When the Rank Four demonic beast and I reached each other, we attacked each other at the same time. The moment its claws clashed with my sword, I realized something important. This Rank Four demonic beast wasn’t as strong as an Aura Master. It was much stronger. The creature pushed me back with its physical might alone. I tried to disengage to put some distance between us and give myself time to think, but the Rank Four demonic beast chased after me.
The creature unleashed a barrage of attacks to harry and harass me, moving faster than any other foe I had ever faced in my lifetime. I tried to defend myself, but some of the Rank Four demonic beast’s attacks pierced through my defenses. My Aura protected my body, but each blow drained my mana. The longer this fight went on, the greater my disadvantage. I would not win a fight of attrition.
What unnerved me was the creature’s silence. It didn’t howl or snarl or make any of the other sounds other demonic beasts made. It just attacked me, staring at me with its blank and featureless face. In fact, I didn’t know if stare was even the right word, since it didn’t have any eyes.
However, the Rank Four demonic beast’s constant attacks gave me another interesting insight. Despite its immense strength and speed, it didn’t have any skill or technique. It attacked without any finesse, relying on its physical might to overwhelm its opponents. Hope sprang to life in my heart. I could do this. I could win.
I feinted. The Rank Four demonic beast fell for it, leaving its side wide open. I took advantage of this opening to attack. The Rank Four demonic beast tried to block my attack, but it was too late. My sword slashed its side. Black blood gushed from the wound, spilling upon the ground.
I attacked again, hoping to build momentum and throw the Rank Four demonic beast off balance. However, it retaliated, moving faster than before. I managed to block the creature’s attack, but it hit me with enough force to send me flying off my feet. I flew through the air before hitting the ground. I rolled with the fall before using my momentum to help me spring back onto my feet.
The Rank Four demonic beast gave me no time to recover. It was upon me in an instant. The creature attacked me with another barrage of attacks. I tried another feint, but it didn’t work a second time. The creature had learned its lesson.
To my dismay, with each passing second, the Rank Four demonic beast moved faster and faster until I couldn’t keep up. I managed to block a third of its attacks. The rest hit my Aura, draining my mana at an alarming rate. If this kept up, I would run out in less than a minute. When that happened, I was dead.
Desperate, I considered my options. Unfortunately, I didn’t have many. There wasn’t anything in the environment around us that I could utilize to gain an advantage. We were surrounded by flat icy tundra in all directions. If I tried to run away, the Rank Four demonic beast would chase me down. It was faster than me, and I would just waste mana trying to escape.
All I could do was hold my ground and find some way to beat an enemy that was both faster and stronger than me. Maybe I could outlast it, but I doubted it. The Rank Four demonic beast seemed to have endless stamina.
In that case, I might as well go all in. I needed to risk everything in the hopes of winning. Otherwise, I was going to lose. I stopped shielding my body with my Aura, and put all of my mana into my attacks. I also stopped blocking the Rank Four demonic attacks. Its claws slashed me across the chest, drawing lines of fire. I ignored the pain and retaliated. My sword took it in the arm, cutting it deep.
Giving up defense in favor of offense worked. Every time the Rank Four demonic beast attacked me, it left itself open. I took advantage of this to attack it in return, inflicting an injury with each blow. However, I paid for it by receiving an injury in return.
The two of us traded blows like this over the course of several seconds. During that time, I ended up with wounds and injuries all over me. Pain wracked my body, and my blood dripped upon the icy tundra. I grew lightheaded and my vision swam. If this kept up, I would fall unconscious from the pain and blood loss.
However, my foe was in poor condition as well. Black blood oozed from dozens of wounds. The creature’s movements grew sluggish, which in turn gave me more openings to take advantage of.
A fire ignited in my heart. I could do this. I could win. I could kill this Rank Four demonic beast.
I attacked with reckless abandon, discarding any thoughts of safety or caution. All that mattered to me was defeating the Rank Four demonic beast and killing it. The creature, unable to withstand the fury of my attacks, retreated by a single step. For the first time since our fight began, I pushed the Rank Four demonic beast back. I pressed my advantage and built momentum.
However, I paid for it in blood and pain. In exchange for forcing the Rank Four demonic beast back, I suffered a significant number of injuries, many of which were lethal in the long run. I wouldn’t last long if this kept. I needed to win this fight now, or I would end up losing.
To that end, I “stumbled” forward, giving the Rank Four demonic beast an opening to regain its advantage. It took the bait and attacked me with all of its might. I recovered from my “stumble” and used my left arm to block its attack. It was too much for my body to handle. I heard a snap as the bones in my left arm snapped.
