Thawing

The convoy headed east without encountering any of the enemies they had expected.

There was no elite Crystal Legion, no large force returning to reinforce the front. Along the way, the force personally led by Gawain encountered only a few small groups of wandering Crystals—monsters that had lost control and wandered aimlessly between the plains and hills. At the sight of the armored vehicles, they charged forward recklessly, only to be easily wiped out. They posed no threat at all.

This continued until the shattered high walls of Boulder City came into the scouts' view.

The observation vehicle returned inside, and the soldier acting as observer removed his multifunction tactical goggles, surprise on his face. "Report! A large area ahead shows signs of freezing, along with widespread Magic Reactions!"

Amber looked through the vehicle's observation slit at the ruined streets outside. Vast sheets of frost covered the collapsed bricks, tiles, timbers, and beams. Faint traces of blood stained the icicles hanging among the broken walls. At the outskirts, the ice and snow were not yet too extensive, but as the convoy pushed deeper in, a world that could only be described as frozen wasteland gradually unfolded before them.

Thick ice covered the entire inner city. Countless corpses and remains had become cold sculptures, while howling winds swept up layers of snow and battered them against the tanks' Steel Armor. The heart of the city had suffered a freezing so powerful that it made one suspect winter had returned to the world—in a season that should have been steadily growing warmer.

Amber stared at the scene outside in shock and could not help muttering, "What... is this...?"

"A very powerful... wide-area spell. Legendary level," Light said, clicking his tongue in amazement. "I've never seen anything like it."

"White Knights, dismount and