Crrk! Krekk!
The ice sword pierced through the old man's body and burst out from his back. Solid crystal crushed his breastbone, penetrated his heart, and cracked his ribs in one brutal thrust. The sound of breaking bone echoed sharply through the cold air.
"Aarrgh!"
Pain exploded inside his body. His breathing faltered as his lungs struggled to pull in air. Every attempt to breathe felt like blades scraping from within. It was a miracle he was still alive, but thanks to the remaining aura inside him, his life only lingered for a very short time.
He tried to endure the pain.
"Uugkh!"
A violent cough followed. Thick blood mixed with fragments of tissue spilled from his mouth, falling and staining the white snow far below. Crimson liquid continued flowing from the wound pierced by ice crystal, dripping slowly like rainwater from cracks in stone.
His balance began to fail.
The aura platform beneath his feet gradually shattered like a mirage swept away by wind. His body lost support and began falling, pulled by gravity.
Wssshhh!
A large ice sword shot forward and caught his body before he could truly fall. The man now lay across the floating blade suspended in the air.
Elisvaria approached.
Her thoughts felt complicated.
Is he playing with me?
I followed this old man's wish because I sensed the pressure of his strength was considerable. I wanted to test my limits after the intense battle in the snow forest.
Then what is this?
Instead of fighting with honor as he wanted, he looked desperate, as if he had surrendered himself to my attack.
Elisvaria drew a slow breath while looking at the man lying on the ice sword she had created.
Her confidence when she said she could kill the man in front of her was not empty boasting. It was absolute certainty born from real experience. Every time she passed through life and death crises, her strength always increased.
That was why she wanted to test it.
How strong she truly was.
How quickly she could eliminate an opponent at the level of this old man.
Elisvaria then pulled the ice sword from the man's body. Cold frost immediately sealed the torn tissue, freezing the wound to stop the blood from continuing to flow. However, the damage to his chest was far too severe. Saving his life was impossible.
She looked at him with an expression that was difficult to read.
"Why didn't you avoid it?"
The man smiled faintly when he heard the question. His lips trembled, his voice hoarse and uneven.
"In the end… I lost… do I need a reason… Duke."
"Hah. You were playing with me, old man."
The faint smile remained.
"I… apologize… there is no longer any place for me in this world… you know, Duke… no matter how terrible a human is… they will feel emptiness and pain… when they are alone in the world… no one is truly strong… from the beginning… they are social beings…"
He coughed several times. Blood slipped again from the corner of his lips.
"There are two types of people… those who hide their pain… until they torture themselves… or those who release their pain… by hurting others…"
Elisvaria's eyes narrowed slightly. Her face remained calm without clear emotion. She simply listened.
"Uugh… I had a daughter around your age… if she were still alive… my daughter was my only anchor in this world… but one day she disappeared… never returned… in the end I was no different from that type of person… my world collapsed… when I lost someone precious once again… the pain overflowed… and I hurt others…"
Elisvaria briefly remembered her late mother.
Losing someone you love truly destroys you.
She understood the man's feelings.
But she did not fully agree with his definition of humanity.
"Your daughter. You didn't search for her?"
"This old man did… but she vanished as if swallowed by the earth… no matter how hard I tried… there was no trace at all…"
The man's gaze focused again on Elisvaria. For a moment, the silhouette of the ice blue haired woman overlapped with someone in his memory.
He murmured softly with longing.
"Mirella…"
"Your daughter's name?"
He snapped out of the brief illusion. Sadness was clearly visible on his face.
"Yes… I saw her in you for a moment… Ugkh…"
His consciousness began fading.
He forced himself to remain awake.
"This old man has a request… the payment is everything in my house in Nordveil."
"Forget it, old man. I don't lack gold enough to take your life's work. Just say it."
"You are very kind… I pray for your safety… and your happiness…"
Elisvaria nodded slowly.
The man continued with the remaining awareness he had. Darkness felt closer, ready to swallow him at any moment if he lost focus.
"In my house there is a portrait of my daughter… her features are clear… difficult not to recognize… even if she is already an adult… this old man's request… if you find her… tell her… her father loves her… live happily… marry the man you love… and… father… is sorry…"
"Mireth…"
His eyelids grew heavy, then slowly closed.
"I… am coming…"
In the final seconds before darkness fully took him, the past appeared like a spinning kaleidoscope.
A black haired man sat resting beneath a shady tree, looking toward a distant settlement.
The sound of approaching footsteps.
He turned his head.
An adult woman with ice blue hair walked toward him.
She sat beside him and spoke gently.
