Chapter 263

Sirka was dreaming.

She was recalling a memory from a few years ago—the day she first met “Cha Cha.”

Sirka’s dreams all had something in common, something that never changed: their color. They were always in white. From the moment she was born until the present, the world surrounding her was pure white. It was the only color she had ever known.

Her life had been a war—running across snowy white fields, enduring freezing blizzards, and battling countless spirits to survive. Her understanding of the world went no further than that.

But one day, everything changed.

“Sirka!

It’s horrible!”

“Spirits have invaded the village!”

Something began to disrupt her seemingly consistent life.

“The spirits are rampaging!”

“Everyone, take up your weapons!”

That day, the spirits of Echo Forest had run amok and invaded the village.

Days of relentless battle ensued as they fought off the endless waves of spirits. Sirka watched the elder elves fall one by one beside her, and she braced herself for death.

“Look

at the sky!”

“A monster is descending!”

“It’s a dragon... Oh, why is this happening to us?!”

Why does misfortune always seem to strike all at once?

she had asked herself.

The great wyvern flying down through the snow had made her feel that level of despair, if she remembered correctly.

Yet in the blink of an eye, her despair turned into radiant hope. A lone human dismounted the enormous wyvern and stepped onto the ground.

“Where am I?”

the woman had asked.

Even through the blizzard, her sharp eyes immediately assessed the situation. Sirka could feel the overwhelming power rippling through the woman’s body.

The human called out to Sirka.

“Child, I don’t have a weapon at the moment. Can you lend me something? Anything will do.”

She seemed to have already grasped the situation completely.

The woman approached Sirka without hesitation, hand extended, and the elf instinctively handed over her own weapon. In fact, she surrendered both of the extra daggers strapped to her waist.

“Daggers... Reminds me of old times.”

The woman took the daggers, holding them in reverse grip, and smiled faintly. Then she began her Sword Dance.

Whoooosh!

Her hair billowed in the cold wind. Behind her, the wyvern roared fiercely, joining its rider in the hunt for spirits.

That day, peace suddenly returned to the village, thanks to the outsider who had appeared out of the blue.

But the outsider never left. She stayed, becoming a meddlesome part of their lives even after the battle was over.

“This won’t do.

I don’t know where I am, but first, I need to take care of you all.”

Even now, Sirka thought it seemed like such an odd decision.

“Is everyone unhurt?

Those of you who are injured, gather over here!

And you there!”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes, you.

If you have bandages or medicine in the village, could you bring them to me?

Have you all eaten?

Why is everyone dressed in such thin clothes?

Aren’t you cold?”

Ironically, the woman wore the thinnest clothes of all. It was almost comical the way someone so underdressed fussed over others while wrapping her thin garments tightly around her shoulders.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But Sirka hadn’t even felt the urge to laugh. Instead, tears welled in her eyes—tears of relief as she realized that she was somehow still alive.

On that day, that otherworlder, called “Cha Cha” by the elves, settled in the village.

Cha Cha stayed with the surviving young elves, becoming family. Sometimes she would teach them to fight with a sword.

“Sirka!

Check your waist!

Lower your stance!

You need to lower your center of gravity to stay on your feet.”

“What is a ‘center of gravity?’”

“Oh, I guess I should explain that to you first...”

She taught them battle strategy and ways they could defend themselves. Sometimes she was like a mother to them.

“Time to eat, everyone!”

“Yaaaay!”

“Sirka!

If you eat before everyone else, you’ll be in trouble.

You have to wait for your friends!”

“No!

I already took a bite!”

In the freezing blizzard, Cha Cha provided them with warm meals and clothes, ensuring their survival.

“Oh, look at you, Sirka!

You look so cool with your hair braided like this.

This style will keep the hair out of your eyes even when you’re fighting.”

“Hehe.

Right!”

“Elven hair is so interesting.

It’s lovely and silky, but it’s tough enough to be used as bowstrings.”

“Hehehe!

Jealous, aren’t you?

Just wait!

Once my hair grows a little longer, I’ll make you a bow!”

“Oh, thank you!

Then I’ll make you a bracelet with my hair in return.”

“What’s the point of a bracelet?

It’s useless in battle.”

“How mean.”

“Hehe.

Just kidding!”

Even in the relentless cold, Cha Cha had taught them to smile.

“Sirka...”

And so Sirka discovered that there were colors in the world besides the white of winter.

The new colors were warm. Sirka believed “spring,” whatever that was, must appear in these colors.

“Sirka!”

For a while now, a voice in her dream—faintly reminiscent of Cha Cha’s—had been calling to her from afar.

“You are already fully qualified.”

Sirka’s heart skipped a beat. The voice sounded so similar to Cha Cha’s, but it was oddly lower.

It continued speaking to her.

“So wake up.”

Wake up...? What does that mean?

she wondered.

The voice reached Sirka as she dreamed happily, but immediately, her instincts stirred.

She heard screeches, and knew she was once again surrounded by ravenous spirits. The invading spirits were ready to devour her, just like the moment before Cha Cha first appeared.

The same primal fear she felt that day came rushing back, but she then remembered the way the human woman had smiled at her.

“Get up and rule those spirits yourself.”

The voice was there again. It awakened her courage, the same way Cha Cha had long ago.

“Become a Monarch.”

Sirka’s eyes flew open. She suddenly saw Suho’s face, so reminiscent of Cha Cha’s.

“Where am I?” she asked in a daze.

“If you’re awake, grab your weapon.”

Suho did not answer her question. Instead, he turned forward again. A dark shadow stretched far behind his broad back.

[Skill: “Monarch’s Domain” has activated.]

He glanced at Sillad battling the spirits in the distance, then spoke to Sirka through his thoughts.

