The men tilted their heads in confusion. What did this guy mean when he talked about flooding the ice fields with lava and changing the climate itself?

Danesh scoffed and said, “That’s impossible. Are you telling us that you plan to divert the lava from the south all the way up here?”

The lava fields in the south were so far away that it had taken them nearly a week to walk all the way to the north, and it would certainly be impossible to divert the lava across such a distance.

Harpoon stomped his foot on the frozen, almost rock-solid snow and said, “Are you planning to dig up the lava underneath the snow? Well, I’m hoping that that’s not what you meant by digging. There’s no way lava would exist somewhere this cold, right? Besides, even though there was lava underneath the snow, I’m sure it wouldn’t be at a depth we could simply dig through. I know we’re strong, but the rocks here become harder the deeper you go.”

Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and said, “We can’t dig for lava beneath the ground.”

“Then where are you going to bring the lava from?” Harpoon asked.

“We’ll dig it from the ceiling,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What did you say just now…?” the men asked in unison, feeling extremely confused.

***

The party walked for quite a while before hearing a loud, thundering sound fill the air.

Booom! Creaaak… Creaakk… Creak…

“It’s a crevasse,” Henrick said while looking at a crack in the glacier ahead of them.

Iris tilted her head in confusion and asked, “What’s a crevasse?”

“It’s a crack that happens in icy ground or glaciers. Your chances of survival would be close to nil if you fell in there,” Henrick said.

The party had entered a field covered with crevasses, which would make it extremely difficult for them to cross safely. On top of that, the crevasses were growing wider by the minute.

Kang Yoon-Soo took out shovels from his backpack and said, “You guys, dig and make a ditch here.”

“Are you joking with us right now?” the men protested.

It was highly risky to dig a hole in a field of crevasses, as the ground could collapse on them any time and gobble them up. It did not matter how strong the men were; the fact that it was an insane risk to take would not change.

“You have to do this if you want to kill the Dragon of Destruction,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Still…” the men muttered hesitantly.

“You won’t be able to survive here underground if you don’t take risks. Trust me,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Damn it… I keep getting convinced by this guy… It feels as if I’m getting knowingly tricked by him…” the men grumbled before letting out a sigh and hesitantly grabbing their shovels.

Kang Yoon-Soo placed Henrick, who was the most skilled among them when it came to crafting and building things, in charge of the task. He said, “Make the seam of the ditch touch the edge of the crevasse.”

“That’s not difficult, but why?” Henrick asked.

“We have to fill it with lava,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Henrick still looked confused for a while, but he shrugged and said, “Well, this isn’t the first time you’re pulling off a crazy stunt. It would be better for my mental health to just do as you tell me.”

Then, he extended his mana threads, wrapping them around himself and the forty-seven men with him to prevent any of them from falling to their demise. He ordered the men, “Don’t get flustered, and just stick to the walls in the event that the ground starts to crack open. Don’t just keep digging the ground like a moron either; space it out evenly along the sides, too.”

The blind swordmaster, Hekal voiced his discontent with Henrick’s orders. “We listened to that young man called Kang Yoon-Soo for some reason, but who the hell are you to order us around?”

“The former Royal Artisan of the royal princess,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What? You used to work in the royal palace?” Hekal asked in surprise. He had worked in the royal palace himself as a swordmaster until he lost his vision.

“Then you must know some news about him, the captain of the First Order of the Imperial Knights. How is he doing? Is he doing well?” Hekal asked.

“Of course! Do you think that old man who’s stronger than the devil himself would have died or something? He’s doing fine, talking about weird things with his grandson as always,” Henrick replied.

Hekal burst out into laughter and said, “He’s the best knight on the continent even if you take into account future generations. I’m certain that all of us here wouldn’t be able to win against Helkin if he drew his sword.”

Danesh’s eyebrows rose as he said, “That’s surprising coming from you, Hekal. This is the first time I’m hearing you praise another swordsman without any reservations.”

Hekal smiled and pointed at the scar across his eyes before saying, “The thing that took both of these eyes was Helkin’s sword.”

