However, his gaze was fixed on the scene before him. Before Hartley, surrounded by a white, cold mist, ice pillars stood tall. Some pointed towards the sky, others were sharp like blades, some resembled statues, others ice plateaus, some like magnificent glaciers, and some like giant, sharp thorns. And within each of them, a figure was frozen, as if sleeping.
“The Ice Woman Clan…” Shien murmured.
“Yes,” Hartley said, looking at them, as if gazing at the past, “They are my clansmen, the honorable and formidable warriors of the Ice Woman Clan.” Among them were acquaintances, elders she had never met, even friends and family. Unfortunately, over the long years, they sacrificed themselves on the battlefield, becoming what they were now.
“Indeed, honorable and formidable,” Shafney said, her gaze sweeping across the ice pillars, then a wry smile appeared on her face. Clearly, among them were also some she had once known.
“Some have been frozen for over ten thousand years, some for a thousand,” Hartley said softly.
A thousand years was the shortest. Because in the final battle a thousand years ago, all Ice Woman Clan members sacrificed themselves, unleashing power beyond their control, using [Ice Prison] and falling into a semi-permanent slumber.
Only Hartley, already at Limit Level at that time, didn’t have to do this. After all, to force a Limit Level expert like her to lose control, it would take a Transcendent Level being. And at that time, the only Transcendent Level beings on the God Race and Human Race side were Hero Mitra, the Three Goddesses, the Goddess of Justice, and the Three Goddesses of Time. Hero Mitra charged towards the Demon King under everyone’s protection and naturally didn’t fight Hartley.
The Three Goddesses, the Goddess of Justice, and the Three Goddesses of Time each faced one of the Six Demon Lords. Therefore, at that time, a Limit Level expert like Hartley was practically invincible on the battlefield, no one able to force her to self-destruct.
Even later in the war, when she encountered the Sun Goddess, a Limit Level expert who governed light and heat, Hartley fought her to a standstill.
Therefore, until the war’s end, Hartley wasn’t forced to risk her life.
As a result, she was the only survivor of the Ice Woman Clan.
“After that, the war between the three races, which lasted for countless years, ended, and the Demon Race began to integrate into the world of the God Race and the Human Race. However, a thousand years wasn’t enough for them to let go of all their grudges and help each other unconditionally.”
“Therefore, I didn’t ask Lildas, the Goddess of Fate, nor did I contact the Three Goddesses of Time, to save my clansmen.”
“It wasn’t until a thousand years later, when I heard that the Kingdom’s Treasure inherited Mitra’s Holy Sword, that I thought of asking her to help me after she matured.”
“But I didn’t expect you, Master, to arrive before that.”
Saying this, Hartley turned and bowed to Shien.
“Please, Master Shien, free my clansmen.” Her voice finally carried a hint of emotion, showing that the Ice Woman Clan, although naturally indifferent, wasn’t heartless. Perhaps what was frozen by [Ice Prison] wasn’t just their enemies and their bodies, but also their hearts.
(Since when did I become so sentimental?) Shien chuckled inwardly, then looked at Hartley.
“Don’t worry,” he said, nodding in agreement without further ado.
“Be careful,” Shafney said, also observing this, “The Holy Sword is like poison to demons. You can cut through the ice that froze them, but don’t touch their bodies, understand?” Otherwise, he wouldn’t be saving them, but harming them.
“I know,” Shien naturally understood.
He tightened his grip on the Holy Sword, feeling its power, and walked towards the nearest ice pillar. Frozen inside was a little girl who looked about the same age as Airi, Millu, and Lilith, seemingly not even an adult yet. However, through [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree], Shien saw that her level was actually eighty-eight.
Although Ice Woman Clan members reached level eighty upon adulthood, that was without any training, simply through natural growth. If they consciously trained from a young age, with their talent, reaching level eighty before adulthood wasn’t impossible. And if there were geniuses among them, reaching level eighty-eight at such a young age, close to Legendary Level, wasn’t entirely out of the question.
“What a broken race. No wonder their population is so small,” Shien thought. Based on his observation, there were less than twenty Ice Woman Clan members here.
“Then let’s begin.”
Shien calmed himself, then, without hesitation, raised his Holy Sword.
“Clang!” Without charging up or any unnecessary movements, he casually swung the Holy Sword, the blade wreathed in brilliant light, slashing at the ice pillar before him.
“—” Silence.
A few seconds later…
“Crack…” A crack suddenly appeared on the ice pillar.
“Crack, crack, crack…” As if triggering a chain reaction, more and more cracks appeared, the cracking sound continuous.
“Bang!” Finally, the ice pillar, covered in cracks, shattered.
The little girl within, freed from the ice, fell downwards.
Shien instinctively reached out and caught her.
“Mmm…” After a while, the little girl groaned, slowly opening her ice-blue eyes, which met Shien’s gaze.
Looking at her, Shien said,
“It’s alright now.”
The little girl stared at him for a long time, then, as if losing her strength, she closed her eyes again and fell asleep.
However, this time, she would eventually wake up.
…
Shien continued, using the Holy Sword to shatter the ice pillars one after another, freeing the Ice Woman Clan members. Like the first little girl, they all briefly regained consciousness before falling into a coma, a sign of magic power exhaustion. After all, they had unleashed their full power before being frozen.
Shafney helped check on them, then said, “They just need some rest. They’ll wake up soon, and they’ll be fine.”
Then, the once feared Ice Woman Clan would reappear in the Demon Realm.
“Is that all?” Shien asked after freeing the last Ice Woman and handing her to Shafney, his task complete.
However, Hartley, who had been tending to her clansmen, stood there silently, as if lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?” Shien asked, puzzled.
Hartley didn’t answer immediately, her gaze sweeping across the area, confirming there were no other ice pillars, a strange flicker in her eyes.
“…She’s gone,” she finally said.
“What?” Shien and Shafney were both startled.
Hartley remained silent for a long while, then said, “There was another ice pillar, but it’s gone.”
“This…” Shien and Shafney were surprised.
Hartley stared at the snowy ground.
After a long while, she murmured, as if in a daze,
“The Ice Woman Clan’s method of reproduction is different from others. We don’t give birth, so we don’t have the concept of family.”
“But if an elder feels her time is near, she can use her remaining life force to create a descendant.”
“Not many Ice Woman Clan members are born this way, only about twenty percent.”
“And I happened to have a younger sister.”
Hartley didn’t say anything more.
But both Shien and Shafney understood.
Hartley’s younger sister was missing, completely gone without a trace.