Swoosh! Swoosh!
Across the vast snowy plains, a group of mages and magi slid at high speed over the thick white snow. The shimmering white light under their feet trembled nonstop.
Snow flew up, momentum tore through the air, and the howling wind poured into the ears of every member.
Under magic, this immense blizzard seemed to give them even faster assistance.
The mages followed right behind the silver knight at the front of the team.
That noble and proud knight faced the wind and snow, incomparably cold.
Her silver hair fluttered continuously amid the falling snow, like a merciless princess upon the ice.
Every time they reached a destroyed tribe, they would stop their rapid advance.
Those massive villages were still burning with angry flames, crackling loudly.
They had already been burned for several days, tottering in the wind and snow.
A few broad barbarian corpses lay scattered on the snowy plains.
Although their flesh had long since been burned away completely, turning to ashes that drifted through the air, strangely, their skeletons remained.
Flames still burned on the bones and could not be burned out no matter what.
As if burning their sins.
Clearly, even in such a violent blizzard, they continued to burn nonstop.
Not for a single moment did they stop.
This was already the fifth destroyed tribe the Pale Mage Assembly had encountered.
Every place they passed was the same, with flames that refused to extinguish.
A smell of charred flesh endlessly wafted from the barbarians' bones.
It even seemed as if some remnants of flesh were still clinging to them.
Erica stood among the crowd, looking at the scene from afar.
She wore a thick hood, covering her mouth.
Even from such a distance, this scene filled her with disgust and discomfort.
Not because Erica thought this was too cruel.
It was just that the scattered flying ashes made her feel that if she breathed even slightly, she might accidentally inhale those filthy, dirty barbarian fragments into her lungs.
Amelia glanced at Erica and seemed to notice something. She reached into her cloak and felt around.
She took out a lollipop still wrapped in its candy paper and handed it to her.
"Want one?"
Erica froze for a moment. When she looked up, Amelia tilted her chin at her.
"Th… thank you."
Erica whispered her thanks and accepted the candy.
She unwrapped it and placed it in her mouth.
'Mm, strawberry flavor.'
Amelia looked at the flames before them, her voice cold.
"The barbarians have killed too many of our people. Their deaths aren't worth pitying."
"You don't have to feel uncomfortable. Just treat them as beasts that can't communicate."
With the sweetness of the lollipop in her mouth, Erica felt much calmer.
Only now did she realize that the "candy" Amelia always had in her mouth was indeed a lollipop.
At this moment, the mages of the Pale Mage Assembly gathered around the roaring fire, chanting rough incantations, like prayers, like worship.
White light flickered in the blizzard, and the flames that refused to die burned even higher again.
Inside these flames, they added their own magic, making the fire burn even fiercer and brighter.
They hadn't participated in killing these barbarians.
But they hoped this fire would burn stronger, burn hotter.
Let it remain forever in this far northern land of wind and snow. Let the barbarians forever remember this scorching calamity.
Under waves of chanting, the flames grew even more intense under the blizzard.
Even the wind and snow couldn't cover their conviction.
Unknowingly, Gwen returned to the group.
As a knight, she naturally didn't need to chant with the mages.
As if she had just gone to do something, she flicked the remaining blood off her silver sword and sheathed it.
Vladimir raised a brow at her return.
"Barbarians gathering nearby?"
"It's the Blazing Sword squad, about twenty people. Judging from their appearance, they're heading toward the far north."
Which aligned almost exactly with their own destination.
Meaning, where Viktor was.
"The far northern ice fields, huh."
Vladimir let out two low chuckles.
The barbarians had gathered on their own.
Perhaps Viktor's actions had provoked their collective anger.
Once the flame prayer ended, Vladimir called out to them, "Alright, brats."
"We should get moving as well."
"Oh!!"
With the president's call to depart, the magi burst into shouts, as excited as the intensifying flames.
The group reformed and once again sped across the snowy plains, kicking up snow several meters high that buried the ruins behind them.
They passed through wind and snow; holy snowflakes, cold hearts, scattering disgust toward the earth, covering broken limbs.
Burying all filth in this world until even the faintest trace of crimson disappeared.
———
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Vines wrapped in flames transformed into sharp spikes shooting toward the giant bird in the clouds.
After one spell was cast, the next followed immediately.
A sky full of green leaves and fire serpents intertwined, attacking nonstop.
The giant bird covered in white feathers looked extremely flustered. Under such a fierce assault, it couldn't even find a chance to counterattack.
It was shocked.
The blessing of the Temple of Wind should have made it immune to fire damage, yet facing this challenger, it was actually being burned and hurt.
Viktor's magic attack gave it a strangely familiar feeling.
In all these long years, thousands of years, not a single challenger who reached this place had ever given it this kind of pressure.
The giant bird spun through the air, dodging Viktor's dense attacks.
It twisted in midair and violently flapped its wings.
