His body reacted first. There was no other way to describe it. Before he could even spare a second to scream or even to think, Seo Jun-Ho’s body hit the ground. 

Slash! 

Kis’s sword struck the innocent ground. Seo Jun-Ho took that chance to stand up and activated Booster again. 

“I won’t miss this time!” The moment he kicked off the ground, Black Dragon Fang was already in Kis’s face. 

“...”

But Kis was an experienced knight. He dodged the attack by simply tilting his body ever so slightly before digging his knee into Seo Jun-Ho’s stomach. 

“Guh!” Seo Jun-Ho’s body flew into the air from the force of the strike, and Kis grabbed him by the neck and smashed his head into the ground. 

“...Keok!” Blood poured from Seo Jun-Ho’s mouth as he coughed. But he couldn’t afford to lose focus. 

‘He’s coming again!’

As his eyes flew open, Kis’s steel boots looked like mountains before him. Seo Jun-Ho quickly rolled his body and narrowly dodged. 

Crunch! 

The ground shattered into pieces. 

If he had been even a moment late, that would have been his head. 

“Dammit…” 

Kis didn’t give him a moment to rest. He prepared his next strike.

‘I can’t be the only one who keeps getting attacked!’

Seo Jun-Ho rolled off the ground and placed his hand on the ground. 

Crackle! 

A giant ice fang sprouted toward Kis.

“...!” Kis quickly drew his sword to block, but he couldn’t handle the force. He flew into the air and disappeared into the mist once again.

“Are you alright?”

“Phew, somehow...” When Seo Jun-Ho thought that he finally had a moment to breathe, a sword pierced through the mist. 

“Give me a break!” Even as he complained, Seo Jun-Ho quickly swung his sword. 

Claaang! 

Their blades clashed, but Seo Jun-Ho was the one that pushed Kis backward. 

“From this distance...” It would be impossible to dodge. Seo Jun-Ho stepped closer and elbowed Kis in the chin. 

Crunch! 

The strike was so powerful that it dented Kis’s helmet. For the first time in the entire battle, Kis was staggered. 

Seo Jun-Ho wouldn’t let this chance slip by. He grabbed Kis by the helmet and kneed him in the face. Seo Jun-Ho heard his nose break as blood pooled on the ground. 

“Contractor! Be careful!” 

He didn’t hear her warning until it was too late. The world spun. 

‘Huh...?’

He only realized what happened when he felt the pain in his legs. Even as he was being beaten up, Kis still managed to kick him. As Seo Jun-Ho’s back struck the ground, Kis’s sword came down like lightning. 

“Hup!”

Crackle! 

He quickly created a shield out of ice to block, but the sword cut through it like butter. Kis had aimed for his heart, but Seo Jun-Ho’s shield redirected the latter’s sword to his shoulder. 

“Gahhh!” he screamed.

“Contractor!”

Panicked, the Frost Queen quickly created twenty ice arrows and flung them at Kis. 

“...” Kis quickly dashed backward and calmly cut through each one. 

The Frost Queen fluttered over to Seo Jun-Ho. “Are you alright?”

“Keuk...thanks to you.” He safely managed to stand and looked down at his left shoulder. He was bleeding a lot, but he didn’t freeze the wound. 

‘Freezing it would be suicide.’

Even if he bled to death, he needed to use both of his arms. There was no way in hell that he would ever be able to defeat Kis with just one arm.

“Huuuu...”

“...”

The distance between them was barely one meter. If he exaggerated a bit, he could even say that they could feel each other’s breath. They stared at each other as they tried to catch their breaths.

‘Just once...If I can just land one good attack, I think I can do it.’ 

Seo Jun-Ho considered intentionally creating an opening for his enemy to exploit, but he quickly shook his head. 

‘With his level, it’s too dangerous to give him even the slightest of chances.’ 

There was a 100% chance that Kis’s strike would be lethal if Seo Jun-Ho gave him an opening.

Swish.

Kis took two steps back and disappeared back into the mist. Seeing that, Seo Jun-Ho also cloaked his own body in darkness. 

“Night Walking.” 

Having crossed swords, the two of them were now covering their traces and softened their breaths. Silence fell over the long hall. 

Wooosh. 

The only sound was the wooshing of the blizzard outside, which was coming from the crevice of a window. 

“Contractor, can you not ambush him in this state? Like the way you did in the Cave of Trials.”

Seo Jun-Ho shook his head. “I can’t. It’s hard to hide my traces from someone as strong as him.” If his comrades in the Cave of Trials hadn’t been mere illusions, they would’ve sensed him too. Night Walking was most effective against less experienced opponents, after all.

“Ah, that is unfortunate. You only have 24 seconds left for Booster left as well.”

At her warning, Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth and released Booster. Heat rippled off his body, and his head pounded as if he caught a cold. He quickly leaned against the wall and dug through his inventory for a potion.

Glug glug glug

He poured it over his wound before drinking the rest of it. 

