the group had been travelling along the path for a while before they came across what seemed to be a large bush in the path. the silence was the only thing that could be heard as snowflakes descended from the sky. they touched the ground that seemed to have been dry till just a moment ago. Marv and Alyssa peered at each other and then gave a warning look at Masha.
Masha understood their warning and slowed down her pace keeping a small distance from the other two. they had discussed earlier that once they came upon something unknown, Masha would keep a certain distance and if ambushed the group could respond with retaliation from Masha while the other two stepped back to properly get ready for the fight.
an amateur strategy at best but one they thought of because...none of them were strategists. the snow that was descending earlier had now stopped as an eerie feeling enveloped Marv and Alyssa. they turned around to try to warn Masha, however, when they turned around all they saw were trees surrounding them with light snow on their branches.
it almost looked like a forest at the beginning of winter and looked almost serene.
if it wasn't for the terrifying auras surrounding the two from every direction other than above and below. the auras were clashing with each other so the number was hard to determine but they were sure of one thing.
the presences were completely focused on them. the forest branches swayed a bit in a light breeze and snow fluttered to the ground. the sound within the forest immediately stopped that second as if time had stopped.
Alyssa was having a look of utter fear on her face as she clearly recognised the presences. Marv had his back to Alyssa's and couldn't see her expression. even though he wasn't too sure of what was going on he knew he had been dragged into some kind of trap.
it was during this moment that a certain overbearing power emerged from the duo's eastern flanks. A creature emerged between two tall trees with its height double that of Marv and Alyssa.
the creature was completely made of ice. it had the figure of a lizard with a long tail that was leaving a trail of frost each time it tapped the ground. the lizard had a muscular build with several small spikes sprouting from its head down to its tail. it had a face made completely of ice with no indications of anything similar to eyes.
it tilted its head to the right as it imitated the action of being...curious?. its aura was so overbearing that Marv was slowly feeling his body going weak. it was nothing serious for now but if prolonged... it was at this moment that a system notification decided to rear its head...
[name: Ice devil Kishan]
[race: Ice devil]
[special race skills: #^#%@&]
[physical condition: @#@$%^]
[mental condition: @#%#^]
[level: 555]
[strength:??]
[agility:??]
[intelligence:??]
[magic presence:!%@$#%( too high to detect)]
----------
"Wha-...WHAT IS THIS!?!?!?!"
Marv couldn't contain his shock within himself as he shouted out loud. making the several power presences surrounding him even Alyssa stop what they were doing and look at him. Alyssa had also seen the message and wasn't too sure of what any of it meant but if she went by what Marv had told her...this devil was far stronger than anything they had ever faced before...if she had to estimate then this being was likely a lower S class monster...something that shouldn't be in the base plane...
she shivered in fear as she remembered that the other presences surrounding them were still present. she knew perfectly well what they were...advanced-tier ice spirits! she had the ability to control the basic-tier elemental spirits but advanced-tier were something else...just one advanced-tier ice spirit had the same power as a hundred basic-tier spirits together and that was if we were talking of the weakest kind.
she looked around her surroundings while lightly tapping Marv's shoulder. when she gained his attention she explained their crisis in full detail and her ashen expression made Marv realize much faster what trouble he was in. he looked back to the giant ice lizard who was now slowly taking steps towards them. Marv looked to his south and then back to his east to look at the devil...he couldn't think of anything and only one thought was in control of his mind...
{RUN!}
he didn't even look back as he hurriedly grabbed Alyssa's wrist and turned around sharply to try to run away... he had lost all sense of reasoning and forgot that there were other beings within the forest.
1.45 seconds.
this was the amount of time it took for our protagonist to forget about the other dangers within the forest all because he was scared. such rationality shouldn't be possible yet he was already scared of this world's antics.
he ran deep into the forest as the body of the giant ice devil disappeared from Alyssa's view. she was relieved but immediately felt scared once more as she realised where they were heading.
"NO MARV!!! THAT PLACE ISN'T SAFE EITH-"
just as she was about to finish her shout a streak of light blue flashed high above them and had now crashed down into the ground causing a short shaking and fluttering of snow. Marv stopped his running and Alyssa looked towards the figure in fear. a powerful aura was coming from it as it was only a few metres away from the duo. all noise stopped within the forest and the other presences that were watching the show had now receded.
Marv felt the snow under his feet...swirling?. that was what it felt like it was doing to Marv but to A Alyssa she knew perfectly well what was happening...
a high-tier ice spirit had arrived.
the next events happened faster than anything Marv had seen in his life. the figure had suddenly disappeared from their view as snow fluttered high into the air from where it once stood. Marv felt a breeze of cold air, brushing his right hand that was holding Alyssa's wrist. he then saw a red streak flash at the corner of his vision. he felt the wrist in his hand suddenly go cold.
he quickly turned around to see what had happened. he held his breath as he saw a half of Alyssa's lifeless body was stuck to a tree with a large blue icicle sticking out of her ample chest. e held her left wrist that was still attached to the arm that was part of half her remaining body.
blobs of blood were slowly sinking into the snow as they descended from Alyssa's ample chest. her body had been sliced from her left shoulder all the way to her right hip in a clean cut.
Marv stared at the part of her he was holding in his hand as he slowly came into realization of what had happened to Alyssa.
it was at this moment that a wave of emotions had taken over Marv. it was just supposed to be a simple monster eradication quest...yet it had turned into Alyssa's death. Marv could have sworn they hadn't been in Paiman village for even a single day...yet Alyssa had died before him in a matter of minutes. nothing fancy like talking with the villains was done...
Alyssa had died
and Marv was emotionally unstable right now...
it was at this moment that the system decided it was time to expose itself to the rest of the world. someone very important to one of its players had just died...it had to retaliate.