The polar wind howled as if the world itself wanted to swallow anyone who dared to stand upon it.
The air was so cold that every breath felt like shards of glass scraping through their lungs.
Green auroras danced across the night sky.
Beautiful.
Peaceful.
And completely indifferent to the war unfolding beneath them.
In the middle of the cracked sea of ice—
Ursus Glacialis stood.
The enormous bear towered like a living mountain.
Snowstorms swept across its white fur. Beneath the thick coat, blue light flowed like frozen rivers.
Its eyes burned with a sharp, ancient light.
Before it—
the Dominion reactor was embedded in the ice like a gigantic spear.
WHOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!
Blue energy pierced through the layers of ice.
Deeper.
Deeper.
Hungrier.
Farhan stared at his laptop, his hands trembling.
"The core energy is being pulled out!"
The graph on the screen spiked wildly.
Lila went pale.
"The ice shelf is collapsing!"
CRACK!
A massive fracture spread dozens of meters from the Dominion reactor.
Black seawater burst through from below.
Sinta immediately shouted,
"Everyone move! Destroy that machine now!"
Bimo was already running.
WHOOSH!
He leaped from one chunk of ice to another.
Below him, the black sea gaped like the mouth of a giant beast.
Dika followed close behind.
But the Dominion forces were ready.
BLAST! BLAST!
Energy beams struck the ice ahead of them.
BOOM!
The surface shattered.
Bimo nearly plunged into the freezing water.
He caught himself at the edge of the crack, then let out a short laugh.
"Okay."
He pulled himself up, spinning the metal rod in his hand.
"Now I'm pissed."
Rani and Nisa moved in from the left, taking cover behind a massive chunk of ice.
Tono leaped down from above.
CRASH!
He slammed into a Dominion soldier and sent him flying into the snow.
The battle erupted across the dying sea.
But in the middle of it all—
Arga didn't move.
He stood facing Ursus Glacialis.
The MBG lunchbox trembled violently in his hands.
Inside—
twenty-one glowing rice grains spun rapidly like a miniature galaxy.
Golden light surrounded his body.
The only warmth at the end of the world.
Kai stood beside him.
"The Polar Heart is calling you."
Arga closed his eyes.
And he felt it.
Far beneath the ice.
Far beneath the sea.
Something incredibly ancient.
Incredibly silent.
Yet alive.
Like the heartbeat of the world itself, sleeping since the beginning of time.
Suddenly—
CRAAAAAAAAACK!
A colossal fracture split across the frozen sea.
Hundreds of meters long.
Icebergs in the distance shattered with it.
Farhan stared at his screen and nearly dropped it.
"The core energy has breached the limit!"
Lila whispered,
"It's waking up…"
Ursus Glacialis raised its head.
White vapor poured from its mouth like a storm.
FROOOOOOOSH.
Then it slammed one massive paw against the ice.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A shockwave swept across the entire polar region.
Dominion soldiers were thrown into the air.
Drones crashed from the sky.
The icebreaker ships rocked violently.
Yet the Dominion leader remained standing calmly.
His eyes gleamed as he stared at Ursus.
"Magnificent."
He pressed a control on the device in his hand.
WHOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
The reactor surged to twice its previous power.
Blue light drilled even deeper.
The ice beneath Arga shattered.
His body jerked violently.
"Argh—!"
He dropped to one knee.
Blood dripped from his nose onto the snow.
The lunchbox in his hands shook uncontrollably.
The golden light surrounding his body began to fracture.
Sinta turned sharply.
"Arga!"
Kai moved toward him, but Arga raised a hand.
Don't.
He forced himself back to his feet.
His legs trembled.
His hands were so cold that the skin had begun to crack.
Yet he remained standing.
Because if he fell now—
the Polar Heart would break free.
And everything they had fought to protect could be destroyed.
Arga looked at Ursus Glacialis.
The enormous creature stared back.
Blue.
And gold.
