The Destructive Adventures of the Lovers-Chapter 58: The Ice Destruction

The first silent flakes drifted across the spires of the Holy Land as dawn broke. In the throne room, King Vesh watched the snow swirl against the stained-glass windows, his breath heavy with unease.

"The storm... it's moved on us," he muttered, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword. "Send word to every guard: prepare for assault!"

Outside, Phoebie awoke to the sharp snap of frozen ice. She lay half-buried beneath the shattered remnants of a drowned bridge, the floodwaters long since frozen into a glassy tomb. With a mighty roar, she shattered the ice with her fists, leaping to her feet. In the distance, she saw the jagged banners of Antarctic knights advancing across the snowy plains.

"Martha's already ahead of me," she growled, sprinting toward the kingdom, her massive ice blade dragging sparks across the ground.

At the city gate, Martha stood before the massive, rune-encrusted doors of the Holy Land, her presence freezing the very air. The Mankaynd knights tensed, their breaths caught in their throats as they watched her.

"Open the gates," Martha commanded, her voice echoing like a death knell. "You will yield this land to me."

King Vesh, standing atop the battlements, narrowed his eyes. "They will not bow! We know this is your trap, Ice Queen!"

With a sweeping gesture, Martha's fingertips glowed with pale blue frost. The doors shuddered, the ancient runes cracking as the ice spread like a web, then burst apart in a cascade of splinters.

Mankaynd knights poured through the breach, blades drawn. The Holy Land's defenders answered the charge, steel clashing against steel in a whirlwind of sparks and cries.

King Vesh descended into the fray, his golden blade swirling through the air. He parried Martha's icy spear thrusts, their weapons colliding in a shower of frost and light.

"You will yield this kingdom, Vesh!" Martha snarled, driving him backward through the snow-dusted courtyard.

He spat, blood flecking the frost. "Never!"

As the two titans fought, a shadow fell over the battleground. Trees ripped from the earth surfaced in the sky above, then hurtled toward Martha's back line. Crimson leaves swirled around a dark figure cloaked in swirling black.

"You overstep your bounds, Ice Witch!" a voice boomed. Raven landed between Martha and her knights, the ground cracking where his boots touched.

Martha froze, her shield of ice shimmering into existence. "The sorcerer of Creation World... I thought you lost."

Raven's eyes glowed with a cold, void-black light. "I am the world itself. You will kneel." ƒrēenovelkiss.com

He raised his arms, twisting reality: the trees above Martha bent and lunged like living spears. Martha slammed her palm into the air, unleashing a furious snowstorm that whipped around her like a cyclone.

"My power is the storm!" she laughed, the wind howling in answer. The snowstorm intensified, spreading outward to the surrounding lands, the flakes as sharp as blades.

Raven responded by warping the ground beneath Martha's feet, turning the frozen stone into slick glass. She slipped, blade flying from her hand.

"Enough!" Vesh roared, charging through the melee. He grabbed Martha's arm, driving his blade toward her chest. With a growl, Raven ripped the blade from Vesh's grip, tossing it aside with telekinetic force.

Martha staggered, Raven's floating snow spikes closing in.

"You take everything, Raven!" she hissed, gathering the storm in her fists.

He sneered. "And you shall freeze what remains."

Their powers collided in a blinding explosion of wind, ice, and raw earth. The courtyard shattered, walls cracked, and snow filled every corner.

When the dust settled, Raven stood triumphant, the snowstorm held at bay by his will. Martha knelt, frost creeping into her hair, her eyes blazing with hatred.

"This war... has only begun, Ice Queen."

He vanished, the snowstorm lingering as a promise of greater battles to come.

Snow whipped through the shattered gates, swirling around the chaos of the battlefield. The air was a storm of ice and fury, the ground a jagged, frozen wasteland. Phoebie rose from the shattered ice, her breath coming in ragged gasps, her muscles screaming with cold fire. She locked eyes with King Vesh, his armor gleaming with frost, his blade already drawn.

"You will not take this kingdom," he snarled, stabbing the ground. Golden threads shot from the earth, spiraling toward her, each line humming with ancient power.

But Phoebie grinned, the sharp edges of her teeth catching the pale, ghostly light of the snowstorm. She swung her massive ice blade down, cleaving the threads in a single, brutal arc. The ground beneath her cracked, splitting open like a wounded beast. She kicked off the frozen earth, sliding through the air, her feet leaving a trail of jagged ice behind her.

King Vesh stumbled back, his eyes narrowing as she barreled toward him. He brought his blade up just in time to meet hers, the clash of steel ringing out like a crack of thunder.

"I will not fall to you!" he roared, his eyes burning with a defiant, desperate rage.

Phoebie just laughed, the sound sharp and cold as the storm itself. She twisted her blade, shattering the golden threads that tried to bind her. She ducked under his swing, spinning on the icy air, her blade flashing in a deadly, beautiful arc.

Above them, Raven floated, his dark cloak billowing like storm clouds, his eyes glowing with a cold, cruel light. He watched the battle unfold below, his mind swirling with ancient memories, bitter and sharp as broken glass. He remembered the Creation World—once lush, once alive, now a barren, twisted wasteland, its people reduced to ash and shadows.

The rage flared in his chest, bright and consuming. His eyes darkened, and the ground beneath him trembled. Cracks splintered outward, racing toward the gates. Entire chunks of frozen earth broke away, the walls of the castle groaning and shattering under the force.

Martha stumbled, her icy shield flickering. She spun, her eyes wide with shock, as the very ground beneath her feet heaved like a living thing. She thrust her palm forward, and a wave of snow surged toward Raven, freezing him mid-air, encasing him in a jagged cocoon of ice.

"Stay down," she hissed, her breath fogging the air.

But the ice cracked. Raven's eyes snapped open, blazing with dark fire. The frozen shell shattered, and he rose again, his cloak unfurling like the wings of a vengeful spirit. He reached out, his fingers curling into a claw, and the earth itself groaned. Mountains in the distance trembled, rocks splitting, their snowy peaks crumbling. The largest peak broke away, the massive hulk of stone and ice hurtling toward the battlefield.

Martha's eyes widened as the mountain crashed down, smashing through the frozen forest, sending shards of ice and splintered wood flying like shrapnel. She barely had time to raise her shield as the debris struck, the force sending her skidding back, her feet digging deep ruts into the ice.

King Vesh roared in defiance, his blade flashing as he broke free of the ice creeping up his legs. He slashed through Phoebie's next attack, their blades sparking, the ground splitting beneath their feet.

Raven's cold, echoing laugh filled the air, drowning out the clash of metal and the screams of dying knights. His mind burned with fury, his power twisting the world around him into a nightmare of jagged stone and howling wind. He floated higher, his eyes fixed on the battlefield below, his fingers twitching as the very earth began to rise, mountains tearing themselves free of their roots, crashing toward the ruined gates where King Vesh and Martha still fought, their blades flashing in the storm-torn air.