Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 376: Arriving in Skaldi

Kael descended the castle's grand steps with firm steps, already feeling the sudden change in atmosphere as he reached the main courtyard. The wind of the Witch Kingdom always blew differently there—sometimes as gentle as silk, sometimes as sharp as blades, depending on who was passing by. Today, it seemed alert, impatient, as if he knew something big was about to begin.

And there they were.

Irelia, with her impeccable posture, adjusting the last straps of her ceremonial combat attire—white and gold, flowing, light, yet sturdy enough to withstand her light magic. Her expression was focused, cold, but her fingers tapped rhythmically against her sheathed sword. Nervousness disguised as discipline.

Beside her, Amelia tied her hair in a high ponytail, while murmuring quick words to her weapon—a staff made of pure mana, so thin it seemed like liquid glass. Her uniform was more practical, darker, with small crystals attached to the sleeves that pulsed in sync with her heart. She seemed too excited for the scene.

They were both in the center of a teleportation circle, whose runes glowed rhythmically, awaiting only the final command.

Kael approached with a smile even before being announced.

"Already getting ready for the fun without me?" he teased.

Irelia looked up immediately, her rigid posture softening only slightly at the sight of him. "Finally." She smiled.

Amelia twirled her staff between her fingers and smiled. "You took your time! I thought you'd only show up when the castle had already fallen."

Kael raised an eyebrow.

"Are you both ready?"

They both nodded at the same time.

"Yes," Irelia replied, taking the lead in the explanation. "We've already prepared the teleportation." "Let's go to the southeastern edge of Skaldi, far enough away not to attract attention, close enough to enter the city without using too much energy."

Amelia finished:

"And don't worry. We've already tested the flow of the central rune. Nothing should go wrong."

Kael crossed his arms, observing the white and blue glow of the runes beneath his feet.

"'Nothing should go wrong'... That's exactly the phrase that always precedes something going wrong."

"Ah, so we're on the right track." Amelia smiled.

Kael took a deep breath and looked around.

"Where's Sylphie?"

Irelia stepped forward, as if she had been expecting this question.

"Sylphie is still in Azalith. She's talking to the princess."

Kael blinked. "Still?" "I thought it would be faster."

"Yes." Irelia confirmed, adjusting the sword on her back. "I didn't understand the delay either… you went to the edge of the kingdom to see your mother, much faster than teleporting to Azalith…"

The air began to vibrate even before any sound formed.

Kael opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted when the ground beneath the teleportation circle began to move—not tremble, not crack… grow.

Flashes of green mana rose like luminous pollen, and spiraling roots silently broke through the courtyard stones, snaking over one another until they formed a hollow structure, like the stem of a huge flower.

And then, with the naturalness of someone simply passing through a door…

Sylphie emerged.

First came the slender hands, pushing aside the translucent leaves like curtains. Then, the long silver hair cascaded down, glistening with the still-fresh magical dew. Finally, the elf She stepped onto the courtyard with her usual grace—and her predictably weary mood.

"Sorry for the delay," she said, her melodious voice contrasting sharply with her distinctly tired expression.

Kael crossed his arms.

"Tell the truth… you tried to talk to the princess."

Sylphie let out a long, almost dramatic sigh.

"Yes."

Irelia tilted her head. "And…?"

The elf placed her hands on her hips, the soft sheen of her ceremonial robes still shimmering in shades of green and gold.

"And I didn't get much." She looked at Kael with a slight eyebrow arch. "Nothing really useful, at least."

Amelia's eyes widened. "What do you mean? The princess of Skaldi grew up in that palace. She must know everything!"

Sylphie raised a finger.

"She knows, she does."

She raised another finger.

"Explaining… that's another story." Kael bit his cheek to stifle a laugh.

Irelia sighed. "She escaped the attack, didn't she?"

"Yes. But, according to her, she was more concerned with surviving than making strategic notes."

Amelia muttered, "Useless…"

Sylphie raised her hand to continue.

"But," she emphasized, "I managed to get at least one piece of information that could make a difference."

The three instinctively approached each other.

Sylphie touched the ground with the tip of her staff and conjured a small projection of mana—a simplified map of the palace and surrounding regions.

"The princess said the main entrance is completely blocked by corrupted ice. Any attempt to enter from above is suicide, and the gates are swallowed up."

She ran her hand over the map, and green lines appeared beneath the structure.

"But the ancient tunnels to the north still exist."

Kael narrowed his eyes.

"Tunnels? What kind of tunnels?"

Sylphie replied calmly:

"Underground maintenance passages… and escape routes. Skaldi was built on very old ice sheets, and there are reinforced tunnels leading to the palace beneath the frozen lake."

She pointed to a bright circle on the map.

"The most stable entrance is here: on the northern shore of Lake Helvorn."

