How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game Chapter 714: Inheritance Interlude

"Cheshire..."

Riley's voice blended relief with a touch of annoyance.

"Hello~ Riley," Cheshire shot back immediately, his voice light and carefree as always. "Sorry for the wait. Your trusty, one-of-a-kind Cheshire needed a small side trip—surprises kept cropping up nonstop~"

He chatted as though the crisis meant nothing, as if they weren't poised between two colossal powers ready to collide.

Riley eyed him briefly.

This cat for real...

The dramatic arrival, the spot-on timing, the flair—it suited him perfectly.

It would've felt off if Cheshire hadn't popped in exactly like this.

Whether he'd been hanging around close by all along or timed his entrance flawlessly... Riley didn't waste thought on it.

With Cheshire, both were possible.

Truth was—

That wasn't the priority now.

"...Where the hell have you been?" Riley demanded.

The subtle warp near him started calming as his divinity gradually withdrew.

It lingered faintly rather than vanishing, no longer surging wildly.

Cheshire's presence lightened the tension—sufficiently for clearer thoughts, yet Riley's wariness toward the Frost Queen remained sharp.

Cheshire let out a laugh, drifting nearer with his massive cat grin stretched wide.

"Truth is, I rushed over the instant you summoned me~" he explained casually, like sharing idle gossip. "But someone made it tricky, shoving me into hiding briefly. When I broke loose, you'd already plunged into the dungeon."

He halted for a second, cocking his head.

"Plus, your aura was wildly erratic, I should note. Tracking you proved no simple task~"

His tail swished idly while he went on.

"At some point, I crossed paths with our charming queen here..." he tossed in, eyeing the Frost Queen. "And voilà—here we stand."

A straightforward account.

Far too neat.

Riley stayed silent, but it was clear Cheshire had glossed over plenty. Key facts, background, likely whole incidents—boiled down to a tidy recap as if trivial.

Even so—

It sufficed for the moment.

Cheshire pivoted a touch, grin unwavering as his eyes fixed on the Frost Queen.

"Now then~" he said breezily, "care to dial it back some, Icy Queen?"

Her commanding presence still weighed on the air, albeit softer since his arrival.

"No need for this to get ugly, right?" he pressed on, playful tone hiding a sharper edge. "Believe me... we've got the upper hand."

The Frost Queen held her response.

Her stare shifted between them, assessing silently.

Then—

Gradually—

The ice withdrew.

The choking weight eased away as her mana retreated, her icy dominion releasing its hold on everything around.

The atmosphere grew... less burdensome.

Not secure.

Yet no longer teetering on collapse.

Cheshire's smile stretched wider.

"Much appreciated~"

The Frost Queen watched them silently as their exchange unfolded, like she'd faded from the picture.

It stemmed not from disregard, but from the tangled chain of events that brought them here—too many factors smashing together.

Riley's ongoing worry for Snow had kept him on high alert from the start, while her unclear motives only fueled the fire.

Worse, Gallan's treachery flipped the script beyond her foresight, landing the dungeon core straight in Riley's grasp—something utterly unforeseen.

She'd misjudged him.

Above all, she'd misjudged his knowledge.

The dungeon core formed the cornerstone of her schemes, more than mere instrument—it underpinned her future designs—yet she'd never dreamed Gallan would uncover it and surrender that intel so freely.

Even then, faulting him alone wouldn't do, since her own aloof handling had opened the door to betrayal.

That's why she'd appeared—not for battle, but to settle matters before escalation and reclaim the core if feasible.

Yet her poor communication skills, paired with Riley's swift assumptions, twisted a potential talk into a simmering standoff.

From his view, such caution made sense.

Trusting her? Out of the question.

That stance held firm even now.

But revealing all... would he buy it?

The trial's reality differed from his fears.

True, assimilation loomed, and loss awaited—but not as he dreaded.

Not Snow, but she herself would be the one devoured; her entire existence, her sense of self, all that defined her as the Frost Queen would get swallowed and transferred over.

Meanwhile, Snow...

Would claim it all.

The strength, the recollections, the heavy load she bore—curse and all.

Though Snow might stay true to herself, she'd no longer remain pure from its touch, and that by itself could transform her in manners neither could foresee completely.

If Riley would embrace such a destiny for her remained doubtful, yet the Frost Queen grasped one fact with perfect clarity.

Before long—

Choice would be denied to him.

.....

"KUAAAAAGHHH!!!!"

That bellow rattled the space encircling them, unleashing a force that could pulverize even veteran champions right in their tracks.

The ancient frost monster lunged ahead.

