The Gates of the Chill Silence Ice Palace
As they approached the edge of the Eternal Frost Tundra, the wind strangely weakened, as if suppressed by some invisible force. However, the chill in the air multiplied exponentially! Each breath inhaled not air, but countless tiny ice needles, stinging the nasal passages and throat. The snow underfoot became unusually hard, like stepping on a massive ice cap, emitting crisp "cracking" sounds. The sky took on a sickly, almost deathly pale lead-gray hue, with dim and oppressive light.
After crossing a massive ice pillar eroded by the cold winds into something resembling a monstrous spine, the scene before them left everyone breathless in an instant, their blood seemingly freezing in that moment!
The legendary Chill Silence Ice Palace stood prominently on the Eternal Frost Tundra, its periphery surging with dense blue-black cold mist!
It was not a palace in the traditional sense, but more like a colossal iceberg "grown" directly from the abyss out of pure, magic-infused deep blue chill ice! Its structure was twisted and bizarre, with sharp ice ridges piercing the lead-gray sky like the fangs of a giant beast. Thick ice walls layered upon each other, refracting the faint skylight and emitting a heart-palpitating deep blue glow. The entire ice palace was shrouded in a perpetual, faintly blue chill fog laced with tiny ice crystals, eerily silent, radiating an ancient deathly stillness and absolute majesty. In its presence, insignificant beings could only feel their own humility and fragility.
However, what was even more spine-chilling was the vast, plaza-like ice plain in front of the ice palace!
The Frozen Graveyard!
As far as the eye could see, the vast ice plain was dotted with thousands of ice sculptures in various forms! They were not man-made artworks, but living creatures frozen in an instant, absolutely sealed!
There were massive, mountain-like "Frost Horn Giant Rhinos" covered in thick white fur with ferocious fangs, frozen in angry charging poses, their huge front hooves raised, muscles bulging, eternally solidified; nimble and swift "Crystal Tail Snow Foxes" resembling foxes but with three ice crystal tails, either leaping or turning back, their lively postures turned into eternal stillness; fierce and brutal "Spineback Ice Bears" with ice spikes on their backs, their gaping maws and swinging claws frozen in the moment of the hunt; there were even a few enormous skeletal creatures resembling dragon frames that Gorge had never seen, encased in thick deep blue hard ice like giant specimens!
What made the scalp tingle even more were those humanoid ice sculptures! They wore diverse styles of ancient, damaged armor or explorer outfits, in various poses: some raising weapons in furious strikes, their faces frozen in desperate roars; some curled up on the ground, futilely shielding with their arms against an invisible cold wave; some seemingly fleeing in terror, only to be fixed in mid-step... Their facial expressions were lifelike, with extreme fear, pain, unwillingness, and disbelief eternally preserved in the ice. Their hollow eye sockets seemed to still silently gaze at the intruders, recounting the endless horror before death. Countless ice sculptures densely packed, extending all the way to the enormous, abyss-like deep blue ice crystal gate of the ice palace, forming a "welcoming" path paved with death and despair.
The air was filled with an indescribable aura—absolute cold, the silence of death, and... an indissoluble, accumulated resentment of souls over countless ages! This aura pressed heavily like an invisible weight on everyone's heart, making even breathing difficult. Kayla felt the ice thunder power on her thunder claws becoming somewhat sluggish; Yuyuer's crystal ball dimmed, her mental power suppressed; Arya's star resonance stone around her neck sent waves of icy chills; even Lin Ya's emerald body emitted a life glow that seemed suppressed by this domain of absolute deathly stillness, its range shrinking considerably.
"By the Forge..." Tisk drew in a sharp breath, his voice trembling, "This... this is what your ancestors saw..."
Gorge's face was ashen, his knuckles white from gripping his chainsaw battle axe: "Worse than what the ancestors said... a hundred times more terrifying! This damned place... has devoured too many lives!" Even this orc warrior, accustomed to life and death and harsh environments, felt a chill from the depths of his soul.
"Life signs... approaching zero... Negative energy field intensity... beyond calculation... Physical laws... showing local anomalies..." Rex's electronic eyes flashed wildly with red light, scanning the area, his cold mechanical voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible data overload rasp, "Warning: Core area (ice palace interior) contains ultra-high energy low-temperature source and spatial disturbances. Extremely dangerous! Repeat, extremely dangerous!"
