CHAPTER 744: 586 "ICE LADY

"Hm?"

Just as Sgranot harbored malicious thoughts, the girl seemed to sense something and abruptly turned her head to look at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

The girl’s icy blue eyes stared intently at Sgranot, causing an involuntary shiver in his heart.

This woman, just as before, had a frighteningly sharp sixth sense.

She always noticed things that even he failed to perceive, and this had been demonstrated more than once since they entered the ruins.

Of course, being perceptive was one thing.

The problem was that the woman’s strength was also formidable.

Although only 25 years old, she had become a Sword Saint three years prior, touted as the youngest and most talented on the continent before Reiger Brillhaut emerged, and in these three years, she had continuously made shocking battle achievements.

Two years ago, she had defeated a seasoned Sword Saint.

One year prior, she fought alone against two Sword Saints and ultimately emerged victorious.

In her own country, she was hailed as a Martial Goddess. Not only enormously popular but also holding a lofty status with countless supporters.

Because of her inhuman growth rate and astonishing battle record, she was granted the position of leader of the national Knight Order, managing and commanding all the knights of the nation, truly second to none.

To speak frankly, Sgranot was not confident he could defeat this woman.

Especially since she carried an extremely terrifying artifact.

Thinking of this, Sgranot glanced subtly at the weapon at the girl’s waist, his eyes filled with wariness.

If this woman weren’t so difficult to handle, would she have been allowed to appear time and again in Xinyeleri?

Personally, having another Sword Saint in Xinyeleri aside from himself was not good news at all, not to mention she was also eyeing the Ancient City’s treasures.

So, if he could have dealt with her, wouldn’t Sgranot have made his move long ago, instead of waiting until now?

With the fire dragon present, Sgranot was even less willing to take action against this unfathomable woman, for fear of unexpected events.

Therefore, he had to suppress his various thoughts, turned his head away, and stopped speaking.

The girl gave Sgranot a profound look but didn’t say anything more, retracting her gaze and continuing to watch the magical constructs at work.

The atmosphere between the two began to grow subtly tense as if an invisible barrier had emerged between them.

Only the magical constructs continued their diligent collection of gold powder from the Nibelungen Pillar.

On closer observation, they sometimes circumvented the runes on the gold pillar, other times scraping off one or two runes in the process.

Thanks to this, the radiance from the runic gold pillar seemed to dim slightly, causing the dragon might emanating from the ancient fire dragon below to become even more intense.

"...Are you sure this is okay? Won’t the seal on this dragon be broken?"

Sgranot’s complexion had become somewhat anxious.

"Not at all." The girl replied coldly, her gaze fixed on the fire dragon, saying, "According to the ancient books collected by ’Celestial Hunt,’ the seal of the Fire Dragon King relies not solely on the Nibelungen Pillar."

"The Nibelungen Pillar is just a part of the seal, the actual seal for the Fire Dragon King is the ruins itself."

"The last queen of Reinnaier ordered the construction of these ruins before dying, and the ruins themselves are a large artifact."

"The true purpose of the artifact is to seal the Fire Dragon King. The Nibelungen Pillar just binds the king underground. Even if there is an issue with the pillar, and the Fire Dragon King awakens, it cannot leave these ruins."

In other words, unless the ruins are destroyed, this ancient fire dragon certainly cannot be unsealed.

Of course...

"The seal won’t break, but if there’s a problem with the Nibelungen Pillar, it’s very likely that the Fire Dragon King will awaken. To be on the safe side, you’d better be ready to flee at any moment."

The words casually spoken by the girl made Sgranot’s eyes widen with anger.

"You never mentioned this before we came in...!"

Sgranot glared at the girl.

"It’s just a precaution, not a certainty," the girl replied disdainfully, looking at Sgranot, "Aren’t you an experienced Sword Saint? Can’t you take even this small risk?"

Sgranot nearly cursed out loud.

This small risk?

Is this a small risk?

This is a potentially fatal danger!

This detestable woman... should never have cooperated with her!

While Sgranot cursed inwardly with rage, finally, the magical constructs finished their task.

"Swoosh!"

"Swoosh!"

"Swoosh!"

They each sliced through the searing air to swoop forth, approaching the girl and handing her a box.

"Did it work?"

The girl’s eyes lit up as she reached out for the box.

Sgranot, however, first looked toward the ancient fire dragon, and seeing no sign of it awakening, he too felt relieved.