“Are you telling me you lost in a contest of swords?” Danesh asked, sounding distinctly skeptical. After all, Hekal’s swordsmanship was the best among the men despite his blindness.

Hekal nodded and replied, “I failed to hold back my boiling blood in my younger days and challenged him to a duel, which I ended up losing. That’s also the reason why I retired as a sword instructor in the royal palace. I roamed around the continent before getting abducted and sent here. Ah, I should consider getting revenge on him once I manage to reach the surface.” Rather than burning with vengeance, he simply seemed full of excitement.

Henrick clapped and said, “Now, let’s stop the chit-chat and get to work.”

“I’ll melt the snow to make it easier for you guys to dig through,” Shaneth said.

The men began shoveling the snow Shaneth melted, and they were able to dig a ditch in no time due to the many years they had spent mining through hard rocks.

Meanwhile, Kang Yoon-Soo went over to his summons. He distributed the trinkets made by the Blacksmith of Fire to Sally, Acle, and White.

Sally looked at the Inextinguishable Fire Ring on her finger and smiled brightly, exclaiming, “Wow! This ring is so pretty! Sally loves papa a lot!” She jumped up and kissed Kang Yoon-Soo on the cheek.

Meanwhile, Acle smiled smugly after wearing the Earrings of Sorrow and said, “I can feel that I’ve become even more powerful after putting these earrings on! Hahaha! My time has come! Shall we test the new skill I received?”

Acle had previously obtained a new skill, Sub-Zero Self-Destruction, while fighting against the Lightning Golem. He began excitedly chanting, “Sub-Zero… Ouch! What did you hit me for?”

Kang Yoon-Soo, having just smacked Acle with the sheath of his sword, shook his head and said, “Don’t use that skill.”

“Che! What are you talking about? It’s also good for you if I become stronger, right?!” Acle protested.

“You’ll die if you use that skill,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“W-What did you say…?” Acle murmured in surprise.

Kang Yoon-Soo remembered it all too well. Sub-Zero Self-Destruction was the strongest skill of the Ice Spirit, Acle, but it would take his life in return. Acle had died numerous times in the past after using the skill.

‘I can’t let that happen this time… This is my final life,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

Meanwhile, White howled happily after putting on the Shining Moonlight Necklace. “Awooooooo! Awoooo! Awooooo!”

The rare trinkets slightly increased the power of the three summons.

Sharp looked enviously at the other three and muttered, “They’re so lucky to receive gifts… Well, I’m sure a useless pathetic loser like me has no right to receive one… Huu… Huu… Huu…”

“Sharp, don’t let it get to you! I have no doubt that you’re the strongest one among us!” Mini-Lich said confidently.

“Really…? I’m the strongest…?” Sharp murmured.

“I’m certain of it based on my research,” Mini-Lich replied.

Acle scoffed and said, “Your research is always wrong, though.”

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at his summons and the undead before saying, “You guys prepare for the upcoming battle.”

“As you command, my lord,” Kalriven responded with a bow.

Lastly, Kang Yoon-Soo looked at Iris and called out, “Iris.”

“What is it, Kang Yoon-Soo?” Iris replied.

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed up at the ceiling and said, “Bring me over there.”

***

There was no sky underground. The only thing that existed above was a hard stone ceiling. The underground world was so vast that it could easily be mistaken for the surface, but it was two hundred floors below the earth. As that was the case, all they had to do was to dig through the ceiling if digging through the ground proved to be too difficult. After all, there was lava up there as well.

‘Besides, the rocks above are softer than the rocks below,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

Using the abilities she had obtained from the Vampire Lord, Argoric, Iris grabbed Kang Yoon-Soo and flew toward the ceiling, then fired bolts of black lightning toward the stalagmites that got in the way of her flight path. After reaching a certain spot, she asked, “Is it fine here?”

“A bit to the left,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. Iris flew to the left as he instructed, and Kang Yoon-Soo adjusted his posture to face the ceiling directly. He then said, “Iris.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“I need blood,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Hmm…?” Iris murmured.

As she was about to say something, however, Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly bit her neck and sucked her blood through the skill he had obtained after killing the Vampire Lord. Soon after, the Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword started to glow brightly.

