The leader of the Newark Galleria Shelter, Hector.

A man who had been a B-rank hunter even before the Ice Age, with an estimated level of 80 or higher.

With that kind of firepower, the Elite Monster he’d fought last time, the Frozen Weaver, would have been easy pickings for Hector alone.

Going up against a monster like that? Suicide.

’I have to avoid him at all costs!’

Walfred practically sprinted down the emergency staircase.

That’s when he locked eyes with Lauren, who happened to be coming out of the restroom.

"Oh, Mister, are you done looking around up..."

"Pack your things. We’re leaving. Now."

"Huh? Why all of a sudden?"

"We’ve got people on our tail. They’re with the same hunters who attacked you and the other refugees."

Lauren’s eyes went wide at that.

Walfred slung on his backpack and turned around.

"I’ve already scoped out a route. Follow me."

"O-okay...!"

The two hurried downstairs.

On the way down, Walfred stole a glance out the window. The snow had completely stopped at some point.

That meant the tracks they’d left getting here would still be there. And Hector would follow those tracks and close the distance in no time.

’I can’t erase the tracks. In that case...’

He’d just have to cut them off.

Walfred had been racing down the stairs without a break, but on the fourth floor, he suddenly stopped. Then he abruptly changed direction and headed north.

"Let’s go this way."

"Huh? Not down to the first floor?"

"If we go to ground level, we’ll leave tracks. They’d catch up in no time, so we’re taking a different approach."

Walfred dashed toward the end of the hallway.

When he pushed open the emergency door, a blast of frigid wind hit him. Beyond it was an exterior metal staircase running down the outside of the building to ground level.

But his eyes weren’t aimed downward. They were fixed on the metal staircase mounted on the exterior wall of the building across from him.

’The gap is roughly thirteen feet.’

More than enough to jump.

The problem, though, was Lauren.

Sure, she’d Awakened as a hunter and her physical abilities had improved several times over, but at the end of the day, she still had the body of a high schooler.

On top of that, she’d likely never had the chance to actually put her enhanced physical abilities to use.

’No choice.’

After a short sigh.

Walfred turned to Lauren.

"Come here."

"...Huh?"

"Get right next to me."

"B-but you said being close to me weakens your skill effects, didn’t you? So why..."

"Just do it. Hurry."

There was no time for explanations.

Rattled by Walfred’s repeated urging, Lauren hesitated but eventually shuffled over to him.

The moment the gap between them closed, a warning message appeared right on cue.

[Warning! Warning!]

[Rising ambient temperature detected]

[Some skills will be deactivated.]

▷Frost Domain

▷Blessing of the Snowfield

His body felt slightly heavier than usual.

Still, this distance was nothing he couldn’t clear. Walfred scooped Lauren up and hoisted her onto his shoulder.

"Eek! M-Mister?"

"Hold on tight just like that."

"What? D-don’t tell me...!"

Did she realize what he was about to do?

Lauren’s face went white as a sheet.

"Wait a second! I’m not mentally prepared for..."

Mentally prepared, whatever.

Walfred let Lauren’s protests go in one ear and out the other, then immediately kicked off the railing.

Whoosh!

His body launched up like a spring, slicing through the air as the ground far below came into view. He landed lightly on the staircase of the adjacent building.

’Good. Keep going.’

Walfred ran without even a moment to catch his breath.

This was the Technology Park. A concrete jungle packed tight with buildings of all sizes, like a forest.

If he moved by hopping from building to building, he wouldn’t leave any tracks in the snow.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!

Walfred sprinted across the buildings.

Six feet, ten feet, sometimes gaps of over thirteen feet; he cleared them all without hesitation. Like a flying squirrel darting between trees.

Only after leaping across more than a dozen buildings did he finally arrive on the rooftop of the last one.

"Whew."

From here, they could move on the ground.

With a short exhale to steady his breathing, Walfred finally set Lauren down. She staggered and grabbed the railing.

"Urgh! I-I think I’m gonna throw up..."

"Hold it in. If you puke, it’ll leave a trail."

With that merciless remark.

Walfred opened the door leading down to the first floor.

Lauren, looking like she was about to cry, forced down her dry heaves and followed after him.

Once again maintaining a distance of fifteen feet between them.

Creeeak!

The two slipped out through the building’s back door.

Before them stretched an intersection along the Passaic River.

Beyond it lay Silicon Alley District in New York.

Just two more subway stops and they’d reach the Silicon Alley area.

’Good.’

Walfred breathed a sigh of relief.

When he’d checked from the rooftop earlier, there had been no monsters in this area. The first objective was to cross straight through the intersection and enter New York.

’And the second objective...’

The snow fog spreading beyond Lower Manhattan Tech Station.

Once they entered that, a fierce blizzard would be raging. The brutal cold and reduced visibility would make it much easier to shake their pursuers.

Walfred picked up the pace.

Just as they passed through the intersection and were about to step across the border between New York and New Jersey.

Grrrind!

A strange sound rang out without warning.

A dull, heavy scraping noise, like boulders grinding their surfaces against each other. Something about it set his nerves on edge, and Walfred stopped in his tracks.

’What was that sound just now?’

He looked around.

And at that very moment.

Grrrr-rr-rind! BOOOOM!

The ground shook from every direction.

With a tremor so violent it nearly knocked him off his feet, the massive chunks of ice jutting up from the snowfield began to squirm and move.

"...!"

Bodies made of solid ice.

Empty eye sockets that radiated freezing cold.

Walfred’s eyes went wide as giants, larger than buses, rose to their feet one by one.

"Ice Golems...!"

D-rank monsters, Ice Golems.