Chapter 89: Fury
Aurelius’ gaze briefly glossed over the many frozen prisons. Then, his mind stirred subtly.
Spirit rushed toward his arms and flowed into the trident, urging one of its two accompanying abilities.
The response to this was immediate.
Several overlapping cracking sounds echoed, overwriting every other sound in the plain.
In unison, large fractures started to spread along the prisons of ice.
The wide-open eyes of the monsters sealed within flashed with terror.
Their bodies began to tremble, as though they were ready to struggle for one last time.
Unfortunately, it was already too late by then.
The second ability of Frozen Prison appeared to be a conceptual ability.
Once an enemy was sealed inside the ice and they were of the same Rank as Aurelius, they could be directly obliterated with just a thought.
And all these monsters just so happened to satisfy the exact conditions.
Crack. Crack.
Bang!
Fragments of ice scattered everywhere only moments later.
The outermost prisons were the first to burst apart.
Under Selene’s incredulous gaze, both the ice and the monsters inside suddenly exploded.
The chime of bells echoed continuously in Aurelius’ head, accompanied by notifications in his field of vision.
[Killed a Level 23 Gale Wolf. EXP +350]
[Killed a Level 24 Frost Serpent. EXP +350]
[Killed...]
They showed no intention of stopping, one overwriting the previous one.
The frozen prisons continuously exploded, starting from those at the edge of the plain and continuing toward its center.
The closer the destruction got to Aurelius, the more powerful the monsters killed became.
The more EXP they provided.
Until finally, the only ice prison that remained was the giant serpent a few feet away from Aurelius.
As he raised his head, he happened to meet the monster’s eyes.
He sensed the cruelty representative of all monsters deep inside of them, as well as fear and a sense of pleading.
It had obviously understood what fate awaited it and was begging that Aurelius would spare its life.
Unfortunately for it, Aurelius wasn’t prepared to show any mercy.
With a final move of his mind, the last prison cage also began to shatter.
Then...
"Hiss!"
Bang!
A high-pitched cry echoed before it was quickly overwhelmed by the sound of another explosion.
Then came another chime.
[Killed Level 39 Midgard Serpent. EXP +1500]
With it, all the monsters were dead.
Aurelius’ Experience had reached a new height as a result.
He had never possessed so much Experience before.
It seemed that besides the Epic Relic, these monsters were the greatest source of wealth in the entire Goblin Mountains. At least for him.
While Aurelius was taking stock of the harvest, the phenomena around him dispersed.
With the Epic Relic now being owned, the freezing power permeating the plain had lost its source.
The ice rapidly melted while the temperature slowly returned to normal.
The process started at the plain and spread through the rest of the Goblin Mountains.
Aurelius sighed as he watched this happen.
Although it was the power of a Relic and not of an Awakener, the Sea God’s Trident had fully showcased the kind of power that true powerhouses wielded.
An entire mountain had been affected just by the power a Relic instinctively emitted.
If an Awakener were to use it, destroying entire cities would be effortless.
The trace of pride that had arisen in Aurelius’ heart faded away.
He knew that an Epic Relic was far from enough to allow him to act recklessly. Much less a Relic that had been sealed and whose power he could not fully unleash.
Aurelius shook his head.
He glanced at the woman beside him.
Selene had already approached him unknowingly.
She stood only a few feet away, staring at him with shining eyes filled with curiosity.
She went as far as to circle around him while sizing him up, like a kid who was meeting an animal for their very first time.
"What’s wrong?" Aurelius couldn’t help but ask.
Selene shook her head.
"Nothing. I just want to see what is so special about you," she answered, following a brief pause.
"How could you have possibly gained the Relic’s approval with your little strength?"
"Is there something unique about you?"
Her voice was filled with curiosity and appreciation.
It sounded like praise.
But the actual content of her words left Aurelius speechless.
Why did it seem as though Selene had never trusted him to succeed?
Had she brought him here just to try her luck?
Recalling the final part of the "trial" and how no Rank 2 Awakener could have possibly completed it, Aurelius had a hunch that this might indeed have been the case.
Was this all an experiment?
Immediately, the thought to thrust the trident into her face took root in his mind.
Fortunately for her, he ultimately suppressed it.
Ignoring her inquiring gaze, he placed the Sea God’s Trident into the System Inventory and changed the topic of the conversation.
"Alright. You’ve completed your sign of our agreement. Now it’s time for me to complete mine."
"We agreed that you will help me obtain the Epic Relic, provided that I help you do something afterward."
"So... What is it that you need my help with?"
These words brought Selene back to reality.
Her footsteps stopped, and her curiosity turned into solemnity.
She didn’t answer directly.
"Haven’t you noticed something strange?" she asked in return.
"The name of this place is Goblin Mountains. Yet so far, we haven’t met a single one of their kind."
"You don’t actually believe they all ran away, do you?" Selene shook her head.
She gave him no time to respond and continued,
"More importantly, don’t you find it strange that none of the monsters vying to obtain the trident were goblins?"
"Is it because they didn’t know of its existence? Impossible! This mountain is ruled by them."
"It’s because they have other plans for it."
As soon as Selene finished speaking, Aurelius felt the earth beneath his feet tremble violently.
He instinctively raised his head to look at the horizon.
There, he could see a tiny black silhouette cutting through the darkness. It was rapidly approaching the plain.
When it drew closer, moments later, its true identity was revealed before him.
At the same time, a voice filled with fury and resentment reached his ears.
"Who?! Who has stolen my Relic?"