The heroes had just finished crushing the first wave of demons, and the joy of victory prevailed for a few moments. But what they did not know was that the Ice Lord was fighting an Ancient Covenant monster in the depths. They only realized this when the entire icy island began to move violently, and earthquakes struck the ground from the sheer force of the monster's movements beneath them.
Amidst this earth-shattering shock, they were hit by another, more terrifying blow; black portals opened, and a new wave of demons emerged from them. But this time, the aura emanating from them was completely different—a heavy, suffocating aura that could not be compared to the weakness of the slain demons.
The heroes of the Ice Eagles Squad immediately took their combat stances. Each of them was covering a specific area, and in each area, a hundred elite demons descended.
The Fall of Blood (Julian)
In Julian's area, the demons stood in their places without moving, staring at him in deadly silence. This was strange.
Julian said confidently as he raised his sword, "So you are not moving? Well, you have made the situation easier for me. Blood Power: Absolute Absorption!"
A massive pool of blood appeared beneath the demons' feet like a swamp, trying to absorb and swallow them. Then, without any warning, one of the demons dashed forward at a speed beyond sight, appearing directly in front of Julian's face! His claw almost severed Julian's head, had the latter not raised his blood sword at the last second to block the strike.
But the force of the blow was terrifying; Julian was launched into the air like a ragdoll, crashing through two walls of the village houses before falling amidst the rubble.
The demon smiled and approached slowly. "You managed to block it? Amazing, human."
Julian tried to stand up, coughing blood, but the demon lunged again. Before Julian could even blink, he found the demon's hand clamped over his head, grinding him through the walls of the houses, one house after another! Not stopping there, he grabbed his head and viciously slammed it into the rocky ground over and over again until Julian bled from everywhere on his face. Then the demon lifted him, threw him into the air, and delivered a brutal kick that sent him crashing down.
Julian remained lying in a crater of blood, unable to move, darkness creeping into his eyes.
The Extinguishing of Light (Volak)
After thinking he had secured his area, Volak suddenly found a black dagger plunged into the ice next to one of the corpses. When he looked up, he saw a demon walking toward him calmly.
Volak readied himself immediately and said, "Light Power: Light Speed!"
Without another word, Volak dashed forward. In his eyes, time seemed to have completely stopped. He reached the demon, who was standing motionless, gracefully swung his sword, and severed its neck.
After cutting it and passing by, Volak thought he had killed it. But... he instinctively felt a lethal attack coming from behind, from the very demon he had just decapitated! Volak blocked the strike with extreme difficulty and stumbled backward in shock.
"What is going on here? Didn't I just cut his neck? How?"
The demon spoke, its head seamlessly reattaching to its body with a malicious smile, "Can't you increase your speed? You move like a turtle. Besides, I will not die by a weak power like yours. But... you have good reflexes."
As the demon spoke, dozens of other demons appeared behind him. Volak panicked, not for himself, but for the innocent villagers; these demons possessed the same terrifying regenerative aura as the one in front of him.
Volak told himself in despair, "What do I do? I have to eliminate this demon quickly to fight the rest and protect the people! Alright, I will end this with one strike!"
The demon heard him and laughed. "Did you say quickly? You make me laugh."
Volak shouted, "Light Power: A Thousand Spears!"
The air glowed, and a thousand spears made of brilliant light materialized, launching like rain toward the demons. The attack was so concentrated that a single demon was impaled by ten spears of light. Yet... they kept walking toward him as if they had merely been scratched!
Volak lost his focus for a single second out of sheer shock. And in that moment... he found the demon standing in front of him, placing its hand on Volak's chest.
The demon fired a concentrated blast of black energy... completely obliterating Volak's heart!
Amidst the shock and horror of the observing villagers, Volak fell onto the icy ground, closed his eyes, and sank into the silence of death.
The Fall of the Wind (Iris)
Iris was preparing to return to support the others, but when she sensed the presence of more demons, she drew her bow made of wind.
She fired an arrow into the sky, which split into hundreds of sharp aerial arrows that rained down on the demons. The demons stepped back, dodging the arrows, then formed a wide circle, surrounding her from all sides, and began a synchronized attack.
Iris defended herself with all her might. She formed a circular barrier of fierce winds on the outside, and kept shooting arrows from the inside. But the arrows only slowed them down. It didn't take long for the demons to shatter the wind shield.
She then dropped the bow, grabbed two daggers, and began blocking and striking fiercely. Her exhaustion was obvious, her breaths ragged, but she kept fighting until she managed to cut off one of their heads.
As she stepped back to defend, the demon she thought she had decapitated regenerated in a second, and with a lightning-fast motion... severed her right hand from the wrist!
The demon laughed, "Do you think a desperate power like this will eliminate us, you fool?"
Iris did not scream despite the agonizing pain. She backed away, holding her remaining dagger in her left hand, blood pouring from her severed stump. She realized it was the end.
She screamed at the villagers behind her, "Run! Flee!"
But... it was too late. Before she could finish her scream, a demon's claw pierced her neck from behind, while another demon sliced off her left hand!
The demon said coldly, a sadistic smile crossing his face as Iris fell to her knees, "Now... be quiet, and let us enjoy the hunt. For the hunt loves silence."
The Ashes of Flames (Harold)
As for Harold, the fight was blazing and destructive. He knew by instinct that he couldn't kill them easily, so he relied on brute force. He grabbed them and hurled them against walls or houses, bashing them with anything heavy, hoping to weaken them.
