Lorenzo had considered it a sensible precaution.

Now, it might be the only reason he survived.

He glanced at his smartwatch.

The coordinates were still displayed on the screen.

He was approximately two kilometers away.

Two kilometers.

That was all.

If he could reach the original landing site, Salvatore should be able to open the gate and pull him out of this frozen nightmare.

Of course, that assumed he could get there before the Ice-Yeti caught him.

And judging by the increasingly loud footsteps behind him, that assumption was becoming less convincing by the second.

"Just a little farther..."

Lorenzo gritted his teeth and pushed his body harder.

His lungs burned.

His legs ached.

The biting wind stung his face, and the snow made every step more difficult than the last.

Behind him, the Ice-Yeti let out another roar.

Then came hundreds of answering roars.

ROOOOOAR!

"Damn it! Why are there so many of you?!"

---

Meanwhile, at a lower altitude, Joseph’s group was still climbing the mountain in search of more monsters.

Joseph glanced at his smartwatch.

[Kill Count: 12]

His expression darkened.

Twelve.

After spending hours searching the mountain, that was all he had managed to kill.

The scarcity of Ice-Yetis was becoming increasingly frustrating, and the dissatisfaction among his followers was growing by the minute.

Where the fuck are all the E-rank Ice-Yetis?

At this rate, his performance would be nothing worth bragging about.

Just as Joseph was about to complain again, the ground began to tremble.

At first, the vibrations were faint.

Then they grew stronger.

Lilly Ashfaq froze.

A strange sense of dread washed over her, and she instinctively grabbed John’s sleeve.

"John, we have to run."

John turned toward her in confusion.

Before he could respond, Joseph scoffed.

"Run? What are you talking about? Don’t tell me you’re scared of an earthquake!"

He glared at her with open contempt.

"You should be embarrassed to call yourself a noble! If you’re going to act like a coward over something so—"

He abruptly stopped speaking.

Lilly was pointing at something behind him.

Joseph frowned.

"What the hell are you—"

He turned around.

And froze.

A familiar figure was sprinting toward them at an absolutely ridiculous speed.

Black hair.

Red bloody eyes.

A familiar face that he just happened to saw this very morning, the one who was about to kill him over slight insult.

Lorenzo.

But he wasn’t alone.

Behind him, a monstrous horde of Ice-Yetis was charging down the mountainside, shaking the ground with every step.

There were dozens.

Then hundreds.

The D-rank Ice-Yeti leading the pursuit was enormous, its blue eyes gleaming with a terrifying hunger as it smashed through everything in its path.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

One of the youths standing beside Joseph stared at the approaching horde with hollow eyes.

His face had gone deathly pale.

"...I guess you got your wish, Joseph."

Lorenzo spotted the group ahead.

His eyes widened.

Then, as though he had just discovered the greatest treasure in the world, a brilliant smile spread across his face.

"JOSEPH!"

He waved enthusiastically while continuing to sprint toward them.

"WHAT A COINCIDENCE! I WAS JUST LOOKING FOR YOU!"

He wasn’t. He knew and they knew as well.

Joseph’s face turned white.