Return of the Frozen Player

The concept of Stages was common sense in the universe. Just as it was natural for 160 cm to be longer than 158 cm and 70 kg to be heavier than 50 kg, it was common sense and a strict rule that no one could beat the Absolute.

“...”

A mere human being was challenging common sense as if it weren’t a big deal.

‘How arrogant.’

The Archduke looked at Seo Jun-Ho with interested eyes. If Seo Jun-Ho were a brave and arrogant lunatic, the Archduke wouldn’t have paid much attention to him.

However, Seo Jun-Ho truly had the ability to challenge the universe’s common sense. He had even made the Archduke stand up from his seat, even though he was just a Star Destruction Stage creature back then.

‘His power is certainly dangerous. He must be even more dangerous now that he has risen to the Transcendent Stage.’

The Archduke put his hand on his chest.

“...I see. Is this what being tense and nervous feels like?”

This was the first time the Archduke would fight for his life. In fact, he had never even imagined that he would get hurt. However, Specter made him feel in danger for the first time.

“I appreciate it,” said the Archduke with sincerity. “You made me learn many different emotions. With this, I will be able to make an even more perfect paradise.”

“...Is that so? Then, let me teach you one more thing on top of that.”

“What would that be?”

Seo Jun-Ho turned into darkness instead of answering. However, his human form was perfectly maintained, unlike before, as he had already taken Darken to the next level.

Seo Jun-Ho—no, the amalgamation of darkness flickered like a bonfire as he said, “I’m sure this will be educational...”

‘Because I’m about to teach you death...’

Shwik!

A thin line of darkness caused the throne beneath the Archduke to explode.

“...”

The Archduke reflexively parried the attack. He glanced at his throbbing hand.

He felt that the Watchguard of Darkness was a much more dangerous skill than he thought. Meanwhile, a huge wave of snow manifested from out of nowhere and loomed over him.

“Avalanche!”

Boom!

The Archduke disappeared from Seo Jun-Ho’s sight in an instant upon being struck by Avalanche.

“Contractor!”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho nodded and mustered all of his magic without hesitation.

‘Distributing my power or controlling the pace?’

None of those were important when a Transcendent was attempting to deal with an Absolute. Every single attack had to be extremely powerful in an attempt to kill the Absolute in one fell swoop.

“Hmph!” Seo Jun-Ho unleashed the power that he had been suppressing all this while. A burst of darkness enveloped the small planet they were standing on, and it gripped the planet tightly as if it were an anaconda.

Boom!

The planet exploded, and the shockwaves spread across the universe. The Archduke’s head was floating about in space among what was left of the planet. The Archduke’s eyes were glazed over; he was dead.

“C-contractor! Did we just kill the—” exclaimed the Frost Queen with clenched fists.

“No,” said Seo Jun-Ho with a shake of his head.

[Hero’s Mind (EX) has resisted Land of Illusion (EX)]

[Watchguard of Darkness (EX) bites Land of Illusion (EX)]

[Mirror World: Land of Illusion has been destroyed.]

The world shattered like glass.

Seo Jun-Ho looked up and saw the Archduke sitting on the throne with his chin resting on his hand. He was staring at Seo Jun-Ho with an indifferent expression.

“Hero’s Mind, huh? …How annoying.”

“Did you really think that you can avoid this fight with an obvious trick?”

“Yeah,” the Archduke answered before turning his gaze to the Frost Queen.

The Frost Queen’s resistance to mental-type skills was low, so it took her quite a while to realize what was going on.

“T-that was an illusion? Since when?!” screamed the Frost Queen upon realizing it.

“From the moment you two attacked me,” said the Archduke before turning to look at Seo Jun-Ho once again. “And I’m gonna have to politely decline your teaching. Chaos is the only one who has observed as many deaths as I have.”

“It’s not too bad to experience death at least once.”

“I’ll do that on my own when the time comes.”

Tap, tap.

The Archduke tapped the armrest of his throne with his index finger.

“I enjoyed our short conversation, but let’s wrap it up here,” the Archduke said.

Seo Jun-Ho opened his mouth as he felt the Archduke’s indifferent eyes staring at him.

“Frost, get ready. We’re about to get into a real fight from now on.”

