Chapter 430: Extreme Cold Storm, People of Other Countries

"Bang, crackle, crackle."

A massive block of ice slammed into the ground with a thunderous, shattering roar. Fragments skidded rapidly along the slope of the snowfield toward Winter City, carving deep, jagged furrows into the thick blanket of snow.

The Grand Duke’s manor and the city guards had noticed the disturbance at the frozen ruins the moment it began. After a brief period of observation, they swiftly relayed the situation through the chain of command to the soldiers stationed throughout the city.

"What's going on? Did that ruin outside the city shift? I don't recall the Grand Duke's office or that pathetic little adventurers' guild in town issuing any notices about excavation. Could some money-grubbing fool have gone in there and triggered the ruins' ancient defenses?"

Residents on the streets also stopped in their tracks, gazing with bewilderment toward the Saint Anna Peak. As the ice continued to flake away, the silhouette of the old-world city, long entombed within the massive cavern, became increasingly distinct.

"Whew, I don't know. It's so cold. Do you feel that? The wind is picking up. Is this winter-wolf fur coat not enough to keep me warm? This is hellish."

His companion exhaled, and the white mist from his mouth froze into ice crystals the moment it hit the air, falling to the ground as it was swept away by the biting wind he had just mentioned.

"The wind is rising. The ice elements in the area are gathering. Did no one tell you not to gawk? Find somewhere to hunker down. If this gale gets any stronger, it won't be safe out here."

A warning from the owner of a nearby magitech shop interrupted the pair's observation of the changing peak. Realizing the mage was right, they immediately turned to hurry back to their homes.

It was right about then that the Saint Anna Peak, still shedding its icy shell, suddenly blurred into a vast, white haze. The perpetual snowstorm made it impossible to see what was happening there any longer. The mage shopkeeper’s expression shifted, and he shouted urgently to those still on the street.

"Get inside, quickly! The ice elements are rioting. Don't count on your clothes to save you if your strength isn't up to par—get into my shop at once!"

The sudden drop in air temperature made the pedestrians realize the gravity of the situation. Following the advice of the mage who could sense the shifting elemental currents, they scrambled into the shop one after another.

"Clang!"

The door slammed shut, and the inscribed magic array activated, sealing out the extreme cold. The crowd, having rushed in in a panic, stood dazed, their understanding of the situation still clouded.

"Boss, what exactly is happening out there? Why did the ruins suddenly change like that? Is something terrible going to happen?"

Someone asked the shopkeeper, who seemed relatively knowledgeable, desperate to understand the chaos outside.

"How should I know? All I know is that the temperature out there is probably enough to turn you all into ice sculptures by now."

The shopkeeper replied irritably. He pulled out a crystal ball embedded with a 'Magic Eye,' connected it to the alchemical device mounted on his shop, and peered at the outside world. As he looked, his expression turned grim.

The scene on the street had become hazy, visibility dropping to within ten meters, filled with fine ice crystals and snow whipped up by the gale.

The Magic Eye could usually pierce through such visual obstructions, but the space outside was now so saturated with ice elements that the device’s observational capabilities were severely compromised.

"Damn it, no one told me Winter City would face something like this. Did the Seuvintans really live in a hellhole like this?"

The shopkeeper stared at a corner of the image returned by the Magic Eye. There, a pedestrian stood in a daze, back against a wall, seemingly unable to react before the blizzard from outside the city arrived.

He was now motionless, his body rapidly covered in spreading frost, his back fused to the wall, transformed into an ice sculpture encased in snow.

"Snap, crackle, crackle..."

The wind carried rocks and ice crystals, and under the force of the gale, these hard objects possessed lethal kinetic energy. They struck the human ice sculpture, and the flesh, already brittle from the freezing, was quickly chipped away. The outer layer of frozen skin peeled off, revealing the raw, crimson frozen mass beneath—a harrowing sight.

"Sizzle..."

The crystal ball in the mage's hand emitted a soft sound, and the image upon it dissolved into a void of darkness.

"Tch, the ice element concentration is too high. The Magic Eye is being interfered with to the point of uselessness. Just sit tight. Are there any members of the Nightfall Church here? If so, contact the people in the city and find out what’s going on."

The shopkeeper helplessly put away the useless crystal ball. He wasn't a powerful mage himself, and since a magitech tool—more stable than his own spellcasting—was being jammed by the environment, he knew his own magic would be ineffective.

The others in the room had seen the image on the crystal ball. Beyond gratitude to the shopkeeper for sheltering them, they were filled with anxiety. Hearing his suggestion, two members of the Nightfall Church among the residents quickly used their prayer communication network to contact their brethren, hoping to uncover the truth.

