The Way of a Demon Lord

You thought I dropped this, but guess what? I am alive. I seriously underestimated the power of habit. I should not have skipped a day of release. My entire writing streak collapsed. But anyways, this hiatus was a breath of fresh air. I did things a people my age should be doing. Now that February started, I will upload everyday- that too, a minimum of 1600 words- at all cost.

Sorry for the wait everyone.

A massive thanks to Daoist930799, for the super gift. Sorry for the late gratitudes; stayed away from the app, hence I didn't even know that I received a castle.

Anyways, let's gooooo!

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Both Adrian and Irene were relaxing in the hot spring. Their dresses lied on the surface while their elbows anchored them to the shore.

Adrian had his eyes closed while Irene's eyes were fixed on him. She just had her undergarments on. After staying with him for months, she had become free enough to show Adrian her semi naked body.

After staying half an hour like that, both of them climbed up to the ground. Droplets of water slid down their skin while steam erupted from their red tinted body. They dressed themselves up and walked back through the entrance. They did not bother to cover their heads anymore.

"Are we going to death zone dui, or tin?" Irene asked. She had already confirmed that zone ek was not their destination.

"Tin." Adrian said. "We might also give dui a visit while we are at it. It's not everyday we get to enter such 'hazardous' spots. Might as well have some fun."

Irene nodded.

Both of them got back to a 'fork in the road' and entered another path. They did not hold back their auras anymore and casually released them, scaring away all the monsters that lurked in their paths.

Half an hour passed but they did not face a single obstacle as they reached their destination- the outskirts of Death zone dui.

A few years back, a party of hunters disappeared when they had come to hunt something near. Undoubtedly, this was the last 'officially' activated death zone, unless the party lost their way and ran into another zone.

Adrian and Irene nonchalantly stepped forward, without any trace of fear. The temperature began to drop down with every step they took. A couple of minutes later, layers of frost appeared on the tunnel walls.

It was as if the nature itself were warning the intruders. Don't come close.

But the duo ignored the warning and moved on. Steams puffed out of their mouths, layers of ice covered Adrian's robe, but they kept on.

Adrian turned to Irene. "Can't you thaw it? It's getting really cold you know." But his face, nor his body language showed any signs of suffering.

"I can only unfreeze my own ice." She suddenly stopped, prompting Adrian to halt as well.

She snapped her fingers. A giant bubble of ice suddenly manifested two meters ahead on the ground. There was a small opening with the size of a man facing them.

"Nice." Adrian entered the bubble. Despite the fact that it was made of ice, it was warm inside.

She snapped her fingers again. The opening on the bubble closed, making it a fully enclosed sphere.

"You are not coming in?" Adrian asked, his voice penetrating through the two inch thick ice.

Irene shook her head. "It's easier to absorb the magical energy here. It seems special, as if it's designed especially for me."

Adrian nodded and began to walk forward, rolling the giant sphere along. Irene followed.

A little later, the first sign of life appeared- a once living being to be precise.

A woman was trapped in a block of ice. Her eyes were looking forward, her face- nonchalant. It was as if she did not even feel that she was being frozen to death.

But none of the two bothered to stop and inspect as they marched, and rolled, forth. A few meters away, another frozen body came into view. His symptoms were the same, faze forward and face indifferent.

More bodies like these came into view as they walked forward- all of them trapped in ice. Irene could not help but turn to Adrian- her all knowing mentor.

But Adrian remained silent as he walked forth. Irene did not ask anything as she kept her pace with him.

The number of the bodies only increased as they moved forward. After a certain point, the number of frozen corpses began to decrease. Everyone was wearing different sorts of clothes and uniforms- from the Church, from the Hunters Guild, from the from the Duke house, even from the Imperial Sentry.

Finally, the tunnel came to an end. And there were barely any bodies nearby. But the ones there were- all of them were famous. Even Adrian recognised all of them. They were either the past generals of the Imperial sentry- he had seen their pictures from the eyes of the general that chased him a few months ago, or archbishops from the Church- he had seen them from the memories of the bishop in Edenshield.

The weaker ones froze way back in the tunnel, while the strongest of beings of the Empire- level 9s from the Church and the Sentry died at the extreme end of the tunnel.

But there was one thing common- the utter nonchalance as they froze to death, and their gaze fixed forward.

Even though it was cold to the point of freezing stronger level 9s to death, Adrian and Irene were completely safe. And it was all thanks to Irene- an inborn Ice Circler.

At the end of the tunnel, there was a large entrance- big enough for the ice bubble to roll through. The duo stepped in.

There were only two frozen bodies in there. Adrian recognised both of them. One was a past Emperor while the other was a cardinal.

He smirked.

"Do you see that?" He asked Irene, pointing at a certain direction. "That thing imbued a greed so intense in them- that they did not even mind freezing to death."