E-Rank or SSS-Rank: I Awakened a Skill That Shouldn't Exist-Chapter 164: Battle Of Frost

Chapter 164

"Yahhh!"

A man with long black hair, drenched in his own blood, screamed as he soared into the sky. His glowing scythe gleamed menacingly under the crimson light as he brought it down with all his might upon a single figure.

That figure—a man clad in an ominous red armor—stood unmoving. His short black hair ruffled slightly in the wind, and his piercing icy-blue eyes held no trace of fear. Unlike most armored warriors, his arms were bare from the shoulders down, revealing strange, frost-lined veins glowing faintly along his pale skin.

This was Freezer.

As the deadly scythe plummeted toward him, Freezer calmly raised a single hand to meet the blow. To anyone watching, it was madness—suicide even. Who would dare catch a weapon like that with their bare hand?

But then, the impossible happened.

With a sharp crackle, frost erupted from Freezer’s palm, racing up the handle of the scythe in seconds. The attacker’s eyes widened in horror as the icy chill spread through his weapon. He leapt back instinctively, afraid the freezing would reach him.

Too late.

With a flick of his wrist, Freezer shattered the frozen scythe like brittle twigs.

Around him stood five more figures—Tryst Guild members—each one armed and clearly out for blood. With the man from earlier, they made six.

They were all B-rankers, their weapons brimming with power. They had formed a circle around the red-armored menace, hoping to overpower him through sheer numbers.

But the outcome was anything but expected.

Each of their weapons—blades, spears, and hammers—had already been encased in thick layers of ice. Freezer had neutralized all of them without breaking a sweat. Now, the six guild members looked uncertain, their confidence fading fast.

And Freezer? He stood there, expressionless... unbothered.

"We can still do this!" one of the guild members shouted, trying to rally the others. "We are Tryst! We don’t back down! Together, we can overwhelm him. For our fallen comrades—let’s make him pay!"

Their voices rose in unison, building into a roar of defiance.

"We fight to the end!"

But just as the first of them stepped forward, he froze—literally.

An icy gust swept through the air with a ghostly howl. His eyes widened in terror... then dimmed forever. In the blink of an eye, his entire body shattered into crystalline fragments.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

His shattered remains clattered to the ground.

The others stood frozen—not by ice, but by fear—as they stared at the scattered remains of their comrade. The man who had stirred their fighting spirit was now nothing more than dust in the wind.

The next minute was a slaughter.

The remaining guild members didn’t even last sixty seconds under Freezer’s assault. He moved with ruthless precision, dispatching them with the detached efficiency of a seasoned butcher. Blood sprayed, armor crumpled, and cries were silenced one by one.

Only the sound of wind and shattering ice remained.

Freezer turned his icy gaze toward the last few survivors. "Well?" he asked mockingly, "Weren’t you going to rip me apart?"

But instead of replying, the surviving guild members turned and ran.

Cowards.

Freezer’s lips curled into a cruel smile. "You just made the worst mistake of your lives..."

He raised a single palm toward their backs—and unleashed a monstrous wave of frost.

The fleeing guild members didn’t even scream. They froze mid-step, their forms instantly encased in thick layers of ice. Then, with one final, dismissive wave from Freezer, they shattered into thousands of glittering shards.

Freezer looked down at the shattered remains of the Tryst Guild members, his expression twisted in cold disdain. He snorted.

"Burner and those other two... dead in a place like this? Pathetic."

He turned away, clearly ready to hunt his next unfortunate victim. But then, something made him stop.

His eyes drifted back to the bloodied field. Standing several meters away from the icy corpses was a girl.

She was young, with short white hair and glowing blue eyes—eyes burning with restrained fury as they locked onto the fallen. Her fists clenched, and her expression was cold as winter.

Freezer narrowed his gaze.

Laura took a step forward. Then another. Her movements were slow, deliberate—each one filled with quiet rage. She didn’t speak at first, only stared at Freezer as if trying to burn his image into her memory.

"What, a kid like you wants to avenge them?" Freezer scoffed as she approached. "How adorable."

"You did that, didn’t you?" Laura asked softly, though her voice was steady. She already knew the answer—everyone did. But to her, it wasn’t just a question. It was a judgment.

No human should do what he had done.

Freezer smirked and lifted a finger, pointing it directly at her.

"Ask them in hell."

Without another word, he fired an ice needle—small, condensed, and deadly. It streaked toward her head at blinding speed.

But just as it reached her... it stopped.

The needle froze in midair, then dropped harmlessly at Laura’s feet.

