Iris' chest rose and fell in quiet fury, yet beneath the anger was a cold, unfamiliar panic. She could clearly feel it—her spiritual energy circulating slower, heavier, as though being dragged down by invisible chains.
What terrified her most was the suppression of her ice-attribute power.
Her Ice Phoenix bloodline—her proudest source of strength, her identity—felt suffocated.
"My ice power comes from the ice phoenix bloodline… how can something suppress it so easily?" Iris muttered, brows knitting.
At first, she suspected some hidden formation or domain technique. But the fluctuation was too precise, too targeted. A trace of unfamiliar beast aura lingered in the air… faint, but unmistakably directed at her.
Her eyes widened slightly as realization dawned.
"Beast… control?" she whispered.
And not the crude kind practiced by ordinary beast tamers.
This… this felt like something far beyond that—like an ancient, noble command imprinted deep in bloodlines.
