Frostfire Legacy

Outside the dungeon, around the time when Aster was having a face-off with the three top clans, certain groups were having a closed-door meeting. Both parties were sitting face-to-face, with a few of their "subordinates" standing idly behind them, trying to intimidate each other.

"So..."

One of the two, a female with silver hair and a pair of wings behind her ears, asked with arrogance in her tone.

"What does the head of the Anti-Human Movement want with us?"

The woman, Lorelai, had her eyes releasing a faint glow, and the man opposite her stared at her eyes unfazed. He had a wide grin from start to end, as if the "control" ability of the Aracelli Race didn't work on him.

"Kek! It's futile, little girl. I'm not one to fall for such measly mind tricks." The man giggled.

He wore a top hat and a mask, hiding only his eyes like a magician about to go onstage. His attire matched too, with a purple, glittery coat and a long cane in his hand.

"Even Harim failed to control me before; there's no way your measly skills could affect me."

"...!"

Hearing the name come out of his mouth, Lorelai's face warped in surprise. Harim was one of the top members of the Aracelli clan... one who led the Divine Retribution War long ago. But that was over a thousand years ago!

Lorelai frowned, her eyes flashing more fiercely as her emotions went awry. "What are you?"

"Not who, but what? Hmmm, looks like you're quite sharp, aren't you? Then, let's upgrade your title from little girl to milady, shall we?" The man spoke as if he were truly amused. "In recognition of your sharp wit, I shall answer! I'm... a Djinn."

As he spoke, his eyes hidden behind the mask he wore released a faint red glow. However, just seeing that made Lorelai and the three others behind her shake in fear. It wasn't fear from the other party's immeasurable strength, but rather, from a more basic, instinctual sense—fear from being outclassed as a race.

"Hmm, still unripe." The man commented as he retracted his gaze, sitting comfortably as if nothing happened. "Anyway, where were we? Ah, right, my reason for coming here, was it?"

He tapped his cane on top of the table, causing it to change into something grotesque, like a monster coming from one's deepest nightmares.

"It's simple," he grinned. "Aster Mistral, I want that man's head."

Lorelai took deep breaths, trying to recover from her earlier scare. Large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as she glared at the other party.

"Can't you do it yourself?" She growled. "With your strength, it's simple to take the life of a level 40 brat, right?"

"Aww, unfortunately, there are two reasons I can't."

He suddenly disappeared from his seat, but his voice kept echoing in the room. Then, he reappeared somewhere behind Lory, playing with the ears of one of the men standing behind her, one of her "brothers."

"First, he's inside the dungeon. Even with my strength, I can't enter a floor lower than where I am currently. I have to wait for him to reach the 1,600th floor himself."

"...!"

Lory just learned that the 1,600th floor is the deepest floor anyone could normally reach. That would mean the man before her was someone far stronger than anyone else she had seen before.

"And second, I can't go there myself. If I do, then that witch would wake up. It's bothersome to be marked by her, you know?"

'Witch?'

Lory herself was a witch, but that was the name of her class. From the man's words, the "Witch" he referred to didn't seem to be about someone having the Witch class, but rather, a title given to someone.

She recalled all the documents she read before about Orinfeld City and recalled someone mentioned just once in one of the top-secret files she was allowed access to.

"You mean Orinfeld City's first mayor and protector, the Witch of the Abyss?"

"Oh! To think you'd know her! Your intelligence is wasted in this kiddy terrorist group; why don't you all come under my Anti-Human Movement? I promise you better treatment than even my Four Heavenly Kings!"

Despite his words of provocation, Lory didn't let it get to her head. Instead, she stood up and quickly countered.

"There's no need. We will conquer the whole world, turning everyone into slaves. You... are going to be groveling under my feet sooner or later."

"Mmm, it's nice to have big dreams. But it's impossible, milady. I'm not someone you can handle."

"Says the man wearing eye protectors to guard against our ability." Lory taunted further, pointing at the mask covering the man's eyes.

"Ah, this? You're wrong, way wrong." But he didn't feel bothered, but rather, laughed heartily. "This isn't to protect me from you, but to protect you from me!"

"..."

Lory recalled the primal fear they felt earlier from his gaze, and quickly recognized that his words could be the truth. Although she wanted to try to remove the mask and try to control him, she was afraid. Fear had already grasped her essence, making her hesitate.

"Good judgment." He smiled.

"Anyway, as long as you handle that Aster brat, I don't mind playing along with your world-conquering plot for a few centuries, you know? I'm someone who always keeps my promises. I'm a Djinn, after all."

After that, without even telling them his name, the man left with his three subordinates. Lory watched them leave, before sitting down on her chair as soon as he went out of sight.

"Fuck...!" She cursed. "That man's a hindrance to our plans. Although I want to get rid of him..."

She understood that she was way too weak to even plan for such a feat. Currently, just as the Djinn implied, it would be in her best interest to pull him in as an ally instead of an enemy.

"Killing Aster, huh..."

She already helped the Anti-Human Movement several times, under the orders of Juviel City, but at the same time, hindered their plans to ensure Aster didn't die. Her task before was to bring him alive, after all.

But now, the Djinn asked her to bring Aster's head.

"..."

It was for a brief moment, but a pained expression appeared on her face. However, none of the three behind her noticed this. Lory quickly returned to her fierce expression and stood up, calling to the others.

"Let's go. We will be heading to the dungeon in Orinfeld City."

"Pardon me, Matriach." One of the men behind her raised his voice. "But I heard that there's a powerful barrier blocking the entrance to the dungeon. It will be hard to force our way in."

"Ah, that?" Lory shrugged. "Don't worry, I already have plans for that."

She walked away from the door, toward the wall—which flickered and turned to a door a moment later. "I already planted spies within the top three clans. We'll use them to enter."

Unbeknownst to Aster, danger was approaching faster than he assumed.