His gaze rested on the little wolf, the only one that could maintain even a semblance of movement in his presence.
There was no exchange of words, only one of stares. Despite being in front of the Draconian, Festul’s gaze was as fierce as ever. It remained unchanged, unlike his power and status.
The silence between them was suffocating, they merely scanned one another. It felt as if there were only those two in this expansive world.
But, that silence had to be broken, either by Festul, the former supreme of storms, or Azmakul, the Great General.
[You haven’t changed a single fucking bit.]
And in the end, it was Festul who did it. Unable to handle the suffocating silence anymore.
Azmakul responded, his voice monotone. As if he didn’t have any emotions behind that vicious mask of his. He was the true representation of a frost dragon.
[Yes, I did not change. Yet you…]
He approached Festul, keeping his pace steady and like that of a king.
[But how unfortunate. Who would have thought the little dog that jumped at the opportunity we provided him wouldn’t even hold onto his title of supremacy for a while.]
He mocked Festul with no emotion in his voice, as if it was beneath him to show it to the little wolf.
[Arrogant as all the Ancient Dragons. Do you know who you are speaking to?]
[Yes, I do.]
[So can I take it as an invitation to destroy this damned planet?]
They heard a sneer behind him, as their bodies lay frozen due to the pressure emitted by the two beings behind them.
‘What are you doing?! Festul!’
Alexander wanted to stop that little wolf of his, but he couldn’t move…and neither could he establish a mental connection to Festul. No matter what he tried to do, it was useless.
[Haha.]
They heard Azmakul’s voice. He seemed to be laughing…but they didn’t hear any laughter. Only the monotonous ‘Haha’ a robot would make.
[You forget whose corpse you stand upon. Although…]
Then, the surrounding air changed.
[I wouldn’t mind making my precious home the grave of two idiots who claimed to be the supremes of lightning.]
[You bastard…]
Festul… was losing the argument pathetically.
[Even if you were your former self, and not this pathetic version… I would have done the same as my queen, and ended your existence had you tried.]
Azmakul’s massive body bent down, until he met Festul eye to eye. The darkness behind the empty sockets of the mask were vast, until two blue flames ignited, staring right into Festul’s soul.
[Try it.]
His very words dared Festul to make a move, but he didn’t. He wasn’t as ignorant as the lot ahead of him, the cohort of the son of the witch this monster served. He knew Azmakul wasn’t bluffing.
After all, he was a supreme once too. The supremacy of frost was held by him before Lanesha. And unlike Azmakul…who willingly gave his seat up to Lanesha…
Festul was humiliated, and defeated by another who stole his throne. He didn’t have any right to challenge Azmakul at this moment, he also couldn’t.
[Do it, little wolf.]
He was taunted once more, but he didn’t yield into the provocation, knowing his own limits right now. Azmakul’s cold sigh was felt on his face, freezing the ends of his great fur.
[Though I do not know what you are doing with my prince. You are guests right now, and I am to oblige. It is my duty to be a good host.]
He stood up, and put his hands behind his back.
[Now… While I wait for the prince to come back here. I wonder what that foul energy is…]
To Maxwell and the group’s pure shock, the Arctic Titan split open, and a peculiar box floated over to Azmakul. The group could suddenly move again. Though, they didn’t dare make any sudden movements…
‘My…titan…!’
Regrettably, he couldn’t do anything right now to avenge his beloved Arctic Titan, and although he would deny it till the end of his life, He knew he could never truly take revenge. Not on that, at the very least. Not at all.
But it still felt as if a knife was being stabbed through his heart when he saw the result of his investments being reduced to scrap metal.
[Oh my.]
For the first time, they finally heard some semblance of emotion in the voice the dreaded demon that wore the disguise of a calm person. Sabrina’s cat jumped off from his head and retreated back into the spirit realm, suddenly scared.
[Now this… is surprising. The taste of my lady is questionable…]
The blue crystal floated in front of Azmakul, as the headlights of the Arctic Titan vanished. The drop of ichor piqued the interest of the dreaded dragon.
[So that’s who your father is, Troublesome.]
He looked to the distant sky, anticipating the arrival of someone, and mumbled. It was in a low voice, but everyone else could still hear it clearly.
[Although I don’t know why the prince has not absorbed the ichor of his father, I do hope his temperament didn’t rub off on him.]
A moment later, a portal opened behind Azmakul, and the dragon corrected himself, clicking
his tongue.
[I spoke too soon. Look’s like my hopes of a gentle meeting have been ruined.]
He sighed, just before his body was tackled by someone moving too fast for them to see, and Azmakul disappeared.
The portal vanished as well.
*******
‘What is this damn thing…?’
I could no longer move, not my body, and not the mana and the aura I held within it. Even my thoughts seemed to be getting slower by the second.
Naturally, when faced in front of this incredible powerful and weird phenomena… I panicked, though I regained some of my composure once my mana could move, albeit only a little.
I struggled to move it… It took me so long to finally activate mana sense and get an accurate read on my surroundings. Edward was the same as me, frozen. And we were not alone.
The mana of the frost element surrounding us, the gentle yet sharp breeze that caused the abundant trees to move…also froze.
Everything, alive or not, froze.
It was as if somebody had stopped time itself.
I had just been focusing on my aura breathing technique before this happened, and when I thought about it, I had felt something, but before I could confirm it, time froze.
‘Damn it…’
Just then, I realized the flow of mana under the authority of a being much greater than mine all around me, it was oppressive, powerful…but it was gentle. I couldn’t describe why it was
gentle, but it just felt like it.
That mana was simply tolerating my use of mana sense, as if it was something amusing to it.
Just how inferior was I to this?
Edward couldn’t move at all, ice was starting to gather on his body, and I feared that he would
be frozen if I took too much time.
‘Damn it…’
I kept thinking of ways to escape, and figure out how to beat or at least stall whoever it was that caused this… considering this is Lanekia, whoever he is, he shouldn’t be a major threat.
Lanesha wouldn’t let that happen…not on her own planet. But I fear that is restricted only to me, I don’t know whether the others are safe…
In this cold world, only my safety is guaranteed…and theirs only when I am with them.
‘Come on… move!’
Just then, I felt angered, that I, who was supposed to be the prince of this place was being oppressed like that. It was doing something to my mind.
But I can’t let myself be chained down by those thoughts, I need to find a way to free myself,
and so I did.
I made my aura retreat to it’s core, and forced my mana to fight back, as much as I could.
Slowly, but surely, I regained control of my fingers, my toes…and finally my mouth.
‘Nice…’
I applauded myself, the plan was to only regain control of my mouth…and that would be the
key to free me of this oppressive.
“The Jade palace…is me…”
‘Sorry Edward…just try not to die.’
I apologized to Edward, who would be in the center of everything when my domain expanded.
I could only hope what I was doing would also free him, and from there he could make his own
effort to live.
The release of my domain should make this magic take a step back… I hope.
“And I…am the Jade Palace!”
From me, as the center of it all, my domain expanded and just as I hoped, the magic was
stopped…at least in the domain.
Without a second thought, I ran towards the tall and mighty gates, I wasn’t stupid enough to
leave the protection of my domain and go into that magic once more… I was simply trying to get as much momentum and speed I could.
It was just an idea on my part, but I thought that the magic could control me so easily was
because I was still… So I tried to get as much speed as possible, teleport towards the Arctic
Titan, carry the momentum that may help me against the source of this magic and deal with
it.
I don’t know what this magic is… But I can only hope my idea works!