Chapter 99
Song Hwa-rin slammed the Snow Woman onto the ground like a piece of luggage.
[Crash!]
Kang Jae-min's mouth fell open.
"Wait, she can actually grab that thing?"
Song Hwa-rin planted one foot on the Snow Woman's head.
"P-please spare me...!"
The Snow Woman clasped her hands and begged miserably.
"I'll let you live. But..."
Song Hwa-rin drew her sword and smiled coldly.
"You have something called the Essence of Cold, don't you?"
"H-how do you..."
"Hand it over. Our chef says he wants to make bingsu."
Hong Man-gi looked slightly confused.
"What? I never said anything about wanting bingsu."
But the Snow Woman was already coughing up her core, the Essence of Cold, to save its own life.
A short while later.
Using the highest-grade ice crystal the Snow Woman had surrendered, Hong Man-gi made patbingsu on the spot.
"Whoa, it's so refreshing! Fighting cold with cold!"
Lee Yu-han happily shoveled spoonfuls of shaved ice into his mouth.
Kang Jae-min chuckled.
"Maybe because the ice came from a ghost, it feels extra chewy."
Song Hwa-rin finished an entire bowl and shook the empty dish with a deep sigh.
"I'm going to gain weight eating like this..."
Kang Min-hyuk's spirit affectionately mimed patting her head.
After leaving the strange ghost incident behind them, the so-called Hong Man-gi Expedition continued toward the heart of the dungeon.
Once they escaped the fog controlled by the Snow Woman, the terrain became far steeper and more dangerous.
Towering ice cliffs surrounded them like folding screens.
Between them stretched a narrow canyon that looked like the open throat of a giant.
'Once we pass this place, we should reach the Frozen Abyss...'
Then,
[Whoooooo...]
[Gooooooo...]
The wind slowly began sounding like the growl of an enormous beast.
"Let's hurry."
Song Hwa-rin, walking at the front, increased her pace.
The warm atmosphere from earlier vanished completely.
Her eyes were fixed only on the road ahead.
Hong Man-gi followed faster, then called out.
"Master, slow down a little. Yu-han is struggling."
Lee Yu-han was breathing heavily and barely keeping pace with Kang Jae-min supporting him.
But Song Hwa-rin did not stop.
"We're almost there. There's no time to rest."
Then,
Kang Min-hyuk's spirit, who had been staying beside Hong Man-gi, suddenly stopped.
He stared anxiously toward the canyon entrance.
[...Ugh...!]
He urgently mimed pulling Hong Man-gi's clothes.
A warning.
Hong Man-gi immediately raised his hand.
"Stop!"
At the same moment,
[RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!]
The huge wall of ancient snow blocking the canyon entrance collapsed.
A deafening roar shook the ground.
White powder exploded through the air like an avalanche.
And from inside that cloud,
an overwhelmingly huge shadow stood up.
"M-mon..."
"Monster?!"
A giant completely covered in transparent ice armor.
Song Hwa-rin frowned.
"That's a Frost Giant!"
"A Frost Giant?"
"Around A+ rank."
Her expression became grim.
"It has extremely high resistance, so weak attacks won't even scratch it. Just getting close exposes you to an aura cold enough to freeze your blood, and it can regenerate most wounds almost instantly. It's a pain in the ass."
Hong Man-gi stared at the massive monster.
"So it's basically the gatekeeper."
The Frost Giant.
Guardian of the Hellish Snowfield.
"Move!"
Song Hwa-rin immediately kicked off the ground.
Her White Lotus Sword flashed like lightning.
[CLANG!]
But,
only a dull sound like metal striking stone echoed through the canyon.
The attack had failed.
"What...?"
Song Hwa-rin barely regained her balance.
Surprise appeared on her face.
Her sword energy was based on cold.
'Is it because they share the same attribute?'
Against a Frost Giant with the same cold attribute, the power of her attacks was naturally reduced.
Worse, its armor had a special structure capable of absorbing and dispersing physical force.
[ROOOOOAR!]
The giant swung an enormous fist.
Song Hwa-rin narrowly dodged.
"Damn it... this matchup is horrible."
She bit her lip.
Her strongest freezing swordsmanship barely worked.
But they could not retreat.
The longer they were delayed, the less likely they were to find Kang Min-hyuk's remains intact.
She tightened her grip and attacked again.
[Clang! Clang! Crack! CRACK!]
Her repeated attacks hammered the giant's body.
Not even the smallest scratch appeared.
Instead, Song Hwa-rin's stamina dropped rapidly.
"This is bad..."
Kang Jae-min anxiously shifted his feet.
"Chef, shouldn't we step in? None of Master's attacks are working!"
"No. Wait."
Hong Man-gi was already calmly analyzing the battlefield.
'Physical resistance and cold immunity. Then there's only one answer.'
Opposing properties.
Fire melted ice.
But this was a snowfield hovering around minus forty degrees.
Normal flames would not even mark the giant's armor.
Then Song Hwa-rin turned toward Hong Man-gi and shouted.
"Hey! Hong Man-gi! Fire! I need fire!"
Hong Man-gi immediately understood.
He took out a red bottle.
Refined Hellfire Boar Oil, collected in Beech Forest when they had made barbecue.
'This isn't normal oil.'
Its ignition point was extremely low.
Once lit, it was said to keep burning even underwater.
For cooking, it was used to maximize heat.
Here, it would become an incredible weapon.
"Catch!"
Hong Man-gi threw the bottle with all his strength.
Song Hwa-rin caught it in midair.
She immediately shattered the bottle and poured the oil across the White Lotus Sword.
[Splash!]
Red oil flowed down the blade.
"Burn."
