VIP Chapter 350 The End of Ice Abyss
Hollanda Town.
The town where the dungeon The End of Ice Abyss is located, recently promoted to “S5″—the threshold of S Rank. The adventuring team Shadow Flame Variation is at the entrance of Floor 70, holding a “Provisional Battle Meeting.”
“Listen up. Before us, another team that just became S5, Rocking Cage, has already entered Floor 70. It’s very likely they’re the ones clearing this dungeon.”
Ward, the captain of Shadow Flame Variation, spoke with a serious expression.
“Although we didn’t have any tactical preparations yesterday, and we didn’t plan to clear Floor 70 from the beginning. But… Rocking Cage is a team ranked just within the bottom ten of us. Hunter, you’ve been keeping track of the rankings, what does it mean if they clear this dungeon?”
Hunter, who looked somewhat gloomy and like a recently graduated student from the Magic Academy, was forcefully called out from the group.
He scratched his head.
“It means… we’ll likely fall out of the top two pages of the Ranking List.”
“Can you tolerate others getting ahead of us?! And we’re known as a team specializing in Fire attribute magic!”
He got more and more excited as he spoke, his face even turning red with emotion.
“At the beginning of the year, the Adventurer’s Guild reformed, and we barely qualified as S5. Everyone knows that competition at the S5 Rank is quite fierce now; one wrong move and you’ll fall off the leaderboard!”
He gesticulated wildly, like a leader giving a passionate speech to those below.
“If we fall, our sponsorships will decrease, and our equipment and supplies will be cut. And we all know that defeating the Ice Demon of The End of Ice Abyss, if successful, will give our team and each person five hundred points! We could even jump to S4!”
He even raised his hand to encourage his teammates.
But…
No one was motivated by his words. Everyone’s expression was exceedingly serious, even more than just serious; it was tinged with fear.
“Captain, to be honest, we never planned to defeat Floor 70—that’s the final BOSS floor where the Empress resides. Reaching Floor 69 is already good enough.”
It was still Hunter. As a “newcomer” who had only graduated and joined the team six months ago, he was perhaps the only one who dared to confront his leader.
“Although our team’s mages excel at Fire attribute magic, and we have many related large-scale magic constructs… The Snow Woman of The End of Ice Abyss is also exceptionally strong in defense.”
His speech carried a bookish air that practical adventurers in the dungeon detested—using data and monster information to negate an adventurer’s “experience.”
“We calculated before that, based on the data from the pioneers, we simply can’t break through the Snow Woman’s first Ice Wall. If we can’t break her Ice Wall, all our subsequent attacks will be useless.”
“Nonsense!”
Ward stomped his foot. His dyed red hair, specifically chosen to match his Fire attribute magic, shone brilliantly in the multi-layered ice dungeon.
“How will we know if we don’t try?!”
“But… Captain, you can’t possibly not know? Rocking Cage hired a Witch who is extremely skilled in Fire magic, at a great cost.”
As soon as Hunter said this, his teammates started whispering.
After he said that, even Ward couldn’t find a way to refute him.
“…A Witch?!”
“I’ve heard of her. A very crazy Witch. Her payment is the heart of the Snow Woman in this dungeon.”
“How crazy?”
“She came to The End of Ice Abyss just to conduct experiments! Did you see how strange some of the floors were?”
“Oh, you mean those floors that left no ice behind, only scorched black monsters everywhere? A Fire attribute dungeon that looks like an Ice attribute dungeon. They’re all like that because she’s been burning them every day since she moved here!”
“What was she burning them for?”
“They say it was just for experiments! Nothing else!”
…
The chattering voices seemed to have already “predicted” that Rocking Cage, currently on Floor 70, would undoubtedly surpass them and achieve victory.
Ward angrily kicked a door panel.
“Stop surrendering before the fight! What’s the situation? We’ll know once we go in and fight! This is our First time on Floor 70 too!?”
*Bang.*
As if in defiance, he directly opened the door.
And then…
Beyond the door, he, and everyone in the Shadow Flame Variation team, witnessed a scene of both “hell” and “despair”—
A Witch, wearing a big Hat, holding a metal Staff, clad in a long Mage’s robe, instantly flew past their eyes.
Behind her, as she flew, was the Empress of The End of Ice Abyss’s famous “Solid Ice Defense” castle—
A castle constructed from ice, snow, and frost, covering an area almost as large as half of Entak City, with the first wall alone being ten meters high, like a bell tower.
And it was reinforced with countless layers of resistance to Fire magic.
It was enough to make any Adventurer hesitate, sigh, and look up in despair.
“Hmmph, is that all?!”
Except for the Witch.
Without any means of transportation, she propelled herself through magic, conducting a high-altitude bombardment on the castle’s first wall.
The moment she flew past, extreme cold ice blades fell rapidly from the castle, nearly annihilating Shadow Flame Variation, who had just joined the fray. This would have happened if Hunter hadn’t opened a boundary of flame in advance.
The Extreme Flame Meteor, perceived by outsiders unfamiliar with the Witch as “the strongest Fire magic,” was shot out from her staff, one by one, like ordinary fireballs.
She was so beautiful.
Her dazzling golden Twin Tails streaked through the light of flames and ice blades. The slightly reddish gradient color at the tips of her Twin Tails merged with the constantly flashing flames.
The smile on her lips never wavered.
A battle between a Witch who perfectly embodied every Adventurer’s imagination of someone skilled in Fire magic, and what was perhaps the most powerful Ice attribute defensive fortress to date, was unfolding before their eyes—
“Damn it all. Can’t you just be quiet so I can properly chant and blast you?!”
The Witch shouted at the Snow Woman on the castle while flying.
“So annoying. You’re the ones disturbing my rest.”
“This is your job, Empress. It’s time to clock in—”
The Witch smiled and seemed to pull out more magic from her Ring, aiming at the support of the cannon emplacement in front of the castle gates.
“Unnecessary.”
The Snow Woman sounded somewhat lazy and yawned.
As for…
Why a “Floor 70 BOSS clear,” a battle that should have been a multi-person operation, had turned into a one-on-one duel between the Witch and the Snow Woman, with them shouting at each other.
It was because…
The other members of “Rocking Cage” had already fallen in this battle.
Whether lying down or standing, their arms were half-frozen, or their thighs were completely submerged in ice.
Some even hung upside down from nearby ice trees by their thighs.
Judging by their fallen appearances, it was highly likely they were taken out in one wave as soon as they entered, without even much time to defend themselves.
However…
The Witch they hired, the only person still conscious, seemed indifferent to the “life and death” of her teammates.