At the same time, I swung my sword with my right arm, aiming for the Rank Four demonic beast’s neck. It tried to dodge, but it was too late. I put everything into my attack. My sword met the creature’s neck and cut right through it. The Rank Four demonic beast’s head tumbled to the ground and black blood spurted from the stump that remained. Its body remained upright for a few seconds, before tumbling to the ground.
I had done it. I had won.
However, before I could celebrate my victory, a wave of exhaustion washed over me and my vision grew dark. I swayed, before falling forward. To remain upright, I used my sword as a crutch. It hurt, but my entire body hurt so I barely noticed. I took stock of my condition. Injuries covered my entire body, and my left hung limp at my side, broken. I was in no condition to fight. More than that, if I didn’t find a healer soon, I would die.
Winning the fight but dying of blood loss afterward, what an ignoble end.
After taking a few moments to catch my breath, I pushed myself up so that I could continue trying to find a way out of this place. However, the moment I stood up straight, a golden light caught my attention. I turned to find some kind of hole in reality hovering in the air nearby. It was like looking through a window into another world. On the other side stood Guld Manor. My breath caught in my throat when I saw this. It was just as I remembered it. The beautiful main building surrounded by lush gardens.
Home.
Before I could stop myself, I rushed towards this tear in reality. As I drew closer I felt the warmth of spring and smelled the scent of the flowers. Everything in me yearned for Guld Manor. So much so, that I disregarded my injuries as I ran towards the tear. My body screamed in pain, but I ignored it. All that mattered to me was returning home.
Just as I reached the tear, I stopped right in front of it. A sudden realization came over me, and I felt myself grow cold. My legs buckled and I fell to my knees, staring at Guld Manor. It took all of my willpower to not enter the tear, to go home.
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“This is the real test, isn’t it?” I asked, looking up at the sky.
That was the thought that occurred to me just before I reached the tear and entered it. Fighting the Rank Four demonic beast and defeating it wasn’t the real test. This was. It wasn’t a test of strength or a test of martial skill. It was a test of character. A choice. I could go through the tear and return home, or I could stay here and spend the rest of my life fighting demonic beasts.
“That was the contract that the first Kaltbrand made with you, wasn’t it?” I asked, still staring at the sky. “He sacrificed comfort and wealth in order to stand guard and protect the rest of the world from the demonic beast threat. Now you’re asking me to make the same choice.”
Before this, a part of me harbored a small hope of returning to the Riverlands and Guld Manor. It wasn’t as if I needed to become the heir to House Kaltbrand. I could just leave. According to Lina and Mika, Father and Mother would welcome me back with open arms. However, to do so I would have to abandon House Kaltbrand
In essence, I had to choose between the Barrens and the Riverlands. The icy north and the prosperous west. House Kaltbrand and House Guld.
A crunch caught my attention and I looked to find a man standing nearby. He reminded me a lot of Dad. He was tall and muscular, with pale skin, black hair, and blue eyes. He had rough features, as if his face had been carved from stone. There was something timeless about this man. He looked like he was in his early thirties, but there was something about his eyes that gave him the air of someone much older.
The man studied me with a cold and indifferent expression on his face, remaining silent. I looked at him for several seconds, before I turned back towards Guld Manor. The sight was so tantalizing. All I needed to do was reach out, and I would be there. I would be back home.
I sighed, before I pushed myself up, using my sword for leverage. Feeling as if I were ripping my own heart out, I turned away from the tear to face the man. The small hope in my heart died out. The man nodded at me, his eyes brimming with sympathy. The tear closed and disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place. The warmth of spring and scent of flowers disappeared with it. For the first time since I came to this icy tundra, I felt cold.
The man held out a hand to me, palm facing up. Hovering in the air above his hand was a mote of icy blue fire: the coldfire. I dropped my sword and reached over with my right arm, holding my hand out. The mote of coldfire floated from the man’s hand and reached mine. Following my intuition, I took the mote and pressed it against my chest.
Unlike before, when I touched the coldfire back in the Coldfire Shrine, cold didn’t invade my body. Instead, it pierced my heart and lodged itself in there, forever becoming a part of me.
When the mote of coldfire became a part of me, the man nodded in satisfaction. He gestured in my direction and I heard a crack come from beneath me. Before I could react, the ground below me collapsed and I fell into darkness. The last thing I saw was the man’s face.
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I found myself back in the Coldfire Shrine. Like before, the transition was sudden. One moment I was falling into darkness. In the next, I found myself staring at the mote of coldfire hovering in the air above the stone altar. I looked around. It seemed as if barely any time had passed here. That wasn’t possible. Rather, it shouldn’t be possible. I spent at least an hour in the icy tundra, maybe longer.
Not only that, but my body felt fine. I remembered the coldfire invading my entire being, freezing me from the inside out. Yet, no trace of that remained. I also saw no sign of the injuries I suffered back when I fought the Rank Four demonic beast. I was whole and unharmed. It was as if those injuries had never existed in the first place.
