The Sapphire mages continued to pop out from various places and launch attacks.
Boom!
And each time, they got smacked by a fireball and fled in a panic.
Whenever that happened, Seo Ye-in and I took turns giving compliments.
“You’re doing great.”
“Keep it up.”
“Just burn everything down.”
Fwoosh.
To that, Hong Yeon-hwa waved her hands in protest.
“Ah, no, it’s not that impressive…”
But judging by the grin tugging at her lips the whole time, she didn’t seem to dislike the praise.
Occasionally, we ran into not just the Sapphire mages but other crew members as well. Unlike Crew Member B, who was guiding us, these ones were armed with mana-powered rifles.
They were probably fighting off the intruders across the ship.
When Crew Members C and D spotted us, they immediately raised their guns and shouted.
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Wait, wait!”
Crew Member B threw up his hands like he was surrendering, trying to show he meant no harm.
Then he frantically tried to explain who we were.
“Th-They’re not enemies! They came to help!”
“You seriously expect us to believe that?!”
“It’s true! Please believe me!”
“Then answer this. Where were you headed?”
“T-To the auxiliary… power core.”
An extremely suspicious answer, and Crew Members C and D’s expressions twisted in anger.
“You betrayed us. Became their lapdogs.”
“No! That’s not it!”
“Shut up.”
Ratatatatatatata!
The muzzles of their rifles flared with blue flames.
But the mana bullets evaporated the moment they hit a wall of fire.
“….….”
Hong Yeon-hwa glanced over at me.
Her look clearly said, “Should I burn them? Want me to burn them?”
I gave a small nod in response, meaning, “Go ahead.”
Immediately, a barrage of fire magic rained down.
Boom-boom-boom!
“Gyaaaah!”
The crew members, having gotten a taste of searing heat, quickly retreated.
From that point on, Hong Yeon-hwa began launching fireballs at anyone she came across, regardless of who they were.
It was more convenient for us that way, so we didn’t bother stopping her.
As we continued moving forward, incinerating anything in sight, we eventually came upon a fairly large space.
Crew Member B confirmed what we were already suspecting.
“This is it. The auxiliary power core.”
The entire room was covered in thick ice, making it nearly impossible to make anything out.
Of course, the ice could just be melted, but there was something we needed to deal with first.
“……”
Sensing our presence, a young witch rose to her feet.
Like the mages we had encountered along the way, her robe was marked with the symbol of the Sapphire Magic Tower.
But just from a glance, it was clear she was far more skilled than the others.
A mid-boss type.
As her gaze swept over our party one by one, it eventually settled on Hong Yeon-hwa.
“…What brings a Ruby here?”
“Am I not allowed?”
“Thought you might be cold.”
“It’s about to get a lot hotter.”
Hong Yeon-hwa shot back without missing a beat.
At that, the Sapphire witch’s expression grew noticeably colder.
“A little mutt dares to bark… I’ll freeze you and keep you preserved for a long, long time.”
“If you can.”
As Hong Yeon-hwa scoffed, the witch raised her staff and pointed it toward the ceiling.
Something that had been hanging there suddenly dropped.
Thud!
A huge block of ice slowly shifted into a humanoid form and stood on the ground.
An ice golem.
While the creature took a defensive position to shield its master, the witch planted her staff into the ground and began murmuring incantations.
The sapphire glowed with a chilling light, and a dome-shaped barrier formed around her.
A turret-type mage.
Her chanting picked up speed.
Now that she was protected, she began enhancing the ice golem.
Its forearms thickened to the size of its torso, sharp icicles sprouted all over its body, and a swirling ring of snowstorm formed around it.
In contrast, Hong Yeon-hwa didn’t make a single move….no spellcasting, no action at all.
She simply stood there, blankly watching her opponent.
Perhaps thinking she was being underestimated, or maybe wanting to finish things quickly now that her opponent had supposedly given up, the Sapphire witch intensified her casting even further.
Soon, the ice golem had completely transformed. It was no longer the crude figure from before, but a fully armed and armored giant.
A true Ice General.
Following its master’s command, it began advancing toward its target.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—
The ice golem picked up speed, quickly closing the distance.
Only then did Hong Yeon-hwa slowly raise one hand.
Fwoooosh—
Sparks of flame gathered together into a sphere, rapidly swelling in size with terrifying momentum.
In just a single breath, it had grown larger than a human body.
The Sapphire witch’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“What kind of casting speed is that…?!”
Even so, as if she’d decided the die had already been cast, she didn’t order the golem to retreat.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—!
The distance closed fast, and just as the ice weapon came down in a mighty swing—
A massive fireball exploded directly against the golem.
Kabooom—!
The blast rocked the entire chamber, flooding it with intense heat.
Seo Ye-in, satisfied, held out her hands toward the warmth.
“…So cozy.”
“Sure, everything’s just perfect as long as it’s warm.”
I grumbled a bit and peered through the flames to check.
The once-majestic Ice General had melted down into nothing more than a tiny ice dwarf.
And even that looked like it wouldn’t last much longer.
“……”
The Sapphire witch stood frozen, her mouth opening and closing like an idiot.
When the battle started, she thought she was about to teach an arrogant rookie a harsh lesson, but never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined it would turn out like this.
That’s just how broken Aqua Flame is.
