Dante's phone began to buzz violently in his pocket. He pulled it out, glancing at the caller ID—Halstein.
Frowning, he answered. "Yeah?"
Halstein's voice came through, sharp and urgent. "You and SteelArm need to get over here. Now."
Dante exchanged a glance with SteelArm before responding. "What's going on?"
"We found something at the forest twenty minutes east of the guild headquarters. Something big. I need both of you here to see it for yourselves."
SteelArm, already picking up on the tension, stepped closer. "How bad?"
A brief pause. Then Halstein's voice came lower, more serious. "Bad enough that I don't want to say over the line. Just get here. Fast."
The call ended abruptly.
Dante exhaled sharply, rolling his shoulders. "Guess we're not getting a break."
SteelArm cracked his knuckles, "Did we ever expect one?"
Dante exhaled, running a hand through his hair before ordering another Uber. Within minutes, a blue and green minivan rolled up to the curb. The window lowered, and the driver leaned out.
"Uber for Dante?"
Dante lifted a hand in acknowledgment before sliding into the backseat. SteelArm followed, the van's suspension dipping slightly under his weight.
As the vehicle pulled away, Elara crossed her arms, watching them leave. "Not even a goodbye, huh?"
Kieran chuckled, slipping his hands into his pockets. "What did you expect? They must be busy."
Elara sighed but smiled. "Guess that's just how they are."
Kieran tapped his phone, ordering a ride for the two of them. "So… since they're off handling serious business, where do you wanna go?"
Elara tilted her head in thought before grinning. "I suppose a little downtime wouldn't hurt."
A few hours later, Dante and SteelArm stepped off a private jet, the hum of the aircraft fading behind them as they walked across the tarmac. The same private airstrip they'd departed from hours ago now felt eerily quiet under the fading evening light.
Without wasting time, they made their way to a black truck parked nearby. Climbing inside, Dante started the engine as SteelArm checked the GPS. A new location pinged on the map—Halstein's coordinates deep within the forest near the guild headquarters.
Dante shifted into gear, the truck roaring to life as they sped off toward whatever mystery awaited them in the woods.
As they pulled up to the edge of the forest, the truck's headlights cut through the eerie fog hanging low over the frozen landscape. Dante and SteelArm stepped out in unison, their breaths misting in the air as they took in the impossible sight before them.
"What the hell…" they muttered simultaneously, eyes scanning the frost-covered forest.
The once-thriving greenery was now a frozen wasteland. Trees stood still, their trunks encased in thick ice, while leaves hung midair—suspended as if time itself had stopped. The ground, once rich with soil and foliage, was now an unbroken sheet of crystalline ice, reflecting the pale light of the moon.
Halstein stood near the treeline, his usual composed demeanor slightly shaken. His eyes flicked toward them as they approached.
SteelArm ran a gloved hand along a frozen branch, ice crackling beneath his fingers. "What the hell is this?" His voice was steady, but there was an edge to it.
Halstein exhaled, his breath visible in the unnatural cold. "That's what I called you here to figure out." He gestured deeper into the forest. "This wasn't here the last time I saw this forest. Everything just… froze."
SteelArm glanced at Halstein. "Any signs of life? Animals? People?"
Halstein shook his head. "Not a damn thing. No birds, no footprints, nothing." He hesitated before adding, "But there is something."
Halstein took the lead, stepping cautiously across the ice, his boots barely making a sound against the frozen terrain. His eyes scanned the area until they landed on something partially buried in the frost beneath a tree. Reaching down, he carefully lifted a katana, its sheath covered in a thin layer of frost.
Dante and SteelArm followed him, their eyes narrowing as they recognized the weapon. Dante stepped closer, inspecting the sheath before his brows furrowed in realization.
"Wait… isn't this Aria's sheath?" he asked, glancing at SteelArm before gripping the hilt and slowly unsheathing the blade. The katana gleamed under the pale light, but what caught his attention was the imprint at its base—a carved letter V.
