On the Ark.

Oh no, we've been in this state for too long, and the backlash is coming ahead of schedule.

It was a tearing pain, as if her body was being ripped apart. The prolonged use of Originium Arts had further burdened Frostnova, causing new Originium crystals to pierce her flesh and grow out of her body. She gritted her teeth tightly to keep from groaning in pain.

Copperhammer witnessed this scene. He had initially suspected Frostnova was bluffing, but seeing the blood-stained Originium crystals piercing through his clothes and growing out, he knew it wasn't. This excited him once again, and he threw Aesop aside, laughing loudly, "You wretched woman, you finally couldn't hold on!"

As he spoke, the muscles all over his body swelled up again, returning him to his previous state, and he broke the icicles on his legs.

"Perfect timing, I've recovered too." Copper Hammer smashed the ice beside him with another punch, took out his warhammer, and then charged at Frostnova. "Watch me smash you into mincemeat!"

Froststar slowly raised her head, a hint of coldness and determination flashing in her gray pupils.

Since time is running out, we must take this biggest threat away no matter what.

Despite the excruciating pain throughout her body, Froststar reached out to Copper Hammer once more.

But before they could activate Originium Arts, another anomaly occurred.

boom!

A loud bang.

The bar's ceiling suddenly exploded, and ice and rubble rained down.

At the same time, sunlight fell, along with a gray-white figure bathed in its light.

The copper hammer, charging forward, had no chance to dodge and collided with the grayish-white sound. A second later, he let out a scream and staggered backward.

Clang.

That's the sound of a warhammer striking the ice, and there's a broken hand on the handle of the warhammer.

"I found you so quickly." A gentle voice rang in both Froststar and Copperhammer's ears at the same time. "I thought it would take a while... I guess it's true that it's a side quest, it's definitely easier than a regular quest."

The woman with long, gray-white hair and deep red eyes stared at the terrified Tongchui and slowly said, "Hello, Mobile 200,000."

As she spoke, she turned her head again, glanced at Froststar, and frowned slightly.

"who are you?"

……

……

Author's note: Since some people might say that I deliberately weakened Frostnova, let me explain. Actually, I didn't weaken her. Compared to the game's storyline, I just moved Frostnova's physical limits forward a bit, which can be considered as locking her combat power.

As for last night… I was absolutely terrified. I was about to go to the hospital. Then a doctor relative called and said it would be better to stay home and observe. So I stayed home and observed. At that time, I didn't have a cough or anything, just a stomachache, dizziness, and a low-grade fever (only 37.1 to 37.3 degrees Celsius). It might not be a big deal normally, but at that time I was panicked and really felt uncomfortable. My family had me try all sorts of folk remedies, like soaking my feet in ginger water. Although I felt really bad last night and couldn't sleep, thankfully I felt completely better this morning.

I'm sorry for making everyone worry.

Chapter 496 Familiar Frozen Realm (Third Update)

"Excuse me, could you please make way?"

Lin Ye was in a real bind because Skadi had left him behind to earn extra money.

Twenty minutes earlier, they had just arrived in the town of Sap, disembarked from the tractor, and hadn't even found a place to stay when they bumped into Chris, the head of the bounty hunter branch in the area. When Chris saw Skadi, he was initially taken aback, but then immediately showed an expression of warm affection, as if he were seeing his mother. Lin Ye felt that he looked like he wanted to rush over and hug Skadi.

But Skadi's reputation and her greatsword still held sway, so Chris dared not act rashly. He'd already lost a finger and probably didn't want to lose his entire arm as well, so he restrained his excitement. Then he was puzzled, because less than two hours after he'd called the coastal branch, Skadi had already arrived. That was incredibly fast; had she fallen from the sky?

It wasn't until Lin Ye explained his purpose that Chris understood the reason, and then he couldn't help but sigh, "This is fate."

Lin Ye didn't quite understand what Chris meant, and Chris ignored Lin Ye and said to Skadi, "You should have received the message from the coastal branch, right? The mission target is in the bar behind me, a man named Copper Hammer. Bring his head to me, and you can get 200,000 Lungmen Dollars."

So Skadi went, and only now does Lin Ye realize that Skadi's side job is actually—murder?

This inevitably made him somewhat concerned, not so much about Skadi's safety. Even the monsters of the deep sea couldn't do anything to Skadi, so in Lin Ye's view, no human could possibly defeat her. What he was concerned about was that Chris hadn't told Skadi who she was going to kill, and Skadi went anyway. What if the other person was just an innocent ordinary person who had only had a minor disagreement with Chris?