Fa's right eye star pupil rotated violently, attempting to penetrate the faint blue chill fog shrouding the ice palace, but she felt a bone-chilling resistance, as if peering into some forbidden taboo. She forcibly suppressed the palpitations in her heart and turned to the three guides who had escorted them thus far: "Jack, Lirian, Gorge. Ahead... is beyond your duties as guides. Thank you for your escort and guidance all the way. The path from here, please stay outside. If... if we don't come out in three days..." Her voice was calm and resolute, "Please leave immediately, return to Wing Shadow Port, and inform Uncle Karim of the situation here."
"Bullshit!" Jack roared first, yanking down his cold-proof mask to reveal his weathered, scarred face, his mechanical prosthetic eye flashing with furious blue light, "That old lizard Karim entrusted you to me, and I'm damn well bringing you back in one piece! Now you're telling me to be a coward? No way!" He patted the "Thunderer" rune rifle on his back, "This baby hasn't even fired a shot in a hellhole like this yet!"
Lirian's emerald eyes flashed with determination; she stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Fa, looking toward the deathly silent ice palace: "The balance of nature is extremely distorted here. The guide of the Forest Soul (Lin Ya) is here; as a follower of nature, how can I retreat? My bow and senses might discern the weaknesses of this place."
Gorge directly preheated the engine of his chainsaw battle axe, emitting a low, threatening hum. His grayish-green face showed a ferocious grin: "The orc dictionary has no words for 'abandon companions'! Either we go in together and smash that damned ice palace! Or we all freeze into ice statues and add a few new decorations to this hellhole! Choose!"
Seeing the unwavering resolve in their eyes, a warm current surged in Fa's heart, dispelling some of the severe cold. She no longer tried to persuade them and nodded solemnly: "Alright! Then let's all charge into this Chill Silence Ice Palace together! Everyone, check your gear, maintain maximum alert! Rex, continue scanning for environmental anomalies! Lin Ya, protect everyone! Gorge, Kayla, lead the way!"
Deadly Battles in the Depths of the Ice Palace
Stepping through that enormous deep blue ice crystal gate was like entering another world. Inside the gate was not a palace, but an even vaster, more bizarre frozen space!
Overhead was a towering ice crystal dome impossible to see the top of, with countless massive, twisted ice ridges hanging down like an inverted forest. Underfoot was a mirror-smooth, incredibly hard deep blue ice surface, reflecting the eerie scenes above. Countless enormous, distorted ice pillars stood like a forest, supporting this wonder of chill ice. The temperature in the air was unimaginably low; even with geothermal cores running at full power, it could barely maintain body temperature without instant loss. Each breath came with needle-like agony in the lungs, exhaled breath instantly condensing into ice crystal powder that drifted down. More terrifying was the omnipresent erosion targeting the life force of living beings, as if countless cold needles were probing the soul.
The interior of the ice palace was similarly filled with even more, denser ice sculptures! They were not just beasts and humanoids, but more bizarre, unrecognizable ancient creatures, and even some remnants resembling mechanical constructs, all sealed in deep blue hard ice. They were like silent guards, or eternal prisoners, forming a vast and eerie ice tomb garden.
"Watch your step! Energy trap!" Rex's electronic eyes suddenly locked onto a seemingly flat ice surface ahead, emitting a sharp alarm!
Almost simultaneously, that ice surface suddenly lit up with complex deep blue runes! Dozens of extremely condensed ice-blue rays, emanating an absolute zero aura, sliced silently like the scythes of death from different angles on the ice surface, ice pillars, and even the dome! Covering all routes of the team's advance!
"Earth Shield!" Fa reacted fastest, her right eye flashing with starlight as she slammed her hands toward the ice surface! The earth magic within her surged out under the guidance of the star pupil! Boom! A thick, resilient rock giant shield glowing with earthy yellow light instantly rose from the ground, blocking in front of the team!
Puff puff puff puff! The ice-blue rays slammed into the rock giant shield, instantly freezing and shattering it! But this brief block bought precious time!
"Scatter!" Gorge bellowed! Everyone instantly dodged to the sides!
