Frostfire Legacy

Vanessa took a small step back; the pressure of facing multiple opponents—although most of them were "weak"—wasn't one she could handle without faltering. Of course, the biggest source of her worry was the only person who could pose a threat to them, Arima Hajime.

"That technique...!" But Aster was entirely focused on a different thing, staring at Arima and Yinfa alternatingly. "That's that other girl, Chronalisa's ability!"

"...!"

Now that he mentioned it, Vanessa did realize that the spell looked familiar. She believed she had seen Chrona use it before while healing the two allies of Selene. However, now that she recalled it, her brows curled.

'Why can this man use someone else's skill?'

Vanessa was sure that his class wasn't similar to, or even close, to Chronalisa's Time Mage Rare Class. His class remained a mystery, but it heavily leaned toward "destruction" rather than time control.

Arima turned to Aster, his piercing eyes turning from pitch black to a glowing white as his lips curled like the crescent moon. "Ah, that?" he commented, raising a finger to his lips as if saying "shush."

"It's magic, of course!" He declared confidently.

Aster frowned, realizing that the man wasn't planning on telling him the trick behind his ability to use someone else's skill. Of course, Vanessa was the same, frowning hard while watching his every move.

But it wasn't only them who were confused. Lionel, Sebastian, Yinfa herself, and even Lorelai, who was still sprawled on the ground some distance away, were also staring at Arima with a questioning gaze. They, too, didn't know that he could use someone else's—one of their allies' abilities!

"Anyway, enough of that. I hope you can entertain me, even if only for a short while," Arima exclaimed with a shrug. "If I get too bored with your performance, I might simply end you three right here and now."

"..."

Vanessa steeled her resolve. She knew that they could no longer escape without a fight, but thankfully, Arima didn't seem to plan on killing them in one go.

"Planning to lynch your opponents? What a sick hobby." She snarled as if wanting to get back at him, even if it was just through words.

"When you live as long as I did, having one or two sick hobbies is just the norm."

But the masked trickster didn't even feel bothered by her words; on the contrary, he was proud of it!

"You're that old?" Vanessa smirked. "Then, should I call you grandpa or something?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Arima chuckled, finding her prickly words endearing. "No, I'm not that young. But maybe great, great, great, great, great grandpa would work, barely."

"... You're a fossil then."

"Close enough."

"..."

Vanessa soon realized that her taunts weren't working at all. Instead of Arima getting angry, it was she who felt irritated after their exchange!

"Enough yapping! Die, bitch!"

Right then, the impatient Lionel rushed forward, raising his hands, curled into a claw, and scratching toward Vanessa's face. She could dodge it, but doing so would allow him to invade their personal space, exposing Aster and Cassy to danger.

"Tsk!"

She clicked her tongue as she moved her hand, planning to catch his attack directly. However, the incoming claw stopped an inch away from Vanessa's palm before suddenly changing directions. Lionel's attack was a feint, a mere distraction!

"Hup!"

From the other direction—to Vanessa's right—Sebastian came. His aim, just like before, wasn't to attack and harm Vanessa, as he knew his limits, but instead, he was aiming for Cassy once more.

"...!"

Vanessa turned around, planning to intercept the butler, but Lionel didn't leave her alone. His kick went sharply cutting through the air, aiming for her face.

Although he was no different than a fly to Vanessa, her defenses were almost paper thin at the moment. As such, she couldn't allow an attack to hit, no matter how insignificant it was.

"You pesky little...!"

But at the opening she presented, when paying attention to Lionel, Sebastian managed to reach the area where Cassy was. His hand flashed, about to grab her by the ears—

"FUCK OFF!"

—but a sword flashed, interrupting him. Sebastian was forced to stop his approach, taking a few steps back and glancing at the one who interrupted him.

Aster, who was right beside Cassy, moved to protect her! His legs were shaky, and his limbs felt as powerless as could be, but his gaze was firm and full of his unyielding spirit. "You want to take my woman (party member)?! Over my dead body!!!"

"S-Star?!"

Cassy gasped at the sudden confession (?) that came out of Aster's mouth, her cheeks turning a healthy pink as she blushed. However, the man himself didn't realize that his choice of words could easily be misunderstood. Even Vanessa, who was listening while fighting Lionel, couldn't help but have her brows twitch!

