## Chapter 808 – Winter of the Capital

“Hehehe! That looks like it’s about to break! Is it okay for us to be doing this here!!!”
“Die!!!!”

ㅡWhoosh!!!

The Spirit King grabbed my wrist and threw a punch at my face. It was faster than I could perceive, but not enough to hit someone as accustomed to close combat as I was.

ㅡCrack!

I immediately tilted my head to avoid the punch, ㅡWhoosh! An inhuman gust of wind swept past. Was this stronger than my Asura Piercing Blood Fist? Anyway, I couldn’t miss this fleeting opportunity!

Relying on the momentum of him pulling me, I unleashed my inner energy, exploding with power to break free from the grip on my wrist.

“I love you!!!!”
“What?!”

I dove in, embracing him between his waist and pelvis.

“German Suplex!!!!”

In that position, I arched my back, slamming his head into the ground upside down!!!

ㅡThwack!!!!!!

A deafening sound echoed.

ㅡPoof!

As soon as I slammed him, I released my hold, grabbed the dropped sword, and created distance. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to have dealt much damage. Ah, if only I could have followed up with a rear-naked choke after that. It would have been perfect.

Sadly, this bastard wasn’t human, just a spirit in human form. So, I couldn’t use it. What a shame.

ㅡThud!

I took solace in the fact that I had bought some time.

“Hehehe! This bastard has overflowing power, but his close combat skills are lacking!! How dare you call yourself a ruler with such pathetic skills! Aren’t you ashamed to face your parents!!!”
“Krooooㅡ!!!!”

The Spirit King roared and slammed his hand on the ground, trying to float into the airㅡ

ㅡWhoooooosh!!!

What I saw in that instant was a flash of violet.

“Huh!”

Cloudy, appearing out of nowhere, lunged at the Spirit King, who was about to take off. ㅡZap! Reacting to her, he instantly pulled his arm back, trying to strike Cloudy, but.

ㅡShwing, shwing, shwing!!

The two curved swords tearing through space were even faster.

“Wow.”

I almost forgot I was fighting and was about to admire her. That speed beyond perception applied to Cloudy as well. The insane barrage, making the most of the dual curved swords, pressured and pulverized the Spirit King.

ㅡPow, pow, pow, pow!!

“Guh…!”

The Spirit King swung his arms, kicked, twisted his body, and tried to fly, but each time, he only received devastating slashes and retreated one step at a time. He couldn’t even perform any other actions.

Just a few seconds.

The attack that Cloudy had unleashed with incredible force during the few seconds I was looking for an entry point ended.

ㅡPoof!

Cloudy, finishing her attack, kicked off the ground once and retreated as if running away. Her eyes were as cold as ice, and she looked very urgent as she ran. I ran forward as if exchanging places with her.

“Cloudy!”
“Katt, I’m going to back off for a bit. He’s tougher than I imagined.”
“What?”

I immediately looked at the Spirit King.

His condition was, to put it nicely, fucked up, and to put it badly, utterly ruined. The ice-body, which had been unharmed even after taking Karin’s powerful strike, was now covered in cracks.

ㅡPat.

Fragments of broken ice fell. Thud. Not just fragments. The body of the ice Spirit King, which had been harder than anything, was being shaved off like a kebab.

It was an incredible attack.
To utterly ruin the Spirit King in just a few seconds.

“You insignificant humans…!”

How do you think I felt seeing that?

“Weak get crushed.”

ON.

“Hahaha ha ha ha!!!!”

In that instant, inhuman courage surged, and an unprecedented power coursed through my entire body. This wasn’t an invincible being. I had thought he was invincible as long as that gate was open, since he was unharmed even after taking Karin’s aura-infused strike, but he was taking damage!!!!

A being that could be killed!!!!

ㅡBoong, boong!

I charged forward as if flying, immediately unleashing the inhuman Sword Art of the Training Dummy, attacking the Spirit King.

A large feinting slash. Pretending to aim for the right temple, I twisted my wrist and rotated the blade above my head, slashing towards the left neck as if pulling it towards the armpit.

ㅡWhoosh!

“Insignificant!!!”

ㅡClench!

The Spirit King, shouting, grabbed my sword.

“You bastard! You dare block it!”

His reaction speed was incredible.

The guy who grabbed the sword kicked my side with the speed of light. ㅡThwack!!!! I managed to parry it in time, swinging my gauntlet-clad arm like a mace.

ㅡSizzle!!

But I couldn’t overcome this immense blunt force, and my feet slid sideways as if I were skating. I slid almost 10 meters with my feet still on the ground.