Against ice-type enemies, it’s practically a cheat code.
It would be hard to find a worthy opponent in this dungeon. Aside from the boss.
The witch, wearing a hollow expression, gritted her teeth and tried to cast a spell, but even her casting speed fell far short compared to Hong Yeon-hwa’s.
So before she could even exchange more than a few moves, her entire body was engulfed in flames.
Fwoooosh!
“Kyahhh!”
As we briefly glanced at the flustered Sapphire Witch fleeing in panic, we took our time surveying the chamber.
The aftermath of the battle had melted all the ice, revealing the room’s original form.
In one corner stood a cylindrical aquarium, and inside it was a single turtle.
When we arrived, it had been completely frozen over, but now that it had regained control of its body, it was swimming around energetically.
As a result, the devices connected to the aquarium had slowly begun to activate.
Whirrrr—
Soon after, Seo Ye-in tilted her head in confusion and looked at me.
“…..?”
“Yeah, that’s the auxiliary power source.”
It’s not that it generates energy by swimming. The turtle itself possesses a special trait.
Self-Generation.
Its efficiency is nearly at the level of creating something out of nothing.
There are a few other similar traits out there, one of which is the [Sovereign’s Crown] I once copied from Song Cheon-hye.
Combining them would create a far more powerful trait.
I should collect them little by little.
If I want to build up my core quickly.
S-Rank is a realm where enlightenment carries a lot of weight, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need mana.
In fact, it demands far more than the leap from B to A, so if you want to shorten the time, acquiring traits is the best move.
I stared at the turtle in the aquarium.
Still, it’d be a waste to copy this one.
This is just the auxiliary power source.
If I’m going to copy anything, I might as well aim for the larger turtle in the main power source’s bigger tank.
But… there’s no need to rush off to the main power source just yet.
It’s not like the turtle’s going anywhere, and we’ll have to head to that part of the dungeon eventually if we want to clear it anyway.
Right now, it’s better to focus on a different goal.
I gauged the time, then turned to Seo Ye-in and said,
“Shall we go take a look? The crow.”
“Blink.”
“I told you, that’s not happening.”
“Positive thinking.”
Well, it’s true…. dreaming big never hurts.
I gave a small nod, then looked over at crew member B.
“Mister.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Please keep guiding us.”
“O-Of course! Where would you like to go?”
Maybe it was because we’d taken down the Sapphire Witch so overwhelmingly, but his tone was noticeably more respectful.
I double-checked with him.
“Are we close to the left side?”
“Yes, this is the left.”
That meant this auxiliary power source was located near the giant turtle’s left flank.
Good, our target wasn’t far off.
“I’d like to go to the left balcony.”
For a moment, a flicker of confusion crossed crew member B’s face. It was something like, “What now? The balcony?” but as soon as our eyes met, he snapped to attention and took the lead.
“Right away! I’ll take you there at once!”
***
After a few light skirmishes, we arrived at a large steel door that was tightly shut.
Once we opened it, the balcony would be right there.
But since I figured a warning was in order, I let Seo Ye-in down from piggyback and said,
“Once it opens, there’s going to be a freezing wind blowing straight in.”
“…Then we shouldn’t open it.”
“But then you won’t get to see the crow.”
“……”
Seo Ye-in hesitated for a moment, conflicted.
Then slowly clenched her fist.
“…Overcome.”
“Good mindset. Alright, opening it now.”
I gave the hatch a few turns, then pulled the handle, swinging the steel door wide open.
Whooooosh—!
A biting blizzard slammed into us.
Seo Ye-in immediately grabbed onto the door and muttered,
“…Close it.”
“Didn’t you say you’d overcome it?”
“…I take it back.”
“Let’s just hang in there for a bit. We’ve already opened it.”
Trying to shield herself from the worst of the snowstorm, Seo Ye-in tucked herself behind my back.
Then she stared intently at Hong Yeon-hwa.
Seemingly picking up on the look in her eyes, Hong Yeon-hwa cast a fire spell, summoning a few floating fireballs.
Fwoosh,
It was like pouring water into a bottomless jar, but still better than nothing.
In that state, we stood on the balcony, peering into the blizzard-covered distance.
Now and then, Seo Ye-in tugged at my sleeve and whined.
“…I wanna go back in.”
“Just a little longer. It’s almost here.”
“…Why isn’t it coming.”
“It’s right in front of us.”
“……?”
“There, it’s here…. can’t you see it?”
“I don’t… see anything…”
But then, the empty air suddenly rippled violently.
The distortion grew more intense, and before long, a pitch-black figure burst forth from it.
“Caw—!”
A dimensional crow flapped its wings as it landed on the balcony.
It wore a worn-out pointed hat and held a crooked wooden staff in one hand.
From the past witch of corruption subjugation. Back in the teleportation labyrinth.
It was the Great Sage Crow.
“Young Monarch, you’ve risen quite a bit in stature since we last met.”
“Isn’t that only natural?”
I replied in an exaggerated Monarch tone.
Though he belonged to a neutral and moderate faction, letting my guard down could lead to disadvantages in negotiation.
Next, the Great Sage turned his gaze toward Seo Ye-in.
Other crows were startled, but his reaction was the complete opposite.
Staring at her as if intrigued, he finally spoke.
“…Caaw, a child blessed with the power of the meteor, I see.”
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