Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 845: Evelyn’s Resolve [1]

Swoooooosh—!

The wind swept strongly, the cold biting and lingering in the air.

A dense fog lingered in the air, blanketing every inch of the city. At its center stood a lone figure in the cold, her body deathly pale as flecks of ice drifted down around her, slowly layering over her body like a thin, white veil.

Chunks of ice continued to creep across her body, crawling over her forearms and up along her cheek. The frost spread upward in a slow, deliberate manner, almost as if it were alive.

It continued to crawl up the young girl’s body as her eyes remained closed.

Swooosh, swooosh—!

The wind never slowed.

It only grew stronger.

Sharper.

And with every violent gust, the frost clinging to Evelyn’s body thickened, layering over itself as the cold tightened its hold.

In such a desperate world, the only thing that remained was Evelyn.

She stood still.

Almost as if she had given up.

The cold kept crawling up her body, inching closer to her face. Just as it was about to consume her completely, her eyelids fluttered. At first, it was barely noticeable, but then they slowly opened, revealing a pair of glowing purple eyes.

Cra Crack!

A bolt of lightning flickered within her gaze.

The ice creeping across her body came to an abrupt halt. A moment later, fine cracks spread throughout the frozen layer as Evelyn slowly lowered her head, staring down at her own body. Seeing the state that she was in, she showed no reaction as even more cracks began to form around the ice that encased her body.

And soon—

Cra Crack!

A lightning tore down from above, shattering a large chunk of the ice that covered her.

But that wasn’t all.

Cra Crack! Cra Crack!

Thunder rumbled.

Purple and blue flashed across the surroundings.

And with each flicker, the ice encasing Evelyn’s body shattered piece by piece, breaking apart and freeing her from her frozen prison.

Silhouettes began to form around her, but Evelyn didn’t spare them a glance. As thunder rolled through the air, her eyes turned completely purple, and she slowly extended her hand to the left.

The world flashed.

BANG—

And thunder struck.

Right towards Evelyn’s extended hand.

It all happened in a flash. So fast that no human could ever hope to react to it. But when the light finally faded, a persistent crackling sound echoed through the air, accompanied by a steady, ominous dripping.

A deep crimson stained the snow beneath.

The snow hissed and melted beneath each drop, a long shadow stretching across it as Evelyn slowly turned her head to stare at the crackling rod in her grasp.

As the crackling echoed through the heavy silence around her, more blood seeped into the snow below. Evelyn’s lips trembled faintly, her breath pausing for just a moment as she nearly lost her hold.

But through sheer persistence, she tightened her grip and held on.

"It’s... not quite there. But it’ll do."

Staring at the long rod, Evelyn tried to bend it to her will. An image surfaced in her mind, and the rod flickered in response, its form briefly stretching and expanding as if answering her intent. But it lasted only an instant. The shape snapped back to its original state, and the color drained further from Evelyn’s face.

Hisssss!

The snow beneath hissed as blood streamed down from above. Shaking her head, Evelyn eventually let go, allowing for the rod to fade completely as she took several deep breaths.

’...The path is still quite long.’

Nevertheless, this was an improvement.

Lowering her gaze to the snow below, Evelyn stared at the crimson staining its surface. She then turned her hand, looking down at her palm as ice slowly began to creep around the charred flesh.

This time, she didn’t bother removing the ice.

She let it remain as she turned, her purple hair flickering behind her while the snow crunched beneath her step.

Crunch! Crunch!

The strong wind continued to blow, tugging at her clothes as flecks of ice settled over her head. Not minding any of it, Evelyn trekked through the dense fog, moving without any need to see what lay ahead. It was almost as if she had memorized the exact path she needed to take, until a tall structure eventually came into view.

The wind grew stronger the closer she came to the structure, her clothes fluttering even more fiercely as her hair fell back.

In spite of this, Evelyn’s steps remained unhurried, her expression unchanged as she arrived before the doors of the structure, which she slowly opened, revealing a long and dark corridor.

Closing the doors behind her, Evelyn walked past the familiar corridor.

She walked towards the main room of the safe-house.

And soon—

—Hey, hey. Don’t eat it all! Leave some for me!

—No, I want it!

—What are you guys doing? Especially you, old man! You’re old enough to be her grandfather. Why are you fighting her over food!?

—What nonsense....! Just because I’m old, it doesn’t mean that I am not hungry! If anything, young lass, I should be the one to get the food! I’m old and need nutrition.

—How shameless.

Hearing the voices from within the safe-house, Evelyn’s tired expression melted as she slowly opened the door, revealing a large room. Warm light bathed the place as an old man bickered with a young woman, while two children stood off to the side, alternating their gazes between the two.

A burly boy stood not far from them, equally as speechless.

