Chapter 486 - Frozen Temple (2)

Chapter 486 - Frozen Temple (2)

“What kind of dungeon is it?” asked Oh Kang-Woo as he tilted his head.

‘Have I ever entered a dungeon?’

After some thought, he realized that although he had created dungeons, he had never entered one.

“I haven’t gone inside, so I don’t know. Lilith told me to report to you first!” said Echidna, emphasizing that it wasn’t because she was scared.

Kang-Woo smirked and nodded. “Good job. Always report to me first whenever you find anything.”

Unauthorized investigations were off-limits now that otherworldly invasions had begun. Even if it was a hassle, safety always needed to be first.

“But how do you know that it’s a dungeon if you haven’t gone in?” Kang-Woo asked.

“It’s because of, uh... that cheeky human who kept calling you hyung.”

Echidna hugged Kang-Woo’s arm tightly, her eyes filled with hostility.

‘Tae-Hyun?’

Kim Si-Hun and Kim Tae-Hyun were the only ones who referred to Kang-Woo as hyung. Echidna was fairly close to Si-Hun, so her hostility was likely aimed at Tae-Hyun.

“Hmph, I hate that human. He keeps sticking to you and annoys you. You got even busier because of him,” Echidna blurted all sorts of complaints regarding Tae-Hyun.

Kang-Woo smiled bitterly and patted her head. “That’s enough of that.”

“Oh... sorry, Kang-Woo. Ahem. Anyway, that human said that he coincidentally found a dungeon after falling from a cliff, didn’t he?”

Kang-Woo nodded.

Echidna continued, “The Rift was similar to that human’s descriptions of what the one he entered looked like.”

“I see.”

Kang-Woo nodded in understanding. He had not been overly interested in the dungeon, but his eyes were now shining.

‘It’s highly likely that it’s no ordinary dungeon.’

It might have formed because of a Titan’s intervention, just like the dungeon where Tae-Hyun found the Eye of Nostrian.

‘No, even if a Titan has nothing to do with it, it might be a sign of an otherworldly invasion like with the Parasites.’

Whether it be the Titans or otherworldly beings, Kang-Woo couldn’t leave it be.

“Contact Balrog and Si-Hun.” Kang-Woo took his hand off Echidna’s head and stood up. He narrowed his eyes and continued, “We’ll set out first thing tomorrow.”

***

Whoosh.

Bone-chilling winds raged. Their breaths could be seen as steam.

“Dayum, I thought it’d be nothing but snow, but there’s quite a lot of grass too.” A red-haired woman looked around wide-eyed.

Kang-Woo turned to the woman and asked, “Why are you here?”

“What? I’m not allowed to be here?” Cha Yeon-Joo glared at him.

“No, I just heard that you’ve been super busy as the leader of the Church of Splendor.”

“I sure am, thanks to a certain someone.”

“What brings Your Excellency all the way here despite your hectic schedule?”

“You try being among those fanatics and see if you wouldn’t wanna get away from them.” Yeon-Joo shook her head in irritation. “For fuck’s sake, every single day it’s Ohmen, Ohmen, Ohmen... they never get tired of it...”

She glared at Kang-Woo in rage. Feeling guilty, Kang-Woo stopped pursuing the matter and averted his gaze from her. He turned to the party members he had gathered for the dungeon raid.

“I wonder if a divine artifact like the one Tae-Hyun obtained would appear here as well?” Si-Hun asked as he stared at the Gate entrance with a formless sword in hand.

“It might be those insects again,” said Balrog, who took off his pendant and returned to his demon form.

“If so, then I’ll kill them all.”

“Hmph, stand down, human. I will be the one to kill my king’s enemies.”

Balrog and Si-Hun were having a war of nerves against each other. Si-Hun, after glaring at Balrog for some time, shrugged after realizing something.

He mentioned, “Come to think of it, you haven’t awakened Deific Essence yet, have you?”

“Ngh...” Balrog flinched.

