Owner of Twilight Intuition – Chapter 147

‘He’s giving me equipment?’

There’s no choice anyway. I have to accept this quest to go to the Ice Palace where Arnela is. But it was only natural to be puzzled by the sudden offer of one of his equipment pieces.

‘I don’t even know what equipment Chase has.’

Well, I thought I’d find out after clearing the quest, so I nodded and accepted the quest Chase offered.

[You have accepted the quest. ‘Eliminate the Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm.’]

*　*　*

Tada!━

After receiving the quest from Chase, I headed straight to the Ice Palace where Arnela was without hesitation. The stamina consumption was significant due to the increasingly cold weather as I approached the Ice Palace, but I was able to recover by encountering monsters along the way.

‘Is this the right way?’

When I checked the map, it seemed like I was on the right track, but the Ice Palace was nowhere to be seen.

Wheeeeing!!━

Moreover, a damn blizzard was raging, blurring my vision. No, the blizzard alone would be fine. But even with a rare coat on, the chill was seeping into my bones, making me consider logging out to escape the cold.

‘What kind of crazy cold is this realistically made?’

It seemed people weren’t complaining for nothing.

━Koo-wooo……er……

“Phew.”

Suddenly, I faintly heard the sound of a Specter of the Snowfields. A monster in this area that gives 3,000 experience points. But I didn’t want to waste any more time due to the cold, so I ran in the opposite direction of the sound.

I still had stamina to spare, so there was no need to fight……

“Huh?”

Then, through the swirling blizzard, I saw something. Something that looked like a specific building. Could that be the Ice Palace? Thinking I had finally found it, I ran towards it and, as expected, a huge building gradually came into view.

‘Found it!’

The reward for running for hours without a break was finally felt. Having discovered the Ice Palace, I used the key to enter, and at the same time, the cold that had been tormenting me disappeared as if washed away, leaving only silence.

“This is better.”

Thinking about the ridiculous blizzard and the relentlessly attacking Specters of the Snowfields, it seemed like it would be difficult for most players to even come here. Anyway, now that I was inside the Ice Palace, I decided to sit down and start a fire to recover my exhausted body.

Hwaruruk!━

“Haa, I feel alive again.”

After warming up like this, I could go find Arnela.

The problem was how to deal with Arnela.

Should I kill her or seal her?

Either choice was fine. Thinking back to the cases of Ust and Kraken, it seemed like the quest would be completed even if I sealed her, so there was no problem with that.

‘Well, I’ll think about it later……’

Putting the thought aside for a moment, I looked around the interior of the Ice Palace and saw that it was similar to a dungeon, structured almost like a maze. Still, I thought I would reach Arnela’s location if I kept walking, so I got up and walked down the right path, and soon discovered a golem made of ice.

‘It doesn’t seem to be…… a statue.’

The reason I thought it wasn’t a statue was simple.

[Guardian Golem of the Ice Palace]

It had a name.

Kookung- Kung!━

And as soon as I realized that fact, the ice golems started to move slowly. Should I fight? Fighting wasn’t a problem, but I wanted to avoid it if possible because I didn’t want to waste any more time.

‘Let’s run.’

Tat!━

Even with the coat on, my Agility, which had already surpassed 700, allowed me to pass the golems in an instant. Fortunately, the golems were slower than me, so I was able to pass by without any significant combat. As I continued on, I saw another one standing there.

[Handmaiden of the Ice Palace]

“Intruder. Eliminating……”

“Giant’s Sprint!”

Kwaaaang!!━

[Hit Damage! 3,825.]

The handmaiden, who was hit before she could finish her sentence due to my doubled Agility, flew away. The surprising thing was that she didn’t die? And seeing that the damage wasn’t as high as I thought, it seemed like I would have to fight for at least 10 seconds, so I decided to just ignore her.

‘I’ll deal with you later.’

Of course, I didn’t know if there would be a later.

Anyway, after running for about 20-30 minutes, I saw a large door with two handmaidens and two golems guarding it. Usually, in dungeons, such large doors had a high probability of leading to a boss, so it seemed like I had arrived.

‘The path wasn’t as complicated as I thought.’

But before entering that door, I needed to be in perfect condition, so it seemed like I would have to fight.

‘Let’s finish them off in one shot without wasting time.’

Looking at the Roar of the Thunder Dragon in my hand, I took a few steps forward.

Step━

“Intruder detected. Eliminating.”

