Chapter 144: Heart of Ice, Blade of Fury

Was there a limit to stamina’s power? That was the question haunting Luke in that moment—when death hovered just a breath away.

During the battle with Morvat, he hadn’t dared try it. He didn’t want to risk shattering his own bones with a single miscalculated strike. But this time… this was different. He wasn’t relying on brute force. This wasn’t a punch or a kick. It was something far more refined. More lethal. With steel.

[Force Infusion]—a system-given skill: precise, deliberate, and now fully under his control. It had become an extension of his will, and it worked through sharpened blades.

Charlie burst forward again like a meteor of fury, exchanging blows with the Queen, keeping the beast occupied. Arrows exploded nearby. Fireballs lit up the cavern in harsh flashes of light.

Luke looked at his hand. Unlike Charlie, who channeled her strength into her body, he had mastered the art of channeling it into his weapons. [Force Infusion] wasn’t just another skill—it was his signature.

He opened his inventory and, without hesitation, downed a healing potion in one gulp. The liquid burned as it went down, and his body began slowly knitting itself back together. He checked his stamina:

[Stamina: 69/580]

Charlie was thrown across the field. She jammed her sword into the ground, spun to deflect the Queen’s second strike—but the creature was already on her again, pressing forward like a living storm.

That’s when Allison surged in—a slicing gust of ice, launching herself into the fight with her frost-covered katana. She clashed with the Queen in a deadly dance, but the enemy was faster. Stronger. More brutal.

Luke pulled a stamina potion from his inventory and downed it.

[Stamina: 79/580]

[Stamina: 89/580]

He felt energy trickle back into his limbs—but it still wasn’t enough.

On the battlefield, Allison kept fighting. Every slash, every dodge, came at a cost. She was being cut, clawed, shoved back. She tried to spin away and retreat—but the Queen struck. A bladed arm pierced clean through her body.

“Tch…” Allison gritted her teeth and drove her katana into the Queen’s arm before being flung aside. Ice bloomed across the limb, freezing the joint in place. She twisted the blade and sliced the tip clean off. She rolled, hit the ground hard, yanked the blade from her own wound, and bit down on a healing potion mid-motion.

Luke threw one of his kukris to test the Queen’s reaction. She dodged with ease. Her eyes locked onto a new target—Victoria. The mage.

[Stamina: 189/580]

Luke ran. He leapt, trying to intercept. His kukris glowed—but the Queen swatted him away with raw power. He hit the ground hard.

“Damn it…” he coughed, spitting blood.

Allison reappeared behind the Queen, slashing with surgical precision. Luke fell back, preparing himself for the final push.

[Stamina: 219/580]

The potion had finished kicking in, granting +150 stamina. He gripped his kukri tightly and began to channel everything. [Force Infusion]—to its absolute maximum.

[Stamina: 203/580]

[Stamina: 195/580]

Still not enough.

“Charlie!” he shouted.

She already knew.

Spectral chains erupted from her hands, wrapping around the Queen like serpents made of mist. The creature roared, struggling to break free—and that’s when Allison struck like a frozen gale, slashing every exposed joint. With each blow, frost spread further across the Queen’s body.

Luke continued funneling his stamina into the kukri.

[Stamina: 65/580]

The Queen tore through the spectral chains, lunging toward Allison with the intent to kill. Before she could strike, a sharp crack echoed through the cavern—an arrow zipped past Luke’s cheek and embedded into the ground inches from Allison’s head. It pulsed with pure white mana.

Without hesitation, Allison snatched the shaft with her bloodied hand and plunged it into the Queen’s chest. The arrow detonated on impact. The blast staggered the beast, but before she could recover, a second arrow struck her back. This one crackled with electricity, paralyzing her muscles for a split second.

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It was all Luke needed.

He hurled his kukri. The air between them split as the weapon tore forward. The Queen turned just in time to see the black blade coming for her like a living shadow. The impact rocked her. The kukri slammed into her torso and exploded, tearing through chitin and sinew. Two of her arms were ripped clean off. Her scream reverberated across the battlefield—sharp, furious, disbelieving.

She staggered.

Then came Allison. Her katana blazed with a glacial light, blue and cold as death. She leapt—clean, deliberate, final. The downward arc of her blade carved through the Queen with perfect precision, frost trailing in its wake.

The beast was split in half. Frozen from the inside out. For a long moment, silence gripped the cavern. Then the Queen’s body collapsed, hitting the earth with finality.

*Your class [Demonic Assassin] has reached Level 27! (Class Bonus Points Acquired)*

**[You have reached Level 13! Half-Demon (Rank F)] (+1 bonus point to all attributes, +1 free point)**

*The [Death Knight] class of Princess Charlie has reached Level 23! (Class Bonus Points Acquired)*

Luke lay on the ground, barely conscious. His limbs trembled. Breath came in broken gasps. Then the surge hit. The power of the level-up flooded him. His wounds closed. Bones reset. Blood dried. Breath steadied. Pain vanished. He sat up, renewed. Across the battlefield, Allison remained standing. Her blade hung at her side. Her body trembled with the last of her strength, but she had not fallen. The Queen was dead.