Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 434

In a situation where time was of the essence, I could no longer just watch Bingjam’s actions. Baek In-hwa moved.

Whatever it was, there was no doubt that the center of this situation was Bingjam, so I decided to attack Bingjam.

Running forward through the snowflakes, ice crystals began to gather in Baek In-hwa’s hands.

As she shot the tightly packed ice crystals from her palm, Bingjam slowly turned its body towards her.

It was truly a mysterious creature. Except for the legendary first Ice Palace Lord, it was a shame that it had never been seen before.

With its transparent and beautiful wings, and fur that was almost unimaginable to touch. There were even features of an insect that were somewhat cute yet grotesque.

A gigantic being… was it similar to how it would feel if the sun rose in the sky and was covered in ice?

From the moment it faced Baek In-hwa, I could feel the force building in the blizzard that swept through the area.

‘Strange.’

How could a living being of nature embed its power even into the falling snowflakes?

No matter how much that creature might represent the final point that nature could show, it would be impossible for it to claim the environment without any manipulation.

That was the common sense of this world. Countless beings assimilate their space. However, that always accompanied sufficient rituals or ceremonies.

While it might seem that a large-scale ceremony was needed, a puppy relieving itself on a telephone pole could also be seen as a sort of action.

However, Bingjam simply existed… and claimed the blizzard-stricken snowy plain as its own.

How, how could that be possible?

I tried to advance to fight Bingjam, but I couldn’t. The fiercely blowing snowstorm was pushing Baek In-hwa back, preventing her from taking even a single step forward.

I tried using Cheongseomun. I attempted to expand the icy territory. I even tried to forcefully stop the blizzard with specialized mana governing the territory.

But I found that there was no means to resist Bingjam’s influence.

All the methods a warrior like Baek In-hwa could use lost their significance just because of Bingjam’s existence.

Never before had she felt such profound misery. Cold and lonely. She felt as if she couldn’t do anything at all.

Then, an ominous voice whispered by her ear.

As if now was the perfect opportunity, the Demon King’s voice breathed into her ear, which had been recently quiet.

[Yes, you foolish girl. You are nothing. Did you still think you were special? Everything was made possible by that guy. Without him, you’d be dead and buried!]

Perhaps it could be true. Whenever she felt this unpleasant degree of powerlessness, Choi Yeon-woo was never beside her.

Even when she was curled up at home, tormented by the Demon King’s voice, even now.

[So, you finally realize? You can’t do it without him. So you must capture him. Whether through body or whatever, you have to seize him. No, rather, freeze him. Yes, that sounds good. If you freeze him, he won’t be able to escape, right? Let’s freeze him and decorate your room with him. Understand?]

Like a child being scolded, the ominous voice spoke that way. Baek In-hwa felt as if she would nod her head without realizing it.

Maybe, the true subject of this space wasn’t Bingjam, but rather the Demon King collecting strength to collapse her mind all along.

But few could stay grounded at the moment when their lives, their accumulated efforts and passions were trivialized like garbage.

Naturally, Baek In-hwa, who had come to depend on Choi Yeon-woo in many ways, was still just human.

There was no choice but to decide.

With a shivering intensity, her fingertips froze. It turned out to be much simpler than she thought. Freezing herself was.

With the violent snowstorm raging around her, and the finely detailed malice in the snowflakes, it was not difficult at all.

[What, what are you doing? Are you planning to die without doing anything? You need to repay! You have to give love equal to the help you received from Choi Yeon-woo!! The only thing you can do is that─.]

“That’s not my way.”

Cutting off the Demon King’s voice resolutely, Baek In-hwa completely froze herself. She encased herself in thick ice, from her toes to the top of her head.

Constructing a fortress that no one could penetrate, she built it herself.

Gradually, the snowstorm began to calm down. In the open snowy plain, Bingjam quietly looked down at her form.

A peculiar light danced in Bingjam’s eyes. No one could say what that feeling was.

[Helping descendants isn’t an easy task.]

Hehe, a refreshing woman’s voice echoed through the space.

Though now no one knew, the first Ice Palace Lord had a wife.

The first Ice Palace Lord had met Bingjam and received the pair of gloves Bingjam left behind, deciding to build the Ice Palace there—that was what is known until now.

But the truth was different. The first Ice Palace Lord had fallen in love at first sight with the woman he met there, deciding to build the Ice Palace on that spot.

And the fact that the woman’s identity was Bingjam might seem a bit strange, as per the woman’s view that it could be interpreted that way.

This was something only the woman herself knew in this era.

[Just do that.]

