Trapped within the ice, Nox strained with all his might, attempting to shatter the statue encasing him and free himself, but it was in vain. He couldn't even move a single muscle. His eyes rolled in their sockets as he looked around; indeed, the others were also struggling, but it was futile.
'It feels as if the ice is restricting our powers,' Nox thought, feeling slightly dizzy. The freezing cold was almost unbearable, and he couldn't help but curse the Elemental Beast in his mind.
Was it a hidden psychopath that preferred to give its enemies a slow, painful death? Nox couldn't help but wonder.
Slowly, the world started to blur, and Nox, along with everyone else, lost consciousness.
As they slipped into unconsciousness, the icy dome began to melt away. At first, the process was slow, but it soon picked up speed. The reason was simple: the Elemental Beast was no longer inside the dome.
Within seconds, the dome completely melted, turning into a puddle of water. However, the statues remained intact, showing no sign of melting anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the red-skinned girl smiled as she looked at the countless frozen statues within the now-transparent dome. "It seems the Elemental Beast just made things much easier for us."
"Destroy all the statues, but leave that one for me," the red-skinned girl ordered sternly, pointing at Nox's frozen statue.
The rest of the girls followed her gaze and nodded in unison. "Yes, leader," they echoed.
Not wanting to prolong the mission any further, the girls charged forward with their weapons drawn. This was the easiest fight they'd ever had. If someone had told them the mission would take such an unpredictable turn, they wouldn't have believed it.
However, just before the girls could reach the statues, a giant ice wall burst out of the ground, blocking their path.
"Huh?" The girls skidded to a stop, confused. Where did this wall come from? Hadn't the Elemental Beast already left? So who was responsible for this?
The red-skinned girl, still standing where she had been observing the fight, noticed this as well. However, unlike the others, she didn't show any signs of panic.
She leaped down from the elevated hill where she had been watching and rushed over to the wall. Placing her hand on the ice, a chilling aura permeated through her body.
A frown emerged on her face. "Come out! Whoever you are, come out this instant!"
Immediately after she spoke, a beast that looked very similar to the Elemental Beast the Awakened had been fighting walked through the solid wall as if it were intangible. But the red-skinned girl had knocked on the ice wall and confirmed it was very solid.
This only meant that this beast was the one stopping her. The red-skinned girl could tell the beast was related to the Elemental Beast, perhaps a clone or something similar, though its aura was several times weaker.
Still, she wondered, why stop them?
The beast's actions, not killing the Awakened, had already puzzled the red-skinned girl... but this was even more confusing.
Regardless, she wouldn't stand by and let the beast be an obstacle to completing her mission.
"Take them down!" she shouted, charging headlong toward the sturdy ice wall. The beast tried to stop her, but her speed outmatched theirs as she weaved between them, avoiding all attacks. As the distance between her and the wall shortened, she slammed a fierce fist into it.
A thunderous sound reverberated, but the wall stood firm. There were no cracks, no tremors... nothing happened!
The red-skinned girl frowned and continued to bombard the wall with a barrage of lightning-fast blows capable of shattering a brick wall into fragments.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
For the next few minutes, she continued her assault uninterrupted, as the beasts were occupied dealing with her subordinates. Yet, despite her efforts, she made no progress.
The wall didn't falter for even a second.
"T-this is the beast protecting the Awakened?" The girl was perplexed; this was the first time she had witnessed something .
'Even if I had joined the fight, it wouldn't have changed the outcome,' Jack thought as he watched the battle from the mountain overlooking the lake area. He slowly made his way toward the frozen statues.
Like everyone else, he had seen the signal and rushed over. But like Reyes's plan, he had decided to take a backseat and let the others do the work, planning to swoop in and steal the Elemental Crystal afterward.
That had been the initial plan until everything went sideways. Jack could have chosen to return to hiding and think of other ways to get the Elemental Beast, but he decided against it... because he saw a familiar face among the frozen statues.
Someone he had never expected to see here.
The same interesting boy he had met inside the tunnel!
Walking through the frozen statues, Jack's gaze scanned the area for a specific person. He didn't really care about the others; they could remain for eternity.
Soon, he smiled as he stumbled upon the frozen statue of a handsome, dark-haired boy. "Found you!"
Jack then proceeded to carefully carve the ice around the statue with his trusty odachi. He worked diligently, carving as carefully as he could. If he smashed it too hard, it could result in the person inside turning into shattered fragments of ice.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally got rid of the ice. As soon as he was free, Nox fell to his knees, gasping for breath. His body felt so cold that if he had been encased for even a second longer, he was certain he would have entered the circle of reincarnation once again.
"There, let it all out," Jack said, continuing to pat Nox on the back as the latter tried to catch his breath.
Curious to know who had saved him, Nox lifted his head and looked up and saw youth with black hair falling down his forehead and crossed shaped scar undeneath his eyes. Jack simply offered a carefree smile.
"You!" Nox wanted to exclaim, but he was too out of breath.
"I knew we'd meet again, but I never thought it would be ... as a statue. How've you been, Sully?"