Chapter 54: Chapter 54 - Awakening
The whole world was dyed white.
A faint chill from the blizzard completely covered Agnes.
"It's cold..."
Agnes was startled by her own involuntary complaint of the cold. How long had it been since she had felt this sensation since she had been able to contain the cold in her mind?
People with manifesting mind images like her possessed near-immunity resistance to the elements they were handling. It's the same reason why fire spirits don't get burned and water spirits don't drown.
It should be that way, so what on earth is going on?
The reason wasn't that far away. It was because of the special nature of the area Agnes was facing.
White Hell, White Out
It didn't stop at covering the space with extremely low-temperature blizzards, but it constantly forced the concept of 'cold' on the victims inside.
In a world where all sides are covered in pure white, you can't even recognize your surroundings, and you gradually lose your sense of space and perspective.
It was useless to try to endure with a strong mind or a trained body. You'd soon completely lose your way, wander around the same place endlessly, and slowly freeze to death.
The unique territory of the Frost Knight Commander, Riddell von Glaciel, who is considered the strongest in the ice and snow system.
Once you set foot here, even those with considerable skill would have to give up all hope and just wait for death to come.
'Is this the end? No, no.'
A similar image. The power gap was overwhelming. However, she couldn't just sit back and let it happen.
Agnes steeled her resolve.
Wolfgang was fighting hundreds of enemies alone outside, and there were precious knights who were like brothers and sisters who had been with her for a long time.
—Tch!
A cold air spread out from Agnes, and her feet were covered in ice.
Countless ice spears appeared in the air, shooting out to pierce the enemy's flesh. However, Riddell stood still and shattered them all with a single gesture.
"The attacks are too monotonous. Weaponizing the elements to attack is not bad, but…"
Riddell's expressionless face gave Agnes advice.
That was the kind of composure that only the strong could have.
Confidence that came from the belief that they had already completely taken control of the battlefield and that there would never be any variables.
At that moment, Agnes's light-colored eyes sharply seized the opportunity.
—Shooaak!
Agnes' sky-blue hair cut through the air, and her new form shot out at Riddell.
A blunt stick mixed in among the flying ice spears. He quickly stepped on the edge and gained momentum.
'Now!'
Riddell tried to respond belatedly, but Agnes was faster. The rapier, wrapped in aura, extended and pierced Riddell's chest.
However, there was no sensation at all at the tip of the sword, let alone the feeling of piercing through armor and skin.
It was an illusion.
"This..."
Agnes let out a sigh.
"That's not you."
Riddell's calm and composed voice heard from far away.
The surrounding space was now completely white, to the point where nothing could be seen. It was impossible to tell where the words were coming from due to the increasingly strong wind.
—Kugugugu!
In the midst of all this.
Suddenly, an ominous sound began to be heard.
"This!"
Agnes was shocked. Because a huge avalanche that started somewhere unknown was rushing to bury her.
She quickly created a hemisphere of ice and covered her entire body.
It was only a tiny resting place compared to the area of snow that had no end, but it was enough to keep Agnes alive.
But how much longer could she hold out?
—Whiooooo!
As soon as the avalanche passed, the fierce blizzard swept in again, and the barrier Agnes had created was cracking and showing signs of slowly crumbling.
The cold air seeped in through the gaps in the cracks.
"This is just like… back then…"
As the cold wind brushed her fingertips, the hand holding the sword began to tremble uncontrollably.
It was because of the sudden and distinct sense of foreboding.
In that moment, Agnes's mind sank into the depths of her unconsciousness.
Ten years ago.
When she was a young girl, before calluses had even formed on her hands.
'You want to be a knight? Don't talk nonsense! I gave birth to you with such a pretty face, and now you're talking nonsense!'
A sharp-faced woman with sky-blue hair like Agnes, Baroness Ihelm, locked her fourth daughter in the attic.
It was because she didn't listen and kept going astray.
Agnes, who was still young but still beautiful, would be a great product to connect with a higher-ranking noble family in a few years.
The family had Agnes learn swordsmanship as a form of education, just to increase her commercial value.
How dare you dream of something so vain without even knowing the subject?
It was unacceptable. That's why they took special measures to discipline her.
It was midwinter. The area where the Ihelm estate was located was particularly cold, so her young daughter could have died.
The Baroness at that time was so damaged that she didn't even care about that.
Agnes, who had been left in the corner of the attic for three days with her hands and feet frozen purple from frostbite,
was discovered just before she died.
'It was terrible.'