Its previously chaotic, shapeless form contorted and reformed in mid-leap, solidifying into a far more solid shape—a hideous human-like figure encased in razor-sharp, ebony ice.

Limbs extended in unnatural ways, while frozen shadows sharpened into claws on its arms, brimming with lethal menace.

It lashed out.

SWIIISHH—!!

Elea responded without delay.

Right as the talons nearly ripped into her, she adjusted her stance and conjured ice underfoot.

A sharp pillar erupted skyward, propelling her aloft as she glided across it, her figure soaring upward seamlessly.

The strike barely missed her.

Yet the creature pressed on.

Its shape warped once more, shifting effortlessly.

Arms ripped open and ballooned out, morphing into enormous obsidian wings, as its skull twisted into a lion's—savage, raging, howling.

Next—

Pursuit followed.

SWOOSH—!!

The gap between them closed in a flash.

Within a heartbeat, it loomed before her once more.

Talons descended—

Swift.

Unyielding.

Elea proved swifter still.

[High-Level Ice Magic: Frost Mirror.]

Precisely as the claws collided, a see-through shield materialized ahead of her.

Collision—

Detonated.

Frost blasted violently outward, the backlash hurling the monster tumbling back to the floor below.

BOOOOM—!!

The whole area quaked from the crash against the shadowy ground.

Nevertheless—

Insufficient.

Nowhere near enough.

The monster reemerged in moments, piecing itself back through the fractured ice as if unscathed.

Elea had advanced already.

Staff directed earthward steadily, mana surged ceaselessly.

[High-Level Ice Magic: Ice Oblivion.]

Right when it steadied itself, a vast arcane ring spread underfoot.

Then—

Activation hit.

Azure blooms unfurled over the terrain.

Quiet.

Stunning.

And then—

They burst.

Bluish-white power rocketed up, swelling like a raging tempest prior to imploding. Everything caught inside got crushed—

Then detonated anew.

Another eruption.

Fiercer.

Thicker.

Utterly ruinous.

BOOOOMMM!!!

Air ripped apart from the sheer strain.

"...Cough—!"

Elea wobbled mid-air, blood trickling from her mouth as she regained balance, staff unwaveringly pointed down.

Breaths came ragged now.

This battle—

Dragged on excessively.

Hours elapsed.

Still—

No path to victory emerged.

"GROOOAAAHHHH—!!!!"

Another roar thundered, fiercer than last, form knitting back together, defying collapse despite endless blows.

Elea observed quietly for an instant.

Then exhaled.

"...How long are you going to resist?"

Calm tone hid deep fatigue underneath.

"Clingy curses..." she murmured while tightening her staff hold, "...are even worse than trash, you know."

Ease had never been expected.

After all—

No ordinary foe this.

Once, the primordial frost beast nearly annihilated the world, untouchable even at full power without aid.

Entire team back then—full might, tactics, lives lost.

Not all returned.

Such origins defined it.

Facing her now—

Though mere fragment, lingering curse—

Tied to that horror.

Danger persisted.

Thus, Elea approached with caution.

Preparations made.

Decision set upon reengagement: fight on her terms.

Mana fully committed, she seized domain control, curbing the beast’s power as much as possible.

Battlefield mirrored the clash.

Ice hues flipped endlessly—ebony to azure, back again—like rival powers battling for supremacy.

Absolute stillness permeated the black ice, a chill determined to encase all things without mercy.

Her ice—

Differed entirely.

It went beyond mere freezing.

It dominated.

It molded.

It dominated.

Two rival powers.

Colliding fiercely.

Nullifying one another upon every clash.

The beast comprehended this truth.

It possessed intelligence.

It adjusted.

It evolved.

Thus, it refrained from overdepending on its power.

Rather, it narrowed the gap, repeatedly reforming its form, relying on brute physical might to overpower her.

Not graceful.

Yet highly potent.

Elea tsked under her breath, her hold on the staff firming up.

"...Annoying."

For she grasped another fact.

The beast perceived her state.

Or perhaps—

It detected it keenly.

The curse from the primordial beast lingered deep inside her, rooted in her core, gradually devouring her from within.

It had never vanished completely, merely suppressed until now.

And presently—

With her straining so fiercely—

It worsened steadily.

Her mana circulation faltered from its ideal stability.

Her physique lagged behind its former prowess.

Each incantation unleashed, each action performed—

Demanded far more from her than normal.

The beast could afford patience.

It merely had to persist.

Since inevitably—

Her endurance would shatter.

"...Too bad."

Her grasp solidified.

Mana erupted anew from her, compelling the nearby ice to realign to her will, albeit faintly.

"...HUMAN... RESISTANCE IS FUTILE...!"

