The temperature plumted so rapidly that the very air seed to crackle with frost, and an eerie silence fell over the battlefield. The ground beneath them groaned, ice creeping along its surface like veins, spreading in jagged formations that glittered under the pale light. Snowflakes drifted down, but they did not fall gently—they whipped through the air like tiny razors, carried by the howling winds that surged outward from Alice.
The people behind her shuddered, their breaths turning into mist before their eyes. The cold seeped into their bones, making their muscles stiffen and their skin burn with icy pain. A survivor gasped, his teeth chattering as he clutched his arms.
"What… what the hell is happening?" soone stamred.
Another coughed, his breath thick with frost. "If this keeps up, we're going to freeze to death!"
Panic spread among them until a shimring do flickered into existence around the group. One of the survivors, a man with protective abilities, had thrown up a barrier just in ti.
"Lucky for us," the man muttered, his voice strained as he held the shield. "Otherwise, we'd all be dead before the Gorvaks even got to us."
All eyes turned toward Alice, their expressions a mixture of awe and fear.
Her silver-white hair billowed violently against the wind, strands whipping around her face like ethereal threads. The very air around her shimred with power, and yet… she had not even unleashed her full strength. She was rely standing there, and already, the battlefield had turned into an arctic wasteland.
So this is the peak of her power, one of them thought in disbelief. She's been holding back all this ti… and this isn't even her limit?
But while the cold was enough to slow or cripple humans, it did nothing to the Gorvaks. Their thick, armored skin resisted the frost, their glowing eyes remaining fixed on their prey as they rushed forward, claws tearing into the frozen ground with relentless force.
The first wave had been obliterated. But these ones… these ones were different.
And then—
Madison moved.
Without hesitation, she tossed her bow toward Alice, who caught it midair. As soon as Alice's fingers wrapped around the grip, the bow responded, glowing with an intense, icy light. The air around it humd with raw energy as Alice smoothly drew the bowstring back, an arrow of pure ice forming at her fingertips.
To the untrained eye, the arrow seed fragile, small—just a thin shard of frozen energy. Even when she released it, it cut through the air like a simple projectile, soaring toward the Gorvaks without any apparent force behind it.
The survivors held their breath. That's it?
The arrow flew—
And then—
Madison snapped her fingers.
Instantly, the arrow vanished.
A fraction of a second passed, and then—
SNAP.
Madison's fingers clicked again, and suddenly, the arrow reappeared.
But this ti, it wasn't alone.
The mont it returned, it was no longer a single projectile. It multiplied.
Two arrows.
Four.
Eight.
Sixteen.
The survivors gasped as the arrows kept increasing in number at an impossible rate, doubling over and over again, until within re seconds—
The entire sky was filled with them.
Thousands of ice arrows hung in the air above the charging Gorvaks, their crystalline surfaces reflecting the pale light. The once-clear sky darkened, shadowed by the sheer mass of deadly projectiles hovering ominously above.
For the first ti since the battle began, the Gorvaks hesitated. Their glowing eyes flickered upward, the monstrous creatures pausing mid-charge as if sensing the devastation about to rain down upon them.
And then, like the final breath before a storm—
The arrows fell.
The sky collapsed.
A deafening explosion of ice and energy tore through the battlefield as the arrows struck. Each one carried a concentrated blast, detonating on impact. The Gorvaks were engulfed in the storm, their bodies swallowed by the violent eruptions of ice and wind. Shards of frozen debris shot through the air, turning the battlefield into a blizzard of death.
The force of the impact was so great that even the survivors behind Alice had to shield their eyes, their protective barrier rattling under the sheer magnitude of the attack.
For several agonizing seconds, nothing could be seen.
The battlefield was drowned in a thick, impenetrable fog of frost and shattered ice.
No one could see anything—not even Alice.
Not even Madison.
The survivors held their breath, their fingers trembling against their weapons. Had it worked? Had the attack wiped them out?
And then—
Alice's expression suddenly changed.
Her eyes widened, and her body tensed as a single word escaped her lips, her voice carrying a rare note of disbelief.
"…Impossible."
The survivors stiffened, their fear returning instantly. They turned their heads frantically, trying to see what had shocked her so badly.
But the ice fog was still too thick.
Seconds passed.
Five agonizing seconds.
Then, Alice waved her hand sharply, and with a single, effortless motion, the fog vanished.
The battlefield was revealed once more.
And what they saw stole the breath from their lungs.
The ground was littered with Gorvak corpses, frozen and shattered, their lifeless forms embedded in the icy landscape. But—
The majority of them still stood.
