Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Mira awoke from her meditation and unconsciously grasped her scythe. As soon as she touched it, she felt a much deeper connection to the weapon than she did before. Just touching it was like her regenerating a limb that she had lost. The scythe not only felt like an extension of her body but a part of her being.

Mira slowly stood up and swung it around a few times, the air trembling as just her casual swings were filled with power. However, felt that something was wrong.

"Why don't I feel any stronger?"

Although she knew what her [Manifestation] was, she thought that, at the very least, she'd seen a minor increase in strength without activating that manifestation, but it seemed like that wasn't the case.

"Well, I guess that just means my manifestation is much stronger than I thought." She said aloud, her crimson eyes shining with anticipation. She couldn't wait to test it out on someone! Unfortunately, it was relatively useless when she wasn't trying to kill someone, so she'd have to wait until an enemy appeared before her.

"Congratulations, Mira. You're one step closer to breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm!" The Guardian's voice echoed in her mind.

Mira's expression returned to being neutral, and not wanting to waste any time talking with him, she asked, "What's the last thing I need to do before I can break through? Isn't it just an Item Trial?"

"Hmmm~~ I wonder!" The Guardian chuckled, his voice laden with amusement. However, when Mira heard him, her fists clenched, and she gritted her teeth with a scowl.

"Just. Tell me." She spat through her teeth.

"Hmph!" The Guardian snorted, "You're no fun."

"Fine! While it's true that you only need to go through a Firmament Trial to obtain the last item needed for you to break through, there is a prerequisite you must complete before doing so!"

The Guardian paused, trying to build tension and anticipation, but Mira just stood there with the same indifferent expression on her face.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance that he didn't get much of a reaction out of Mira but soon stopped playing around.

"...You have to go down another 250 steps on the Abyssal Torment Steps to unlock that item trial."

"...!"

His words caused Mira to freeze and her indifferent expression to crack. Her eyes narrowed, a slight look of fear deep within her.

"You should also earn some points in the Abyssal Battle Ladder before breaking through. You've already missed a decent amount of points by breaking through multiple stages at one time." The Guardian reminded her.

Mira nodded, already knowing that she had missed out on quite a few points. However, she wasn't focused on that.

"Y-You said I need to go down another 250 steps on Abyssal Torment Steps?" Mira asked, a slight quiver in her voice.

A grin crept up on the Guardian's face, but unfortunately, Mira couldn't see it.

"That's right! What? You scared?" He chuckled, causing Mira's frown to deepen, "As the Successor to the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, you have to learn to overcome anything. How can you even think of accomplishing your goals if you can't withstand a little pain?"

"..."

Mira winced a bit at the words "a little pain", the things she went through last time still vivid in her mind.

"..."

Mira took a deep breath and nodded firmly.

"I've been putting this off for a while now, but it seems like the time has finally come." She said before sitting back down, "Let's just get this over with."

After finding a comfortable position to sit in, she looked over at Rhydian, who was just snoring, asleep, near the collapsed cave entrance.

"Rhydian," Her voice jolted the wolf awake, "I'm going to be unavailable for an unknown amount of time. If someone we don't know tries to enter the cave, kill them without hesitation. Don't even allow those Star-Horned wolves nearby if they come looking for you. I can't allow anyone to disturb me during this time."

Realizing the situation was much more serious than she thought, Rhydian stood up and gave Mira a firm nod.

"Good," Mira was satisfied with that answer, "Then, I'll see you later."

After that, Mira closed her eyes and entered the F.LD.I.L.

***

With a thought, Mira entered the one place she dreaded more than anywhere else in the world. The last time she was here, she made it to the 1,000th step, and the only thing she was able to see and feel was pain and more pain. However, now that she had come here willingly, standing on her most recent step, she didn't feel much pain.

Instead, now that she wasn't in constant, agonizing pain, she could actually see and feel the stairs, getting a better picture of the kind of hellhole she willingly entered.

The Abyssal Torment Steps descended into the depths of a dark and foreboding abyss, the stairs themselves a twisted and mangled mess of metal and stone. The steps were jagged and uneven, as though they had been hewn out of the very rock by some malevolent force.

The air around the steps was thick and heavy, suffused with a sense of malice that seemed to crawl beneath the skin. It was as though the Abyssal Torment Steps were a living thing, a creature of pure darkness and malevolence that took pleasure in the agony of those who dared to descend it.

Mira could feel the weight of the abyss pressing down on her, the darkness of it seeping into her bones and making her feel as though she was being crushed under the weight of it all.

Gulping, Mira pushed down her anxiety.

'I feel like I probably shouldn't have looked around.'

The longer she stood there, the more intimidating this place became. So, before it affected her mindset, Mira shut off all useless thoughts and took a step down!

Clenching her fists, she prepared herself for a torrent of pain, but-

"....Eh?"

-nothing came.

Mira tilted her head, not knowing what was going on.

"Are the steps… broken?" Mira wondered but immediately dismissed that idea.

"This…. What's going on? I know I've been through a lot since the last time I was here, but I don't think it was so much that I'm now unaffected by the suffering this place can instill."

Something was weird, and Mira wasn't going to move until she got to the bottom of it.

Sending her consciousness inside her body, she checked every organ and bone, ensuring that she hadn't missed something.

However, after finding nothing, she checked her soul, and there, she found something unusual.

"W-What's that?"

In the corner of her soul was a small black and red blob. It was just sitting there, doing nothing, but now that Mira focused on it, she felt a throbbing in her mind and soul.

Holding her forehead in discomfort, Mira tried to understand the theme behind this section of the Abyssal Torment Steps.

'Well, let's see what happens when I try to destroy that thing.'

Mira sent a few ice blades at the blob, cutting it into multiple pieces, but immediately after, those pieces reabsorbed themselves, going back to what they were before.

'Weird.' Mira thought, then tried to cut them up a few more times, but nothing worked.

'I guess I'll understand their purpose if I go down another step.'

Not wanting to waste any more time here, she went down another step.

The throbbing in her mind became more intense as she did, but it wasn't unbearable. On the contrary, it wasn't even painful!

She checked her soul and noticed that the blob had doubled in size, making her feel more uncomfortable, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. I

'However, I can't let my guard down yet. Torment is literally part of the name of these stairs! I'm doomed for failure if I get complacent!' Mira reminded herself and took another step down.

*OHM!*

Mira's head throbbed significantly more. She squinted her eyes in discomfort, but that was it.

However, there was something different this time.

She felt like she'd lost something…

Shaking her head at those useless thoughts, Mira checked her soul and noticed that the blob had gotten bigger once again.

'I'm a little bothered by this blob growing in my soul, as I don't know what it does, but there's not much I can do about it other than to keep moving forward.'

Ignoring her discomfort and the growing 'tumor' in her soul, she took another step down. The throbbing in her mind intensified, and the blob grew once again, but Mira stopped paying attention to them as if they weren't important and took another step down.

Then another…

And another…

And another….

Until she reached the 1050th step-that's when a change occurred.

Mira stood on the 1050th step, looking around, confused.

"Where am I again? Why am I on these creepy-looking steps?"