Apocalypse Cheater

With long, silky, icy-colored hair, neon-blue eyes, and pale lips, the Ice Saint's appearance was as formidable as the legends described.

Her golden-blue armour and crystalline, slender, blue sword reflected her icy prowess, earning her the respect of the stories told in lores.

At this reflecting moment, my eyes were focused on the Ice Saint. How beautiful...

I was stunned by how beautiful she looked. It was as if I was looking at a Celestial in a human form. However, at the same time, I could feel a powerful force emanating from her. It wasn't a threat to me, but I could tell that she used to possess an unimaginable power. And it impresses me that this was just a fraction. I couldn't help but just imagine how strong was she and even the King.

It was something I couldn't witness with my own eyes and it's disheartening that despite the powers they possessed, they couldn't protect the Continent. Standing beside the Ice Saint, Bella and the spirit of her mother bore such a striking resemblance that they could easily be mistaken for sisters.

Seeing her mother's manifestation, Bella couldn't help but shed tears.

She had never met her mother in person, only hearing stories and legends about her.

Now, her heart was filled with a deep sense of fulfilment as one of her greatest wishes, to meet her mother, had come true.

"Finally...I could finally meet you, mother..."

Bella's heart swelled with a mix of joy and sorrow, her tears flowing freely as she finally stood before her mother.

But I felt sorry for her.

It was a bittersweet moment.

Her mother had long passed and yet, she was almost close to being with her mother yet she was so far from it.

But although it was only a fraction of her soul, Bella was happy with it.

With a hopeful yet hesitant gaze, Bella turned to me, her voice filled with emotion. "Daniel...can you leave this to me alone...?"

Her request was sincere, a plea for isolation during this emotional encounter.

Nodding gently, I reassured her, my smile tender and compassionate.

"Of course, I will only intervene if your safety is at risk,"

I responded, my voice carrying warmth and understanding.

At this moment, I know that Bella wishes to undergo this alone, and I respect that.

It was her resolve to face this trial alone, a trial that would decide whether could she become a Queen of the continent.

It wasn't exactly a reunion between a mother and a daughter, but, this was the only way where she could communicate with her mother, for the first and the last time.

And I wasn't cruel enough to take this moment away from her, and I'd only step it if there needed to be.

Eventually, I stood behind and watched the battle between Bella and Ice Saint that was about to unfold.

Bella walked forward and she stopped a step before her mother. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of longing and sadness.

It was a stark contrast to the Ice Saint's expressionless visage.

However, that didn't stop Bella from bliss and with a soft smile, she said, "Mother...it's me...your daughter, Bella" Her words seemed like an attempt to connect with her mother's soul, even though she knew the Ice Saint couldn't truly hear her.

"I'm sure you won't be able to hear this...but...I wanted to tell you that soon, I'll be the Queen...so please watch over me" Bella had made the resolve to battle against her mother, a scenario that she never expected to happen.

And she knew that this was a trial that was left behind by her mother, the last existing proof of her love towards her daughter. As soon as she had made her resolve, the battle began. The first to make the move was the Ice Saint who disappeared and reappeared behind Bella, intending to strike her shoulder. If this Ice Saint held her original strength, it wouldn't have been possible to pass this quest even if I had joined. But now, with her strength reduced to below 10%, it was manageable. And I didn't have to worry about Bella, and this was also a way to strengthen her battle tactics.

The moment the sword impacted Bella's shoulder, a colossal shockwave rippled through the surroundings.

At the same time, essences of Ice formed rapidly in the direction of the strike, creating a wave of frost.

Despite the immense impact and the ice that had formed, there were no visible injuries or wounds inflicted on Bella.

The Ice Saint appeared to be struggling, her hands trembling as she attempted to pierce through Bella's shoulder.

Bella, standing resolute, hadn't budged an inch despite the Ice Saint's efforts to harm her. She remained tall and immovable.

"Do you see it, mother? How much I've improved?"

Bella spoke with pride, as if seeking approval and praise from her long-lost parent.

