Nearby, there were nothing but ice pillars, ranging from a few dozen centimeters to several meters tall. They stood haphazardly across the frozen landscape like a forest of stone.
"Even if this place is affected by a source of ice-elemental magic, it shouldn't produce this many pillars. What exactly is here?"
Aurelian stared at the scene before him, which defied common sense, his mind full of questions.
"Let's smash one and see."
Jeanne said it. She always had a knack for getting straight to the point.
Aurelian frowned and drew the longsword in his hand: Innocent Starlight.
Its blade was a brilliant azure, and a mysterious inscription glowed deep blue along its center. The sword shone like starlight!
After they entered this barrier, the feeling that had been suppressing his magic also disappeared.
Aurelian could feel the immense power coming from the blade. As long as he infused it with Star Magic, he could unleash that power.
But there was no need. The ice pillars couldn't withstand the sharpness of Innocent Starlight!
Aurelian gripped Innocent Starlight with both hands, raised it over his head, then brought it down in a single slash.
The thick pillar split like thin paper, breaking into two pieces and scattering a shower of light.
"What is this?!"
His eyes narrowed as he saw what had been preserved inside the pillar.
It was a magical beast at the Body Integration Rank!
It had been completely encased in the pillar, but Innocent Starlight had cleaved it in two along with the ice.
"This is the corpse of an Icefield Wolf. But why was it inside an ice pillar? And what was that flash of white light just now?"
Questions surged through Aurelian's mind like a flood, but he found no answers. He could only turn to Jeanne behind him.
Jeanne shook her head, her expression helpless. It was clear she didn't know either.
"We won't find the answers here. Let's head for the center of the barrier first."
Aurelian returned Innocent Starlight to its sheath, and he and Jeanne made their way forward through the gaps between the pillars.
Along the way, ice pillars of all sizes jutted from the ground like scattered swords. It was impossible to see what was inside them.
There was no need to guess: magical beasts were surely sealed within. But Aurelian had no idea where they had come from.
The Spruce Forest couldn't produce this many magical beasts at the Body Integration Rank. The beasts inside the larger pillars were certainly of an even higher rank.
"Unless they all came from the dangerous Abif Mountains. But how did they end up here?"
As they continued forward, a vague unease crept into his heart, and he wondered whether they should keep going.
"I can sense the life inside them fading, being drained," Jeanne suddenly said behind him.
Aurelian immediately turned to look at her, utterly bewildered.
Seriously? How did you know that too?
"Jeanne, I want to ask you something."
"Yes, my lord. Ask, and I'll answer."
Aurelian's mouth twitched. Sometimes Jeanne was shrewd, and sometimes she was downright absent-minded. She was truly strange.
"How do you know that? I couldn't sense it at all."
At last, Aurelian voiced the question that had been bothering him for so long. He felt much better now that he had.
"Instinct."
Jeanne's answer was simple and to the point. That was just how she was.
"That's it?"
Aurelian tilted his head, unable to believe her answer.
"That's it."
Jeanne nodded, her expression sincere, with no trace of a lie.
"All right. A woman's intuition really is sharp!"
Whether or not Jeanne was telling the truth, Aurelian gave up trying to figure it out. There was no point.
"Then what does that life fading and being drained mean? Could the ice pillars be draining the magical beasts' lives?"
Aurelian suddenly had a bold—and terrifying—guess.
Jeanne nodded in agreement. "Something deep inside is continually draining life from outside to sustain itself."
"So it's still connected to the master of the Spruce Forest?"
"I don't know. Magical beasts couldn't do something like this."
Aurelian's expression gradually turned solemn. What did this entity intend to do with so many lives? And this place wasn't far from his territory. What if it affected him?
At the thought of some terrifying presence absorbing an immense amount of life, he struggled to make up his mind. It wasn't that he was indecisive; this was truly an extremely dangerous gamble.
His life always came first!
To risk it or not—that was the question.
If he left now, he might miss out on the Child of Frost, which could help him enormously. Then he might never be able to grow wheat again, and his people would starve to death. Forget developing his territory further or building an army of his own; by then, he'd be left with nothing and might even lose Winter City.
"I'll take the chance!"
Aurelian steeled himself, an ironclad resolve surging within him.
"Jeanne, let's go deeper. Be ready for danger at any moment."
"I'll follow your lead."
They walked for a while. Nothing unexpected or dangerous happened along the way, but the ice pillars on either side were already seven or eight meters tall, and the beasts frozen inside them were all at the Source Gathering Rank.
Magical beasts at the Source Gathering Rank had undergone a second evolution and grown further, so they were generally enormous. That was why humans struggled to fight beasts of the same rank.
In terms of size, strength, and stored magic, magical beasts were generally several times stronger than humans.
Of course, the gap grew wider at higher ranks. Humans could only hold their own by relying on powerful magical weapons and sheer numbers.
That was the main reason humans had survived in this dangerous world.
Magical beasts found it several times harder than humans to cultivate magic, so humans vastly outnumbered them at the highest levels.
As they continued forward, Aurelian noticed the ice walls on either side widening, and the view opening up. The ice overhead no longer felt so oppressive.
"Jeanne, it looks like we're reaching the end."
"Mm."
When they reached the end, Aurelian finally saw everything clearly.
Beyond the exit was an open, flat expanse. In the distance stood a towering tree, more than twenty meters tall, sculpted entirely from ice.
Its ice-blue roots were astonishingly vast. Tangled densely together, they plunged deep into the ground. One stream of blue light after another flowed upward along the intricate roots, continuously feeding into the trunk.
Suspended from the highest branch of the Ice Sculpture Tree was an object covered in intricate patterns... an egg.
Yes, it was an egg. His eyes had been enhanced by magic, so he could see it clearly.
"That's the source of ice-elemental magic. Its roots must extend beneath all the ice pillars, which is why it can keep draining the life within them. The vast root system carries that life to the trunk, which then gives it to that... egg."
Aurelian paused.
"But who sealed all those magical beasts in ice? Some of them are at the Source Gathering Rank."
"My lord, I think those beasts came from the Abif Mountains. It's the only place where so many magical beasts could live."
Aurelian and Jeanne walked closer, hoping to get a better look at the entire ice sculpture.
But suddenly, Jeanne drew the magical weapon in her hand.
Her silver-white cross-shaped sword flashed from its sheath and shot toward the ceiling.
Aurelian didn't have such keen battle instincts. Before he could react, Jeanne shoved him forward.
Before you continue