A gust of wind blasted forth, turning into a blade that instantly tore the air, striking toward Viktor.
Extremely fast, too fast to react.
But Viktor stayed calm, continuing to cast uninterrupted spells.
At the moment the air blade reached him, the iron tag at his waist activated on its own, forming a storm around his body.
The powerful rotation blocked all the air blades completely.
Such airtight defense made the bird despair.
From beginning to end, Viktor stood on a single pillar.
He simply stood there. He didn't even think about dodging. He didn't move at all.
The giant bird roared repeatedly, shockwaves trembling through the endless clouds, creating ripples of white.
But Viktor seemed completely unaffected, continuing to release powerful magic.
Countless arrays formed in his hands as casually as simple sketches, rapidly forming and firing.
Under the relentless assault, the giant bird completely lost its patience.
It understood that if this continued, it would have no chance of victory.
It flapped its wings and shot through the clouds, fleeing far away.
Using the tailwind, it quickly widened the distance beyond Viktor's range.
Although Viktor had plenty of methods to reach it, even easily shoot it down, he simply watched its movements.
The giant bird opened its beak, and a storm swirled within it, gathering rapidly.
Aerial Burst.
A sweeping white storm appeared in the sky out of thin air.
The next moment, a massive surge of wind tore open the clouds instantly, piercing the white vapors as spiraling shockwaves shot upward.
Even sound seemed to freeze for a moment. The raging air currents shredded the sky into layers of cracks.
The pillars beneath the clouds shook violently from the impact.
The enormous projectile shot at Viktor.
The attack hadn't even reached him yet, but the air already made his coat flap wildly.
The giant projectile hurtled toward Viktor.
But he simply stood there, hands in his pockets, steadying his coat.
On his coat, a brilliant green light ignited.
Instantly, behind him, countless emerald arrays burst open, roughly a thousand at a glance.
Delicate green patterns covered the area, flashing with light.
Then countless green arrows of energy launched from the magic arrays.
Thousand Arrows Volley.
The overwhelming natural energy surged forth as one, violently unleashed!
The two spells collided.
But the giant projectile resisted for only a single second before being swallowed by the tidal wave of magic and driven rapidly toward the giant bird.
Before the atmosphere could recover, the giant bird was swallowed by the shining green sea.
When the smoke finally began to fade, waves of green enveloped it completely, radiating a strong grassy scent.
The violent magic around Viktor slowly calmed.
A simple temple guardian beast was nowhere near enough to make him use highly destructive magic.
Using Calamity skills alone was enough to handle it easily.
Warfare magic wasn't something he could casually use. Without Vega's mana-link, he couldn't prepare those spells quickly.
As the emerald magic faded, the giant bird lay half-dead on a pillar far away.
Vega looked at Viktor and slowly asked, "That's it?"
It hadn't even warmed up.
It had thought this guardian beast would be impressive, but it wasn't even as good as a Calamity.
The winds gradually died down. Viktor, hands still in his pockets, strolled leisurely toward the giant bird.
"I didn't come for its divine power in the first place."
The divine power of the Inheritance Temple was a portion split from the Calamities.
Obtaining the final inheritance granted players a 150% increase in the corresponding elemental damage.
Yes, one to nine beasts increased damage by 10% each, but if the final stage was cleared, it jumped directly to 150%, plus partial elemental abilities.
It was likely a recognition of those who completed the challenge.
But Viktor didn't need this. The temple's divine power was only an extra to him.
What he wanted was this divine power's ability to sense Calamities.
The Wind Calamity was different from the others, it didn't appear in a fixed place.
Like the wind itself, it was elusive and unpredictable.
One day it might be above the Empire's continent; the next day it might be on the other side of the world.
It rested upon the clouds, truly a "free" Calamity.
Conveniently, wind's divine power could help Viktor sense it.
Finally, Viktor reached the dying giant bird.
The bird flapped its wings, straightened itself, seemingly trying to maintain the dignity of a temple guardian.
It succeeded, a proud posture even in defeat.
A white radiance separated from its body and slowly flowed into Viktor.
A streak of pale blue light passed over his body, and Viktor felt himself become much lighter.
The power of wind.
After finishing this, the giant bird cast Viktor a satisfied look.
Then it flapped its wings and flew toward ten thousand meters above.
But suddenly, countless red chains burst forth from the clouds.
Like venomous snakes, they shot toward the giant bird.
The chains instantly wrapped around it, binding its wings and massive body.
With the bird restrained, the temple itself trembled, the high altitude shaking as if it would collapse.
In that instant, the raven on Viktor's shoulder flashed with a wicked glint.
A massive black magic array slowly emerged upon the white clouds.
Like a single stroke of ink on a blank scroll, it continuously covered the giant bird.
In the bird's terrified gaze, Viktor's eyes glowed faint blue as he spoke coldly.
"Sorry."
"I didn't say you could leave."