The silence after the confrontation was so heavy that Damon felt like even the ice had stopped creaking. Lin Yue remained seated, the unlit pipe in her fingers, watching them with a mysterious smile. Ester, on the other hand, simply turned. Without another word, she walked through the destroyed door, the ice petals scattering with each step, as if the entire world were merely an extension of her will.
Damon blinked in surprise.
"Wait, that's it? You blow up the brothel, nearly kill everyone, and walk away like you bought bread on the corner?"
But of course, she didn't answer. Ester never answered when he wanted her to.
With a sigh, he stood, rubbing his knees, sore from the guards' kicks. The ice still made him slip with each step, but he forced his legs to move. He wasn't going to stay alone in that room with Lin Yue, especially after what she had said.
"If I want this incubus for myself?" Her voice echoed in his mind like a venomous whisper.
He shook his head, trying to dispel the thought, and ran after Ester.
As soon as he passed through the broken door, the reality of what had happened sank in.
The hallway, once warm and vibrant, with silk curtains and golden lanterns, now resembled a crystal graveyard. The walls were covered in thick ice, the tapestries frozen in place like brittle sculptures. The floor was an uneven mosaic of frozen shards, cracking beneath his boots.
But the worst part wasn't the walls.
It was the people.
Damon swallowed hard as he saw courtesans lying on the floor, trembling, some crying with their feet partially frozen. Others, huddled in corners, hugged their bodies, their eyes wide with fear. Further ahead, soldiers lay motionless, encased in thick layers of ice, like grotesque statues of flesh and metal. Only their eyes, wide and panicked, betrayed that they were still alive.
He felt a shiver run down his spine. Not just from the cold.
"What the hell..." he muttered. "You... you froze everyone."
Ester stopped in the middle of the corridor. Without turning to him, she replied with the same icy calm as always:
"They were obstacles."
Damon was speechless for a few seconds, looking around as if searching for someone who hadn't been hit. He couldn't find anyone. He ran a hand over his face in frustration, feeling the cold sweat on his forehead.
"Obstacles? They were just courtesans and brothel guards! You could have just... I don't know, said something, gotten me out of there without... without all this!"
Ester finally glanced at him over her shoulder. Her blue eyes were unwavering, like eternal ice under the sun.
"And waste time with human trash? No."
The simplicity of her tone silenced Damon. There was something in the way she spoke that crushed any attempt at argument. Still, he took a deep breath, trying to regain his courage.
"So... why did you come after me?" she asked, her voice a little lower, almost shaky. "You could have left me."
Ester resumed walking, her firm footsteps echoing in the frozen hallway.
"Because you're dead weight."
The words hit him like a punch.
"...What?"
She didn't stop. She simply raised her hand and, with a snap of her fingers, made a spear of ice materialize briefly before dissolving into crystalline mist.
"That spear you carry." She paused. "It's useless in your hands. You're nothing but a burden to be dragged."
Damon clenched his fists. Anger rose in his chest, but with it, a strange feeling of... anticipation.
"Then why didn't you let me be that burden? Why bother coming after me?"
Ester stopped suddenly, turning to him. The air grew even colder as her eyes pierced him.
"Because Lady Elizabeth designated you as something to be polished. And I will not disobey."
Damon stood still for a few seconds, absorbing her words.
Polished. As if he were a rough stone, a formless ore.
She took a step toward him, and the air seemed to freeze in his lungs.
"From now on," Ester said, each word charged with authority, "I will teach you how to wield this useless spear. I will mold you into something that can at least survive."
Her eyes flashed with something like suppressed fury.
"Otherwise, you will die before you even understand where you are."
Damon swallowed, but to his surprise, his heart beat faster, not just from fear. A strange warmth grew inside him, contradicting the chill around him.
The former General of Eternal Ice, a woman with a title that sounded like legend, would teach him how to fight.
He took a deep breath, forcing a wry smile.
"Well... I've always been terrible at sports, but... maybe I'll learn something from the worst teacher in the world."
Ester ignored him, turning around again and continuing to walk. But Damon couldn't help but notice that, for a moment, the corner of her mouth almost moved. Almost.
A metallic sound echoed in his mind.
[A new path has appeared. You've entered a new quest line.]
Damon blinked several times, in disbelief.
[You've gained new knowledge about the Cultivation World.]
[You've gained new knowledge about the Demonic Cult.]
He rubbed his eyes, as if that would make the texts disappear.
"Are you kidding me..." he muttered.
The system never seemed to give him anything simple. It always came with chaos, death, destruction, and dangerous women. Now, it was basically saying it would drag him into this so-called "cultivation world" he barely understood.
Still...
He looked at Ester.
Her black kimono billowed as icy petals formed around her, falling like dead flowers. Her presence was like a pent-up storm, ready to be unleashed at any moment.
Damon couldn't help but smile. Nervous, yes. But smiling.
"A legendary former general is going to teach me how to fight with a spear..." he muttered to himself. "Okay. Maybe this world isn't so bad after all."
As soon as they left, the carriage was already waiting… 'Wait… I…'
"Do you understand why I came? You stayed at the brothel all night," Ester said, getting into the carriage. "Go do your perverted things more calmly." She closed the door…
"-30%… now it makes sense… she was jealous because I stayed at the brothel all night?…"