The skill book he’d bought at the Dimensional Exchange.
He opened it without hesitation, and along with the now familiar halo of light came a notification.
[A new skill has been acquired.]
[Support: Veil of Bitter Cold]
And a moment later.
The skill’s details were revealed.
-----
[Support: Veil of Bitter Cold (Lv.1)]
[Summons a high-density blizzard in the surrounding area.]
[While the caster is inside the veil’s range, physical abilities and recovery are increased.]
[Any being other than the caster that enters the veil’s range is afflicted with [Slow], and all projectiles that enter the veil’s range are slowed.]
▷Activate / [Deactivate]
▷Mana cost: 50 per second
▷Physical abilities: +200% (800%)
▷Recovery increase: +500% (2,000%)
▷Veil range: 160-foot radius
▶Slow effect: All action speed -50%
-----
The new skill was simple.
A powerful buff for the caster inside the veil, and a Slow debuff that shackled the enemy’s movements.
And the most astonishing part of it...
’The boost to the skill’s effects is insane.’
The buffs [Veil of Bitter Cold] provided by default had been multiplied by four.
It was the synergy of [Frost Domain], which he’d learned earlier, stacking with the skill enhancement from the elixir he’d just consumed, the Thousand-Year Ice Crystal.
’And the secondary effect looks pretty useful too.’
He had no idea how much slower projectiles would get, but it beat nothing.
Walfred smiled, satisfied.
’If it has a drawback...’
It was the brutal mana consumption.
Before he’d eaten the Thousand-Year Ice Crystal, the fuel efficiency was so bad he couldn’t have held it for even ten minutes.
Of course, now that his maximum mana had shot up, that wasn’t really a concern anymore.
’That’s my preparation done.’
All that was left was waiting for the White Whale to enter the operation zone. And meeting up with Elsa to brief her on the extermination plan.
Once he’d sorted his thoughts.
Walfred headed for where Elsa was. Before long, he ran into an unexpected face.
"Uncle!"
A girl came running toward him from a distance.
She was wearing a Brooklyn Girls’ Academy uniform. Jenna, his one and only niece.
"Jenna? What are you doing here?"
She was supposed to have evacuated with everyone else by now. Walfred asked without hiding his surprise.
And the answer came right back.
"I waited because I wanted to see you off."
With that.
Jenna closed the last of the distance, threw her arms wide, and wrapped him in a tight hug.
"...Be careful, Uncle."
She whispered it softly, her voice thick with worry. Then she glanced up at him, her face serious.
"And don’t forget what I told you earlier."
Run the second things get dangerous.
She said it like she needed him to hear it twice, and Walfred nodded to show he understood. Only then did Jenna let out a small sigh of relief.
Then she turned to Elsa with the same request.
"You don’t get hurt either, Elsa. Okay?"
"Hehe, okay!"
Elsa beamed.
Once the goodbyes and wishes for safety were done, Walfred took Elsa’s hand and headed for where Elma and the hunters had gathered.
---
Some time later.
After a good while had passed, every non-Awakened person inside the Coral Cave Shelter had been evacuated.
With the White Whale extermination right around the corner.
Walfred looked over at Elsa.
’We’ve fought together up to now.’
But not this time.
There was a chance the White Whale would ignore every attack and charge straight for Elsa alone.
Sure, Elsa had plenty of useful combat skills and wouldn’t go down easily, but he had no intention of inviting danger on purpose.
’So this time...’
The best plan was to tuck Elsa somewhere safe within the range where [Blessing of the Frost Dragon] still held, and then go after the White Whale.
He’d already told Elsa as much.
He was carefully running the whole extermination through his head when a familiar voice cut through his concentration.
"Everyone, may I have your attention."
It was Elma.
The extermination force, some fifty B-rank hunters, all turned toward her as she stepped onto the platform.
"The White Whale is currently entering the airspace off the Key West coast. We’ve received a report that it will reach the operation zone in approximately three hours."
News that the White Whale was almost here.
The hunters reacted in all sorts of ways.
Some wore calm expressions, as if they’d already made peace with it. Others had gone pale at the thought of a decisive battle against an S-rank Boss Monster.
Elma studied each of their faces and eyes carefully as she spoke.