It was a moment filled with emotion and a strong desire to show her mother how far she had come.

However, within a minuscule frame of time, I noticed a bizarre occurrence. When a person dies, she or he can't be resurrected unless a worldly treasure is used. Considering that this was merely a small fraction of her soul, I had never anticipated such a possibility.

It wasn't impossible, but in this rare moment, the Ice Saint smiled.

It was as though she had briefly regained consciousness and felt pride in her daughter's ability to withstand her strike, a feat that many would fail to achieve.

Was this a result of sheer luck and chance, or was it due to the overwhelming love she had for her family?

I couldn't help but wonder.

Even then, I could understand what the Ice Saint felt.

Perhaps, she regretted not being able to raise her daughter or being by her side, and this was the only way she could show how much she truly loved her. Even I can't help but be moved by it.

Instead of attempting to pierce through Bella's shoulder, the Ice Saint retreated and adopted a different tactic.

With that expressionless face of hers, the Ice Saint unleashed a flurry of 320 consecutive sword strikes.

It was one of the famous skills where each move was built upon the previous, multiplying the damage with each strike.

It was a lethal skill and had the potential to reach a multiplication of billions or even trillions!

However, Bella effortlessly blocked every single move with her hand.

Bella's strength had ascended significantly after achieving Level 998 status.

It created an insurmountable gap in raw power that only thousands could compete. Discovering that her skill had been useless, the Ice Saint turned to her mastery of ice manipulation and conjured a towering ice pillar.

It was a massive pillar of Ice but instead of being overwhelmed by the sheer size, Bella leapt into the air to evade it.

However, the Ice Saint seized the opportunity.

She blocked all her escape routes by summoning dozens of ice spears, which were launched towards Bella.

Seeing how the Ice Spears were slowly travelling in her direction, Bella appeared rather calm.

If this was a day ago, she would have panicked and despaired, but now, she had adopted an entirely different demeanour.

Perhaps, at some point in the quests before had changed her.

Nevertheless, despite having no chance of escaping.

Bella began thinking.

She could use a teleportation relation skill.

But she didn't want to resort to that.

"Whisper of Might"

To respond to her mother's skill, she activated one of her skills which was to destroy any attacks used against her by consuming the amount of Mana needed to erase the attacks.

It consumes lots of Mana, but for someone like Bella, it is like a drop in a river.

As she activated the skill, a potent surge of mana and raw energy merged within her clenched fist.

Once the energy reached a critical point, Bella leapt towards the ice pillar and, with a mighty punch, obliterated it.

*Boom*

The resulting spectacle was breathtaking, with the ice pillar disintegrating into shimmering ice fragments.

Watching such a sight, The Ice Saint was taken aback by how her attacks didn't work.

However, she didn't stop attacking as she used one of her famous skills called the "Ice Age".

The moment she activated the skill, the ground, walls, and ceiling froze, except for Bella and me, who remained unaffected.

Is this the famous skill, the Ice Age?

It certainly lives up to its reputation.

If the Ice Saint had her full strength, I might have been frozen solid.

Seeing this renowned skill up close, Bella smiled, understanding just how powerful her mother used to be.

"You're every bit as formidable as the stories say, Mother"

"I'm proud to be your daughter"

"That's why I promise to become the queen you envisenvisioned to do that, I must surpass your strength."

She conveyed her words to the Ice Saint, a small tear of ice dropping to the ground before she decided to end the battle.

"Ice Lotus,"

Bella invoked the same skill that had obliterated the two million monsters.

This time, she unleashed it with such intensity that she consumed her mana in less than a second.

She released her control of the Lotus, allowing it to bloom.

*Boom*

The entire training ground quaked.

Were it not for my support, the surroundings of this household would have been obliterated.

As the ice dust cleared around Bella, it revealed the distorted form of the Ice Saint's soul, heavily damaged.

[: You have completed the Ex Rank Quest: Defeat the Ice Saint and obtained 1 Unique Class Selection Ticket and 1 Ice Saint Unique Class Ticket :]