A cluster of two-tailed Gorvaks remained unhard, standing beneath a shimring, translucent green barrier that pulsed with unnatural energy.
And at the center of that barrier—
A three-tailed Gorvak stood, its glowing eyes locked onto Alice with terrifying intelligence.
It had blocked the attack.
It had protected the others.
The survivors could only stare in horror.
Alice clenched her fists, ice crackling along her arms.
Madison narrowed her eyes. "…They have powers now?."
"No," Alice murmured. Her voice was cold—colder than the frost surrounding them. "Never seen one with powers before, this one is different."
The realization settled in like a weight on their shoulders.
A strange, eerie sound rippled across the battlefield, making even the survivors behind Alice shudder. It wasn't a roar, nor was it the usual guttural growls the Gorvaks made. It was sothing else entirely—sothing primal, sothing unsettling. It was a low, collective vibration that resonated in the air, a strange hum that built into a deep, rhythmic pulse, as if the creatures were raising their spirits for war.
And then—
They attacked.
There was no more hesitation. No more slow, calculated movents.
The Gorvaks surged forward like a tidal wave of flesh, claws, and glowing eyes, their sheer numbers overwhelming. They were faster than before, stronger, more coordinated, as if the presence of the three-tailed Gorvak had heightened their intelligence.
Alice's pulse quickened. These were not the sa beasts they had faced before.
She barely had ti to process before they were already upon them.
"Maddy!" Alice called out, her voice sharp against the chaos.
Madison was already moving, her sword drawn, her stance shifting. "Yeah?"
"Try to hold them off as much as you can," Alice said quickly. "I'll do the sa."
Madison gave a short nod, gripping her weapon tighter. "Got it."
And then they leapt.
Alice and Madison lunged into the horde at the sa ti, their bodies weaving between monstrous claws and snapping jaws. The battlefield turned into a flurry of motion—slashes of ice, the hum of teleportation, the impact of blows landing. Gorvaks were thrown back, their bodies frozen mid-air, while others were cut down before they could react.
But sothing was wrong.
These Gorvaks weren't falling as easily as the others.
Alice swung her arm, releasing a thick wave of ice ant to freeze a group of them solid, but instead of instantly being encased, they resisted. Their movents slowed, their bodies stiffened, but they still kept moving, forcing her to push more power into her attacks.
They're adapting…
Madison was faring no better. She had teleported behind a Gorvak, slashing across its back, only for it to whip around, completely unfazed, and nearly take her head off with its claws. She barely dodged in ti, teleporting away before it could follow through.
Alice gritted her teeth. They're tougher. They're smarter. This isn't the sa fight anymore.
And then it happened.
Alice had been too focused on the group in front of her to notice the one that had slipped past her defenses.
She only realized it when she felt the shift in the air behind her.
Her eyes widened.
A Gorvak was right behind her, its massive claw raised, swinging directly toward her neck.
She turned sharply, but she was too late.
Her heart pounded.
She knew she wouldn't make it in ti.
Is this it?
But just as she braced for the inevitable—
The Gorvak froze.
Not just paused, but completely froze, its entire body turning into an intricate sculpture of ice in the blink of an eye.
Alice staggered back, her breath catching. Even Madison, who had suddenly appeared beside her, looked stunned. She had teleported over the mont she sensed Alice was in danger, but… she had been too slow.
And yet, Alice was still alive.
They both knew exactly what that ant.
Madison turned sharply, scanning the battlefield. "She's back."
Alice swallowed, still trying to regain her composure.
Of course, there was only one person whose power could do sothing like that.
And then—
Bella and her group rushed forward, weapons drawn, their presence undeniable as they crashed into the Gorvaks with full force.
Bella moved with frightening precision, her hand flicking through the air as more Gorvaks froze in place. "You guys look like you could use so help."
Alice exhaled, her chest still tight. "You have no idea."
Madison grinned despite the chaos. "Took you long enough."
Bella rolled her eyes as she hurled another wave of telekinetic force at the oncoming Gorvaks. "Not my fault you two decided to pick a fight with an army before we got here."
But they didn't stop fighting.
They couldn't stop fighting.
With Bella's group pushing in, the balance shifted—if only slightly. More fighters joined the fray, their attacks hitting hard, pushing back against the relentless creatures.
And it wasn't just Bella's group.
Everyone had returned.
All the groups that had been spread across the battlefield had arrived at the sa ti, their combined strength forming a much-needed reinforcent.
The only ones missing—
Was Jack's group.
But even if they were here, Alice knew they wouldn't be able to do much against these things.
The real problem was the three-tailed Gorvak.
And it was still watching them.
The battle wasn't over.
Not even close.
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