Gamers Are Fierce

Through the gap between the levitating ice blades, Li Ang clearly saw Princess Anna's expression swiftly darken. Her face became even more grim than the frozen Queen's.

Li Ang paid no mind as the air temperature dropped further. He said nonchalantly, "Your parents, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Elendale, died a few days before your eleventh birthday. At that time, your family was outside the city enjoying a Knight's duel. Afterward, they planned to visit the royal gardens to admire the scenery before returning to the Palace to inspect the preparations for your birthday banquet.

"Unfortunately, during the duel, the King and Queen, who were seated in the foremost positions, suddenly died simultaneously. The scene descended into chaos. Princess Elsa, who witnessed her parents' sudden deaths alongside you, displayed her spellcasting abilities in public for the first time.

"Afterward, the Court Physician provided an explanation: The King and Queen had no external injuries. Their deaths were attributed to sudden cardiac arrest caused by excessive fatigue, not secret assassination by poison or any extraordinary ability. Before this incident, no spellcasting ability capable of affecting a heart from a distance had ever been known in the world.

"Out of respect for the Royal Family, their bodies were not autopsied. However, the Court Physician at the time recorded their symptoms: violent coughing before death, pink, frothy sputum at the corners of their mouths, and skin that was cold, pale, and cyanotic with purple striations. Combined with other evidence, these were the clinical manifestations of acute heart failure.

"This happens to be the same deformed heart condition you possess, one that could lead to such an illness. By the way, according to the Court Physician's records, you were discovered to have this heart condition at exactly seven years old. That was the same year a meteorite fell in the Kingdom of Elendale."

"..."

Princess Anna, seated in her wheelchair, rested her chin on one hand and gently tapped the armrest with the other. She asked calmly, "How do you know these things?"

Li Ang smiled but didn't answer.

Among the Court Physicians of the Kingdom of Elendale, one doctor was from the Kingdom of Lipma. After the Snow Queen began her conquests, that retired physician sought refuge in the Rune Kingdom. This information, hardly top secret, was obtained by Frederick III, the lumberjack, through his connections. He then relayed it to me via a confidential letter.

Li Ang continued, "The burned corpses found in the recently discovered public cemetery underwent Trace Examination of dental records. Some were identified as felons who had been sentenced to death. Prison records indicate these individuals should have died by secret hanging years ago. However, those corpses showed signs of death as recently as four months ago, with the latest dying just three days prior. Their cause of death was also heart failure. They were cremated post-mortem and buried in the public cemetery."

Li Ang smiled. "If I were to guess, you and Princess Elsa both awakened your spellcasting abilities when you were seven. However, her power to create ice and snow was far more conspicuous. You, on the other hand, never realized your own special talent. You believed yourself to be ordinary and even grew to resent her for it.

"The sudden deaths of the King and Queen that year weren't your intentional doing, were they? It was likely just an accidental outburst of your latent talent.

"Afterward, you gradually came to understand your ability: you could cause others to die from the same heart defect you possess. By doing so, you could steal their powers and extend your own life.

"However, this ability has its limitations, doesn't it? It can only temporarily alleviate your heart problem. Over time, the effects of both Magic Potions and extraordinary abilities on your deformed heart diminish. So, you turned your attention to Elsa, who shares your bloodline..."

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

Princess Anna smiled and began to clap, the sound echoing in the vast, silent hall. "For the past two days, I've had people watching you and your so-called apprentices. They seized the opportunity to plunder a significant amount of extraordinary materials, but it seems they made no attempts to gather intelligence—at least, not under my people's surveillance. How did you manage that? Do you have an informant in the city? Or is some other clandestine organization supporting you?"

Li Ang spread his hands. "Trade secret. No comment."

Anna nodded. "You're quite capable. Are you interested in becoming the head of my intelligence agency?"

Li Ang shook his head. "A spymaster? That job isn't for me. Besides, I don't want to be a puppet, a public representative used to legitimize your assassination plots."

Rejected again, Anna sighed regretfully. She silently raised the hand resting on her wheelchair's armrest. A Ghostly Light Blue Flower, crafted from ice and snow, materialized in her palm. "Ah, you won't agree to my terms, nor are you willing to die. You're making things very difficult for me..."

As the Ghostly Light Blue Flower appeared, the temperature in the hall plummeted again. Countless tiny ice shards materialized in the air and rained down.

Li Ang, dressed in ordinary cold-weather gear, quickly found a layer of frost forming on his eyelashes. However, the moment the Ripple Energy within him stirred, a furnace-like wave of heat radiated from him, melting the frost into water, which then instantly evaporated.

As if he hadn't heard Anna's threat, he continued, seemingly to himself, "But I am very curious about one thing. Queen Elsa could slaughter tens of thousands of soldiers and construct this very Palace. She was arguably the most powerful Spellcaster in the world. How could she die so... unceremoniously?

"Even if you could steal others' talents and possess multiple abilities, your overall energy signature is only slightly stronger than that of a typical Advanced Caster. Even if you concealed your murderous intent and launched a surprise attack, it would have been incredibly difficult to harm Elsa, wouldn't it?"

"..."

Hearing this, Anna's eyelashes fluttered. A flicker of sadness crossed her face as if a memory had surfaced. "I've already told you. She chose to die."

Anna fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Such a foolish woman. She was always like that, even when we were little. Despite being the future heir to the kingdom, all she ever thought about was sneaking out of the Palace to play.

"Our parents favored me, but she never cared. She was always saying, 'Anna, I'm your older sister; you have to listen to me,' or 'Anna, don't run off,' and 'Protecting my little sister is an older sister's duty, you know!'

"Heh. Back then, we'd hide under the covers and dream about the future. We even fantasized that if we had to marry a prince from some kingdom, we would both marry the *same* man, just so we could always be together.

"If not for the... incident, we probably would have. Elsa always kept her word."

"The 'incident' you're referring to is...?"

"A meteorite," Anna said calmly. "To be precise, it was a mirror."