Although Lin Ye's awareness of human life was much weaker after his rebirth compared to his previous life—his own hands were covered in blood, because that's how the world was—he still hadn't abandoned his most basic moral values. He didn't want Skadi to become someone who would disregard human life for money, so he chose to chase after her to see who Skadi's target really was.

However, catching up with Skadi was no easy task. When Lin Ye arrived at the bar's main entrance, he found it already packed with people.

The crowd could be roughly divided into two groups: one group consisted of sorcerers dressed in greyish-white robes, and the other group had no uniform attire. The two sides were locked in combat. In terms of raw strength, the sorcerers clearly had the advantage, but in terms of numbers, the other side was superior. Moreover, the sorcerers' limitations were inherent; when engaged in close combat, their staves became largely ineffective. Lin Ye then saw many sorcerers abandon their Originium Arts altogether, picking up nearby bricks and banging them against their opponents, surprisingly managing to exchange blows, which only made the scene more chaotic.

Skadi entered directly from the roof of the bar, cleaving it open with her greatsword – quite her style. Lin Ye, however, couldn't possibly replicate that move and could only watch enviously before turning to look at Exusiai standing beside him, eating candy.

"Is there any way to get me in?" Lin Ye asked Exusiai.

Exusiai glanced at Lin Ye and silently took out Vector.

"Forget it, forget it." Lin Ye pressed down on Exusiai's hand and said, "It's not worth it, Miss Exusiai, you should rein in your killing intent."

Exusiai rolled her eyes and said, "I won't hit their heads, but I can hit their hands and feet too."

"Why would we break someone's arms and legs for no reason?" Lin Ye said, speechless. "Your angelic thoughts are too cruel."

"The way you talk is just like our boss. I feel like I'm in Lungmen instead of Ursus." Exusiai shrugged and said, "I didn't say I was going to break their arms and legs. Do you think I only brought live ammunition? Please, if we used live ammunition in Lungmen, we would have been kicked out long ago."

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment: "You mean..."

Exusiai removed the magazine, waved it in front of Lin Ye, and said with a smile, "Gum bullets."

Lin Ye was overjoyed: "Great! Then you cover me as I go in. If it's you, you can definitely do it."

"Hmm, although I don't really like you, I like what you said at the end." Exusiai said with a grin, "This is nothing to me. I'll count to three, and you can just rush in without a care in the world."

Lin Ye took a deep breath and nodded: "Okay."

"One, two, three, go!" Exusiai pulled the trigger, and rubber bullets immediately poured out of the muzzle.

"...Holy crap!" Lin Ye didn't expect the countdown to start so quickly, but luckily he was prepared and rushed out immediately.

This kind of cooperation actually requires a great deal of trust. After all, the distance between Exusiai's gun and the enemy was far less than the distance between her and Lin Ye, yet Lin Ye still entrusted his back to her. This wasn't just trust in her marksmanship, but also in her character—that she wouldn't retaliate against him at a time like this. And Exusiai truly didn't; every single shot she fired hit the person trying to shield Lin Ye, not a single bullet wasted.

After running out of bullets, Lin Ye rushed into the bar as he wished, as if the hundred or so people blocking the bar did not exist.

He immediately turned around, wanting to give Exusiai a thumbs up, but saw Exusiai smiling and aiming at him, and he immediately felt a sense of foreboding.

The next second, he felt a hard slap on his buttock, so painful that he almost jumped up.

Damn, this angel is definitely not going to let him off so easily.

Lin Ye gritted his teeth and rushed into the bar.

"A brat has sneaked in!" By the time the Yeti Squad members spotted Lin Ye, it was too late to stop him. They could only watch helplessly as he rushed into the bar.

Upon entering the bar, he was stunned to see the passageway in front of him, which had turned into an ice cave.

"What the heck is this?" Lin Ye couldn't help but exclaim. "Is it Frozen?"

Of course, this was just a sarcastic remark; Lin Ye already knew that this phenomenon could only be created by Originium Arts. However, he had never seen such powerful Originium Arts before; it seemed to have frozen the entire bar.

Hmm... frozen?

A few fragments suddenly flashed through Lin Ye's mind, and he stopped involuntarily, muttering to himself:

"It couldn't be her, could it..."

