Chapter 40: Leader's Benevolence and Mercy

Albrecht underestimated the ice armor that covered the Abominable Snowman's entire body. The Lance of Atlantis should've been enough to take it down.

However, Albrecht was currently at level 1, and his strength was not enough to drive the Lance of Atlantis deeper.

He was able to pierce through its hands, though, but it didn't pierce through its eyes.

The Frost Elves as well as Anastasia and Claude who was watching in the background ooh'ed in amazement as Albrecht jumped down and thrusted the Lance of Atlantis to the ground.

He accelerated sideways, avoiding the Abominable Snowman's foot stomp by a hair's breadth.

Since Albrecht's attacks proved to be effective, the Abominable Snowman pulled out all stops, and it activated its bloodline as an A-Rank Monster.

Skill 'Snowman Summoning' activated.

The Abominable Snowman completely understood the situation it was in. It could tell that the others didn't plan on attacking him. It decided to use that disadvantage against Albrecht.

[Skill: Snowman Summoning (B-Rank)— Summons an army of snowmen from snow. The amount of summons depended on the amount of Zecian Aura the skill user has.]

Rumble. Rumble.

More than thirty snowmen appeared from the snow, and they all had the strength of a Bronze to Silver Rank Adventurer (or so that's what the System appraised). Albrecht wore a grim expression on his face as he prepared for the upcoming onslaught.

The snowmen surrounded him within a minute, and they relentlessly attacked him with their physical attacks.

Albrecht could've dealt with the snowmen if they came at him one by one. But since they came by droves, it took every ounce of his concentration to parry the deadly blows of the snowmen.

From afar, Anastasia and Claude were hesitating about whether to help Albrecht or not. But after a split second of contemplation, they decided not to.

Drujinn also didn't bother helping Albrecht. The number of snowmen should've been easy for someone who claimed to be a reincarnation of Beacon. Some of his men genuinely wanted to help Albrecht though, but he stopped them.

He even threatened one of them since she was about to jump into the fray and save Albrecht from harm.

It didn't take long before Albrecht was cornered, and he swung his Lance of Atlantis with all his might. An explosion of fire and water ensued, and he managed to get rid of the summoned snowmen in one blow.

Without missing a beat, Albrecht jumped forward a second time, activating his Saddim's Touch skill and throwing the Lance of Atlantis at the Abominable Snowman's eye.

The Abominable Snowman expected Albrecht to attack him while holding his weapon. When Albrecht threw the weapon, it didn't have enough time to block the attack!

The sound of burning flesh hissed as the attack connected, and the Lance of Atlantis pierced the skull of the Abominable Snowman.

Shiing~

The Abominable Snowman shimmered and then it turned into a Golden Shower. A couple of drops appeared on the ground and Albrecht immediately picked them up.

[Abominable Snowman Eye obtained]

[Abominable Snowman bones]

[Eversnow Crystal obtained]

[Skill Crystal x2 obtained]

— — —

Meanwhile, in the Second Outerlayer,

A group of adventurers just arrived in front of the Zecian Portal that led to the Third Outerlayer. These adventurers were just scouts sent by the Dragonia Guild.

The Dragonia Guild aimed to clear the Third Outerlayer before anyone else. They didn't contribute that much during the Second Outerlayer clear after all.

Once they arrived by the mouth of the Zecian Portal, it suddenly went out of control, growing larger in size before it shrank, returning to its original size.

Fwooosh~

The swirling energy surrounding the Zecian Portal began to calm down, and the color of the portal shifted into a clear blue color... then to a clear white color.

"What the— someone just cleared the Third Outerlayer!" The party leader screamed at his teammates.

There were a couple of adventurers nearby, and they noticed the sudden shift in the color of the Zecian Portal.

Colors drained from their face. It was only yesterday that the Second Outerlayer was cleared.

And now, the Third Outerlayer had been cleared the day after?! The Heroes from the past would cry blood with envy.

A certain rumor would then circulate amongst the guilds within the day. The rumors said that an adventurer from the Lomenschwaal Guild set off that night to clear the Third Outerlayer and they were successful. Whether they were Heroes or not, one could only wonder.

— — —

"We can finally head to the Fourth Outerlayer, let's go," Claude whispered to Albrecht.

Now that they were done with the Third Outerlayer, Anastasia and Claude wanted to rush out of there and get to the Fourth Outerlayer as soon as possible.

From a distance, a huge Zecian Portal just appeared. Judging from its appearance, it was a new Zecian Portal that led to the Fourth Outerlayer.

Just a couple more minutes of walking and they'd finally get to the Fourth Outerlayer, skip to the Sixth Outerlayer and look for the Mother of Life Cooking Pot. The impossible mission seemed to be doable now.

However, Albrecht stopped Anastasia and Claude before they could say anything else.

In front of them was Drujinn, respectfully bowing towards Albrecht with his hands pressed together in a prayer-like fashion.

He deemed Albrecht as the bona fide reincarnation of Beacon, and he showed his respect for him.

"My descendant, lead me to your mother, we will heal her before we deal with your uncle," Albrecht called out.

At first, Drujinn thought that Albrecht would just turn his back away from his problem and go on his way. After all, he had already proven himself as the reincarnation of Beacon (which he wasn't, he was just impersonating him).

From Drujinn's point of view, he assumed that Albrecht wouldn't go with his word.

As it turned out, such was not the case. He was as merciful as he was depicted in the textbooks.

"Let me lead the way," Drujinn softly spoke. His doubts totally vanished from his mind.

"What?! But we don't have enough—" Claude was about to complain when Albrecht cut him off.

"Don't worry, we have enough time," Albrecht reassured him, following Drujinn's lead as he ushered them into their village.