SteelArm's expression darkened. "Yeah… That's definitely her katana. But why the hell is it here?" His gaze flicked upward, scanning the eerily frozen forest as if expecting an answer to materialize from the shadows.
Halstein exhaled, gripping the sheath tightly. "There's a possibility something happened—a mana surge or even a breakout—when she went missing the other day." His voice was thoughtful, but uncertain. "But… I've never heard of a mana breakout occurring outside of a dungeon. It doesn't make sense."
SteelArm crossed his arms. "If Aria was here, and this was her doing, why would she just leave her sword behind?"
Halstein remained silent for a moment before turning toward one of the ice-covered trees. Curiosity flickered in his eyes as he placed his palm against the frozen bark, channeling a slow, steady stream of mana into it.
The moment his mana touched the ice, a sharp, jagged bolt of blue energy lashed out from the ice, severing the flow of mana and sending Halstein stumbling back as pain shot through his arm. Frost instantly formed around his fingers, creeping up toward his wrist like living veins of ice. Halstein hissed in pain, shaking his hand off before muttering a quick incantation. A soft glow pulsed from his palm, restoring his hand to normal. He flexed his fingers experimentally before looking back at the others.
"…I've never seen that before," he admitted, his voice edged with unease.
Dante's frown deepened as he stared at the lingering frost. "I've heard of mana acting with a will of its own, rejecting foreign streams… but this?" His gaze shifted to the jagged remnants of the blue energy still crackling faintly against the ice. "That wasn't just rejection. It was hostile—as if something was actively defending the ice."
SteelArm's gaze flickered between Halstein's hand and the frozen wasteland. "So now the question is—was this place created by Aria… or is she just another victim of whatever the hell this is?"
Halstein exhaled, his breath visible in the frigid air as he scanned their surroundings. "Dante, you got any extra layers in the truck? Anything to help against this cold?"
Dante nodded, already moving. "Yeah, I've got five hoodies in the back. Different sizes." He carefully made his way to the truck, lifting the backseat to retrieve them. Grabbing three, he tossed one to SteelArm before handing another to Halstein. "This should work for now."
They slipped into the extra layers before pressing forward through the frozen wasteland, their footsteps crunching against the brittle ice.
SteelArm sighed after a few minutes of walking, weighing their options. "So, what's the plan? Do we keep searching? Head back to the guild and regroup? Organize a search team? Or do you two have another idea?"
Before they could respond, a sudden pressure filled the air—a presence.
Through the frozen trees, a massive figure loomed in the distance, its frozen gaze locked onto them. It didn't hesitate. The creature's maw opened wide, and from its depths erupted a violent wave of ice, surging toward them like an unstoppable force.
"Move!" Halstein barked.
The three of them bolted, weaving between the trees as the freezing blast consumed everything in its path, turning the landscape into an even deeper frozen wasteland.
Each step the massive figure took sent tremors through the frozen ground, ice cracking beneath its weight. The air grew colder with every movement, their breath turning to mist as the oppressive chill seeped into their bones.
Dante, pressed against the bark of a frozen tree, dared a glance from behind cover. His eyes widened. "That... looks like a damn dragon straight out of a fairy tale."
The creature's towering form was covered in jagged ice, its wings folded close to its body like sheets of frozen armor. Its long, reptilian eyes shimmered with an unnatural blue glow, piercing through the frozen wasteland with a deadly intelligence.
The moment Dante spoke, the dragon's gaze snapped toward him. He barely had time to curse. "It sensed my mana—!"
The dragon's maw opened wide, a deep, guttural sound reverberating through the air before another devastating breath of ice erupted forth. The frozen breath tore through the landscape, aiming directly for Dante's hiding spot.
Dante lunged away as the blast struck the tree, freezing it solid before shattering it into thousands of icy shards. Splinters of frozen wood rained down as Dante hit the ground and rolled, barely avoiding the frost creeping toward his feet.
"Why the hell is a dragon here—outside of a damn dungeon?!" Dante shouted, his voice edged with frustration and disbelief.