But it didn't last; he found his energy waning and draining, while they kept rising from the rubble completely unaffected!
In a desperate move, Harold ignited flames across his entire body, so much so that the tongues of fire rose to embrace the sky. Amidst the calm before the storm, he shaped the flames into a furious, giant dragon, lunging at them until the area was covered in thick smoke and scorching heat.
Through the smoke, Harold caught sight of some demons moving toward him slowly and indifferently.
Harold clenched his fist and dashed forward, trying to punch a demon. As he swung, another demon redirected Harold's sword toward the ground and pinned it under its foot! At the exact same moment, a second demon grabbed Harold's head and forced it to the ground, while a third took his sword.
The demon said, looking down at the pinned Harold, "It was a fun fight, boy... but it is the end."
The demon placed the blade of the sword over Harold's heart, and in a horrifying display, used dark magic to manipulate Harold's own fire power, forcing it to reverse inward into his body... burning all his internal organs from the inside out while he was still alive!
The Awakening of the Little Hero
Total destruction. Panic everywhere. Heart-rending fear as demons broke into houses, destroying them and slaughtering those inside without mercy. The village soldiers tried to defend, but to no avail.
Amidst all this hell, the little girl Rose, who was barely nine years old, was hiding in a dark corner, trembling with terror.
From outside, she heard the screams of her father, Chief Zephyr, as he fought: "Rose! If you can hear me, stay hidden! Do you hear me? We will handle this no matter what! Do not come out!"
With her father's words, Rose remembered the Ice Lord's words when he broke her arm with an illusion, saying that heroes face situations that exact a heavy price, an unbearable pain. Two things clashed in her heart: the instinct to protect herself, and her desire to protect her people. Which would win?
Rose whispered to herself through her tears, "What am I doing? Have I truly become this much of a coward? Do I say I want to be a hero, and it's all nonsense? Here I am, hiding like a coward! This is something I will not accept. My father and brother are fighting right now, and the people need me! There are wounded, and maybe the heroes are severely injured. I need to help everyone. I know what I must do."
The little girl crept stealthily amidst the screams of the people and the demons' attacks, miraculously dodging death until she reached a secret cellar where large quantities of mana and power stones were stored. She locked the door behind her with difficulty. This vault had a magical barrier that prevented mana auras from leaking out, lest it attract monsters, which served as a helpful factor in hiding her from the demons.
Rose stood before a mountain of power stones, and placed her trembling little hand on one of the large stones to draw extra energy. When she did, the stone responded, and a massive surge of energy rushed into her veins! But... her small heart couldn't handle all this power at once; she screamed in pain and pulled her hand away immediately.
She sat on the floor, panting, and remembered again when Hyuga cast the illusion of breaking her arm, and how he said that it was merely a mild pain that a hero goes through daily.
She hardened her resolve, wiped her tears, and placed her hands back on the stones. She tried once... she screamed in pain. Twice... she cried blood. Three times... four times... until her torn body adapted to withstand the shock.
Her power began to increase terrifyingly, and the glow of the necklace she inherited from her mother intensified until it illuminated the entire vault. The aura of power shot up like a pillar of light, piercing the ceiling of the vault into the sky.
Her body became saturated with enough energy to form a spell capable of healing everyone in the tribe and even the neighboring villages from fatal injuries. Rose began to channel that vast power... but, the power was healing the people far too slowly, while the numbers of the dead and wounded outside were increasing every second.
Rose realized there was no time. She decided to risk everything.
She maximized her rate of absorbing and expelling magical power to the absolute limit. As a result of this horrifyingly massive amount of energy coursing through a child's body, all her internal organs began to ache as if they were burning, and her heart beat so fast it threatened to tear her chest apart.
Rose endured. She increased the speed, but the healing was still not enough.
So she increased it... and increased it! Placing a heavier burden on her small body. Her bones slowly began to be crushed from the inside by the magical pressure. Her breathing became slow and ragged. Her skin started to tear, bleeding from the fissures.
The child was burning from the inside to grant life to those on the outside.
Rebellion of the Death Instinct
In the midst of all this despair, and in a completely different dimension... in the barren World of the Dead, ruled by the Lord of Death.
From the peak of the "Mountain of Souls," the rocks split open, and a strange, rebellious spirit emerged, burning with a terrifying combat aura!
The spirit flew up, trying to escape the dimension, but its path was blocked by a massive knight, the Vice-Commander of the Army of the Dead.
The Vice-Commander said with icy strictness, "Stop right there. We have no business with the world of the living. We are dead; our hearts are not moved by emotions after we die. Do you hear me?"
The rebellious spirit replied with a voice carrying invincible pride, "Perhaps that applies to you. But I... I have moved by my instinct all my life, and my instinct to protect those I love... never dies! So, either step out of my way, or I will force you out of it!"
The Vice-Commander almost drew his sword, but an ancient, majestic voice echoed throughout the Underworld.
The Lord of Death said, sitting on his throne with his eyes closed, "Let him go."
The Vice-Commander looked on in shock, then slowly stepped back, allowing that great spirit to pierce the barrier of death, returning to the world of the living.
And in that critical moment in the Spear Village... the effect of Rose's great healing power began to wash over the battlefield, illuminating the darkness of despair.