“...”

“Frost?”

He heard no answers. Seo Jun-Ho’s expression turned ugly. He glanced at the Frost Queen next to him and saw that the latter’s expression was blank. She was here, but she was staring into the depths of the desolate universe in a daze.

“She’s not coming back,” said the Archduke.

In just a single clash, the Archduke was able to identify that the Frost Queen was vulnerable to mental-type skill, so it wasn’t strange that he had decided to exploit her weakness.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s living the best life possible.”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho wordlessly bit his lips. ‘If he had locked me and Frost at the same time like earlier, Hero’s Mind would have easily shattered the illusion.’

However, the Archduke had taken an intelligent approach.

He knew that his attack would only work against the Frost Queen.

‘Now I know…’

Seo Jun-Ho finally realized the reason many Transcendents lost against the Archduke—they couldn’t overcome his mind-type skills along with his skill to create a parallel world.

“Recall Spirit,” said Seo Jun-Ho.

[The Spirit cannot be recalled at the moment.]

Seo Jun-Ho tried to break the illusion by recalling the Frost Queen and summoning her again, but it didn’t work.

“...She’ll come back,” Seo Jun-Ho said with clenched fists.

“That is impossible.” The Archduke shook his head and said dryly, “All life is bound to pursue a happy life, and she is not an exception to that constant.”

No one in the world wished to live a miserable life. Just like how people would curse their bad luck, but no one would curse their good luck.

The Archduke pointed at Seo Jun-Ho and said, “And that must be true of you as well. Why are you trying to go against me? I can make everything you wish come true.”

“...You think giving the greatest happiness to the majority will make the perfect world?”

“Are you talking about utilitarianism? That’s funny. My idea is different and unique.”

The Archduke wanted all life to be absolutely happy, and he was willing to be impartial to anyone and bestow upon them happiness so long as they wouldn’t go against him. It didn’t matter if the end was an inevitable destruction, as no one but himself would disappear. No one would learn of his disappearance as well.

“...Then, what will you have if you go that far?”

“Nothing.” The Archduke shook his head. “I have lived a very, very long life—one that you can’t even imagine. I started as a fragment of evil, but I’m already at the point where I have no idea whether I’m evil or good.”

The Archduke felt terrible vanity radiating from the universe.

“The history of the universe repeats itself. As long as life exists, the meaningless battles will repeat.”

The Archduke saw many different fights regardless of one’s status, nationality, religion, race, sex, and ideology—and he had become exhausted of all of it. He had also realized its ephemerality.

“So you’re going to destroy the universe to stop all that fighting? That’s no different from burning the entire house just to catch bed bugs.”

“Do you have a better way to stop all that fighting?”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho went silent.

The Archduke’s question was a question that couldn’t be answered.

“Your question itself is wrong. Why are you trying to stop everyone from fighting?”

“So you think those pathetic quarrels are fine? I don’t think that’s something the hero of mankind should say.”

“I’m not saying that it’s right or wrong. I’m asking why you’re trying to control it.”

The Archduke said that there was no need for people to fight and struggle.

In other words, even though someone would inevitably think that love was meaningless in this world, no madman had ever stopped every love from blooming throughout the universe.

The reason was simple.

“Neither does one deserve to control such a thing, nor do they have the right to do so.”

The Archduke smirked. “Why do you think I don’t have the right to do so?”

“...You think you have the right?”

“Of course I do. The law of the jungle has existed since time immemorial. The weak follow the orders of the strong.”

Snap!

The Archduke snapped his fingers, causing countless texts and pictures to appear.

“These are the beings that have been called tyrants in history. Some of them are humans on Earth. They trampled, violated, and controlled the ideas and freedoms of everyone else to their heart’s content because they were strong enough.

”On the contrary, those below them were weak. They were so weak that they didn’t dare to raise their voice, as they were worried about the consequences.”

The Archduke flung the texts away, and they eventually disappeared.

“I’m strong—strong enough to fight the entire universe. That’s why I’m trying to seize control.”

“...I finally understand,” said Seo Jun-Ho with a nod.

“Really?” The Archduke was delighted. “Do you finally understand me?”

“Yes, I do. But I will never agree with you.”

