Even Firefly herself was stunned, let alone the reporters below.
She had been flying straight toward the Dimensional Rift in the sky, but shortly after emerging from the water, she felt as if she had crashed into something invisible.
In an instant, the azure sky, towering icebergs, and tranquil ice plains vanished completely, as if a colossal curtain had been lifted to reveal the scene behind it.
The first things to catch her eye were four immense square stone pillars, each with sides at least ten meters wide and reaching a height of a hundred meters.
Firefly could clearly see that the pillars were densely covered in symbols and text. Despite their sheer number, the markings were meticulously arranged, radiating a symmetrical beauty.
"This is... Concealment Magic?!" a reporter below muttered.
The reporter was from White Eagle, a wondrous nation where anything imaginable could be found—including magic.
Though this White Eagle reporter was among the weakest in his field—otherwise he wouldn't have been stuck freezing in the Arctic Ocean—he was still a professional with a keen eye for detail.
"These four pillars are the cornerstones and focal points of the magic array. Are they concealing this entire region?"
As a long-time observer of the Arctic Ocean's Dimensional Rift, the reporter was uniquely qualified to speak. Since his arrival, the rift had never changed. He had initially assumed it was a special type of rift, but now it was clear: everything he had witnessed over the past few years was a complete fabrication—illusions conjured by magic.
"In other words, this magic's influence isn't just massive, but its duration and concealment are incredibly powerful!"
The sheer scale of the magic was immediately apparent. The world before the reporter's eyes seemed to be collapsing, the shattering effects of the breaking magic array stretching to the very edge of his vision and beyond. The extent of the magical construct was staggering.
As for its duration, it had been active for at least three years! The reporter had been observing the Dimensional Rift for that long, so the magic's duration must be even longer.
Regarding its concealment, the fact that no other nation on Earth had detected this anomaly in three years spoke volumes.
Most importantly, this Concealment Magic was undoubtedly a man-made construct, not an inherent property of the Dimensional Rift itself. And only one nation in the world possessed the capability to achieve such a feat.
"Great Britain..." the reporter murmured. "Of course. When the Dimensional Rift first appeared in the Arctic Ocean, they were the first to send investigators due to their proximity. They must have erected this massive magical structure back then."
"But... why?"
This was also the question puzzling Firefly. After shattering the Concealment Magic, she clearly saw a vast expanse of perfectly smooth ice between the four colossal stone pillars. Upon this icy plain stood rows of ice-built structures, neatly arranged like a miniature town.
At the center of the Ice Town floated a diamond-shaped block of ice, roughly the size of an adult, hovering about a meter above the ground. Visible white cold Qi radiated from it, drifting outward and being absorbed by nearby dark devices shaped like trumpets, their surfaces densely covered with intricate symbols.
It seemed the entire Ice Town, and even the Concealment Magic surrounding it, had been constructed solely for this diamond-shaped ice block. This block, in turn, was likely the true product of the Dimensional Rift in the sky.
"Attachment..." Firefly suddenly recalled the term, more precisely, "Dimensional Rift: Attachment." This type of rift emitted an unknown wave that spread downward, influencing objects and granting them specific properties.
For example, the object dubbed the "Surprise Box," but more accurately called the "One-Sixth Dice," was a product of this type of Dimensional Rift.
It might have originally been an ordinary die, or perhaps just a piece of wood. But under the influence of the Dimensional Rift, it transformed into that fist-sized wooden cube emblazoned with a clown's face.
In other words, an object's appearance could change completely after being affected by a Dimensional Rift. Of course, the transformation wouldn't be too outlandish. The Surprise Box, for example, might have originated as a die or a piece of wood, but it certainly couldn't have been a bottle of vinegar.
In a sense, this could be considered the mildest type of Dimensional Rift. It only affected inanimate objects, leaving living beings untouched. Moreover, resolving it was simple: enter the rift's area, retrieve the transformed object, and the rift would quickly dissipate.
While pondering this, Firefly glanced at the rift before her. Initially, she had assumed it was an Otherworld-type Dimensional Rift, persisting because its target hadn't been captured. But now, it was clear that this was an Attachment-type rift, deliberately maintained by someone who had chosen not to remove the affected object.
Firefly's forced intrusion naturally alerted the inhabitants of the area. Soldiers in thick winter gear emerged from the ice huts, their faces grim as they gazed at the uninvited guest in the sky.
Their concern stemmed from the fact that the "concealment magic" mentioned earlier was no mere illusion. It was a spatial magic that severed the affected area from the rest of the world, creating a false mirage in its place.
In essence, even if someone physically entered the region and stood directly beneath the Dimensional Rift, they wouldn't see the ice huts or the diamond-shaped ice formation. These structures existed in separate spatial planes.
This spatial magic wasn't particularly sophisticated; it was as fragile as a thin sheet of paper. With precise knowledge and preparation, shattering it would be trivial. The problem was, the figure in the sky showed no signs of prior knowledge or preparation. They had simply stumbled upon the magic and inadvertently shattered it in passing!
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Note- The types of Dimensional Rifts currently appearing are Veil, Birth, Otherworld, and Attachment.