Chapter 35 : Collateral Damage

The gigantic wolf advanced slowly toward Isabella, its deafening roar reverberating through the frozen chamber like thunder trapped underground.

Jagged fangs dripped with saliva that froze mid-drip into icy spikes. Behind it, the monster hordes followed in lockstep—twisted beasts slinking low, eyes glowing with unnatural obedience, all heeding Jordan’s command without hesitation.

Isabella balanced herself precariously, clutching her sword tightly in her blood-slicked grasp.

Her legs trembled beneath her, muscles screaming in protest after being pushed far beyond their natural limits, but her knuckles whitened around the hilt.

A thin stream of crimson slid down her wrist and dripped from her elbow, tapping softly against the shattered stone below.

Each breath she drew felt heavier than the last, her lungs burning as icy air scraped down her throat.

She fumbled for another vial from her storage ring, shimmering with faint azure light. Her fingers nearly slipped twice, slick with blood and frost, before finally securing the fragile glass between them.

Tipping her head back, she chugged it down in desperate gulps, the liquid burning cold down her throat.

The potion spread like liquid winter inside her chest, sending violent shivers through her spine. Her vision blurred briefly as her exhausted body struggled to accept the sudden influx of forced recovery.

Mana trickled into her depleted channels, a weak pulse of blue energy flickering across her veins. The glow was unstable, sputtering unevenly beneath her skin like a dying flame refusing to go out. But it was meager, barely a spark against the odds facing her.

Her veins throbbed painfully, rejecting the forced recovery as tears formed under the strain. Even standing upright demanded immense effort now.

Not even 30 percent, huh, she thought grimly. My body is rejecting the forced recovery. But it looks like I have no choice but to use it again.

A guttural snarl echoed ahead as the monsters advanced, claws scraping against frozen debris. Their shadows stretched toward her like grasping hands, promising death or something worse if she hesitated even a second longer.

Her eyes narrowed at the encroaching horde. She planted her feet firmly, forcing stability into trembling legs that threatened to collapse beneath her weight.

Frost gathered instinctively around her boots, responding to her will even before the technique began. The temperature plummeted sharply, thin crystals forming along the edge of her blade.

"Absolute Zero!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the roars like a blade.

The declaration tore from her chest with raw determination, carrying both defiance and desperation as mana surged violently toward her weapon.

She thrust her sword skyward, then slammed it down with explosive force. Frost mana detonated from the blade in a cataclysmic wave—starting as a pinpoint at the tip, then erupting outward in expanding rings of absolute cold.

The ground fractured instantly beneath the impact, ice racing across stone faster than sight itself could follow. A thunderous crack rang out as moisture in the air obeyed her command.

The air itself crystallized, moisture condensing into razor-sharp flakes that suspended motionless.

Sound dulled. Heat vanished. Even the chaotic movement of battle seemed to surrender before the overwhelming authority of frost.

Everything froze as if time had slowed to a crawl; the wolf’s massive paws locked mid-step, monsters’ claws halted inches from her skin, even falling ice shards hung immobile in the air.

The basement plunged into a breathless stasis, a blue-white haze swallowing sound and motion.

Jordan’s eyes widened fractionally. Without pause, he raised both hands.

"Barrier of Eternal Flame!" he incanted sharply.

A dome of roaring orange flames erupted around him, heat waves distorting the air and vaporizing encroaching ice on contact. The freezing pulse washed harmlessly against it, flames hissing defiantly as they held firm.

Isabella exploded into motion next—her body becoming a blur of speed, sword vanishing into a sheath only to flash out in—

"Quick Draw: Raging Storm!"

She became a whirlwind of lethal precision. Her blade sang free in silver arcs, severing heads with surgical speed: one goblin’s neck parted clean, tumbling headless into snow; a wolfkin’s throat opened in a crimson spray that froze instantly; another beast’s skull split mid-leap.

Dozens fell in seconds, bodies collapsing in headless heaps, her afterimages lingering like ghosts amid the carnage.

She blurred toward the boss, sword cocking back for the killing stroke—

Lightning crackled.

Jordan thrust his palm forward.

"Thunderbind Chains!"

The same crackling chains of electricity lashed out from his hand, coiling around Isabella like vengeful serpents. Jolts surged through her body—muscles seizing, nerves igniting in white-hot agony.

"Agh—!"

She spasmed mid-air, sword slipping from numb fingers as she convulsed.

She crashed to the floor, coughing up thick gouts of blood that steamed on the ice.

The boss monster shattered its fresh ice encasement with a triumphant roar, shaking off shards. It reared back and delivered a brutal kick—its paw slamming into her side like a battering ram.

"Gah—!"

Her body rocketed across the chamber, smashing into the basement wall with bone-crunching force, cracks spiderwebbing the stone around her.

Now she lay barely conscious, vision swimming in red haze, body a map of agony.

It’s over, she thought, despair sinking claws into her mind.

Jordan approached slowly, his boots crunching over frozen remains. He loomed over her crumpled form.

"That look of despair on your face... I like it," he said, voice dripping with satisfaction. "Can’t look down on me now, can you?"

Isabella coughed up more blood, forcing words through gritted teeth.

"Why... why are you doing this? You’re not gonna get away with it, you know that, right? My father and brother will turn everything upside down and kill you when they find out."

Jordan’s lips curled.

"There it is. I was just waiting for you to say that. Because now that you know you’re powerless against me, you have nothing left but to cling to your family name to survive."

You guys born with everything are such hypocrites.

"Even that trashy F-rank named Arthur was better than you—at least he was trying to stand up on his own two feet."

The words hit Isabella hard, her pride fracturing like thin ice being compared to an F-ranker.

Jordan sighed theatrically.

"Oh yeah, as to answer your question—why I’m doing this... You can say it’s a curse with blessings."

"If I don’t do this... I will die."

"So you can say you’re just collateral damage in all this."

Isabella rasped, "I assume that F-ranker’s also dead."

Jordan paused, gaze distant.

"That’s the mystery. As you know, he and I are a bit similar in a sense—we’re both cursed in forms of blessings."

"So I don’t know if he’s alive or not."

"It’s either that my lackeys killed him and threw his body in front of monsters, or he did the same to them."

"It’s hard to tell but if he did survive... Then I guess I underestimated him, which won’t happen again."

"Only one of us will leave this place alive in sure he also knows that."

His expression softened slightly.

"Or maybe I’m just being paranoid and it’s a communication problem with my people— and he’s already dead."

Isabella glared through blood-matted hair.

"What kind of bullshit are you spewing? I don’t understand a thing."

"Just kill me and be done with it, but remember—the moment the truth of what happened comes out, you’ll find yourself six feet under."

Jordan chuckled darkly.

"You don’t need to understand. You’re just a pawn in all this."

He flashed a menacing smile.

"And who said I’m gonna kill you?"

"The quest isn’t about that."

"I just need to break you beyond despair so you’ll never be able to defy me again."

Isabella’s eyes widened in horror.

In the next moment, Jordan lunged forward with a predatory glare, his fingers hooking into the neckline of her already-torn dress.

With a slow, deliberate yank—

"RRRIIIPPP—!!"

—he shredded the upper fabric away in one fluid, sensual motion, the sound echoing like silk giving way under forbidden touch.

The remnants fluttered down, baring her full, heaving chest—her red bra clinging taut against sweat-glistened skin, curves rising and falling with ragged breaths, blood-streaked breasts exposed in raw vulnerability.