"Thunder Claw · Ice Burst Charge!" Kayla roared, ice-blue arcs surging on her thunder claws! She transformed into half-leopard form, her figure like lightning, not charging in a straight line but using the shattered fragments of the rock giant shield as springboards, rapidly zigzagging and leaping between ice pillars! Her target was the core of the trap runes on the ice surface! Her massive claws covered in frost and lightning, carrying violent power, smashed viciously onto the flashing rune weak point!
Boom! Ice shards mixed with shattered rune energy flew everywhere! The trap's glow instantly dimmed!
"Overhead! Ice ridges falling!" Arya's cry rang out! As the trap was triggered, dozens of enormous, spear-like sharp ice ridges on the dome, drawn by invisible forces, plummeted toward the team's heads with piercing whistles!
"Wind Barrier · Circulating Flow!" Arya's Storm Bow instantly drew back! An arrow wrapped in cyan wind spirals shot out, not toward the ice ridges but toward the air above the team! The arrow exploded, instantly forming a strong annular airflow like an inverted bowl, enveloping the team! The falling ice ridges hit the high-speed rotating wind wall, most being forcibly deflected off trajectory, slamming obliquely into the surrounding ice surface with massive booms! The few that penetrated the wind wall were smashed to pieces by Tisk below, roaring as he swung his Lava Hammer!
"Left flank! Animated ice sculptures!" Zhamisi's venom fangs curved blades instantly unsheathed! On the left, several originally static humanoid ice sculptures in ancient armor suddenly writhed like living things with their covering deep blue hard ice! Weird deep blue soul fires lit up in the ice sculptures' eye sockets! They stiffly turned their bodies, raising weapons similarly condensed from chill ice, carrying bone-piercing cold and heavy death pressure, advancing with slow but powerful steps to flank the team! Their movements drew the surrounding chill, forming small chill ice vortices!
"Hmph! Dead and still restless! Poison Mist · Abyss Bone Erosion!" Zhamisi cooed, her dual blades crossing and slashing! The inky green dense poison mist was no longer a barrier but compressed ingeniously into several snake-like streams, precisely spraying toward the animated ice sculptures' joint gaps! The extreme venom from the Abyss Lord's poison glands carried strong corrosiveness and soul erosion power, instantly seeping into the connections! Sizzle sizzle sizzle! Harsh sounds rang out, the ice sculptures' movements visibly slowing and stiffening, the hard ice covering their surfaces showing signs of corrosion! The deep blue soul fires jumped violently, as if enduring immense pain!
"Rex! Yuyuer! Finish them!" Fa called out.
"Nano Swarm · Armor-Piercing Burst Mode!" Rex's back armor plates opened, hundreds of silver-gray nano drones swarming out! Their flight paths were more cunning and erratic than before, as if intelligent, specifically targeting the joint weak points corroded by Zhamisi's venom! The drone swarm attached, their bodies lighting up with dangerous red glows, then—Boom boom boom boom! Dense small explosions chained at the ice sculptures' knees, elbows, necks, and more! Metal jets and high heat instantly destroyed the structures!
"Illusion Tide · Mind Freeze!" Yuyuer simultaneously raised her dragon bone staff! She didn't use the high-cost water magic but infused mental power into the crystal ball, combining illusion with a profound understanding of severe cold, targeting the jumping deep blue soul fires in the ice sculptures' heads! Strange illusion waves spread! In the soul fires' perception, the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped to an unimaginable absolute zero, even freezing thought itself! This sudden "extreme cold illusion" plunged the already chaotic and pained soul fires into deeper rigidity and fear!
The animated ice sculptures, eroded by venom, joints blasted, soul fires assaulted by illusions, collapsed like boneless puppets, their movements completely frozen, the deep blue hard ice on their surfaces cracking inch by inch, crashing down into piles of ice shards, the soul fires extinguishing with them.
"Nice work!" Jack praised, but his "Thunderer" didn't stop, its muzzle aiming at several "Ice Crystal Constructs" resembling leopards made of pure chill ice pouncing from the shadows behind the right ice pillars! Blazing white energy beams precisely sniped them, blasting them into skies of ice crystals!
"The spirits of nature... are weeping..." Lirian's face was pale; in her senses, this ice palace itself was a massive, pained and twisted soul aggregate, those animated ice sculptures merely extensions of its claws. She placed her hand on a nearby massive ice pillar, closing her eyes, emerald life energy attempting to infiltrate, but met with frenzied rejection from the cold resentments.
