Wildfire Leader Natasha Trembled at the Divine Court's Power
The tip of the Ice Sword radiated a bone-piercing chill.
White mist billowed around its edge, turning even the surrounding air pale with frost.
Goosebumps instantly prickled across Seele's neck.
The cold did not brush against her skin. It stabbed straight into her bones.
She gritted her teeth and kicked backward with both legs.
Her body slid back a full two steps.
Her boots scraped two stark white trails across the frozen ground, sending chips of ice flying.
Her heel caught on a jutting piece of scrap metal. Seele stumbled but barely managed to evade the deadly blade.
"Seele! Put down your weapon!"
An anxious woman's voice came from the other end of the Waste Mining Area.
Rapid footsteps followed.
The crunch of ice underfoot drew closer and closer.
Natasha ran toward them over the scattered ice.
Her white doctor's coat flapped in the cold wind, its hem stained with dark gray mud.
A heavy Grenade Launcher rested on her shoulder.
As she ran, its metal barrel kept knocking against the buckle on her belt with a dull clank.
Natasha panted heavily.
The murky, cold underground air filled her lungs and made her cough twice.
Her gaze swept across the mining area.
Shattered pieces of Fragmentum Monsters lay everywhere, reflecting the searchlights' deathly pale glare.
Finally, her eyes settled on the figure in the white military uniform.
One look was enough to stop Natasha's breath.
Her heart skipped a beat.
There was no murderous intent about this person. Only the absolute dominance of someone who regarded all living things as worthless.
Natasha released her grip without hesitation.
The heavy Grenade Launcher slid off her shoulder.
It landed with a dull thud.
The stock struck the hard frozen ground and left a shallow dent.
She raised both hands high, palms facing outward.
It was an unconditional gesture of surrender.
"Nat!" Seele cried.
She gripped her Quantum Scythe tightly with both hands. Purple energy flickered along its blade as she tried to rush forward.
Natasha whipped her head around and grabbed Seele's wrist.
Her grip was shockingly strong.
Her nails dug into the soft flesh of Seele's wrist.
Seele sucked in a breath of pain, nearly dropping her scythe.
"Quiet. Step back."
Natasha kept her voice low, but its sternness brooked no argument.
She turned back to Su Chen.
Bending slightly, she shielded most of Seele's body behind her own.
"General."
Natasha's throat was dry.
She swallowed, her throat working with difficulty.
"Wildfire meant no offense."
"This child doesn't know any better. She offended you. Please show her mercy."
Su Chen looked at the two leaders from the Underworld.
Bored indifference filled his ice-blue eyes.
He did not lower the Ice Sword.
He casually traced an arc through the air with its tip, scattering tiny ice crystals.
The glittering flecks fell onto the frozen ground with a faint rustle.
"Meant no offense?"
He gave a soft laugh.
His magnetic voice echoed through the Waste Mining Area, carrying the arrogance of someone born to command.
Su Chen lifted his left hand and adjusted his white leather glove with slender fingers.
The shadow of his peaked cap covered half his face.
"I am the Seat of Ice of the Imaginary Divine Court."
He spoke slowly, each word cold enough to freeze blood.
"Jarilo's rules have no hold over me."
Natasha froze.
The Divine Court.
Those two words struck her chest like a hammer weighing hundreds of pounds.
Her vision swam.
She remembered the outsiders from the Astral Express she had met in the Underworld.
The old man with glasses had trembled as he adjusted them while speaking of the Imaginary Divine Court.
Crushing a meteorite with one hand.
A little girl twisting space and erasing an interstellar fleet.
At the time, Natasha had dismissed it as some exaggerated tale from the stars.
Now that tale stood before her in the flesh.
And its sword had been pointed at the throat of the girl she loved like a sister.
Natasha's fingers began to tremble uncontrollably.
Though she had dropped the gun, the index finger of her right hand still twitched against the outside of her thigh, making tiny motions as if pulling a trigger.
If she had not thrown the gun away...
If she had pulled the trigger and fired even a single grenade...
The Underworld would have become a dead city sealed in absolute-zero ice today.
No one would have survived.
Cold sweat broke out all across Natasha's back.
It soaked through the cotton shirt beneath her coat.
The damp fabric clung to her skin, and the mining area's cold wind chilled her to the core.
Her teeth chattered softly.
"Honorable... Lord Seat of Ice."
Natasha bent even lower.
Her spine curved in submission beneath her neck.
The usually gentle yet resolute leader of Wildfire had humbled herself to the dust.
She did not dare look up into those ice-blue eyes.
"The Underworld is crude, and the wind and snow are fierce."
"Rivet Town is not far ahead."
"If you don't mind, you could rest at my clinic for a while."
Su Chen watched Natasha tread so carefully.
The urge to kill that belonged to Esdeath eased a little.
There was far less pleasure in fighting someone clever enough to know when to yield.
There was no point in frightening her further.
Finding it rather dull, he opened the fingers of his right hand.
Crack.
The crystal-clear Ice Sword shattered instantly.
It became a cloud of white mist that scattered into the murky air with the wind.
The danger had passed.
Natasha let out a long, shaky breath.
Her legs nearly gave way.
She quickly braced herself against a rusty metal crate and managed to stay upright.
Su Chen lifted his chin haughtily.
He folded his arms across his chest, lifting the striking pale curves beneath them.
The white military coat draped over his shoulders shifted slightly with the movement.
He strode forward, ready to follow Natasha out of the shabby Waste Mining Area.
But just as they turned around...
The frozen ground suddenly shook violently.
Pebbles bounced wildly across it.
From the direction of the abandoned mechanical settlement in the distance...
A heavy mechanical rumble suddenly sounded.