Chapter 630 — Thaw

Everyone was awed by the power and splendor of this legendary spell. Gao Yang temporarily set aside his surprise and began explaining the spell's nature according to the intelligence he remembered: "Snow Wilde created the Calamity of Cold in her day. It is a spell capable of temporarily freezing an entire battlefield. The ice it summons can even seal weaker legendary powerhouses within it, but the spell itself is not actually lethal—all the ice is a product of magical power, and the frozen units are merely temporarily suspended in a magical field. As the Calamity of Cold ends and the magical field disperses, every frozen target regains the ability to move freely. So it can only be used to temporarily control the field; it possesses no direct lethality..."

"I cannot help feeling there is something wrong with this spell..." Amber looked at the enormous iceberg in the inner court with a strange expression. "If the caster gets frozen inside along with everyone else... what use is this 'Calamity of Cold'? Everyone freezes together for a moment to cool off, then waits for the 'ice' to melt and goes back to fighting?"

Gao Yang glanced in Victoria's direction, pondered briefly, and then said: "That is how it is. Snow back then would not freeze herself into the Calamity of Cold...

"I also cannot figure out how Victoria managed to freeze herself along with it."

Amber: "...Huh?"

It took Wright and his priests quite some time to complete Gao Yang's orders. They smashed every "ice sculpture" found in the castle's inner district—or rather, hammered to death every frozen crystal cluster—while Gao Yang, waiting in the castle's inner court, waited even longer for the Calamity of Cold's effects to end and the magical power to dissolve.

Before everyone's eyes, the massive iceberg almost instantly crumbled and dispersed. The survivors of the Mountain Legion sealed within regained consciousness one after another. These loyal warriors' minds seemed still stuck in their previous state; driven first by instinct and inertia, they bustled about in confusion for a while before abruptly realizing that unfamiliar, fully armed soldiers surrounded them.

Gao Yang waited until the chaos had somewhat subsided before stepping forward. He crossed over the magical crystals still lingering in the air and extended his hand to the astonished Victoria: "I never expected to meet under these circumstances—fortunately, I did not arrive too late."

"It is you... you are the one attacking Red Maple?!" Victoria seemed only then to react, extending her hand half a beat late—such a lapse in decorum was uncommon for this Duchess, yet considering the upheaval she had just endured, it was all quite understandable. "I truly did not expect... ah, those monsters outside the castle..."

"Already dealt with. I know the 'Calamity of Cold,'" Gao Yang said. "But I am curious—were you not worried that someone unfamiliar with the Calamity of Cold might approach this place? Once the freezing is lifted, those crystal-cluster giants suddenly resuming activity would mean tremendous danger."

"Throughout all of Ansell, anyone capable of coming to the Mountain Legion's rescue would certainly know the 'Calamity of Cold.' It is the Wilde family's signature power," Victoria said. "Though... I truly did not expect it would be you..."

"I am afraid that right now, only the Southern Region still has intact military forces in all of Ansell," Gao Yang shook his head, then looked toward Wright, who had just returned after completing his task. "Take the White Knights and treat the wounded. Many here need emergency care and disease-cleansing spells. Also, bring the food and prepare clean drinking water..."

The soldiers immediately sprang into action, and tense yet orderly rescue work unfolded. The wounded Mountain Legion officers and soldiers quickly received effective treatment and comfort, while the large quantities of food and water brought with the vehicles restored the strength of these exhausted people.

Amid the tense, busy, yet orderly rescue efforts, Victoria forced herself to gather her spirits and questioned Gao Yang about the current external situation.

"Unfortunately, the royal capital's knight orders are in no position to ride out and turn the tide. They should be fighting with all their strength to defend Saint-Frost Perch City by now. The Western Region Legion has yet to appear near the Gorgon River; they may be thrown directly onto the battlefield at Saint-Sunir. The Eastern Region Legion has been completely annihilated. At present, the entire Eastern Region is in a state of no governance, and I am trying to find a way to maintain order there..."

Gao Yang laid out the intelligence he possessed, point by point, but each piece only deepened Victoria's despondency.

"I never imagined things had already deteriorated to this extent..." The Duchess's brows furrowed tightly. She was ordinarily a person who rarely displayed rich expressions, but today none of her feelings were hidden, and her whole person even seemed extraordinarily vivid. "I had thought the Eastern Region would retain a portion of its main forces to contend with this disaster... yet I never expected their situation to be even worse than the Mountain Legion's."

"This disaster broke out on their side first," Gao Dai said, then regarded Victoria with a trace of curiosity. "Actually, there is one thing I am rather curious about... why did your Frostfall freeze you as well? From what I know, when Snow created that spell back then, there was no issue of the caster being frozen along with it."

Victoria fell silent for a moment, and within those few seconds the atmosphere on the scene seemed to grow a little awkward.

"The truth is, I never mastered the spell..." the Duchess finally had to confess frankly. She drew out the pale-gold snowflake talisman passed down through her family, and her tone carried a fair measure of shame—the shame of failing her ancestors. "Frostfall lost its transmission many generations ago. The Wilde family's symbol of power has in fact always rested on this talisman."

The Wilde family of the North had lost the transmission of "Frostfall" many generations ago...

A sudden sigh of emotion rose in Gao Yang's heart as he marveled at the power of the passing years, but very quickly his gaze was drawn to the peculiar luster of the material in the talisman Victoria held.

"Do you know where the material for this talisman came from? Did you melt down an Eternal Slate?!"

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