Luckily, the heat-source Gemstones and the puppet provided protection, warding off the soul-touching Coldness, allowing her to merely sense it. This long-missed sensation unexpectedly lifted Lucilia’s mood. However, Lucilia clearly felt the puppet’s movements becoming somewhat stiff, though it could at least still move. She immediately sprang into action, running towards the distant mechanical sphere standing amidst the ruins.
Watching Lucilia run, the few people observing the screen couldn’t help but hold their breath, fearful that the mechanical sphere would suddenly attack her. On the screen, Lucilia’s puppet moved with great agility, leaping and bounding over the giant boulders in the ruins. She controlled the puppet to perform many acrobatic-like maneuvers. Even dragging a Mirror with one foot didn’t impede its movements. However, as time passed, the puppet’s actions visibly grew increasingly stiff.
As she drew closer to the machinery, she also drew nearer to the Treasure. Eventually, Lucilia’s puppet body could no longer move quickly. It could only advance slowly, a layer of Frost even forming on its surface. Lucilia sensed the heat source within her puppet. It was currently consuming the Energy from the Gemstones at a frantic pace and wouldn’t be able to sustain itself for much longer. She had to act quickly, but the Frost on the puppet’s surface hindered her.
Gazing at the machinery, still a dozen or so meters away, Lucilia stood her ground. She channeled the vast majority of the Magic Power within the puppet into its vocalizing device. A sharp, unknown language emitted from the puppet’s mouth. As the sound traveled, Lucilia’s soul immediately slipped from the puppet into the Magic Mirror tied to its leg. The puppet reverted to its ordinary appearance, fell to the ground, and was swiftly covered by Frost, freezing into a block of ice. But the sound had traveled. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel{f}ire.net
The sound of this unknown language reached the mechanical device and was accurately received by it. The observers could see on the screen that the mechanical device began to move, its internal Energy source flickering. Then, the glow of the Energy gradually dimmed until it vanished. It worked! The device was indeed shut down, and without resorting to violence. The gray beam of light also disappeared.
With the attacks gone, the luminous object that had been emitting blue light also began to reduce its Energy emission. The Coldness retreated at a very noticeable speed. The object not only slowed its outward Energy release but even reabsorbed the Energy it had previously dispersed into the surroundings. However, after absorbing the Energy from the pit, it returned to its original state. It appeared to be a spherical object. Before they could get a clear look, it fell to the ground, obscured by the surrounding stones.
「Outside the ice mountain tunnel.」
In a recess of the Mountain Peak, Pororo was hiding, shielding himself from the raging blizzard outside. Ever since Alka and the others in the ice mountain tunnel had broken through the ice surface to connect to the pit below, the surging Energy Elements from the pit had intensified the blizzard outside. Pororo, after resisting for some time, had finally been unable to bear it and hidden himself in the recess. But now, he keenly sensed that the blizzard howling through the sky was weakening. The sound of the wind by his ears was quieting, and the obscured white world began to settle. It seems Alka and the others succeeded, he thought.
「On the island, in a large human settlement.」
This was where the island’s tribal residents lived, a place sheltered from wind and snow by rock walls and forests on all sides. A Shaman inside a beast-hide tent suddenly walked out, leaning on his Scepter. The young man beside him immediately supported him, urging, "Father, a blizzard is raging outside. Why not rest in the tent for a while?" The howling wind outside could still be heard, though it had somewhat weakened; it hadn’t completely disappeared.
The Shaman shook his head, raised the Scepter in his hand, and parted the heavy tent curtain, letting the wind and snow blow in. He closed his eyes, using his own body to feel the intensity of the storm. "This blizzard is slowing... slowing down quickly," he murmured. Feeling the snowstorm with his eyes still closed, he couldn’t help but lean on the Scepter in his hand and walk out of the tent. The young man immediately grabbed a thick fur garment, followed him out, and draped it over the Shaman’s shoulders, shielding him from the wind and snow. The Shaman did not refuse, simply standing there in the diminishing storm.
As time passed, the blizzard almost completely stopped. Even the large, feather-like snowflakes that usually fell from the sky became fine, turning into scattered, individual flakes. The surrounding temperature rose noticeably, and the long-absent sun shone down. Bathed in the sunlight, they felt the warmth. The tribal residents who had previously been hiding in their tents all came out, greeting the sunshine with smiles. However, they weren’t overly jubilant; at best, this merely hinted that the weather might be good for the day.
But the Shaman was different. He was a seer. Though he was old, he had lived in this environment since childhood and was acutely aware of its Elemental composition. He clearly sensed that the Ice Elements influencing the environment were rapidly retreating.