In the Apex—a magnificent palace carved from crystal, shafts of snow-white light angled in beneath the delicate eaves, illuminating a vast hall. Upon the ice throne deep within, a figure in stark white robes sat motionless.
He possessed a beauty chiseled from ice and snow; sharply angled black brows soared like plumage above his brow bone, and his obsidian pupils reflected an absolute, detached indifference. Gold-trimmed patterns along his chest lent him an air of noble elegance and inherent dignity.
He shared the same black eyebrows and healthy complexion as Ye Chen. To be seated here could only mean he was the highest-ranking figure in the Snow Domain—the Emissary of the Snow Domain!
He gazed silently ahead into the vast hall, as if awaiting someone. After a moment, the space before him shimmered, twisting like water, and from it emerged a figure clad in snow-white. His long white robe billowed as if caught in a breeze, though there was no wind in the hall; the currents seemed to surge up from beneath his feet, lifting the fabric around him like soft, drifting clouds.
He had sky-blue, sweeping eyebrows, skin as pale as untouched snow, and cheeks carved with ruthless precision. A faint coolness resided within his white irises. Upon his appearance, he immediately dropped to one knee, his voice low. "Lord Emissary, the brigands in Tick City of the Simkas Kingdom have been brought to justice." As he spoke, he gently unfurled his palm, revealing a purple medallion.
This, naturally, was the badge of a Purple-Medal Hunter.
Honor was sometimes considered more vital than life itself. Now, with this medallion in his grasp, all honor was spent, and life was equally forfeit.
"Hmph." The man on the ice throne merely lowered his gaze to glance at it once before returning his sight to the distant expanse beyond the hall. "Well done. You may stand aside now." His lips barely moved, yet his voice resonated, sounding as if broadcast from some distant celestial realm, laden with authority and coldness.
The stern young man bowed respectfully, then rose and retreated to stand silently by the wall.
Just then, the spot where he had been standing warped again. A tall figure in a silver-white robe materialized. Shaking, ice-crystal earrings hung from her ears, resembling twin crescent moons. Her cheeks were sculpted as if by a master artisan’s blade, flawless. Her slender, blue eyebrows were sketched like delicate, elegant clouds, and her crimson lips were full and alluring. Her white pupils were crystalline and pure.
As she entered the hall, she immediately lowered her head in deference.
She did not kneel, but merely bowed her head, stating, "Fourth Seal Emissary Shi Mei pays respects to Lord Emissary."
The stern young man beside her pupils contracted sharply. He stared at the elegant, beautiful woman before him, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm, his gaze gradually drifting toward the snowflake-like sigil upon her chest—it bore four etchings. His own snow-slave medal, however, displayed nine!
The twelve Emissaries of the Snow Domain each commanded nine Twin Slaves.
He was, evidently, the last in line.
And these nine Snow Slaves rarely, if ever, encountered one another, as ordinary tasks required the deployment of only a single slave.
Any mission necessitating the simultaneous deployment of several slaves was an event that occurred perhaps once every few hundred thousand years.
Thus, most Snow Slaves, beyond knowing their own rank among the nine, had no idea who the others were or what they looked like.
Yet, the stern young man understood precisely how powerful he was, and that such strength ranked him merely at the very bottom of these nine individuals. The Fourth Seal Emissary before him was clearly far stronger than he was!
He recalled one occasion where he had fortunately encountered the Eighth Seal Snow Slave. Full of defiance, he had issued a challenge but was swiftly defeated—overwhelmingly so!
From that encounter, he knew the gap in power between each Snow Slave was a chasm. Especially the top three—their strength was terrifying!
For in a very distant legend, it was recounted that any one of the top three Snow Slaves could easily dispatch all those ranked from fourth down to the last, killing them without effort!
Therefore…
This elegant and beautiful woman standing before him was the strongest of the monsters, just beneath those three titans!
The man on the ice throne regarded the beautiful woman of the Snow Kingdom with the cold detachment of a noble emperor. He did not speak, yet a resounding sound echoed overhead in the hall. "I summoned you because a mission requires your completion."
Kame bowed her head respectfully. "Kame will complete it, regardless of the cost."
Buzz. A low hum resonated from the ice-crystal floor, vibrating like a plucked string. A vast map shimmered into existence above it, dotted with four scattered red points.
"There is an individual here who has just emerged from Wushuang City of the Longtegas Empire and is heading toward the remote borders of the Snow Domain. This person is a Deep Abyss Demon from beyond the Abyss Glacier. You will depart immediately and execute him!" the man on the ice throne commanded coldly.
Kame glanced at the map, her eyes flickering slightly. "The other three red dots must also be Deep Abyss Demons. Why am I not tasked with eliminating them as well?"
