Stark launched the first attack.
He raised the battle axe high above his head and brought it crashing down toward the demon woman.
"Hehe, young people really are impatient."
A flurry of snow swept through the air, and the demon woman's figure vanished within it. In the next instant, she reappeared farther away at their flank.
She twirled a strand of hair around her fingertip and sighed regretfully.
"What a sha. I don't like impatient boys. I prefer to take things nice... and... slow."
"Let's start with introductions. My na is Yuki-onna [Snow Woman]. It's a pleasure to et you all."
As she spoke, the strand of hair in her hand instantly transford into a whip and lashed toward Stark without warning.
Bang—
Stark stepped back and raised his axe in front, blocking the strike.
When the hair collided with the battle axe, it produced the sound of tal crashing against stone.
Beside Shane, Fern's staff lit up. The instant Stark completed his block, a [basic attack magic] shot forward, precisely targeting [Snow Woman]'s heart.
Tssng—
[Snow Woman]'s hair instantly retracted, wrapping around the front of her body like half a shell.
Fern's magic struck it and was imdiately deflected away.
Watching the hair shift so freely between offense and defense, Shane was instantly reminded of soone—First-Class Mage Sense.
That mage also liked using her hair as a weapon.
This was troubleso. They didn't possess that absurd magic capable of 'cutting through anything'...
They couldn't afford to fight her head-on. They needed to finish this quickly.
"Fern, take care of Frieren."
As he spoke, he carefully lowered the sleeping Frieren from his back and handed her to Fern before drawing the longsword at his waist and stepping beside Stark.
"Stark, find a way to grab her hair."
"Huh?"
Stark blanked out for a second at Shane's order.
The demon woman across from them chuckled.
"Pulling a girl's hair isn't very gentlemanly, you know."
Before her voice even faded, that water-blue hair transford into long whips again and lashed toward them.
Shane reacted instantly.
Activating [Sprint], he darted beneath the hair whips, weaving through them while continuously avoiding the piercing attacks. At the sa ti, he searched for an opening to close the distance.
Stark also began running, circling around the enemy while dodging and trying to figure out how to carry out Shane's plan.
He already understood Shane's intention. He needed to restrain her hair and create an opening for Shane to get close.
Bang!
Another strand of hair smashed against his battle axe.
This ti, Stark didn't dodge. He braced himself against the impact of the whip, and simultaneously, used his axe like a wrench, snagging the hair and beginning to twist and wind it around the head of the weapon.
The demon woman showed no surprise at all when she failed to retract her hair.
Instead, she used the montum to yank Stark closer. The surrounding hair surged forward and instantly wrapped around the boy like a cocoon.
"Mmph—"
Stark's eyes widened in shock. Before he could react, he was swallowed by an ocean of hair.
The hair was astonishingly tough. No matter how much he struggled and twisted, it was useless.
"Oh my, caught one already."
At the sa ti, [Snow Woman]'s attacks against Shane didn't slow in the slightest. Hair whips ca crashing toward him one after another, even fiercer than before.
Shane frowned.
Just how much hair did this woman have?!
Stark hadn't even managed to create an opening?!
As he thought that, several more strands shot toward him simultaneously. Forced to dodge left and right, not only did he fail to get closer, he was being pushed farther away instead.
'This is bad. If this keeps going, we'll lose the initiative.'
Whoosh—
Fern's attack magic grazed past Shane's body at the perfect mont and intercepted the attack behind him.
Shane glanced back.
Then he felt speechless.
With this much chaos happening, the old woman still hadn't woken up.
At that mont, the corner of his eye caught an extrely faint streak of water-blue hidden beneath the snow.
"Fern, watch out!"
Unfortunately, he was too late.
Just as Fern's attack magic ended, that strand of hair suddenly shot out, wrapped around the girl's ankle, and yanked her to the ground before dragging her forward.
Shane activated the Attribute [Dual Blade Style · Ominous Change].
In an instant, he rushed forward and severed the hair with a single slash.
Fern fell into Shane's arms and let out a pained muffled groan.
Looking down, Shane imdiately saw a glaring red mark appear around her ankle, tiny beads of blood seeping from it.
"I'm fine, Mr. Shane..."
Fern forced herself to stand.
Shane imdiately pressed a hand onto her shoulder.
"Stay here and don't move."
[Goddess's Barrier] instantly expanded, firmly protecting both Fern and the sleeping Frieren.
The Attribute [One Against Three] activated.
Without hesitation, Shane directly linked himself to Stark three consecutive tis.
In an instant, a massive surge of power flooded into his body, nearly making him explode from the pressure. Shane even felt like his HP bar had increased.
"Oh my..."
Across from him, [Snow Woman] stared at the sudden burst of aura surrounding Shane with infatuated eyes. Her tongue curled around a strand of hair near her cheek before she slowly drew it into her mouth.
"What a handso man. It makes want to kiss you so badly."
"I suggest you hold back."
"Oh my, could it be your first kiss? Then I absolutely have to claim it."
As she spoke, all of her hair transford into long whips and rushed toward Shane impatiently.
Shane stomped the ground.
[Sprint] and [Shadow Assassination] activated simultaneously.
In the blink of an eye, he transford into a streak of light and vanished from where he stood.
The smug expression on [Snow Woman]'s face instantly disappeared in shock.
Her hair imdiately retracted.
Bang—
The longsword slamd into the defensive shield ford from her hair. It failed to wound her, but it still sent her flying backward.
"Tch."
Shane's expression turned serious.
"This is exactly why I don't like won with too much hair."
[Snow Woman] coughed up blood and barely stabilized herself. The relaxed expression she had worn earlier was gone, replaced by a trace of fear.
She could clearly sense it now.
The man in front of her... was angry.
But what exactly was he angry about...?
She hadn't even managed to hit him once!
"That's all it takes to break you?"
Before his voice finished, Shane disappeared again and charged at [Snow Woman].
[Snow Woman] panicked. All of her hair retracted imdiately. Even the strands wrapped around Stark withdrew as every strand layered together to completely protect her body.
Bang!
The water-blue hairball that [Snow Woman] had curled herself into was blasted flying again.
Shane heard the sound of vomiting blood once more.
The hair shield was hard to pierce? Fine. Then he'd just smash through it with brute force.
Whoosh—
Without waiting for the "hairball" to land, Shane accelerated forward and continued pursuing her.
Bang—
[Hairball Snow Woman] was sent flying once more.
Bang—
[Hairball Snow Woman] flew even higher and farther away.
Stark finally crawled out from the pile of hair. Lying on the ground, he spat furiously.
"Ptoo! Ptoo! Ptoo!"
He coughed out a huge amount of hair.
Then he looked up.
And saw Shane chasing after a gigantic water-blue... hairball?
"...Am I hallucinating?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers