Deep within the Everwinter Plains, the intense restlessness of the stellaron core transformed into countless shrill, icy whispers, like invisible tentacles, frantically reaching out toward its once most successful "spokesperson."
[Cocolia! Cocolia! Respond to me! Where are you?!]
[Those insects... those variables... they are getting closer!]
[Use your authority! Crush them!]
[Cocolia!!!]
However, these seductive sounds that once easily tugged at heartstrings and amplified darkness now seemed to crash against an impenetrable ice wall, echoing futilely at the distant edge of consciousness, unable to reach the target's ears.
Meanwhile, inside Qlipoth Fort, in a lounge temporarily converted into a "special office."
"Achoo--!!"
Cocolia let out a loud sneeze, rubbed her slightly red nose, and looked blankly out the window (though she could only see a wall): "Strange... with my constitution, I can actually catch a cold?"
"It's useless even if you have a cold."
On the other side of the room, [Cocolia] was sitting leisurely beside a small coffee table, holding a steaming cup of herbal tea—said to be brought from the Lower District—sipping it slowly without even lifting her eyelids.
"Sick leave is not approved. These documents..."
She tapped her toe against the desk in front of Cocolia, which was almost buried in paper.
"They must be sorted and organized within today. Mark urgent items in red, stupid proposals in yellow (for reference when hanging on street lamps), and routine matters in blue. This is part of your 'profound reflection'."
Cocolia looked at the mountain of files before her—many of which she had reviewed or even signed herself (when influenced by the stellaron core)—and felt her vision go dark, a dull pain in her stomach.
She now fully understood what a concrete and subtle pain "lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own feet" was.
These stupid orders, contradictory decisions, plans that wasted resources... they were all mines she had planted with her own hands!
"However..."
[Cocolia] put down her teacup, her gaze falling with slight (but not much) sympathy on the special shackles on Cocolia's ankle, which flickered with faint rune light and were connected to a heavy metal ball.
"Serval, this person... where on earth did she get so much 'professional equipment'? The anti-magic runes on these shackles are quite authentic, and the lock core structure is complex... where did they come from?"
She rubbed her chin, a bit curious about her friend's unknown "hobby" inventory.
Hearing this, a small flame of hope ignited in Cocolia's eyes. She tried hard to look pitiful and lowered her voice: "Um... since we're on the same side now, and Serval has gone to the front lines to help maintain the automatons... can we... can you unlock this first? I promise not to run, it's just a bit uncomfortable to sit with..."
She tried to move her foot, the shackles and the metal ball making a dull clanking sound.
[Cocolia] glanced at her and shook her head decisively: "No. Don't even think about it. If you run, or pull any tricks, and Serval comes back and finds out, who do you think she'll nag? The unlucky one who has to keep acting as the 'acting guardian' to clean up the mess won't be me, right?"
She picked up the teacup again, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.
"Work honestly, 'me'. Use your own experience to fully appreciate what is called the 'weight of decision-making'."
Cocolia: "..."
The small flame of hope was extinguished with a "poof" by the cold water of ruthless reality.
She indignantly picked up the next file, titled "Feasibility Report on Utilizing the Extreme Cold Climate of the Everwinter Plains to Mass-Produce Ice Cream to Boost Morale," signed by a gourmet aristocrat.
She silently picked up the yellow label.
"stellaron core! We've come to kill you--!!"
Stella's imposing roar, accompanied by the sound of him swinging his baseball bat through the air, echoed across the frozen clearing in the core area of the Everwinter Plains.
The laurel crown on his head sparkled under the reflection of the ice crystals, as if he carried a taunt aura.
The stellaron core, floating in mid-air like a combination of giant twisted ice crystals and shadows, began to fluctuate violently with the chaotic energy surrounding it.
[Damn it!!]
The shrill scream of the stellaron core, mixed with countless chaotic consciousnesses, exploded directly in everyone's minds, full of exasperation.
It no longer held back, its main body glowing brilliantly!
In an instant, with it as the center, ice and snow energy, violent to the extreme, was triggered!
The biting cold wind instantly intensified more than ten times, sweeping up the hard ice and snow on the ground, forming a terrifying blizzard capable of obscuring vision and cutting skin!
Visibility plummeted to less than five meters, and the bone-chilling cold frantically eroded everyone's body temperature and willpower.
"Careful! It wants to interfere with us!"
Dan Heng reacted first, the cloud piercer in his hand shimmering with cyan light.
His eyes were sharp, locking onto the densest energy source (the stellaron core) in the blizzard. Exhaling sharply, his arm muscles tensed, and he threw the cloud piercer with all his might like a javelin!
"Whoosh--!!"
The cloud piercer turned into a cyan stream of light, tearing through the wind and snow, accurately hitting the stellaron core!
"Clang--!!"
A crisp sound, like hitting ten-thousand-year-old black ice!
The cloud piercer was violently bounced away, spinning back into Dan Heng's hand.
The surface of the stellaron core only rippled slightly with light, not even leaving a scratch.
"Tsk, defense is extremely strong."
Dan Heng clenched his slightly numb wrist, his brows locked tight.
Meanwhile, dense, teeth-gritting scraping and roaring sounds came from the blizzard!
