Chapter 1206: The choice is made.
Chapter 1206: The choice is made.
For many years of living in the Forest of Doppelgangers, Ned, even before he signed a contract with Idan and received his current name, did not know what fear of death was.
In the Forest of Doppelgangers, he, like all his relatives, was immortal.
Everything changed when he left the Forest, following Idan into a whole new world.
During his short trip with Idan and Arabel, Ned experienced many exciting moments. When he went up against a rank 6 being in an inferior world of darkness and light, he knew he was going to die.
Without a connection to his ancestor and the Forest of Doppelgangers, he could not resurrect.
At that moment, Ned felt the fear of death for the first time.
The fear that didn’t stop him from trying to protect his older brother and didn’t make him back down.
After his resurrection, he did not forget this feeling, but it was suppressed by the realization that his older brother could bring him back again.
But Milena’s words, spoken at that moment, hurt him.
Ned realized that his comrades didn’t want him dead. He was sure that Idan, Arabel, and the others would not stand idly by while he risked himself. But the fact that it was Milena who was so openly worried about him caused an inexplicable warm feeling in his soul.
Ned felt a little embarrassed by her rebuke.
But at the same time, he felt a quiet joy.
Milena was worried about him.
And for some reason, it meant a lot more to him than he could have imagined.
“I’ll stay,” Irene suddenly said, breaking the tense silence first.
“No, I’ll stay, and you go on,” Arslan objected, without letting her finish. His gaze lingered on Irene for a moment.
“Heh, let me stay,” Hailey suggested with a grin, as if the very idea of hiding behind other people’s backs seemed unacceptable to her.
Milena also wanted to propose her candidacy, but Ned stopped her by putting his hands on her shoulders.
“That’s enough, I’ll stay,” — Ned said firmly. He looked at Milena and added with a smile, “But not because my life is worth less. It’s because I have a better chance of coming back.”
Nemo frowned, looking from Irene to the others.
The sudden change in their mood was too obvious.
As the champion of Idan and the owner of the simplified System, he knew that the so-called awakened ones had their own Systems. And the fact that the four were so determined to take risks when it wasn’t really necessary indicated that their Systems were behind it.
Nemo slowly clenched his fist.
He didn’t know what exactly their Systems had told them. I didn’t know what kind of warning or task made them make such a decision. But if the Systems intervened right now, it means that what was happening was much more serious than the usual “Conquest”.
“Okay, let’s continue,” with difficulty, but Nemo nevertheless decided not to give up the “Conquest” and take the risk.
Lina was ready to support any decision Nemo made, so she didn’t object.
Lucinda, although she was a little puzzled by the sudden turn of events in the decision to continue the “Conquest”, nevertheless agreed.
In the end, everyone accepted Ned’s decision, albeit with difficulty. They did not agree with him, but rather accepted that someone should stay so that the others could continue on their way.
“And what’s next?” Hailey broke the silence.
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say to her. And at that moment, an inscription appeared on the ice wall:
“The choice is made.”
Cracks appeared on the ice barrier that blocked the path, and then it exploded. A blizzard burst out of the tunnel with a strong gust of wind, enveloping the entire group.
The storm lasted only seconds, and then disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
The passage opened, but the next second, everyone heard Milena’s surprised voice.:
“Where’s Ned?”
“Huh?” — Nemo and the others turned to where Ned was standing earlier, but there was no one there anymore. Even his clone was gone.
They disappeared with the storm.
“The Forbidden Zone took them away,” Lucinda said what everyone suspected.
Nemo and the others immediately guessed what had happened. They had already seen Geminia move creatures through the Forest of Doppelgangers. If the Ice Caves obeyed their Supervisor in the same way, then Ned probably did not die, but was transferred.
With Ned’s disappearance, the escape routes were cut off.
“Let’s go,” Nemo said, stepping into the opening that led into the depths of the Ice Caves.
Lina followed him, and the others followed her.
***
When a snowstorm enveloped him, obscuring his view, Ned felt a familiar feeling and realized that he had been teleported. At the same time, he lost contact with his clone. He did not die, but was scattered by the force that teleported him.
The storm dissipated quickly, and Ned, as expected, found himself in a completely different place, no longer next to Milena, but in a huge open cavity resembling an arena.
But it wasn’t an arena.
Ned realized this almost immediately. In front of him stretched a huge cavity inside the mountain — uneven, wild, filled with ice columns, boulders and ledges of rocks. There were no stands, there was no level circle for a duel, there were no boundaries separating fighters from the audience.
Still, his instincts told him that this place was meant for battles.
When he looked around, he saw them.
Frostborn sat on stone ledges, on ice blocks, in crevices of walls and under overhanging arches. Creatures similar to elves have the traits Lucinda mentioned earlier.
They didn’t make any noise, didn’t talk or greet him.
We were just watching.
Their motionless figures blended into the ice, and only their cold eyes revealed how many there really were.
Then a movement ahead caught his eye. A lone figure appeared at the other end of the field, confidently striding towards them. It was a Frostborn, and Ned quickly determined its rank—platinum.
With a bang, a small ice wall appeared next to him, on which inscriptions appeared:
——————–
“Defeat the champion of the Ice Caves”
“Victory — 1 point for the team”
“Loss — 1 point for Ice Caves”
“Total of 5 duels”
“You’re the first”
“The side that gets 3 points first wins”
——————–
Ned took a deep breath, and a wide smile appeared on his face, and a pinkish-purple sparkle played in his eyes.
“So I’m not a victim after all,” he muttered. “And just a fight?”
His gaze landed on a lone figure in the distance—his opponent. And looking at him, Ned couldn’t stop smiling.
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