I had died…

I found myself in a world of white, a world that I hadn’t expected I’d ever return to. To my left lay the defeated Overlord, and to my right lay a spear that was dug into the ground. It wasn’t any normal spear however, it was instead the training spear. I was… back at home.

And then before me laid the all familiar portal that I had seen before to leave. I didn’t really understand what was happening, but part of me wanted to remain in this place. Except, that couldn’t happen, I had people waiting for me, whether it was Ceylon, Malz, or even Regis’karr.

I had to return.

I stared at the icy plains one last time, and in comparison to the past they felt dead and unwelcoming. A land that couldn’t foster life or see the birth of it, and somehow I had lived here for five years. It was the place I had called home, but now I wasn’t so sure if I could call it that. It was more like a nostalgic thing…

And I shook my head.

Thinking about this was useless, I had a place to return to. I smiled, trying to grab onto the training spear only for my hand to phase right through.”

“A shame.”

Then I crossed the portal.

[ From the Depths of Frost has been used. ]

[ From the Depths of Frost has entered a cooldown of: 9 Years, 364 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes… ]

[ You have leveled down. ]

…

4 levels lost. Now I was level, 171.

I opened my eyes only to see a very deep blue. Then, I pushed⁠— the ice around me broke as I emerged into the grand hall where the ceremony was being hosted. People gasped and the atmosphere around the room became tense as everyone warrily backed off, all of their gazes were terrified of me.

Though I paid it no mind as the relaxation allowed my mind to connect all of the dots I needed rather easily. Everything I needed to understand on how to shut down the Hero of Flames was now at the forefront of my mind. Thankfully, I just had to modify the skill or things would’ve turned out a lot differently.

A deep sigh left me as I stepped onto the carpet and made an ice spear.

“[As the Sculptor of Ice, I Will Make The End Of Your Life Glorious…]” I began.

At that moment the Hero of Flames appeared, fire around me ignited and at that moment I slammed my spear down.

“[And It All Begins Now.]”

At that moment the flames snuffed. The people around screamed. And I lifted the spear, spinning it between my fingers. The Hero of Flames blinked, and with a step forward I swung the butt of my spear, hitting him across the face.

He landed on his back, blood splattering from his mouth as people gasped.

“Hero of Flames, it is time for you to pay the price of attacking my companion.”

I stabbed the spear on the ground, and people began to mutter amongst themselves.

“That man is the Hero of Flames?!”

“I never thought I’d die from the fight of two heroes.”

“They both look like complete opposites…”

I ignored the comments and allowed the Hero of Flames to stand up, and guard himself. He was gnashing his teeth in anger as he looked at me. I knew I was going to need to fight him a second time, but this time I was sure of my ability to win.

I stepped forward and the Hero of Flames threw a punch at me, but I stepped to the side and with my already coiled fist I hit him in the stomach, making him spit blood as he backed off, looking at me with a deep frown.

“You know, your identity could’ve remained a secret if you never killed the Hero of Shadows, Arc.” He growled. “But you insisted on being insane, and now you’ll kill me too?!”

I nodded. “In retrospect, I should’ve negotiated things, however the reason I’m killing you isn’t due to incessant insanity. If it was that; you would be dead. You tried to kill Ceylon, and that is why I’m now going to murder you.”

“To care that much for a mere⁠ girl? She doesn’t even have a class!” he screamed and tried to swing at me.

But once more I evaded and this time punched him in the ribs as he was pushed back again. I followed up with a left hook across his face as he was made to take multiple steps back, one of his teeth flying across the room. Then, with another step I swung upward hitting him on his jaw.

He fell back, bloodied as he was forced to stare at me with an indignant look.

“Well she has a class now,” I said simply. “Now that she had to worry about her life that is.”

“And what does she mean to you?” he hissed, standing back up.

I blinked and then, I thought about his question except, a different question popped in my mind in reply.

What didn’t she mean to me?

Ceylon was the first person I met when coming to this world, and also perhaps the first person in my life that I had actually formed a connection with. Sure, the connection was odd and weird, but I didn’t care about any of that. I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to call her my sister. So, how was I supposed to act given the Hero of Flames had almost killed my sister?

From that perspective, all the resentment I currently felt was justified. In fact, I had to be angrier, she was pretty much the only family I had left. And some, red haired dumbass that thought he could play God tried to take it away from me.

