The North Pole welcomed no one.
It simply remained silent.
An endless expanse of ice stretched beneath a black sky filled with green auroras. Frozen seas surrounded them in every direction. The wind howled like an invisible creature that was hungry—and never slept.
In the middle of that frozen world—
a long crack spread beneath their feet.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRAAAAACK!
The ice shook violently.
Then—
it exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Black seawater erupted into the sky like a giant spear. Within seconds, the water froze in midair and fell back down as a shower of razor-sharp ice crystals.
Something rose from the darkness below.
Massive.
Slow.
Inevitable.
Two white claws, each as large as a truck, dug into the ice.
A gigantic head emerged from the black foam.
Two blue eyes glowed like dead stars.
Its enormous body rose completely from the water.
Larger than a Dominion ship.
Older than the storms.
Ursus Glacialis.
A long scar ran across its chest. Thick white fur covered its body, moving like a living storm. Every drop of water that fell from its fur instantly froze into an ice spear.
The creature exhaled.
FROOOOOOOOSH!
A wave of freezing air swept across the sea.
The rising waves froze before they could even crash.
Bimo took two steps back.
"…I officially regret coming here."
Dika stared at the creature without blinking.
"He's not just a Guardian."
He swallowed hard.
"He's a disaster."
Farhan stared at his laptop, his hands trembling.
"The Core is directly beneath it!"
Lila pointed toward the ice beneath the massive bear.
"He's guarding the final gate."
Kai stood at the front.
A faint golden light glowed in his eyes.
But his expression was far from calm.
"He's not just guarding it."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"He's judging us."
Arga stepped forward.
Or at least, he tried.
His knees nearly gave out the moment his foot touched the ice. His body still hadn't recovered from the battle in the Himalayas. The golden cracks along his arm had become more pronounced. His breathing was shallow, and his vision blurred from time to time.
Still, he opened the MBG lunchbox.
Inside—
twenty-one glowing grains of rice slowly spun.
Their light flickered unevenly.
As if even the energy itself knew its vessel was beginning to break.
Kai turned toward him.
"You need to stop."
Arga shook his head.
"If I stop…"
He looked at Ursus.
"…who's going to talk to him?"
Sinta clenched her jaw.
"You'll die if you keep pushing yourself."
Arga didn't answer.
Because at that moment—
Ursus Glacialis looked directly at him.
The world seemed to freeze.
The creature took a step.
BOOM.
The sea froze beneath its foot.
BOOM.
Cracks in the ice sealed themselves under the creature's freezing aura.
BOOM.
The aurora overhead dimmed.
Bimo whispered,
"Why do all these monsters keep walking straight toward Arga…?"
A siren suddenly shattered the silence.
On the white horizon, the Dominion fleet emerged from the fog.
Massive icebreakers cut through the frozen sea. Drones hovered above them. Blue lights glowed like the eyes of predators.
The Dominion leader stood aboard the main ship.
Still calm.
Still smiling.
"Beautiful."
He stared at Ursus like a collector looking at the final treasure he'd been searching for.
"The sixth Guardian."
The man in the hat beside him swallowed.
"That creature is far beyond our projections."
"Good," the leader replied calmly.
"That means the Core beneath it must be just as powerful."
He raised a hand.
Steel containers opened.
A new machine was lowered onto the ice.
Larger than the previous reactor.
Darker.
More brutal.
Black pipes drove into the ice like enormous fangs.
Farhan froze.
"No…"
Sinta turned toward him.
"What is that?"
Farhan stared at the rapidly rising data.
"An Core-Breaker Reactor."
Lila's face went pale.
"That machine doesn't drain energy…"
She swallowed hard.
"…it forces the Core to rupture."
Everyone fell silent.
Bimo raised his metal staff.
"Great."
He took a deep breath.
"I hate them again."
The Dominion leader pressed a control panel.
WHOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!
A pillar of black energy pierced deep into the ice.
The entire Arctic shook.
Cracks spread for dozens of kilometers.
The black sea churned beneath them.
Farhan shouted,
"They're piercing the Core!"
Ursus Glacialis raised its head.
Its eyes burned brighter.
Then—
it roared.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!
The sound shook the sky.
The aurora went out instantly.
Distant ice mountains shattered.
Dominion drones fell from the sky.
The main ship rocked violently.
Bimo covered his ears and shouted,
"He just turned off the sky!"
But the Dominion forces didn't stop.
Energy cannons fired.
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
Dozens of blasts slammed into Ursus's body.
Blue explosions bloomed across its white fur.
Smoke rose.
When the smoke cleared—
Ursus hadn't moved an inch.
It simply stared at them.
Then it raised one massive paw.
And slammed it into the ice.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A wave of cracks raced outward like a white dragon.
Three Dominion vehicles flipped over.
One ship split apart from beneath.
Soldiers scattered in panic.
Dika gave a faint smile.
"…I like him."
"Team! Move!" Sinta shouted.
Bimo charged first.
"My favorite part!"
He smashed a drone with his metal staff.
CRASH!
Tono emerged from behind an ice boulder and knocked a Dominion soldier into the freezing sea.
Rani and Nisa attacked from the flank.
Dika destroyed the weapons panel on a landing craft.
The Arctic battlefield erupted.
On fractured ice.
Beneath a dead sky.
Before the last Guardian.
Arga was still standing.
Or trying to.
He raised the MBG lunchbox toward Ursus.
A faint golden light spread through the air.
The massive creature stared at the light.
Then lowered its head slightly.
Recognition.
But Arga's body could no longer hold out.
Blood ran from his nose.
Then from his ears.
His hands trembled violently.
The lunchbox nearly slipped from his grasp, but he caught it at the last second.
Kai immediately grabbed him.
"Enough!"
Arga pushed his hand away.
"Not yet…"
The golden cracks along his arm spread toward his neck.
With every second he forced himself onward, his body felt closer to breaking apart from within.
Pak Rahmat, who had been silent until then, finally walked past them.
His steps were calm.
As though there were no battle.
No monster.
No death.
He stopped beside Arga.
His eyes remained fixed on Ursus.
Then he spoke quietly—
"Still as stubborn as ever."
Ursus Glacialis froze.
The massive creature—
as large as a mountain—
took one step backward.
Kai stared at Pak Rahmat, his face pale.
"That… can't be."
Pak Rahmat didn't look at anyone.
He simply held the bear's blue gaze.
"We don't have much time."
Suddenly—
the black sea behind Ursus began to shake.
Not because of the battle.
Not because of the Dominion machines.
Something else was moving beneath it.
Much deeper.
Much larger.
Farhan's radar began screaming.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The screen flooded with red.
"There's another energy signature!"
Lila stepped back.
"It's… beneath the Core!"
Cracks spread across the ice in every direction.
Icebergs collapsed.
Black water surged upward like a massive wall.
Even Ursus Glacialis turned to look behind it.
For the first time—
the creature looked wary.
The surface of the sea shattered.
Two enormous red eyes opened in the depths.
The distance between them was wider than a Dominion ship.
Bimo stopped fighting.
"…What the hell is that?"
The Dominion leader was no longer smiling.
Pak Rahmat closed his eyes for a moment.
Then whispered—
"The Guardian isn't the most dangerous thing here."
The sea exploded into the sky.
A colossal shadow began rising from beneath the frozen world.
And at the North Pole—
the nightmare even Ursus Glacialis feared
had finally awakened.