Return of the Frozen Player

“H-hey. This is…”

“Why are you such a scaredy cat? Your actions do not suit your large frame at all. Tsk.” Isaac clicked his tongue at Milphage’s reaction. “Audience interruption is not that rare.”

There was one reason Isaac was calm.

‘We have the home advantage.’

The castle of thorny bushes was basically Valencia’s home.

‘But I must admit...’ Isaac licked his lips. A tremendous pressure weighed on his shoulder. Isaac stared tensely at the monster whose existence alone was enough to crush his opponents.

‘Specter.’

Crackle!

The frozen wall of thorny bushes shattered, and someone’s silhouette appeared.

It was none other than Specter. He was wearing his signature black mask as he swept his gaze across everyone.

John Maverick—no, Isaac broke the ice. “Specter, do you still remember me? I know this is shocking, but I’m Shoot.”

“...” The black mask wordlessly turned toward Isaac. Specter’s cold eyes behind the mask scanned Isacc.

“John Maverick,” said Specter.

“Thank god you still remember me. I’m sure you already know, but—”

“It seems that you have become filthy.” interrupted Specter. The golden light in his eyes vanished upon confirming the presence of filthy demonic energy in John Maverick using Dignity of an Emperor (S).

“Cut the pathetic act out, Isaac.”

“...Was it that obvious?”

Isaac didn’t even bother defending himself, and it was all because Specter’s voice was filled with conviction. Isaac knew that no excuse would fool Specter at that point, so he simply decided to tell the truth.

“What’s with that mask? Everyone already knows who you are...” asked Isaac.

“It’s a show of determination.” Specter’s mask was to show everyone that he was determined to annihilate the fiends for good today.

“Where is the Heavenly Demon?” Specter asked.

“My liege isn’t here.”

“...”

“Your glare is useless because I’m not lying,” Isaac added.

Specter clicked his tongue and shrugged. ‘Is he really not here?’

“What a shame.”

‘I guess I have no choice but to get rid of that bastard’s subordinates.’

Crackle!

The thorny bushes on the ground froze over.

“Disappear, you trash.”

“Wait!” Christin Lewis raised his hand. “I-I’m not one of them. Milphage is the traitor. I’m innocent.”

“...” Specter fell into deep thought. Sung-Jun had told him that Milphage was the traitor.

‘And he also said that Mio and Mr. Shoot had fallen for Milphage’s trap.’

Specter recalled Sung-Jun telling him that the latter had scoured the entire eastern coastline of the continent until he found Valencia’s tower of bushes.

‘Then, what about Christin Lewis? What’s this guy up to?’

Specter contemplated for a while, but he eventually waved his hand.

“Step back,” he said. ‘Sung-Jun didn’t mention anything about Christin. If Christine were the traitor, Sung-Jun would have told me.’

Specter came to the conclusion that Christin Lewis was probably not that important in the grand scheme of things. Otherwise, Sung-Jun would have told him about Christin Lewis.

“Thank you so much! May the Sun God’s blessing be with you!” Christin exclaimed before hurriedly running away behind Specter.

Milphage gnashed his teeth at the sight. “Damn it…”

‘This isn’t right...’ The worst-case scenario was currently unfolding in front of him. ‘It’s over. Specter has discovered my involvement with the fiends. He’s definitely going to kill me.’

In other words, Milphage had no choice but to cooperate with Isaac.

“Damn it.” This wasn’t what he wanted.

“I-I—” Milphage wanted to say something.

“Milphage.” However, Specter’s cold voice interrupted him. “Keep your mouth shut.”

“Damn it! How dare you say that to me when you don’t know anything about me! What gives you the right to judge me?!” Milphage exploded in fury. “There’s a reason behind every action, and everyone is fighting their own demons! Anyone would have made the same decision if they were in the same shoes as me!”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Specter said coldly. ‘Bastards who have done bad things would always justify their actions with that shitty logic—saying that others would have made the same choice as them.’

“Keuk. Well, well, well. I guess Mr. Specter here cannot imagine being in the same shoes as me,” mocked Milphage.

“I would never choose to work with the fiends, even if I were in your shoes,” Specter retorted. He would rather bite his tongue and bleed to death than cooperate with the fiends.

Specter glared coldly at Milphage.

“Human beings are faced with choices in their every waking moment.”

From minor to major choices, humans would have to make decisions throughout their entire lives.

“It doesn’t matter if you have been influenced to make a certain choice. You’re the one who would make that decision in the end.”

Therefore, one had to face the consequences of their actions.

“You ensured your survival by cooperating with the fiends, and you sold them information that led to the deaths of many Players…

“That is why you will die today.”

Milphage didn’t know what to say. He hated to admit it, but Specter was right.

“Fine. I didn’t expect that you would understand me, anyway,” Milphage muttered and clenched his fists. His face turned red as his expression crumbled while he glared furiously at Specter.

“I guess I should thank you for your infuriating words,” said Milphage.

“Ah.” Specter finally recalled Milphage’s bread-and-butter skill.

‘He gets stronger the angrier he gets.’’

“Isaac. Are you just going to stand there and watch?” Milphage asked.

“Of course, I will help you fight. Specter is… well, I honestly do not want to fight him one-on-one,” said Isaac with a smile. While Milphage was talking to Specter, Isaac discreetly scanned the area with his demonic energy.

