Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

As Mira took a step forward, she felt the looming danger intensify. She stopped for a second, then looked around, preparing for something to happen, but the threat she felt never came.

Instead, the eerie calmness on the mountain intensified while the pressure on her body worsened. Every bone in her body popped, ready to break at a moment's notice due to all the stress it was under. Her heart and organs were working overtime to keep her alive and not turn into mush, but Mira knew that the time left before things got dangerous wasn't that long.

So, she pushed aside the foreboding feeling, picked up her foot, and took another step.

That one step felt like it took the same energy as it might take for her to walk up an entire mountain. No, taking that one step was much more challenging than it was to climb up a mountain!

Mira wiped the sweat off her forehead as she looked up at the towering peak that loomed above her. The jagged rocks jutted out at odd angles, forming a treacherous path that led to the summit of the mountain. The lava running down was so hot that breathing in the air burned her lungs.

The air was thick with the stench of sulfur, and the ground beneath her feet was hot to the touch. Mira glanced down and saw that her footsteps had left deep imprints in the blackened earth due to the horrendous weight on her body.

'Fucking hell! What kind of godforsaken place is this?!' Mira cursed. However, she secretly thanked the Abysall Torment Steps for preparing her for this moment. She knew that this journey would be much more torturous had she not already experienced the worst kinds of pain known to man, or at least to her.

Taking a few short breaths, Mira stopped thinking about useless stuff and took another step!

'There's only one way to end this, and that's by moving forward!'

The climb was grueling, and Mira's body nearly crumbled with each step. But she pushed on, driven by a determination to reach the top and leave this place. The heat grew more intense as she climbed higher, and she could feel sweat pouring down her face and back. It was so hot that Mira created a stream of water down her throat using Qi! Although most of it turned to steam as soon as it came into contact with the outside world, she was able to feel some relief for a fraction of a second.

Yet, that much was all she needed to put her head back in the right place.

With a cooler mind, she stomped her foot, the volcano shaking due to the weight of her body.

As she climbed, Mira noticed that the rocks grew sharper and more twisted, like the claws of some monstrous beast. With each step, these rocks dug into her skin, easily breaking past her defenses and ripping her apart.

The higher she climbed, the more she had to rely on her hands to pull herself up, clinging to the jagged edges with all her strength.

Then, finally, after what felt like hours of climbing, Mira saw the peak in sight. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself harder, scrambling up the last few feet until she stood at the summit.

However, contrary to an actual mountain, where she might feel a sense of accomplishment from climbing it, the only thing Mira felt when she reached the top was dread! Just as she was still wondering about the source of the dread, she heard a deep, rumbling voice from within the volcano, which caused the lava inside it to bubble.

"Hm~ It seems a little fox has wandered their way up to my home. How amusing~!"

Then, the lava inside the mountain parted, and a massive, hulking beast of a man walked through like it was nothing. He was over 5 meters tall, with crimson skin, four muscular arms, and rippling muscles all over his body. In spite of this, Mira's eyes were drawn to the two horns on his head and the massive fangs that protruded from his mouth like those of an orc.

The man's entire body was wrapped in black metal chains; each engrained into his body like they were a part of him. The chains led deep into the volcano, unaffected by the heat of the lava.

The giant demonic man eventually walked to the top of the volcano and stood above Mira, staring her up and down. His eyes brightened, seeing her beauty, and a massive grin formed on his face.

"It's been such a long time since I've seen a creature as beautiful as yourself. You might have already noticed it, but this Realm is crawling with ugly-ass inferior beings. I'm sick of looking at such low lives that can't even handle a bit of pain!" The man said in disgust, but a grin never left his face as he stared at Mira.

"However, you're quite a sight for sore eyes! I never thought I'd get a chance to see a beautiful woman again in this wretched place! Kueh-huhu! Come, come! Let's sit down and chat!" The man chuckled strangely, motioning for Mira to follow him. However, she didn't move.

While he stared at Mira, his eyes gleamed with lust every now and then, but more than anything, he just seemed happy to see her. To Mira, he looked like a man who had just found an oasis in the middle of a desert.

Seeing that the man was about to speak, Mira interrupted him as she couldn't waste much more time in this Realm lest her body crumbles into pieces and disintegrate from the Fire and Lightning surrounding her.

However, Mira was curious about a few things.

"Wait!" Mira called out, and the man stopped laughing, "Can't you see that the Gates of Heaven are about to kill me?" Mira pointed at lightning, light, and fire raining down upon her, "Also, what do you mean, 'inferior beings'?"

"Ah, yes. The good'ole Gates of Heaven," The man glanced up at the golden gates, but a smile never left his face, "It seems you've done something it didn't like and decided to punish you, but don't worry. They won't let you die if you're in this hell. At most, your body will just be destroyed, leaving your soul behind. After all, they can't have a sinner like you roaming the living." The man nodded his head in understanding.

"As for what those inferior beings are… Naturally, they're humans. From what I know, they only lasted a few years in this place before they lost their ego and turned into those ugly creatures. Tsk! Trying to break the balance with such petty resolve! Truly, humans are the most arrogant species to exist!" The man lost his smile for a second but regained it as he looked back at Mira's beautiful figure.

On the other hand, Mira wasn't sure what to say. She felt there was a misunderstanding between them as the man seemed to think that she had already died and then appeared in this place. However, she was also curious about his words.

"Do you know what those people did to end up here? Also, why did they turn into those nasty meatballs with limbs?"

"Kueh-huhu!" The man chuckled, "From what I remember, most of those things were in the same… hmmm… what did they call it? A Sect, I think?" He pondered and then shook his head, not able to remember, "Anyways, they were in some sort of group in the Mortal Realm, like the ants that they are, whose sole purpose was to find and refine a World Core, stealing an entire world from Heaven's grasp and using it for their own personal use. Tsk, seriously! What a bunch of fucking losers! Why would they want a World Core?? It's not like such inferior beings could do anything with it!"

Mira tilted her head, "World Core? What's a World Core?" She had some ideas about what it might be but felt it was better to ask for confirmation.

The man's muscles flexed, and his grin widened like he was just happy to talk to another person, "A World Core is just as the name describes. It's the core of a world. It regulates the energy on a planet and the existence of life. From what I know, they also contain a bit of Genesis Essence as well, but it's hard to tell since I don't know what Genesis Essence feels like."

Mira hummed thoughtfully but didn't think too much about this information. Such a thing was way too out of reach for her current self.

"Then…" Mira looked the giant man up and down before her indifferent, yet slightly curious eyes met his. The man flexed his muscles again, seemingly wanting to show off in front of Mira, but she ignored that and instead asked, "How did you end up in this place?"

The man's grin transformed into a savage smirk, and he laughed boisterously, "Ku-HAHAHAH! Me?! I created an alternate cultivation system! One that the Heavens didn't seem to like that much! KAHAHAHA!"