Free Web NovelChapter 22: Inside The Castle
The sound of the wolves’ howls still echoed through all of Frostheart. The frozen winds passed through the crystal towers, creating a sound like the moaning of ghosts. freewebnσvel.cøm
Lian and Seris stood in front of the massive castle gate. Behind them was the ice city. From the distant streets, the sounds of howls, roars, and heavy footsteps could be heard.
And in front of them were more than twenty ice wolves, most of them above level 13.
Among them also stood a level 15 wolf. Its bright blue eyes burned like two icy flames in the darkness.
They had no way back and no way forward. But neither of their faces looked worried. Even though the enemy had a significant advantage in numbers, in raw power, it was not the same.
Seris had alone been able to slaughter a Fallen Wolf, and that wolf was stronger than each of these wolves. And Lian? With his current power, he could also easily handle each of them.
No one spoke. Then the strongest wolf roared, and the whole pack started moving.
The frozen ground shook.
"You handle the left side." Lian said quietly.
The first wolf attacked him from the right. Its massive claw split the air.
Lian ducked. The claw passed over his head. For Lian, who now had speed several times that of a normal human, speed that at least none of these monsters had, the speed of this attack seemed too slow.
Then he gathered all his power into his right fist.
BOOM!
His fist hit the wolf’s jaw directly. The sound of breaking bones echoed in the air. The wolf was lifted off the ground like a bullet and hit an ice wall several meters away.
[Frostfang Wolf level 12 killed]
[You have gained 4 stat points]
[Skill obtained]
[Blood Hunt]
[Rank: Common (+)]
[Passively enhances all of the user’s senses by two times. Hunting instincts become stronger. Tracking monsters becomes easier. Can identify different blood smells.]
But he did not have a chance to look at the notification. Three other wolves attacked him from both sides.
At the same time, Seris also entered the fight. Even though she had lost her sword, she still fought like a humanoid monster.
She jumped onto the head of one of the wolves and slammed her knee onto the monster’s skull. The sound of crushing bone was loud.
Then she grabbed the monster’s body and threw it directly at another wolf. The two monsters rolled on the ground. Seris charged toward them without stopping.
Meanwhile, Lian was in his own fight. A claw scratched his arm. Blood sprayed on the snow, but he did not even frown.
His speed had now reached a level where the normal wolves could barely touch him. He slid under the attack of one wolf.
He stood up and drove his fist into the monster’s throat.
CRACK!
The neck’s spine broke. The monster fell to the ground.
[Frostfang Wolf level 12 killed]
More monsters attacked. But as time passed, Lian became more adapted to his new power and more skilled in fighting these monsters.
He was no longer that weak young man who had to fight a deadly battle to kill one mammoth bear. Now his physical power had reached a level where his fists were truly deadly.
A few minutes later, the body of the fifth wolf fell to the ground.
[Frostfang Wolf level 12 killed]
[You have gained 4 stat points]
[Skill Acquired]
[Frost Claw]
[Rank: Common (+)]
[Effects: Focuses mana on the user’s hands and turns the nails and fingers into ice blades for 10 seconds.
Effect: +15 penetration power. Wounds caused are hard to heal. Consumes 0.1 mana per Minute of activation.]
Lian’s eyes lit up. An offensive skill. Exactly what he needed in this environment. But he still did not have a chance to examine it further. Aside from this, he had also obtained a Talent and another skill.
But he was not in a situation to look at any of them.
On the other side of the field, the fourth wolf also died under Seris’s blows. The young girl was breathing heavily. Her silver hair was soaked in blood.
Her left arm was wounded, but her gaze remained cold and emotionless.
However... the situation was not as good as they thought it was. Nine wolves had been killed, but the remaining wolves were still many.
And more importantly, behind them, another pack of monsters was hidden, waiting for a chance to attack and hunt the two.
Seris and Lian came together and stood back to back, staring at their surroundings. The monsters had become more cautious around them. They showed their sharp teeth but did not attack directly.
"They have become cautious about attacking. Maybe we can use this chance and do a burst attack." Lian thought and then said.
"Burst attack?" Apparently, Seris was not familiar with this word.
"We charge at full speed toward a group of them and try to deal the most damage in one attack."
But before they could agree on doing it, a strange sound was heard.
All the wolves suddenly stopped. Even the alpha wolf. Then they let out a short roar and stepped back a few steps.
Lian and Seris looked at each other in surprise.
What had happened?
Creak...
