Chapter 23 — Beneath the Roar of Winter
The frostlands had never been this silent.
Even after hours of trekking beyond the ice valleys, past the migration trail, and deeper into the untouched northern expanse, the trio found no ordinary beasts, no Exalted predators, no Mythic monstrosities. Only the crunching of their boots, the whisper of drifting snow, and the distant groan of ice shifting under its own weight.
Alicia paused first.
Her breath misted slowly, unnaturally. Not from effort. From pressure.
"Something is… wrong."
Vaibhav lifted his gaze toward a distant ridge where thick pillars of ice twisted upward like frozen tendrils. The air around it shimmered faintly, as if bending under spiritual weight.
He felt it too—like the entire world was holding a breath.
Shin. wasn't smiling. His usual cocky posture shifted into something quiet, focused. "This aura… it's not Mythic."
Alicia's hand tightened around her blade. "Transcendent."
Before Vaibhav could reply, the ice cracked.
Not a normal crack.
Not the fissure of shifting glaciers.
This one sounded like the earth itself splitting.
A low rumble rose beneath the snowfield, shaking the frost in rippling waves. Vaibhav steadied himself as the ground shuddered again—harder this time—sending white plumes spiraling into the air.
Then everything went still.
A moment of silence.
A breath.
A heartbeat.
The ice exploded upward.
A mountain of white fur and blue crystalline armor erupted from beneath the frost. Snow cascaded off its body like an avalanche. Standing nearly twenty meters tall, its presence eclipsed the valley entirely.
A Transcendent-class Ice Bear.
Its eyes glowed with pale azure luminescence, jagged frost horns curling from its skull. With every exhale, waves of chilling mist spread outward, freezing the ground in radiating circles. Patterns of ancient, rune-like frost marks pulsed faintly beneath its fur—markings no ordinary beast possessed.
Vaibhav spoke first, voice steady but low. "This shouldn't be here."
Alicia shook her head. "Transcendents don't roam this region. They only appear in the Deep frontier."
Shin exhaled, amusement quietly returning to his expression. "Well… guess we're lucky."
The Ice Bear roared.
It wasn't a roar of warning.
It wasn't a roar of territorial threat.
It was a declaration—a king of the frostlands announcing its dominance.
The shockwave blasted snow across the entire ridge, sending the trio skidding back several meters. Vaibhav dug his boots into the ground, stabilizing his stance.
Alicia covered her ears briefly, eyes narrowing. "Its spiritual pressure is too dense."
Shin cracked his neck. "Good. Means I don't have to hold back much."
The Ice Bear lunged, its enormous paw sweeping downward with the force of a falling glacier.
Vaibhav jumped aside—just barely—feeling the wind pressure graze his cheek. The paw struck the ice behind him, shattering an entire boulder ridge into glittering fragments.
Shin blurred upward in response.
His foot vanished.
Then reappeared—buried in the Ice Bear's jaw.
The Lightning Kick.
No flash, no spark—only impossible speed, a sharp displacement of air, and the sickening crunch of impact. The Ice Bear's head jerked sideways, snow exploding from the blow.
But it did not fall.
Instead it growled deeply, shook its massive head, and swung again—this time toward Shin.
Shin blocked with both arms.
The impact sent him crashing into the ground, carving a trench several meters long.
Alicia moved in next, her aura flaring emerald. With fluid precision she pressed her palms together, forming a transparent, shimmering pane of energy.
Ethereal Divide.
The Ice Bear exhaled a blast of condensed frost, but the barrier bent the attack, redirecting the freezing wind upward into the sky where it fragmented into harmless particles.
Shin climbed out of the crater he'd created, brushing frost off his coat. "Hey! I wasn't done hitting you."
The Ice Bear stomped toward him.
Its massive weight cracked the ground in pulsing tremors, each step radiating power strong enough to distort the frost vapors around its limbs.
Vaibhav sprinted forward, placing himself at the center line between the beast and his teammates.
