Boom!

A glacier, or a giant chunk of ice, struck the frozen land. As a result, ice fragments flew everywhere, and a glacier protruded from the ground like a drill.

Rumble!

The frozen earth violently shook, but that was nothing compared to what came next. The ground cracked open, forming crevasses everywhere! Then, the chunk of ice broke into several pieces, filling the crevasses and the uncracked earth with ice of varying size.

It was like an ice avalanche.

The avalanche came for the Ice Queen too. However, the Ice Queen softly swung staff from left to right, causing the wave of ice to part like the Red Sea. Then, the ice harmlessly passed by her.

At that moment…

Kang Oh appeared behind her. He had used Abyss Transfer the moment the glacier fell.

Switch Akanhoff!

Kang Oh swapped Blood with Akanhoff. The snow-white blade disappeared, replaced by a purple longsword with a black sheen. His Dual Demon form was also downgraded to his Jet-Black Demon form.

"Huahp!" Kang Oh swung Akanhoff downwards, his black tail flailing around from behind.

Transcendent Blade!

His strike possessed transcendent strength and speed!

Kang Oh left a diagonal line across the Ice Queen's cape of ice, and a thread-like fissure gradually widened from the center of the wound.

Crack!

The Ice Queen's cape broke right then and there. Ice fragments flew everywhere, some of which pierced Kang Oh's body. However, Kang Oh didn't care; he swung Akanhoff once more.

Slash!

Akanhoff cleaved through the Ice Queen's clear ice body.

Screech!

His blade sliced through the ice, causing a fistful of shards to fall from her body.

The Ice Queen turned around and swung her staff.

Whoosh!

Her staff formed an ice hammer, which came straight for Kang Oh.

"Ugh." Kang Oh fell and rolled onto the floor.

Then, the Ice Queen pointed her staff at him. Her dark, sapphire eyes glowed with intense blue light.

Chilling Freeze Cannon!

A bone-chilling blast of ice came flying at him. It was too large for Ubist to absorb, and its blast radius was too wide for him to dodge.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to take it. Kang Oh suddenly stood up and forcefully swung Ubist.

Everlasting Darkness!

A pillar of darkness surged from his blade, crashing against the freeze cannon head-on.

Boom!

Before the explosion had even subsided, giant ice spikes surged from beneath his feet. As soon as he felt a chill, Kang Oh threw his body out of the way.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Spikes of ice kept shooting out of the ground, forcing Kang Oh to keep rolling.

Whoosh.

The metal spheres, which originally floated around Saila, linked together and came flying at him. It was like a giant snake was darting towards him. A metal snake at that!

Bam!

The metal 'snake' struck his location, flinging him into the air.

"Haa, haa!" Kang Oh breathed haggardly and stood up.

At that moment...

He felt a chill, one so intense that his hairs stood on end. Kang Oh then threw his body out of the way again.

Absolute Freeze!

An ice flower popped out of the ground, which grazed Kang Oh's body. Although it'd only grazed him, that section of his body immediately turned to ice.

Kang Oh, who was sprawled on the floor, pulled out the Phoenix's Feather and melted the ice.

Whoosh! Bam!

The metal snake swept through the ground.

"Haht!" Kang Oh mustered up all his strength and leapt into the air. The metal snake swept through his previous location.

Whizz!

Then, a giant ice spear came flying at him. Kang Oh gritted his teeth and protected himself with his twin demon swords.

Suck.

That was a relief. Demon Sword Ubist absorbed the ice spear. However, the Ice Queen's merciless assault didn't end there.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that every single one of her ice spells was like a one hit KO. After all, they would completely destroy the places he occupied.

"Damn it!"

Saila was possessed by the Ice Soul's power! The power she'd exhibited against the north's troops was just the tip of the iceberg. After all, she hadn't been consumed by the Ice Soul's immense power back then.

There wasn't much he could do. No, he really couldn't do anything. Thus, he had no choice but to hold out for now!

Although he was merely dodging her attacks, Kang Oh wasn't disheartened.

'I'll get my chance!'

He knew that the Ice Queen would expose herself eventually.

"Uhahk!" Kang Oh threw his body out of the way, leapt into the air, and rolled onto the floor once more.

* * *

The free city, Myron.

It was where the Great Alchemist, Kudal, was born. The Alchemist Guild's main headquarters was also located here. Myron was the mecca of alchemy; there were more Alchemist players here than NPCs!

Strawberry Milk's personal laboratory was also located here. Her High-Rank Alchemy was near 50% proficiency.

Her large pouch, which hung from her gray lab coat, contained simple alchemical materials like vials and catalysts. She was also wearing pink, bunny-shaped slippers.

The soles of her slippers dragged on the floor whenever she moved. That was just the way she walked.

She tied her straight hair with a headband, and then stood in front of her workbench. There, the Gold Bean, Dragon's Blood, the Sun Seed, and the Sea's Tears stood side-by-side within four separate beakers.

These were the ingredients necessary to make the legendary potion, Elixium!

'Let's check again.'

Strawberry Milk opened the book which lay on the side of her workbench. This book, High-Rank Alchemy, was written by the Great Alchemist, Kudal, himself! It detailed the method of how to create Elixium.

There were two ways production workers created items. They either used a skill, which automatically created the item for them, or they created the item manually.

Elixium was impossible to create using the former method. Thus, Strawberry Milk was forced to thoroughly study the process.

Plus, she'd never made it before; though she knew how to make it, this was actually her first attempt. Thus, she was more careful than she would have otherwise been.

