As the infiltration team walked deeper into the Ice Garden, they quickly realized their vision was severely limited inside the zone.
Outside, they had been able to see the outline of the castle at the top. But inside? They could not see even ten meters in front of them. The frozen mist clung to everything, white and endless, obscuring their path and muffling their footsteps.
Riveria raised her wand. A small worm tornado spun into existence around them, cutting through the mist and giving them the visibility they needed.
"If this keeps up, I will eat away at all of my magic," she said, her voice tight with concentration.
Damien scanned their surroundings. "We have potions. Those should replenish you enough until we find Ais. Just do not cast this spell too much. Only enough to figure out our path."
"Da... Damien..."
Tiona's voice stopped him cold. There was fear in it. Real fear.
He turned toward her.
His eyes went wide.
They were all looking at the same thing. Tens of frozen bodies. Massive, horned, terrifying.
Balors.
Dozens of them.
The same Balor that had forced Damien to go all out. The same Balor that had wasted much of his power and intelligence. The same Balor that had forced him to sacrifice his army and face it head-on in a desperate battle for survival.
Here, it was nothing more than a mob.
"So..." Damien let out a humorless chuckle. "This is the sort of place Thalia's Ice Garden is." He shook his head. "Well, we are kinda fucked, eh?"
Tione stepped forward, her eyes still on the frozen corpses. "Wait. If this place can freeze monsters like Balor, does that not mean we are good? If everything is frozen, can we not just save Ais and escape?"
Damien turned to her. "Tione, darling. How are you alive right now?"
She blinked. "Using Riveria's spell." She crossed her arms. "Oh, come on. You do not expect me to believe there are monsters that can cast a supreme level spell."
Riveria's voice was quiet. "Either that... or monsters that have adapted to this place."
"Now that is a fucked up thought," Damien muttered.
They pressed on.
They walked for what felt like hours, though Damien knew it was probably less. The frozen mist swirled around them, always there, always waiting. The worm tornado spun tirelessly, keeping their path clear.
No monsters came.
No movement. No sound. Nothing but the crunch of their boots on ice and the soft whisper of Riveria's spell.
They started to feel relief. Perhaps the Garden was empty. Perhaps everything here was already frozen. Perhaps they could simply reach the castle, find Ais, and leave.
Then they saw the castle gates.
And Riveria screamed.
"CELDIA!"
Damien spun toward her. Her eyes were wide open, locked on something he could not see. Her face had gone pale. Her hands shook.
He turned to Tiona and Tione.
Both Amazons had fallen to their knees. Their faces were twisted—not with pain, but with something else. Anger. Shock. Memory. Their fists clenched against the frozen ground.
"What the fuck—" Damien grabbed Riveria's arm. "Riveria! Are you all right? Tiona! Tione!"
"Our minds." Riveria's voice was strained, her composure barely holding. "It is a mental contamination spell. Damn it. I can resist it for a bit, but the twins are in trouble." She raised her wand. "I will need to cast a spell on them. On myself."
Damien turned to help the twins—
Pain exploded in his side.
Something struck him with brutal force, sending him rolling across the ice. He skidded to a stop, his hand pressed against the wound. His fingers came away cold. Too cold.
He looked up.
Revis stood where he had been.
The woman who had cursed Ais. The monster who served the Corrupted Spirit. She was different now. Her hands and legs were encased in jagged ice, forming fists and blades that gleamed with deadly light. She was becoming something else. Something of this frozen land.
She raised her bladed arm toward Riveria and the fallen twins.
Damien moved.
He smashed into her, daggers out, forcing her back. She slid across the ice, unharmed, her cold green eyes fixed on him. His side throbbed where she had struck him. When he looked down, he saw ice spreading across his skin.
Fuck.
He turned to Riveria. "Wake them up. I will handle her."
He did not wait for an answer. He lunged at Revis, driving her away from the others. She met him blow for blow, her ice-encased limbs clashing against his daggers with sounds like breaking glaciers.
Behind him, he heard Riveria chanting.
And then he heard something else.
Tione's scream.
He spun.
Tione had transformed. Ice had spread across her arms, her legs, her chest. Her eyes burned with the same cold light as Revis's. She was becoming one of them.
Tiona had been saved—Riveria's spell had reached her in time. But Tione was lost.
"Fuck!" Damien shouted.
Riveria's voice cut through the chaos. "Damien! Do not worry about her! We will handle her!" Her jade eyes flicked to Revis with undisguised disgust. "Focus on that thing!"
Damien nodded and turned back to Revis.
His daggers came up.
..
Tiona got up, clutching herself as she shouted, "TIONE! Don't let it control you!"
Tione's response was an attack. Her ice-clad claws slashed right at Tiona's neck, aiming to sever her head from her shoulders.
Riveria's staff stabbed into the ground. Ice erupted from the earth and slammed against Tione's claws, deflecting the killing blow just before it landed.
"I control ice too," Riveria said calmly. She turned to Tiona. "Mental contamination is not something one can escape with mere words. We need to defeat her first, and then remind her of who she is."
Tiona nodded, grief hardening into resolve.
She launched herself forward, her feet slamming into her sister's chest. The impact sent Tione flying backward across the ice. Tione dug her ice-encased hands and legs into the frozen ground, slowing her momentum. When she looked up at her sister, there was nothing in her eyes. No recognition. No love. Tiona was nothing more than another monster to be eliminated.
Tiona shivered as she looked down at her legs. "Riveria... this is not good."
Riveria followed her gaze. The foot Tiona had used to strike Tione was freezing. Ice crystals crept up her ankle, her calf, spreading with each passing second. Riveria focused her magic, melting the ice before it could climb further.
"It seems whenever we contact her body, we are frozen," Riveria observed. "We must avoid physical contact."
Tiona's eyes went wide. "You do not mean..."
"Yes. Use your sword."
"I DO NOT WANT TO HARM HER!" Tiona shouted, her voice cracking.
Riveria's expression did not waver. "By not defeating her now, you are causing her more pain. Believe me... if you were to ask her, she would rather lose an arm or leg than continue to endure mental contamination. Especially one crafted by a magician like Celdia."
Tiona's hands trembled around Urga's hilt. Her sister charged at her, ice claws extended, face blank.
She raised her blade.
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