“Phew…” Of course, potions weren’t all-powerful. He didn’t feel any instant change either. He quickly inspected his body. 

‘...It’s the worst possible situation.’ 

After using Booster consecutively, his body was extremely worn out. The burning sensation in his head wasn’t a good sign either. It meant that his judgment would falter.

’Let’s calm down. If I can’t think straight, I won’t be able to do anything at all.’

He caught his breath and calmed himself before he started to analyze the situation. 

‘The problem is the fucking mist. It’s impossible for me to make the first move.’ 

Kis was superior in terms of skill, strength, speed, and everything else. But the battle only ever started after Kis’s ambush.

“This is bad...I’ve been playing right into the palm of his hand.” There was only one way to win. 

“I’ll turn the tables right back at him.” 

Seo Jun-Ho removed Black Armor and wrapped his shoulder. Despite the pain, his eyes shone with the ferocity of a hunter. 

***

“...”

Kis slowly walked through the mist, looking for the Player he had crossed swords with. 

‘He’s hiding his traces from me...Impressive.’ 

It was a remarkable stealth technique, but that was all it was. 

‘I’m starting to sense his magic.’ 

He was getting closer. Kis raised his sword and prepared to ambush the Player again.

‘I caught you.’ 

He swung his sword at the large mass of magic in front of him. His sword stabbed straight through his opponent’s neck. 

“...?” Kis’s face fell. He felt something off. 

‘It was too easy.’ 

His opponent didn’t even react. Kis grabbed him and checked his face. 

‘I was tricked.’ 

The shadow dummy dissipated with a hissing noise as if it was laughing. At the same time, he felt a powerful wave of magic behind him. 

“...!” Kis whipped around. 

“It’s too late.”

Seo Jun-Ho unleashed the frost energy. The ground froze over in an instant, trapping Kis’s ankles. 

‘This is nothing…’ 

Kis tried to pull his legs from the ice, but it kept freezing in from all directions. 

“You didn’t know, did you?” 

Mist was simply a condensed mass of water vapor. Thus, it would become ice if the temperature was lowered. 

“...!” Kis finally realized what he was doing, but it was too late when he raised his sword. He had been too focused on escaping the ice. 

“I already told you. It’s too late.”

Crackle! 

The entire hall froze over in an instant. 

Clatter clatter

The black mist fell to the ground in hailstones. 

Seo Jun-Ho took a deep breath. He raised his sword and walked over to Kis, who was trapped in the ice. 

Craack. 

It pierced through the thick ice and through his sword.

‘It’s finally over…’ He finally relaxed. 

Crash! 

Kis broke through the ice and kneed him in the stomach. 

“Guh!” Seo Jun-Ho flew back, rolling on the red carpet that was covered in hailstones. Kis followed him like a flash of lightning, bringing his sword down.

Clang! 

Sparks flew as their blades met. Seo Jun-Ho had managed to take out a greatsword and block him, but Kis was too strong. Seo Jun-Ho’s arm started to give out, and Kis’s sword got closer and closer.

‘How...How is this possible…?!’ 

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t believe it. Black Dragon Fang was currently stuck through Kis’s heart. He shouldn’t be able to move, let alone attack with superhuman strength.

‘Just what...Is he fighting so hard for?’ 

As his head started to fill with questions, Kis’s strength finally started to fade. 

“Cough! Cough!” Kis’s sword clattered to the ground as he vomited black blood. He fell to his knees and fell over to his side. 

“...” Seo Jun-Ho unconsciously touched his temple. It stung every time he touched it. If he had been a tenth, no, a hundredth of a second late, Kis’s sword would have cut through his head. 

“I really almost kicked the bucket this time…” Just as he let out a sigh of relief, his vision darkened. Hot blood started to drip down from the crown of his head. 

“Contractor, are you alright?”

“Yeah, well...Once I get seen by a healer, it won’t even leave a scar,” he said as he took out a fresh potion and poured it over his head.

“That’s good to hear.” Relieved, the Frost Queen now looked over to her knight. Kis Bremen was leaning up against the ice, staring at the ceiling. His consciousness was fading. 

‘...I failed.’ 

Warm tears poured from his eyes, but it wasn’t because he was afraid of death. 

‘I’m sorry.’ 

It was because he failed to protect the monarch he had sworn his loyalty to… because he had lost the last chance to make right of his regrets. 

“Your Majesty...” He looked up at the ceiling with his hand outstretched. 

“He’s looking for you. Wouldn’t it be good to show yourself, at least?”

“I do not deserve to do that.” The Frost Queen smiled bitterly as she shook her head. “A monarch must protect their people. The knights of the Winter Castle are citizens of Niflheim before they are my knights. And… I failed to protect them.”

“What’s with that…” Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t understand her. 

The Frost Queen saw his expression and laughed weakly. “Remember this. The righteousness of the weak is nothing but a shout in the silence.”

“...”

She had learned this painful lesson in the war. That was all.