***AUTHOR NOTE***

Yo, im out of town right now so the posting schedule will be fkked for a few days. Don’t worry though, I’ll still somehow post 2 chaps a day… but the timing won’t be anywhere near consistent.

***

Tyr, Noa, and Rudra quickly fell toward the bottomless ground.

As they screamed, Hanzo and Malon rushed to save them.

Hanzo had furrowed brows as he thrust his jetski to move even faster to reach the falling fools.

However, he noticed something out of place.

Below Tyr and the others, through the mist, wasn’t just a normal valley–but rather–something that resembled a transparent blueish Aura.

His eyes expanded, ‘Wait a minute… what we are attempting to cross now, these mountains. They aren’t just natural formations alone. They are also Ovalantis’ barrier of protection…’

He realized something: ‘No wonder we fell… it seemed we were all meant to fall here. These mountains are just an illusion. A trap for all intruders…’

Tyr and the others fell through the transparent energy, completely disappearing.

Hanzo and Malon were next, unable to stop their momentum.

***

It was like Tyr had blinked, but in that period, he was transported to a completely different area.

He fell onto the floor, in the same falling motion as before.

Rudra and Noa fell next to him shortly after.

He quickly rose to his feet, “Where the hell–!?” He surveyed where he was instantly.

He felt a cold chill seep up into his spine at that moment. Looking around, he noticed that they were all inside of some large ice chamber.

All around him were cages made of hardened ice.

He walked forward in his cage, grabbing the ice bars as he moved his head and looked around.

“What the hell… an ice prison?” He said, his voice echoing through the chamber.

He felt a sudden stinging pain pierce through his palms, causing him to swiftly remove his hands from the bars: “Yeouch!” He exclaimed in pain while shaking his hand, “That’s super cold. A few more seconds and my palms might have stuck onto them.”

“You are not mistaken.” A dreary voice echoed from out of nowhere.

“Huh?” Tyr raised a brow, Rudra and Noa nearing the bars as well.

As they looked around, all they could see were skeletons within the blue-ice bars around them.

In a few seconds, Hanzo and Malon also appeared in one of the ice cages to the left of Tyr and the others’.

While they exclaimed in confusion, Tyr zoned his focus in on the single hall that looked to be the exit out of this prison room.

The entire place was made of ice from floor to ceiling, bright, blue, and radiating with a bright light.

A few soft but echoing footsteps sounded from the hall. After a second, a small old man stepped out.

He was wearing black and brown robes, and was no taller than 5’1” ft. He had his hands clutched behind his back as he walked–his eyes barely able to open.

“So… we finally have intruders again after so long ey?” The old man’s frail voice echoed.

“Sir!” Hanzo spoke, “We had no intentions of harm. We only wanted to enter the Province.”

The old man slowly turned toward Hanzo: “You can’t just enter illegally! How about pass through the main gates, you fools!”

“There’s main gates?” Hanzo said, raising a brow.

The old man shook his head, “Well… for your crimes you will be staying here for… a while.”

“Huh!?” Tyr exclaimed, “What does a while mean? We have things to do, old man!”

“Quiet! I have been living and working here alone for over 50 years. Its rare that I have any company. And don’t try to escape either… this ice is created by the Ice Pillar of Ovalantis. There is no flame on this planet that can melt it…”

Tyr was slightly taken aback by this.

Noa spoke at that moment: “Aren’t you allowed to go back home to your family? Its cruel to have you stay here…”

“Whether it be cruel or not, lady, it matters not. My job is of utmost importance. Spies, enemies of unknown origin… I have the duty to prevent them all from entering the land of Ovalantis. I have to stay within these confines until the day I die.”

Tyr sighed, “Well… I understand it then.”

“What?” The old man was taken aback, not expecting Tyr to say that.

“We will stay here until you are satisfied, but we can not stay for too long. I hope you understand. If you are an innocent man given a duty to protect your country by staying here, I won’t go against your wants.”

The others were slightly surprised to hear this.

After a short pause, the old man turned his back and began to walk out. However, he added this before he left:

“Who said im an innocent man? I didn’t choose to do this… I am a criminal. This is my punishment.”

Everyone was shocked to hear this. After the man left, Tyr took a step back from the bars.

“We don’t have much of a choice do we?” He said, sighing some more.

“Hey…” Malon spoke with a slightly confused tone, reaching toward and seemingly rummaging through a dead corpse’s clothing.

Everyone looked at him with puzzlement as he pulled out a small poster.

It was more of an article, but at the very center was a face that looked similar to the old man’s, except younger.

Malon’s eyes expanded as he read the paper.

“A serial murderer?” He said under his breath, but everyone else still heard it.

Tyr looked behind him, noticing a similar paper in the pocket of a corpse within his cage as well.

After a few seconds, the group rummaged through all the corpses they could… and found the same letters scattered about.

“This old man… did he put these here on purpose?” Tyr exclaimed, bewildered.

“Hahaha!” A loud laugh suddenly resounded through the entire chamber.

A block of ice up on the wall suddenly disappeared, revealing a room encased in glass.

Inside sat the old man with a microphone in front of his face and a large control panel before him with dozens of buttons–as though he was inside of a pilot’s booth.

“Correct! I did put them there on purpose, you fools!” The old man’s expression and tone had completely gone 180 degrees.

No longer was he the sad old guy, but rather, he seemed overjoyed and filled with exhilaration.

“Finally! Finally I can taste the blood of humans again! I have long awaited the day where I can torture my fellow kin day in and day out! Kreeehahaha!”

He broke out into a maniacal laugh, his face like that of a crazy lunatic.

As he pressed buttons, the room suddenly became much colder.

Out of nowhere, ice spikes formed and flew out of the walls, nearly piercing through Malon and Rudra.

Tyr lowered his brows, his expression unimpressed.

“So this was your plan? Knowing you can’t leave, you decided to just spend your days capturing and torturing people?” Tyr questioned nonchalantly.

“Yes! And above that, I am fully supported by Ovalantis, although they don’t have a clue about it. I have done this for many years… and not once have they discovered my deeds. I am given the power of the strongest ice and the most powerful weapons! What can you do–“

‘Soul Mend: Dragon.’

“Lets see what your ‘strongest ice’ does to withstand that strongest flame.” A smile tugged on Tyr’s lips as scales grew all over his body…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep