The cold was alive now.
Liam could feel it pressing against his skin, creeping under his armor, sinking into his bones. Ice spread across the courtyard of Mall Fortress, twisting along walls, coiling through cracks in the stone. The Ice Queen stood at the center of it all, unmoved, untouched, the eye of the storm she had created.
She had challenged him to prove his leadership. Now she demanded his strength.
Rena and Sarya stood beside him, weapons ready. They had survived the horde. They had survived each other. Now they would survive this.
The Queen's voice was calm, but every word cut like frostbite.
"You claim bonds. You claim strength. Show me truth."
Liam raised his sword.
"You want a fight? You'll get it."
The system pulsed.
> [System Alert]
Final Bond Trial – Phase Two
Objective: Endure Ice Queen Assault – 5 Minutes
Buff Active: Overdrive – 3 Minutes Remaining
Buff Active: Bond Synergy – Ice + Trap
Reward: Full Bond, Territory Core Upgrade, System Evolution Option
Without another word, the Queen raised her hand.
Ice burst from the ground. A wall of jagged frost shot upward between Liam and his allies, cutting them off from one another. Rena swung at the wall, but her blade bounced off, leaving only a shallow scar.
Sarya cursed.
"She's isolating us!"
Liam didn't answer. He was already moving.
He dodged left, the ground cracking behind him as a spear of ice slammed down where he had just stood. Another followed. Then another. The Queen didn't chase. She stood still, arm raised, ice falling like rain, forcing Liam to keep moving.
One wrong step, and it would be over.
Liam slid behind a broken pillar, breathing hard. The frost was getting thicker. His boots slipped slightly as he crouched, watching the Queen's hand.
She wasn't tiring.
He activated Icebind.
A surge of cold shot from his palm, slamming into the ice under her feet. It cracked, but she didn't fall. Instead, she turned her gaze directly to him.
"You wield frost like a weapon," she said. "But I am frost."
She raised both hands.
The temperature dropped instantly.
Liam's breath froze in his throat. His sword trembled in his grip.
And then the world exploded.
A wave of ice crashed over him, knocking him from his feet. He hit the ground hard, sliding across the frozen floor. His vision blurred. Pain flared in his shoulder. He rolled to his feet, barely dodging another spike that shattered the stone where he had been lying.
The Queen walked forward now, slow, steady, unstoppable.
Liam activated Overdrive.
Power surged through his veins, burning away the cold for just a moment. His sword glowed with energy. He ran.
He met her in the middle of the courtyard, his blade crashing against the icy staff she now wielded. Sparks flew. Ice cracked. The Queen didn't yield.
He swung again. She parried.
Again. Blocked.
She flicked her wrist. Ice wrapped around his ankle.
He cut it free, leaping back.
Rena appeared at the edge of the broken wall, smashing through with her sword.
"You're not doing this alone!"
She charged.
Sarya followed, crossbow ready, bolts tipped with frost energy.
The Queen didn't look at them.
"Together now? Good."
She raised her hand.
The ground shattered.
Ice golems rose from the frost, massive forms of jagged crystal. Four of them, each with arms like hammers and eyes that glowed blue.
The Queen stepped back.
"They test your will. I test your command."
The golems attacked.
Liam moved first, blade flashing. He struck the nearest golem, his sword biting deep, but ice resisted him, thick and dense.
Rena slammed into a second golem, her blade cleaving through its arm.
Sarya fired, her bolt striking the third golem in the chest. The trap exploded, freezing its core.
Liam raised his hand.
"Icebind."
The blast struck the fourth golem, freezing its legs. It toppled.
> [System Alert]
Bond Synergy Buff – Activated
Bonus: Ice + Trap = Shatter Effect
Effect: Frozen Targets Take Double Damage
Duration: 60 Seconds
Liam didn't waste the opening.
He struck again, his blade shattering the frozen golem's arm, then its chest. It collapsed in a heap of shards.
Rena finished her target with a brutal overhead strike, splitting its head.
Sarya took down the third with a precise bolt to the eye.
The last golem tried to rise.
Liam ended it.
Silence fell.
The Queen stepped forward, her expression unreadable.
"You lead. They follow. You survive."
The system pulsed again.
> Trial Progress: 100%
Bond Ready for Seal
Reward: Territory Core Unlocked
Next Evolution Choice: Pending
Warning: New Signal Detected – Unknown Entity Approaching
The Queen stopped in front of Liam.
"Seal the bond. Or lose it."
Liam stood still.
The Ice Queen was only a breath away, her eyes glowing faintly with pale light, her power humming in the air around her like the calm before a storm. Ice clung to her robes, her hair, her very presence, but she no longer wielded it against him. For the first time since they had met, the frost had stopped spreading.
Behind Liam, Rena and Sarya remained alert, weapons drawn, blood staining their clothes, but they didn't move.
They were watching him.
Waiting.
The Queen raised her hand slowly, fingers outstretched. A shard of ice hovered in her palm, spinning, glowing faintly.
"This is my power," she said. "It does not bend. It does not break. To claim it, you must take it."
Liam stepped forward.
"I will."
She extended the shard.
He reached out.
As his fingers closed around it, the cold surged through him, sharper than before. Not pain, not rejection... a test. The ice didn't fight him. It asked something.
Control me. Or be frozen.
Liam focused, his grip tightening. He let the system take over, channeling his energy through the shard.
The ice pulsed.
> [System Alert]
Bond Seal Initiated – Ice Queen
Energy Sync – Active
Warning: Power Surge Imminent
Buff Unlocked: Frost Dominion
Effect: Control Environment – Freeze or Restore Terrain
Duration: Passive Skill – Always Active
System Evolution – Choice Pending
The shard melted in his hand.
The Queen stepped closer.
"You are no longer a seeker. You are a ruler."
Liam met her eyes.
"You follow me now."
She nodded once.
"For now."
Behind them, the air shifted.
The system pulsed again.
> Signal Detected – New Bond Target
Location: Zone Five – Red Forest
Target Class: Elite
Status: Hostile, Hunting You
Time Limit: 24 Hours to Engage or Lose Opportunity
Rena approached, sword sheathed.
"Another target?"
Liam nodded.
Sarya smirked.
"Of course. It never ends."
The Queen stepped back.
"Prove worthy again. Or fall."
Liam turned toward the horizon.
"Then we move."