"The wind is soft."
"Yes."
She shifted closer to the man and rested her head against the side of his shoulder. A sense of safety and comfort immediately filled her chest, as if all the restlessness she had felt earlier simply disappeared.
"Garrick, I miss Sylvaen village. When will we visit?"
Hearing that, Garrick glanced at her briefly before giving her a warm smile. He had long understood the habit of the woman leaning affectionately against him. To others it might seem excessive, but to him it was exactly what he loved.
"That depends on you. I'll follow whatever decision you make."
"You're always like that. What if it interferes with your work? I don't want to be a wife who hinders her husband's responsibilities, you know? I would feel guilty."
Garrick lifted his hand, his fingers gently stroking her hair. The touch carried calm reassurance, as if he wanted to ease his wife's thoughts.
"You can repay me with proper compensation."
The woman smiled, but her expression quickly turned into a slight pout. She knew perfectly well what her husband meant. That request was nothing new.
"You pervert. You're taking advantage of my guilt."
"Is that so? Besides, I'm your husband. There's no such thing as perversion between us."
"You always have an excuse, Garrick."
Garrick chuckled softly. His body turned toward her, both hands gently holding her face between his palms.
His lips lowered, placing a light kiss on her pink lips.
She jolted in surprise. Her head immediately turned right and left in nervous reflex, making sure no one else was nearby. After that she looked back sharply at the man in front of her.
"You! What are you doing? What if someone sees?"
"We're husband and wife. There's no need to worry like that, Mireth."
"That's not the point. Who was the one who couldn't control himself? Last time you forced me to do it in an open space. What if you do it again and someone sees?"
Garrick smiled faintly. He understood his wife's concern. In truth he had also been tense during that incident, but the heat inside him had clouded his judgment.
I must not do that outdoors again. Luck does not come twice.
He then tried to reassure her.
"I'm sorry for ignoring you back then. As compensation, I can fulfill my wife's wish today. Anything."
Mireth's brows lifted in displeasure. She stared sharply, still pouting.
"What do you mean? You won't grant my requests at other times?"
Garrick's expression turned slightly panicked as he realized his words could be misunderstood. He quickly shook his head.
"That's not it. I mean today I'll truly follow whatever you want without protest."
"Hmph. That's how it should have been from the start."
Mireth turned her face away briefly, yet a faint smile still appeared at the corner of her lips. She leaned back against Garrick's shoulder, more comfortably than before.
This man is very good at teasing. I should punish him sometimes. What if he does that again?
I can't imagine what would happen if we were discovered.
Mireth's face flushed as the memory of that moment returned to her mind. She had indeed felt excitement doing it in an open space with her husband, but the constant worry that someone might see always lingered in her thoughts.
That was why, before things went too far, she chose to warn him first. Not only as a reminder for her husband, but also for herself.
The two of them then continued their private conversation. They talked about the past, daily events, small things that felt important, and future plans they wanted to achieve together.
The atmosphere between them felt warm.
Peaceful.
As if the world belonged only to the two of them.
Then Mireth spoke words that shocked Garrick.
"I'm pregnant."
Garrick's mind went blank for a moment, like someone had abruptly cut off the entire flow of his thoughts.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
My wife is pregnant.
The words kept repeating inside his head. The happiness that arrived was so overwhelming that he struggled to respond normally. His body stiffened without him realizing it.
Seeing her husband frozen in silence, Mireth began to worry instead.
Is he not happy?
Her next voice trembled slightly, as if she had already prepared herself to hear an answer she did not want.
"You're not happy that I'm pregnant."
Hearing that, Garrick snapped back to his senses. He stiffened, then turned and hugged his wife tightly, as if afraid she would truly believe that.
"Ah. It's not like that, dear. I'm happy. I'm very happy. You know, every time I see other people's children, I always imagine our child in the future. The hair color, the eyes, everything like you."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Mireth slowly pulled away from Garrick's embrace. The tension that had appeared vanished immediately after hearing his answer. She looked gently into her husband's dark green eyes.
"But I want the eye color to be like yours."
"Alright. Whatever you want, I like it."
"Kiss."
Garrick followed the request without hesitation. His lips moved toward his wife's reddish lips.
They remained connected for quite a while. Warmth and desire passed between them through the kiss, raising the heat between them. Their breathing gradually became uneven before they finally pulled apart.
Garrick's breath came heavy. His face flushed as he tried to restrain the desire that surfaced at an inconvenient moment.
Mireth noticed the change in her husband's expression, but she chose to ignore it. Instead, she lay comfortably across Garrick's lap and asked casually.