'I've soaked the Gold Bean in holy water for six hours already, used the Dragon's Blood as is, melted the Sun Seed's exterior with acid, and crushed the Sea's Tears until it turned into a fine powder. I've done it all.'

Strawberry Milk turned the page.

'The other materials needed to create Elixium are... Muala's Sap, Emperor Honey, ashitaba, fresh water...' She looked through her bag, which sat on the workbench, ensuring that every single supplementary ingredient was in there.

'Alright, I'm ready.'

She turned the page with her long fingers, and then looked over the details once more.

"Alright!" She pulled up her sleeves, clenched her fists, and cheered herself on. Then, she began production on the Elixium.

Creating the legendary potion required that she not make a single mistake along the way. She had to add a specific ingredient at the exact time, stir it, etc. It was an extremely specific process.

A short while later...

Sweat dropped from Strawberry Milk's forehead. However, she didn't bother wiping her sweat, as she was completely focused on her task.

'Now! If I stir this and wait just a little bit, then... Now!'

At some point, the alchemical pot that lay in front of her began radiating bright light. She stirred the liquid within the jar with her alchemy stick, and then raised the last remaining ingredient, a beaker of Dragon's Blood.

'Now I have to pour the Dragon's Blood in a thin, steady stream like red silk.' She carefully tilted the beaker, pouring the blood inside the jar like a thin piece of thread. 'At the same time, I have to stir it one way so that it's well mixed!'

She began stirring the pot with her stick. Once she added the Dragon's Blood, the brightly glowing liquid assumed the color of a sunset.

'I did it. A red sunset!'

That was proof that she had successfully created Elixium.

Strawberry Milk carefully poured the Elixium into a top-tier vial. There were three vials in total.

[You have successfully created the legendary potion, Elixium.]

[Fame has increased.]

[Main stats +1]

[For 1 week, you will receive a bonus to your Alchemy proficiency.]

"Hoo!" Strawberry Milk wiped off her sweat and opened a message window.

- Mr. Man Bok.

- Yes, Ms. Strawberry Milk?

- I've created three bottles of Elixium.

- Good job. I'll come over right now.

- Yes!

* * *

Kang Oh's belief that he'd be presented with an opportunity if he held out long enough was a huge miscalculation.

The Ice Queen's bombardment never stopped. She was like a bottomless spring!

She didn't even give him the chance to use Abyss Transfer or Gluttony. After all, he was constantly getting shot at!

At this rate, he'd die before he even got anything done! Kang Oh decided to change his method.

'I'm breaking through.' Kang Oh then pushed through the center of her bombardment.

Bam!

A chunk of ice struck Kang Oh's shoulder. The long chain of metal spheres came flying at him right after like a heavyweight boxer's punch.

"Uhaahk!"

Mad Wind's Sword!

Kang Oh kept advancing, swinging his twin swords with both speed and precision.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

His jet-black blade and purple longsword deflected the metal spheres.

At that moment...

"Ugh."

An ice spike protruded from the ground, grazing Kang Oh's shoulder. Despite that, Kang Oh tightened his legs, remaining upright, and continuously swung his swords.

Abyss Claw!

Tempest Tiger!

Ubist unleashed a jet-black aura, while a golden tiger aura shot out of Akanhoff. The two auras mixed together and pushed forward.

The Ice Queen swung her staff from left to right. Three ice spheres appeared, which shot ice beams.

Bam! Bam!

Two of the spheres crashed against his skills and disappeared instantly. However, the sole remaining sphere came flying at him head-on.

"Uhahk!" Kang Oh forcefully swung Ubist downwards.

Ubist sliced the sphere in half and absorbed it. It was like a delicious treat for his sword.

Then, Kang Oh kicked off the floor and thrust Akanhoff. In response, Saila protected herself with an ice shield.

Transcendent Blade!

Lightning Breath!

He used a secret move and an item effect simultaneously. It was a wise decision.

His purple blade, which was engulfed in lightning energy, pierced through the thick ice shield and into Saila's body.

Crackle!

The mighty lightning blast swept through her.

"Uhaahk!" Kang Oh screamed, and followed up with a downward swing with Ubist.

Slash!

His jet-black greatsword crushed a portion of the Ice Queen's frozen body.

'She doesn't have much HP left!'

The north's troops had reduced her HP to 47%, so she didn't have much HP to start with. Considering how much damage he'd dealt to her thus far, she had, at best, 15% of her HP left.

At that moment...

The Ice Queen's horns glowed with intense light. Kang Oh knew exactly what that meant, so he quickly pulled out the Phoenix's Feather and put in his mouth.

Absolute Zero!

But it wasn't on the same level of Saila's Absolute Zero. Absolute cold, which could freeze the entire world, swept through him. Is this what the dinosaurs experienced during the ice age?

'Please!' Kang Oh prayed to the Phoenix's Feather that he was biting down on. He needed to hold on just once!

However...!

The Phoenix's Feather's flame of life weakened like a flickering candlelight!

[You have been exposed to Absolute Zero.]

[The flame of life is weak.]

[It cannot resist the cold.]

[Warning: You have been affected by the status ailment, Absolute Freeze.]

"Damn... it!" Kang Oh's lips, as well as the rest of his body, turned to ice.

The Ice Queen raised her staff. Then, her metal spheres linked together, transforming into a giant club. She neither hesitated nor showed any mercy.

The club was swung downwards!

Whoosh!

Bam!

Kang Oh, who was completely frozen, broke into pieces. His body flew into the air; half of his face shattered, while the other half cracked.