Leaving behind a warm word of encouragement to her distant descendant, melting away with the ice, Bingjam departed.

Stepping into another’s mindscape, or summoning it forcibly, was never an easy task, but for the woman who seized love and freedom, it was a simple matter.

*

There’s a saying that you don’t realize the importance of something until it’s lost. Many people could relate to that sentiment.

Most people are always a beat too late. Just as a detective arrives at a crime scene after the incident has occurred, so too do people often find themselves in such a position.

Baek In-hwa froze herself. It was an act she could only accomplish because she understood the mindscape, but it was, in fact, a challenging action precisely because it was a mindscape.

When a person’s spirit dies, the body dies too. And the spirit had weaknesses far beyond that of the body.

Although it was somewhat distant from modern Hunters, looking at PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) makes this clear.

Humans are easily affected by shocks, and when things go awry, they can easily create problems.

However, returning to reality while preparing for death and silencing her spirit, Baek In-hwa came to realize that she was okay.

The decision she could make stemmed from the fact that she did not want to bind Choi Yeon-woo.

She realized that she loved him as much as she loved his family.

Thus, to erase the Demon King’s unpleasant whispers, she made that decision.

Living alongside the Demon King’s whispers, she thought there was no guarantee she wouldn’t eventually go insane.

She had to tackle it the moment she accidentally entered the mindscape and the Demon King’s whisper revealed itself.

To eradicate the sprouts that could harm him and his family someday, she was prepared to die.

That preparation led to something much better than she had anticipated.

‘…Now I understand.’

Now she realized that freezing wasn’t the only essence of ice. If something can freeze, then there’s also something that can thaw.

Thinking that way, Baek In-hwa looked at her right hand.

“…??”

The Seolbaeksinjang was gone. Looking around anxiously for the Seolbaeksinjang that had disappeared as if the snow had melted away, Baek In-hwa frantically scanned the area.

…It’s gone. If her father found out she had lost the Seolbaeksinjang, a treasure of the Ice Palace, he would surely scold her severely no matter how much he loved her.

‘It couldn’t have melted in water…’

There was no way a treasure as valuable as that of the Ice Palace would melt in water. Even if she put a gloved hand in the fire, the object should not melt in water, right?

[You’ve come to your senses. It’s been about three minutes.]

“…M-Mr. Earth Serpent, have you perhaps seen the gloves that were on my hand?”

[Hmm? If it’s that, it melted away.]

“E-eh…?”

Had she done something wrong? Because of this, did the Seolbaeksinjang abandon her because she was no longer worthy of being a little palace lord?

[I can clearly see what you’re thinking. It melted into your body, so there’s no need to worry. You should quickly check on yourself and help that guy, right?]

“R-Really?”

To be honest, she didn’t know what it meant that the Seolbaeksinjang melted into her body, but it was a relief to hear it hadn’t melted in the water.

As Baek In-hwa contemplated her own body, she placed her hand against the solid ice surface.

The surface of the ice melted away and welcomed her hand without resistance. Splash, her hand touched the muddy water.

‘…Oh?’

Simultaneously, the innate mana she had naturally infused into the ice branched out in all directions.

In an instant. Much more than the area she had barely managed to freeze a moment ago, the water froze beyond that range.

“…I crossed over.”

*

“Ah, it’s freezing!!”

Yeon-woo screamed in surprise. He saw water freezing at an incredible speed from above.

In shock, Yeon-woo hurriedly swam deeper. It seemed that Shuyo was also surprised, as there was no sound.

“What’s going on? Why is it suddenly so fast?”

No, upon further reflection, if she was also in the water, wasn’t there no way to escape from Baek In-hwa’s ice?

Was that thought sparked by having cold water splashed on his head? Of course, it wasn’t that there weren’t ways to resist at all.

However, right now, acquiring additional resistance to ice while covering his whole body with mana of courage was impossible.

To gain that would require sacrificing all the enhancements gained for underwater activity, so precise timing for freezing was essential.

‘My body’s shaking.’

At a glance, Baek In-hwa was at the same mastery level. Furthermore, the one in this water was the Demon King of Shuyo, so she had no reason to hold back.

With expert late-stage ice skills, Yeon-woo might resist, but that was impossible right now. Especially if he were hit with full power, it would be even more hopeless.

As Yeon-woo gulped nervously at the rare tension, he noticed a strange flow of liquid.

The water was full of all sorts of obstacles and impurities, and while it wasn’t unusual for it to flow chaotically in a flood, this particular movement seemed abnormal.

‘Ah, I see.’

It seemed that he had found Shuyo, who had melted inside this water.

(To be continued)