"If it's a girl, what name would suit her?"
"Hmm. A miracle. Our child feels like a miracle given to us. Something I've always wanted. Mirella. That name would suit her if our child is a girl."
"Mirella. I like that name. Beautiful and graceful."
Mireth did not continue the discussion, as if she was already satisfied with that choice.
Garrick waited for another question about a boy's name, but his wife remained silent instead. Her eyelids slowly closed.
He finally asked out of curiosity.
"You're not asking about a boy's name?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I'm sure our child is a girl. Because I dreamed about her all night. Her hair was the same as mine."
A curious expression appeared on Garrick's face. He had once heard stories that the dreams of pregnant women were sometimes considered signs.
"Her eyes?"
"I didn't see them. She was facing away from me. Ah, she was also taller than me."
"How are you sure she's our daughter?"
Mireth opened her eyes and looked at her husband with a displeased expression, yet full of certainty.
"Because I'm her mother."
Crack.
Darkness forced its way in, shattering the memory like glass breaking into countless fragments. The remnants of Garrick's consciousness were pulled away, toward a rest he could no longer avoid.
But before his awareness completely disconnected from the world, his lips moved once more in reflex.
"Mirella."
On the other side.
A woman with dark green eyes turned toward the window. A strange yet deeply painful sensation suddenly pressed against her chest, as if something were piercing from within.
She felt as though someone was calling her.
Unfamiliar.
Yet incredibly close.
Slowly, tears fell down her cheeks.
What's wrong with me?
Why does it hurt like this?
This is the first time I've felt pain like this.
So suffocating… it makes me want to sob.
"You're crying… are you hurt?"
The woman snapped back to awareness after hearing a voice nearby. She blinked several times, trying to shake away the lingering sensation still pressing against her chest.
"No, Anna. Something got into my eye."
"That's a relief. Come on, hurry. We don't have much time left. You promised to help in the kitchen."
"Right. I almost forgot."
Anna then took the woman's hand warmly and pulled her to her feet. The two of them walked out together toward the kitchen, their steps light along the warm corridor of the building.
But deep inside the dark-green-eyed woman's heart, the tightness had not completely faded.
As if something had just left.
Something important.
Back to White Taigan Forest.
Elisvaria stood motionless in the air, her expression unreadable. Her gaze remained fixed on the face of the old man who was no longer alive before her.
She had clearly heard the final word that left his lips.
Mirella.
Yet somehow, this old man's death reminded her of her late mother.
Their final words were the same.
Both had spoken their child's name at the edge of life.
Elisvaria stared at the corpse for a few moments before finally speaking quietly.
"Your last request, I accept it. Rest in peace."
She inhaled slowly, trying to form the right words for the last time.
"Your daughter… leave her to me."
After saying that, an unpleasant feeling gradually surfaced in her chest. Unlike all the enemies she had killed before, this time guilt appeared without warning.
An unfamiliar feeling.
Uncomfortable.
But she quickly dismissed it.
There was no use regretting what had already happened.
I just don't like how this old man died.
He wanted an honorable fight… but then he ran straight into my blade as if everything had already been planned.
It feels like I was played.
Forget it.
There's someone...
Her thoughts shattered instantly when a voice suddenly appeared very close.
"Not like you. Letting your guard down at a moment like this."
Sasuke?
Elisvaria turned sharply toward the source of the voice.
But Sasuke had already moved first.
His body appeared behind Elisvaria, standing on a floating ice sword in midair. His black cloak with golden patterns fluttered in the cold wind.
His palm lifted toward the opposite direction of the woman's back.
In that direction, the black-haired man named Gunnar froze for a moment.
He had just been about to take advantage of Elisvaria's lapse.
But now—
Someone was already standing in his path.
"What...?!"
Sasuke spoke a single short sentence in a flat voice.
"Shinra Tensei."
BWAMMM!
An invisible pressure wave exploded outward like a massive air cannon. A one-directional vector slammed brutally into Gunnar.
Trees, branches, and snow along the trajectory were instantly torn apart, blasted away by the unseen force.
"Aaarrgkh!!"
His surprise attack to exploit Elisvaria's distraction failed completely. His body was hurled away like an uncontrolled projectile through the air.
Thud!
Crack! Crack!
His body slammed into the first tree, shattering it, then ricocheted into another. Repeated impacts followed until the pushing force finally weakened after several more collisions.
"Ugkh!"
His body tumbled across the snow.
His lungs felt like they were burning.
Impossible…
Was that magic?
Hundreds of meters from the original location.