Under the "gaze" of countless ice sculptures, amid endless chill ice traps and assaults from animated guardians, the team arduously advanced toward the depths of the ice palace. The battles were fierce and brutal, the severe cold and negative energy continuously draining everyone's stamina and spirit. If not for Lin Ya's continuous emission of emerald life glow forming a thin warm force field, constantly offsetting the environmental erosion and leaving faint star glow mycelia on everyone to replenish life force, the team would likely have suffered severe frostbite or even death long ago.
The Chill Silence Throne and the Frost of Finality
Passing through countless "halls" composed of death ice sculptures and twisted ice pillars, defeating waves of increasingly strong animated ice sculpture guardians and bizarre ice crystal construct creatures, the team finally reached the deepest part of the ice palace—a vastly empty grand hall with a dome soaring into darkness.
At the end of the hall, atop dozens of steps carved from deep blue magic ice, stood an enormous, grotesquely shaped chill ice throne! The throne's backrest towered like the spine and wing membranes of a giant beast fused, the armrests roaring ice dragon heads, emanating suffocating pressure and extreme cold.
However, what made everyone's pupils contract sharply was the scene before the throne!
A corpse clad in tattered black robes, face wearing that signature silver mask engraved with twisted vine patterns, knelt in an extremely humiliating posture below the steps before the throne! His body was thoroughly sealed in a layer of crystal-clear, deeper blue-glowing hard ice than the surroundings, like the finest amber specimen. The eyes beneath the mask were wide open; through the ice layer, one could still clearly see the extreme shock, disbelief, and... bone-deep fear frozen in the moment of death! One hand stretched forward, as if desperately grasping toward the throne, or futilely warding off something.
"The Doomsday Rebirth masked man... dead?!" Tisk drew in a sharp breath, the runes on his Lava Hammer dimming slightly. That high-ranking Doomsday Rebirth member who stirred up bloodbaths at the Windward Outpost, unleashed blasphemous powers in the Ink Dark Dense Forest, and escaped the Dark Elf encirclement and Forest Guardian pursuit, had silently frozen to death here like a humble sacrifice!
In the instant everyone was shocked by this horrifying scene, an indescribable absolute chill, as if capable of freezing time and souls, erupted like a volcano silent for eons from that chill ice throne!
Buzz—!
The entire hall's space seemed to solidify! The ice crystals drifting in the air instantly stilled, even the howling wind sounds completely stripped away! Extreme low temperatures accompanied by a soul-crushing heavy pressure swept in like a tangible tsunami! Lin Ya's emitted emerald life glow was forcibly compressed to barely cover everyone's surfaces, Rex's armor shell groaned under the strain, its surface instantly condensing thick deep blue ice layers!
Above the throne, at the core of absolute zero, a figure slowly "emerged."
It was not made of flesh and blood, but more like a humanoid outline condensed from the purest, deepest deep blue chill ice and flowing pale frozen mist laced with star fragment-like debris. It wore a long robe woven from countless tiny ice crystals, ancient and ornate in style, and a simple crown woven from ice crystal thorns on its head. Its "face" was a smooth ice mirror constantly swirling with pale starlight, without features, yet seeming to reflect the finality of all things frozen. In its hand, it held a slender staff seemingly carved from a whole block of "Void Chill Marrow," with a miniature pale vortex at the tip, spinning and devouring light.
The Chill Silence Lord · Enuval!
It did not speak; a cold, hollow, emotionless thought, as if directly from the depths of the ancient chill abyss, oscillated directly in the depths of all living beings' souls, carrying absolute indifference and a judgment overlooking ants:
"Another group... chasing illusory flames... disturbing my slumber... moths?"
That pale ice mirror-like "face" seemed to "look" toward the masked man ice sculpture kneeling below the throne, the thought carrying a subtle, near-mocking fluctuation:
"This... self-proclaimed newborn vermin... dared to steal the Chill Silence origin... as fuel... to ignite his laughable... doomsday fire..."
The focus of the thought instantly shifted, like cold probes locking onto the intruding Fa and her party, the absolute chill suddenly intensifying, as if to directly freeze and strip their souls from their bodies:
"So you too come to dare steal the Chill Silence origin?"
"Then all die... become my new collection pieces."