It made me so unbelievably angry. And now, this same person thought he had the right to even ask why I cared?

"She means everything to me." I punched.

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My fist hit his forearms as he blocked, but he still winced from pain.

"Unlike you, I don't have any family to return to." My fist made him take a step back.

"Unlike you, I don't care for petty power." My punch broke his guard.

"And unlike you, I am not a little bitch!" Finally, my knuckles struck his face and broke his nose.

He pulled back holding his face as everyone stared in horror. Whispers traveled through the hall, some were about why we were fighting with our fists, others questioning and wondering what I was saying, and finally some who just wanted out.

But I didn't care. I didn't care for anything as I decided to let go of all restraint. I immediately rushed and kicked, hitting his ribs as they broke. The Hero of Flames was launched to the side and hit a pillar.

I used [Quick Step] and immediately appeared next to him. Then I grabbed him by his scalp as he looked at me shocked and I spoke.

"You have no idea how much I'll enjoy this."

Then, I slammed his head against the pillar as blood splattered.

* * * * *

He had fucked up.

That was all that was in his mind. The bursts of pain numbed him to an extreme degree. In all his years and encounters with heroes, Arc was a first.

He had never met a hero with such a personality or priorities and now that he knew how wrong he was the entire time he couldn't help but regret it. Did he have to make an enemy out of her? No, he definitely did— she would've never agreed to any negotiation even if he hadn't attacked her companion.

But at least perhaps a compromise could've been reached… that's what he believed at least. Now however, it was too late for any of that.

His head was banged before he was thrown across the room. He hit the ice pillar in the middle and found himself looking at a frozen hand, it was of a woman's. He knew what had happened, but somehow this time it hit different. A sense of regret started deep within him. Then he turned only to be punched across the face as he realized that this was the weight of his mistakes bearing down on him.

And worst of all, he probably could’ve reached some agreement with Arc before he attacked her companion, but he had forever burned that bridge.

Still after all of that, even while feeling regret he still felt angry. He had tried so hard to conquer Draliz, and now all of his efforts were down the drain. That mere thought angered him beyond belief; all plans had been going smoothly until she had shown up and killed the Hero of Shadows.

That was when everything began to go downhill.

And so, Jaye, unable to accept things, tried to fight back against the beast that was Arc, the Heroine of Frost.

* * * * *

I continued to beat up the Hero of Flames even as he screamed and ferociously tried to fight back. He clawed at my skin, but it did nothing but turn it red with marks as I kept beating him. My physical strength clearly overpowered his as people stared at us in horror.

I imagined it was like watching two monsters fighting one another, one was desperately fighting for their life with anger while the other mercilessly beat it up. And I reveled in it, I thrived by slamming him against the wall and kicking him across the room, by breaking his arm and pinning him to the ground only to keep kicking him.

It was blissful, and while I wasn’t proud of it, I was glad to be doing it in revenge for Ceylon. She had had to fear for her life due to him, and now I was going to make him pay the price. And I made sure to unleash all of my anger.

His attempts at fighting back slowly diminished and by the end of things, he stood panting before me, a bloodied mess as he stared at me. There was no fear within his eyes, only a resolution as he spoke.

“Can I ask a favor for after I die?”

“What makes you think that?” I raised my brow. “Round two is going to start soon.”

He shook his head and met my gaze. “The Hero of Shadows, kill him when you meet him. I’m sure he’s no longer human. Finish things for me.”

I grabbed my spear from the ground and turned to him. Most of the nobles by this point had stopped looking from the merciless beating that was happening.

“I was going to kill him anyway.”

He smiled to himself. “Good, then I can rest in peace.” He closed his eyes before speaking. “Make good use of my levels. Also, be careful of the keeper of order, run as soon as I die…”

He trailed off and fell to the ground.

I blinked as blood began to pool beneath him. His breathing calmly stopped as a heavy silence descended upon the hall. I grabbed my spear readying myself, and then a notification came.

[ You have vanquished the: Hero of Flames, from the world. Tier: SS. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

…

I gained nine levels in a single moment.

But I didn’t pay that any mind, but rather… there was no revival skill? I relaxed for a moment as I stared at the now dead Hero of Flames. Things had ended just like that. I had beat up the Hero of Flames to death with nothing but my fists, and with that, everything came to an end.

