The cold still flowed through the entire hall.
Walls, ceiling, ground. Everything was buried under a layer of blue ice. And the monster was trapped in the center of this icy hell.
A monster that, a few minutes ago, became stronger with every death. Now it no longer even existed. Only a frozen core remained of it. But it was not completely silent.
Lian quietly walked toward it. The sound of his shoes echoed on the frozen surface of the hall.
His eyebrows came together. He stared at it for a long time. No change could be seen in the core’s condition.
But that one pulse was enough. Enough to know that the work was not finished.
"You’re still alive..." His whisper was lost in the cold space.
He waited a few more moments. The next pulse appeared almost ten seconds later.
Thump.
Silence again.
But this time, Lian no longer hesitated. If this thing was going to wake up again... if it was going to start regenerating again... then he could not settle for this state.
He really did not have the patience to fight this monster again and again. Besides, how long could he keep fighting?
He placed his hand on the ice surface and activated his innate skill [Ice Dominion].
But this time, there was no ice explosion. No destruction. This time, the goal was different.
Sealing.
A layer of blue patterns appeared on the ice surface. Complex lines, like veins and like chains made of ice.
But feeling that it was not enough, he created a second layer.
Then a third layer, a fourth layer. Each time one of these layers closed around the core, the pulse became weaker.
Slower. Suppressed.
Thump...
This time, it took thirty seconds.
Lian continued his work without stopping.
Layer five, six, seven. Finally, almost a full minute passed.
And the core only pulsed once more. Barely. Like the heart of a patient on the verge of death.
Lian lifted his hand from the ice and stared at the core. Fortunately, this core should not be able to work again anytime soon and bring that monster back to life.
He really did not want to use an expensive skill like Eternal Frozen Apocalypse, but he had no other choice.
His current skills only allowed him to control ice, not create ice from nothing. And he had nothing else that could stop the core’s activity.
Still, the result was satisfying, and his goal was successful.
"That was my part." He said quietly. A very faint smile appeared on his face.
"I’ll leave the rest to the government." He suddenly laughed. A short, quiet, and completely calculated laugh.
"Not for free, of course." If the government wanted to take it, they would have to pay for it.
"After all this trouble, at least I should get some decent money out of it." He felt satisfied.
With a little calculation, he was sure he could get dozens of millions of dollars from the government for this thing, perhaps even up to a hundred million.
With that kind of money, he would have no financial problems anymore. Besides, there were hundreds of monster corpses outside. He would definitely take those too.
And including those... his eyes lit up.
Then he turned his gaze to the notifications that had appeared.
[Broodmother Level 20 Killed]
[You gained 3 Fragments]
[You gained 5 stat points]
Lian frowned.
"Only five points?" Honestly, he expected more. That monster was practically a monster production factory itself. All the Red-Eyed Stalkers had been created from it.
Besides, it was a level 20 monster.
But after a few moments, he found the answer himself.
"It was a fabricated monster." His gaze fell on the frozen corpse of the Broodmother.
"Its entire value was probably in its production ability." That was the more logical explanation.
And then the next notification appeared.
[Skill Acquired]
[Living Cocoon]
[Rank: Common (+)]
[Description: If you are in a life-or-death situation, you can encase yourself in a cocoon that heals you at a very high speed and protects you.
Protective power equals your own defense. It must be activated and is not a passive skill. Consumes 30 units of mana per minute.]
This time, Lian’s eyebrows went up.
"This..."
Unlike the previous reward, this one was truly valuable. Very valuable. And he immediately realized how valuable this skill could be.
With such a skill, if he ever faced a life-or-death danger, he could use this skill to heal himself.
And this was only its Common rank. What if he upgraded it to Divine rank? How much more powerful would it become?
Its only problem was that its defense equaled his own defensive power. Otherwise, it was a perfect skill.
Another notification appeared.
[You have leveled up]
[11 --> 12]
The familiar feeling of increased power flowed through his body. But now was not the time to waste on such things.
His gaze quietly fell on the frozen white-eyed man. The one who had spent twenty years creating this nightmare.
Lian walked toward him. He stood in front of him and broke the ice with a simple strike.
CRACK.
But what he saw did not surprise him. The man’s body crumbled. Not blood, not flesh, not bone. Just sand and ash. Dry, brittle crystals scattered on the ground.
As if no human had ever been there. And with a single look, it was clear that this was a clone.
Lian glanced briefly at the remains.
"I guessed as much." He then said quietly.
Gareth had already told him about that man. Twenty years ago, when the Federation forces in that city in East Asia had gotten close to him and were about to capture him...
He had escaped. When he felt they were getting close to the city, he had escaped!
He had disappeared. He had never fought to the end. In fact, he had never fought at all from the beginning. He had never taken a risk. He had never put himself in real danger.
Such a person is clearly cautious and very cowardly.
Lian looked at the pile of sand, his gaze fixed on the remains.
"Someone like him would never send his real body here."
The conclusion was clear. This was just a clone. A tool. A puppet. And the real body was probably hidden kilometers away.
And now... he had probably just found out what had happened to his masterpiece. He somewhat wished he could see that man’s face right now, realizing what had happened to his child.
"He must be going crazy with anger." Lian laughed and then slowly let out his breath.
The masterpiece was stopped. The Broodmother was dead. The production factory was destroyed. The clone was gone. And more importantly... twenty years of the enemy’s work had been destroyed in almost one night.
Of course, the man himself was still alive. It was a pity he could not kill that man, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Then he looked around the hall. At the frozen eggs. At the walls covered in flesh. At the factory that was now dead.
"And all of it went up in smoke in one night."
At that moment, a faint roar was heard from a distance. Lian raised his head. The sound was coming from outside.
From the surface of the city. From the streets that were still full of monsters.
The masterpiece was stopped. But the army of monsters still existed.
Thousands of monsters, dozens of Red-Eyed Stalkers, and various other monsters, all still wandering the city.
They had lost their dictator leader. But they had not disappeared.
Lian looked at the exit stairs and gave a faint smile.
"Well..."
Another roar came from outside. Louder than before. Harsher than before. As if the Stalkers had realized what had happened to their mother.
"Time to take care of things out there."
Then without looking back even once, he walked through the frozen ruins.
Toward the exit. Toward the city. And in the darkness outside, a new slaughter was waiting.