Alia and Matt cried out at the sa ti, tears spilling freely as relief and emotion overwheld them.
"You’ve done well."
Katar’s voice was suddenly cool, cutting through the noise as he spoke and completely ignoring Alia and Matt’s welco cry.
"Just like you’re ant to be. I expected nothing less," he continued, glancing over his shoulder at them before huffing in pride.
"But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re all still fools. Apart from Icard and Eric, the rest of you were useless! Hmph. Even those two weren’t good enough. Fighting together, and look how they ended up. Pathetic!"
The sharp return to his usual harsh deanor crushed the mont instantly. Alia and Matt stared at him blankly, as their excitent died on the spot.
"That crazy cat" Matt mumbled in irk.
Icard huffed softly.
"You ca just in ti" he said.
Now, he could finally relax, if only a little.
Seban, anwhile, stared at Katar more intently.
"A snow cat?" he muttered.
His appearance, this attitude. This voice.
Just then, realization struck him like a blade and his body tensed even further.
"You’re that Snow cat... Katar..."
"Yeah," Katar replied casually. "You want to pick a fight?"
A small spark leapt from his right paw as he stepped forward.
Seban instinctively stepped back, claws scraping against the ground as unease crept into his posture.
This was not an Erwald one challenged lightly. Everything he had heard about Katar scread danger.
Forget killing and taking Icard’s essence. Forget the fact that his companion incarnation had just been killed. He needed to leave imdiately.
"Look," Seban said quickly, his tone shifting, asured and cautious. "I didn’t know they were with you. If I had known, I would have stopped Wester from touching them in the first place."
"Huh?" Katar tilted his head slightly. "Why would you do that? And why do you think I stayed away from them until now?"
He stepped forward again.
"Your Wester was good practice for my clumsy, inept students. Those two grew considerably from it, and that’s exactly what I wanted."
Lightning crackled softly around his body as he continued advancing.
"But you," Katar said, sparks snapping sharper now. "You crossed the line, trying to attack them."
The air tightened as he moved closer, every step heavy with intent and electricity flaring just enough to make it clear.
"Hey, hey. You shouldn’t fight here. You know what you could bring upon the incarnations here!" Rybie warned.
"I can take care of my incarnations out here. If you can’t do the sa for yours, then you should bla yourself," Katar replied, his eyes never leaving Seban.
Seeing that a fight with Katar was inevitable, Seban clenched his jaws and lowered his stance, crouching slightly as his muscles tightened.
His body coiled like a spring, ready to react at any mont. Across from him, Katar looked no less eager.
His posture was loose but predatory, like a beast seconds away from lunging.
"What are they talking about? What will happen?" Matt asked anxiously.
"If Erwalds use their powers outside their vicinities, their high level energies can attract high graded spawns," Icard explained. "That is why Erwalds never fight openly alongside their groups"
"Ehhh!!"
Katar lowered himself as well, claws scraping faintly against the ground as lightning began to leak from his body in sharp, erratic arcs.
The air around him then crackled violently.
Rybie clenched his jaws, uncertain of what to do. And Seban mirrored Katar’s readiness, dark energy seeping from his body as he braced himself to defend against what was coming.
But just before Katar could move, a loud crackling sound split the air, interrupting the mont.
Everyone froze.
Their gazes snapped toward the source at once.
And behold, it was coming from Wester’s frozen corpse.
A dense mass of black energy had gathered around the center of his chest, pulsing slowly like a living void.
Within the ice, it glowed with an unnatural darkness, dotted with faint points of light, like stars trapped inside a frozen night sky.
It drew their attention instantly.
And before anyone could react or assess what it was, it happened.
In a split second, the energy exploded outward.
A violent surge of thick, dark power blasted across the battlefield in crushing waves.
It was suppressive beyond reason, beyond comprehension, far stronger than anything any of them had ever felt.
The force slamd into everyone present, stealing their breath and crushing their senses.
Even those far away felt it.
Far off where the main group reconverged, Gremit sensed it clearly, his eyes widening.
Albert and Luna stopped on their tracks too. And so did every incarnation around there.
The energy was everywhere. Overwhelming and absolute.
In that mont, they could all experience it. Helplessness.
Their bodies trembled as the pressure bore down on them, their skin crawling violently as if their very existence was being rejected.
And after a while, a dark power began to condense again, mixing with streaks of white essence, spiralling upward in a towering column that twisted violently toward the sky.
From within it, sothing began to take shape.
A presence. Vast, indescribable and oppressive.
And the mont it manifested, agony struck.
All the incarnations clutched their heads as blood spilled from their eyes, ears, and noses. All, including Albert far off and those with him.
Their mouths opened in silent screams they could not release. Their knees buckled, bodies convulsing under a force that crushed both mind and soul.
Darkness spread across the surroundings. The sky itself began to warp and dim as the clouds twisted unnaturally and the air grew heavy and distorted.
Everyone suffered the sa fate.
Everyone except the Erwalds, who were forced to actively resist with everything they had.
And then Icard.
A panel flashed violently before his eyes.
[Warning!!!: You Are In The Presence Of A Celestial Keeper!]
[Access To The Ninth Floor Has Been Promptly Initiated]
[Frost Sovereign Attribute - Celestial Reach - Has Been Forcefully Activated!]
Icard looked at the panel, then his eyes narrowed at the Keeper before him.
His eyes were locked onto the familiar energy.
Then, in a quiet, shaken voice, he muttered,
"Teleth."
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