Kael smiled.

"A silent route right under the Black Witches' noses…"

Sylphie nodded. "Exactly."

Irelia analyzed the projection closely.

"Lake Helvorn has frozen completely since the attack. The ice is… different. It doesn't look natural."

"Because it isn't," Sylphie finished. "The princess said the ice shifted after the core of chaos grew. But the tunnels should still be intact—at least the main ones."

Kael took a deep breath. "Then let's go in from underneath."

Amelia snapped her fingers, excited. "Finally, some real action."

Sylphie closed the map and adjusted her staff on her back. "Prepare yourselves. The entrance is discreet, but the rest probably won't be."

"Great. Then let's go before the day is over." The circle's runes began to glow again, reactivated by Sylphie's arrival.

Irelia took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"All ready?" Kael lifted his chin. "Let's find a king, destroy a demonic ice castle, and ruin the Black Witches' Day."

He stepped into the center of the circle.

"Ladies first." Irelia, Amelia, and Sylphie entered beside him.

Energy accumulated, lines of mana rose like serpents of light…

And the world around them distorted, preparing to take the four of them straight to the frozen edge of Skaldi.

They emerged amidst a silent flash—not like fire, not like light, but like an abrupt displacement of the world around them.

When the distortion broke, the group was hurled into the icy reality of Skaldi.

And the silence… was the first thing that hit them.

An unnatural silence.

A heavy silence.

A silence that sounded as if even the wind was afraid to make a sound there.

Kael took a deep breath and the air entered like sharp blades, cutting from within. The cold wasn't natural—it wasn't the kind of cold that bites, it was the kind that seeps in, that clings to the soul, that leaves the body rigid as if trying to transform it into part of the landscape.

They were in a forest.

Or… in what had once been a forest.

The ground was a carpet of snow so white it looked like solidified light. The trees, once full of the region's typical bluish leaves, were rigid, petrified into blocks of black and blue ice. Each branch looked like a spear, each trunk like cracked crystal.

And then Sylphie saw.

And her body froze faster than the air around her.

"Sylphie?" Irelia called softly.

The elf didn't answer.

Her green eyes—so bright, so alive—were now wide, filled with shock, with growing horror.

Because there, trapped in the ice, like twisted sculptures…

…were animals.

Squirrels, their bodies bent in the middle of a leap that never ended.

Birds with their wings spread, as if trying to sing—but the ice had invaded their beaks, their feathers, their eyes.

Some were just frozen.

Others… were shattered. Broken into fragments within the ice, as if crushed by freezing.

And that, for Sylphie, was personal.

Very personal.

"No…" her voice trembled. "No… no, no, no…"

She walked slowly to a tree trunk where a small blue-plumaged bird was trapped. Its wings were still spread. Its eyes wide. A thin thread of ice protruded from its beak, as if its last song had been transformed into crystal.

"This… this isn't normal…" she whispered, her voice growing thinner with each word. "They were alive… they were singing… they were living normally… and—"

The air around the elf exploded in particles of green mana, involuntary, instinctive—the visceral manifestation of her emotion.

Amelia touched Kael's shoulder, worried.

"This is bad. Very bad. Sylphie doesn't react like this even when she sees an entire city destroyed."

"She's of nature," Kael murmured, his voice deep. "It affects her more deeply than anything."

Sylphie fell to her knees in the snow—not from weakness, but to get closer to the small animals trapped there. The ice reflected her eyes like broken mirrors.

"They… didn't have a chance…" She raised a trembling hand and touched the ice encasing the bird. "None. Not even a moment to run…"

Irelia approached, her expression softened by empathy.

"Sylphie…"

"They were erased." The elf closed her eyes tightly. "This is Frozen Chaos. I… I can feel it. It's not just ice. It's death. Absolute death."

Kael stepped forward and placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Sylphie."

She breathed, a sob caught in her throat.

"I… I'm trying to be strong, Kael… but this…" She looked at him, her eyes filled with tears—which immediately froze at the bottom edge, shimmering like crystals. "This is too cruel."

Kael crouched down to her level.

"I know." He spoke with a calmness that didn't mask the hardness in his expression. "But that's why we're here. To stop this. To halt this."

Sylphie took a deep breath, trying to regain control. The surrounding mana finally began to stabilize. The elf placed her hand on the ice and, in an almost ritualistic gesture, bowed her head slightly—a small, silent mourning.

Irelia approached from behind and placed a gentle hand on her back.

Amelia, though excited by action moments before, now had a closed, tense expression.

Kael stood slowly, his eyes scanning the frozen forest around him—and for the first time since arriving there, his face became completely serious.

"If the Frozen Chaos did this here…" He clenched his fist, and his aura lit up in a soft scarlet glow. "I don't even want to imagine what he's doing inside the castle."