[The Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword is sucking its owner’s blood.]

[You have lost a huge amount of blood!]

[You have managed to supplement the blood you lost by sucking it from someone else.]

[A woman’s blood has increased your power!]

[You have used the intermediate magic of the Vampire Lord!]

[Your blood has stirred up a blood storm!]

Kang Yoon-Soo swung his sword as hard as he could, and the blood storm at the tip of his magic sword smashed into the ceiling. However, the ceiling only caved in slightly as he failed to dig through it.

‘I need more blood,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He continued sucking Iris’ blood.

“Haaa… Haaang…!” Iris moaned, murmuring, “I feel dizzy…!” She started to wobble even while flapping her wings as hard as she could.

Along with Iris, Kang Yoon-Soo was starting to feel anemic as well, as his Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword sucked a huge amount of blood from him like a living parasite.

[The Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword is sucking its owner’s blood.]

[You have lost a huge amount of blood!]

[Your vision has started to grow hazy.]

[You are now severely anemic.]

[A woman’s blood has increased your power!]

[You have used the high-tier magic of the Vampire Lord!]

[You are now able to use overwhelmingly destructive power that could sweep away an entire city with one swing of the Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword!]

Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and focused on the ceiling while enduring his severe anemia. He positioned himself and muttered, “Annihilation Slash.”

It was the strongest skill he had at that moment. Kang Yoon-Soo’s brightly glowing magic sword was infused with an eerie aura before he swung it as hard as he could, and a powerful, terrifying wave slashed across the ceiling.

Creaaaak…!

Boooooom!

A portion of the ceiling collapsed, and lava started to gush out of it. Iris held Kang Yoon-Soo tightly and flew away from the gushing lava.

The lava from the ceiling flowed into the ditch they had dug in advance, filling the crevasses like a river. It did not cool off as it spread despite the freezing cold, and its intense heat created gouts of steam wherever it touched the snow.

[You have brought 970,000 liters of molten lava to the northern ice fields.]

[The lava will continuously pour out from the ceiling and create an unending river of lava.]

[The Frenzied Ones detest the lava.]

[You have become the most hated being among the inhabitants of the ice fields due to your reckless action of bringing the lava here.]

[It is advised for you to leave this place at once if you value your life.]

Kang Yoon-Soo inspected his Vampire Lord’s Magic Sword. He had only used Annihilation Slash once with it, but there were already some chips and cracks on it. He thought, ‘There won’t be any issues using it, but its attack power must have dropped quite a bit.’

Annihilation Slash was a powerful skill, but it was not easy to use continuously, as it reduced the durability of the sword he was using by a random amount.

Iris looked haggard, and her breathing was ragged as she said, “Kang Yoon-Soo has to make me something delicious… You must.”

The men who had dug the ditch could not hide their amazement at the river of lava flowing from the ceiling.

“Hooo… To think a river of lava would flow in this cold place.”

“This is something we would have never imagined if we were aboveground.”

“He’s truly an amazing guy. How could he even think of doing something as unbelievable as this?”

The men looked at Kang Yoon-Soo, their gazes overflowing with respect.

Meanwhile, Kang Yoon-Soo stumbled onto the ground, and Shaneth immediately ran toward him. She asked with an expression of concern, “Are you alright?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, before falling forward and hugging Shaneth tightly.

“K-Kang Yoon-Soo…!” Shaneth muttered while blushing brightly. Just as she was going to say something, however…

“Kyaaaaaahk!”  Shaneth screamed in surprise when Kang Yoon-Soo bit her neck. She flailed her arms and squirmed, although she failed to escape because he was hugging her too tightly. She soon gave up and obediently offered him her blood.

Kang Yoon-Soo licked his lips after he finished sucking her blood and said, “I’m alright now.”

Shaneth, whose flawless white neck now had a bite mark on it, glared at him and asked, “Do you want to burn to death?”

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.

It was then that the ground suddenly shook.

Kalriven pulled his sword out and shouted, “Enemies are fast approaching!”

A cloud of icy mist was approaching them from a distance, as the Frenzied Ones charged madly at the party.