“Eliminating.”

Naturally, the handmaidens who spotted me said they would eliminate me, and the golems next to them also started to move slowly. Before the moving monsters could scatter, I used a skill.

“Elsyke’s Phantom Shift.”

Pat!━

The location I shifted to with Phantom Shift was right next to the handmaiden. In the middle of the enemy formation, but since I was in stealth mode, they didn’t seem to have noticed yet. No, even if they did, it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t be able to block this attack anyway. With that thought, I swung the Roar of the Thunder Dragon and struck the ground, not the handmaiden, with all my might.

Kwaaaang!━

[Roar of the Thunder Dragon activated!]

[All Magic Power consumed.]

Kuo-ooooo!!━

The message that popped up. And with the sound of a beast roaring, golden lightning spread out in all directions from me, then began to swirl around, sweeping away everything in its path.

[Skill Damage! 8,957.]

[Skill Damage……]

“Easy.”

This was the final effect of the Roar of the Thunder Dragon. Every time it struck the ground, the Roar of the Thunder Dragon would activate. It consumed all Magic Power and dealt damage equal to that amount, with a range of about 15 meters.

‘It’s difficult to use in normal combat, though.’

The fact that it consumed all Magic Power also meant it could only be used once during battle. The amount of Magic Power I currently possessed was significant, making it difficult to recover with potions. Still, I used it like this because the Stamina limit had disappeared; otherwise, I might have been diligently swinging a hammer.

“Item Storage.”

Anyway, after opening the item window and replenishing some of the consumed Magic Power, I drank a Cold Resistance Potion and entered through the large door in front of me.

‘……There you are.’

Arnela, sitting on the throne at one end. Looking at her appearance, exactly as I had seen online, she slowly opened her mouth.

“An intruder.”

A quiet and cold voice. Yet, her clear tone reached me clearly even from afar.

“This place is forbidden to anyone. If you turn back now, I will not attack.”

[Ding!~ ‘Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm’ is watching you.]

[Warning! Fortunately, Arnela has no intention of fighting you. If you turn back now, you can return without fighting her. However, if you ignore her warning, you may face her wrath, which could freeze even your soul.]

“……”

After briefly looking at the message, I took a step forward, completely unconcerned. If I had thought about turning back here, I wouldn’t have come to the Anis Kingdom in the first place.

“Foolish.”

[Battle with the raid boss monster, Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm, begins.]

“Title Change. Soul Contract. Summon.”

[Summoning Ust, Devouring Life……]

After summoning Ust with the title change, I said briefly.

“Fight moderately, and swallow me when I give you the signal. Got it?”

“Groooo!”

“……Okay, I trust you.”

And after changing the title from Hero of the Present World to Guardian of Light, I looked at Arnela again. Arnela, for whatever reason, was still sitting on the throne, doing nothing but watching me.

‘I don’t know what it is, but is she ignoring me?’

Alright, let’s see if you can ignore me even after being sealed.

“Giant’s Sprint!”

“Ice Barrier.”

‘Huh?’

Kwaaaang!!━

Before I could even approach with Giant’s Sprint, a wide wall of ice, like a fortress, rose up, blocking my charge.

‘Did she see through my charge at a glance?’

Giant’s Sprint couldn’t break through if there was a wall in front. I knew this because it had happened a few times before, but I didn’t expect Arnela to be able to do the same. So, I decided to approach differently.

“Elsyke’s Phantom Shift.”

Pat!━

First, with my frontal vision blocked by the ice, I moved sideways. But since I was in stealth mode, I was able to approach without any problems……

[Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm, uses Hellfrost.]

‘Hellfrost?’

After seeing the message, I briefly stopped approaching and looked at Arnela. She was holding her staff outstretched, and a fog-like substance was rapidly spreading from it in all directions.

‘It wouldn’t be good to touch it, right?’

The name itself was ominous. Therefore, I abandoned the option of approaching and retreated a considerable distance, while observing my clone to figure out what kind of skill it was.

Crackle!━

‘Frozen?’

Looking at my clone, I saw that its entire body was covered in white frost and unable to move. It seemed to have been frozen. Also, seeing that the fog and the ice barrier created earlier were slowly disappearing, I tried to approach again.

“Rise, my puppets.”

[Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm, summons Ice Golems.]

Kookookung!━

Three Ice Golems appeared next. The strange thing was that they weren’t charging at my clone but were guarding Arnela’s surroundings.

