The mountain's depths swallowed light, its ice tunnels glowing with bell runes that pulsed like a dying star. Qin Mo led Yi, Ren, and Lian through the frost-choked archive, the wolf king's core a fading ember in his chest, struggling against the cold that clawed his veins. The FFD System hummed, locking onto a vault ahead—Silent Tax records, guarded by ancient traps.
[FFD System: Frostflame Balance: Heat 25% / Cold 75%. Scan: Frozen vault, 80 meters ahead, essence detected, threat level: Critical.]
Yi's threads hovered, catching faint frost motes. "This place holds their secrets," she whispered, her voice tight with memories of her burned village. "Answers for why they died."
Lian's bow was taut, her eyes hard. "My family's relics pointed here. The Tax hides its chains."
The vault's entrance loomed—an ice gate carved with nine bell runes, their blue glow syncing with the chime in Qin Mo's pouch. A hiss broke the silence—an ice serpent, its scales shimmering like frost, eyes red with rune-light, slithering from the shadows. Its tail lashed, shattering ice stalactites, shards raining like blades.
[FFD System: Ice serpent essence detected. Devour potential: High. Heat loss: 20%. Balance: Heat 23% / Cold 77%.]
Qin Mo dodged, Flame Step searing the ice, but the cold sapped his heat, frost creeping up his blade. Lian's arrow struck the serpent's eye, frost blooming, slowing it. Yi's threads wove a net, binding its coils, but the serpent snapped them, its hiss shaking the tunnel.
Ren darted in, daggers slashing its scales, blood freezing mid-air. Qin Mo unleashed Eagle Eye, spotting the serpent's core—a glowing rune at its throat. Frost Grip clamped its neck, his blade piercing the rune, the shard devouring its essence, cold flooding his veins.
[FFD System: Ice serpent essence absorbed. Devour progress: 25%. New skill: Frost Fang (Prototype). Balance: Heat 22% / Cold 78%.]
The serpent collapsed, its body crumbling into frost. The gate groaned, runes flaring, summoning a frost array—blue lines snaking toward Qin Mo's shard. He activated Frost Veil, shielding himself, but the cold pressed harder, vision blurring.
Yi's threads disrupted the array, Lian's arrows struck the runes, and Ren's daggers carved the gate open, revealing a chamber of ice shelves, packed with scrolls etched with old god lore: "Nine bells seal the heart's hunger."
Qin Mo gripped a scroll, the bells' chime louder, pulling at his shard. "This is their plan," he said, voice steady despite the cold. "To wake the gods."
Ren's eyes darkened. "My brother—he was their sacrifice."
The FFD System chimed, warning of guards approaching.
[FFD System: Silent Tax resonance: 72%. Next trace: Vault core. Binding risk: 62%.]
The vault's runes pulsed, the bells' chime a call to deeper debts.