Had any of that happened? Or had it all been an illusion? No. It felt too visceral, too real, to have been a mere illusion. More than that, I still felt the coldfire that resided in my heart. That, at least, was real.
I held up a hand and called the coldfire. It responded to my will as if it were an extension of myself. The coldfire emerged from my heart and carved a pathway through my body, before appearing in the air above my hand. It hovered there, flickering and dancing. Instead of heat, it emitted cold.
Despite this, I felt fine. The cold no longer bothered me. This included the cold that pervaded the entire Coldfire Shrine. When I first entered the chamber, however long ago that was, it almost proved too much for me. However, that was no longer the case. I still felt the cold, but it no longer harmed me.
Someone gasped. I turned to find the others still waiting for me, standing beyond the stone archway. Dad wore a proud smile on his face. High Priestess Ursel stared at me in astonishment. High Priest Jeremias wore the same gruff expression as before, though I saw the veneration in his eyes.
I snuffed out the coldfire that I conjured, before I turned and walked over to rejoin the others. The moment I crossed the threshold, Dad pulled me into a tight embrace. It felt warm.
“I knew you could do it, Wulfe.” He said. “I’m so proud of you.” He pulled back and beamed at me. “You’ve become a true Kaltbrand. I dare anyone to say otherwise.”
High Priest Jeremias and High Priestess Ursel both bowed to me.
“Congratulations, Lord Wulfe,” High Priestess Ursel said. “You have inherited the coldfire. Truly, you have been blessed by the gods.”
“Our lord, the God of Darkness, has deemed you worthy,” High Priest Jeremias said. “We must celebrate this most auspicious occasion.”
I nodded.
“Thank you,” I said, before pausing. “Did any of you see anything?”
The three of them looked at me in confusion.
“What do you mean, Wulfe?” Dad asked.
“Did I disappear or go anywhere?” I asked.
High Priestess Ursel’s confusion deepened. However, Dad and High Priest Jeremias glanced at one another.
“No,” Dad said. “You walked into the Coldfire Shrine and touched the coldfire hovering above the altar. After that, you stood there for a few seconds before conjuring the coldfire.”
So no time at all had passed while I was in that icy tundra. I thought as much, but it didn’t hurt to have others confirm it. In that case, what happened to me? It wasn’t an illusion, it felt too real for that, yet my body never left the Coldfire Shrine.
“Why do you ask, Lord Wulfe?” High Priest Jeremias asked. “Did something happen to you?”
I thought about telling them what happened, but I decided against it in the end. I thought it was better to keep it to myself for now, at least until I better understood what happened to me.
“Nevermind,” I said, shaking my head, “It must have been nothing.”
High Priest Jeremias narrowed his eyes at me. It was clear that he didn’t believe my words, but he didn’t press the issue.
“We should head home.” Dad said. “It has been a long night.” He turned to the others. “Thank you for helping us on such short notice.”
High Priest Jeremias and High Priestess Ursel bowed to him.
“Of course, Grand Duke Kaltbrand.” the High Priestess said. “We are always at House Kaltbrand’s service.”
“Witnessing a Kaltbrand inheriting the coldfire was an honor.” High Priest Jeremias said.
With that, the two of them escorted Dad and I back to our carriage. Sir Kane remained where we had left him, standing guard over the carriage. We said our goodbyes to the High Priest and the High Priestess, before climbing back into our carriage and heading off.
“Did you succeed, Lord Wulfe?” Sir Kane asked.
Another noble would have considered the question impertinent. However, Sir Kane was my friend as well as my bodyguard. Thus, I afforded him more leeway.
“Yes.” I said.
I conjured a mote of coldfire as proof. Sir Kane stared at it in wonder.
“Amazing.” He muttered.
I snuffed out the mote.
“Not only that, but it seems that Wulfe had an interesting experience when he inherited the coldfire.” Dad said.
I studied him and wondered just how much he knew. His reaction from earlier told me that he knew something, or at least suspected it. Perhaps he could explain things to me. I opened my mouth to ask, but Dad held up a hand to forestall me.
“You don’t have to share it with me.” He said. “What happened to you was meant for you and for you alone. You don’t have to share it with others. In fact, I advise you not to.”
I considered his words for a moment, before nodding. After that, we spent the rest of the ride back to Kaltbrand Castle in silence. Now that I had inherited the coldfire, my position as heir to House Kaltbrand was secure. No one, not even the Emperor, could say otherwise.
Still, I knew that my enemies wouldn’t surrender without a fight. They would try something, likely at the ball on that last day of the banquet. That was the last immediate hurdle that I needed to overcome. Afterwards… Well, I would worry about that later. For now, I would take it one step at a time.