"Chivalry... You have class, Mr. Mistral." Sebastian praised while fixing his necktie, but his gaze remained focused, unwavering. "But for our ideals, I would need to take you down!"

Sebastian pulled out his weapon for the first time. A pair of golden pistols, engraved with what looked like a pair of undine playing with a droplet of water. Without a moment's delay, he aimed them both toward Aster's face and pulled the trigger.

*SHRAKK!*

Two bullets fired at the same time at supersonic speeds, the sound of their firing mixing into one loud crackle.

Aster, of course, wasn't simply waiting for the bullets to find their target and end his meager life. Neither did he dodge, as doing so could cause the bullets to hit Cassy, who was being protected, crouching behind him.

"Crysta!"

[On it!❄]

With just simply calling her name, Aster relayed his order in a flash. The next instant, an ice wall appeared between Aster and Sebastian, which the pair of bullets hit and embedded themselves into, stopping them from reaching their target!

*SHRAKK!* *SHRAKK!* *SHRAKK!*

But it wasn't like Sebastian only had one shot. His dual pistols fired endlessly, filling the icy wall with bullets, causing cracks to slowly appear through it. Crysta was doing her best, trying to restore the wall to the limits of her abilities, but the firing rate was just too overwhelming.

"Pyra, stop him!"

Aster commanded as he ran, moving around the wall and finding his way to where Sebastian was standing. At the same time, Pyra used her abilities and gradually raised the temperature of the pistols in the enemy's hands.

In moments, the cold metal turned red hot, releasing a sizzling sound as it began to burn Sebastian's palms.

"..."

But the man remained focused, as if pain wasn't a thing.

Aster felt that something was weird. Although the gun was red-hot and should cause the gunpowder to misfire, nothing was happening. "Don't tell me...!" He inhaled sharply, scrutinizing the weapon in the butler's hands.

He noticed that whenever a new bullet would fly, the entire body of the gun would glow for a brief moment. At the same time, a loud "boom" would echo—different from the traditional "bang" from firing a gunpowder bullet.

"A railgun?!" He gasped in shock.

Aster never imagined seeing a railgun in pistol form! And from how it fired "projectiles" at sonic speeds, it was a powerful one too!

'But a railgun should have a limited energy source! He shouldn't be able to fire it endlessly!'

As soon as he realized this, his panic faded, replaced with a cold, calculating outlook toward the current situation. His movements, though lacking in energy, were short and precise, as if conserving as much of his stamina as possible. His gaze was locked onto Sebastian, watching his every move, while the other party did the same, his gaze not leaving Aster for even a short moment.

"No!"

But then, Cassy's voice, raised in displeasure, caught Aster's attention. Turning his head a little, from his peripheral vision, he saw how the pink-haired woman, Yinfa, arrived beside Cassy and was trying to drag her back.

"Cassy, no!"

At that moment, Aster realized his mistake. He thought that Vanessa could handle the other three as long as he kept one occupied, but he overestimated her. In fact, just Arima alone was more than enough to keep her occupied, with Lionel being just an extra with no impact on the situation, to say the least!

Still, with them hounding Vanessa's attention, Yinfa was able to bypass her defenses and reach Cassy, leading to the current situation. Aster turned around, planning to chase her away, but Sebastian didn't allow him to.

"Don't show your back to your enemy!" The old man growled in anger, pulling the trigger again.

His palms, by then, were already past getting first-degree burns and were already reaching third-degree, but he was keeping his injuries at bay with the green aura surrounding him. Some passive healing factor, or maybe an item's effect—Aster couldn't be sure.

*SHRAKK!* *SHRAKK!*

The railgun pistols glowed once more, firing two bullets faster than the speed of sound. They were fired with a slight delay between each, causing the bullets to move with one behind the other.

Both bullets then hit the biggest crack in the ice wall, the second bullet acting as a hammer, pushing the other deeper into the chasm.

*CRACK!*

And caused the wall to fail!

The bullet went past the cold walls and flew past Aster's face, leaving a red streak across his cheeks!