Is this for real?

“Agh, damn it!!!”

Even with the inner energy, my arm was throbbing. This bastard was amazing when it came to speed and destructive power. Anyway, I checked my surroundings.

ㅡThwack!
ㅡZap, zap, zap!
ㅡThud!

The struggle to break the barrier continued. Risha’s black magic exploded, and Arquina’s ice magic rained down. Karin dodged and blocked while launching strikes at the barrier.

The Spirit King was also extremely concerned about that, glancing over there for a moment.

“You bastard, you dare look away? You can’t go anywhere until you subdue me, you hear!”
“…!”

The Spirit King’s mannequin face, which had been looking that way, turned towards me. He hadn’t released the stance from the kick he had just thrown. Then, the leg he was holding up kicked off the ground.

ㅡThud!

Of course, the target was me.
He shot towards me again.

ㅡWhoosh!!

This bastard was really troublesome, moving at super speed at close range! I felt like a matador. I took a step forward with my right foot and swung my arm horizontally in a large arc, so that my inner forearm contacted the back of the Spirit King’s head as he flew in.

By rotating in time with the moment he flew in, I was able to deliver a lariat to the back of his head.

“Die!!!”

I put strength into my body and slammed the lariat, and the Spirit King’s face collided with the ground.

ㅡThwack!

“You son of a bitch!!!”

Immediately, I raised Vিউgall high, unleashing sword energy, and struck the bastard’s back, ㅡThwack!! Ice fragments flew, indicating a successful hit. The damage was definitely going through. He even made a groaning sound.

“Kuh…!”

Of course.

Cloudy had already fucked him up. His defense wasn’t what it used to be! I had the feeling that I could crush him as he was, and I frantically struck his back as if possessed.

ㅡThud!
ㅡThud!
ㅡThud!

It felt like I was swinging a pickaxe.

“Die! Die, Spirit King!!! Go to your mother’s side!!”
“Kuh… Kua, Kuaaaaaaaㅡ!!!!!!”
“Huh!”

ㅡPoof!

A roar suddenly burst out.

“Oops.”

I was blown away by the recoil. What was that? His power exploded with the roar… I’ll think about it later. I immediately checked the Spirit King’s condition.

ㅡWhoosh.

He was currently floating in the air in a completely ruined state. ㅡWhoosh! His gaze turned towards me. A gaze that locked onto me as if a magnet was drawn to another magnet.

“You hateful and loathsome human!!!”

ㅡWhoooooosh!!!

A beam of ice shot out from his eyes.

“Son of a bitch!”

I tried to dodge, but I couldn’t because I was flying through the air. Should I stick the sword into the ground? If I used that to brake suddenly, I could somehow manage, but in that instant.

ㅡPoof!

Cloudy flew in and snatched my body.

“Thanks! Cloudy!”
“Hoo, Katt. You have to be careful. That’s quite dangerous.”
“It looks like it.”

It was dangerous.

The ice beam was sweeping through the spot where I had been standing. If I had been hit by that, I would have been frozen alive.

Truly, Kim Katt Ice Cream.

“No way! Cloudy, look!”
“Ugh.”

Soon, the flying ice beam reached the wall, and I couldn’t help but shout. Ice knights were sprouting from the spot where the ice beam had hit, like mushrooms!!

“He’s summoning troops!!”

Why hadn’t he used such a technique earlier?

Because it was his hidden card!!!!

He had been conserving his strength!!! He hadn’t been using things like that right away because of limitations!!! But now that he was in a desperate situation, he had no choice but to use it!!

We had to push him even harder now!!

ㅡPoof!
ㅡPoof!
ㅡPoof!

The created ice knights didn’t come towards us, but instead targeted the mages in the rear!

To target the rear at a time like this!

“Risha, those bastards are going that way!”
“I’m watching!!!”

All eyes in the rear, except for Risha, who was intercepting the incoming ice magic while attacking the barrier, turned towards the ice knights. They were usually pushovers, but they would be troublesome if they were encountered as a separate unit in this urgent situation!

“Eek! Those son of a bitches!”
“Die, die!! Spirits die!!”

ㅡZzzzzzz!
ㅡWhoosh!!

Fortunately, Winia and Hilde responded. Blaze Beams and Demon Fires exploded. However, they couldn’t block everything, and a few were trying to infiltrate. Those unlucky bastards.

“Haaap!!!!”

ㅡThwack!!

The bastards disappeared along with Risha’s shout.

“Ooh!”