The Archduke had never cared about whether he was right or wrong.

He was simply doing what he wanted because he was strong.

“And my answer remains unchanged. I have to stop your ridiculous plan.”

“Only death awaits you if you don’t submit to my world.”

“I’d rather die…” Seo Jun-Ho—no, the darkness—quivered violently. “...than to live in such an absurd world just to become someone else’s smiling doll.”

“...I respect your decision.” The Archduke snapped his fingers. “Come.”

Seo Jun-Ho turned into a ray of darkness that flew toward the Archduke.

The Archduke cast a total of seventeen mental-type skills onto Seo Jun-Ho in the proverbial blink of an eye.

[Hero’s Mind (EX) has resisted Land of Illusion (EX)]

[Hero’s Mind (EX) has resisted Land of Illusion (EX)]

[Hero’s Mind (EX) has resisted Land of Illusion (EX)]

Hero’s Mind (EX) shredded the Archduke’s mental-type attacks into pieces.

“...” Seo Jun-Ho exhaled at length. His breathing was calm, and he was breathing as if he were a man who had just come out of his house to take a stroll around the neighborhood.

‘Faster.’

His fists ruthlessly struck the Archduke’s indifferent face like rain.

‘Sharper.’

No noise could be heard, as the two were faster than sound itself. By the time the noises of their clashes were generated, the two were already on a different side of the planet.

‘Stronger!’

Each of Seo Jun-Ho’s attacks was capable of parting seas and collapsing mountains, and his attacks struck the Archduke with every step he took. His fists moved smoothly, akin to snakes, as they struck the Archduke’s stomach, chest, collarbone, and throat.

“Is this what pain feels like?” The Archduke wiped the blood flowing down his neck. For some reason, he didn’t block Seo Jun-Ho’s attack to his throat. “It’s red.”

The Archduke finally learned that his blood had the same color as humanity’s blood. He looked up and stared at Seo Jun-Ho.

“It’s about time we wrap this up,” said the Archduke.

Snap!

Seo Jun-Ho’s left arm disappeared.

“...!”

Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth and mustered his magic.

‘Rewind.’

He had just turned back time when a huge hole appeared on the right side of his torso.

‘Rewind!’

Seo Jun-Ho turned back time dozens of times, but he never succeeded in dodging the Archduke’s attacks.

“It’s all meaningless.”

Fwoosh!

Another hole was made in Seo Jun-Ho’s torso, this time on his abdomen.

“...Huff, huff.”

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t use Rewind, as it was pointless to turn back time.

‘I need to manage my magic.’

He had no plans on controlling the pace of the fight between him and the Archduke; he was still going to go all-out. However, he had to leave enough magic to use the Watchguard of Darkness at least once the moment the Frost Queen came back.

“Seriously?” the Archduke smirked upon seeing through Seo Jun-Ho’s thoughts. “Do you still believe that she’ll come back?”

“...Frost will come back.”

Seo Jun-Ho raised his fists.

A gaping hole was in his stomach, and he was losing a lot of blood. The wound was healing in a snail’s space, and the pain was excruciating. However, pain couldn’t destroy his faith and pride.

“I promised.” Seo Jun-Ho had promised the 8th Floor’s Frost Queen and Sung-Jun that he would end this fight no matter what.

“You’re so stupid that even I feel sorry for you. You’re still trying to keep a promise?”

“...I never break my promises.”

‘Promises are made to be kept. I even made a pinky swear.’

“...” The Archduke frowned and went silent. He didn’t feel this way even when Seo Jun-Ho was ruthlessly punching him and when Seo Jun-Ho destroyed his Land of Illusion.

‘But I guess I’m displeased now…’ The Archduke couldn’t quite grasp Seo Jun-Ho’s faith, and he couldn’t stand the sight of it. He felt disgusted and displeased, so he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

“It’s about time you disappear.”

‘Meteor Strike.’

Multiple rifts appeared in the space above the two, and the dimensional rifts spat out hundreds of meteoroids.

“Haaa… huff.” Seo Jun-Ho was gasping for air, and he looked up to see the space above him packed to the brim with hundreds of meteors.

The meteors shone brightly like shooting stars as they made a beeline for him.

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