Chapter 567: Frozen Lake (V)

"Master, the Ice Devil has woken up."

Rhode struck off another Ice Creature's attack and he heard Agatha's monotonous voice. As beings that lived in the Water Elemental Plane of Existence, the Ocean Elves had a unique method to detect the Ice Devil. Although Agatha informed Rhode of the Ice Devil's arrival, her indifferent voice sounded as though it wasn't a BOSS coming for him. Instead, it felt as though she had prepared breakfast and told Rhode to have it whenever he was ready.

In fact, even without Agatha's reminder, Rhode had also felt an extremely cold stream of air surging from below his feet with his strength and sharp senses. The cold stream of air was so intense that white ice fog had permeated on the empty ice surface.

"Everyone, stand back. Get ready to battle!" Rhode ordered and the mercenaries dispersed in all directions hurriedly.

At the same time, Lize and the three Clerics raised their arms swiftly and cast Defense Shields on the individual mercenaries. Then, Anne darted to the Clerics' front and yelled out as she brandished her shield and swept the Ice Creatures that were sneaking in on the Clerics away with a powerful whirlwind.

At this moment, the ice surface shook uncontrollably. Then, after a powerful explosion, a towering, dark shadow burst out from underneath the ice surface and scattered countless ice splinters in all directions. However, the onslaught was harmless against the readied mercenaries who were protected by the Defense Shield. Then, a 10 meters tall creature covered in thick layers of ice as though an enormous lizard sculpted from pure ice stood before them. The golden sun rays reflected off its sparkling and translucent body and in an instant, this terrifying creature was shrouded entirely in halos as though it were a sacred and inviolable presence.

Instead of panicking at its emergence, every mercenary including Lize were astounded.

Exactly the same?!

After Rhode had decided on the two 5 Stars Missions, he had gotten Mini Bubble Gum and Canary to take turns and make use of the mirage in the Sphere of Mystery to strengthen the mercenaries. It was a similar practice to players clearing the same dungeon constantly for EXP. Practice makes perfect and since the mercenaries' strength wouldn't be as powerful as players, the only way for them to improve was for them to hone their experiences. Due to this reason, the pitiful mercenaries had to fight the simulated BOSS repeatedly until they had reached Bubble and Canary's requirements.

Although the Sphere of Mystery could strengthen the mercenaries' fighting strength, it was hard for them to fight the same BOSS repeatedly and willingly. Perhaps the mercenaries wouldn't be able to hang on this long if it weren't for Canary and Bubble. Even though the mercenaries knew that the training sessions were meant to prepare them for the Frozen Lake Mission, most of them were still doubtful about it. No one had ever completed the Frozen Lake Mission, so how will these people know the attack patterns of the BOSS? What if Madam Canary and Madam Bubble guessed it wrong?

But now, the mercenaries were stunned as they faced the Ice Devil before them. Because no matter looks or way of appearance, it was exactly the same as the simulated BOSS in their training sessions!

This pumped up the mercenaries and the final traces of fear in them had vanished entirely after witnessing that the Ice Devil was exactly the same. Didn't they work for this moment?

"—!" Rhe Ice Devil glared at the tiny humans who had disrupted its slumber. It snarled fiercely and coalesced the extreme coldness in its huge, widened mouth. Then, it blasted a powerful storm-like ice breath at the annoying humans.

"Sh*t!" The young man in the distance jumped at the horrifying sight.

This black-haired young man actually succeeded in luring the creature hidden underneath the thick ice surface.

The young man didn't expect that the creature would be this gigantic and the 30 mercenaries were as though mice cowering before a majestic tiger. His heart sank instantly after witnessing the ice breath blasted from the creature and he imagined that the mercenaries were completely devoured by it.

However, that didn't happen.

The mercenaries had swiftly dispersed into two groups as soon as the Ice Devil lifted his head high. The mercenaries had experienced the Ice Devil's ice breath several times. Needless to say, they were wiped out completely from the start. However, they had gotten familiar with its every move in the countless training sessions... If not, wouldn't they be suffering for nothing?

The bone-piercing cold winds blasted across the ice surface but had missed the mercenaries entirely. The Ice Devil didn't give up just yet. It turned its head around, let out an ear-deafening howl and raised its front claws. At this moment, a shadow flitted by before its vision.

Rhode gazed at the Ice Devil expressionlessly. Gracier streaked across a dazzling lightning trail and pierced its throat without any resistance. The Ice Devil winced and snarled furiously, snapping its blood-thirsty mouth wide open at Rhode. However, Rhode was long prepared for this moment. He pulled Gracier out instantly and rolled backward to dodge the Ice Devil's retaliation. At the same time, he swung his right arm forward.

"—!" A crisp, sharp cry rang in their ears.

The Spirit Bird shining with holy radiance soared into the air with its expanded wings. It looked down at its enemy and flapped its wings, striking hundreds of arm-thick lightning bolts into the Ice Devil's body. In an instant, the roars of thunder numbed their ears and countless shattered ice burst forth in all directions. The Ice Devil resisted the paralyzing electricity and widened its mouth forcefully to launch its ice-cold breath. The Spirit Bird swiftly beat its wings and drew an elegant, perfect arc across the sky, dodging the aggressive attack.

"Everyone, fight!" Marfa commanded and charged forward with his mercenaries.

The mercenaries were dazed by this scene. Although they were able to defeat this creature in the mirage, they required the strength of the entire team. But now, Rhode had unexpectedly beaten the Ice Devil to this pathetic state all by himself. However, they knew that they weren't here as an audience.

Although the Ice Devil had focused its full attention on Rhode and the Spirit Bird, it didn't mean that it neglected the ants crawling around it. The Ice Devil raised its right front claw and swatted the ice surface, spreading countless spider web-like cracks toward the mercenaries.

"Be careful!" The mercenaries dodged to the sides in coordination. Then, with a sharp swishing sounds, countless pointed ice thorns struck out from the cracks and pierced toward the sky. Perhaps the mercenaries would've been skewered if they didn't dodge in time.

The mercenaries had dodged two of the Ice Devil's attacks in succession which flabbergasted the Ice Devil. Before it was able to strike once more, the mercenaries arrived by its hind leg and slashed their weapons.

If the mercenaries held ordinary weapons, they wouldn't deal any damage to the Ice Devil no matter how much strength they put into their strikes. However, the results were entirely different with the boost of damage from the 35% Fire Elemental Attribute of the Elemental Badge.

Roar! The Ice Devil bellowed from the sudden excruciating pain. It flung its gigantic tail at the ants that had caused its sufferings. However, the mercenaries rolled over and laid flat on the ground to successfully avoid the tail flinging over their heads.

When the Ice Devil decided to launch another attack on the ants around it, a sudden, threatening burst of wind forced it to look back.

Then, it witnessed countless, dazzling meteor-like rays coming for it!