"The other three are beyond your capability," the man on the ice throne stated tersely. Kame’s body gave a slight tremor, then she lowered her head in silence, saying nothing more, and turned to walk toward the hall's exit. Her slender, graceful figure was stunning beneath the winter-snow sunlight; as she crossed the threshold, her robe flared, resembling a falcon setting out on the hunt.
The stern young man felt a fresh wave of shock. Watching Kame depart, he found it almost unbelievable. Though he had heard countless tales of the Glacier Abyss since childhood, never in his memory had Deep Abyss Demons breached the glacier before.
Most importantly, historical records indicated that the very first attack by Deep Abyss Demons involved large numbers, all of whom were slain by the Snow Slaves of the earliest Emissaries. Yet now, only four had appeared, and the Fourth Seal Emissary was only assigned the weakest one. How terrifying must the other three be?
As these thoughts churned in his mind, the light in the hall distorted once more, and a young man in white appeared. His white robe was long, his physique tall and straight, and his sweeping eyebrows looked like twin daggers. His pupils held a casual, detached air. Upon seeing the man on the ice throne, he merely offered a slight bow and nod. "Third Seal Snow Slave Starnel pays respects to Lord Emissary."
The stern young man’s heart jolted violently again, as if struck by a heavy hammer.
The man on the ice throne spoke coldly. "On the map beneath your feet, within the snowstorm zone of the Ice Plains, there is a Deep Abyss Demon. Go and resolve it."
"Yes," Starnel replied courteously, a faint smile touching his lips. Then, as if nothing of consequence had occurred, he turned to cast an amused, pitying glance toward the stern young man standing by the hall wall, before turning and walking out. The stern young man felt deeply uncomfortable under that gaze. He remained silent, gritting his teeth before taking a step forward and bowing low. "Lord Emissary, I request permission to accompany Kame to deal with that Deep Abyss Demon."
"Unnecessary," the man on the ice throne stated flatly. "If Kame fails, a hundred of you will still die."
The stern young man clenched and then released his fists, biting down hard. He took a deep breath. "Yes." He then stepped back to stand beside the hall wall.
At that moment, a figure in white materialized where he stood. No one saw how he appeared—there was no spatial rift distorting like water, no sound whatsoever—it was as if he had been standing there all along. His long robes emitted thousands of delicate, soft rays of light, overpowering every other illumination in the hall. Exquisite boots were glimpsed fleetingly as his robes shifted.
Cold sweat beaded on the stern young man’s forehead. His eyes were fixed intensely on the figure's chest, where the snow-sigil bore only two etchings!
The Second Seal Snow Slave!
He felt as if he couldn't breathe.
"Shumitt pays respects to Lord Emissary. The unrest on the Sand Lion Plain has been quelled, and the Sand Lion King has submitted." As he spoke, he swept his hand, and a vortex appeared from thin air. A small lion, half a meter tall, bounded out, its golden fur and round pupils bright. Its agile limbs tumbled across the floor, and it obediently licked the carving on Shumitt’s boot edge like a tame kitten.
The stern young man gasped audibly.
He knew exactly how terrifying the Sand Lion King of the Sand Lion Plain was; ten of him would be instantly annihilated upon encountering that beast. Yet, such a terrifying monster was now docilely present—a scenario he hadn't dared imagine even in dreams.
The man on the ice throne nodded slightly. "Very good. I have a new task for you. On the map beneath your feet, in Tiger Face River on the Ice Plains, there is a Deep Abyss Demon. You will go and kill it immediately."
"Certainly," Shumitt replied with a smile and a nod. He squinted briefly at the map below, where the four red dots were starkly visible. After his gaze swept over his assigned target, however, it abruptly shifted to one of the red dots located not far outside the Sacred Mountain.
"Why is this red dot so close, yet I am not permitted to eliminate it as well?" His face remained smiling, but his pupils seemed to freeze over.
The man on the ice throne looked down upon him with chilling indifference. Their gazes locked in a mutual refusal to yield, but finally, Shumitt frowned and lowered his head. The cold voice of the man on the ice throne sounded next to his ear: "This anomaly... is not something you can handle. If you go, a hundred of you will be killed. The other eleven Emissaries have already dispatched all of their respective Snow Slaves to confront it. This includes the First Seal Snow Slave, Lonskar, who ranks above you."
Shumitt snapped his head up, his pupils contracting to pinpricks. He gasped out, "He went too?"
"Indeed..." The man on the ice throne paused in silence for a moment before slowly confirming.
Shumitt’s heart convulsed violently.
No one understood better than he the terrifying strength possessed by the monster ranked just one step above him.
Yet, such a monster had joined the nine Snow Slaves of the other eleven Emissaries to hunt down this single Deep Abyss Demon.
He felt a chill that swept through his entire body. (To be continued)