No echo resounded in the atmosphere.

The voice invaded her psyche directly.

From beneath, the beast's shape dissolved again, merging into that mutable, amorphous blend of shadow and rime, its essence sprawling like an ink blot over the floor.

"...I AM YOUR END... AND THAT CHILD’S LEGACY..."

The phrases crawled forth, laden and warped, as though numerous tones overlapped.

"I CANNOT BE KILLED."

The area quivered around them.

"FOR I AM—"

"ABSOLUTE."

Every utterance pierced progressively further, burrowing into Elea’s mind, seeking to supplant, persuade, reshape existence.

For an instant—

Silence reigned.

Then—

Elea uttered a subdued scoff.

"...Haha."

Softly spoken.

Nearly mirthful.

"For something that’s already dead..." she remarked, brushing blood from her lip’s edge, "you really don’t know when to let go."

Her stare intensified.

"But I suppose that makes sense."

A subtle exhale slipped out.

"...You were always just a beast."

Mana blazed forth once more.

Thicker.

Weightier.

The atmosphere sharpened and chilled around her, as though reality itself started solidifying beneath her unleashed force.

"I may die soon..."

Her tone held steady.

"...but I’ll win."

No uncertainty tainted it.

No vacillation.

Pure resolve.

Her eyes turned below.

To Celestine.

Remaining down there.

Ensnared in the fallout.

"And one more thing..." Elea murmured softly, her look warming faintly.

"You’re not her legacy."

Her voice chilled anew.

"You’re just a stain in her story."

A brief halt.

"And she won’t inherit anything from you."

The rime encircling her erupted.

For her resolve was set—

"...I will give her everything."

A shift occurred in her gaze then.

The chill persisted.

Yet underneath—

Lay something more.

Delicate.

Mortal.

She regarded Celestine once more.

And now—

She perceived it.

Stirring.

Consciousness.

"...Ah."

A soft, nearly eased sigh departed her.

"You’re awake."

Beneath—

Celestine’s eyes quivered while her sight gradually sharpened, fixing on the silhouette overhead.

"Mother—!"

Her cry fractured.

Elea’s face gentled.

Not the Frost Queen’s.

A mother’s.

Please...

Her inner pleas failed to touch Celestine.

Yet they hovered persistently.

Forgive me... for being selfish.

Her staff grip clenched a bit more.

Don’t try to stop this.

Just accept it.

Her eyes remained fixed on her child.

Tender.

Live your life.

A subtle smile graced her mouth.

And be happy...

Mana around her roared.

Ferociously.

"I’ll make sure of it."

VOOOOM—!!

The force burst expansively.

The enveloping darkness fractured, tearing open under the supreme chill.

Dark ice splintered, melting away as purer essence invaded.

White.

Infinite white.

The whole domain succumbed to utter frost, a chill so total it obliterated all opposition.

"HUMAN!!!"

The beast’s roar ripped across the iced void, stripped of hubris—now tinged with dread.

It realized.

Far too late.

"HUMAN—YOU DARE—!!!"

Its whole body contorted savagely while asserting its dominion, nearby dark frost responding wildly.

The atmosphere fractured, tension mounting as it strived to seize back command of the field—

But—

It collapsed in defeat.

The shadowy chains that shackled it to the icy blue nucleus ignited fiercely, clenching harder, confining it, denying its desires.

Every effort to unleash its strength outward only drew a counterforce yanking it inward.

No—

Not merely confined.

Depleted.

Its personal dominion was getting stolen bit by bit.

Pulled toward another entity.

"...Don’t tell me...?"

For the very first time—

The creature faltered.

Elea offered a subtle smile, her gaze serene while observing its mounting agony.

"So you finally noticed."

All along...

The beast failed to comprehend.

Refused to believe.

How was it possible for a simple human—

To possess such a thing?

The energy enveloping her transcended her original might now.

Layered and intertwined, it tugged directly from the beast's former supremacy.

The chill gravitated to her, obeying not only as raw power—but as a possession seized.

Integrated.

Purified.

Rendered truly hers.

"HUMAAAN!!!"

With a thunderous bellow, it charged ahead once more, relying on brute might to shatter its bonds, its enormous frame surging forth—

Yet frost-forged chains erupted skyward, wrapping it firmer, hauling it earthward like the entire realm conspired against its advance.

It fought fiercely.

Flailed wildly.

Came up short.

Hovering overhead—

Elea lifted her staff high.

Her tone rang out firm when words escaped her lips.

Unyielding.

"Let all motion fade..."

The atmosphere grew utterly still.

"Let all ages fall silent..."

Even the beast’s movem