The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed-Chapter 171: A Flower Blooming in Winter (2)

Skadia stood frozen in disbelief as she gazed at Ashies, who stood boldly before her.

She had sealed Ashies in ice for centuries to preserve her beauty, freezing her emotions, memories, and even her ability to think.

But what about the Ashies standing here now?

Her delicate brows furrowed, and hostility filled her lake-blue eyes.

It was as if the treasured doll Skadia had cherished more than any treasure in the world had suddenly turned against its owner.

Time was running out. Like a dish left at room temperature, Ashies was deteriorating right before her eyes.

“P-Princess, your beauty is fading even now. Come to me at once!”

Skadia’s voice rang out, filled with genuine concern.

“No...”

But Ashies shook her head and refused.

“W-Why?”

“You froze people... froze our kingdom... I won’t forgive you.”

Thud!

Skadia’s heart dropped, and she stumbled in midair from the shock.

“M-My princess...”

If one were to describe Skadia’s feelings, it was as if a lovely young maiden had suddenly aged into a middle-aged woman. The sense of loss was indescribable.

That loss quickly turned into rage—rage directed at the dwarves.

“How dare you lay a hand on my princess! I’ll freeze you alive and shatter your bodies to dust! Your souls will never escape your broken remains!”

Boom!

“Urgh!”

“Don’t... make people sad.”

“P-Princess...!”

When Ashies struck Skadia’s forehead with her sword, the dragon clutched the wound with her massive hand, tears welling up in her eyes.

Meanwhile, the dwarves on the ground were witnessing a sight they had never seen before.

“This... isn’t what I expected.”

“She hit the princess...”

Though they knew they shouldn’t feel this way, some of the dwarves couldn’t help but feel sorry for Skadia. A few even considered it a reward.

But it didn’t last long.

Skadia quickly came to her senses.

“So be it. If you won’t come willingly, I’ll just have to take you by force, Princess!”

With her intent to kidnap Ashies openly declared, Skadia roared and prepared to fight again.

This was a Primordial Dragon—the strongest of her kind. There was no room for carelessness.

Ashies heightened her senses to the limit.

Skadia floated in the sky, surveying the ground below.

Her opponent was an entire kingdom representing a race.

This wasn’t like the cities she had crushed with a mere breath. Even for Skadia, rushing into battle blindly was a risk.

And if she injured Ashies by mistake, it would be disastrous.

First, she needed to take advantage of her position as a dragon.

“I’ll carve the essence of Winter’s Incarnation into that tiny body of yours!”

Skadia flapped her wings.

Using her breath attack consumed tremendous energy, so she couldn’t use it recklessly.

But that didn’t mean it was her only weapon.

Ice gathered high in the sky.

Massive ice meteors, reminiscent of glaciers, began to fall.

“Whoa...”

It was an overwhelming sight—something one might witness only once in a lifetime.

One dwarf stood frozen, unable to do anything but marvel.

“Quit gawking unless you want to end up frozen like a nut! Fire!”

Hargran’s shout snapped the dwarves back to their senses. They adjusted the ballistas, aligned the targets, and released their arrows.

“Do you think your pathetic arrows can stop my ice?!”

Skadia’s voice boomed, but the moment the arrows collided with the ice meteors—

Boom!

The meteors shattered, scattering shards in all directions. Some remnants rained down toward the army below, but protective barriers deployed by the towers deflected the debris, leaving them unharmed.

“Ha-ha-ha! How’s that for a taste of my bombs? Explosions are an art form!”

The words came from the dwarves’ most eccentric inventor, Pia Nobel—the demolition maniac.

Her explosive arrows, designed for maximum destructive impact rather than precision, were activated by a detonator, allowing them to explode on command.

Even Skadia, with her centuries of experience, had never seen such weapons before.

“Don’t stop! Keep firing!”

The dwarves reloaded the ballistas and unleashed another barrage. Explosions erupted near Skadia, shaking the skies.

“Fire! Pour everything we’ve got into it!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sky lit up with flames, so bright it felt like dawn had broken.

Amid the aftermath, Skadia folded her wings, shielding herself.

Despite the ferocity surrounding her, she stood unshaken. Not a single scratch marred her icy, white-blue scales.

This was Skadia—the Ice Dragon. Ordinary attacks couldn’t penetrate her frozen armor.

Knowing this, Skadia remained calm amid the barrage, waiting patiently behind the veil of explosions.

The dwarves had limited resources.

They had prepared for barely a month at most.

The longer the battle dragged on, the worse it would be for them—and they knew it. Pia Nobel’s explosive arrows were already running low.