He slid one foot back.
Raised his palm.
A faint ripple formed in the air around his hand—an invisible pressure wave condensing tighter and tighter until the atmosphere itself strained.
"Heavenrend…"
The Ice Bear charged.
"…Impact!"
Vaibhav thrust his palm forward.
A shockwave detonated outward—pure compressed force piercing the air with a thunderous boom. The distortion struck the Ice Bear's chest, cracking its frost armor and forcing the creature back several steps.
But only several.
The Ice Bear roared in fury and slammed both paws into the ground.
Ice spikes jutted upward in a cascade, spreading in a spiraling wave toward the trio.
Alicia reacted instantly, forming three spherical barriers that spun into motion around them. The ice spikes shattered against Ethereal Divide, splintering into harmless shards.
Shin leapt over the protective fields, sprinting atop the forming ice like stepping stones.
He reached the Ice Bear's left flank, pivoted midair—
And his legs disappeared again.
Lightning Kick—three strikes in under a second.
The first cracked the Ice Bear's ribs.
The second dented the frost armor.
The third landed at the base of its jaw, snapping its head back.
The beast stumbled, creating an opening.
Vaibhav slid beneath its guard, striking with another Heavenrend palm. The shockwave traveled through the bear's abdomen, forcing it to rear up on its hind legs.
Alicia seized the chance, compressing her aura into a narrow blade of force. She slashed across the beast's exposed underbelly, leaving a glowing scar of emerald light.
The Ice Bear roared again—this time in pain.
Its massive arm came crashing toward Alicia.
Vaibhav dashed forward, catching the strike with both forearms.
His bones vibrated.
His muscles screamed.
But he held the blow for a crucial moment—long enough for Shin to leap in from behind, kicking the beast's elbow joint with vicious speed.
The bone cracked audibly, and the Ice Bear's arm twisted awkwardly.
Alicia stepped back and fired a point-blank blast into the wounded joint. The beast staggered, its balance shifting.
Vaibhav saw the moment.
And he moved.
He dashed beneath its torso, gathered every ounce of force into a single palm, and struck the beast's heart.
"Heavenrend—
BREAK!"
The shockwave tore through muscle, bone, and frost armor.
The Ice Bear's roar cut off mid-bellow.
The giant collapsed onto its side, the ground trembling beneath its massive body. A faint green light pulsed from its core before escaping into the air as a spiritual echo.
Vaibhav inhaled sharply as the life force surged into him—heavy, ancient, powerful.
> [+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
[Beast Spirit Acquired: Ice Bear Monarch]
Shin exhaled deeply, wiping frost from his hair. "Damn. That thing hit hard."
Alicia inspected the beast's frozen hide. "Its density was far above a normal Transcendent."
Vaibhav nodded slowly. "This… doesn't make sense. Transcendent beasts shouldn't exist here."
Alicia touched the glowing symbols beneath the Ice Bear's fur. "These markings are directional. It traveled. This beast wasn't born in this region."
"Dragged," Vaibhav murmured. "Something dragged it across Ignis Prime."
They exchanged a tense glance.
Shin crouched beside the corpse, slicing into the thick frost armor with effort. Even for him, it took strength. After digging through crystallized bone, he revealed a deep-blue shard pulsing with transcendent energy.
He lifted it carefully.
Alicia blinked. "It's not mutated?"
Shin smirked. "Guess big boy didn't get corrupted yet."
He held the shard against his palm, letting the energy dissolve upward like rising mist.
> [+6 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Shin
He rose to his feet, stretching lazily. "Well… that was fun."
Vaibhav stared at the ridge from where the beast had come. "If Transcendent beasts are migrating…"
Alicia finished the thought, voice tight.
"…then something even stronger is forcing them to move."
The wind howled between the shattered ridges, carrying with it the faint echoes of distant roars. None of them spoke for several seconds. Even Shin wasn't smiling. The presence of a Transcendent creature in this region had shifted something inside all three of them—a silent acknowledgment that Ignis Prime was changing far faster than anyone imagined.
