King of the North Ulysian’s miserable scream quickly turned into a roar. Outside the cave, a blizzard immediately raged, making it impossible to see five meters ahead.
Howling winds swept up thick tufts of "goose feathers," filling every inch of space with swirling flurries. At the same time, a ring of icy blue light expanded rapidly, clinging to the ground as it shot outward. Any object it touched was instantly frozen solid from the bottom up, turning into an ice sculpture.
With his vision and hearing impaired by the blizzard, the corresponding scene immediately flashed into Klein's mind. He bent his knees, pushed off his ankles, and leaped straight up, letting the icy blue ring pass beneath him.
Mobet Soroast, who was not particularly skilled in close combat, realized the icy blue ring was there much too late. Reacting quickly was impossible.
Just then, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him upward, while a violent updraft erupted beneath his feet. The combined force sent him soaring, narrowly escaping the fate of being frozen solid.
Mobet turned his head and, unsurprisingly, saw a grim-faced Shatas. Since flying was forbidden in this place, the elven bard could only harness the wind to glide forward slowly.
Anderson, Edwina, Snowman, and Longzer all reacted as well, leaping into the air just in time to dodge the attack without much difficulty. Only the giant, Grosel, who had just freed himself from a snowdrift while holding his broadsword, was caught off guard by the icy ring. The energy touched his feet.
A thick layer of ice rapidly crept upward. Grosel stood frozen in place, resembling a corpse that had been entombed in permafrost for ten thousand years.
Howl!
The intense blizzard obscured the Beyonders' vision, completely breaking their lock on the Frost Dragon Ulysian. They could only passively wait for the next attack.
At this moment, the ascetic Snowman, who had not yet landed, spread his arms wide again and declared gravely in Ancient Hermes: "God says: Null!"
The ravaging blizzard suddenly subsided significantly, with both the violent gusts and the dense flurries of snow diminishing or disappearing almost by half.
Through the haze, Shatas caught a glimpse of a massive, lizard-like face—hideous and ugly—with a broken arrow still embedded in its forehead.
The frost dragon Ulysian had used the opportunity to close the distance!
Shatas remained calm. The wind abruptly shifted, pushing her and Mobet backward. At the same time, she parted her pale, cold-chapped lips and began to sing in the ancient, archaic tongue of the elves:
"The reef shall be torn asunder by the waves! "The great tree shall be broken by the storm! "The mountain peak shall be shattered by the thunderbolt!..."
Since every word of the elven language was rich with meaning, the sentences were very short. The verses didn't take Shatas much time. From the very first word, as the beautiful and powerful melody began to swell, the wind within the blizzard underwent a change!
The howling wind instantly became chaotic, scattering in every direction. The massive form of the "King of the North" Ulysian was once again revealed to Klein and the others.
As Shatas finished the third word, Longzer, the Knight of Punishment, thrust out his right palm and murmured in Ancient Hermes: "Imprison!"
In an instant, the frost dragon, which was about to charge at Shatas and Mobet, froze in place, as if layer upon layer of invisible walls had sprung up around it.
At the same time as Longzer's low words, the "Iceberg Admiral" Edwina, who had just regained her footing, suddenly shifted her pale blue eyes to black. They seemed to churn with a viscous liquid formed from the deepest, most malicious desires of all living beings.
With a mere clench of her right hand, the King of the North, Ulysian, let out a furious roar, rising onto its hind legs and tearing the imprisonment effect apart.
The frost dragon's azure eyes were flooded with confusion and pain, as if it were still drowning in the sudden eruption of madness and cruelty.
Even though this had been its constant state, having it completely detonated was still a terrible experience.
There was no doubt about it—this dragon had extremely poor emotional control!
Seizing upon the moment of Ulysian's brief pause, Anderson Hood condensed a blazing white spear of fire in his hand. With a step forward and a swing of his back, he hurled it.
Not bothering to check the result, the strongest hunter ignited flames beneath his feet, which condensed into a liquid form.
Whoosh!
The blazing white spear accurately struck the frost dragon's half-open mouth, rapidly melting the thick ice armor and continuing with enough force to penetrate its upper jaw.
Ulysian screamed once more. It kicked off with its hind legs, recklessly lunging forward, skimming the ground, and charging at Anderson with terrifying speed.
Its eyes only had room for the tiny insect that had hurt it so badly!
Crack!
The snow parted, and the ground was gouged into a deep, wide trench. The trench extended all the way to where Anderson had been standing, and kept on going.
Boom! Carried forward by its terrifying momentum, the frost dragon slammed into a rock covered in a thick layer of ice, shattering its outer shell and cracking its inner core!
If this had landed on Anderson, the strongest hunter would have been turned into a pile of meat paste. Even a grazing blow could have killed him instantly.
But in a certain spot along the trench, where Anderson had been standing, there was now a dark, narrow vertical hole, just big enough for a person to squeeze through.
Slap!
A hand gripped the edge of the hole. With a strong push, the strongest hunter, his hair thoroughly disheveled, jumped out.
After throwing the spear, he hadn't panicked or fled. Instead, he had directly used his Beyonder power to melt the snow and burn the soil beneath his feet, silently creating a shallow hole. He dropped into it and crouched down, perfectly dodging the King of the North's charge.