The Terrifying Monster

His tone was serious. The Ice Queen paused, recalling her dragon, and her face showed a painful expression. "My Sean... my Sean..."

"Now is not the time for sorrow. You'd better tell us exactly what happened," Freyr said coldly. "Since that monster could eat your dragon, it might come for us too! Spill it, so we can prepare!"

This Ice Queen was much stronger in character than her sister. After shedding some tears, she managed to compose herself. Although her face was still sad, her emotions had stabilized.

"When I was riding Sean and landing, suddenly, a monster leaped out of the sea at the island's edge... It was huge, very huge... I don't know how to describe its appearance. It looked like a giant meatball with eyes on either side. I couldn't see its whole body, as part of it remained underwater... Sean was immediately frightened. The monster roared and then attacked us. It used magic, water magic. Its power was immense, creating waves thirty meters high, almost knocking Sean and me out of the sky!"

The Ice Queen's voice trembled.

"Then Sean retaliated against the monster, but his ice magic couldn't harm it at all... The monster seemed to have some magical defense aura. Sean's ice storm was instantly deflected. I also cast spells, but they were useless! I've never seen such a powerful creature... I've never even heard of a Magical Creature this formidable! Not even a top-level Great Wizard could set up a magical barrier to defend against a dragon's direct attack for so long!"

"And then?" Freyr frowned.

"Then I thought of fleeing," the Ice Queen said, her face stern. "Since we couldn't defeat it, I immediately tried to leave. But it was too late! The monster had set up some sort of barrier. I rode Sean up, but we hit an invisible wall and were bounced back! I tried several times, from different directions, but couldn't get out... Eventually..."

"What happened then?"

"Eventually..." The Ice Queen wiped her tears forcefully. "Eventually, the monster's roar summoned enormous waves, the likes of which I'd never seen! I doubt even my teacher could summon waves of that magnitude with water magic! The waves swept us from the sky... and I fell off Sean, watching as the monster opened its mouth and swallowed Sean whole! It... my dragon fell from the sky, and the monster swallowed him in one bite!"

One... one bite?

Swallowed a dragon whole in one bite?

How big is this monster?!

Freyr's face turned pale.

The news the Ice Queen brought made everyone silent. Freyr felt a heavy burden on his heart, frowning in deep thought. A monster that could easily swallow a dragon! A monster that could easily defeat a dragon and an eighth-level Wizard!

Freyr left the sisters and walked to the seaside, trying to clear his troubled mind with the cool sea breeze.

A monster... a place that suppresses magic... no magic... no food, no fresh water...

Freyr sighed and muttered to himself, "Looks like we have no choice..."

He turned back into the forest and returned to the sisters, who were engaged in a heated argument. Or perhaps "argument" was the wrong word, as it seemed the Ice Queen was the only one speaking. With Lilith's stutter, there was no chance she could hold her own in a verbal dispute.

"You should have given me that damn Illusion Demon earlier! Don't you realize that old man doesn't even know where we are now? Do you still expect him to save you?" the Ice Queen shouted.

"What's going on?" Freyr walked over and glanced at Lilith, who looked tearful and pitiful, her eyes red as she glanced at Freyr cautiously. "N-nothing."

"I don't get you two sisters. One is as naive as a newborn chick, the other as fierce as a she-dragon," Freyr said, sitting down and gathering twigs to start a fire.

The Ice Queen snorted. Though annoyed by Freyr's audacity, she had said she wouldn't trouble him again out of gratitude for saving her, so she restrained her temper.

Lilith glanced at her sister, then at Freyr, and couldn't help but move closer to Freyr.

The Ice Queen noticed and muttered under her breath, "Little scoundrel, seducing a girl."

Freyr, unyielding, retorted, "Thief, stealing others' belongings."

The Ice Queen glared at Freyr, about to explode with anger...

But just then, an incongruous sound defused the tension.

Gurgle... gurgle...

Freyr couldn't help but laugh, looking at the Ice Queen with a teasing smile.

Her face turned red, the anger mostly replaced by embarrassment.

"Hmm... that's strange. Did I hear something? Was it the monster on the island?" Freyr said loudly, pretending to talk to himself.

The Ice Queen's face turned even redder, almost dripping with blood. She glared at Freyr and whispered through gritted teeth, "It... it was me!"

"You?" Freyr feigned surprise.