The forges beneath the Frost-Born capital were a cathedral of steam and blue fire. Here, the heat wasn't generated by coal, but by the "Glacial Friction" of two massive tectonic plates of enchanted ice grinding against one another.
Kaelith was in her element. She had discarded her scorched outer armor for a grease-stained tunic, her mechanical eye glowing a feverish violet as she directed a small army of Frost-Born golems. In the center of the forge sat their new vessel: the Aurora-Vanguard.
It was a sleek, aggressive needle of silver-blue alloy, reinforced with the same Living Ruby salvaged from the Empress's flagship and powered by a core of stabilized solar-ice.
"She's beautiful," Elena whispered, running a hand over the ship's wing, which hummed with a resonance that vibrated in her very marrow.
"She's a death-trap," Kaelith corrected, wiping a smudge of oil from her forehead. "But she's the fastest death-trap in the Hegemonies. I've integrated a Rank 7 Mana-Inverter. If the Sun Empire tries to lock us down with their golden gravity, this beauty will flip the polarity and use their own power to slingshot us through their gates."
Raen stood apart from the others, his senses heightened by his recent breakthrough. The Black-Body Law made him sensitive to "intent." In the darkness of the forge, he felt a ripple of cold that didn't belong to the machines or the ice-fire.
"Something is wrong," Raen said, his hand moving toward the hilt of his blade.
Suddenly, the golems stopped. Their glowing blue eyes turned a sickly, necrotic green. From the shadows of the upper catwalks, a dozen figures in white-and-silver robes descended—the Frost-Born High Council, led by Elder Vane, the kingdom's chief strategist.
"Elder Vane?" Elena stepped forward, her brow furrowed. "What is the meaning of this? We are under the King's orders."
"The King is blinded by his love for a daughter who brings a monster into our midst," Vane said, his voice like the cracking of a frozen lake. "We have lived in the shadows of the Sun for eons. If we allow this 'Black-Body' to reach the Capital, the First Emperor will not just punish him—he will vaporize our continent to ensure the glitch is erased."
Vane raised a staff carved from the bone of an ancient Frost-Drake. "For the survival of the North, the Sun-Prince must die here."
The golems charged.
Kaelith cursed, diving behind a pile of raw alloy. "Hey! I haven't finished the internal shielding yet! If you dent the hull, I'm billing your estate!"
Elena didn't hesitate. She drew her rapier, her Absolute Zero Essence flaring. "Vane, you are a coward. You would sell our future for a moment of safety!" She met the first golem, her blade shattering its arm into a thousand ice-fragments.
But Vane wasn't targeting Elena. He pointed his staff at the Aurora-Vanguard's engine, unleashing a [Rank 8: Glacier-Crush] spell.
Raen moved.
He didn't use his sword. He simply appeared in front of the engine, his Sky-Treader speed leaving an afterimage of shadow. He reached out and caught the massive block of magical ice with his bare hand.
[BLACK-BODY LAW: SINGULARITY TOUCH]
The Rank 8 spell didn't break; it collapsed into a single point of nothingness within Raen's palm. The energy was siphoned directly into his core, causing his black skin to pulse with a faint, dangerous violet light.
"Is that all?" Raen asked, his voice echoing through the forge.
Vane's eyes widened. "Impossible... you can't absorb a Rank 8 Law with a Rank 6 body!"
"My body doesn't follow your Ranks," Raen said.
He lunged. Vane attempted to teleport, but Raen's presence created a "Void-Anchor" that locked the space around them. Raen gripped the Elder's throat. He didn't kill him; instead, he forced a massive surge of his own "Void-Hunger" into the Elder's mana-veins.
Vane screamed as his internal energy was devoured by the emptiness. Within seconds, the powerful Elder was reduced to a Rank 1 civilian, his cultivation completely erased.
The remaining council members dropped their weapons, trembling.
"Get out," Raen said, throwing Vane to the floor. "Tell the King his Council is compromised. We leave tonight."
As the Aurora-Vanguard's engines roared to life, vibrating the entire city of Glacies, Raen stood on the bridge. Elena and Kaelith took their stations, their faces set with grim determination.
"Next stop: The Sun Capital," Kaelith said, her hands dancing over the controls. "Estimated travel time: Twelve hours. Estimated chance of being blasted out of the sky: High."
"Let them try," Raen said, looking out at the stars.
The ship shot out of the forge, breaching the surface of the North and tearing into the Void-Gaps. Behind them, the Frost-Born Kingdom grew small, but ahead, the golden glow of the Imperial Zenith loomed like a predatory eye.