I Am Really The Best Anti Hero In Another World!-System Of Anti Hero!-Chapter 48 - Frozen Fire – Part 5

Seeing the flame streak past his eyes at full speed, Noah quickly looked up and was left awestruck by such a majestic sight.

The phoenix hovered in the air, right above his head, causing the ceiling to ignite from the intense heat. And before it, the flame—with its strange yet beautiful icy blue hue.

On one side, the environment was as hot as a vast furnace; on the other, as cold as absolute zero. On one side, the Frozen Fire—even though it was a flame—caused everything around to freeze instantly; on the other, the phoenix, whose every beat of its wings made everything tremble and burst into flame once again.

Yet, despite the peculiar state of the surroundings—one side frighteningly hot and the other equally cold—Noah, surprisingly, felt fine. He didn't even feel much cold or heat; to him, the room maintained a normal temperature.

'That's surely thanks to the phoenix... Which means, I too have-?! Oh damn!' Noah thought.

As he began reflecting on the advantage of being seemingly immune to both heat and cold, he had to interrupt his thoughts when he looked at the girl's bed and noticed that she was beginning to freeze.

Immediately, he sought a way to help her—not only because only seconds had passed since the flame and the phoenix had left their bodies, but also because if she was already in such a state after just a brief exposure, he couldn't even imagine what would happen if she stayed there much longer.

Yet Noah didn't need to do anything. For, as he was about to rise, the phoenix, with its enormous talons, grabbed the Frozen Fire and drew it closer. And after doing so, it spread its massive wings and, opening its golden beak, let out a scream so powerful that the barrier around the bed shattered, and people from all over the city—and beasts from the entire forest—shuddered upon hearing it. But, right after, the phoenix was slowly reabsorbed into Noah's body, while enclosing the Frozen Fire within its wings.

With the phoenix back inside him, Noah rose and took a single step toward the bed. However, as he did so, he noticed that his vision immediately grew strangely blurry. Noah continued to move slowly toward the bed, managing only two steps in total. On his third and final step, with his vision growing more and more obscured, Noah finally collapsed to his knees beside the bed.

Then, for some unknown reason, his legs gave out completely, and with his eyes gradually closing into total darkness, he crumpled to the floor next to the bed, murmuring:

— Damn... not again...

A Moment Before, Outside the House

"What is this, sir?!" the woman demanded, struggling to withstand the crushing pressure—her Qi spiraling wildly with every passing moment—one more moment and she would fall into an irreversible Qi deviation.

"I don't know...!" the old man replied, kneeling just behind her—blood streaming from every orifice.

The woman continued trembling, her face a clear mask of panic. Although the pressure was truly terrifying, the old man, after a brief moment to collect himself, realized he could walk to the room—though he had no idea what consequences it might bring. He strained himself, for the pressure was overwhelming even for him, but he managed.

Then, he stood up and forced himself to remain upright, feeling every part of his body being crushed by that overwhelming force.

"Where are you going...?" the woman asked as she watched him slowly pass by her side.

"I'm heading to see the young lady... You, on the other hand, must try to get away and stay safe."

Upon hearing that order—even though she knew she wouldn't be able to— the woman tried to stand up to follow the old man. And as she did so, she cried out:

— But, sir-! (cough! cough!)

After hearing her cough, the old man quickly turned and exclaimed:

— What did you-?!

And, upon seeing blood on the floor, he shouted:

— Quick, get out of here!

After that, the old man opened the door and continued crawling into the house, determined to reach the room at any cost.

But after taking a few steps and drawing near to the stairs, the old man paused to think:

'Could that be the beating of wings...?!'

He suspected something was there, though he hoped that "something" would be a person rather than a beast. And there were two more things he just couldn't shake from his mind, no matter how hard he tried: How could such a powerful beast exist in this forest—something he hadn't noticed until now? And why hadn't he felt its presence shattering the barrier or drawing near?

However, he couldn't form any answers to these questions when he heard a sharp chirp following his thoughts.

After hearing that sound, the old man—who was struggling to reach the room and resist the pressure—ended up falling to the ground. That piercing, extremely loud sound echoed in his ears, and soon after he simply collapsed, feeling a pressure several times greater than before. The only thing he could do was try not to faint, to avoid completely succumbing to that crushing force—and that, ultimately, he failed to do.

Meanwhile, the woman, who was slowly trying to crawl away from the house, heard what the old man had done. And she thought that that surely meant her end.

Everyone in or near the house fainted. Meanwhile, in the city, people trembled and waited for the arrival of that unknown being who would surely massacre them—a fate that, in the end, never came to pass.