The icy wind howled across the battlefield, carrying the scent of blood and frost. The snow was stained red in places, but the fighting had stopped. For now. The only movement came from Kael’s men, who struggled to drag a massive block of ice across the frozen ground.
The Ice Titan, which was a towering, frozen behemoth a few moments ago, was now nothing more than a lifeless chunk of ice. Its frozen limbs jutted out, its monstrous form half-buried in the snow.
Surprisingly, after Kael got rid of it, the monsters stopped attacking suddenly.
A group of exhausted men pulled on thick ropes, their breaths heavy, their bodies aching. Their boots sank into the snow, leaving deep tracks behind. The ice groaned as it scraped against the ground, leaving a long, deep trail in its wake.
Robert tapped his fingers on the wooden table, watching from above. His sharp eyes narrowed when he saw Kael—calm as ever—sitting cross-legged atop the frozen beast, completely at ease.
"What’s that?" he asked, his tone flat.
"An Ice Titan," his servant replied, eyes still wide with disbelief.
"Ice Titan..." Robert repeated, staring at the sheer size of it. "That’s a bigger block of ice than I expected. Why are they dragging it all the way down here?"
"Uh... That, I don’t know," the servant admitted hesitantly.
Down below, Baret glanced at Gare, ready to ask something, when suddenly—
"The fuck are we doing?!" Vic’s voice cut through the air, his frustration boiling over. "Just why the fuck are we dragging this thing here?!"
The others stopped for a moment, panting, sweating despite the freezing cold. They turned to Vic, who was glaring up at Kael.
"And on top of that, it’s us doing all the work while he sits there like a damn king," Vic growled. "This damned man—"
"VIC!" Handler’s sharp voice cracked like a whip. His eyes glinted dangerously as he shot Vic a warning glare. "Mind your tongue."
Vic gritted his teeth, but shut up. Albert, however, wasn’t so easily silenced. He scoffed, looking at Kael with barely concealed rage.
"This guy really acts like he owns this place," he muttered under his breath, his hands tightening into fists.
Kael, of course, remained unfazed. He didn’t even spare them a glance. The ropes creaked as the men pulled, their arms burning, their backs screaming in protest. The closer they got to the walls, the more their frustration grew.
Above, Robert stood on the walls, arms folded, staring down at them. His brows raised slightly at the sight of the massive ice block.
This was the first Ice Titan he had seen. It was impressive, sure but after everything he’d been through, it barely made him blink. Just another piece of madness in this endless nightmare.
He exhaled, then turned to his troops. "Rotate the post," he ordered.
Meanwhile, as they reached the base of the walls, Kael’s eyes slowly opened. He stood up on the ice, stretching lazily as if he had just woken from a nap. Then, in a voice cold and commanding, he spoke.
"Make it stand against the walls. And I won’t take no."
The moment the words left his lips, several men dropped their ropes. A stunned silence followed. Mouths hung open. Eyes widened in disbelief.
They all looked at Kael as if he had just lost his goddamn mind.
’Are you fucking kidding me right now?’
But Kael didn’t care. His gaze was sharp, unwavering. The kind of gaze that said he meant every word. The kind of gaze that promised death to anyone who dared question him.
Kael stepped into his quarters, still covered in dirt and blood, but the moment he entered, his instincts flared.
Kael felt weary all of a sudden wondering if there was an assassin but the thought vanished as soon as he opened the door.
He was startled a bit by hiding his expression, his sharp gaze landed on an old man with cold eyes and a sagging beard, sitting there with his arms folded. Beside him stood Lyria, as still as a statue. Kael threw her a questioning look, but she ignored him and walked away.
"Yeah...Thanks.."Kael answered awkwardly as this was the first time Lyria treated him like that.
He looked into her but she just fled away leaving behind parting words.
"I’ll prepare hot water for you, Master," she said, leaving them alone.
Kael let out a low chuckle and turned to Robert. "What do you want, old man?"
Robert’s expression didn’t change. "You found something on the Ice Titan, didn’t you?" His voice was sharp, cutting straight to the point.
Kael walked toward the window, staring out at the cold battlefield. "You can say that."
Robert leaned forward. "What did you find?"
He then added, "The Ice Men aren’t like golem.After defeating them, we looked inside to see how they originated.They certainly aren’t living and we didn’t find any magical circuits or connectivity. So how is this happening?"
Kael rubbed his chin, pretending to think. "It’s the influence of an extreme level of ice power... or, you could say, something beyond even an SSS-ranked talent. A power so strong it distorts reality."
Robert’s eyes widened, shock flashing across his face. "A talent higher than SSS? That’s impossible!" He scoffed. "Only a handful of people—even among the royals—have SSS talents, and you’re telling me something beyond that exists?"
Kael snorted, looking at him like he was an idiot. "Tch. Your knowledge is a shallow, old man."
His grin twisted as he continued, "Talent beyond SSS isn’t impossible, just... inconveniently rare. It doesn’t function differently from SSS talents, except for one thing—it materializes. Like a divine act."
His grey eyes gleamed with something unhinged. "Only those bastards sitting on their golden thrones have it. They hoard it like it’s theirs alone."
Robert frowned, sensing Kael’s unspoken gaze. His lingered on him for a moment as he observed Kael wondering if this was a joke or was he being serious.
After a rough contemplation, he asked"How did you figure that out?"