Krulu Sarather was born on a cold winter night.
Her father said that her mother, carrying her, had run all the way to the foot of the mountain to escape a bandit attack, hiding in a snow cave where she ultimately froze to death.
It was only hours later that the arriving Sarather soldiers rescued Krulu, but by then, she was still perfectly safe and sound.
Some said that Krulu survived that cold wave because she was protected by her mother's soul.
In any case, Krulu later became a wielder of ice magic, arguably the most gifted genius of ice magic in the entire world, and was even said to be on par with Sathya.
The wealth of the Sarather family was like a massive mountain, heavy enough to crush a person to death.
As her strength grew greater and greater, she became like a brand-new sun illuminating the mountain that was the Sarather family.
Her father began to personally educate her, even cultivating her interpersonal skills and political acumen. Conveniently, as the next heir, Krulu had inherited the most outstanding talent for magic.
Her father loved her dearly. During her days at home, he cooked for her every day, bought her clothes and gifts, and even selected many handsome suitors for her—though if she was dissatisfied, he would throw those fellows right out the door. Later, her father took her to travel other continents, where she met many friends and learned about different cultures in countries without the Church, giving her a brand-new understanding of the world's structure.
However.
She had accidentally learned that because of certain defects when she was born, she was deemed to have tarnished the noble bloodline of the Sarather family's firstborn daughter, and was meant to be secretly executed.
To save Krulu from being hunted down, her mother had fled by carriage to a secluded town on the night she was to be killed, hoping to let Krulu live a normal girl's life. However, this triggered a pursuit ordered by the head of the family.
In other words, it was Krulu's father who had personally sent men to kill her mother...
Later, Krulu endured the heavy snow for a long time, and she was only allowed to live because she was deemed to possess sufficient talent.
It was all a lie.
Her family looked down on the education at the Holy Academy, believing the Church did not possess a qualified level of instruction. Yet Krulu had said, “There are many people there, and I can be respected at the Holy Academy.”
Crossing that mountain seemed just a bit too difficult.
At least, once she left that mountain, she could still find a path of her own.
And now?
Cold...
She only felt an intense cold, just like the winter of that year, on that night in the year 1106.
Her mother had carried her as they fled the town, crossing the mountains under the pursuit of countless people. The warm embrace was gradually overtaken by the cold, until she was left entirely alone.
As if recalling that night, Krulu played with her mother's fingers and softly called out, “Mother.”
There was no response.
So cold...
Is Mother protecting me this time too?
Krulu opened her eyes.
Cracks began to appear on the ice cocoon. A few seconds later, the upper half of the ice cocoon shattered, revealing Krulu's upper body. Then, with a loud pop, the entire ice cocoon broke apart, exposing the girl's entire body to everyone.
Her long, blue-green hair faded into shimmering cyan ice crystals at the ends, and the blue dress manifested by the miasma made her look like the Goddess of Winter. Rhombus-shaped patterns symbolizing the cold appeared in her ice-blue pupils, sending shivers down one's spine. Across her flawless white body, black, crack-like patterns spread wildly, climbing up her neck and face before finally converging on her forehead, taking the shape of an eye.
A dark blue halo appeared above the girl's head.
A new magical beast.
Along with her birth, the entire building began to give way. The foundations and support pillars constructed for the prison could no longer withstand the energy released by the awakening of the magical beast and began to collapse, as if an earthquake were occurring. Unfortunately, this level of impact was still far from enough to harm the other magical beasts.
After opening her eyes, she rushed out of the prison, seemingly to unleash the anger she had long hidden deep in her heart.
Two shackles made of ice appeared on her wrists, connected by chains with sharp blades at their ends.
“Ahhhhh...”
She raised her head, letting out an exclamation that was either a bitter cry or a celebration of her rebirth, sounding like a beautiful, gentle song.
The cold continued to spread outward until the entire ruined castle was completely frozen over. The controlled humans were turned into ice sculptures alongside it, completely losing their ability to move.
However, this was not enough to satisfy Krulu.
She looked toward the northwest. Her sharp, falcon-like eyes locked onto the Sarather family manor and the Holy Academy, and even more ice crystals began to form on her arms.
Suddenly, in the sky eroded by the Demon King, a massive meteorite broke through the miasma.
The meteorite was ice-blue, constantly melting and condensing. Water vapor and melting ice formed snow-white air currents, resembling a burning cold flame.
The ice meteorite grew larger and larger, expanding from the size of a building to that of an entire block.
A few minutes later, it could even accommodate an entire town.
Adventurers who happened to be passing through this forest looked up, staring in despair at the massive ball of ice that covered half the sky, and fell to their knees.
No one knew how much destruction this object would cause if it crashed down, yet all of this stemmed from the wrath of a newborn magical beast.
“Humans... Humans...”
Krulu muttered under her breath. Right now, she only wanted to unleash her rage.
It was all the humans' fault that she couldn't see Velrose...
It was all the Church's fault.
It was all Sarather's fault!
But suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation in her head, as if an electric current had passed through her brain.
The dark blue halo above her head suddenly flashed, transmitting information and hints that only she could understand. Though it was like a coded message, it was incredibly clear to her, and she could even perceive the sender's intent.
That power felt extremely familiar to her.
When she was cold, someone had granted her the newborn power of chaos, giving her such a light, carefree body and strength enough to kill humans. However, that person did not seem to want her to run wild like this.
Krulu's power immediately began to wane, and the ball of ice stopped growing, slowly descending.
She immediately flew in front of the dragon girl.
The girl who radiated a warm, familiar aura; the girl who looked at her with eyes of appreciation.
Yes, look at me~
My rebirth, and all of it comes from you.
You are the one who has always protected me.
Lord Demon King, the one who granted me rebirth...
“Mother.”
Krulu knelt on one knee and cheerfully uttered that word.
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