Two days passed in a blur. Castorice remained holed up at home, engrossed in writing her novel, while the snow outside continued to pile up. That morning, when she opened the front door on the ground floor, she discovered that the snowdrifts had already exceeded the door's height, creating a towering white "snow wall" that blocked her view.
Curious, Castorice asked Aisha how the Death Priests managed to move around in such conditions.
"Why not just avoid the main roads?" Aisha replied.
Instead of ground routes, the Death Priests traveled between buildings by leaping across rooftops from the second floor. This method, however, wasn't without its risks. The roofs themselves were buried under snow, making them difficult to distinguish. One misstep could send a person plummeting into the abyss, disappearing without a trace.
Fortunately, all the Death Priests had lived in this area for a decade, their knowledge of the terrain etched into their bones. When visibility was poor, they could toss objects ahead to test the snow's stability. As long as they remained cautious, navigating the snow-covered landscape remained manageable.
As Castorice pondered, she silently closed the door. Aisha stood beside her, continuing to report on her findings from the past two days.
"I've nearly pinpointed the activity range of the blue mist," Aisha said, "and I estimate that I'll soon be able to determine its central location."
"Secondly," she continued, "a brand-new faction called the Blazing Fire Gang has emerged in Chaos City. They've established their headquarters in the central plaza—the open square at the heart of the city."
No one knew how they had managed it, but the gang had encircled the plaza with a ring of perpetually burning flames. Inside this fiery perimeter, the snow had vanished, and the temperature remained moderate. It appeared that nearly all surviving residents of Chaos City, excluding the Death Priests and Barbarians, had joined this new group.
The emergence of this faction wasn't surprising. After all, the people of Chaos City weren't fools. With such a grave crisis unfolding, banding together for survival was the only logical course of action—otherwise, they would surely perish.
The problem was the ring of perpetual fire that puzzled Aisha. "This is undoubtedly magic," she thought, "but if there's such a powerful wizard in Chaos City, why is he only appearing now? With his strength, becoming the fourth local tyrant shouldn't have been difficult at all."
However, the emergence of this new force had little impact on the Death Priests. Time continued to pass, and two more days went by. Finally, Aisha successfully pinpointed the central point where the blue mist swirled.
Castorice stood at the second-floor window, gazing at the snow-white world before her. The good news was that the snowfall had diminished over the past two days, and the accumulated snow hadn't continued to rise.
The bad news was that Castorice, unfamiliar with the city after only a few days of living there, couldn't navigate the rooftops like the other Death Priests. Now, the question of how to reach the "place" Aisha had pinpointed loomed large.
I can't just summon Pollux's true form and have her carry me there, can I? Wouldn't that be too much trouble for her, just for a quick trip?
Just then, Aisha rubbed her hands together and said, "Holy Maiden, if you don't mind, I could carry you instead..."
Castorice instantly refused. "No need. I'll have Pollux take me."
Castorice opened the window, braced her left hand against the sill, and summoned her Scythe. With a gentle sweep through the air, a rift appeared. Pollux clawed it open, spreading her wings as she fully materialized in the Prime Material Plane for the first time.
It was almost absurd. None of their previous battles had forced Castorice to fully summon Pollux, yet this blizzard had.
Thump!
The moment Pollux landed, Castorice felt the entire building beneath her feet tremble. The massive snowdrift, thick enough to bury her completely, barely reached Pollux's claws.
With a light leap, Castorice hopped onto Pollux's back.
-
Meanwhile, the perspective shifts to the barbarian Nathaniel and his group. The sudden blizzard had naturally brought them immense trouble.
The barbarians lacked warm clothing and food. Moreover, given their limited intellect, they couldn't possibly remember the routes, making rooftop travel like the Death Priests' impossible.
Left with no other choice, they resorted to brute force, clearing the snow around their base camp by digging. When they needed to reach a destination, they simply tunneled through the drifts, carving new paths where none existed.
On the main street, several shirtless barbarians could be seen using their shields as shovels to clear the snow. Their physical resilience was truly astonishing. In such extreme cold, anyone else would have long succumbed to hypothermia, yet these barbarians worked for hours without even breaking a sweat.
Nathaniel was among them, roaring with laughter. "Hahaha! This temperature brings back memories! It's just like the winters I endured in the Northern Territory ten years ago. Feels like coming home!"
Nathaniel continued, "Brothers, push harder! We're almost done digging our way out of Chaos City. Once we reach the merchants outside the city walls, we can resupply!"
"But stay vigilant! Don't let those monsters hiding in the snow catch us off guard!"
The "monsters hiding in the snow" Nathaniel was referring to were Crystal Men. Completely buried beneath the heavy snowfall, no one could tell if a seemingly undisturbed snowdrift concealed one of these creatures.
Every few moments, a Crystal Man might burst from the snow in a surprise attack, making defense nearly impossible. However, after days of fighting these monsters, Nathaniel had discovered their weakness: the twin white flames burning in their eye sockets.
Shattering these flames would instantly kill the Crystal Man. The simplest method was to simultaneously pierce both eye sockets with two slender weapons. While this was difficult for the Barbarians, who were only skilled with large weapons, they now had a viable way to eliminate the threat.
As the Barbarians cautiously dug through the snow, ever vigilant for a Crystal Man ambush, Nathaniel bent down to shovel a large patch. The next moment, when he straightened up to toss the snow aside, he saw a massive, purple dragon strolling leisurely down the street ahead.