Two Guardians from two different worlds.
Then—
a deep voice came from behind them.
Calm. Flat. And enough to make everyone shiver.
"Enough."
Everyone turned.
Pak Rahmat stood several meters behind them.
Snow whipped around his body—
yet not a single flake touched his clothes.
His eyes remained fixed on Ursus Glacialis.
"I didn't come all this way to watch you lose control."
For the first time—
Ursus Glacialis fell silent.
The enormous bear slowly lowered its head.
Even Bimo, who had been fighting moments before, stopped.
"…What?"
Farhan stared blankly.
"Why does the Polar Guardian listen to him?"
Pak Rahmat didn't answer.
He simply said,
"Wake up properly."
The frozen sea exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
From the massive fracture—
blue light rose from the depths of the ocean.
It wasn't merely light.
It was a gigantic sphere of energy.
Pulsing.
Alive.
The Polar Heart.
Its radiance illuminated the entire frozen world.
The aurora faded from the sky.
Even the stars seemed dim beside it.
Farhan stared at his laptop, which had now completely crashed.
"This… is impossible…"
Lila whispered,
"The Polar Heart has fully awakened…"
The MBG lunchbox in Arga's hands began to shake violently.
Then—
a new rice grain appeared in the center of the light.
Slowly.
Brilliantly.
Stronger than any before it.
Bimo turned, his eyes widening.
"Don't tell me—"
Farhan shouted,
"The twenty-second rice grain!"
WHOOOOOOOOOM!
Golden light exploded from Arga's body.
A wave of warmth swept across the polar storm.
The cracks in the ice stopped spreading.
The raging seawater froze again.
But the wounds on Arga's body grew worse.
Blood flowed from his hands.
Yet he continued gripping the lunchbox.
Ursus Glacialis raised its head high.
Then it roared.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!
The roar shook the sky.
The Guardian charged toward the Dominion reactor.
One sweep of its massive paw—
CRAAAAAAAAASH!
The gigantic metal machine split in two.
An explosion of energy swept across the frozen sea.
Drones were destroyed.
Dominion soldiers were thrown into the air.
The icebreaker ship cracked along its side.
The Dominion leader took one step back.
For the first time—
his smile disappeared.
He looked at Arga.
Then at Pak Rahmat.
His eyes narrowed.
"So… you really do exist."
Pak Rahmat said nothing.
He simply stared back.
Cold.
Colder than the polar wind itself.
The Dominion leader retreated toward the remaining ship.
"Interesting."
He gave a faint smile, though tension remained in his eyes.
"If that's the case…"
He paused.
"The final stage begins."
The Dominion ship disappeared into the storm.
Silence slowly returned.
The Polar Heart floated peacefully in the air.
Ursus Glacialis stood beneath it like an eternal Guardian.
Arga finally dropped to his knees.
The lunchbox nearly slipped from his hands.
Sinta caught him.
"Arga!"
His breathing was heavy.
His body trembled violently.
Yet his eyes remained fixed on Farhan's laptop.
"The map…"
Farhan opened the screen with trembling hands.
Six points of light were now glowing.
The Southern Island.
The Ancient Forest.
The Ice Valley.
The Savannah.
The Mountains.
The North Pole.
And—
one final point.
It glowed red.
Then the red point began to expand.
Larger.
Larger.
Larger.
Bimo swallowed hard.
"Why is that point… moving?"
Lila's face went pale.
"That isn't a point."
Farhan took a step back.
"That's an eruption…"
The screen suddenly turned completely red.
A gigantic volcano erupted in the middle of the ocean.
Lava shot through the clouds.
Heat waves were detected thousands of kilometers away.
Kai stared at the screen, his expression hardening.
"The final core…"
He clenched his fist.
"…has awakened without being summoned."
Arga stared at the red point, barely conscious.
And for the first time—
the twenty-two glowing rice grains inside his lunchbox trembled…
in fear.