Chapter 92: TERRIFIED ICE QUEEN
Void slipped out of the sanctuary, making sure Blade was stable after his hybrid transformation. "Stay put till I’m back," he barked, the sanctuary’s glowing grass dimming as he sealed the rift. Blade’s new power was a gamble, but Aaron was betting on it to beef up his crew in this dog-eat-dog reincarnated world.
He picked an S-rank dungeon he’d been dying to hit—the Ice Queen Dungeon. Its rep for brutal fights was like a siren call to his hybrid instincts, a chance to flex his bloodline and system skills, finally listening to the system’s nagging about pushing his limits.
The dungeon’s entrance was a jagged gash in a frozen cliff, snow swirling like it was daring him to step in. A hunter stood guard, hand twitching on his blade. "ID and booking receipt," he growled, sizing Void up.
"Nah, I don’t do paperwork," Void said, eyes locking on. "You’ll let me in, block anyone else, and forget I was here." His compulsion hit like a hammer, the hunter’s face going blank as he stepped aside, mind bent to Aaron’s will.
Void strode through the portal, ripping open a rift to the sanctuary for Flameborn. "Alright, buddy, go nuts, but keep the boss alive. I need her breathing," Aaron said, dropping the Void mask, his face reverting as the phantom mask’s energy faded.
"Rawr!" Flameborn roared, scales flashing with glee. It’d been too damn long since Aaron let the dragon cut loose, and its hunger for chaos matched his own.
The dungeon was a frozen hellscape—snow-covered mountains, peaks lost in icy fog, the boss holed up at the top. The cold clawed at Aaron’s skin, but his hybrid blood burned like fire, screaming for a hunt.
"Monsters are lining up to die," Aaron muttered, fangs sliding out. The system’s words rang in his head—experiment, push your bloodline. "Time to eat." His vampire knowledge was stuck on human blood, but he’d read Earth stories about vamps sipping animals to stay clean. Then again, angel’s blood wasn’t exactly human only.
"Don’t get left behind," Aaron told Flameborn, flashing in front of a killer snow bear and slamming it down with one hand. Its frost-matted fur stank of musk, its roar choking off as Aaron’s fangs pierced its neck, draining its carotid artery. The blood was raw, like drinking a storm, hitting harder than any human’s ever did.
He tore out the bear’s heart, chomping it down, feeling his strength creep up. "Holy shit," Aaron said, wiping blood off his lips with a grin. "Bear blood’s better than human. Stronger the prey, bigger the boost. This dungeon’s a damn buffet." His hybrid senses buzzed, the system humming like it approved.
Every monster Aaron nabbed got drained dry, hearts ripped out, his power ticking up with each bloody feast. Flameborn’s kills were messier, reduced to smoking ash by its fire breath, the duo carving a path of death through the snow.
Fifteen minutes in, they hit the peak. The Ice Queen sat on a throne of jagged ice, her pale skin and white hair glowing like moonlight, her long dress flowing like frozen silk. "You... you monsters!" she screamed, eyes wide with fear as Aaron and Flameborn stormed in, the air heavy with blood and char.
"Hold up, I thought *you* were the monster?" Aaron said, thrown by her accusation. Being called out like that pissed him off, but he let it slide, curious about her deal.
"Let me go! I don’t wanna die by your hands!" the Ice Queen begged, voice cracking. She’d watched her bears, ice elves, and nutcrackers get torn apart by Aaron and Flameborn, their deaths brutal, faster than any awakener she’d faced.
"This is a recurring dungeon," Aaron said, stepping closer, eyes sharp. "Quick question. You die, you come back, right?"
"Answer, or you’re dragon food," he added, jerking his thumb at Flameborn. "He’s starving." His grin was all teeth, a predator playing with his catch, but his mind was on the dungeon’s secrets.
"Mind if I sit?" Aaron asked, pointing at her throne.
"Yes, sit, please!" the Ice Queen said, scrambling off it like a scared kid, letting Aaron take over. She stood there, her beauty—pale skin, white hair, killer face—wasted on Aaron, who was too busy enjoying the throne’s cold, hard comfort, feeling like a king in his own game.
"Back to dungeons," he said, voice low but firm. "How’s it work?"
"I resurrect after death, powered by the dungeon core," she said, voice shaky. "Weak bosses lose their memories, but strong ones like me keep them, training to get stronger until we break free."
"You get stronger?" Aaron asked, caught off guard. His system-enhanced brain spun, seeing new angles to exploit in his grind for power.
"Yeah, but some command—I don’t know from where—forces me to hold back my strength. Every death or awakener I kill weakens it. Eventually, I could escape," she admitted, eyes flicking nervously.
"Whoever set this up’s a damn genius," Aaron muttered. "Can you shut the dungeon down, stop the resurrection?"
"Destroy the dungeon core," she said. "But taking it weakens me bad."
"New mission," Aaron said, kicking back on the throne. "Shut down every dungeon I can before these bosses flood the world." It felt like a system quest, high stakes for his reincarnated life, the kind of goal that’d make him untouchable.
"You know where the core is?" he asked, leaning forward.
"Please don’t kill me," the Ice Queen pleaded, tears in her eyes. "I’m scared of dying."
"You look it," Aaron said bluntly. "But I ain’t killing you. I’m offering a deal. Swear loyalty, hand over the core, and I’ll make you stronger."
"Not like I got a choice," she sighed. "You’d kill me over and over till I’m a wreck."
"Damn right," Aaron grinned. "You passed the easy test. Say no, and I’d have hunted the core and ended you." Flameborn tossed him the core, the dragon’s sharp senses picking it out during their chat, guided by Aaron’s mental nudge.
The Ice Queen let out a shaky breath, relief hitting her as Aaron held the glowing core, its pulse like a heartbeat in his hand. She’d dodged a bullet by not playing tough.
Aaron tossed the core up, catching it with a smirk. "Yo, system, what happens if I eat this thing?"