Freezer’s eyes widened slightly. Now, his gaze held a sliver of interest.

Laura’s expression hardened even more as she slowly raised both hands toward the sky. Above her, glowing sigils of ice began to form, spinning into shape as dozens of razor-sharp ice arrows took form, all aimed directly at Freezer.

"So... you can use ice too," Freezer said, his tone flat. "Interesting."

He lifted his own arms.

"But I’m far better."

Three massive ice fans materialized above him, spinning slowly, ominously. The air around them dropped instantly, the temperature plunging as frost began crawling over the ground, nearby buildings, and even the sky seemed to darken from the cold.

Laura’s heart trembled—but only for a second.

With a shout, she launched the volley of ice arrows.

Freezer didn’t flinch. He raised his hand, and in one sweeping motion, the fans above him spun violently. A massive, swirling blizzard erupted forth—a frozen whirlwind that shattered every single arrow with ease. The gust was so powerful that Laura was lifted off her feet, her body hurled violently through the air.

She slammed into the side of a building with bone-cracking force, a cry torn from her lips as she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her vision blurred, but her will remained unbroken.

Painfully, she pushed herself up, legs shaking, her breath ragged.

Across from her, Freezer stood unmoved. His expression was the same—calm, cold, merciless.

"Your ice ability is impressive," he said at last. "But you have no idea how to use it in battle."

Laura’s fists tightened. She wanted to argue... but she couldn’t. He was right.

Han never let me train with it.

Her brother had always shielded her from danger, forbidding her from practicing her ability too much. He couldn’t bear to see her suffer from the toll it took on her body.

She knew he meant well.

But now... now she was alone, facing a monster with no experience and no backup.

And deep inside her chest, anger began to boil—not just at Freezer.

At him.

If you hadn’t coddled me... maybe I’d be stronger. Maybe I wouldn’t be helpless right now.

"Damn it, Han..." Laura muttered under her breath, blinking back tears of frustration. "Damn you..."

But no matter how many times she cursed him, it wouldn’t change anything.

Laura glared at Freezer with unwavering defiance.

Han wasn’t here. Most of the elite members weren’t.

That meant the safety of this city rested on her shoulders.

She couldn’t let it fall—not while she was still standing. Even if it meant facing someone with far greater mastery over ice than she currently possessed.

Gritting her teeth, Laura brought her hands together, closing her eyes for a moment as she drew in every ounce of energy she could muster. The temperature around her plummeted—so much so that even the air began to crackle with frost. Snowflakes danced around her, freezing midair as something began to form in her hands.

Freezer narrowed his eyes, a flicker of interest finally breaking through his otherwise indifferent expression.

This level of cold... it’s nearly on par with mine, he thought, his gaze fixed on the ring of condensed ice taking shape in Laura’s hands.

It was small. White. Seemingly harmless.

But the aura it radiated was anything but. The air surrounding it shimmered with lethal chill, the kind that could freeze a man’s blood in seconds.

Laura didn’t hesitate. With a sharp throw, she sent the ice ring spinning toward Freezer.

He looked at it with visible contempt—until Laura opened her palm wide, and the ring suddenly expanded in midair. In an instant, it dropped down on him, encircling his entire body. As she clenched her hand into a fist, the ring constricted—tightening until it locked Freezer in place like an icy vice.

Laura exhaled hard, sweat trailing down her face. Killing a person, even someone like him, still didn’t sit right with her.

But at least she had suppressed him—

Or so she thought.

A hairline crack appeared on the ice ring.

Then another.

No...

With a loud snap, the entire structure shattered into frozen shards that blew apart like broken glass in a storm.

Freezer stood there, arms lowered, his eyes now fixed on her—not with surprise, but something closer to recognition.

"I’ll admit," he said slowly, "your raw ice power might even surpass mine."

He raised one hand, fingers curling like claws.

"But your control is garbage."

Before Laura could recover, he summoned several massive orbs of ice—dense and glowing with chilling energy. With a grunt, he hurled them at her like falling meteors.

Laura barely had time to react.

The first orb hit, and everything went white.

The next thing she knew, her entire body was encased in a towering sphere of solid ice—her limbs frozen, her breath shallow. She could barely feel her heartbeat.

Outside, Freezer approached the sphere slowly. He stared at it, his expression twisted between awe, fear... and disgust.

"If you had control," he muttered, "you might’ve actually killed me."

He raised his palm and pointed it toward the frozen sphere.

"Shatter."

His fingers closed into a fist as he gave the command.

To be continued...