Azael stared at the black screen.
Blinked once. Twice.
"I defeated a… what?" Before he could process it, the text shifted:
[ You have been rewarded: 100 Soul
Energy! ]
[ Invocation Unlocked: Eye of the Blizzard ]
[ Reclamation Complete. The Hellhound "Ice Bear" has dropped an item into your Inventory. ]
His head throbbed. Too many words. Too many concepts. He scratched his temple, eyes scanning the screen.
"what's even an Invocation?" At the bottom of the "Eye of the Blizzard" entry, a small link glowed [Learn More]
He tapped it. And new text filled the screen:
[ Eye of the Blizzard ]
Grade: D
Type: Perception
Origin: Ice Bear (Hellhound, Floor 66)
Description:
Grants the user the ability to see clearly through the blizzards and eternal darkness of Floor 66.
Attributes:
• Power: E
• Endurance: D
• Control: C
• Efficiency: C
• Adaptability: B
Soul Energy Cost: 10
Duration: 1 hour
"oh... is invocation like a special ability or something?"
Azael skimmed the stats mostly meaningless but one line made his breath catch:
"Grants the user the ability to see clearly through the blizzards…"
His eyes lit up. "Does that mean… I can see out there now?"
Hope flared hot and sudden. But it dimmed just as fast. "How do I even use it?" while trying to think of a way, all of sudden the bear's carcass that was on the floor, release a black smoke.
One second it was there a hulking mass of fur and gore the next, only black smoke coiled in the air, thick and acrid. Azael pinched his nose, coughing. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the smoke dissipated. The body was gone.
Panic spiked. "Did it teleport? Is it coming back?" He whirled, scanning the igloo. but there's Nothing. Just blood-slick walls and silence.
Heart pounding, he jabbed at the screen, desperate for answers. His finger hit something in the top-right corner
A new window popped up.
It was a white grid. With dozens of empty squares. At the top, a single word: [Inventory].
Only one box held an item.
it's a fur coat, the color is Pale white. Azael tapped it. And the coat materialized in his arms with a soft thump, nearly knocking him over. He caught it just in time and gasped.
Even through his blistered hands, the fur radiated warmth. Not like fire. Like sunlight. Like something is alive inside the fur.
A new window flickered beside it, showing the item's description:
[ Ice Bear Fur ]
Floor 66 of Hell is surrounded by extreme cold and endless storms. To survive and hunt, its creatures must withstand the elements. The Hellhound "Ice Bear" uses its own pelt as insulation, allowing it to move freely through blizzards while it hunt for prey.
Azael's eyes gleamed.
He hadn't even put it on yet but just holding it, his fingers stopped trembling. The deep, bone-deep chill that had haunted him since waking? It was already receding.
With a shaky breath, he wrapped the fur around himself like a heavy cloak.
The moment it settled over his shoulders, he nearly melted into it. Soft. Dense. Radiating steady, living heat. For the first time since arriving in this frozen nightmare, he wasn't just freezing he was warm.
He hadn't felt real warmth since waking in this frozen hell. The comfort hit him like a drug, Soft and comfortable. For a moment, he forgot the blood on the walls.
Then reality snapped back. "Right. The invocation" He needed to use it Now. Before the bear or something worse returned.
As if reading his mind, a small white window appeared beside the main screen, glowing softly against the gloom:
{ To activate your invocation, simply think its name. }
Azael exhaled. "That's it?" He closed his eyes. Focused. And whispered, Eye of the Blizzard.
A soft chime rang in his skull. The main screen updated:
[Eye of the Blizzard activated: 10 Soul Energy consumed.]
[Duration: 1:00:00]
"One hour…" He tightened the fur coat. "Then I better move fast."
He couldn't stay here. Not in this slaughterhouse. Every stain on the wall was a memory of pain.
He stepped out of the igloo and froze.
The storm still raged. Snow still fell. But the void was gone. Where there had been endless, suffocating darkness, now stretched a vast, frozen plain cracked ice, distant ridges.
For the first time, Hell had edges. Azael turned toward the man the bear had thrown out earlier—the one that was smiling at him.
He was sitting in the snow, half-buried, skin whole again but his eyes were hollow. Empty. Like he'd already died inside.
Azael crouched in front of him. "Hey
you, Why didn't you run when the bear was busy torturing me?"
