I Became a Little Vampire Princess After Being Infected by a Game Virus

Chapter 56: Something Feels Off

All set for the climb, Ouxs and Gaia set off toward the Ice Dragon King’s palace. But for Ouxs, who had been cooped up in the Royal Palace all this time, the mountain environment was way too harsh. After just a few steps, he was gasping for breath, wiped out.

“Ugh. Climbing this mountain isn’t exactly a walk in the park.”

“Maybe it’s because you haven’t exercised enough? Ouxs, being stuck in the palace has made you weak!”

Gaia turned back to glance at Ouxs. He had hoped to have Ouxs support him on the climb, but with how out of shape Ouxs was, it looked like he’d need to find ways to make him get fit.

“Yeah, you might be right. Don’t mind me, Lord Gaia. You go ahead; I’ll rest here for a bit. I’ll catch up once I’m feeling better.”

Ouxs knew he was holding Gaia back, but it was hard to ignore that he had been neglecting exercise in his everyday life.

“No way! I can’t just leave you behind. This mountain is dangerous! There are tons of monsters roaming around. Like this!”

Suddenly, Gaia hurled his spear and pinned a snow mountain tiger that was sneaking up on Ouxs.

“Isn’t that a snow mountain tiger? When did it get behind me? I didn’t even notice!”

Ouxs turned to see the dead snow mountain tiger, utterly oblivious to its presence just moments before.

“Because they’re crafty! They sneak up on prey. Many residents of Panimir have suffered at the paws of these guys. And now, it looks like we’ve stumbled upon not just one but a whole pack of snow mountain tigers!”

Gaia squinted at the stormy blizzard below, clearly spotting the eyes of those snow mountain tigers peering out from the snow, shining with a strange glow.

Looks like Ouxs and Gaia were pretty unlucky to run into a whole bunch of snow mountain tigers at this moment.

“This is definitely a bit of a predicament. But if it’s just snow mountain tigers, that’s nothing to fuss over. Leave it to me, Lord Gaia!”

Ouxs pushed himself up, gazing at those tigers in the blizzard. Sure, he’d be in trouble if they ambushed him, but facing them head-on? No snow mountain tiger, no matter how many, could stand against him! Don’t get it twisted—being called a Sage isn’t just for show!

The leader of the snow mountain tigers let out a fierce roar, ordering the pack to attack and take down the two humans, to feast on their flesh and drink their blood.

With the leader’s command, five snow mountain tigers charged straight for Ouxs. This human looked weak; surely five tigers could take him down with ease!

Only, they forgot one thing. Humans dominate this land not just because of their physical prowess.

“Diamond Stardust!”

Ouxs swung his fist, unleashing a chill that instantly froze those five snow mountain tigers solid in ice.

“So, do you still want to keep attacking? I don’t mind throwing down more!”

After dispatching the frontline enemies, Ouxs shouted at the remaining tigers. He was more than ready for a brawl; after all, these tigers were no match for him, no matter how many they sent!

The leader realized their pack was outmatched; the five previously frozen tigers were the best of the best, and they had been taken down in the blink of an eye. They had no choice but to retreat and search for different prey.

“Those guys aren’t as foolish as they look. They realized they can’t win and are making a smart retreat.”

Once he saw the shadows in the blizzard disappearing, Ouxs relaxed his magic. He turned to Gaia.

“Lord Gaia, let’s move forward. There could be more magical beasts lurking, and it’s dangerous to go alone.”

“Yeah. Thanks for your concern, Ouxs. Having you as a partner feels like having the strength of a hundred men.”

“N-no way, I’m not that strong! My Frozen Qi barely compares to Lady Ailin’s. It’s not worth mentioning!”

“When it comes to comparing Frozen Qi with Ailin, there’s no human who comes close. Stop underestimating yourself, Ouxs! Your power is already at the top tier among humans.”

Gaia spoke solemnly. Comparing his Frozen Qi to Ailin’s was like picking a fight with a giant. Ailin, being a natural-born Ice Dragon, was on a whole other level compared to humans who had to work hard to control their Frozen Qi. Humans could never reach the heights of true dragons. Ouxs had no need to compare himself to Ailin. Just being a top-tier human was enough.

“Right. I’ll remember that. Let’s keep moving, Lord Gaia.”

“Sure.”

Reaching the Ice Dragon King’s palace wasn’t going to be an easy task. For some reason, the magical beasts in the snowy mountains had recently increased in number.

“Damn, it didn’t seem like there were this many monsters before.”

Gaia frowned at the corpses of the magical beasts he had pierced. There hadn’t been this many when he climbed the mountain in the past—or at least, not this many blocking his way.

“Could someone be trying to stop us from reaching the summit?”

Ouxs also began to doubt. Encountering so many magical beasts was definitely unusual. It seemed like someone had set them up just to thwart their ascent to see the Ice Dragon King!

“There could be. But what’s odd is that the magical beasts on this mountain are usually under the Ice Dragon King’s command, and I’m the son-in-law. The Ice Dragon King wouldn’t stop me from climbing up…”

Gaia was perplexed by who could control these magical beasts, knowing it certainly wasn’t the Ice Dragon King. Their relationship was solid; if he wanted to climb, the Ice Dragon King would welcome him, not send monsters to stop him.

“Could it be… something’s happened with the Ice Dragon King? Ouxs, let’s pick up the pace! I have a bad feeling about this.”

With that, Gaia quickened his steps up the mountain.