Nathaniel: "???"
Is... is this even real?
Rubbing his eyes, Nathaniel thought he might be hallucinating. But when he opened them again, the dragon was still there, sauntering along as if it owned the place.
Wait, is this still Chaos City? Did we dig in the wrong direction and end up somewhere bizarre?
The Crystal Men Nathaniel had just warned everyone about were utterly insignificant to Pollux. Trying to ambush her from the snow? They could claw at her for hours without her even noticing.
What's this? My toes are a little itchy?
Crunch!
Of course, the Crystal Men were too tough for Pollux to crush with a single stomp. But her foot drove them deep into the ground, trapping them there for the foreseeable future.
Pollux was walking instead of flying because the entire city was buried under deep snow. If she took to the skies, Aisha wouldn't be able to guide her. Fortunately, their destination wasn't far, and they could reach it with a short walk.
Boom!
Another tremendous crash echoed from beneath Pollux's feet, as if she had accidentally stepped on a house and crushed it, sending a massive spray of snow into the air.
"This... is that really a dragon?!" Nathaniel stared in disbelief. He had seen a White Dragon once in the Northern Territory, but its size paled in comparison to the Purple Dragon before him.
From any angle, the dragon exuded overwhelming power and majestic authority. Yet, for Castorice, the experience was entirely different. Kneeling on Pollux's back, she gently stroked the dragon's warm scales, feeling utterly comfortable as if the biting cold outside were completely shut out.
Castorice had never perceived Pollux as imposing or awe-inspiring. To her, Pollux had always been "adorable," whether in her Round Sparrow form or her true dragon self.
After a moment's hesitation, Nathaniel turned to his companions and announced, "Change of plans! We're abandoning the supply search. We're following her!"
"Yes, sir!"
The others obeyed Nathaniel's command without question, their eyes fixed on Pollux, burning with awe and excitement.
Following the strong and pursuing power was ingrained in the Barbarian nature. They were naturally curious about the sudden appearance of this massive dragon in their city and what she intended to do.
Pollux continued her journey, Aisha perched on her back, observing the surroundings. "Turn left at the next intersection, then right."
Boom!
Instead of turning, Pollux veered diagonally, casually crushing several buildings underfoot.
"Well... that works too," Aisha said after a pause. "Wait a minute, I remember there used to be a cylindrical landmark here..."
Pollux paused briefly, lowered her head as if grasping something beneath her feet, and then raised her claw, revealing the shattered remains of a half-cylindrical structure.
Aisha fell silent for a moment before continuing, "If the landmark's right under our feet, then we should turn right now..."
Castorice charged straight ahead, adhering to the principle that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This proved grueling for the Barbarians trailing behind, who struggled to navigate the ruins Pollux had crushed.
Castorice was aware of the group but paid them no mind. After about five or six minutes, thanks to Pollux's remarkably efficient travel, they reached a seemingly featureless expanse of snow. "This is it!" Aisha declared.
"After four days and nights of continuous observation, I've discovered a patch of blue mist that wanders randomly but always passes through this area. Even when it drifts the farthest, it never ventures more than five kilometers away. Any further, and it's as if an invisible force yanks it back immediately."
Hearing this, Castorice gently stroked Pollux's back and softly whispered her name.
No further explanation was needed. Pollux understood instinctively. She spread her massive wings and unleashed a thunderous flap!
BOOM!!!
The violent air displacement created a sonic boom. A raging gale swept through the area, blasting away vast swathes of snow and even forming a miniature blizzard-tornado that hurtled into the distance.
And this was just from Pollux flapping her wings once. The snow was too thick to be cleared in a single sweep, so she spread her wings and flapped again.
This time, Castorice even saw a large number of blue Crystal Men being swept away by the hurricane-force winds. Then, the area's original buildings were torn apart, reduced to fragments that soared into the sky.
Still not completely satisfied, Pollux flapped her wings a third time. When Castorice peeked out from behind Pollux's back, she saw that not only was the snow gone, but the entire area had been transformed into a barren wasteland—utterly empty and desolate.
Aisha was stunned by the sight. She had been wondering how they could possibly investigate the source of the blue mist with so much snow covering the ground.
So, this was how they would solve it?!
Aisha turned to Castorice with awe. "Holy Maiden, you're amazing! And Pollux is amazing too!"
Castorice tilted her head slightly, a question mark seeming to materialize above it. Pollux did this. Why are you praising me?
With the heavy snow cleared away by Pollux's winds, Castorice immediately noticed something strange: a blue Crystal Man standing motionless in the empty clearing, utterly out of place.
Under normal circumstances, this might not have seemed unusual. But Pollux's raging winds had swept away all the other Crystal Men in the area, leaving only this one standing still. That was highly suspicious.
Moreover, unlike the others, the flames burning in its eye sockets were red instead of white. In its hand, it held a blue crystal bow and arrow.
Since Pollux had cleared away all the surrounding snow, Castorice hopped off her back.
Thud!
The crisp sound of her high heels striking the ground echoed through the air. Castorice bent her knees slightly to absorb the momentum from her jump.
When she had first transmigrated, she would never have dared to jump like this—not because she was afraid of the height, but because she would inevitably twist her ankle upon landing. Now, however, Castorice could proudly declare that wearing high heels posed no hindrance to her running, jumping, or even combat.
Summoning her scythe, she slowly approached the peculiar Crystal Man.