Ice domain was a sorcerer-level trick that allowed one to extend their aura to create a temporary territory where they could use their powers to full capacity. While in their domain, the sorcerer could use their Aura to create a field that functions in their favor and will.

As Len's hands remained on the wet ground, the earth started to tremble and the red mud slowly turned white. Her eyes narrowed, and she gritted her teeth as she drew out more and more zenshi from her first gate to fuel the second. Painful tears streamed down her pale face as ice spread from her hands at a much faster rate. All the water she could sense immediately solidified to white ice, slowly creating a field of ice.

Just then, she was spotted by a cursed creature that charged at her with terrifying speed. She almost thought she was done for but Valentine appeared and sliced it down with his double blades. His movements were so quick that Len almost missed the moment when he cut it down.

In what looked like a flash, he proceeded to take down another cursed soldier which she had missed-- an eight-legged half-human, half-centipede creature with black spikes as two pairs of arms. It fell victim to his elusive style and collapsed shortly after he decapitated it.

“I’ve got you back! Do what you have to!” he yelled, his voice almost inaudible in the storm as he continued.

Lena trembled before turning her focus back to the ground. The overall temperature took a drastic fall and ice started growing around her. It moved at an incredible pace, freezing any weak cursed creature and avoiding the humans and divine summons as if it bared a mind of its own. It spread further and further, straining Lena even more till drops of blood started dripping down from her nose to warn her that she was close to her limits…

‘A little longer….’ She pressed the icy floor and forced out more zenshi. This time, her head felt like it was about to split in two. Her second gate pulsed in pain till she forced herself to withdraw and pull her hands away from the ice.

By the time she was done, Lena had only managed to freeze half of the city and kill every cursed beast and weaker cursed soldiers that couldn't battle against her Aura.

‘I feel cold,’ she was surprised by the revelation. Lena hadn’t felt cold in a long time.

Heavy breaths escaped her lungs which felt like they were on the verge of collapsing after the stunt she had just pulled. They even failed to heal, meaning that she was out of zenshi at the moment. More blood dripped down her nose. Surprisingly, her mind survived controlling so much ice and taking in so much information at the same time. Her second gate too felt intact, meaning she hadn't pushed herself as much as she thought.

She cleaned the blood with the lower part of her tunic and looked back at Monic, who was supposed to be standing at the top of one of the crimson buildings. The ascender had also stopped imposing her will on the skies and was now lying on her Pegasus as it took her to the healer's tent. She needed to rest.

The other summoners and their divine summons were tied in vicious combat with the remaining cursed soldiers. The still-standing ascenders of the first line also joined to avenge their fallen comrades.

Now that everyone was accounted for, Lena fell back on the icy floor and let the battle wage on as she tried to circulate some zenshi into her system. The dark clouds were soon disappearing and the rainfall was slowing down.

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In other words, the storm was coming to an end.

Lena focused for a while and once she felt her first gate had gained some zenshi, she did the dumbest thing someone in her state could ever do....

…Open her second gate.

Both her body and mind showed desperate resentment by sending incredible pain that made her bite her lips till they drew blood. She stared at the battlefield and touched the icy floor once again.

Today…they were going to win, even if it meant pushing past her limits.

'This will be House Feng's victory!'

She let out a powerful, pained scream and the ice floor morphed into spikes that tore through every cursed soldier standing on it. Guts and black blood stained the white floor of her created ice domain. Her ability continued to ruthlessly kill off any monster within her sensory range which wasn't much.

This continued for a few more seconds till only the strongest of the cursed soldiers were left standing. And with that, she seized her ability and dropped to the icy floor but didn’t lose consciousness.

Her tired eyes shifted to the Seige Tower ahead...

'I need to recover.'

If Snow and his team failed to take down the undead king, it was up to her to continue their determined assault.

***

Valentine was frozen at the moment. He was standing on an ice floor, staring at the now-dead five cursed soldiers that had surrounded him a few moments before Ghost of Winter’s ability ended them.

He wasn’t struggling in any way to need assistance. But he was left surprised that someone of a second gate could do damage to this scope. Valentine had witnessed Ghost of Winter use her ability before to create weak walls and spikes that easily shattered when they came in contact with a cursed beast with a tough hide. These spikes, though, were denser and sturdier. He couldn’t even punch through them even if he wanted to.

‘Is she using a charm to enhance her power? Or has she just gotten stronger from this fight? The files never mentioned she was this powerful.’

Valentine questioned himself as he stared at the spike that was four times his height. At the top of it, a dead crablike creature was bleeding a black liquid that made the ice sizzle.

He then turned his gaze to Ghost of Winter. The beautiful woman’s legs were trembling as she struggled to get back on her feet. She was paler than usual, but her eyes burned with vicious determination. The young heroine’s presence alone made Valentine shiver on impulse.

As someone from house Artemis, he was told to be cautious of a Feng’s claws. The Clan may not have had the greatest abilities or the strongest military force in the New World. But its members, especially the true-blooded ones, were blessed with great strength that allowed them to stand alongside the other Houses that rule the world.

‘What a peculiar house.'

***

The steel knight marched forward with steady movement. Its steps were hollow but its glowing eyes were a sign that there was a being inside.

Just as it was still marching, a large metallic bird of prey suddenly landed on the ground and thrashed its steel talons into the hallow knight's armor, tossing it into a series of buildings.

The bird's rider, a young man whose body was made of metal jumped off its mount with a crossbow in his hand. His name was Ceres, a summoner from House Feng. Being this close to the siege tower made his skin crawl but that didn't in any way tamper with his confidence.

Slowly, he followed the line of damage. He tilted his head as he prepared to fire a steel arrow from his forged weapon. Once he reached the point where the steel knight was, Ceres powered his bow and made it face the pile of debris.

However...

Before he could shoot, Ceres heard a strange distorted voice coming from the rubble.

"Hail...to...the Servant Of Light...I am your Sword!"

He watched the Knight emerge from the rubble. However, this time, it exerted a presence that made Ceres freeze up before he could press the trigger.

Noticing the situation, Ceres rushed to command his summon once he realized this was no ordinary cursed soldier. 'Protect me! Heres!'

The large bird of prey jumped and landed between him and the knight. It swung its talons at the Knight, expecting to strike the cursed creature. But what happened next was hard to track because the steel knight dodged them with ease and burst into an explosion of speed and destroyed the metallic bird of prey in a single swing.

Ceres's eyes widened as he watched his summon explode into a rain of sparks. His face twisted from fear to anger. He gathered all his zenshi to shoot at the knight but was surprised when he coughed out blood and dropped his forged weapon.

And that's when he noticed...

There, between his torso, a deep bleeding gash of red. When? When did this happen? When was she cut?

Ceres gave one last look at the knight. There was no blood on its sword. Was this its power?

‘Am I going to die?’

Although Ceres knew this desert was a hunting ground for death, he never thought he would go down this easily. However, he felt no regrets.

"I hope I served well."

Those were his final words before his body collapsed. He stared at the Knight for one more time and the light in his faded while fixed on the Seige Tower behind it.