The man let out a dry, broken laugh. "Run? Where?" He shook his head, voice low and tired. "You have no idea how long I've been here. This place… it's impossible to leave
He looked up, snow clinging to his lashes. "Right now, you feel strong. Invincible. But wait. Give it a week. A month. You'll learn: there's no out."
Azael stood slowly. Disgust curled in his gut not at the man, but at the resignation.
"You really believe that?" azael said, voice hardening. "Then you're already dead, watch me get out of this place" He turned and walked away.
Behind him, the man's voice cracked as he shouted, over and over:
"It's pointless! Pointless! POINTLESS—!"
The last word tore into a wet rasp like his throat had given out. Azael didn't look back.
He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his own heartbeat steady.
"I'm not like him," he thought. "I won't rot here."
He'd survive.
He'd remember.
He'd repent.
And he'd get out.
Even if Hell itself tried to stop him.
-----
Thanks to the Ice Bear Fur, the cold no longer gnawed at Azael's bones. It still bit at his exposed neck, his cheeks, the backs of his hands but it was bearable. Survivable.
He trudged forward, legs crunching through snow that never seemed to end.
And then he saw the source of the tremors he had experienced from time to time. It was a creature that look like a Ice Giant.
It stood at least fifty feet tall, its body carved from jagged, blue-veined ice that glittered like shattered glass. One massive red eye pulsed in the center of its face no pupil, just a slow, rhythmic glow, like a dying star.
Azael froze. The giant wasn't rampaging. It wasn't roaring. It was eating.
With eerie calm, it scooped up a mound of snow the size of a house, tilted its head back, and dropped the whole thing into its gaping maw.
But it wasn't just snow. From within the frozen mass came muffled screams.
A human voices. Azael's stomach turned. "They're still alive in there".
"Better avoid that thing at all costs," he whispered, voice thin. "Good thing it moved like a slow stone". azael could slip past the giant easily.
He turned sharply, putting as much distance between them as he could. But as he walked, a thought slithered in:
If the Ice Bear had the Eye of the Blizzard to see through the storm… maybe all the creatures here have something similar.
He glanced back. The giant's red eye flickered.
Its gaze wasn't sweeping the snow blindly. It was searching. The faint glow pulsed faster. The eye tracked left, right, down like it could see the sinners buried beneath the ice, hear their panicked breaths, sense their fear.
Azael shivered. Not from the cold. But from the image forming in his mind: trapped inside that icy gut, conscious, screaming, unable to die, slowly crushed and digested for eternity.
Worse than the bear. Worse than anything.
He shook his head hard. "No. Not happening."
He smirked—just a little. "I've got the advantage. it'll Be stupid to get caught by a walking stone."
But beneath the bravado, something ached in his chest. He quickened his pace.
Unseen behind him, the Ice Giant's red eye locked onto his back. And began to follow.
---
At first, it was just a feeling. A prickle on his neck. A weight between his shoulder blades. "Why do I feel… watched?"
Azael spun around, heart hammering. There were no bear, which is what he'd expected. There is the Ice Giant. Still slow. But now closer.
Its massive legs lifted with unnatural smoothness, each step sending a low
thud through the earth. Snow cracked under its feet like thin ice on a deep lake.
And its red eye staring right at him. "What the fuck?!" Azael's breath hitched. "Why's it following me?!" He broke into a run.
fur coat flapping, lungs burning. He didn't look back. but Didn't need to. He could feel it the ground trembling with every step, the red glow growing brighter in his peripheral vision.
Then his foot caught on something hard. He crashed face-first into the snow. "Shit !" He rolled over, gasping and froze.
It was a hand. Frozen solid, fingers curled like they'd been clawing at the ice from inside. Pale blue skin. Blackened nails.
His stomach dropped. Another sinner. Buried alive... But there's no time. A deep crack echoed behind him closer than before.
He whipped his head around. The Ice Giant was only a hundred yards away now. Its red eye pulsed like a heartbeat.
It knew where he was. And it wasn't stopping. Azael scrambled up, legs trembling, and ran harder than he ever had.
Snow blurred. Breath tore from his throat. He didn't see the edge until it was too late. His legs skidded to a stop inches from the drop.
Below lay a sheer cliff, plunging into darkness.
He spun.
The Ice Giant is already nearing him, red eye blazing, mouth slightly open like it was already tasting him. Azael's mind raced.
Jump?
Fight?
Run sideways?
But the truth crashed over him like ice water
He couldn't outrun it.