The five Commanders stood frozen for a split second.
Their eyes were wide as they gazed at the endless line of Ice Monsters.
Without a word, they dismounted from their Solar steeds.
They absorbed the horses' energy back into their own bodies.
The glowing creatures flickered and vanished into thin air.
Commander Kling stepped forward.
He slammed his solar-imbued staff into the permafrost.
The impact was cataclysmic.
Within a thirty-meter radius, the ice shattered and groaned.
It felt as if an invisible mountain had just dropped onto the earth.
"Get back!" Kling warned, his voice like grinding stones.
"Stay clear, or this gravity will crush your bones into dust!"
The veteran stood atop his staff, buried deep within the fractured earth.
As the Ice Monsters lunged, they were snared by the crushing pressure.
Their crystalline structures couldn't hold.
Their bodies buckled and imploded under the sheer force of gravity.
On the other flank, Commander Jems knelt.
He pressed both palms to the frozen ground.
Streams of liquid solar energy pulsed from his hands.
They tunneled through the ice like glowing serpents.
Suddenly, the ground beneath the monsters erupted.
A solar volcano burst forth, incinerating them in a heartbeat.
The monsters began to adapt, scrambling away from the searing spray.
"Target their throats!" Kling barked over the chaos.
"The cores are in their necks—strike there to end them!"
"We know!" the others shouted back in unison.
Commander Yui took to the skies with supernatural grace.
She pointed her index fingers like dual pistols.
She fired concentrated photon lasers with surgical precision.
One by one, the cores of the monsters shattered under her light.
But the air grew heavy.
Several elite monsters began radiating a 'Freezing Aura.'
The very oxygen began to crystallize into fine mist.
The Commanders' rhythm faltered as suffocation set in.
They were forced to retreat to catch their breath.
Seeing the opening, Commander Elvis focused his senses.
He channeled solar energy directly into his eyes.
A blinding radiance erupted from his gaze.
It instantly flash-blinded the strong-aura monsters.
"Now, Yui!" Elvis roared.
Yui blurred through the mist.
Her lasers cut through the blinded elites' necks before they could recover.
Meanwhile, young Commander Lak moved like a ghost.
His solar blade sliced through ice-flesh like soft butter.
He left a trail of decimated foes in his wake.
As the battle slowed, the others leaned on their weapons, exhausted.
But Lak and Kling remained relentless.
They finished off the remaining stragglers with cold efficiency.
Silence returned to the tundra.
"That was... quite easy," Lak remarked with a small smirk.
"Indeed," Kling grunted, wiping his brow. "Far too easy."
They summoned their solar steeds once more.
The glowing horses illuminated the dark path as they rode deeper into the freeze.
Back at the heart of the kingdom, Liuke was finally summoned.
Three armored guards escorted him into the Queen's throne room.
The sight was breathtaking.
Queen Sharley sat upon a throne flanked by two massive ice wings.
They pulsed with ancient frost energy, regal and terrifying.
"Boy," Queen Sharley's voice echoed through the hall.
"What is your name?"
"My name is... Liuke," he replied, his voice small in the vast chamber.
"Liuke," Sharley said softly. "Do you know why you were brought here?"
"Yes, Queen."
"The solar energy within you is vital for our survival," she said motherly.
"You must not think us selfish, or that we intend to use you only for our ends."
"Yes, Queen. Whatever you say," Liuke replied.
He wanted to scream, but he knew he was a bird in a cage.
"Would you like to learn about our kingdom?" she asked.
A ripple of shock went through the court.
The guards and advisors exchanged confused glances.
Why was the Queen being so merciful to a mere 'power source'?
"If you wish... I am ready to learn," Liuke said, masking his suspicion.
Queen Sharley rose from her throne and walked toward him.
"Come. I will take you myself. I shall show you everything."
Rygar, the Queen's strongest knight, felt a sharp sting of jealousy.
"Queen, shall I accompany you as your shield?" Rygar asked.
Sharley's gaze turned to ice.
"I wish to go alone, Rygar. I am not weak. You are dismissed!"
Far away, the five Commanders approached a massive frozen peak.
"We'll have to go around it," Commander Elvis noted.
Suddenly, the 'mountain' groaned.
The ground shook with the force of a massive earthquake.
The Commanders pulled their reins, stopping dead in their tracks.
A deep, booming laugh vibrated through the very air.
The snow at the base of the peak exploded.
The 'mountain' began to stand up.
It was a Titan, fifty meters tall and carved from ancient, jagged ice.
It looked down at the tiny specks of light below.
"New playthings?" the Titan rumbled like falling boulders.
"Hahaha! It has been centuries since my last real fight."
"Come then... today, I shall end you all!"
The Five Commanders braced themselves.
The real war had just begun.