The world was covered in ice! There was nowhere they could go.

The raid team desperately clung onto hope, doing whatever they could to survive. However, their struggles were in vain.

"Ugh."

"Damn it."

Their fingers and toes began to freeze. In the end, their entire bodies froze completely.

How much time had passed?

Phew.

Travium, who'd turned into ice itself, ceased its cold breath.

Whoosh.

Before unseen ice statues appeared within the raging snowstorm. They were Kang Oh's frozen teammates.

Fortunately, they hadn't died yet. However, they had taken a tremendous amount of damage, and were on the brink of death.

But the problem still remained; Travium would go on a rampage and crush the ice statues, instantly killing them!

"We have to stop it no matter what," Kang Oh yelled.

The only ones who hadn't become ice statues were Kang Oh, Dion, and Eder. It'd prove difficult, but the three of them would have to keep it occupied.

"Mm." Dion bit his lip.

Eder slightly nodded his head.

With grim expressions on their faces, the three drew their weapons and stood before Travium.

However...

'Huh?'

Kang Oh's body radiated light like that of the morning sun. It wasn't just Kang Oh though. Dion and Eder did too.

Their frozen teammates radiated light too, causing the ice to melt.

"Phew!"

"I-I survived."

Their teammates, one or two at a time, began to come back to life! It was like a miracle! Of course, this hadn't happened out of thin air.

Merlin was kneeling on the floor, her hands clasped together in prayer.

[Rakan has responded to Merlin's prayer.]

[Rakan has bestowed his blessing.]

[Rakan's blessing has thawed the ice.]

Merlin had saved them.

"Start healing our teammates," Merlin stood up and said steadfastly.

"Yes ma'am!" the Rakan Priests said simultaneously. The priests all looked upon her with admiration.

Merlin stared at the battlefront. She saw a jet-black warrior, his tail flailing behind him, charge at Travium.

Kang Oh swung his sword horizontally.

Abyss Claw!

The three-lined aura cleaved through the snowstorm and flew towards Travium.

Kuhaa!

Travium swung its right paw, and by extension, the sharp claws attached to them. Then, a glacier rose from the ground.

Bam!

The Abyss Claw, unable to break through the ice, merely left a scar on the glacier. Then, Travium smashed the glacier with its paw.

Bam!

The glacier broke into pieces, and the ice fragments came flying towards Kang Oh.

Abyss Transfer.

Kang Oh hid within the darkness.

Bam, bam, bam!

The ice fragments embedded themselves into the ground, but Kang Oh was nowhere to be found.

Grr.

Travium snarled and turned its head. Dion was charging at him.

It opened its mouth wide.

Boom!

It unleashed a blue blast of ice right at him.

Freeze Cannon!

Dion swung his right-handed gladius.

Black Sun!

The black sphere clashed with the ice blast.

Boom!

Resulting in a resounding 'boom'.

Then...

Whizz, whizz!

An arrow fell from the air.

Earth Shaking Arrow!

Thwock!

The resulting shockwave caused it to shake. Then, shards of ice, rather than shards of light, fell from its body.

In no time at all, Kang Oh had reappeared behind Travium.

His objective was clear; the red mark on the back part of its thigh! If he attacked there, then he'd inflict a tremendous amount of damage.

Swish.

Demon Sword Ubist cut into the red mark.

Bam!

Ice around the damaged area began to break like crazy.

Kuwaah!

Travium angrily swung its paw and swatted him away. Kang Oh pulled out his sword and protected himself, preventing him from taking any significant damage.

"Attack!"

"Keep up the attacks!"

The 100 Fighters, Dion included, bravely began to attack Travium. Meanwhile, Darion stood firmly beside the Rakan Priests, ready to defend them if necessary.

Kuah!

Sharp ice spears burst from Travium's icy body, shooting in every direction.

Bam, bam, bam!

"Dodge!"

"Block it!"

The raid team quickly protected themselves. However, Travium's attack didn't end there. Its torso swelled, and then it exhaled from its mouth.

Soul Freezing Wind!

The white 'smoke' spread out in a fan shape.

[You have been afflicted by intense cold.]

[The intense cold slows your movements.]

[The intense cold quickly reduces your HP.]

"We have to protect the priests!" Darion said desperately. His body was shaking, but he couldn't afford to forgo his duty.

A few of the gladiators came to his side. They stood shoulder to shoulder and deflected any incoming ice spears. However, they couldn't do anything about the ice wind.

"Ugh."

"Keep at it!"

"I'll heal you."

Darion, the gladiators, Merlin, and the priests quickly began to lose HP.

Travium kept using this unbelievable AoE attack in succession, causing the raid team to incur casualties that they couldn't do anything about.

'Enduring this is impossible.'

Kang Oh instantly came to a decision. Travium's assault was too powerful; the raid team wouldn't be able to endure it for long.

If that's the case...

"Attack! That's the only way we'll come out of this alive!" Kang Oh yelled.

Their only option was to kill it before it killed them!

* * *

The raid team launched a full-scale offensive. Even Darion and the gladiators protecting the priests charged at Travium.

"Die!" Darion leapt into the air and swung downwards with his gladius.

Giant's Sword!

The gray energy radiating from his sword coalesced into a giant blade.

Swish.

The giant sword sliced right through Travium. As a result, a massive amount of ice fell from its body. That's just how powerful his skill had been!

Travium immediately counterattacked. It swung its fist at Darion.

Whack!