“Wake up and watch!

The previous Monarch of Frost is showing you firsthand how to fight spirits.

Learn directly from him!”

Sirka was stunned. He was right—the deceased Monarch was overwhelming the spirits, releasing an incredible amount of energy.

At the same time, Sirka realized something else.

“No... I can’t. It’s impossible. I’m still...”

She was simply not yet equipped to mimic what Sillad was doing.

“Impossible, my

ass!”

“Ow!”

With a smack, Suho’s palm met Sirka’s back without mercy, jolting her to full alertness.

She was no stranger to this kind of treatment. It was the same smack she had felt countless times while learning swordsmanship from Cha Cha.

However, Suho had endured far more slaps in his own time.

He added,

“Don’t worry, just follow me.

I’ve already got the tricks down.”

“What? How? His power is completely different from yours.”

“I told you. There’s a trick to it.

If you can’t mimic everything, make use of what you can.

Here goes!”

“W-wait!”

Before Sirka could argue, Suho dragged her forward into the storm of ravenous spirits. He grinned from beside her.

“First, take out your weapon.”

“Trident of the Ice Tree...”

Sirka did as she was told. Frost formed in her hand, elongating to create the Trident of the Ice Tree.

As soon as she gripped it, she moved instinctively, following the techniques Cha Cha had taught her.

“Good.

You’re fighting well.”

“But this isn’t going to be good enough for—”

“This is where we begin, then.

I’ll teach you the tricks.”

Suho’s eyes flashed.

[Skill: “Iron Body Technique” has activated.]

Dark energy enveloped his fists and arms.

Sirka’s eyes widened as she sensed it—this was no ordinary skill.

The dense, unyielding black energy climbed Suho’s shoulders, forming the outline of massive armor. He extended one of his enlarged hands, grabbed a spirit, and crushed it into nothingness.

After destroying the spirit, he turned to Sirka and grinned, his teeth bared.

“This is power, the power of the Monarch of the Iron Body.”

“H-how do you have that?”

“I learned it, and you’ll learn it too.”

Suho grabbed more spirits. He crushed each one until it burst.

“Here’s another tip.”

[Skill: “Giant’s Armor” has activated.]

Suho’s entire body was now covered in armor. This appeared to be an ordinary skill, but Sirka had already learned something.

“Sirka,”

he said,

“Sillad fought the extreme cold and became a Monarch in doing so.

What is the cold to you?”

There was no need for her to answer. To her, it was nothing. Sillad had been forced to fight the cold, but she had been born into it. It was a cold that knew neither night nor day—it was simply an ever-present whiteness.

Sirka’s trident found its mark as she pierced a spirit she had been aiming for.

She knew that she was still young and weak. She couldn’t hope to command every spirit like the great former Monarch of Frost could. But there was one thing she could declare right now.

“At the very least, the spirits within my reach...”

Crack!

The spirit pierced by her trident froze solid.

“Those, I shall rule.”

One by one, Sirka speared the ravenous spirits swirling around her, freezing each in turn. Their screams and wails filled the air.

At the tip of Sirka’s trident, the frozen spirits began to condense like icicles, forming pieces of a massive suit of armor—just like the technique Suho had shown her.

In that moment, cold determination flickered in her eyes.

[Spirit Mail]

With every spirit defeated, the armor expanded until it finally covered her body. It was like a combination of Iron Body Technique and the Giant’s Armor that Suho had just used, creating a protective shell two or three times larger than her own frame.

Sirka lunged forward, and her enormous fist made up of frozen spirits wrapped around another. She compressed it until it burst. This, too, was a technique Suho had demonstrated.

“Good.

Someone who learned from my mother should be able to handle this much,”

Suho remarked, grinning.

“My god...”

Sillad, who was battling ahead of them, looked back at Sirka. His eyes widened briefly in shock, but only for a moment. Then his expression shifted into one of pride.

“Not a bad start.”

This wasn’t spirit manipulation—it was spirit domination. Sirka had successfully mimicked a technique used by the Monarch of the Iron Body.

“In fact, this is excellent,” Sillad declared.

His choice had been right after all.

Do you see this, Fores?

he thought.

Look at the way she fights. She is not manipulating them, but controlling them, reducing them to mere materials for armor and weaponry.

That young one is much closer to a Monarch than some high elf who ran from the winter!

He laughed with genuine pleasure.

Ding!

[Sillad expresses great gratitude to his shaman.]

[Sillad shows admiration for his shaman’s accomplishment.]

Huh?

Suho turned back to the Monarch upon seeing the sudden messages. Sillad was smiling contentedly.

“Son of the Monarch of Shadows, do you remember what I told you when we first met? I intended to kill you. But then I saw your mother, the partner of the Monarch of Shadows, who also became a mother figure to my weak, young tribe.”

Sillad had felt a deep sadness when he realized what had happened to them. Haein also reminded him of his own mother, who had died protecting him.

It only made what he felt stronger.

“I decided not to kill you out of gratitude to your mother. That is no longer the case now.”

Sillad tore apart another spirit, his eyes never leaving Suho’s.

“Thank you. You have proven to me that my choice was correct.”

There was another ding. A new message appeared in front of Suho, accompanied by a quest notification.

[Recruit “Successor of the Extreme Cold” as your companion?] (Y/N)

[A quest has arrived.]

He already knew what Sillad was asking.

“Please continue to take good care of my successor,” the Monarch said.

Suho and Sirka, clad in their respective armors—one of shadow and one of spirits—continued crushing the ravenous spirits with resolve. Their eyes were aglow.

“Then fall back,”

Suho told Sillad.

“From now on, you can leave the spirits to us.”