The Ice Lord stood in the middle of the battlefield, his cold eyes scanning the area with a chill that hid a massive shock. The air was saturated with the smell of rusty blood and heavy demonic energy that choked the breath. Around him, the comrades of yesterday and the villagers writhed in deformed bodies; some had completely transformed into mindless demonic monsters, while others screamed as solid black horns tore through their skin to protrude outward in a bloody scene.
Hyuga looked toward Andre, finding him injured, bleeding, and surrounded by all the members of the Ice Eagles Squad who had turned into bloodthirsty demons.
The Ice Lord did not turn to Andre; instead, his piercing gaze remained locked on the demons before him, and he said with a calm, terrifying voice, like a blizzard preceding destruction: "Leave it to your commander."
At that moment, the demon army broke free from the blue ice that bound them, and they attacked as a single black mass, roaring with a hunger to tear and kill.
With a fluid, swift motion, the Ice Lord gripped the hilt of his sword and raised it high. The temperature suddenly dropped below zero, and a vortex of cutting snow formed around him. With a lightning-fast swing, he unleashed a freezing shockwave of absolute ice that blew the hordes of demons away as if they were light dolls, smashing them into the walls.
Amidst the temporary silence left by his strike, the Ice Lord caught a glimpse of a lady cowering in a dark corner, clutching an infant tightly to her chest with the strength of the desperate. He approached her slowly, the sound of ice shattering beneath his footsteps breaking the silence of the area. He asked calmly: "Are you and the child... okay?"
The lady raised her head, her eyes wide with terror, and answered with a trembling voice that could barely be heard: "Yes."
She stood up very slowly, and when she pulled the cover back from the child's face so he could breathe, the Ice Lord froze in his tracks. His pupils dilated in sheer astonishment; the newborn child was not human, but a small monster with clear demonic features and tiny protruding horns!
Hyuga asked with a voice choked by intense shock: "Since when?"
The mother replied, tears streaming down her pale cheeks as she tenderly touched the monster child's face with a strange maternal affection: "He was the first to transform... but... but he recognized me. He never hurt me, my lord."
The Ice Lord clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white from the immense pressure, and his cold face displayed features of sorrow mixed with overwhelming rage. He muttered with a voice resembling the rustle of cold, deadly winds: "This child was the only hope for this village..."
Then he raised his voice, roaring with a tone that terrified the demons themselves: "Whoever did this... I swear I will make him regret it and pay the price in blood!"
The Arena of Chaos and the Arrival of the Commander
Before he could finish his oath, Hyuga sensed a slight vibration in the air behind him. Without turning around, he struck the ground with his foot, raising a thick ice wall that blocked a treacherous attack from behind. It was followed by another, faster attack, so the Ice Lord grabbed the lady and the child with his hand, jumping far away with incredible agility, instinctively realizing that the target was not him, but the mother and child.
The Ice Lord landed safely and inspected the attacker; a powerful demon skillfully using blood magic. Before Hyuga could engage him, the air split open and Oliver (transformed into a demon) appeared using his teleportation power, aiming a lethal strike at the Ice Lord's back.
But Oliver suddenly retreated, flying backward, as the ground cracked beneath him and Commander Henry appeared with his massive body and great sword!
Henry smiled a savage smile, dusted off his shoulder, and said: "I am late."
The Ice Lord replied with a sarcastic side smile: "I am sorry, Commander... now, leave Oliver to me."
On the other side, Andre rushed with his sword toward the transformed Emily, but a mocking voice from Henry interrupted him: "Look, Hyuga, it seems Andre beat you to the punch in the fight."
Henry blocked a demonic attack while replying to himself: "He only attacked... yes, but he did not waste time talking like you."
The Ice Lord suddenly shouted a warning: "Bow, Henry!"
Henry ducked quickly, allowing a sharp ice blade launched by the Ice Lord to pass right over his head, slicing through a massive fireball that the demon Harold had prepared to burn Henry from behind.
The Ice Lord said coldly as he walked past him: "See? You are the one wasting time."
Henry's face turned red with anger and defiance; he smashed his fists together, creating a sound like a thunderclap, and said while looking at the demons: "Come, let us play a little, you bastards!"
Henry charged at Oliver like a raging bull. Oliver teleported and appeared behind Henry's back, trying to wound him with his dagger. But Henry, with unbelievable reflexes for his massive size, turned around and caught the dagger's blade with his bare hand, saying with disdain: "What is this? Even after your transformation into a demon, your moves are still predictable and weak!"
Oliver smiled a wicked demonic smile, and his body disappeared again, taking one of Henry's iron gauntlets that he was holding with him! Henry screamed like a madman, waving his bare hand: "I will kill you even if you are an invincible demon!"
The Fatal Illusion and the Cold Truth
On the other side, Andre was panting heavily as he faced Emily. He attacked with his sword, but Emily vanished into thin air using her invisibility and cloning powers, then suddenly appeared out of nowhere and violently plunged a dagger made of coagulated blood into Andre's shoulder.
Andre stumbled backward in pain, only to be surprised by another bloody dagger nearly piercing his skull from behind! At the last second, the Ice Lord's hand appeared from behind him and caught the blood blade in its grip, crushing it into tiny pieces.
