The sensation was profoundly disorienting—his eyes told him objects were solid and real, but his other senses reported only empty space.
It was an incredibly weird sensation, but Arthur had to admit it was extraordinarily useful for survival. Ten seconds of complete invincibility, during which no attack could harm them, was simply overpowered beyond reasonable measure.
The ability essentially grants temporary invincibility, making the user untouchable. Arthur made a mental note to feed Aether well for his contribution to their survival.
As the dimensional protection neared its expiration, Arthur watched the Winter Beast slowly emerge from his concealment, stumbling with the unsteady gait of someone whose body was failing. The creature’s injuries were even more severe than Arthur had initially assessed—the combination of destroyed eyes, massive blood loss, and exhausted mana reserves had reduced him to a pathetic beast.
The Winter Beast used his minuscule remaining mana to perform a scanning technique, extending his senses throughout the domain to locate the mangled remains of his victims. His consciousness anticipated the satisfaction of sensing their crushed forms scattered across the ice-covered floor.
To his complete dismay and growing shock, no trace of Arthur or Aether could be detected anywhere within the domain’s boundaries.
Arthur watched the Winter Beast’s expression change from satisfaction to confusion, then to growing alarm as the creature realised his ultimate technique had somehow failed to achieve its intended result. The massive creature turned his ruined head from side to side, his destroyed eyes unable to provide visual confirmation while his supernatural senses insisted that his enemies had simply vanished.
Arthur’s reaction as he observed the Winter Beast’s mounting shock was one of cold satisfaction. The creature had believed victory was assured, had convinced himself that Arthur and Aether were going to be dead after using his ultimate skill.
Now the Winter Beast was experiencing fear for the first time in his life. The tables had turned completely, and Arthur was bound to be the one who emerged victorious.
The Winter Beast’s shocked reaction intensified as his scanning abilities confirmed the impossible—his enemies had somehow survived an attack that should have been absolutely lethal within the confines of his domain. His mind struggled to reconcile this reality with everything he understood about domain escape limitations.
Arthur felt the Quantum Existence ability reaching its conclusion and prepared to reenter normal dimensional space.
The dimensional fold dissolved around them, reality reasserting its normal properties as Arthur and Aether materialised within the domain once more. They appeared directly in front of the stumbling Winter Beast, whose shock at their sudden presence was immediately visible despite his lack of functional eyes.
Arthur’s voice entered the Winter Beast’s ears. His voice wasn’t just the most hated voice to the Winter Beast, but also his death sentence.
"Did you really think something as crude as crushing force could eliminate someone who commands space itself?" Arthur asked with deadly quietness that seemed to lower the temperature around them even further than the domain’s supernatural cold. "You underestimated not just my power, but also overestimated yourself."
The Winter Beast’s reaction was immediate and frantic, his voice carrying notes of panic that had never existed in his consciousness before.
"Impossible! How could you survive?!" the Winter Beast exclaimed with desperate disbelief. "You cannot teleport away from my domain! The barriers are absolute! No one can leave unless I die or release them!"
His massive head turned frantically despite his blindness, as if visual confirmation might somehow explain what his other senses were reporting. The Winter Beast’s understanding of spatial limitations had been fundamental to his confidence in the Ice Coffin technique—within his domain, escape should have been impossible regardless of Arthur’s teleportation abilities.
Arthur’s smile was sharp enough to cut through the Winter Beast’s remaining delusions about dimensional barriers and absolute territories, but he had no intention of prolonging this encounter any further than necessary. Charlotte’s condition remained critical, and every moment of delay increased the risk that even the Pyro’s Lotus might prove insufficient to save her life.
Not wasting time on further conversation or theatrical posturing, Arthur activated his spatial manipulation talent and teleported directly behind the Winter Beast’s massive, wounded form. His Chaos Katana was already positioned for a precise strike as he appeared in optimal attack position.
The Winter Beast, weakened by blood loss, mana exhaustion, and the shock of Arthur’s impossible survival, could do nothing to defend against the incoming assault. His legendary constitution, which had protected him throughout his life, was no longer sufficient to compensate for his accumulated injuries and depleted mana reserves.
Arthur’s pseudo-legendary blade cut through the remaining flesh and bone of the creature’s neck without any resistance, severing the final connections that maintained the Winter Beast’s hold on life.
The strike was clean, efficient, and absolutely final.
The Winter Beast’s massive head separated from his body and struck the ice-covered ground.
The Winter Beast’s soul left its body. The legendary beast, which had ruled its territory with ice, died without ever understanding how its most hated enemy had escaped its ultimate technique.
The forest was silent, as if holding its breath from the terrible outcome that it had witnessed. Three of its most powerful residents died at the hands of a single human.
The Winter Beast died without knowing the true nature of Arthur or his group that operated beyond his comprehension, never grasping how Arthur had simply stepped aside into an adjacent reality.
[You have levelled up to Level 23]
[All attribute points will be increased by 1]
[You have gained 1 free attribute point and 1 Skill Point]
Arthur raised an eyebrow with obvious interest at the level advancement notification. It seemed that killing a level 26 beast produced significantly more experience than his previous encounters. The single victory had been sufficient to push him through an entire level advancement, something that typically required multiple high-level and rank eliminations.
However, before Arthur could fully process the implications of his advancement, another notification appeared that captured his attention with far greater intensity.
[Global Announcement!]