The moment the words left his mouth, the dragon's breath surged toward him again, a torrent of freezing wind laced with crystalline shards. Dante barely managed to hurl himself behind another tree as the icy blast struck his previous cover, reducing it to nothing more than shattered frost cascading to the frozen ground.
Before anyone could form a plan, the dragon suddenly unfurled its massive wings, sending a gust of freezing wind in all directions as it launched itself into the sky. Its presence loomed above them like a living storm, its body pulsing with condensed mana. The air crackled with energy as countless ice-forged swords materialized around the beast, glistening with a deadly sheen.
Then, without hesitation, the dragon unleashed them.
The blades tore through the forest like a storm of frozen death, slashing through tree trunks with terrifying force. Ice splintered, bark exploded, and the very landscape was carved apart as the swords rained down in a relentless barrage.
"Move!" Halstein roared, already diving for cover behind another tree as a blade sliced clean through a frozen tree where he had just been hiding behind.
Dante and SteelArm barely managed to dodge as the relentless assault turned the forest into a graveyard of splintered ice and shattered wood.
"This thing isn't just a dragon," SteelArm growled, gritting his teeth as he dodged another ice blade. "It fights like a damn war machine out of a game!"
Dante's fists tightened, his breath turning to mist in the freezing air. The sheer presence of the dragon sent shivers down his spine, not just from the cold but from the raw, overwhelming power radiating from the beast. "What the fuck do we even do here?! I've never fought a damn dragon before!"
Halstein's voice rang out, urgent and unwavering as he sprinted behind another tree. "We run! Get back to the truck, warn the guild! We need a bigger party if we're gonna take down a goddamn ice dragon!"
Before anyone could respond, a massive lance of frozen mana erupted from the ground beneath Halstein's feet, shooting skyward like a spear. It speared straight through the tree he was using as cover, splitting it in half with a deafening crack.
Halstein barely had time to react before another blast of the dragon's freezing breath surged toward him. With no other option, he hurled himself sideways, rolling into the snow just as the breath attack consumed his previous position. The ground where he had just stood was encased in jagged frost, a chilling reminder of how close he had come to being flash-frozen.
As if sensing its missed opportunity, the ice lance that had erupted moments ago suddenly lost its form, melting back into the frozen ground as though it had never existed.
Dante cursed under his breath, eyes darting between the airborne dragon and his scattered allies. "If we're running, we better move fast—before that thing decides we're not worth playing with anymore!"
The three of them sprinted through the frozen landscape, weaving between trees to avoid the onslaught of the dragon's icy breath, which shattered the trunks like glass. Each explosion of frost sent shards flying, forcing them to duck and dodge as they made their frantic escape.
Finally reaching the truck, Dante leaped inside and immediately cranked the ignition. The engine roared to life just as SteelArm and Halstein flung themselves into the backseat, slamming the doors shut behind them. "Go! Go! Go!" Halstein shouted, heart racing.
Dante hit the gas, the tires spinning for a moment on the icy ground before finding traction. They barreled down the path, the trees blurring past them as they escaped the dragon's relentless assault.
But just as they felt a wave of relief wash over them, the dragon pivoted on its massive haunches, its eyes locking onto the trio. In a surprising turn, it chose to ignore their escape, its focus shifting to the heart of the frozen forest, as if tethered to something unseen.
"What the hell is it doing?" Kieran breathed, glancing back through the rear window, his heart pounding.
"I don't know," Dante replied, glancing at Halstein. "Do you think it's guarding something?"
Halstein nodded, his brow furrowed in thought. "It could be. We can't just leave it like this. We need to find out what it's protecting and kill it."
"Are you crazy?" SteelArm shot back. "We only lived because of the damn trees, the center of the damn forest probably doesn't have any trees or anything for cover! There's no way we can win against that bastard!"
Halstein, his expression resolute. "Let's head back to the guild, gather a team, and find out what we're dealing with before anything."
As they drove away, the dragon's silhouette faded into the mist of the forest.