The Ice Lord asked while looking at the demon: "Is this demon the cause of all this?"
Andre replied with a voice dripping with pain and heartbreak: "No... it is Emily, she has transformed into a demon."
The Ice Lord looked ahead, but he did not find the cheerful little girl he knew; instead, he saw a towering demon with a terrifying figure.
The Ice Lord charged recklessly toward Emily, but the entire transformed squad (Julian, Iris, Harold, Oliver) ganged up on him from every side! In a suicidal scene, the Ice Lord stabbed Emily in her heart with his sword and froze her completely from the inside out to stop her.
But the price was heavy and lethal!
Andre froze in his place from the horror of the gruesome sight; he saw the Ice Lord take a deep stab to the heart from Oliver's knife, his arm severed by Iris's blades, and his body burned by Harold's flames while being pierced by spears of water and blood!
Amidst this hell and inevitable death, the Ice Lord made a final decision. Hyuga froze himself, and the rest of the squad attached to him froze along with him into one massive block of ice, blood, and frozen fire.
The Ice Lord had sacrificed himself to seal the squad!
The silence of graves fell over the arena. Everyone was under the effect of the terrifying shock. Andre fell to his knees, unable to believe what his eyes were seeing.
And suddenly... the silence was broken by a very familiar and cold voice, coming from directly behind Andre: "Why are you screaming and crying like that?"
Andre and everyone turned around very slowly, to find... the Ice Lord (Hyuga) standing in full form, his body completely intact, without a single scratch, standing next to Volak, dusting off his shoulder with complete indifference!
The Ice Lord pointed his hand toward the frozen mass full of blood and body parts and said coldly: "Oh, you mean my ice clone over there? Do not worry, before arriving at the village I created a clone to cover a larger search area, and it was the one that killed itself to seal them. During that time, I saw Volak here spraying paralysis potion on the demons, so I helped him... although I truly wished Volak would turn into a demon so I could beat him up and break his bones."
Volak looked at him with annoyance and anger, saying: "Huh? Are you talking to me? Am I a punching bag to you that you wish for my transformation?"
The Ice Lord replied without looking at him, his eyes on the field: "A punching bag would refuse to become like you in the first place."
Volak sighed, despairing of his commander's sarcasm, and asked seriously amidst this ruin: "So, Ice Lord... what do we do now? How do we save the rest?"
The New Contract and the Demonic Court
The Ice Lord turned toward Andre, and his tone shifted to absolute, decisive seriousness: "The answer is in your hand, Andre."
Andre looked at his trembling hand in confusion: "In my hand? What do you mean? I do not have healing magic!"
The Ice Lord pointed to the black sword Andre was carrying: "The sword you carry contains the blood and energy of the strongest demon. And in the strict laws of demons, power never bows except to the strongest. To heal everyone from this demonic poison, the power must be returned to its owner, and you must impose your absolute dominance over him."
Volak intervened quickly to explain: "I know the method from the ancient books. To heal everyone, you must create a new contract with your demon. The previous contract was a hybrid; it allowed the demon to enter and control you when you were weak or angry. But the contract I mean now... will give you complete control over his power without losing your mind."
Andre thought for a few seconds as he looked at the ruin around him, then raised his head with unwavering determination and resolve: "I agree. If this contract will save Emily and everyone, I will do it."
Volak warned him with a low voice filled with anxiety: "Pay attention, Andre, the risks are absolute and lethal. If you lose in this mental challenge, you will never return to your body, and the demon will take your place in our world. And if you lose any part of your body there in his world... the demon will devour it and it will not be replaced."
Andre nodded his head firmly: "I understand perfectly. Begin the ritual."
A complex magical circle was drawn with blood on the ice, and the ancient ritual began. Andre placed the cursed sword in the center. The lines glowed with a blinding, bright crimson light, and the ground split open to reveal a dark, terrifying portal that swallowed Andre inside!
In the Demon's Lair
Andre found himself falling, then standing in a pitch-black void with no dimensions.
Suddenly, two red eyes appeared glowing in the absolute darkness, circling him rapidly just as they did in the burning forest long ago, accompanied by a wide, terrifying smile filled with sharp teeth.
A faint light emanated from Andre's sword to finally reveal the ugly, horrifying face of the demon in its full form.
The demon said with a deep, mocking voice that echoed in the void, as if speaking from everywhere: "Look who is here... the dear mouse has finally come to the trap on his own feet. Do you remember this move in the dark? I did it with those who tried to kill you in the forest long ago. I liked seeing their terror, so I decided to use it to welcome you."
The scene changed suddenly and dramatically; the place lit up all at once as if giant theater spotlights were shined upon them. The black floor turned into something resembling an ancient, bloodstained Roman wrestling arena. In the high stands surrounding them, thousands of silent shadows appeared, holding pale blue lanterns that illuminated their faceless heads.
Andre asked with suspicion and tension as he gripped his sword: "Who are they?"
The demon opened his long, clawed arms in a theatrical display, and said with a sly, terrifying smile: "Consider them the judges now for your glorious death... weak human, welcome to your eternal home!"