Of course, it was only a thing of the past.
Having mastered the mind, she had mastered the cold and ice at will, and she thought she would never have to shiver in the cold again.
But right now.
"…I'm still very weak."
Agnes muttered in loneliness, looking at herself, who had become as helpless as she had been as a little girl.
—Passasak!
The ice barrier that protected her from the fiercely swirling blizzard shattered helplessly.
Riddell's cold voice rang in Agnes' ears.
"I'm disappointed, junior. You don't seem to understand the true nature of the image at all."
"…Are you Lord Riddell? Why have you left me alone until now?"
Riddell's figure was still out of sight, but her voice was clearly echoing from close range.
It must have been her fault that Agnes' small sanctuary had just been destroyed.
"As a senior walking the same path, I was greatly interested in you. It was enough to make me forget about the competition and everything else, even if it was just for a moment."
"...."
Riddell's tone, as he murmured in a sigh, was filled with deep disappointment.
—Saaaaa…!
"But, maybe I was wrong."
Agnes' body slowly began to be covered in ice from the tips of her toes.
"If that's your limit, then there's nothing you can do."
It was painful.
Even though it was a situation where survival was guaranteed due to the Emperor's power.
It was not something that could be ignored, such as the pain of freezing your body and the eerie feeling of gradually losing your senses due to frostbite.
Also, it was pitiful.
The sight of yourself being played around from beginning to end and eventually losing without being able to do anything.
'In the end, is this it... '
The cold air from Riddell's imagination had already risen to Agnes' chest and was squeezing her heart.
Furthermore, the indescribable coldness overlapped with her past memories of experiencing the fear of death at a young age, making her even more miserable.
A desperate situation.
'Are you afraid of the cold?'
Suddenly, Agnes's mind flashed with a brief piece of advice that Wolfgang had given her during their recent duel.
Of course, she didn't know what it meant at the time.
'Ah!'
But now, at this moment, she was able to find a clue to enlightenment in those words.
Up until now, Agnes had been unconsciously reluctant to handle the cold.
She had treated it more like a dangerous and tricky weapon than a complete part of herself.
'Yes, I was wrong for a long time…'
For the first time since she had awakened to her senses.
Agnes accepted the cold that enveloped her body as it was.
—Sseueueu…
Then, her mana core began to greedily absorb the cold around her as if it were starving.
Despite the cold that was colder than ever before engulfing Agnes' entire body.
No more coldness was felt.
—Kiiing…!
Then, Agnes' beloved sword in her right hand suddenly howled and emitted a mysterious energy she had never experienced before.
"What is this…?"
She could also feel it. An energy exactly like the one her sword was emitting was clearly leaking out from somewhere in the pure white snowstorm.
Agnes stretched out her hand toward the direction her sword was pointing.
Then, unlike before, she whispered to the cold air that felt warm instead of cold.
"Freeze."
—Tsk!
The area in the direction Agnes pointed to was instantly frozen in a straight line.
A large hole opened in the white space, and in the revealed space, Riddell's body was frowning and blocking Agnes' cold air with his sword drawn.
Snow and ice.
The two knights who dealt with similar but different types of images faced each other with sharp vigour.
—Kiiing…!
"Junior, that sword? No… More than that. Your momentum has changed a lot in that short time? Did you gain some kind of enlightenment?"
"Yes, I've been losing something very important. I think I've finally found it."
"I see. Congratulations."
With that, Riddell bowed slightly to Agnes.
An expression of his will to deal with the opponent in front of him with sincerity from now on.
'… Can I do it?'
As his realm rose and his vision cleared, Agnes was able to realize once again how mature Riddell was.
If it had felt like a huge wall that couldn't be overcome just a moment ago, now it felt like a child standing in front of a giant.
—Gooooo…!
However, there was a reason she could never back down, no matter how strong her opponent was.
'I'll grant you one wish.'
The night before the Knights' Competition. A secret promise between Agnes and Wolfgang.
"…Then please give me a chance. I will definitely not take it easy."
"You have incredible fighting spirit. I sincerely apologize for the verbal abuse earlier."
Victory.
Ever since she entered the Knights' Competition, that was her only goal from the beginning.
Even if she suffered a fatal wound and returned to the light, the Black Lion Knights had to win.
Agnes' lower abdomen tingled a little.
...…
The VIP seats in the Arena of Prominence. A space only allowed to the royal family.
—Wiiiiiiiiing!
"Haeeeeung...♡"
Here, there was another person whose lower stomach was shaking.
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