As expected, there were no problems in the rear as long as that woman was guarding it!

ㅡCrack!

But knights were still being created. This was bullshit… Should I go back there to support them? But I absolutely couldn’t just leave the Spirit King alone.

“Don’t worry about us! Take down that bastard first!!”
“Okay, Risha!!!”

As soon as I heard Risha’s shout, I headed towards the Spirit King, who was floating in the air.

“My kin!!!!”

In that instant, he shouted.
By kin, he meant Arquina.

ㅡPzzzz.

At the same time, the body of the Spirit King, who had risen high, began to collapse.

“What, what?! What’s wrong with that bastard!!”

ㅡThud!

Sensing something was wrong, I immediately stepped on the Heavenly Demon Advent Steps and flew towards the floating Spirit King. Was he collapsing because of the fatal wounds he had sustained? That wasn’t it. He had continued to act even after being hit by Cloudy’s attack. Or was it because he had exhausted his power by shooting the ice beam and summoning the knights?

There was a possibility.

If so, I had to crush him in this gap… In that instant, the ice fragments that had fallen from the Spirit King’s body, which now only had its chest, neck, and head remaining, began to glow.

ㅡZzzzzzzzzzz!!

“Degaaas!!”

In that instant, I felt an immense coldness, and I had no choice but to protect my body by covering my entire body with mana, performing a Protective Aura and falling.

“He’s forcibly widening the gate!!”

At the same time, Risha shouted, indeed! Looking at it, the Spirit King’s collapsed body was flying towards the gate, seemingly exerting some kind of force!

ㅡCrash, crash!!

A deafening sound echoed.

Arquina, who had shattered the ice barrier that had been protecting herself and the gate in an instant, firing the fragments like a claymore, began to fly very quickly towards the Spirit King, who was floating in the air.

Even as she flew, she was still clutching her staff tightly and spamming magic.

“Ah, shit! Those two are about to clash!!”

Karin, shouting fiercely, kicked off the ground, but it was too late.

ㅡZzzzz!!!

At the same moment that Arquina and the Spirit King clashed, an anomaly occurred.

ㅡCrack!!

The size of the gate instantly increased several times over. It became incredibly large. The glacier beyond became clearer and wider. I sensed that we were fucked here.

“…!”

Had they used some kind of trick? Were they trying to widen the passage to the Spirit Realm with that, linking even greater power to themselves? If so, why. Why hadn’t they done it from the beginning, and why were they doing it now?

Thoughts raced through my mind. To win, I had to understand the situation. Something had happened when Arquina and the Spirit King clashed, that was undeniable. If it was already too late, I should at least figure out the situation quickly.

Why were those bastards acting like this now?

Such thoughts continued for a moment.

ㅡSplat!

Right then, a fierce cold wind blew from beyond the gate.

ㅡWhoooooosh!!!

What happened next was astonishing. The rapidly expanding gate began to rapidly `shrink` again. It was like watching a balloon burst. The gate, which had shrunk to its limit, was crumpled like an aluminum can being compressed.

And then it disappeared.

ㅡ…

It was like a flashbang had gone off.
The world turned white.

All of that happened in a very short moment. In that white darkness, I maintained my balance and thrust my sword forward. The sensation of my feet being on the ground was clear.

I hadn’t fallen yet.

When the white darkness cleared and the world returned to normal.

“…You fucking bitch.”

I couldn’t help but utter a curse under my breath.

The gate was gone.
The scenery of the palace was the same.

But there was one thing that had changed in an alien way.

ㅡArquina had disappeared.
ㅡAnd the Spirit King had disappeared.

Instead.

A new son of a bitch stood solemnly before us.

ㅡ…

It was a glacier general clad in ice armor.

Over 2.5 meters tall. The armor, which was incomparably splendid, was a color that seemed to be somewhere between transparent and sky blue, and covered his entire body. On its surface, there was a strange pattern that seemed to be a representation of extreme cold, so it looked pretty cool.

And behind him.

Behind his back were wings like those of an angel.

Each and every feather was made of ice.

“Did this bastard dare to combine?”

XV-mon.
Stingmon.

DNA Digivolution.

“Are you Paildramon?”

I instinctively began to feel that this bastard was incredibly strong. I probably didn’t need to bother speculating that he was definitely more than twice as strong as the Spirit King from before.

Because DNA Digivolution was always super strong.

“How dare you, how dare you…!!! To ruin all of our plans…!!!!”

He seemed extremely angry.

“Even death is not enough for you, you insect-like humans.”

True : Ice Spirit King.

Descent.