SSS Frost Sovereign: Rewinding The Apocalypse!-Chapter 49: Fifth Floor

Wester could barely reduce the impact of the attacks. Coming from Eric, it felt like he was facing a completely different person now.

Not someone stronger than him. But someone dangerous to him. Those flames...

As Wester watched him closely, he noticed it. The exhilaration in Eric’s eyes. A wild intensity that made his skin crawl.

Unhinged. Almost psychotic.

Eric did not speak. He only continued his barrage, striking and blasting without restraint.

Even his demeanor had changed. There was no hesitation, no thought, only raw intent. The nature of his fire was different as well, slipping past Wester’s defenses and burning him directly.

"Is that really Eric?" Matt muttered in awe. "When did his fire go completely crimson?"

All of them stood rooted in place, watching it all unfold as Eric fought like a maniac.

"Tch," Wester clicked his tongue in irritation.

Unable to extinguish Eric’s flames, he gathered his energy and fired back, but Eric’s crimson fire swallowed the attacks whole, dispersing them before they could reach him.

"I’ll admit it," Wester said, forcing a crooked smile that barely hid his annoyance and unease.

His eyes narrowed as he studied Eric. "You pack more fire than I expected. Where were you hiding all of that?"

Despite his boosted state, Wester was unstable, like someone forcing power far beyond what he could properly contain. His movements were rough and inefficient.

But the power itself was real.

The moment he found his footing, Wester gathered his energy again.

"But this won’t be enough to save you," he said coldly.

By then, Eric’s movements had finally slowed. The frantic speed was fading.

Whatever state he had entered was definitely short-lived and already collapsing.

Wester seized the opening, then threw his left fist at Eric.

And even though Eric blocked with his guard up, the impact knocked him unconscious instantly and sent him flying into a pile of rubble nearby.

The crimson flames flickered weakly, then vanished completely.

"Eric!" Alia yelled in panic, about to run to Eric’s aid but then, Wester flashed them a deathly gaze and radiated a heavy presence that stopped them all in their tracks, even though he stood there panting with smoke rising from his scorched skin.

"What the hell is that?" Reya muttered in fear.

Wester’s gaze shifted back to Eric.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered too. "All of a sudden, that brat..."

Then he calmed his nerves and chuckled.

The sound grew into laughter, striking more fear into them all.

"Perhaps, I shouldn’t kill you now" Wester said, spreading his arms slightly. "These are your people, right?"

Then, he rested his gaze back on Alia and the rest, his killing intent fully directed at them.

"I’ll let you live, after I tear everyone with you apart!"

Matt flinched. Instincts pressured him to run. And so was it for the rest. None of them had ever seen or felt any pressure like this!

Wester took the first step toward them. Reya clenched her fists immediately, trying her best not to flee pointlessly, not when both Eric and Icard were down there.

Another step toward them, and their bodies tensed even more.

However, when he took a few more steps again, that was when the temperature around him suddenly dropped sharply.

Wester paused.

His eyes narrowed.

The air grew heavy. Cold. Sharp enough to sting.

"Fuck. I just had to make another deal with that minx," a voice muttered coldly behind him.

Wester froze.

He turned.

And there was Icard, alive and standing.

[Attribute Activation: Regelation]

Icard’s body was entirely white, frost coating him from head to toe. Thick mist poured from him with every breath.

And the gaping hole that had been torn through his chest earlier was gone. Only the hole through his clothing.

"What the hell?" Wester whispered.

"Icard!" Alia cried tearfully as the tension on them dropped significantly.

Icard exhaled heavily, cold mist spilling into the air.

"Well. I ended up getting quite a lot of mana for this."

[Mana Supplement Successful]

[Alert: A New Interface Has Been Created]

Icard lifted his gaze to Wester.

[~Shouts Excitedly~ Wooo! Is That Wester Right Now? What’s...What’s Wrong With Him?!]

Icard ignored the panel.