In actuality, Balrog had a way to fight toe to toe against beings with Deific Essence, but it was far too risky to use regularly. It was true that he had no way of facing those with Deific Essence in a normal battle.

“Huhu. It seems I’m the only one who can fight for hyung-nim,” stated Si-Hun.

“Shut up, human.”

Balrog frowned aggressively and walked past Si-Hun.

“What? Why are you so serious?”

Si-Hun was left slightly flustered by Balrog’s unexpectedly boring reaction and chased after him.

‘I guess it’s better than being reckless.’

Being in formation was also effective in getting people into the right mindset besides being able to fight efficiently.

“Let’s go,” Kang-Woo said.

“Okay, hyung-nim.”

Kang-Woo and the party slowly entered the dungeon.

Riiing!

[You have entered the ‘Frozen Temple!’]

A blue message window popped up in front of them.

Whoosh—!

“Oh, f-fuck! It’s fucking freezing!”

A blizzard raged. Yeon-Joo hugged herself as she shivered intensely.

“Celestial Repayment,” Seol-Ah chanted as she raised her arms.

A translucent barrier enveloped the party members, making the freezing cold feel like a light breeze.

“Phew, thanks. I thought I was gonna freeze to death.” Yeon-Joo stood back up from her crouched position and looked around. “Where is this place...?”

There was a thirty-meter fortress wall made of ice in front of them. They could see the top of an ice palace beyond the wall.

“Hah, are we in Frozen?” Yeon-Joo chuckled, steam leaving her mouth.

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes as he looked around.

‘Something’s... off.’

He was sure that this was his first time here, but it felt familiar for some reason. Kang-Woo looked around to find the source of the familiarity, but could not find anything despite even using the Authority of the Beholder.

“Hyung-nim, the gate is this way.”

“Okay.”

Kang-Woo turned to Si-Hun after looking around. Si-Hun was pointing with his sword at a giant gate as well as what looked like two ice statues of knights twenty meters tall. They were so big that Balrog looked like a dwarf next to them.

Rumble—!

“Wh-What the hell?!”

The ice statues moved simultaneously once the party members got closer to the gate. Unlike Yeon-Joo, who stepped backward in shock, Kang-Woo calmly walked toward the ice statues.

“Sheesh, they’re so unnecessarily big.”

Kang-Woo looked up at the statues and whistled. He lightly raised his right arm and turned the Key of the Demonic Sea into an ax. He grabbed the ax and pulled his arm back.

[You who wish to tread into the Temple of Frost.]

[You must first prove you are worthy.]

The ice statue wielding a spear and the one wielding a sword spoke simultaneously. Their deep voices echoed within the party members’ heads.

Boom—!!

The earth shook as the two ice giants moved. Kang-Woo apathetically swung around his ax despite being in front of two overwhelmingly powerful-looking giants.

The ice giant with the spear stomped his foot and said, [We will first test your intelligence.]

“Intelligence?” Kang-Woo tilted his head in wonder.

[One of us will tell the truth.]

[And one of us will lie.]

“Oh! I know what this is!!”[1] Yeon-Joo clapped her hands together. “This is... uh... you’re supposed to ask—”

Whaaaaaaaam!!!

As she was mumbling with her finger on her forehead, the head of the ice giant with the sword shattered.

“What the fuck?!” Yeon-Joo cursed in shock and stared at the destroyed ice giant.

Kang-Woo had thrown his ax at the ice giant’s head. He turned to the ice giant with the spear and pointed at the shattered ice giant.

He asked, “Is he dead?”

[No.]

“Then you’re the liar.” Kang-Woo smiled in satisfaction and nodded.

Yeon-Joo stared at Kang-Woo dumbfoundedly. “What the...”

‘Wait, that’s illegal.’

1. This is a famous puzzle known as the liar and the truth-teller. There are two doors; one leads to freedom, and the other leads to death. There are also two people; one of them always lies, and the other always tells the truth. You don’t know which is which. You can only ask one question to either the liar or the truth-teller to earn your freedom. ☜