Amid the white shroud of mist, the shrieks of the Frost Wings echoed like a terrifying symphony. Kyle gripped his sword tightly, his breaths sharp and uneven. One of the hunters lunged at him. Kyle swung his blade with full Strength (STR), but the creature twisted midair like a gymnast. Blinded by the fog and hindered by his low Agility (AGI), his strike cut through nothing but air.
Before he could recover, two Frost Wings emerged from the darkness behind him. Their wings gleamed like icy saw blades. A vicious slash tore through the silence. Kyle felt as if burning coal had been pressed against his back. Razor-sharp claws ripped through his armor and flesh alike.
"AAAHH!" His scream shattered the stillness.
Blood burst from his back, staining the snow crimson. The pain was unbearable—his sword slipped from his grasp as his body collapsed to his knees. His vision blurred. Through fading sight, he saw dozens of Frost Wings circling above, waiting patiently for their prey to die.
"Kyle!" Arin's voice sounded distant.
His head struck the snow. Darkness crept into his vision. The ring of Draken pulsed wildly, urging him to rise—but his body refused. He was on the brink of death.
When Arin saw him fall, fear and resolve flashed in her eyes. If they did nothing now, Draken's power would fall into the hunters' claws. She slung her magical bow behind her and shouted, "Grommash! Quickly—grab my hand! And touch Kyle!"
Without hesitation, Grommash drove his axe into the snow, gripping Arin's wrist with one hand and placing the other on Kyle's shoulder. Arin closed her eyes and summoned an ancient incantation—one used by the guardians of Chronos only in their final moments.
As the spell left her lips, a tremor rippled through Whispering Pass. Kyle, hovering on the edge of consciousness, felt pressure building in his ears.
Then—silence.
Snowflakes froze midair. The mist solidified like stone. A Frost Wing poised to tear Kyle's throat apart hung motionless like a lifeless statue.
A thin stream of blood trickled from Arin's eyes. Her voice trembled. "Grommash… you have 30 seconds. Everything within two kilometers is frozen—except you. Go."
The instant Grommash released Kyle, his body surged with explosive energy. He pulled his massive axe, Blood-Fang, free from the snow. A red gleam ignited in his eyes—the true face of a Level 25 Orc warrior.
"Thirty seconds… that's too little," he growled.
In the next heartbeat, he became a blur. He moved so swiftly that even the snow beneath him remained undisturbed. Through blurred vision, Kyle saw only fragments—wherever Grommash's shadow passed, frozen Frost Wings shattered into pieces.
His Agility was monstrous. Even within halted time, he struck like lightning. One leap—three heads severed at once. Bones broke in silence, unheard in the frozen world.
Ten seconds… ten corpses.
Twenty seconds… over thirty slain.
Kyle realized he had mistaken Grommash for a mere brute. In truth, he was death incarnate. Against Level 7 creatures, a Level 25 warrior was divine wrath.
At the twenty-eighth second, Grommash returned to them, flicking blood from his axe. Arin's body trembled—her mana nearly exhausted.
"Time… resume," she whispered before collapsing.
At the thirtieth second, the valley erupted with a thunderous impact. The frozen hunters crashed to the ground simultaneously—shattered flesh and blood raining upon the snow. In a single instant, the white landscape turned red. Thirty hunters, erased within twenty seconds.
Kyle weakly turned his head. Bodies lay scattered everywhere. Grommash stood there, breathing heavily, satisfaction etched across his warrior's face.
"Human… if you wish to survive, don't just increase your strength. Sharpen your eyes," he said without looking at him.
Kyle's head sank back into the snow. The pain remained—but so did a new fire within him. He no longer wanted to be weak. Because today, his weakness had nearly cost his friends their lives.
Through the mist, atop a distant rock, he glimpsed a figure watching them—unafraid, unmoving.
As darkness finally claimed him, one thought echoed in his mind:
Is that figure here to end us… or merely another traveler?
Author Note:–
"Friends, Arin and Grommash have defeated death itself! But Arin is drained, and Kyle is barely alive. What role will the mysterious stranger now play? A new ally—or the final enemy? Keep reading, because the story has reached a turning point from which there is no return!"