"Second Squad, raise the magic barrier! We don't know when this blizzard will stop. If we let it blow like this, the ordinary houses in the city without protective arrays will be destroyed!"

The Grand Duke’s soldiers and the city guards were the first to realize the blizzard had arrived. Their strength was reliable; even in this extreme cold, their manifested battle aura was enough to resist the chill. However, the residents were not all knights or mages, and this storm would cost them their lives.

"Understood, the mages are charging it. It... it has been activated."

The response was swift. Along the walls surrounding the city, the radiance of magic appeared alongside glowing runes, and a barrier composed of mana gradually rose.

From a few meters high to dozens of meters after charging, this magic barrier slowly blocked the ice-elemental storm blowing from Saint Anna Peak, finally silencing the wind and snow raging through the streets of Winter City.

However, the extreme blizzard caused by the elemental riot had arrived too quickly. Although the soldiers and guards had reacted with speed, preventing the storm from harming those huddled in their homes, many ordinary residents had been caught off guard, their lives claimed by the gale, leaving them as frozen statues firmly anchored to the surroundings.

"The Grand Duke and Commander Uller are both away. Why now? We must make a decision quickly: do we investigate the ruins, or do we maintain the barrier and wait?"

Standing on the city wall, the acting commander—left in charge while Uller and the Grand Duke were at the capital—stared at Saint Anna Peak through the blizzard beyond the barrier.

The sudden blurring of the peak had been caused by the gale whipping up the surrounding snow, a boiling blizzard that now shrouded the mountain.

"Notify the Grand Duke and Commander Uller. Have the First Squad take the magitech gear designed for extreme cold, and bring those guards with barbarian blood. Ask them to lead the way; barbarian blood is the best guarantee for moving through such harsh environments."

The order was given. The commander decided to investigate what had happened at the ruins and how it had triggered such a severe blizzard.

If a storm of this magnitude continued, things would become dire. The magic barrier currently shielding Winter City was a modification of the original Seuvintan array, once used to keep the city from being buried by the perpetual snow.

The intensity of this blizzard far exceeded normal weather patterns. The array could hold for a day or two at most; if the storm didn't cease by then, it would be a disaster.

The message was quickly compiled and sent to the capital, and the investigation team was swiftly equipped with Northland-specific magitech gear, setting out toward the snowfield.

Time passed. The commander watched as the team, led by a guide with barbarian blood, vanished into the storm. Through messages relayed by the Night’s Edge members within the Grand Duke’s manor, a response finally arrived.

"It’s not just within Seuvintan territory. In fact, ruins across the entire continent are experiencing disturbances of varying scales at this very moment. A massive hole opened in the Ash Plains, exposing the entire City of Sin. The Orcs were in the middle of a civil war when an inland sea suddenly surged from beneath the earth, cutting the battle short..."

The intelligence left the commander stunned. He hadn't expected this not to be an isolated incident at Saint Anna Peak. Similar events were occurring all over the continent.

This lack of exclusivity gave the commander an ominous feeling. If it involved the entire continent, the scale of this event was beyond comprehension, and the consequences for them were unpredictable.

The only good news was that the Grand Duke and Commander Uller were already on their way, and the report mentioned reinforcements from the Night’s Edge and other factions.

"..."

His gaze fixed on the snowfield, now blanketed by the elemental blizzard. Even as someone who had followed the Grand Duke for years and lived in the North his whole life, the commander had rarely seen such a massive storm—and it seemed to have been deliberately summoned. He hoped the investigation team would find something useful.

With the attention of the entire city's population drawn to the sky-obscuring blizzard, Winter City—which had relatively weaker defenses compared to other cities of its size in Alastair—developed a "blind spot."

A group of people, aided by the blizzard and their own magitech concealment gear, swiftly reached the area outside the city wall and began to climb into Winter City.

Their attire and appearance were typical of Northland residents; entering the city would not make them seem out of place. Beneath their thick, cold-resistant clothing, they bore emblems used to identify one another—emblems pointing toward the Saryben Empire, one of Alastair’s neighbors.

Moving in silence, this Saryben squad—who had arrived at the Alastair border as if they had foreseen the sudden blizzard—quickly opened a breach in the magic barrier, which was not designed to keep people out. They successfully infiltrated the city, which was still reeling in confusion from the sudden assault of the storm.

Adjusting their clothing and removing the items covering their faces, they wore no unnatural expressions. Carrying the panic and bewilderment of those just struck by the blizzard, these unidentified figures from the neighboring empire successfully blended into the city.

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