They traveled in silence for nearly an hour.
Through twisting frost corridors.
Across cracked plains where only Mythic titans once walked.
Under jagged ice pillars that moaned as the storm pushed against them.
Eventually, a small structure emerged from the snow—a Cristarion shelter-station half-buried in drifting frost. Its protective barrier flickered weakly, underpowered and unmaintained.
Shin tapped the frame. "Empty."
Alicia glanced inside. "No Evolvers. They evacuated."
Vaibhav brushed snow off an old supply crate. "Makes sense. ERA told everyone to leave."
Vaibhav sat on a crystalline bench, taking a slow breath as he lifted his hand.
"Let me see something…"
He closed his eyes.
A faint ripple of light flickered across his wrist, then spread upward along his arm in a thin trail of icy-blue energy. It spiraled once, tightening—then burst outward in a flash of cold brilliance.
A claw materialized.
White, crystalline, shaped like frozen bone and metallic frost. It wrapped around Vaibhav's forearm up to the elbow—curved, sharp, and radiating the same spiritual pressure as the Transcendent Ice Bear they had slain.
Alicia's eyes widened slightly. "The Beast Spirit…"
Vaibhav flexed his fingers.
The claw extended instinctively, lengthening into a hooked talon. Thin frost vapor drifted from its edges like breath from a living creature.
"It's… a weapon," he murmured. "An ice claw."
Shin leaned in with genuine interest. "Looks badass. Try cutting something."
Vaibhav flicked his arm.
A curved arc of frost sliced cleanly through a half-buried supply crate, bisecting it without resistance—even though the crate was reinforced alloy.
Alicia nodded approvingly. "Sharp. Compressed ice energy."
Vaibhav dismissed the Beast Spirit, and the claw dissolved into shimmering particles before vanishing into his skin.
Shin stepped outside the shelter, crouching near the snow. He brushed aside a layer of frost, revealing wide claw marks. Several sets. Deep. Heavy. Unmistakably Mythic—and Mutated Mythic.
"All moving southwest," he said, voice surprisingly serious. "Every single trail."
Vaibhav and Alicia joined him.
Shin pointed further ahead, where the snow dipped into a narrow pathway carved by enormous paws. "This wasn't one group. This was dozens."
Alicia touched one of the prints. It was warmer than normal—heat residue left behind by a high-tier creature. "Even Transcendent footprints…"
Vaibhav stepped forward slowly. "Then we follow from a distance."
They pressed onward.
Sticking to the upper ridges, moving silently above the carved migration channels. The herds below were not together in one unified group—rather, dozens of smaller clusters moving in the same direction, all instinctively pushed southwest by a force they did not understand.
The trio kept out of sight.
They passed a Mythic Frost Basilisk slithering through a gorge, its ice-plated ribs cracked from earlier battles.
They watched a Mutated Mythic Frostclaw Omega sprinting through the snow, its red lines glowing like molten wounds.
They saw a towering Transcendent Ice Serpent tunnel through the ground, leaving a steam-filled trench behind.
None of these beasts noticed the trio.
None stopped.
None hunted.
They only moved—relentlessly—toward the same distant horizon.
Alicia whispered, "This is… coordinated migration. But not by choice."
Shin frowned. "Something's pulling them… or pushing them."
Vaibhav didn't take his eyes off the distant cracks in the land. "Wherever they're going… that's where everything's happening."
The farther they walked, the more the environment changed.
The snow thinned.
Frost mist weakened.
The biting cold eased just slightly.
Vaibhav lifted his hand, feeling the air.
"…The temperature is rising."
Alicia inhaled. "This region shouldn't get warmer. Not ever."
Shin straightened, eyes narrowing toward the southwest—toward whatever force was dragging Ignis Prime's strongest beasts across the continent.
"The land itself is changing," he muttered.
And ahead of them, the frostlands trembled.