Return of the Frozen Player

"Impossible!"

Nazad Hallow screamed at the man-made disaster. However, this wasn’t the time to deny reality. He had to come up with a countermeasure.

‘Goddamned it!’

He summoned his entire collection of corpses while shedding tears of blood.

"Goddamned it, goddamned it, goddamned it! They shouldn’t be summoned and used here!"

He had been planning on using them to take revenge on Earth for driving him away. For decades, he had been hiding in the dry Outlands until the day he could take revenge.

"Seo Jun-Hooooooo!"

After killing his disciples, was he going to deprive him of his dreams as well? Nazad Hallow glared at Seo Jun-Ho. He looked like he wanted to tear Seo Jun-Ho apart as he stared at the latter with murderous eyes.

"This part is very important, Frost.”

Betraying his words, Seo Jun-Ho's mind was focused on something else.

"Naturally as water flows."

"Like building a toad house? I know," replied the Frost Queen.

Craackle!

He could feel his magic being drained as part of the tsunami froze over.

"Hiiiik!"

"I-I'm going to die!"

"Ahhh... Huh?”

The inquisitors who were prepared to die in the incoming tsunami blinked.

"Ice… Roof?"

"W-whew. I'm alive."

The frozen river became a thick and strong roof so that not even a splash of water would reach them. The tsunami only swept the army of corpses.

"Guoooh!"

"Aguaaaah!"

Thousands of ordinary corpses and even a few special corpses Nazad Hallow personally modified were smashed apart by the tsunami.

"Goddamned it! Move! Come on!"

Nazad Hallow decided to sacrifice tens of thousands of corpses to form a wall of corpses at an angle in front of him. He was trying to do what Seo Jun-Ho had done—diverting the water.

'This many corpses should be enough…’

Nazad Hallow’s wall of corpses was finally complete, and he became sure of his success.

"Frost." Seo Jun-Ho arrived in front of the wall and ordered in a cold voice. "Pierce it."

"As you wish."

Sway!

Seo Jun-Ho’s vision momentarily swam as the Frost Queen siphoned his mental energy.

"Ice Horn."

Craaackle!

The river up ahead froze over, tearing the wall of corpses apart.

"Uwaaack!"

The backlash made Nazad Hallow spit a mouthful of blood.

"Cough, cough!"

Nazad Hallow felt a tingling on his nape, and he quickly threw himself to the side.

"Your instincts are better than I thought."

The place where he was standing earlier was riddled with slender, sharp spears.

Whoooong!

Seo Jun-Ho retrieved White Dragon and looked at Nazad Hallow.

“Today, you will die no matter what.”

“…!” Nazad Hallow’s eyes widened. Even the Heavenly Demon wouldn’t dare to be so rude to him. With his pride shattered, Nazad Hallow gnashed his teeth.

"All right, I admit it. You are strong."

Seo Jun-Ho was so strong that Nazad Hallow was trembling at the sight of him. When did Seo Jun-Ho become so strong, and why did they let him become so strong? It was unfortunate, but it was too late for Nazad Hallow to regret it.

"It shouldn’t have been like this…!"

He had around 180,000 corpses. Even if it were Seo Jun-Ho, there was no way he could have approached Nazad Hallow.

In fact, if Seo Jun-Ho decided to force his way by dealing with the corpses one by one, he would have run out of stamina by the time he saw Nazad Hallow’s face.

‘But…’

The river water… It became a disaster that turned the tables on him as if he hadn’t been winning earlier. His army of corpses drowned in vain, and now, he was defenseless.

"Come out." Nazad Hallow said with a sigh.

A burly corpse appeared.

Seo Jun-Ho saw the three beads stuck in its chest and muttered, "Demon jades?”

"Oh, you’re familiar with it? Anyway, this is Colonel Charbork—a former executive of the Fiend Association."

Colonel Charbork was looking into the distance with blank eyes, like a puppet.

"I dare say that this is my masterpiece. It greatly surpasses the death knights."

The base material was great, and he himself made it with his best effort. In addition, he attached as many demon jades as he could, so it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that it was his best work so far.

"And? Anything else?" Seo Jun-Ho coldly asked.

Nazad Hallow snorted. "You're arrogant. Even if it’s you, you should only make that remark after you’re done dealing with—”

Nazad Hallow's expression stiffened. He froze, and his eyeballs slowly turned next to him.

Plop.

“…?”

