After a long and exhausting day of battle, Ares drifted toward his clan, looking more battered than a beggar—no, even worse.
Dried blood clung to his hair, and wounds marked every inch of skin visible through the ragged remains of his clothes.
"I almost beca soone’s al."
He muttered, recalling how the voidspawn had tried to swallow him whole just before it finally died. Fortunately, his instincts had kicked in at just the right ti to save him.
The Celestials he had gathered from the other clans to help save Cassian and Kyle trailed behind him, looking far more worn and drained from their sudden clash with the voidspawn, a Celestial beast of myth.
Unlike soone—who had spent most of the battle running around and asking them to do sothing—they had actually fought.
Their dark, solemn gazes were like sharp daggers aid at Clan Leader Ares’ back—because this bastard was that soone.
He had gathered them to enter the Hell’s Layer and save his people, but who would have thought they would end up fighting a bloody battle against a mythical creature—one believed to have long gone extinct.
And worse, they didn’t gain anything from that fight—since the voidspawn core had been stolen by the one who awakened it.
A vein throbbed on Ares’ forehead.
"Those damn pricks! Just let see them again! I’ll smash them into dust!"
Clearly, he wasn’t just talking about Kyle—the one who had stolen the voidspawn’s core and vanished without a trace. He also ant Cassian, who had quietly slipped away the very mont the battle began.
"Ugh."
Ares winced as he adjusted his dislocated shoulder, wanting nothing more than to go to his ditation spot in the clan and sink into its familiar warmth. He cast a glance at the elders floating wearily behind him.
"You are all welco to rest in my clan. I will have my people prepare a ditation spot for you—one rich with natural energy. It’s the least I can offer in gratitude."
The elderly Celestials quietly exchanged surprised glances. It seed Clan Leader Ares still had a shred of conscience left in him. They nodded at Ares hurriedly—why would they refuse such a good offer?
Just as they reached the territory of the Golden Guardians Clan, a faint chill crept into the air. The temperature had dropped—just slightly, but noticeably. Of course, the change didn’t affect them in the slightest, yet it was unusual enough to catch their attention. One of the elders frowned.
"Strange... the temperature around here never changes. It’s always stable—unless soone has activated a natural law."
The others nodded in agreent,
but Ares shook his head dismissively.
"No way. Who would dare start a fight outside my clan? Don’t they know that beyond the territory, our mbers battle corrupted beasts under the watch of a powerful Fifth Stage Celestial?"
He continued toward the clan—but the closer they got, the colder it beca.
That’s when Ares spotted two familiar figures floating outside the barriers that protected the floating clan territory.
The first was Zami—the Fifth Stage Celestial he had just ntioned.
She was responsible for handling matters related to the corrupted beasts outside the clan territory to prevent them from getting close to the barriers protecting the clan, as well as overseeing the clan mbers who ca to battle them and rewarding them with natural crystals for killing the beasts.
As usual, she wore a set of gray armor etched with dark patterns.
Floating beside Zami was soone Ares was dying to punch—Cassian, still dressed in the sa white clothes he’d worn when he erged from the Hell’s Layer yesterday.
Cassian raised his hands the mont he saw Ares approaching, shouting before the man could even get any closer—or kick him for fleeing after seeing the voidspawn.
"I didn’t do anything. I swear."
Ares frowned in confusion.
"What did you do now—"
His words were cut off mid-sentence as he followed Cassian and Zami’s solemn gaze.
Within the barriers protecting the Golden Guardians Clan’s territory, everything—even the grass—was frozen under a layer of ice.
"Huh???"
Cassian looked at Zami. He had only just arrived here and was seeing the icy scene for the first ti—sa as Ares and Zami.
And he had no intention of being blad for whatever had happened in his absence.
"I didn’t do anything. I just got here after wandering around the corrupted beasts."
Yet Ares didn’t hear a single word.
The Clan Leader had already stord off, his furious roar echoing through the air.
"What the hell happened to my clan?!"
Cassian stared at the spot where Ares had been just an instant ago, surprise flickering in his eyes. Just now, Ares had moved with a speed far surpassing that of a Fifth Stage Celestial. Cassian could tell that—since he had once reached the Sixth Stage himself.
Which ant... even during the battle with the voidspawn, Clan Leader Ares had been hiding his true power. He covered his lips.
’He has grown stronger.’
Zami followed after Ares, equally curious about what had happened inside the clan to freeze the entire territory in ice. The elderly Celestials trailed behind as well—after all, why miss out on sothing so unusual?
Ultimately, Cassian was the only one left hovering alone in the dark, cold space.
"It’s been so long... Of course Ares would grow stronger—unlike , who had to start from scratch. Damn, that really stings."
He sighed bitterly and shook his head before quickly drifting after the others.
The once lush, green land of the territory was now fully blanketed in ice and snow.
"This ice... Hopefully Kyle isn’t behind harming the clan’s natural environnt."
"If he is, Ares is going to lose it."
Suddenly, a genuine, amused smile spread across his lips—one he had long forgotten.
"But watching him get beaten up by Ares wouldn’t be bad either. Serves him right."
As he reached the clan gates—now also coated in ice—he was t by the guards stationed outside. They looked guilty for so reason, yet kept their mouths shut.
"Hmm?"
Cassian raised a brow—but what he saw next made him freeze, just like Ares, Zami, and the elderly Celestials who had entered the clan gates just monts before him.
Before them, atop the tall mountains once occupied by the prideful elder Celestials of the Golden Guardians Clan, the weaker clan mbers were now quietly ditating. And on the highest peak sat a silver-haired man—legs crossed, eyes tightly shut in focus.
Surrounding him, those sa arrogant old Celestials were sweeping away the ice with brooms instead of just using their powers, as if they were being forced to do so.
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