Continuing straight north, once they left the Basherant Principality behind, the plains and hills vanished entirely.
In their place rose magnificent snow-covered mountains, stretching endlessly into the distance.
The Official Road beneath the party's feet also grew rugged and difficult to traverse.
Thick snow covered it, leaving only an uneven outline barely trodden into place by passing merchants and travelers.
The party's pace inevitably slowed.
The wind here was even more bitter and biting than before.
It was no longer merely cold, but laden with tiny ice crystals and flecks of snow.
Like countless little knives, they scraped across everyone's exposed cheeks, bringing faint, repeated stings.
The breath Cui Ciyou exhaled froze into white frost the instant it left his lips, clinging to his eyelashes and the ends of his hair.
As far as the eye could see, only two stark colors remained between heaven and earth:
The snow-covered peaks and the jagged black rocks that stubbornly poked out of the snow.
Yet those monotonous colors formed a magnificent panorama, desolate and merciless.
It made them feel insignificant before the boundless land, wondering who could possibly command its fate.
"We should have entered the outskirts of the Crosscut Mountain Range by now."
Elinalise tugged at her hood, wrapping it more tightly around her beautiful face.
Elves cherished their beauty; even the elements were not allowed to touch their faces.
Her voice seemed to drift uncertainly in the howling wind.
"This is the Magic Principality's Crosscut Mountain Range, one of the most dangerous regions in the Northern Territory."
"Dangerous?"
Alice licked her slightly chapped lips.
An irrepressible gleam of excitement flashed in her crimson eyes instead.
"You mean monsters?"
"Perfect! I could use a little exercise!"
"The monsters here are nothing like those Rasta Bears we encountered before, which only knew