Colonel Charbork’s lower body had fallen to the ground. Nazad Hallow couldn’t find Colonel Charbork’s upper body. On the stump was a rough cut, as if a beast had swallowed up the colonel’s upper body.

‘J-just when?’

Nazad Hallow definitely didn’t take his eyes off his opponent, even for a moment. He thought that if he supported the colonel and fought two-vs-one, he would win.

"Anything else? Take out everything you have."

Nazad Hallow couldn’t snort at Seo Jun-Ho's cold demand.

Rather than replying, his mind started spinning like mad.

‘What are the chances of escaping?’

He had one Teleport Scroll in his Inventory. What if he exhausted his magic to create a barrier so that he could buy enough time for him to rip the scroll and escape?

‘It’s doable…’

At the thought, Nazad Hallow pretended like he was calm. With his hands behind his back, he said, "I have no choice but to admit it. You truly are much stronger than I expected."

“I see. That guy just now was your last bastion.” Seo Jun-Ho smiled with his left hand up in the air. "What, are you going to run away? The ring on your disciple's hand. I'm wearing it, but aren’t you going to get it back?”

“…”

Nazad Hallow's sunken cheeks trembled. Disciple, disciple, his last disciple, Arma! Arma was a fiend who was so talented that if he had come up to the 2nd Floor, he would have become infamous.

"Argh…! Grrr…!”

Nazad Hallow bit his lips so hard that they started bleeding. He wanted to tear the man in front of him to pieces, but it was impossible.

'Today’s disgrace, no matter what…!'

He would pay it back without fail.

Shedding tears of blood, Nazad Hallow created dozens of layers of barriers around him. Then, he opened his Inventory, retrieved the one and only Teleport Scroll he had in possession, and tore it up as fast as he could.

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho seemed to have muttered something, but it didn’t matter.

The Teleport Scroll was torn.

"Whew."

Nazad Hallow didn’t know what Seo Jun-Ho muttered.

'But he didn’t look as flustered as I thought.’

He wondered why. Frowning, Nazad Hallow shook his head. It was dawn, and he had suffered a great loss. He had lost his entire army and an arm.

"…But, I can start all over."

With his skill, Commander of Death, he could start over and over again. Nazad Hallow accepted today’s defeat and started walking away.

“…!”

Tremble!

However, he started trembling as if he had seen a ghost.

Seo Jun-Ho, a man worse than the devil, was flying in the sky toward him.

"It doesn’t seem like I’m welcome here,” said Seo Jun-Ho as he landed.

"H-how…?!”

"It’s not my first time dealing with a fiend, so I can read a fiend’s thoughts through their eyes."

And Nazad Hallow’s eyes told him that the former had given up. Usually, whenever a fiend gave up, they would always try to escape rather than accept their death.

Therefore, as soon as Nazad Hallow tore the Teleport Scroll, Seo Jun-Ho also muttered.

“Target imprint, Nazad Hallow.”

He designated Nazad Hallow as a node using the magic scroll’s tracking spell. With the node established, he was able to follow Nazad Hallow.

“…!” Nazad Hallow's mind went blank. This wasn’t part of his plan. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

‘He had thought about what he would do if he ever lost and had to run away.’

However, there was no way he could have made an action plan about what he would do if an opponent successfully followed him despite moving ten kilometers away in the blink of an eye using a Teleport Scroll.

Yes, there was no way he could have known that such a scenario was possible.

Nazad Hallow’s mind started spinning. He had to think hard and come up with a solution on the spot.

'No, no, no, no!'

The more he thought about it, the greater the sense of despair became, and it started driving him crazy. He couldn’t see it. He couldn’t see a way out of this.

"Four."

Seo Jun-Ho suddenly stuck the spear he was holding into the floor.

‘…What?’

Was he going to let him go? Or was he saying that he could run away so that he could have fun chasing after him?

Nazad Hallow thought about it for a while, and finally, he realized it.

‘Ah…’

He finally realized the meaning of the ‘four’ Seo Jun-Ho had uttered.

‘Valencia Citrin, Isaac Dvor, Roxan, and the Heavenly Demon.'

The Fiend Association would only have four remaining members once he died.

At the same time, Nazad Hallow also realized—he realized that he was already dead.

***

Nazad Hallow’s confession gave him a lot of useful information. Seo Jun-Ho sighed in relief.

'If it weren't for the tsunami, there was no way I could have won.’

It turned out that Nazad Hallow’s entire collection of corpses numbered about two hundred thousand.

