Heed the call of the north wind...
Wake from the abyss of bitter cold, forged into being amid frost and snow...
I am the incarnation of winter, the warrior of the frozen wastes, the wielder of frost's authority, and wherever I tread becomes permafrost dominion.
As the Leons' impassioned chanting rang out across the sky, the magic circles unfurling from all ten clones at once produced a strange resonance. They were no longer flat figures clinging to the ground. They overlapped and combined, constructing a colossal multi-layered three-dimensional magic circle more than twenty meters across!
This was the secret art Leon had created by integrating his magical skill with the knowledge carried by his ice clones...
Transcendent Magic Circle!
The moment this magic circle appeared in midair, the expressions of the Mages led by Riveria froze completely.
Their eyes went wide in disbelief, and they cried out:
"The circles... are linking?"
"And it's... a multi-layered three-dimensional magic circle?! How is this possible!"
But the shock had only just begun...
Before the echo of Leon One's chant had faded, Leon Two seamlessly picked up the thread, his solemn words continuing to ring out above the battlefield:
Now, in winter's name I command...
Let the howling cold wind rend the heavens, let the blades of ice crystals sweep across the earth,
Let the lifeblood of all things congeal into frost, let boiling vitality return to silent death.
Winter is coming, and this is an ending none can defy.
I am the frost sovereign returned from the wastes, and by the kingly authority of eternal cold, I grant this world... everlasting permafrost!
The multi-layered three-dimensional magic circle wreathed Leon's body, rising and falling in rhythm like breath, its ice-blue patterns flickering in the air.
He slowly raised his head and drew a deep breath.
Then he flung his arms wide toward the sky and proclaimed in a resounding voice:
"Descend upon this place...!"
"...Blizzard!!!"
Magical radiance swallowed his pupils, and the enormous magic circle first contracted sharply, then... expanded thunderously to its limit!
Ice-white light of magic surged skyward like a flood bursting its dam!
A long, howling wail tore through the air, and the freezing wind roared. Winter had arrived!
As though answering his call, the biting cold wind descended with a sky full of ice crystals.
The sudden transformation made both camps locked in furious combat across the plaza stop at once, their eyes turning in horror toward the center where the magic had been cast.
Never mind a legendary technique like deploying a Transcendent Magic Circle through ice clones. The mere fact that someone was unleashing wide-area annihilation magic inside the city was enough to shock everyone present!
...
The sky was devoured by leaden gray cloud cover, and the bone-cutting wind raked across the battlefield like countless blades of ice.
At first there were only a few snowflakes.
The entire battlefield was swallowed by the blizzard!
Winter had come, and as far as the eye could see, all things were sealed in ice, turned to silent, frozen wasteland!
The crack and snap of freezing rang out one after another.
"Holy shit! What's going on!"
"Huh?"
"Don't you feel it suddenly getting cold?"
"Wh-what is this?"
"Why's the snow getting so heavy all of a sudden?"
"So cold! I can't feel my face!"
"It's magic! Someone mixed magic into the snow!"
"Is it that ridiculously over-the-top giant magic circle from before?"
"D-don't tell me it's wide-area annihilation magic?"
"What?"
"Hey, hey, hey, quit joking around, brother! We're still fighting here!"
"In a mess like this, with allies and enemies still fighting, who casts wide-area annihilation magic? Are they trying to wipe out everyone at once?"
"My weapon's frozen solid!"
"Careful! Don't touch the blade!"
"Help! I-I can't move!"
The blizzard gave no one time to react. In less than a dozen seconds, the snow and winter wind slowed one figure after another, locked them in place, and encased them as ice sculptures before their horrified eyes.
Finn and Valletta Grede pulled apart in tacit agreement, both of them gazing toward the figure wrapped in the Transcendent Magic Circle out ahead of the gods.
"Hehehe, never figured you had this in you, Finn. You really are a cold, heartless bastard!"
"To wipe us all out, you won't even spare your own people!"
"What a ruthless heart you've got!"
"But I like it! Heheh!"
"Cutting loose indiscriminate wide-area annihilation magic in Orario... not bad. You ruthless little Pallum, you're crazier than me, and I'm Evilus, hahahaha!"
After a fit of laughter, Valletta raised her hand and pointed at Finn:
"Dear Lord Braver, on the strength of this one move, I, Valletta, acknowledge you!"
Finn stared at her in silence. Could he even say that this hadn't been his order?
But watching Valletta carry on as if she were certain he'd given the order, Finn knew he probably wasn't going to shake the blame.
Leon Hart!!!
He gritted his teeth, shattered the layer of ice on his body, and with red eyes lunged at Valletta once again!
After the war of words, the battle between the two commanders reignited.
But Leon's magic was still pouring out...
Expanding, expanding, expanding still more!
Centered on Babel, the blizzard's coverage grew wider and wider. The civilians already screaming and fleeing, the adventurers and factions locked in fierce combat, the military police rushing to the rescue, everyone who saw this scene sprinted outward in terror.
In this moment, the formula of "you only have to run faster than your teammate to survive" failed completely.
Only those who could outrun the blizzard's rate of expansion had any chance of escaping with their lives.
The howling wind wailed on without end. The shrill sound of freezing carried without pause as the blizzard devoured the entire plaza, staining everyone's vision a blurry ice-white. Cobblestones, buildings, weapons, flesh and blood, everything was consumed, friend or foe, regardless of allegiance or strength. Even the Lv.3 and Lv.4 Second-Class Adventurers locked in fierce battle were slowly frozen solid under winter's absolute power, unable to move.
...
"Achoo!"
Freya, Loki, Astraea, Artemis, and the other gods shivered in the cold wind. Even the ever-elegant Goddess of Beauty was no exception, all of them hunched in on themselves, cheeks flushed red with cold, teeth chattering.
And yet even so, nothing could stop the burning gazes they fixed on Leon.
A sharp intake of breath passed among them.
[Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]