Jin-Woo had a bit of history with the monsters called Ice Elves.
Didn't he encounter these creatures when he stumbled into a Red Gate for the first time in his life? How rueful did he feel back then, after seeing the boss mob 'Baruka' slipping out of his hands while leaving only a dagger behind?
Just remembering that event brought back all the bad emotions he felt then after failing to extract that monster's shadow.
'And here I was, having just barely forgotten about it....'
Naturally, his strength while gripping this creature's wrist and neck increased.
Wuduk!
[Keok!]
In any case, why was a high-ranking monster that should have been confined to a dungeon roaming freely around here?
Jin-Woo got here by switching his position with his Shadow Soldier. Next up, he used 'Ruler's Authority' to keep his balance and float in the air about 7 or 8 stories high. While gripping the monster tightly, he asked this mysterious Ice Elf a question.
"What the hell are you?"
Seeing those pointy ears, or the long whitish hair, or even its pair of silvery eyes, this thing seemed to be a White Phantom alright, but then again, he could also sense the trace of an unfathomably lengthy passage of time from this creature, too.
Not only that....
[Kuwuaaahk!]
The monster gritted its teeth and shook off Jin-Woo's hands.
'....!!'
What an incredible physical strength!
Even before he had the chance to get surprised from the monster slipping out of his grasp, Jin-Woo picked up on this chilling aura coagulating around the creature's mouth.
Inexplicably, the image of Demon King Baran shooting lightning out of its mouth overlapped with this b*stard. By sheer instinct, Jin-Woo tilted his torso away.
Kawahh-!!
The bitterly cold air shot out from the monster's mouth, sped past Jin-Woo's original position, and poured out into the air behind him.
After confirming the scary amount of magical energy being poured out by the monster with his two eyes, Jin-Woo quickly retreated an adequate-enough distance away.
'.....'
He lightly dusted the particles of ice clinging onto his shoulder and stared intently at the Ice Elf – no, the Sovereign of Frost.
That thing was no ordinary monster. His ultra-sharp senses were warning him that this thing was much stronger than any monster he had faced off against so far.
Jin-Woo wasn't the only one getting surprised, though.
[But, how can you....??]
The Sovereign hurriedly looked at Jin-Woo's shadow and, after confirming the number of soldiers hiding in there, couldn't hide the fact that it was feeling deeply surprised right now.
[You have managed to amass that many soldiers, so why haven't you contacted us already?]
When Jin-Woo made no effort to reply, the Sovereign began looking into his eyes. And then, a pained gasp leaked out from the creature's mouth.
[So, that's how it was.... You're the variable he talked about, aren't you?]
What was this fool talking about?
Jin-Woo was getting rather curious about the meaning behind this monster's constant babbling, but too bad, he didn't have enough leeway to hold a cordial Q&A session with this creature.
ŞİMDİ OKUDUĞUN
[2] Solo Leveling
Aksiyon10 years ago, after "the Gate" that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as "Hunters". However, not all Hunters are powerfu...