"You're going to regret this." His voice cracked like ice. "If you think I'll be grateful — you're wrong."
Peggy just smirked — despite the blood trickling from her injured wing, despite the growing swarm.
"I don't need your gratitude. I just need you to fight back."
That was it.
The unyielding pride in Glacius roared to life.
His ice surged forward — a blizzard of spears, spikes, and frozen winds — tearing through the swarm with ruthless precision. His anger didn't burn like fire — it was cold, calculated fury.
Every blow Venox's soldiers landed on him was another wound to his pride.
And every time Peggy shielded him from an attack, it stung worse than the bugs' venom.
But still — through the frost, the buzzing, the battle — one thought nagged at Glacius' mind:
Why is she risking herself for me?
And why does it bother me this much?
The battlefield was a chaotic blur of frost and golden light. Glacius' ice spears tore through the endless bug swarm, shattering their tiny bodies into frozen shards. His expression remained neutral — cold as ever — but the fury simmering beneath his pale blue eyes was impossible to ignore.
Peggy, despite her obvious wounds — the tear in her golden wing still dripping faintly with blood — fought with a relentless resolve. Her light carved through the dark mass of Venox's soldiers, shielding Glacius when his ice didn't spread fast enough.
"You're a fool," Glacius muttered, ice cracking beneath his feet as another wave of bugs fell to his relentless onslaught. "I told you — you're wasting your time. I don't need a fairy guarding me."
Peggy's breathing was ragged, but her grip on her sword of light didn't waver. "And I told you — I'm not doing it for you."
Glacius clenched his jaw — that annoying twist in his chest still lingering — but before he could respond, the buzzing suddenly intensified.
A dark figure emerged from the horde — Venox.
His wings flapped at an unnatural speed, causing a deafening hum in the air.
"How touching," Venox sneered, his voice a grotesque mixture of a hiss and a gurgle. "The ice-demon and the light fairy… such an odd pair."
Glacius didn't move — his icy gaze locked onto the bug general — but his fingers twitched, ready to summon another barrage of ice at any moment.
"Enough of this."
With a swift motion, Venox lunged past Glacius — too fast for even him to react — and grabbed Peggy by her injured wing.
"No!" Peggy gasped, struggling against his grip as her golden armor flickered, her strength clearly wavering from exhaustion.
Glacius' heart lurched — a rare crack in his usually impenetrable composure — but his face remained unreadable.
"Hmph." His voice was cold as ever. "What a waste of time. Take her if you want."
Venox blinked — surprised at the lack of reaction. "Really?" His mandibles clicked with amusement. "I expected more from the great Glacius. Isn't she your… partner? Or something more? You seemed… quite concerned earlier."
Glacius narrowed his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. She's nothing to me — just an irritating fairy who gets in my way."
Peggy flinched slightly at his words — not because she believed them — but because they still stung, even if she knew he didn't mean them.
Venox chuckled darkly. "Then I suppose you won't mind if I break her wings — maybe tear them off one by one? Let's see if fairies scream like bugs do."
Glacius' hand twitched again — a faint layer of frost crackling at his fingertips.
But still, his voice didn't waver.
"Do whatever you want."
Peggy's eyes widened as she met Glacius' gaze — searching for even a flicker of worry — but his face was carved from ice.
Venox grinned, his grip on Peggy's wing tightening painfully.
And yet… the temperature suddenly dropped.
The frost spreading at Glacius' feet grew sharper, icier — the air itself starting to crackle with cold energy.
Peggy noticed it first — the silent rage brewing beneath his cool exterior.
He was angry.
But more than that — he was worried.
Even if he wouldn't show it — even if his pride refused to let him admit it — the sight of Peggy in Venox's grasp was making him burn colder than ever.
"You're pathetic, Venox," Glacius finally muttered — his voice soft but deadly.
The bug general tilted his head, confused. "What was that?"
Glacius' lips curled into the faintest smirk.
"If you think taking a broken fairy will weaken me, you're more of a fool than I thought."
Venox's amusement flickered — just for a moment — as he escaped with her ignoring him completely.