Another sound came. This time from behind the castle gate. The massive ice door opened slightly. Just a few centimeters. But that amount was enough for all the wolves to suddenly show panic.
Even the alpha wolf.
The monster that moments ago was ready to tear them apart stepped back one step, then another step, and then the whole pack retreated.
Lian had no intention of asking questions.
"Go!"
Seris did not need an explanation either. Both ran toward the gate at the same time. At the last moment, Lian also put two wolf corpses into his storage space.
Maybe they would be useful later. They could only handle hunger for two weeks. If a situation came where they needed food, this would be helpful.
Then both passed through the crack in the gate. At that moment, the door closed behind them.
BOOM!
Silence. Just silence. For a few seconds, neither spoke. Then they looked around.
And their frowns deepened. Inside the castle, there were human bodies. Several bodies. Of course, calling them bodies was wrong. They were all frozen.
But the problem was not that they were frozen. The problem was that they were leaning against the walls, and their bodies looked very bony.
Their faces were intact, but it seemed like they had not eaten for a long time before freezing. The eyes of some of them had completely decayed.
They sat at a significant distance from each other. They were in a defensive position relative to each other. Next to each one, there was a weapon.
Lian quietly approached one of the bodies. He examined its clothes. Then suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
On the chest of the clothes, there was a symbol. A familiar flag. Very familiar. The same design, the same pattern. The same symbol he had seen on the clothes of the village guards.
"This..." Seris also noticed.
"It’s the same symbol." Lian said quietly.
Silence followed. His mind worked quickly. It was clear that this was the same symbol he had seen in the village. This symbol was also on the painting in the village elder’s room.
This symbol was made based on the golden mountain. And this meant one thing. This city and that village were connected.
"We did not find any frozen bodies in the city except for those guardians. Either the rest of the city’s people were eaten by monsters, or they escaped. And if it’s the second, then the people of that village might be the same people from this city." Lian expressed his reasoning.
If these people were the same people from the village, how had they managed to escape? And what had happened to them?
And more importantly, what had happened to Frostheart?
"How far are we from that village?" Seris suddenly asked.
"I don’t know. Maybe a few hundred kilometers. But not more than a thousand kilometers." He thought for a moment and answered.
At that time, he had run for hours. Even he himself did not know how far they had gotten from the village.
Seris was silent. It was clear that she also had questions about how the people of this city were connected to that village and that mountain.
But for now, there were no answers. They continued moving. A large part of the castle was buried under dozens of meters of ice.
Hallways were blocked. Stairs had collapsed. Many rooms were completely unreachable. Almost a large part of the castle was frozen.
However, the further they went, Lian noticed something. The cold bothered him less. Looking at Seris, it was clear her body was shivering from the cold. As if the further they went, the colder the air became.
But strangely, he did not feel anything.
Could it be related to the new Talent he had received?
Even breathing had become easier.
"Something is strange." A few minutes later, Seris suddenly said.
"What?"
"Those wolves."
Lian looked at her.
"If they wanted to enter, they could have. Their number was too high." Seris continued.
"That’s right."
"Then why were they just waiting outside?"
Lian thought for a few moments.
"Probably something is here. Something that stops monsters from entering and advancing." He then said quietly.
Seris said nothing. But both of them were thinking about exactly the same thing. Unfortunately, they had no information to base any reasoning on.
Finally, they reached the end of one of the main hallways. There, a massive door stood. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Bigger than any door they had seen before. Its entire surface was covered in ice. Seris stepped forward and raised her fist.
And she hit.
BOOM!
Just a small scratch.
"Damn it."
Then Lian stepped forward. They looked at each other and attacked at the same time.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The sound of their hits echoed in the castle. After several consecutive hits...
CRAAAAAACK!
The door finally broke. Pieces of ice were thrown around. The path was opened. They entered.
Inside was a massive royal hall. The ceiling was dozens of meters high. Giant ice pillars filled both sides of the hall.
And at the end of it, there was a royal throne. On the throne sat a human skeleton.
Lian quietly walked forward. He looked at the bones. The size of the skeleton was relatively delicate.
"Probably a woman."
Seris shrugged.
But at that moment, something under the bones caught Lian’s attention. A small object.
He bent down and pulled it out. Its surface was frozen, but it was still usable.
A notebook. An old leather cover.
Lian and Seris looked at each other. Then they opened the notebook. The first page slowly turned. And they understood what they had in their hands.
"This is a diary!"