Just as the girl’s hand was about to touch the box, her action suddenly paused.

Then, without any warning, the girl swung her hand that was reaching for the box to the side.

There, another hand had silently appeared.

"Boom!"

The next second, both hands violently collided, setting off a muffled explosion and shockwave that pushed them apart.

The girl staggered backwards several steps from the impact.

The owner of the sudden hand had also been pushed back a distance, appearing in everyone’s line of sight.

"What?"

Sgranot had yet to react, only his expression changing color.

The magical puppets trembled all over, beginning to retreat one after another.

It took a good while for the people present to realize what had happened.

"...Who?"

The girl clutched her reddened wrist and coldly looked ahead.

Sgranot also hastily looked over, his expression changing once again.

"Reiger Brillhaut...!"

The person who had acted so suddenly was, naturally, Reiger, who had been hiding in the darkness.

"Reiger Brillhaut?" The girl was also taken aback. Her ice-blue eyes slightly wavering, she asked, "You are Reiger Brillhaut?"

Reiger said nothing, only lifting his head to look at the girl and Sgranot.

In his arms, Liz had been set down and was looking nervously at the napping fire dragon.

"Why are you here?"

As the saying goes, foes were particularly sore to the eye. Seeing Reiger suddenly appear in such a place, in front of himself, Sgranot’s eyes instantly reddened.

"Why shouldn’t I be here?" Reiger said calmly, "Does the City Lord think I would be scared off by so-called taboos?"

"As for you, despite issuing a ban forbidding anyone from entering this Ancient Ruin under penalty of severe punishment, you sneak around leading a group of suspicious people here. What do you call that?"

"Do only officials get to start fires while ordinary people aren’t allowed to light lamps?"

"How interesting."

Hearing this, Sgranot’s face turned exceedingly ugly.

Of course, it wasn’t because Reiger had refuted him.

In Sinyelle, his word was law, absolute commands that none could defy. Who dared to publicly accuse him of wrongdoing?

He was the issuer of the rules, naturally not limited by them. He fancied going to the Ancient Ruin whenever he pleased. Who could object?

What truly unsettled him was not Reiger’s trivial words, but Reiger’s calm demeanor as if he did not even see him. That was what enraged Sgranot the most.

But at this moment, Reiger had lost interest in him, as if he had grown bored, and turned his gaze to the girl.

The girl was also looking at him.

Their eyes met, one calm, the other cold, but both equally young and powerful, creating an oppressive atmosphere that made it hard for others to breathe.

After a moment, Reiger slowly spoke.

"’Ice Maiden’?"

———’Ice Maiden’.

Upon hearing this title, the girl’s pretty eyebrows immediately twitched.

"...You actually know this name?"

The way the girl looked at Reiger started to change.

"It isn’t hard to guess," Reiger said indifferently. "I’ve been inside the body of the underground beast Yarakulon and reached the Ancient City, seen Maya, all thanks to you."

"Maya already told me that before we entered, she had been deceived by seven mysterious individuals."

"’Sky Hunter’, ’Giant Soldier’, ’Tyrant’, ’Ba Snake’, ’Trillion’, ’Fire Maiden’, ’Ice Maiden’... those were the names they claimed for themselves."

"And you don’t look anything like the chatty matron Maya mentioned, so naturally, you must be the so-called ’Ice Maiden’ who has been following behind ’Fire Maiden’."

Considering personal characteristics, she was very similar to the ’Ice Maiden’.

According to Maya, this ’Ice Maiden’ was a beautiful girl around twenty, always cold and unapproachable, never wanting to socialize with anyone.

This aligned with the cold demeanor of the girl before him.

So, upon seeing the magical puppets and learning of the girl’s existence from their memories, Reiger guessed that this woman must indeed be the ’Ice Maiden’ among the seven: ’Sky Hunter’, ’Giant Soldier’, ’Tyrant’, ’Ba Snake’, ’Trillion’, ’Fire Maiden’, ’Ice Maiden’.

Now it seemed his guess was correct.

"Maya... huh?"

The girl spoke emotionlessly.

"I see, so you got the information from that woman. No wonder."

"It’s a pity, this wasn’t information that should have been easily obtained by anyone. I didn’t expect you’d get it so effortlessly."

"It’s all ’Trillion’s’ damn mess he made, when I return, I’ll make sure he pays for it."

This was as good as an admission.

She was indeed one of the masterminds behind the magical puppets.

And also the enemy Reiger was seeking.