"It’s normal to be afraid. I’m afraid too. This is my first time fighting a monster this enormous."
She laid her own feelings bare.
Elma nodded, showing she understood the fear they were carrying.
"But you don’t need to be too afraid."
Just as the young hunters’ morale started to slip.
Elma clenched both fists. Then she raised her voice and called out with force.
"Because Hunter Walfred, the man who exterminated the S-rank boss the Frost Spirit King single-handedly, is fighting alongside us in this operation."
The moment the words left her mouth.
Every hunter in front of the platform turned to look at Walfred. Having drawn all eyes to him, Elma strode over.
"Hunter Walfred."
"...?"
"Could I ask you for a few words?"
The hunters were tense with the battle ahead.
She probably wanted him to put some fire in them. They looked at him with curiosity, admiration, and expectation in their eyes.
Elma was no different.
Walfred, unused to this sort of situation, scratched the back of his head. Then, with a distinctly unimpressed look, he tossed out a single indifferent line.
"Let’s wrap this up quick and go get something to eat."
"...Excuse me?"
Elma and the hunters stared blankly.
It was hardly the kind of thing you expected to hear right before a showdown with a Boss Monster.
But that easy attitude, in a moment that called for grim resolve, was more than enough to steady hunters who’d been sinking into fear.
"Well, he’s not wrong."
"Yeah. Everybody’s been too nervous to eat properly. Let’s finish up and grab a meal."
"Somebody bring a bigger grill."
The hunters snorted with laughter.
That was the signal, and dumb jokes and quiet chuckles broke out all over. Seeing the tension clearly drain out of them, Elma broke into a laugh herself.
Either way, the goal of loosening up the extermination force had been accomplished.
And a short while later.
"Current time, 15:37."
Elma climbed back onto the platform.
Her face was serious now, as if she’d never laughed at all, and her lips moved.
"The White Whale extermination operation begins now."
Operation name: Whale Hunt.
The curtain rose on the battle against the frost attribute S-rank Boss Monster threatening Key West.
---
After leaving the Coral Cave Shelter.
The extermination force headed for the operation zone.
The final destination was the frozen sea about three miles off Smathers Beach. The moment they left land and stepped out onto the water.
[Divine protection activation conditions met.]
[Divine Protection: Blessing of the Frozen Sea]
A welcome notification greeted Walfred.
Strength surged through his whole body, and he smiled faintly. After a long walk, as they neared the operation zone.
A piece of terrain caught his eye.
’That’s...’
A reasonably tall hill of ice.
It had formed when an enormous wave froze solid mid-crest. Walfred looked down at Elsa, who was walking along holding his hand.
"Elsa."
"Hm?"
"Like I told you before, the fighting is going to start soon. It’s dangerous if you get caught up in it, so will you wait over there for me?"
Walfred pointed at the ice hill.
Elsa followed his finger and nodded readily.
"Okay! I’ll wait."
"Good. And if the giant whale comes flying at you, run right away. Understood?"
"Yep! Understood."
With that spirited answer.
Elsa turned and headed for the ice hill.
Walfred watched her go, and only after he’d seen her settle down on top of the hill did he turn back toward the operation zone.
And at last.
Thud!
He reached the destination.
The place that would soon become a brutal battlefield.
The hunters set themselves for combat, each with a grim look. One of them was busier than all the rest: Aria.
"Zero Weight! Levitation!"
The B-rank wind attribute supporter.
She’d learned a whole set of support skills related to floating and flight.
Which was why she was casting [Zero Weight], a lightening skill that cut the hunters’ body weight, and [Levitation], a hovering skill, without a moment’s rest.
The reason was simple. It was the only way to get the hunters close to the White Whale.
"Haah."
Aria had been chugging mana recovery potions nonstop, and the exhaustion showed all over her face.
But she couldn’t rest yet.
The most important one was still left.
"Your turn now, Hunter Walfred."
She stretched out her stiff body.
Aria patted her cheeks lightly with her open palms. Then she looked at Walfred with the face of someone who’d steeled herself.
"Should I cast them the same way we did in training?"
"No, the plan has changed."
"Sorry? A, all of a sudden?"
The plan changed with the fight right on top of them?