Three years passed.
Time in the Northern Sea Ice Palace was not measured by the sun or the moon.
It was measured by the thickness of the ice on the walls and the pile of frozen corpses dragged out each week.
The deepest level, the 'Cold Hell,' had become quieter.
The squeaking of rats, once a constant noise in the ventilation shafts, had completely vanished.
Not a single Frost Rat remained in the lower levels.
They had been hunted to extinction.
Drip.
A drop of water fell into a bucket.
A young man stood in the shadows of the corridor.
He was tall, his frame lean and wiry like a whip made of steel cables.
His skin was pale, almost translucent, revealing the blue veins beneath.
His hair, once short and jagged, now fell past his shoulders, black as ink.
It was Jin.
He was eighteen years old.
He stood perfectly still, his breathing so shallow it was imperceptible.
The cold of the dungeon, which usually froze the breath of anyone who entered, seemed to avoid him.
Or rather, his body was absorbing it.
Thump. Thump.
The sound of boots approached.
Jin's eyes, hidden behind his long bangs, shifted.
The irises were a deep, abyssal black, but if one looked closely, they could see a faint, swirling crimson light deep within.
"Move! Move it!"
"Damn it, this one is heavy."
A group of five guards appeared, struggling with a massive iron cage on wheels.
Inside the cage was a giant of a man, bound in chains the thickness of a human arm.
"The 'Iron Bone Ogre'," a guard whispered fearfully. "He crushed the heads of three enforcement squad members with his bare hands."
The prisoner, a bandit leader from the North, roared.
"ROAR!"
The sound shook the icicles from the ceiling.
The guards flinched, retreating a step.
"Shut up!"
Captain Cho, now greyer and more scarred than three years ago, struck the cage with his scabbard.
"You're in the Cold Hell now. Scream all you want; only the ghosts will hear you."
The cage was wheeled to the largest cell at the end of the hall—the one that had been empty since the Mad Monk died.
"Open it!"
Two guards nervously unlocked the cage.
They had to transfer the prisoner into the cell. This was always the most dangerous moment.
Clack.
The lock opened.
The Iron Bone Ogre's eyes flashed with madness.
He had been waiting for this moment.
"DIE!"
Snap!
Despite the chains, the giant lunged with terrifying speed.
His shoulder slammed into the heavy iron door of the cage, knocking it off its hinges.
Bang!
The heavy door flew outward, crushing one of the guards against the stone wall.
"Ack!"
"Stop him!"
Captain Cho drew his blade, but the Ogre was already moving.
He ignored the swords. He relied on his 'Iron Bone Arts'—a body tempering technique that made his skin as hard as rock.
Clang!
A sword struck his arm but bounced off with a spark.
The Ogre reached out and grabbed the neck of the nearest guard.
"I'll chew your throat out!"
The Ogre opened his mouth, his teeth filed into sharp points.
The guard screamed.
At that chaotic moment.
Jin, who had been standing in the shadows like a piece of furniture, took a step forward.
He held a wooden tray with a bowl of water in his hand.
He walked calmly into the middle of the carnage.
"Captain."
Jin's voice was low, soft, and devoid of emotion.
It cut through the screams like a cold wind.
The Ogre, sensing a new presence, snapped his head toward Jin.
"A bug?"
The Ogre threw the guard he was holding aside and swung his massive fist at Jin.
It was a blow that could shatter a boulder.
The guards watched in horror. The corpse carrier was about to be turned into paste.
Jin didn't dodge.
He didn't blink.
He simply looked at the Ogre.
Flash.
For a split second, Jin's eyes met the Ogre's.
The crimson light in Jin's pupils expanded, spiraling into a vortex of pure, concentrated killing intent.
It wasn't the killing intent of a warrior.
It was the killing intent of a predator looking at food.
[Asura's Gaze]
An illusion struck the Ogre's mind.
For a moment, the giant didn't see a skinny boy.
He saw a mountain of corpses.
He saw a demon with a thousand arms, bathed in black fire, opening a mouth wide enough to swallow the world.
"...!"
The Ogre's instinct, honed by years of bloodshed, screamed one word: Run.
His body froze.
The massive fist stopped just an inch from Jin's nose.
The wind from the punch blew Jin's hair back.
Jin didn't spill a drop of water from the bowl in his hand.
"Get inside," Jin whispered.
The command was simple.
But to the Ogre, it sounded like the decree of a king of hell.
The giant's trembling became visible.
His face, previously filled with rage, turned white.
Slowly, awkwardly, the massive man lowered his arm.
He backed away.
He stepped into the dark cell on his own accord and huddled in the corner, covering his head with his arms.
Clang.
Silence returned to the corridor.
The guards stood with their mouths open, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
From their perspective, the Ogre had swung, missed, and then suddenly lost his mind.
Captain Cho looked at Jin with a bewildered expression.
"You… what did you do?"
Jin turned his head slowly. The crimson light in his eyes was gone, replaced by the dull, lifeless look of a servant.
"I didn't do anything, Captain."
Jin placed the water bowl on the floor near the cell.
"He seemed to slip on the ice."
"...Slipped?"
Cho looked at the terrifying Ogre, now shivering in the corner like a frightened child.
That monster slipped?
It made no sense.
But looking at Jin—thin, unarmed, and seemingly weak—Cho couldn't find any other explanation.
"...Right. Lucky bastard."
Cho signaled the other guards.
"Lock the door! Double the chains!"
As the guards scrambled to secure the cell, Jin picked up his tray.
He turned to walk back to the shadows.
He looked at his hand.
It was shaking slightly.
'Hungry.'
Using the [Asura's Gaze] had consumed a significant chunk of his internal energy.
The Frost Rats were no longer enough.
His dantian was a bottomless pit, crying out for more fuel.
Jin looked back at the Iron Bone Ogre shivering in the cell.
He licked his lips unconsciously.
He needed stronger prey.
And just then, a thought crossed his mind.
'If I can't eat the prisoners…'
His gaze drifted upward, toward the ceiling, toward the upper levels of the Ice Palace where the true martial artists lived.
'...maybe I should find a way to eat their martial arts.'
[End of Chapter 4]