Bound To The Dead: The Deceptive Class-E Farmer-Chapter 79: The Ice Cage

The four didn’t waste time.

The moment Isaac shifted his stance, they attacked.

Gromma charged first, his chain already spinning in a wide arc. Silveth followed from the left, daggers in hand, eyes sharp. Kaltros’s footsteps were light but precise, while Lander moved with the confidence of a seasoned predator.

Isaac dodged sideways, barely missing the spiked chain that smashed into the ground behind him. He gritted his teeth and shouted toward the sky.

"Hopper!"

Hopper and his group appeared from above. They dove down toward the battlefield.

But before they could reach him...

Boom.

Kaltros raised his right hand. In an instant, a thick shell of ice expanded outward, forming a perfect shield around them.

It was like a bubble, solid, cold, and sealed.

The locusts slammed against it. Again and again. Hopper chirped angrily outside the ice shield, trying to break through. But nothing worked.

The ice didn’t crack. Didn’t budge.

Isaac’s breath caught.

His eyes narrowed.

"A shield..."

He remembered.

Geoffrey had used something similar.

That dome. That isolation. When his swarm was locked out... when he was forced to fight alone.

’Not again.’

He reached behind his back, grabbing the axe strapped there.

If the swarm couldn’t come in, then he would fight on his own.

[Skill Activated: Reaper’s Boomerang]

With one step forward, he threw it.

The axe spun through the air, fast and sharp, and slammed against the inner side of the ice shield.

Crack.

A thin fracture bloomed from the point of impact.

Just a hairline. But it was enough to shake Kaltros.

The ice mage’s calm expression faltered. His eyes widened slightly, just for a second. It was clear, he didn’t expect that.

The axe remained embedded in the inner shield, its head sunk deep into the frozen surface.

Isaac exhaled and raised his hand.

Palm open.

Waiting.

Then, the axe trembled.

A soft vibration ran through the blade. It twitched once, then again, trying to break free from the ice, pulled by the skill’s recall effect.

Isaac’s eyes stayed on it, quiet, focused.

But...

Kaltros reacted.

Without a word, he raised both hands and muttered a short incantation. A burst of frost exploded from beneath the embedded weapon, surging upward like a wave.

Shhhk!

The axe was buried under another thick layer of ice. Frozen solid. Locked in place.

The axe didn’t return.

Isaac slowly lowered his hand.

"That won’t work twice." Kaltros said with a smirk.

The temperature dropped slightly.

—-----

From the walls of Spawnhold, the sudden appearance of a large shield of thick, solid ice in the middle of the battlefield shocked everyone, which had formed around Isaac and the four Class-S warriors of Rookheim. Even King Rody trembled more than before at the sight.

"What is that...?" he muttered.

On the ramparts, the soldiers whispered. Fear. Confusion. They even couldn’t see clearly what was happening inside the ice shield.

Denise, still clutching her side where blood had dried along her armor, staggered toward Marvik. Her face was pale, but her eyes burned.

She stared at the ice shield.

"I can’t see him," she whispered.

"General Marvik," Denise said, her voice trembling as she stepped forward. "Now. This is our chance. We don’t know what’s going on inside, but if Isaac’s holding them back, even for a moment..."

The nearby commanders exchanged quick glances. Several nodded.

"No," Marvic said again firmly. He didn’t look at her. His eyes were locked on the dome, his arms crossed tight against his chest.

Denise’s jaw clenched.

Elder Simon leaned closer to her. His voice was low.

"Then we hope," he said. "Hope that he does what they say he always does. Survive the impossible."

No one argued after that.

They just stared at the unmoving dome.

And waited.

—-----

Inside the ice shield, the air was heavy and cold.

The four didn’t rush Isaac, not yet.

They surrounded him. Calm and confident.

Lander let out a low chuckle and pointed his flaming sword toward Isaac.

"So," he said, grinning. "Whoever kills the farmer first gets a reward."

Silveth twirled her twin daggers, eyes half-lidded with amusement. "Let’s say... a barrel of Spawnhold’s finest and one night with the girl of your choice."

Gromma grunted in approval, his heavy chain ball already spinning beside him.

The ice mage, Kaltros, stayed silent, but the look on his face showed he agreed.

Isaac didn’t answer. His mind was racing. Should he activate the one thing he had tried so hard to avoid, the Abyssal Overdrive? His jaw tightened.

The first strike came from Silveth, fast, low, angled at his throat.

Isaac twisted, barely dodging. The blade scraped against his shoulder. Not deep, but close.

Before he could breathe, Lander was already there. His flaming sword came down hard, straight for Isaac’s chest.

Isaac stepped back. The blade slammed against the ground where he had just stood. Heat licked at his face.

Gromma didn’t wait either. His massive spike chain flew through the air in a brutal arc. Isaac ducked, rolled, and the chain cracked the ice floor behind him.

Kaltros raised his hand.

A burst of ice needles shot forward.

Isaac shifted again, narrowly avoiding them. One grazed his arm. Cold pain seared through his sleeve.

They weren’t testing him.

They weren’t playing.

Every move was aimed to kill.

They attacked again.

And again.

Every dodge was close. Every counter left only shallow marks on his enemies.

But he was still standing.

Lander came in again.

His flaming blade moved like a streak of fire through the icy mist, and this time, Isaac wasn’t fast enough.

The edge carved across his left side. Not deep enough to drop him, but enough to hurt. Blood soaked into his shirt, warm against the freezing air.

Isaac gritted his teeth and jumped back, holding his wound with one hand.

Silveth laughed lightly. "Getting tired, farmer?"

Kaltros stepped forward, eyes cold. "You’re not worth the ice I used."

Even Gromma barked out a heavy laugh. "Weak. I thought this one killed Geoffrey."

Isaac’s breath shook. His vision blurred for a second.

He could feel the blood trickling down.

Lander chuckled, twirling his flame-coated sword.

"Come on, who’s taking the kill? First strike gets a full barrel. And a tent full of girls, yeah?"

Gromma grinned, swinging his massive spiked chain-ball lazily in a circle.

"You all can fight over the leftovers. I just want to hear his bones snap."

Kaltros let out a breath, voice cold and distant.

"Don’t make it messy. Just kill him."

Isaac growled, forcing himself up, breath shallow.

Then... he heard it.

A voice.

Low, cold and familiar.

’They’re laughing at you.’

Isaac froze. ’What?’

’Say the word. I’ll make them remember your name.’

He stumbled back, ’what the hell...?’

Then it hit him, his corruption was 29%, which had already passed the 25% threshold, the inner struggle stage. Possibly voice manifestation from the being.

Isaac clenched his jaw.

’If I say yes,I’ll lose more of me.’

’You’ll lose everything if you don’t.’