He moved in stealth towards the one of the front he had not yet visited: the eastern edge of the pass, a region of towering, ice-capped peaks and glaciers that extended down into the valley. This was the domain of the Ice King.
As he approached, the very air grew frigid. The muddy fields gave way to a landscape of pristine, white snow and jagged, blue ice.
Li Yu found a secluded ice cave high on a cliff face, a perfect hidden vantage point. He looked out at the center of the beast army. There, on a throne of unblemished glacier ice sat the third Beast King.
It was not a brutish monster like the Earth Ape or a colossal behemoth like Kui. It was a creature of deadly beauty. She was a Glacial Matriarch, a queen of the frozen peaks.
Her form was that of a colossal polar bear, over two hundred feet tall even when seated. Her fur was not fur at all but a dense coat of shimmering, frost-covered crystals that seemed to glitter with an inner light. Her claws, each as long as a greatsword, were carved from a soul-chilling ice.
Her eyes were two brilliant, sapphire-blue stars, filled with a cold, ancient and distinctly feminine intelligence. She was not a mindless force of nature; she was a monarch, surveying her domain with an air of stoic authority. Her strength is roughly equal to Kui.
Li Yu's spiritual sense swept over her army. They were creatures of stone and fur, their ice-aspected nature a temporary gift from their queen. They possessed no true aquatic bloodline. He knew he would gain no new subjects from her army. His only goal was the queen herself.
He looked at the elegant, powerful Matriarch, and a new thought entered his mind. He sank his consciousness into his sanctuary.
"Khaos," his thought was a calm, direct statement of intent. "A more… delicate touch is required."
A wave of what might have been a surprise, followed by a deep, ancient amusement, washed over him. "You have developed a sense of pity, little one? How quaint. She is a slightly more interesting insect." Khaos paused, "Very well. Your request for subtlety is noted. It shall be done. Begin."
Li Yu slipped from his hiding place, his «Abyssal Dragon's Shadow» making him a silent, invisible wraith against the pure white snow. He found a secluded spot a safe distance away from the Glacial Matriarch and opened the small, crimson-gold portal.
The moment the pinprick of Khaos's aura leaked into the world, the Matriarch froze. Her sapphire eyes snapped towards Li Yu's hiding place, her elegant head tilting with a look of soul-shaking shock. Like Kui, her bloodline screamed at her, a warning that a predator of a higherorder had just entered her domain.
The miniature Khaos emerged. It floated in the air, a tiny, black speck against a world of white and blue.
The Glacial Matriarch let out a piercing, melodic roar, a call to arms. Her army of frost-coated beasts immediately turned a wave of white fur and glittering ice, to converge on this new threat.
But they never made it.
"Domain of the Stygian Void: First Edict - Absolute Weight," Khaos's voice echoed in the very fabric of the world.
The now-familiar wave of irresistible pressure descended upon the entire icy battlefield. The charging army of mountain beasts was slammed into the frozen ground, their bodies pinned, their bones cracking under the immense, unseen force, leaving them completely immobilized.
The Glacial Matriarch roared in terror. Her own domain of absolute zero was useless against this power. She tried to move, to flee, to unleash her own powerful ice arts but the crushing weight pinned her to her throne, her crystalline body groaning and cracking under the strain.
Khaos flickered, appearing directly before her face. It raised its pincer. It did not hammer. It did not tap. It simply held it there, a silent, absolute threat.
"You are a queen," Khaos's mental voice was a cold, dispassionate statement. "You have a choice. You can be unmade, your existence erased like the mountain of rock. Or, you can bend the knee. Your army will perish but you will live. You will serve my host, Li Yu. And you will answer me. Choose."
The Glacial Matriarch looked at the tiny, galaxy-shelled creature before her. She could feel the unshakeable truth in its will. There was no room for negotiation, no possibility of escape. There was only submission or annihilation.
A wave of cold and reluctant submission washed over the battlefield. She had chosen life. She had chosen a new sovereign as well.
"A wise choice," Khaos stated. It turned its attention to Li Yu. "The bear has submitted. She is yours."
Before Li Yu could even react, the Matriarch spoke, her mental voice a powerful, resonant but utterly desperate plea. "Great Sovereign of the Void. This one submits. This one will serve your host with absolute loyalty. But I beg of you… a single request. My three most loyal generals… they are not a part of this tide. They have followed me for five hundred years. I beg of you… spare them."
Li Yu's spiritual sense flared. He saw the three beasts she was referring to. Two were magnificent, Rank 7 Stone-Hide Gargoyles, their bodies carved from living granite. The third was an ancient, Rank 6 Gale-Winged Griffin, its feathers a whirlwind of razor-sharp wind. They were her royal guard, powerful beasts of earth and wind and they were staring at Khaos with a mixture of terror and a fierce, unyielding protectiveness of their queen.
"They are not aquatic," Li Yu projected to Khaos. "They are of no use to me. To kill them would be a waste. To spare them would be a gesture of goodwill to our new… ally."
"You seek to play the benevolent king, little one? Very well. Your request is… amusingly sentimental. It is granted." Khaos turned gaze to the three beasts. "Your queen has purchased your lives with her own freedom. Leave this place. Do not return. If I see you again, I will consume your souls."
The three powerful beasts hesitated, looking at their queen. She gave them a single, sorrowful but mental command. Go.
With a final, mournful cry, the three beasts turned and fled, disappearing into the snow-capped peaks, a small, insignificant act of mercy on a day of absolute slaughter.
"Now," Khaos's voice was a cold, final judgment. "The cleanup."
A silent pulse of crushing force washed over the pinned, unmoving army of beasts. Their life forces were instantly extinguished. Another pulse and their bodies dissolved away.
The battle for the western front was over. Khaos simply taped her forehead like Kui and sealed her.
Li Yu approached the now-submissive Glacial Matriarch. He opened the portal to his sanctuary. "Enter," he commanded gently. "You have a new home now. You have a name?"
The magnificent beast, her pride broken, her army gone, looked at him with her sapphire-blue eyes. "This one… is called Xylia," she projected, her voice a melody of sorrow. From a queen to a servant was a hard blow to take but she was the one that started the war. Her form dissolved into a stream of crystalline light and flowed into the sanctuary.
Inside, she materialized in her smaller form, her cold, regal presence a stark contrast to Kui's boisterous flattery. She looked at the crimson-gold mist and after having a moment to take it all in this environment was suited for her cultivation.
As one door closes, another one opens. She had wanted to take over more land to get more resources, it looked like her goal for resources was met but now she was bound.
She then looked at Kui and finally at the obsidian ledge where Khaos resided. She lowered her head in a silent, dignified gesture of submission and found a secluded, icy corner of the lake to begin her new servitude.
Three down. One to go.