Then, a calm voice followed.

"You’re back."

Immediately, everyone stopped.

All heads flicked in the direction of the door as the eyes of everyone present lit up.

"Evelyn!"

"You’re back! How did it go? How was your training?"

"Haha, the young lass is here. Soon enough, we’ll all be free!"

Their joy brought a smile to Evelyn’s face. However, that smile didn’t last very long as she shook her head.

"Not yet. I’m not quite there yet. I still need more time."

"That’s alright."

A hand reached for her shoulder, calmly patting it as Velar stood next to her.

"Don’t be too hard on yourself. Just look at everyone here. Because of you, we were all able to be free from the curse. I know you’re getting closer, but don’t push yourself too much."

"...I know."

Evelyn forced a smile, turning her attention towards a certain statue by the end of the room. Moving quietly towards it, she pressed her hand against his chest, a bolt of lightning shooting into his chest.

The ice around Julien’s body cracked rapidly, but it only lasted a few seconds before stopping. Soon after, it healed itself, and Evelyn pulled her hand back.

"It’s not surprising."

Velar’s voice reached her ears once more.

"The stronger you are, the more powerful the ice. I can see you’ve improved a lot. It won’t be long until you can free him as well. Once you finally free him, you can free everyone else. Take it as a last trial."

"....."

Instead of answering, Evelyn’s gaze remained fixed on Julien.

The more she looked at him, the more powerless she felt. She had lost count of how much time had passed since his disappearance, and whilst she had managed to bring everyone else back, he was the only one that she wasn’t able to bring back.

No, not just him...

Evelyn thought about five other figures.

Leon. Kiera. Aoife. An’as. Anne.

There was still them.

’Just a little bit more. I just need to push a little more. A little bit more, and I can finally free everyone else.’

Clenching her fists, Evelyn walked to the couch and sat down. Massaging her pale face, she tried to collect her mana once more as lightning crackled around her body. Her complexion immediately improved the moment she started to focus, and those around her didn’t disturb her, clearly seeing what she was doing.

The bickering got a lot quieter, and so did the noise.

Evelyn basked in the silence to completely focus on her inner body. Lightning crackled in every part of her body, preventing any ice from forming. If ice did form, the lighting would quickly shatter under her precise control.

It was through such a method that she was able to remain unaffected and help the others.

Even Velar had no choice but to use her help in order to free himself from the curse. There was nothing else that he could teach her. This was why her progress had stagnated. It was because there was no one else to teach her.

But this was fine.

She could do it.

’...I will do it.’

"Have you recovered?"

Opening her eyes again, Evelyn looked around. Before she knew it, everyone was already seated on the sofas, Chloe holding a deck of cards as she neatly distributed them to everyone, including her.

"Ah, I don’t—"

"Just play. The children wanted to play with you a bit."

Pausing, Evelyn looked at the two children beside her. Seeing their large, pleading eyes fixed on her, she felt conflicted. On one hand, she wanted to return to training, but on the other...

"Ugh!"

Too cute!

"I know that you want to hurry with your training, but some rest will be good for you. Sometimes, not rushing is also a form of training."

Looking at Chloe, Evelyn forced a smile.

She was right.

"Alright, I’ll play a couple of rounds."

"Yaaaay!"

Penelope raised both hands, looking all excited, while Ilyen followed her example. The old man next to her crackled a laugh as he leaned back against the sofa.

Evelyn laughed along with everybody.

At least, until her eyes narrowed.

"Hold on a second."

Turning her head to stare at the old man, her gaze fell on the area where he was sitting. Her expression crumbled right after as the old man’s eyes widened.

"You... Young lady..."

He even blushed.

"You can’t possibly—"

"Scooch aside a little."

"....."

Seeing the old man suddenly turn silent, Evelyn’s eyes narrowed further. Chloe also stopped dealing the cards while the two children innocently looked at the old man.

"Ehm."

Coughing, the old man turned serious.

"This old man’s back is quite worn. I believe that I’ll get injured if I move. Maybe after this roun—"

Cra Crack!

Lightning crackled from Evelyn’s hand, hitting the old man’s back as he let out a startled, ’Hieeeep!’ and jumped up from his seat, exposing a certain card.

"—!!!"

"!!!"

The faces of the two children changed drastically while Chloe covered her face and mumbled, ’How shameless.’

"Ah, this..."

The old man’s eyes swam around as Evelyn reached for the card and tossed it on the table, crossing her hands in satisfaction.

"Children."

She looked at the two children.

"Beat him."

"No, wait...!! Wait!"

The two children dashed toward the old man, their expressions filled with anger. The old man yelped again, and Evelyn smiled at the sight.

In the cold that pierced across the world, she... felt warm.