I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 50: Frostbite

Ice Golems began breaking off from the walls around them, stretching as far as the eye could see. But the group had no luxury of counting their enemies—the first wave of monsters was already upon them.

Vale sidestepped a wide, sweeping strike from the nearest golem. His blade lashed out, slicing deep into its icy leg, but it was not enough to sever the thick, jagged limb.

With no time to adjust, the second attacker loomed above him, its massive arms crashing down like twin meteors.

Without hesitation, Vale activated the enchantment of his armour—vanishing from sight.

The ice golem’s jagged fists slammed into the ground, snow and shards of ice exploding into the air. But before the creature could even register missing its target, a blade of Hellfire struck.

Vale appeared behind the monster, driving his sword through its chest. The weapon pierced clean through, the blade jutting from the golem’s back like a fiery banner. It writhed, trying to shake him off, but before it could succeed, Vale activated his weapon’s enchantment—just for a second.

That was all it took.

Orange flames surged inside the golem, and with a hollow groan, its body crumbled to the ground with a heavy thud.

[ You have slain a C-Rank, Awakened Monster, Ice Golem. ]

[ You have received an Artifact: Frostbite ]

The system’s voice echoed in his mind, but Vale had no time to listen. Another monster was already lunging toward him.

His eyes snapped to the threat, his mind reaching for his enchantment once again—when suddenly, a silver gauntlet crashed into the creature’s side, launching it across the battlefield and into the ice wall with bone-cracking force.

With a wide grin and only one arm, Dain had joined the battle.

The massive student fought with relentless fury, striking down his enemies long past the point of death before turning to the next target. The longer the battle raged, the wider his grin grew—as if the chaos itself fueled him.

The rest of the group wasn’t far behind. Klein was already unleashing his debuff ability, waves of weakening energy washing over the nearby enemies. Ayla... Ayla was a whirlwind of death, tearing through monsters with surgical precision. One kill flowed seamlessly into the next, her momentum never faltering even under the ever-increasing number of enemies.

Vale couldn’t help but admire her fluid combat style. She wielded her ability with masterful control, adjusting the weight of her strikes with pinpoint timing—never wasting a single movement, never giving her enemies the chance to retaliate.

But even with their combined might, it wasn’t enough.

The Ice Golems kept coming.

An endless tide of jagged limbs and glowing eyes, closing in on them from all sides. The group began to falter, slowly forced back until their shoulders nearly touched, forming a shrinking circle amidst a sea of enemies.

They fought on, blades flashing and their abilities activating—but the pressure only mounted, and the cold tightened around them like a vice.

Until now, Vale had only activated his weapon’s enchantment for brief moments, allowing the orange flames to flicker without giving his unique ability a chance to fully awaken—attempting to preserve his mana essence. But his tactics were faltering—his mundane strikes lacked the force to bring the monsters down fast enough.

Then, an idea struck him.

A memory of using his now destroyed ability, Vine Bind, resurfaced in his mind.

He extended his arm toward the densest part of the horde. His focus shifted inward, toward the Ravenous Flame.

The air thickened, growing heavy in an instant. The biting cold around him had vanished, as if the very wind had recoiled in fear of what was coming.

A dark flame ignited in his outstretched palm, flickering violently—a shadowy blaze gave clear contrast against the pristine white terrain of the Snowveil Mountains.

He felt his mana essence get pulled toward it, hungrily devoured by the growing flame. It expanded rapidly, deepening in colour, its presence oppressive and unnatural.

For a moment, the battlefield came to a halt. The monsters seemed to hesitate, their crimson eyes locked on the black flame.

But it was already far too late.

The flame erupted from his palm, a roaring stream of darkness stretched across the width of the icy passage, devouring everything in its path. The ground trembled beneath him, chunks of frozen earth ripped from their place and swallowed by the dark blaze. The monsters shrieked, but no sound managed to escape the flames.

Vale gritted his teeth. It didn’t feel like his mana was being drained—it felt like it was being ripped away from him, violently and without mercy.

[ You have slain a C-Rank, Awakened Monster: Ice Golem. ]

[ You have slain a C-Rank, Awakened Monster... ]

[ You have slain a C-Rank... ]

[ You have slain a... ]

[ You have slain... ]

[ You have... ]

A flood of notifications echoed in his mind, each kill confirmed by the system—but he couldn’t hear any of it.

His core was already empty.

The black flame flickered once, then began to fade.

His vision blurred, and the sounds all around him had dulled. The last thing he saw was the icy battlefield—the horde of monsters that stood in front of him had been erased.

Then his body crumpled to the ground, and everything went dark.

Vale didn’t even remember the darkness—only the sudden flood of muffled voices and violent jolts that shook him awake.

He lurched forward with a gasp, his heart pounding in his chest.

A dull ache pulsed in his stomach—or rather, in his core.

"Dammit," he thought, realizing he had drained it completely again. His limbs felt heavy, every breath tight in his throat, as if even oxygen refused to return until the price for his actions was paid.

"Vale!" Ayla’s voice rang out.

She was kneeling just inches away from him, her face etched with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I ran out of mana," he muttered.

Without warning, her small fist thumped against his arm.

He blinked in shock, staring wide-eyed as she stood up and brushed the snow from her knees.

"What was that for?" he thought, confusion hitting him like a hammer.