Snow White and the Black Mage

Snow White and the Black Mage

The icy arrow grazed Silver Fox's cheek. Though he had cast the Soul Transfer Curse at once, the trail of Ice Element still left a cut across his face.

Blood trickled from the wound, and Anna immediately panicked. "Are you all right?"

Silver Fox ignored her concern.

More than the sting in his cheek, what displeased him was the determination in Anna's eyes just now, and the way she had resolved to tear open the scroll. Both told him one thing: she wanted to resist.

Just like those Knights of the Netheriel Holy Church who went around talking about defiance and virtue all day.

But Aisok liked obedient women.

"Miss, it seems that young brat has taught you some bad habits."

Silver Fox wiped the wound on his cheek with his index knuckle and glanced at the blood, now crusted with frost. Anna's actions had changed his mind.

He knew how to deal with people who wanted to resist. At Imperial Military Industry, it was practically part of the daily routine.

Crush the hope in people's hearts and cast them into the depths of despair, and they became docile as the walking dead. He had seen plenty of them in the factories: not a glimmer of light in their eyes, taking only enough food and water to stay alive, then working like machines until the day they broke down for good.

Still, that was probably what Aisok wanted to see, too.

He preferred a docile toy that was hard to break over a fiancée.

"Are you still imagining that he'll distinguish himself at the front, become a renowned Knight of the Holy Church, and return to ask your family for your hand?"

Only children who knew nothing of the world could entertain such unrealistic fantasies. Silver Fox had promised Horn he would handle the matter discreetly, but now he was going to push Anna into the depths of despair himself. "Didn't your Grandpa Horn tell you that he isn't coming back?"

"...Not coming back? What do you mean?"

"He's as good as dead."

A cruel smile appeared on Silver Fox's face. "At the Empire's border, he'll run into a mage who likes cutting people to pieces. I heard her magic sliced the last victim into over a hundred pieces. Should I bring back an image of the body parts for you? Though even if I did, I doubt you'd recognize him."

At the end of the day, this expedition had been a suicide mission from the very beginning. The Pope intended to use the Dream Eater to eliminate several Knights who were too loyal to Henry VI. He believed the close ties between His Majesty the King and the Netheriel Holy Church had become the greatest obstacle to the Empire's progress.

"Miss, let me tell you one more thing. That young brat's name wasn't even on the expedition list to begin with. Your unrealistic fantasies pushed him into the fire. Your father recommended him to the Kingdom Army, and he eagerly jumped at the chance. Making a name for himself—how wonderful it must have sounded."

Silver Fox watched Anna's eyes lose focus with satisfaction. "You killed him with your own hands. Come to think of it, you've always been like this, haven't you? Everyone you care about ends up dead because of you. That young brat, your former maid, even your mother. And of course, Horn, who made the mistake of going against you, won't escape it either... In the end, they'll all leave you."

"Grandpa Horn!"

Distraught, Anna turned to look at the mansion, still shrouded in night.

"The guillotine, the gallows, or being staked and burned at the stake—he can take his pick. After all, he's devoted so many years to serving your family. Your father should be merciful enough to grant him one last wish."

Silver Fox walked toward Anna step by step, his gaze still fixed on the Ice Arrow scroll in her hand.

Once he finished dealing with this, he would go to Fireplace Bay himself. He was curious which Elemental Shaper dared meddle in the affairs of the Imperial Capital.

This was certainly no ordinary Elemental Shaper spell.

"What's the matter, hesitating? Are you thinking that if you obediently return to the mansion now, Horn might not be punished?"

He lowered his voice, like a devil whispering. "It's too late. I need you to remember this lesson. From now on, every mistake you make will cost someone else dearly. Horn will die, and that young brat will die, too. You're destined never to see them one last time. I wonder how many more people you'll kill through your selfishness before you become a well-behaved, sensible wife?"

Silver Fox had reached the bewildered Anna. At this distance, all he had to do was raise his right hand to grab her shoulder. In his eyes, this exquisitely beautiful little girl was nothing more than a canary. From the moment she was born, her fate had already been decided.

All he had to do now was put the canary that had tried to escape back in its cage.

But the next moment, Silver Fox's pupils contracted.

He saw several ice spikes pierce the hand he had reached toward Anna. It all happened in the blink of an eye. He hadn't even felt the pain before the wound and blood had frozen over.

But—

Anna had kept the magic scroll in her hand the whole time. She hadn't torn open another one!

Silver Fox soon had no time to worry about that. A sense of crisis unlike anything he'd ever felt rushed at him from behind. He cast the Soul Transfer Curse almost instantly, turning his body into a cloud of black smoke. As his view spun around, he saw the thorn-covered Ice Vines—and the terrifying scene behind him.

At some point, the streets behind him had been engulfed in ice. The ever-spreading frost had grown into a forest, and the thorn-covered vines kept expanding outward. A thought surfaced in his mind.

The Ice Element scattered throughout the city had suddenly come to life. Some kind of magic had given it vitality and thoughts almost like a human's!

In all Silver Fox's limited experience, he had never seen a spell like this.

It had even surpassed the very concept of spellcraft, leaving him with the bewildering sense that he was fighting against nature itself.

Silver Fox suddenly remembered the Ice Arrow that had missed earlier. He had easily dodged it, so he hadn't paid any attention to its trajectory after it disappeared. Yet the Ice Arrow, which should have vanished, had given rise to a forest behind him and swallowed the entire street.

Worse still, the Ice Element had set its sights on him.

The thorn-covered vines chased after him without pause.

Unknown fear spread through Silver Fox. How much longer could he sustain the Soul Transfer Curse? How many more times could his magic let him cast it?

Could he escape the vines' range?

Within seconds, every question had been answered.

The moment he emerged from the black smoke, before he could frantically cast another Soul Transfer Curse, the thorny vines wrapped around his ankle. Their barbs pierced his skin, and in an instant, his magic froze just like the wound and blood.

Then came his arm, then his torso. In the blink of an eye, the vines had wrapped around his body and bound him firmly in place.

Silver Fox saw Anna walking toward him, step by step.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the Ice Element ravaging his body had robbed him of the ability to speak.

There was no longer any fear or confusion in Anna's eyes.

Silver Fox knew Aisok would never like the look in Anna's eyes now, much less what she was doing.

She tore open the last three Ice Arrow scrolls. Her gaze no longer wavered in the slightest. "I'm going to see them!"

Thank you all for reading and for the monthly votes~