Daniel knew full well that Faer wouldn’t be able to hold off the Ice Mountain for long.
Though Faer was also a god, he had only recently undergone his ascension ritual.
In contrast, Daniel could feel that the Ice Mountain, a creature of sun rank, was far more powerful at its core.
If not for Faer’s elemental attributes counteracting its power, the creature should have already broken free by now.
Even so, Daniel was certain that the Ice Mountain had likely already escaped the battle with Faer.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Daniel pushed himself to move as fast as possible, darting up the timeline of the River of Time, toward a more distant era.
When Kartora saw Daniel reappear, a glimmer of relief spread across her face.
Using her divine authority, she accelerated Daniel’s speed as much as she could.
As for why they didn’t just return to the present, it was because the Ice Mountain, upon entering the River of Time, had frozen all the areas near the modern timeline.
So, Daniel could only keep moving further back in time.
What to do once he reached the farthest end of time wasn’t something Daniel could even think about.
Survival was his only priority.
However, even though Daniel had accelerated, he had barely traveled a few centuries before another familiar spatial disturbance threw him out of the River of Time once more.
Everything went dark for a moment.
Then, a sudden wave of mind power hit Daniel’s consciousness.
"Impressive, Crossbridge. You really are a formidable opponent, the kind capable of leaving a name on the Fate Stone."
"But even so, against absolute power, you are still far too weak!"
"Right now, you only have one choice left: to be completely devoured by me. Only then will I become the most powerful being in this world."
"Of course, as a reward for your choice to submit, I will allow you to keep a sliver of your consciousness intact. In a sense, you won’t have truly died—you and I will become the greatest force to ever exist!"
Daniel ignored the Ice Mountain’s words.
If he had ever considered submitting, he wouldn’t have fought this hard until now.
But he could feel the palpable killing intent from the Ice Mountain.
There was no way he would willingly fall into its trap.
Instead, seeing the creature’s attempt at seduction, Daniel shot back, his words laced with disdain.
"If you think I’ll submit to you, you’ve completely miscalculated! In fact, I’m far harder to kill than you imagine!"
"And don’t forget, you’re no living being. You’re merely a monster created by an ultimate will! Even if you’re sun rank, so what? Do you truly possess freedom?"
Daniel’s words struck like an ice pick—sharp and true—directly into the core of the Ice Mountain’s being.
That previously mocking, playful intent within the creature was instantly replaced by a blinding rage.
"You’re asking for death!"
The Ice Mountain’s defenses shattered completely.
It no longer held back or tested Daniel.
Instead, it gathered every ounce of its massive power and unleashed it with devastating force.
The next moment, the Ice Mountain charged at Daniel with enough destructive energy to freeze all of space-time.
Faced with such a desperate, chaotic blow, Daniel instinctively tried to dodge.
But the attack was too fast.
Before he could even react, the attack was already upon him.
In that critical moment, Daniel made a split-second decision—he entered the rift caused by the earlier spatial tremor.
If he could just slip through, he might be able to buy some time.
But just as his body was about to pass through the rift—
Crack!
A sharp, crystalline freezing sound rang through his ears.
Daniel’s pupils contracted.
The rift he had been heading toward, a passage into an unknown era, was sealed off by a layer of transparent ice that appeared out of nowhere.
A surge of intense cold instantly invaded his body, creeping into his limbs and bones.
This wasn’t the low temperature of physical cold.
It was a temperature capable of freezing concepts—freezing time itself.
Absolute zero.
The very core of existence.
Daniel tried to retreat, to slip back into the River of Time.
But to his horror, the River of Time had frozen solid as well.
The past and future currents—both had been sealed by an unimaginable thickness of hard ice.
Time had no flow for Daniel anymore.
He was trapped.
Completely immobilized in a small, frozen piece of time and space.
Kartora and Karlbira appeared beside him, their faces wearing an unprecedented gravity.
They exchanged a brief look, one that spoke volumes, both understanding the resolve in the other’s eyes.
At that moment, both of them were ready to give up their individual existence, to fuse together and forcefully ascend to become true gods of time.
But before they could act on their decision, a soft, cool moonlight suddenly fell from the void.
This light, so pure and serene, seemed to ignore both spatial distance and the barriers of time, enveloping Daniel and Kartora together in a single, blinding glow.
At almost the same instant, that moonlight struck the Ice Mountain’s massive body.
Its pain was almost unbearable—so intense that it couldn’t even scream.
Instead, a mental shriek erupted across the frozen space.
The Ice Mountain’s enormous body trembled violently.
Just as this was happening, Daniel heard a familiar, urgent voice in his mind.
"Crossbridge, hurry! Run!"
The Ice Mountain howled in rage, its violent thoughts transforming into a physical storm that ravaged everything around it.
"It’s you damned gods again!"
"Hiding in the shadows to strike!"
"If I catch you—your divine kingdoms will become eternal ice!"
Without hesitation, Daniel grabbed Kartora and Karlbira, and they fled toward the direction illuminated by the moonlight.
He could clearly feel that Luna’s attack was definitely god-tier power.
Yet, the Ice Mountain’s immense energy seemed unaffected.
Using Eye of Insight, Daniel even saw the cracks forming on the Ice Mountain’s body, created by the moonlight, quickly healing at a visible speed.
Daniel’s lips twitched slightly.
The creature’s defensive capabilities were beyond ridiculous.
It had just taken a full-strength god attack, yet it seemed completely unscathed.
Was this the true terror of sun rank monsters?