The mythical Jormungandr was a snake so large, it stretched longer than the world itself. It dwelled deep in the sea, encircling the earth, and made a ring as it gnawed upon its own tail. It is said that when it released its tail and the serpent-ring broke, the world would end in a final war.

[JORMUNGANDR (MK. II): 100 (+100% Arcana Point)(+10% enemy max HP) magical damage. 2 second reload. 150 meter range.

Special ability: Eye of Odin – By spending 150 mana, you detect all metallic objects in a 10 degree cone in front of you. 512 mile range. 1 minute cooldown.

Special ability: Plasma Fusion Chamber – The weapon has 1 charge. While the charge is held, you gain 100 Arcana Points. You can consume the charge to empower the next ability you cast. Once the charge is consumed, Jormungandr Mk. II reverts back to Jormungandr.]

I aimed my gun at Alice and fired.

A single dart of condensed arcane energy shot out. It nailed the hologram-tower around Alice. She stumbled a half step back as the dart left a fractured crater upon the tower, as though the hologram were truly made of stone. The impact rocked my chest like deep thunder.

I took the chance to run forward, into the range of her laser. Hei joined the charge, one step ahead. Alice fired a beam of laser at me. It seared me in the abdomen. But I could take a hit like this. Alice wouldn't be able to shoot down the both of us.

Blue light leaked out from my skin and coalesced into floating, almost solid shapes and patterns: lines and arcs arranged to form complex geometric constructs, and strange runes and formulas orbited around them. The plasma ring inside my weapon's glass chamber grew white with unbridled power.

The air around me crystalized into a swirling snowstorm. Cobalt wisps of mana seeped out of my skin like fire. Hoarfrost grew upon my clothes and hair. With each advancing step, I spreaded ice upon the ground beneath.

I focused my mind.

The storm fell silent. The arcane flames snuffed out. The runes in the air converged into my weapon. Jormungandr rattled as I compressed all my might into its barrel for a single, devastating spell. I began my incantation.

Oceans, roar. Darkness, mourn.

Fourfold testament. Lone sparrow.

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I compel thee, ceaseless void, to devour.

I command thee, storms of a thousand winters, to rage.

Alice stepped back.

I formed a Frost Missile at the tip of the gun's muzzle. I willed it to spin around its central axis, to add in-flight stability to the projectile. It began to rotate unsteadily, then accelerated into a rapid, vicious spin.

I pointed the projectile toward Alice, and took aim, and pressed the trigger. The Frost Missile blasted forth, in a surge of cold light and cackling air.

「It doesn't reach me,」Alice proclaimed.

The Frost Missile took a sharp and sudden turn upwards, and veered harmlessly into the sky.

I was hoping she'd do that. I knew Alice could stop any attack. That was why I saved my weapon's single skill empowerment for after she wasted her Proclamation on a decoy ability.

I continued my recitation.

O creatures of dust,

Heed the supplications of this dying aeon

And return to the oblivion of desolation.

Ascended spell,

Cold Grenade.

The last iota of power I mustered coalesced into a pale blue bead inside Jormungandr's barrel. The plasma ring inside its reactor flickered.

Then, the ring broke.

With a muted cackle, the pale bead of the Cold Grenade shot towards Alice. Air seemed to warp around it, as though its density pulled everything inward.

Alice saw it coming. She dodged sideways, out of the path of the projectile. The Cold Grenade landed upon the ground a distance away from her.

By then, Hei had already closed in.

He veered towards the Cold Grenade, scooped it up, then disappeared in a flash of light. In a burst of darkness, he reappeared in front of Alice, so close that he could touch her.

I triggered the detonation of my Cold Grenade. It'd have a 0.4 second delay until the blast.

With a swipe of the hand, Alice dispelled the tower around her, restoring its physical form to where it once stood.

Far in the horizon behind her, the walls of her base disappeared. At the same time, a translucent replication of those walls erected themselves around Alice, towering into the sky. They folded inward, as though crumpling space itself, until they coalesced into overlapping and intersecting barriers that surrounded Alice as a layered dome.

She had used her Origin Reprisal to maximize her defenses –

[HP: 955 + 500,000 / 1400]

Hei held the Cold Grenade in his palm and thrusted it into the dome-shield.

Take this. My greatest creation. The culmination of my struggles against the orchestrations of this world.

Receive it in full measure, Alice.

The Cold Grenade broke open with a simple, instant flash.

There was no noise, no shockwave. There was no explosion.

Everything in front of Hei turned a pure, powdery white, stretching from his extended palm to the opposite end of the arena.

The Outer Red Tower shattered and fell, frozen to the core as soon as it had reappeared.

The barrier around Alice was gone. She herself remained, still like a snow statue. Then the wind came and blew her away as fine, icy powder.