[Wow. Your World Is Quite A Mess Right Now Compared To Later Memories I’ve Seen.] 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Shut the fuck up, Alyxara," Icard said quietly and coldly.

"Huh?" Wester muttered, unable to hear the exchange but deeply unsettled by what he was seeing.

[Alright. But Remember, As We Agreed, I Have Created A New Interface Feature. You Can Now Tap From My Mana Essence Anytime You Wish!]

Icard scoffed. He pushed the thought aside. He did not have the energy to think about it right now.

"Yeah, whatever."

To Wester, it sounded like Icard was talking to himself.

But that was not his main concern.

"Even if you healed," Wester said slowly, his voice tight with disbelief, "you shouldn’t be able to recover from that kind of damage with the little mana you had."

"Are you stupid?" Icard said. Even now, Wester could tell that Icard’s personality had shifted too. Just like Eric’s earlier, but in the opposite direction.

"I never said I could heal. This is something different," Icard said coldly.

The air around Icard dropped in temperature rapidly. His presence grew heavier, denser, pressing down on everything nearby.

Even Seban could tell that Icard was completely different now. He was definitely on another level.

But how?

It was only speculation, yet it deeply unsettled Wester.

He clenched his jaws.

"You brats. I even killed you and still...!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Icard raised his right palm near his chest, facing upward.

"Let’s just get this over with. Since you were so obsessed with showing off, I decided to amass quite a lot of mana."

[You Are Requesting Access To The Upper Floors Of The Frost Tower]

[Access Confirmed: Fifth Floor Skill Activation]

The panel flickered before Icard as the frost around him thickened further, darkening like an approaching storm cloud.

The cold became oppressive and lonesome. It seeped into everyone who felt it, giving them a gloomy feeling.

Seban flinched.

"This power..." he muttered, eyes wide. "This isn’t D or C grade. This is B."

He shoved aside the disbelief and suddenly prepared to move. He had to intervene.

Before he could, Rybie landed in front of him, posture aggressive, blocking his path completely.

Seban clenched his teeth.

"Damn it. Why you?!" he nearly shouted, but it was already too late.

Icard slowly spread his hands apart, lifting them just above his shoulders.

[Gloom Frost]

This panel was particularly heavy.

The dark frost surged violently now, swirling like something alive, pulsing as if it possessed its own will.

Wester snapped back to reality. He had been cautious from the start, but he still could not understand what the fog truly was.

Whatever it was, he would overpower it.

He could feel it clearly. He was still far stronger than all of them.

However, Seban saw it differently.

"He’s not the same, you fool!"

But his warning came too late.

Wester stood there, bracing himself for an attack. But instead, Icard remained motionless.

His posture was calm and upright, shoulders relaxed, with his gaze fixed forward, as if he were simply waiting.

"Heh. You can’t attack, can you?" Wester said, stretching his arm forward. "I’m much more..."

His words cut off abruptly.

Cackling sounds echoed around him, growing louder and more distorted.

Wester looked down at his outstretched hand.

A dark, frozen mass had formed around it, studded with tiny points of light, like distant stars trapped in ice.

"Huh?" he muttered.

He tried to step back, but his legs would not move. The frost had already turned them into dark ice, locking them in place. The fog thickened, flowing toward him, seeping into his body.

"What the..."

"You’re the perfect target for this, I guess," Icard muttered. "The gloom frost seeps into entities aligned with darkness. Things that absorb light, things rooted in shadow. It freezes the dark of such entities."

Wester wanted to fight it, but he couldn’t. The frost quickly turned his body into dark ice, covering him completely.

He didn’t have the time to react, time to think or regret.

Icard exhaled softly.

"But you’re already dead, aren’t you?"

Wester could not respond.

He remained completely still, his body locked in place and transformed into a dark frozen object.

The fog slowly dissipated, having gathered densely around Wester before fading away.

When the air finally cleared, his frozen corpse stood revealed, cold, dark, and lifeless.