The tiger sensed its attack had missed. Rather than getting angry, it simply stood up.
The ground crushed under its weight. The behemoth‑like spawn woke fully and tilted its head toward Noel first. Noel also turned instinctively, and they locked eyes.
"Dragon shit… why is this monster looking at me?" Noel muttered to himself.
The tiger was still a terrifying sight, but Noel didn't forget the power hidden inside it. The beast just looked at him curiously, as if it couldn't believe a puny ant like him had survived its attack—even though it hadn't actually intended to kill.
Then it turned its head again, this time toward Anna and Rose, who were back together in the chaos.
The tiger looked at them too—but then, suddenly—
"ROAAAARRRRRR!"
A huge roar burst from its mouth. Its beautiful sky‑blue eyes turned blood‑red, and its tail lit up again with those unnatural blue flames.
"Get ready to escape," Rose said. "I don't think that thing is right in the head."
But before they could even attempt to flee, they felt a wave of extreme cold. They turned their eyes and saw a massive wave of blue flames rushing toward them, freezing everything in its path—trees, plants, even random spawns.
Their skin started shivering, and both went rigid for a second.
"Snap out of it, you two! Dodge the attack—fast!" Noel shouted, straining as he used Instant Step more times than his body could safely handle.
"Sorry for worrying you, but for now you're escaping as far as you can," Rose relayed to Noel.
Noel also stopped, landing on a nearby tree branch—half frozen already.
The flames that had appeared near Rose and Anna changed shape, forming a claw that swiped toward them.
Rose grabbed Anna and used Displacement to dodge.
A dagger appeared in the spot where Rose had been and instantly froze solid.
Rose reappeared near Noel.
"Are you alright?" Noel asked her and Anna.
Anna's whole body was covered in scratches from dodging the tiger's tail, and where she was bleeding, the blood was now frozen. Her wounds and the blood around them were solid ice, and she shivered constantly. Rose wasn't in much better condition—she also shivered, though she had fewer wounds, so her blood vessels weren't frozen yet.
"How did this happen?" Rose asked. "And why did that tiger suddenly get mad?"
"Before Rose dodged the attack with her strange ability, I think the blue flames touched my neck," Anna said with a strained voice. "That's what made my blood freeze."
Noel and Rose wanted to ask more, but before they could, the tiger noticed them again.
It started running toward them.
All three of their minds went blank, but the fear of death pushed them into moving on instinct.
Anna constantly fired arrows at the tiger, but the flames that had once been only on its tail now covered its entire body, freezing anything that came too close.
"Leave it first and run for your life!" Noel shouted.
"ROAAAARRR!" The tiger roared again and began chasing the trio.
Noel waved his hands, and strings shot out, spreading across the trees. He attached them to branches and started hopping from one to another, since he couldn't use Instant Step for now.
Anna condensed fire into her legs, creating small explosions that let her sprint at very high speed for short bursts.
Noel, seeing Anna move like a comet, was surprised—but he knew this wasn't the time for questions.
The tiger thundered forward, literally uprooting trees in its path and destroying everything. Every step carved large craters into the ground.
Suddenly, the air went completely quiet. A pin‑drop silence fell. A feeling of death, stronger than ever before, crashed into the minds of Noel, Anna, and Rose.
"Move, you fool—move!" Noel forced his body, but it wouldn't obey.
The light that had been painfully bright because of the tiger's flames suddenly vanished. The intense cold also disappeared—but they still didn't let their guard down.
Noel turned with difficulty toward Rose, who was trying to use her ability but couldn't due to strain.
Both of them turned back and saw that all the flames on the tiger's body were converging into its mouth, compressing into a small, concentrated bomb.
"How are we supposed to survive this?" Anna asked, standing behind Noel and Rose.
"My Displacement isn't working either," Rose said. "I think I used it too much, and the backlash is hitting me hard. I can't use it for a while."
Noel took a deep breath, turned back toward Rose and Anna, and asked,
"Do you two have faith in me?"
"Yeah, who wouldn't have faith in their partner?" Anna replied with a weak chuckle.
"I do too," Rose added. "Not only her—I have faith in you as well."
"Then just do exactly as I say."
"Okay. Two times," they answered in unison.
In that moment, the compressed bomb was finished. The tiger raised its head and fired the projectile straight into the sky.
"BOOOOOOMMMM—BOOOOOOMM!"
A massive explosion roared, and the three of them looked up.
The compressed bomb exploded high above, forming countless small energy constructs that then began falling over the forest.
While the trio just stood there, it looked as if Noel had intended to die—but Anna and Rose still didn't question his decision.
Wherever the remnants of the bomb's mana fell, the ground froze in an instant, turning everything into snowflakes that then vanished entirely.
The paradise‑like area was transformed into hell. Half the forest was gone, wiped from sight. The rest was either frozen or shattered, with huge craters littering the land.
Anna and Rose again felt the sensation of extreme cold, but this time they were used to it. It didn't matter as much. They looked up and saw a single remnant mana construct falling straight toward them.
"Do something, Noel! Or is it really what you want—to die?" Rose shouted.
"Don't worry," Noel said calmly.
He then formed a lotus‑shaped hand seal, turned back, and said,
"Don't move."
They obeyed. The mana construct sped toward them, and the tiger opened its mouth once again, unleashing a massive wave of flames that carried the cold of hell itself.
The construct was just a step away from them.
"Noel, will you do something or not? Or do you just want us to die?" both Anna and Rose screamed.
Noel smiled faintly.
"And then the flames hit them—and the bomb's remnant mana fell into their bodies.