When the arrows ran out, the real battle would begin.

The dwarves swallowed hard, their mouths dry.

The relentless rain of arrows began to thin out. The bursts of light that had lit up the night started to fade and were on the verge of disappearing entirely.

“Fire!”

Harpoons attached to chains were fired from four directions, wrapping tightly around Skadia’s wings.

The chains had been reinforced to withstand extreme cold.

But projectiles alone wouldn’t be enough. If they couldn’t drag Skadia down, nothing else would matter.

“Pull!”

At the signal, the dwarves yanked on the chains.

The tension in the chains grew taut.

The largest tug-of-war in history had begun—between the dwarves and the dragon.

“One, two! One, two!”

“Don’t space out—match the timing! Like you’re pounding your wife!”

“What about those of us without wives?”

“Then do it like you’re pounding the neighbor’s wife!”

The dwarves roared in unison, heaving the chains with synchronized effort.

Among all races, dwarves were renowned for their raw strength. Even the elves, their sworn rivals, begrudgingly acknowledged it.

And now, with their combined might, the proud and towering figure of Skadia, who seemed immovable in the sky, began to descend—slowly but surely.

“You insolent fools!”

Skadia flapped her wings, causing the chains to thrash violently. Dwarves toppled over, crashing to the ground.

She didn’t give them time to recover.

Whoosh!

The sharp sound of something piercing the air.

Thousands of icy spikes rained down from the sky like a deadly hailstorm.

Whether the barriers could block them completely was uncertain.

The dwarves were seconds away from becoming skewers.

Vrrrnnng!

The sharp hum of mana activation echoed.

Ashies had already leaped into action from above.

Her sword gleamed, leaving a chilling trail of light as she slashed.

The frozen spikes were swept away by the sword’s aura.

“Hrgh!”

Meanwhile, Hargran swung his hammer in a full arc, creating gusts of wind to deflect the spikes.

The dwarves quickly reorganized and pulled the chains again.

“One, two! One, two! One, two!”

“Grrr...! You pests...!”

Skadia drew closer to the ground, inch by inch.

And then—

Boom!

The dragon crashed down to earth.

“Now! Charge!”

Leaving only those holding the chains behind, the rest of the dwarves grabbed their weapons and charged.

The sound of their battle cries and pounding feet thundered across the battlefield.

“You fools! Do you think dragging me down changes anything?!”

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

Dragon Roar.

The sheer force of Skadia’s roar sent half the warriors crumpling to the ground, their courage shattered.

“Urgh! Don’t stop—keep moving forward!”

Despite the rallying cries, even those who managed to approach faced another problem.

The Frost Heart, the source of Skadia’s power, radiated an unbearable cold.

Even Ashies, blessed by Skadia’s power, couldn’t match the Frost Heart’s output.

It froze anything unworthy within its range, operating without rest.

Even with insulated gear, the dwarves’ only hope was to avoid freezing solid. Most couldn’t even move properly, let alone attack.

Skadia swung her claws. With sheer size and weight, dozens of dwarves were swept away in an instant.

“Tch!”

Hargran pushed his mana to the limit.

He pulled his hammer back and slammed it into the ground with all his strength.

Boom!

A massive blast erupted, sending debris and dirt surging toward Skadia.

“How’s that?! My hammer should’ve caved in your stomach!”

Hargran shouted confidently.

Whoosh!

But before his boasting could settle, the swirling debris condensed and vanished as if sucked away.

A colossal shadow stirred.

Skadia stomped her front claw into the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the solid earth beneath the dwarves turned into ice.

Their once sturdy footing had become a fragile sheet of ice.

Crack.

Crack, crack.

The sound of splintering ice filled the air, sharp and ominous.

The ground began to fracture.

“W-What’s happening?!”

The cold had penetrated deep, reaching the roots of the earth itself.

The dwarves weren’t just standing on the ground—they were standing on the ceiling of Doomheim, their underground city.

Skadia wasn’t targeting the dwarves—she was targeting Doomheim.

If she couldn’t defeat their defenses directly, she’d bring the entire city down on their heads.

Rumble...

The ground quaked violently.

Everyone understood what it meant.

“Evacuate! The ground’s collapsing!”

But it was too late.

With their short legs, the dwarves couldn’t outrun the disaster.

And as a race that shunned magic, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) they lacked the tools and means to counter sudden catastrophes.

Skadia’s voice rang out, cold and merciless.

“Admirable, but dwarves have no place above ground. The height of this place is wasted on you.”

Crash!

The ground shattered.

And so began the dwarves’ endless fall.