‘Trying to stop me with just those golems!’

“Jayer’s Guardian Shield! Armor of Protection!”

Pabbat!━

[S-Rank Skill. Jayer’s Guardian Shield activated.]

“Elsyke’s Phantom Shift!”

Thinking that the gap created by the summoning skill was my chance, I used a few support skills to hold out for as long as possible and immediately tried to approach with Phantom Shift.

Fortunately, this time she didn’t use Hellfrost or whatever it was, so I was able to approach without difficulty. And before the golems could attack me, I was going to eliminate them with Giant’s Sprint, but I suddenly saw thick tree roots piercing through their bodies.

‘Could it be Spiral Thrust?’

Ust’s new skill, acquired after absorbing the sealed Kraken. Moreover, it seemed to be applied as piercing damage, as the two pierced golems were disappearing.

‘Not bad.’

With a brief admiration, I realized there were no obstacles in the direction of Arnela, so I quickly launched an attack.

“Giant’s Sprint!”

Kwaaaang!!━

[Skill Damage! 11,673.]

[Health recovered by 1,132.]

[Stamina……]

I inflicted quite a decent amount of damage. Over 10,000 damage. If it were a normal monster, I might have been more greedy and inflicted additional blows, but since it was a raid boss and this was just a scouting phase, I decided to retreat for now.

“You’re quite good.”

[Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm, uses Ice Blade.]

Just by lightly swinging the staff she was holding, dozens of ice blades flew towards me. Seeing the number and speed of the incoming ice blades, it seemed impossible to dodge.

‘Damn it.’

Kwakwakwang!━

[Armor of Protection takes the impact instead. -2,375.]

[Armor of Protection takes the impact……]

[Damage taken. -1,410.]

The Armor of Protection shattered instantly, and I even took damage. I was momentarily tense because of the considerable damage, but just in time, Ust’s Dark Beam swept over Arnela’s body, followed by the Trees of Death rushing towards her.

‘Should I just seal her now?’

My health had been reduced by about 1/4 due to the Ice Blade just now. If it hadn’t been for the Armor of Protection, I didn’t know what would have happened. And if I was taking this much damage, I felt it would be disadvantageous to prolong the fight.

‘Also, now that Ust’s health is at its maximum, this is my chance……’

“Karzel’s Card Summoning.”

Pat━

Choosing to seal her between killing or sealing, I didn’t hesitate any longer and attempted to seal her. As I attached the card that appeared in my hand to Arnela’s body, my body also became immobile.

[Attempting Card Sealing.]

[Defense reduced by 50%.]

[Movement restricted.]

“……Extremely unpleasant.”

“Ust!”

[Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm, uses Spatial Shift.]

Pabbat!━

“……?”

Suddenly, the surrounding scenery began to change. The interior of the palace disappeared as if washed away, and an endless expanse of ice appeared, with the ceiling also disappearing, leaving only a clear blue sky.

‘What is this? This skill?’

[All Ice-type skill effects increased by 150%.]

[Stamina decreased due to cold.]

The effects that appeared before I could even think about what kind of skill it was. While reading those effects, Ust grabbed me with its branches and swallowed me into its mouth, and before I was completely swallowed, the message window popped up once again.

[Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm, uses Iceberg Fall.]

[Aura of Death is draining your health……]

I didn’t know what Iceberg Fall was, but for now, Ust would endure. Its health was at its maximum, and it had absorbed the power of the Kraken, so there was no way it couldn’t withstand a single magic attack.

Anyway, while waiting with that hope, a tremendous roar soon followed.

Kwaaaang!!━

‘Did it endure?’

It seemed like it had endured Iceberg Fall or whatever it was, but the subsequent attacks were the problem. Like it or not, I had to endure for 60 seconds.

Groooo!━

Bang!- Kwakwakwang!!━

[Arnela, Ruler of the Whirling Snowstorm, uses Iceberg Fall.]

‘That skill again.’

Judging from the roaring sound, it seemed like a considerably powerful skill. Considering it was a raid boss and had been impossible to defeat until now, it must be at least an S-Rank skill, right? Moreover, now my Stamina was decreasing even when I was standing still, making it a troublesome boss in many ways.

‘Was it Spatial Shift? If my Stamina keeps decreasing because of that, how are other people supposed to catch her?’

As this question crossed my mind, the 60 seconds seemed to have passed, and light was being sucked into the card in my hand.

[Sealing successful.]

“……Phew.”