It saw him. Its gaze seeped into him, penetrated him, and he felt his sanity begin to pull like a wheel of spool being tossed into the night. Sigvar felt his stomach twist into a ball, and the edge of his vision began to be surrounded by dark shadows, squirming and meandering, as if to be—

A hand grabbed him by the back collar and dragged him back. He staggered, his boots stumbling on the ice, being pulled off the center ring, and unceremoniously still on the ice outside. He crawled up, still in his mind the shadow and curly shape of the wanderer.

In the darkness, Sigvar recognized Oral standing in front of him, clutching his fur coat with a fist. Hala knelt beside her, praying in fear.

The tumbling shadows still swam in the corners of his eyes, and he felt dizzy, as if he had been filled with a suffocating fog. Extremely unwisely, he moved his gaze to the center of the ice again, back to the moment he had just been-

Oral slammed an old punch into his jaw and slammed his head back. "Don't. See. It. ”

Sigvar blinked, his mind cleared a little, and then he nodded.

"Hara, he's not strong enough," Oral said, still clenching his fists. The humor in his eyes was gone, replaced by a cold, ruthless coldness. "He should be allowed to go back."

"No!" Sigwa said. "I ...... I'm fine. ”

"He should be allowed to go back," Oral repeated, looking at Hala. She finished her hurried prayer, then got up and looked at Sigvar suspiciously.

"I'm fine. I can keep going. He assured the two.

"If he shakes again, kill him." Hala said. "Go. Check the icicles. ”

She walked to the next one, the crushed ice creaking beneath her feet.

"Don't push me," Oral yelled at Sigvar. "I don't want to carry your corpse on my back."

No corpses are allowed underneath for fear of being used to provoke the growth of things underneath. Whether the situation is good or bad, the climb up and back is incredibly difficult, and Sigvar can't imagine how a man can crawl back with a corpse on his back.

And Oral had climbed up with two corpses on his back the first few times, and thinking of this, he doubled his respect for the old warrior.

"I don't look," Sigvar swore as his eyes remained fixed on Oral. "Let's go."

Oral grunted, then motioned for Sigvar to walk ahead.

They found the rune on the next pillar almost instantly. "Here," Oral said, gesturing with a gesture.

The edges of the mark were so sharp that it looked like it had been carved just an hour before, not thousands of years ago. That's a good thing. This means that it hasn't melted at all for so long.

"It's yours," Oral said, as they approached the next big icicle, striking the ice at a sharp angle. "I'll check the next one. Don't let me down, boy. ”

Sigvar nodded, and the old warrior left himself next to the icicle. It was almost completely black, and as he looked at the icicles, the shadows at the edge of his vision seemed to return, as if something was swimming in the ice.

He shook his head and walked around the icicles, scanning up and down, looking for traces of runes, but he couldn't find them. Each façade is completely level. He frowned and began to circle a second lap, slowing down this time.

Still haven't found anything.

He glanced at the other two, and he saw that Hala and Oral had almost met, and they were only two icicles away.

"Please," he said to himself, blinking vigorously. "Concentrate."

He circled the third lap. Still nothing.

Hala and Oral were now walking towards him, their expressions grim. When he looked up at the icicle again, he was pretty sure he saw a drop of water running down the edge...... But this is simply not possible. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward.

Upon getting closer, he could see a smooth layer of moisture hanging from the surface of the icicles. The edges and corners of this icicle are not as sharp as those of other icicles, and they are more rounded and soft. He was surprised that he had found out so late. But he still wasn't alert, even though he had seen something flash through the black ice. An unnatural calmness was infused into him.

He faintly heard someone shouting behind him, but he could barely make out it. The sound was muffled and seemed to come from far away. He didn't care. The only thing to care about was the darkness in the ice in front of him. It was calling him, motioning to him, urging him to come closer. The shadow no longer lingered at the edge of his vision, it now took over his entire sight. He reached out and touched—

The other hand grabbed his hand. It's Hara. He was pushed behind and slammed into the ice ten feet away.

In fear, he recognized the darkness swaying within the icicles, and was struggling to escape. It poked from within, trying to break through its own prison. He realized that it had been trying to touch him.

Hala closed her eyes and reached over the weak spot in the ice, which was also the point of darkness attack. She gripped Lisandro's amulet in her other hand. She recited a verse of faith in a loud voice, and then her outstretched hand began to glow coldly. New ice crystals begin to condense on the surface of the column.

It's certainly not enough. Hara's prayer does not produce ice. No one has been able to create Pure Ice anymore.

A cobweb-like crack appeared on the surface of the ice crystals, and the darkness inside attacked with double force. Hala closed his eyes and didn't see the crack, and Sigvar was too far away to draw his sword, even if he had tolen his sword.

Oral suddenly appeared beside Hala and clasped the Children of Thunder in both hands. In that instant, darkness broke through the surface of the icicle and shot at Hala at lightning speed. Oral pushed her away with his shoulders.

He smashed the dark tentacle to pieces with his warhammer, making a shocking cracking sound. But there was more than one tentacle - three more came out of the rift.

"Fist of Stone!" Sigvar exclaimed. He lunged forward, but he was too slow. They're all too slow.

Oral awkwardly retreated, and a sweep of the Thunderbolt sent one tentacle flying, but failed to stop the other two. They greedily stabbed into his flesh, one piercing the muscles of his left shoulder, the other piercing the side of his neck, biting deep.

Oral Stonefist's muscles rippled, and the otherworldly tentacles wriggled into his body. His veins turned black, contrasting with his pale skin, and he fell to his knees. Sigvar tried to catch him, but Hala pulled him back.

"No!" She shouted. "It's going to take you with you."

With the last of his strength, Orar threw the Children of Thunder at them, spinning and tumbling on the ice. "Let's go!" He gasped. "Biography...... Letter...... To the main fort! ”

"Take the hammer!" Hala shouted to Sigwa.

"We can't leave him behind-"

"It's too late. He's gone. ”

Sigvar watched feebly as Oral was devoured. The Frostguard shuddered, and most of his skin turned a terrifying black-purple hue, like bruises all over his body. More than a dozen tentacles pierced him, connecting him to the darkness within the icicle.

"Take the hammer, half a barrel of arrows!" Hala shouted again.

Sigvar sheathed his knife and picked up the Son of Thunder, suffering the pain it caused. He gasped, the cold quickly running down his hands to his heart, almost stopping it from beating, but he didn't resist. He embraced the cold and became one with it.

A sneaky figure, like an insect with spinous processes that split into arthropods, began to spread out from Oraar's flesh. It hardens gradually, like lava cooling gradually. The demonic purple light began to pulsate within him, what seemed to be the beating of a second heart, radiating purple light towards his flesh.

Sigvar felt a wave of horror as he realized that something was growing inside Oral.

With a cry of pain, Hala threw out her bloody claws, and the hatchet spun in the air, striking Orar in the center of the eyebrow impartially, killing him instantly. It was a mercy to him, but Sigvar was saddened by the humble death of a legendary figure of the Frostguard Clan.