Faith left the cave and immediately rose into the sky, her expression becoming focused as she activated Life's Eye. Through the vision granted by the ability, she searched across the distant regions of Kael'Ar until she found a familiar presence on Continent X.
The entire continent had been frozen.
Faith stared at the enormous frozen landscape and blinked in disbelief. "Freezing the whole continent? Alzwalt's girlfriend is too strong."
She immediately flew toward Continent X.
A few minutes later, Faith descended onto the frozen land. The temperature was so low that every breath left a faint mist in the air. She walked across the ice until she found Britanya lying on her back.
Britanya slowly opened her eyes when she noticed someone approaching.
"Oh, it's you, Faith."
Faith reached her and looked across the frozen continent before looking down at Britanya. "You guys really locked in for real."
Britanya gave a tired expression. "They were that strong."
She glanced at her own body.
"I froze my injuries using my last bit of energy. It will fade away now, so take over for me. You don't have to carry me anywhere. The ice will protect me."
Before Faith could respond, Britanya lost consciousness.
Faith's eyes widened. She hadn't expected Britanya to simply shut down after surviving such a battle.
More importantly, Faith had never encountered someone who could use an element itself to preserve injuries in such a manner.
She held both hands toward Britanya.
"Idun's Blessing."
A soft green light emerged from her hands and flowed over Britanya's body. Faith concentrated on the healing process.
"If Britanya is banged up like this…" Faith murmured, "I should go check on Kaelen's master, Ms. Tessandra Liones… or Ms. Tessandra Liones Merciless?"
She stopped herself and shook her head.
"What am I thinking about? Anyways, I have an uneasy feeling."
For the next forty minutes, Faith remained beside Britanya, continuously maintaining her healing ability. Eventually, the injuries were completely restored. Britanya remained unconscious. Faith released a long breath and stood.
"Whew. I should get going."
She turned around. Then she stopped. Something was watching her.
Faith slowly turned her head.
"What was that?"
Britanya was still lying motionless on the frozen ground. Then the ice around her began moving.
It rose from the ground and gradually formed a massive coffin around Britanya's unconscious body. Faith stared.
"How is that possible? Isn't she unconscious?"
The ice continued moving without any visible command.
"It's as if the ice itself is conscious."
Faith slowly approached it.
"No, that's impossible. I've never once in my life heard about an element being conscious."
She eventually stepped away and headed toward the edge of Continent X. The cold immediately became unbearable.
Faith sneezed.
"It's so cold."
She rubbed her arms and looked around.
"There aren't even any animals around."
She tried to rise into the air but immediately felt the extreme cold interfering with her movement.
"I can't fly in this cold weather."
Before she could figure out another route, the ice beneath her feet moved.
It stretched outward across the frozen continent. Then it continued over the ocean, forming a massive bridge toward the distant open land of Orange Grove.
Faith stared at the bridge.
"You've got to be kidding me."
She carefully stepped onto it. The ice remained completely stable beneath her feet. Faith trembled as she crossed. I'll never see elements the same way again.
She sneezed again.
Eventually, Faith reached the open land of Orange Grove. The sight before her made her stop. The battlefield had been devastated.
Crater after crater covered the landscape. Sinkholes stretched across the ground, some so enormous that Faith couldn't even see their bottoms.
She crouched and placed one hand against the earth. After staring at the destruction for several seconds, she drew a small circle in the dirt.
Her face turned pale.
"I shouldn't be surprised from now on."
Faith stood and continued searching for Tessandra. She eventually found something that dwarfed every crater she had seen before. A gigantic hole stretched across the battlefield.
There was no visible bottom. It looked less like a crater and more like the beginning of an abyss. Faith stared across it. Then she saw someone lying on the opposite side.
"Tessandra!"
Faith immediately flew across the enormous gap. She descended beside Tessandra and crouched.
"Are you okay, Ms. Tessandra?"
Tessandra looked toward Faith. She couldn't answer. She couldn't even move an inch.
Faith noticed the involuntary movements running through Tessandra's muscles.
"Oh, sorry."
Faith immediately placed her hands over Tessandra and activated her healing ability.
"Idun's Blessing."
Green energy flowed through Tessandra's body. Within several minutes, the muscle spasms began to disappear. Tessandra finally exhaled.
"I'm glad to see you, Faith."
Faith smiled awkwardly.
"Sorry. I should've realized sooner."
"It's fine." Tessandra replied.
Before either of them could say anything else, the ground shook. A deep rumbling emerged from beneath them.
Faith looked toward the enormous sinkhole.
"It's coming from the sinkhole."
Tessandra slowly looked toward it. Then something erupted from below.
A creature leaped from the darkness.
It stood nearly ten meters tall. It had no visible eyes or nose. Its enormous mouth was filled with sharp teeth, and a long tongue hung from between them. Its hands ended in claws, while its powerful legs slammed into the ground.
Tessandra looked up.
"It's a subterranean."
Faith nodded.
"Yeah."
Five more creatures suddenly leaped from the sinkhole. Faith stood.
Her healing energy continued flowing into Tessandra even as she faced the monsters. One of the subterraneans suddenly charged. Faith moved first. She pushed herself forward so forcefully that the ground beneath her cracked.
Her right leg swung upward. Her foot slammed into the creature's stomach. The impact launched it backward but Faith's healing energy had entered the creature through the attack.
"Idun's Blessing."
Green energy spread through its body. The subterranean began to break apart from within until its body finally burst apart.
Faith looked toward the remaining creatures.
"Go back in your hole, beasts."
The subterraneans screamed. All five charged simultaneously. Faith simply raised her right palm.
"Idun's Blessing."
Green light washed over the battlefield. The creatures froze. A few seconds later, they collapsed and burst apart beneath the overwhelming effect of Faith's power.
The battlefield became silent again. Faith lowered her hand. Behind her, Tessandra watched quietly. A faint smile appeared on her face. "This girl has a promising future."
Far away from Orange Grove, another battlefield had already been prepared.
A vast mountain range stretched across Kael'Ar.
Several mountains had already been damaged from the earlier battle.
Standing among them were Alzwalt and Ferax.
The two men stared at each other. Neither looked particularly concerned. In fact, they both appeared almost lazy. Their previous battle had barely resembled a serious confrontation. They had exchanged random attacks, blocked each other casually, and spent more time observing than fighting.
Ferax rolled his shoulders.
"How about we get serious? This is really getting boring."
Alzwalt barely moved.
"I was thinking the same."
The atmosphere immediately changed.
Ferax released his aura. Pure darkness erupted around him, spreading across the mountains like an endless night.
Alzwalt responded.
Divine light exploded from his body, illuminating the surrounding mountains. The two opposing energies collided in the air between them. Ferax lowered his body into a fighting stance.
Alzwalt did the same. For the first time, neither man looked lazy. They were finally ready to fight seriously.