Driven on by Glacier, no matter how unwilling they were,
Ault, Sophia, and the others could only force their way past the densely gathered Cryogonal overhead and head toward the bottom of the Great Hollow.
Glacier, meanwhile, hung calmly at the rear of the group, occasionally urging them to pick up the pace.
Before long, the icy path created by Regice reached the bottom.
Although everyone had noticed it while descending,
when they stood before this colossal thing themselves, they still let out soft gasps of awe.
What incredible craftsmanship of nature.
Beneath the sky of the North Pole's eternal night, a palace constructed entirely of ice crystals stood in majestic silence.
This was not a building in the traditional sense, but a wonder composed of countless enormous ice pillars.
Every pillar forming the palace stood a hundred meters tall, its surface covered in fine hexagonal patterns that reflected a deep blue glow beneath light from an unknown source.
The palace's overall outline took on an irregular geometric form. The ice pillars crisscrossed and piled together at random, maintaining balance while forming intricate archways and interior corridors.
Though nowhere near as numerous as the countless Cryogonal above, thousands of Cryogonal still floated silently around the palace, their complex hexagonal bodies complementing the palace's crystalline patterns perfectly.
These Cryogonal were arranged according to some mysterious law, as though they were guarding this slumbering palace.
An icy wind from nowhere swept across the pillars, producing a low, mournful howl before descending upon the group.
Amid their shock, they shivered for no apparent reason.
It was as though their bodies had foreseen a danger ahead that they could not endure.
—That guess was soon proven true.
After passing through the archway formed by the ice pillars, the chaotic sight before them left everyone