……

……

Author's Note: 92 chapters still owed. Thank you to all the readers who have given me rewards during this time~ And a special thank you to the four new adorable readers, "Banana Oil Little Ball", "Cicada Chrysanthemum", "Rover彡", and "Ciderel". I haven't checked the rankings in a long time and didn't even notice that there are four more adorable readers lol.

Chapter 497 Even God Can't Save Him? (First Update)

The situation became complicated.

Copper Hammer stared intently at Skadi, who had suddenly appeared, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

He was so close to killing that woman, so very close. If he had just killed her, everything would have been fine. With his recovery ability, he could have been back to peak condition in just over ten minutes. Then he could have dealt with everyone else. But it just so happened to be at the most crucial moment.

Copper Hammer, clutching his wound, slowly stood up and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you that woman's accomplice?"

Skadi had been focusing her attention on Frostnova, but after hearing Copperhammer's words, she turned to look at him.

"So you're Copper Hammer?" Skadi said calmly. "I hope I haven't mistaken you for someone else."

Copperhammer suddenly realized something, his eyes widening: "You're the bounty hunter Chris hired...?!"

Skadi did not speak.

But Copperhammer already knew the answer. If Skadi and Frostnova were on the same side, there was no reason for her to wait until Frostnova was in this state before showing up, and even then, she showed no intention of helping her. So, since Skadi wasn't on Frostnova's side and was there to cause him trouble, Copperhammer could only think of the "number one bounty hunter" that Chris had found.

Damn it, that guy moved so fast! Did he prepare the commission all along, just waiting for him to reveal his hand?

Copper Hammer gritted his teeth.

It just so happens to be at this time.

He was starting to regret going after Chris today. Although he had been so focused on Frostnova that Skadi had dislocated his arm in that brief exchange, Skadi's swordsmanship in that instant showed she was no ordinary opponent. Having lost his right arm, Copperhammer had no idea how to fight Skadi; ​​it seemed like he was in a hopeless situation.

With no other option, he could only lower his head and beg for mercy again, slowly raising his remaining hand to show that he had no will to fight: "Please, spare me. I'm willing to compensate for all the losses caused to the bounty hunter division!"

Skadi frowned slightly; she hadn't expected her opponent to beg for mercy. Her usual opponents were mostly silent. This plea seemed rather pointless to her, so she sheathed her sword, picked up the warhammer lying beside her, and walked towards the bronze hammer. Under the bronze hammer's panicked gaze, she put the hammer down.

“Pick up your weapon,” Skadi said curtly. “I only use one hand.”

With that, she turned around and walked toward Froststar.

This move left Copper Hammer somewhat bewildered. He never expected Skadi to give him another chance when she had victory completely in her grasp. What was this? Was it utter contempt for him, or extreme pride? Copper Hammer felt it was both, because he was also that kind of person, and he knew that since Skadi had said that, she would definitely not let him off the hook.

So he gritted his teeth, gripped the handle of the warhammer again, and stared intently at Skadi's back, like a wild beast about to fight to the death.

Skadi, seemingly oblivious to everything, walked straight to Frostnova's side, looked down at him, and slowly said, "I don't know if you can still hear me, but you should know that your body has reached its limit. If you're willing, I can help you. I'll cut off your head before you self-destruct, making your death easier."

Frostnova remained silent, for she was speechless; she had overestimated her body's resilience. The newly formed Originium crystals pierced her flesh, leaving her bleeding profusely. Simultaneously, the Originium crystals within her continued to expand, seemingly threatening to devour all her internal organs. She desperately tried to resist, but to no avail; the crystallization was too intense, beyond any hope of recovery.

She could only lift her head with difficulty and look at Skadi standing in the sunlight.

Three or four years ago, on the outskirts of Chernobog, she experienced a similar situation. Back then, a person standing in the sunlight saved her; is it now a person standing in the sunlight who will end her life?

Actually, it's not so bad. Because of Originium Arts, she hasn't felt the warmth of the sun for a long time, only endless cold surrounding her. If she could pass away basking in the sunlight, it would probably be a very good ending for her.

It's a pity that she failed to achieve any of the three goals she promised.

What a failed leader...

Froststar used all her strength to utter the last few syllables: "Please, please."

Skadi nodded, then slowly drew the black greatsword from behind her.

"I hope you'll have an easier life in your next life," Skadi said softly, then raised her sword.

However, just as he was about to strike, a familiar voice rang out in the bar.