"Ugh!" Darion was slapped out of the air and landed on the floor.

"You bastard!" Dion glared at it and charged. His body released a tremendous fighting spirit.

Fighting Spirit!

For 3 minutes, his strength, speed, HP, and Stamina would increase significantly!

Slash! Cut! Thrust! Downward strike! Spinning Slash!

Dion repeatedly swung his dual gladiuses.

Then, Travium stomped on the floor.

Thud!

The earth shook, and Dion briefly lost his balance.

At that moment...!

An ice spear shot out of Travium's body, piercing Dion's stomach.

"Ugh." Dion cried out in pain.

However, he gritted his teeth, got back into position, and crazily swung his sword, despite the ice spear lodged in his stomach.

Whizz.

Sun Piercing Arrow!

The violently spinning arrow struck the top of Travium's head.

Headshot!

Sephiro immediately took aim once more. He was confident that he'd be able to land another headshot. After all, Travium was a huge target.

But all of a sudden, several blue circles appeared underneath his feet!

'This is...!' he thought briefly, and then immediately threw himself out of the way.

Swoosh!

Sharp glaciers surged from his previous location, as well as the areas nearby.

"Phew." Sephiro caught his breath. If he'd reacted any slower, then he'd have been skewered.

"Uhahk!"

"Gyaa!"

Screams could be heard all across the battlefield. They came from teammates who hadn't dodged the glaciers! They squirmed from atop the sharp glaciers.

"Focus on attacking!" Kang Oh calmly yelled.

They didn't have the time to rescue their teammates. They had to kill Travium as quickly as possible.

"Seize him!" Eder pointed a finger at Travium.

Bone Bind!

White bone wrapped around its neck like a necklace.

Bone Bomb!

Boom!

The bones exploded. Right after, however, Travium shot a Freeze Cannon from its mouth.

Whoosh!

The icy blue blast came straight for Eder, threatening to consume him whole. However, Kang Oh was just a little faster.

"Summon Eder!"

"Thank you!"

"Don't let up!"

"Yes, sir!" Eder cast another spell.

At the same time, Dion, Sephiro, and Darion, who'd quickly gotten back to his feet, unleashed attack after attack.

Bone Mass!

Black Sun!

Earth Shaking Arrow!

Giant's Sword!

Of course, you couldn't forget about Kang Oh.

Lightning Breath!

Travium crossed its arms and protected itself.

Bam, bam, bam!

Flashy skill effects! Ear rupturing explosions! Travium's arms were a mess. However, Travium wasn't just going to sit there and take it. Countless glaciers surged from the ground, and ice spears filled the sky.

"Ugh."

"Kyahk!"

Many of their teammates were caught in the crossfire. To make matters worse, Eder was skewered by one of the glaciers.

At that moment...!

Kang Oh suddenly appeared behind Travium. Right when it'd created the glaciers, Kang Oh had used Abyss Transfer!

He saw the red mark right before his eyes, so he immediately swung Demon Sword Ubist.

Transcendent Blade!

His jet-black blade struck the red mark.

Kang Oh didn't stop there. He used Transcendent Blade again! His HP, MP, and Stamina were almost fully depleted.

'Lastly...'

Transcendent Blade!

He'd used three of them in succession! Kang Oh was done; he had nothing left. He didn't even have the strength left to wriggle a finger.

Travium swung its fist at him.

However...

Crack.

The ice around the red mark began to crack, which spread all across its body.

Kuhaaah!

Travium let out its last roar.

Crack!

Right before its fist made contact... its body broke into pieces like glass.

* * *

They'd finally defeated Travium.

"We won!"

"Victory!"

Cheers could be heard all across the battlefield. The gladiators raised their weapons into the air, while the priests hugged each other.

Kang Oh, who'd regained some of his strength, stood up. A smile was obviously plastered on his face.

[You have defeated the Ruler of the Snowy Plains, Travium.]

[As a reward for being the first to defeat it, Travium will drop its highest ranked items.]

[You have cleared Saharamant's final dungeon. What an incredible feat!]

[You have acquired the title, Glacial Master.]

[Fame and combat-related side stats have increased.]

[Proficiency in all skills and magic has increased.]

[You have leveled up.]

Kang Oh closed all of the system messages and stared at the ground.

'It dropped five items.'

Of the five items that it'd dropped, the SS-rank Glacier's Tear was one of them.

Kang Oh picked up the axe.

[Glacier's Tear]

An axe created by unmelting ice that can only be found in the northernmost region of Arth, a place of eternal winter.

Exudes extremely cold air that can freeze the world itself.

It is a masterpiece that was created by an unknown master! Any blacksmith that looks upon this axe will be filled with a sense of awe.

+ Cold Absorption: The colder your surroundings are, the more powerful the axe becomes.

+ Glacier: You may summon a glacier wherever you wish.

+ Soul Freezing Wind: Creates a gust of bone-chilling wind, restricting your opponent's movements and inflicting damage. The wind increases the power of all ice skills and magic.

Rank: SS.

Abilities: Attack Power +651, Ice Damage +300, Physical +180, Immunity to Ice Damage.

Minimum Requirements: Level 400, Physical 850, Ice Resistance 95%.

"It's amazing."

Nothing else needed to be said. It was an SS-rank masterpiece! He could sell it for however much he wished! Just this axe alone was worth the price of admission.

Then...

Eder approached him, carrying a crystal the size of a fist.

"Mr. Kang Oh, this is it! This is the crystal that'll open a portal to the next area!"