The surrounding ice layers cracked, snowdrifts surged, and dozens of Rift creatures, each with different forms but all full of malice—Ice Blades, Frost-Eating Shadow Beasts, and twisted remains of ancient creations—emerged from all directions, using the cover of the wind and snow to pounce on the group surrounded in the middle!
"Protect the flanks!"
Bronya shouted clearly, her modified flintlock spitting out a steady tongue of fire, blowing up an Ice Blade attacking from the left in mid-air.
March 7th also drew her Six-Phased Ice longbow, firing a barrage of ice arrows. Although the lethality was limited, the accompanying freezing effect successfully delayed the charging speed of several monsters.
Stelle was already wielding her baseball bat, and together with Dan Heng, who held the cloud piercer and whose spear strikes were like a dragon, met the melee-type Rift creatures rushing from the front and right flank.
The sounds of the baseball bat and spear tip smashing ice shells and tearing shadow bodies were constant.
"The situation is not good! Too many numbers, environment is too bad!"
Seele's figure appeared and disappeared in the wind and snow, her scythe taking down an enemy with every swing, but the emergence of monsters seemed endless.
Just then, Stella jumped back abruptly, temporarily leaving the battle circle, formed hand seals (actually just him gesturing randomly, thinking it looked cooler), took a deep breath, and shouted with all his might:
"Grand Summoning Technique! Activate! Urgent need for off-field assistance--!!"
As his voice fell, above the open ground in front of him, four beams of light of different colors flashed out of thin air, accompanied by a slight sense of space distortion!
The light beams dissipated, and four figures suddenly appeared!
[Bailu] looked confused, but her eyes quickly locked onto the battlefield, her little nose wrinkling: "Such thick cold air and malice! Who is sick? Oh no, wait, who is about to get beaten up?"
[Little Herta] had just stood firm when she disdainfully brushed off non-existent dust, her little face puffed up as she looked around: "Fighting is fighting, why pull me from the lab? Wait... where is my galatron?! Why can't I bring my big baby over?!"
She looked at the hideous Rift creatures around her and became even angrier.
And, the last one—[Jing Yuan], whose whole body seemed to still have the dust of the training ground!
The Formation Blade in his hand now showed faint lightning, his face carrying a trace of excitement at finally being able to engage in real combat, and a little bit... of relief from being freed from [Bronya]'s "special care"?
"Thunder... is here!"
[Jing Yuan] whistled clearly, swinging the Formation Blade in his hand. A lightning strike, though not grand, was extremely condensed and accurately struck two Rift creatures lunging at [Bailu] and [Little Herta], instantly carbonizing them!
[Bronya] said nothing, her movements swift as the wind. She fired her flintlock to kill a Shadow Beast attempting to sneak attack March, then spun around, using the hard butt of the gun to smash the head of another Ice Blade lunging from the side, her movements clean and efficient, carrying a fierce energy.
"Why can't I bring the galatron over! The terrain here is clearly very suitable for it to perform! Even if it's just for show, it could scare people!"
[Little Herta] complained while not staying idle.
She took out from somewhere a small tool that looked like a wrench and a nail gun, "poof" at a small Rift creatures rushing over, firing a high-speed bolt, pinning it directly to the ice wall, still struggling.
"Whoever is exhausted, injured, or feels too cold, come over and take a sip! It works!"
[Bailu] had already opened her small medicine gourd, the rich medicinal fragrance instantly dispelling some of the cold.
She first gulped down a small sip herself, a healthy flush appearing on her face, and then with a flick of her Tail, unexpectedly swatted away an enemy trying to approach from behind, her movements as fluid as if she had practiced.
With the addition of these three "reinforcements" with different styles but impressive combat power, the battle situation, which was originally a bit tight, was immediately boosted!
There were Dan Heng, Stelle, and [Jing Yuan] attacking fiercely from the front; Bronya, March 7th, [Bronya], and Seele roaming and supporting on the flanks; [Little Herta] using various small gadgets to create trouble and control the field; and [Bailu] bouncing around, going wherever support was needed, while providing a mobile fountain service of "take a sip to refresh your mind and resist the cold."
The battlefield suddenly became lively, with ice chips, electric light, bullets, medicinal mist, and bolts flying everywhere, mixed with [Little Herta]'s continuous complaints about not being able to summon the galatron, [Bailu]'s lively greetings of "come drink medicine quickly," and the constant roaring and breaking sounds of the Rift creatures.
The stellaron core was at the center of the blizzard, its light flickering violently, not knowing if it was because of anger, or because it saw this group of "variables" becoming more and more difficult to deal with, generating an emotion similar to "panic."
[How is it possible... these energies... these existences... should not appear here!]
Its shrill scream sounded even more twisted in the wind.
Stella held the Flame Lance and hid behind [Jing Yuan], while adding shields to everyone, he secretly glanced at the status of his teammates on the system panel, finding that although everyone was in a sorry state, their health bars were still quite healthy, especially those who had drunk [Bailu]'s potion, as it seemed even their frostbite was slowly recovering.
"Good! Just like that! Slowly grind it to death!"
Stella clenched his fists, feeling the scales of victory beginning to tilt in their favor!
Although the process was full of surprises and complaints, their "professional team" (self-proclaimed) really looked professional!