'My whole life was filled with failure… but now… I can't fail.'Gritting his teeth as he stared at the giant, Poul felt the weight of not one, but two promises burning inside him. With every step across the frozen crystal ground, he saw confusion and surprise twist on the giant's face.
The giant's eye slowly lifted, pupils widening as fire crawled up its throat. It clenched its teeth, opened its mouth, and a wave of heat escaped—its chest expanding like a furnace about to detonate.
It roared.
A heavy, territorial roar—like a dying lion using the last of its strength to defend what was already lost.
The crystal beneath Poul's feet began to melt. The heat breathed. Yet Poul walked forward, unfazed.
Warm droplets slid down the massive frozen pillar. The fire melting through it was concentrated on the giant's abdomen, slowly spreading outward.
'Walking is getting harder on this damn melting crystal.'Stepping again, Poul felt his foot sinking into a mix of weakened ice and water.
So, he quickened his pace.
Closer. Closer. Poul pushed off the ground and hurled himself toward the giant.
A glow of orange flared within the monster's mouth.
Poul smirked—an arrogant, mocking grin—as a sword formed in one hand and a dagger in the other.
A massive jet of fire erupted from the giant's maw, engulfing him. The giant didn't even look—once the flames ceased, it swung a blind punch, hitting a smoking silhouette.
But then—
A sharp sting.
The giant froze, eyes snapping open in shock.
Something had pierced through its hand.
And standing on top of its own palm, Poul looked up, half his face covered in melted ice.
"You really thought I'd die from that?"
The giant's voice rumbled like collapsing stone."No." Its lips twisted into a feral grin. "I'm thrilled… thrilled to continue this fight, false… human."
Poul laughed.
Opening his arms, he let the wind pull at his torn shirt as ice spikes formed again across his back.
The giant swung its massive arm upward, flinging Poul high into the air—leaving him exposed. Wind howled as its punch sliced the air, but Poul flapped newly formed wings of fragile, glass-like ice and soared upward.
The giant's own spikes fell helplessly into its burning body.
"Hahaha! How did I let you throw me like that? How?!"
Crashing to the ground, bleeding heavily, Poul saw a blue figure laughing at him. The giant's pupil dilated.
'I… I don't want to die!' the elemental giant panicked.
Fear didn't just grip his mind—it devoured his spirit.
Panting, shaking, his confidence shattered. His own flame—his element—began to consume him like fungus devouring a rotten tree.
He screamed.
Not in anger.But in terror, frustration, and crushing disappointment.
His body, riddled with holes like a wall riddled with bullets, filled with fire licking through each wound. All while the sound of ice laughing echoed in his skull.
"He's laughing at you!" a deep, distorted voice mocked. "That insect… can't you see? He's humiliating you!"
Fire devoured one of the giant's eyes as it snarled:
"I'll… kill… him. No—destroying him will be more satisfying."
The giant's entire form shifted to a blazing orange. Everything went silent. Even Poul's mocking laughter faded as he descended, icy wings vanishing in the weak breeze.
He landed, half his body frozen solid, staring at the burning titan.
He raised a brow.'Did I win? Did this hell disguised as a battle finally… end?'
He didn't turn away—of course he didn't. Instead, he collapsed to the blood-soaked ground, breathing heavily through the pain, realizing he couldn't feel half of his body anymore.
Not surprised. Not scared. These were the natural consequences of this fight.
He forced himself up and limped off to help his soldiers, freezing the remaining giants around them.
When he arrived, he noticed half his squadron was missing.
"Jack, report."
"C-Captain?" Jack gasped.
"Yes. It's me."
The soldier stared at Poul with stunned admiration—almost hope.
"Go. All of you need rest. Head up the wall—I'll handle what's left."
A collective sigh of relief echoed.
Poul formed stairs of ice leading to the top of the wall. They climbed, one by one. But before Jack went up, Poul called him.
"Jack. When everyone's rested… leave this place. Leave me here. I'll hold them off."
"But… aren't you coming back with us?!"
"Yes. I will. But half of you died out there. The chance of the rest joining our goddess is too damn high. So go."
Jack swallowed and nodded.
The moment Poul turned—
A massive fiery explosion erupted in front of him, followed by killing intent so dense it made his spine crawl.
"Son of a bitch," Poul muttered, sweat freezing down his back.
Giants panicked, running in all directions. Some collapsed to their knees.
Flames erupted everywhere, turning the ground into a burning lake.
The giant rose.
Arms spread wide. Fire wrapped around them like serpents, slithering up his neck and biting down.
His eyes opened—bright orange. Flames condensed around him, forming the armor of a royal knight.An elegant sword materialized in his hand.A long cape flowed behind him—its color shifting slowly from orange to a cyan-blue glow.
He stared at the "insect."
Poul felt cold sweat running down his spine. His legs trembled.
"'I won?'" he repeated, touching his face as laughter escaped him."What a joke!"
He laughed uncontrollably—so hard he couldn't breathe.Madness? Relief? Exhaustion? All of them.
While he struggled to stop laughing, the roar of incoming flames filled the air.
Had Hyou Poul gone insane? After all he endured, maybe madness was just… mercy.
He jumped, spinning mid-air, summoning a freezing blade—
And saw nothing but sunlight reflecting on trees and corpses.
His laughter died instantly.
Heat behind him.
"'Insect…'" a deep voice growled—breath thick with smoke. "How could you be this careless?"
A punch to the spine.
Poul spat blood, rocketing upward into the sky.
Even with blurred vision, he recognized the blue flames. He felt countless burning needles piercing through him, then something smashing him back to the ground.
The air cracked with blue sparks trailing his body, droplets of blood scattering behind him. The moment one drop hit the earth—
Boom.
A violent explosion erupted, dust swallowing everything.
A lapis-lazuli glow shone through the rising smoke. The sound of armor clanged among the chaos.
Poul coughed blood. His body felt both frozen and aflame. Yet he stood.
Hunched over, ice extinguishing fire across his wounds, something moved through the swirling dust.
Cold mist escaped his mouth as his blurry vision filled with the image of a smiling woman.
"Ma…ria…"
A blazing spear shot toward him—he rolled away with gritted teeth, choking on pain.
On the ground, chest heaving, memories of his son crashed into his mind like a thief breaking into a home.
Grinding his teeth, he commanded the ice to lift him like a fallen emperor rising again.Ignoring consequences, he forged two swords. Spears of ice spun around him.
The ice welcomed it—devouring the remaining half of his human warmth.
It was as if Poul understood:He would never see his son again unless he accepted the ice—even if it meant becoming something else entirely.
Ice consumed his last human tint.
He became… something.
"So… you finally accept me, Hyou Poul?" the ice whispered.
"Yes… I accept you. Glaciei."
"Then become my Emperor."
"If it lets me see him… then I will." Poul's voice was cold—utterly resigned to fate.
The ice laughed.