“It’s great that Specter came by himself. In other words, he let his guard down.” The fight would be a one-versus-two battle. If Valencia regrouped with them, it would be a one-versus-three battle.

“If you died at my hands, would my liege be disappointed or sad? I’m excited to know the answer,” Isaac said.

“He will be sad because two of his beloved dogs will die today,” replied Specter.

“Hahahaha!” Isaac boisterously laughed. “What’s wrong with you? Are you looking down on me? I’m a Heaven as well, you know?”

“No.” Specter had never once looked down on Isaac Dvor or Valencia Citrin. He had always taken them seriously because he was well aware of their strength and capabilities. “You’re the one looking down on me.”

Isaac assumed that Specter had come here by himself because his arrogance got to his head, which led him to let his guard down.

“You made that assumption all by yourself.”

“...?” Isaac’s blood turned cold. A sense of foreboding filled him, and he instantly unfolded his demonic energy. He scanned the area once more, but he found not a single trace of magic.

‘I don’t think there’s any Player out there aside from Specter who can avoid my senses. In that case, is he just bluffing? No, Specter has never been the type of person to bluff. I must be missing here—wait!’

A shiver ran down Isaac’s spine. “Oh, no.”

A strange sense of deja vu swept Isaac. He recalled feeling the same way many years ago, and it was when he paid Shim Deok-Gu a visit after invading Seoul.

‘A sniper…’

Boom!

A tremendous power struck Isaac, sending him flying away. The wall of thorny bushes shattered, and Isaac soon found himself swimming in the sea.

“Argh!”

The salty water exacerbated the pain.

Isaac looked around and realized that the sea had turned dark.

‘Blood? I’m bleeding?’

Isaac could still vividly remember his magic barrier protecting him from Gilberto’s bullet, but today’s result was different. Gilberto’s bullet pierced through Isaac’s magic barrier, even though the former’s magic barrier had become much thicker than before.

‘Yes, it is definitely much thicker, but he still managed to pierce it?’

His demonic energy didn’t detect Gilberto’s presence, so the latter had to be at least five kilometers away. In other words, Gilberto had not only pierced his thicker magic barrier, but he had also successfully sniped him farther away than back then.

“This is absurd… Gilberto Green… I didn’t expect that talentless sniper to become so strong.” Isaac chuckled hollowly. He couldn’t help but laugh because he had never once thought that he would feel threatened by anyone else other than Specter.

And to think that it would be Gilberto Green!

Isaac cast flight magic and levitated. ‘Fortunately, the wound isn’t too deep.

Isaac fell into deep contemplation—should he return to the castle or get rid of Gilberto Green?

“I guess I don’t have a choice.” Isaac would have ignored Gilberto Green, but the latter had become so much stronger. He couldn’t afford to let Gilberto snipe them because it would only be a matter of time before the latter annihilated them from afar.

‘The bullet came from…’ Isaac pondered over the bullet’s trajectory and turned his head. “That way… it came from that way.”

Boom!

There was an explosion as Isaac flew toward where Gilberto’s bullet had come from.

***

Meanwhile, the thorny bushes of the castle filled the gaping hole that Gilberto’s bullet had made.

Milphage’s eyes trembled. ‘The fiends really are unreliable…’

Milphage had never expected that he would one day fight Specter by himself.

‘Damn it. I wouldn’t have participated in this operation if I had known that this would happen.’

Everything had gone wrong. Milphage’s decision to cooperate with the fiends was wrong, but Milphage was past caring about his decision. Right now, what was important was the fact that things had gone wrong, and his cover was blown.

“Why…”

‘Why is it that I’m the only one unfortunate enough to be in this ordeal? I hate this. I hate this world…!’ Milphage’s power soared as Milphage started to hate the world itself.

“What? What is going on with him?” Christine was astonished. He stopped hiding behind Specter when Isaac was sent flying away, but he returned to hiding behind Specter upon seeing Milphage’s changes.

‘Yikes. I feel like Milphage can actually beat Specte-nim…’

Specter’s existence alone was a source of tremendous pressure, but he looked objectively weaker than Milphage.

“I hope you won’t take this personally,” Milphage said. He repositioned himself and continued. “I simply have no choice. I have to survive this ordeal, and it’s already too late for us to go back to our original positions.”

Boom!

There was a loud noise as Milphage’s figure disappeared and reappeared in front of Specter.

Milphage’s fist was only a few inches away from Specter’s nose.

‘He definitely had a reason for such a decision.’ Specter had no idea why Milphage decided to cooperate with the fiends, but there had to be a reason behind it. ‘However...’

“I don’t have to know.”

Boom!

The castle of thorny bushes trembled as Milphage’s fist shattered its walls.

However, Milphage’s fist failed to hit its target.

“And I don’t want to know…”

“...!” Milphage’s eyes widened. Specter’s figure had scattered into an ink-like fog, and he completely avoided Milphage’s punch.

Milphage could feel the touch of cold steel against his neck.

“Deathscythe.”

Specter decisively swung his scythe.

Spurt!

Milphage’s blood soaked the thorny bushes.

“Argh! Krrr…!” Milphage tightly gripped his injured neck.

‘I don’t want to die. I can’t die like this.’

Specter saw through Milphage’s desperation and asked, “Do you want to live?”

Nod, nod, nod!

Specter stared into Milphage’s desperate eyes and closed his eyes.

“I’m sure the Players whom you killed indirectly wanted to live as well.”

Crackle!

The blood flowing through Milphage abruptly froze.