If Nazad Hallow ran away and took advantage of his army of corpses, Seo Jun-Ho’s physical strength would definitely be exhausted before he could even see Nazad Hallow’s face.

'And his relationship with the Heavenly Demon is interesting.’

Nazad Hallow followed the Heavenly Demon because the latter was the Chairman of the Fiend Association. However, Nazad Hallow didn’t actually acknowledge the Heavenly Demon as his superior.

In fact, he even had the ambition of defeating the Heavenly Demon by challenging him again once the opportunity was right.

‘I'll have to organize this separately later.’

Again, he still couldn’t activate Soul Collector.

Seo Jun-Ho got up, looked down at the unsightly corpse and spat.

“May you not rest in peace."

Those without concern about the lives of others didn’t deserve to rest in peace.

***

Seo Jun-Ho hurriedly regrouped with the others. The battle on the plains was coming to an end. The corpses that lost their connection to Nazad Hallow had become nothing but a ragtag group of corpses.

"Sir Hart!"

On the frozen plains of Merhen, Seo Jun-Ho saw that Hart was being surrounded by the inquisitor and the archbishop. He waved at them and approached.

“You're here. I think I finally understand the phrase: dying of waiting."

Seo Jun-Ho was about to say that Hart was exaggerating, but Seo Jun-Ho’s expression stiffened when he noticed something on the helpless-looking Hart’s torso.

"I didn't expect you to bring a river. I really didn't expect that.”

"S-sir Hart. That’s…"

"Hmm? Oh, this?"

Two swords were sticking out of Hart’s chest and torso. The death knights charged in at the crucial moment and drove their swords into him as they turned into dust.

"It's a shame. If it weren’t for these swords, I could have split him into two rather than just severing his arm.”

He felt that it was a shame, but he had no regrets.

It was a sword stroke that represented the entire life of Knight Hart Weeper.

"H-healer. Hurry up and heal!"

Seo Jun-Ho shouted at the archbishop, but the archbishop shook his head in tears.

The swords stuck in Hart weren’t ordinary swords. They were swords covered in death energy. A sword like that could kill an ordinary person with a graze, but Hart was stabbed by not one but two swords covered in death energy.

"Don’t look at me like that.”

There was no chance of survival.

Seo Jun-Ho hurriedly retrieved all the recovery potions in his Inventory.

"You never know. I carry a lot of medicine, perhaps among these—”

"Stop. I know my body well." Hart smiled lightly and raised his hand. His body had already shut down. He was just barely holding out since he managed to cross over the wall during the crucial moment earlier. His heart stopped beating a while ago.

"I wanted to tell you something, so I've been holding out.” Hart stared hard at Seo Jun-Ho. "Will you help me so I can leave my last words?"

“…” Seo Jun-Ho’s clenched fists trembled as he bit his lips tightly. "If I were—no, if I were just prepared to put my life on the line and fought together with you from the beginning.”

"Ah, if that were the case, we would have died together. I don’t think that’s what you want, right?" Hart shook his head and said, "Don't blame yourself, Young Hero.”

Hart’s hand was as cold as a corpse as he placed it on Seo Jun-Ho’s head.

"You chose the best option. Your actions saved the lives of the people of Merhen, my subordinates, the archbishop, and the inquisitors. Furthermore—Cough! You saved the people of the Ruben Empire, who had been trembling in fear. Truly, thank you."

Hart knew that Seo Jun-Ho had no time to explain his plan to everyone because they were in a hurry to reinforce Merhen. The battlefield had always been a heartless place as well. It was a place where everyone believed in their own judgment.

As such, they had to bear the consequences of their own actions.

"Mmm, my eyes. Seo Jun-Ho. Seo Jun-Ho. Are you listening?"

Hart's eyes turned grey and cloudy. He couldn’t see anything but a hazy mist. Death was imminent, but he wasn't afraid. He would simply be meeting up with his seniors, comrades, subordinates, loved ones, and family members who went ahead of him.

"Yes, I'm listening. I’m here. I am… listening.”

Seo Jun-Ho choked as he replied amidst the falling tears.

Hart Weeper smiled at Seo Jun-Ho.

"I have one thing to ask of you—Stop crying and take care of the world."

Hart belatedly realized that he asked for two favors. When his faint voice could no longer be heard, the man representing the Ruben Empire as well as Frontier’s number one swordsman—Hart Weeper—finally closed his eyes with a light smile and died where he sat.

***

[You can use Soul Collector (A).]

[Will you collect the soul of Hart Weeper?]