And yet somehow I felt disappointed.

Also the things he said at the end were… weird. I blinked and a moment later I felt a presence appear behind me. Was it the Hero of Flames? I turned and stabbed my spear only for it to instantly shatter into a thousand pieces. My eyes widened as I saw a lumbering figure, easily over two meters tall looking down at me.

“Arc, your actions through and through have been found to be reasonable,” he began.

And I backed off warrily, the whole atmosphere had turned tense and chilly in a single moment. All of the nobles had been seemingly frozen in time and the color had drained off the world.

What was⁠—

[???. Tier: ???]

The screen flickered a moment later, disappearing off of existence right after. Then, the man took a step towards me as I backed off even more.

“However, you’ve consistently killed incredibly strong heroes; heroes that are considered to be the defense of the world of Arlas, which is why you now have a special mission to even the tables of power.”

“A special mission to even the tables…?” I asked nervously.

What even was going on… I continued to back off. This man was…

I didn’t want to accept it, but his outfit and sword gave it away, I knew who it was. I couldn’t believe such a person would show up. It was the Hero of Arla⁠—

“Relax, it’s not like you can reject it anyway,” he said simply, interrupting my thoughts.

And at that moment, my entire vision went dark as the world around me disappeared. Fading into nothingness. I found myself falling in a void as screens began to flash and disappeared out of existence.

My vision blurred before finally I caught the sight of one.

[ Levels cannot be gained in this place. ]

What was⁠—?

And I managed to see another screen.

[ Danger lurks everywhere. ]

I spun all around, growing dizzy as I struggled to see the flickering and twisting notifications. It was an all familiar effect, it was something I didn’t want to accept, but as I saw the final notification I finally realized it.

[̷ ̴A̸n̸d̸ ̶i̶t̸’̶s̴ ̴w̵h̶e̸r̴e̶ ̸t̵h̵e̶ ̷c̴o̸r̶r̷u̷p̷t̸i̴o̶n̸ ̵r̵e̶s̸i̴d̴e̴s̶.̸ ̴]̴

And I hit the cold hard ground as I found myself in a chamber of smooth stone amidst the darkness. Some of the rocks in my surroundings flickering in and out of existence, the world around me seemed broken and distorted. The dangerous corruption surrounded me, and as I stood up, I couldn’t help but lock up in shock.

I was surrounded.

[̴C̶h̷i̸m̷e̴r̵a̴ ̴o̷f̵ ̴t̷h̶e̸ ̵E̴r̵_̷o̶_̶.̵ ̴T̴i̴e̶r̸:̵ ̴_̶_̶]̷

[̴C̶h̷i̸m̷e̴r̵a̴ ̴o̷f̵ ̴t̷h̶e̸ ̵E̴r̵_̷o̶_̶.̵ ̴T̴i̴e̶r̸:̵ ̴_̶_̶]̷

[̴C̶h̷i̸m̷e̴r̵a̴ ̴o̷f̵ ̴t̷h̶e̸ ̵E̴r̵_̷o̶_̶.̵ ̴T̴i̴e̶r̸:̵ ̴_̶_̶]̷

…

Surrounded by broken beings, and then, one charged. I prepared my ice spear but before it could reach me it exploded⁠—squashed in an instant. A gigantic claw had broken through the ceiling, collapsing with flakes of corruption and through the hole of the ceiling I saw it. A gigantic being whose mere presence was a flickering mess. A being that could kill me with a single hit. A being that was corrupted beyond belief.

[̶̨̱́T̶̜̹̚_̶͍͖̐̚i̸͙͌s̷̱͍̐ẗ̶̢̓ḙ̵̆_̴̜̋̀ ̶̪̽_̶͕͛ḧ̴̢͇́̎_̶̙̤̓n̶̗͋̇͜g̷̦͉͂T̵͙̼̿i̴̻̖̔e̵̜̪̓r̶̺̽:̶̣̿͠ ̴͓͙̔N̴̮͈͊a̸̼̲͂Ṅ̶̲̓͜]̵̤̭́

Then, the voice of the Hero of Arlas echoed his words making my blood run completely cold.

“Your mission is simple, survive the Forgotten Places.”

And all of the corrupted monsters attacked.