Chapter 121: Pale One (1)
Reinhard glanced at Vanna’s projection, looking to her right, eyes tracking something beyond the projection’s view.
Vanna nodded once, then spoke. "Okay, the files are here." Her attention returned to them fully. "The next thing you should focus on is exploring those deeper levels you weren’t able to reach."
Roana nodded, her tactical mind already planning. "It might be better if we do it during the day. So far, that Director has shown up in places like these at night, so it’s most likely when they’re active."
"Good thinking," Vanna confirmed.
Gran adjusted his glasses as he gently tapped the table. "We should probably do it around eleven in the morning. That way, the workers who are part of the Sinners won’t be there, and it would just be Mekhko workers."
Everyone nodded their heads while Reinhard idly wondered if Phineas would be there or if he would still be getting his performance ready.
Marie tilted her head, curiosity evident in her expression. "What will Fenrir’s likely action be if it’s summoned?"
Vanna sighed as she leaned forward and clasped her hands together. "If we attribute the destruction of Salem Town as evidence... Then the entire Phane City will be flattened or destroyed."
Scáth scoffed, her wine-colored eyes flashing. "Can’t we just kill it if it comes to that?"
Roana’s brows furrowed as she shakes her head. "If they summon it at full strength, then we can’t. A full-strength Beast Spirit should be as strong as a True Beast Master, right?"
Vanna hummed thoughtfully. "Most likely. But let’s try not to have it happen."
Everyone nodded before Vanna continued. "The Information Institute will continue analyzing Salem Town and working with the History Institute. In the meantime, be careful when you guys sneak in tomorrow, and good luck."
The projection faded, Vanna disappearing as the connection severed.
Marie stood, stretching her arms above her head, and her joints popped audibly. "Alright, let’s go to our rooms. Rein, Joseph, and I still need to continue absorbing the souls to grow stronger."
Scath perks up and asks. "How many souls do you three have?"
"Josep and I are close to 200 souls, but currently I am at 197 and he is at 182!" Marie says with Joseph nodding.
"I am at 160 right now." Reinhard says, leading to Scath laughing.
He had passed the hundred threshold after returning from the storage building. From there, he has been able to easily absorb up to twenty souls a day without much issue.
"That’s very good! Especially you, Reinhard. It seems I am waiting for a fight with you and won’t be long off." Scath says while Roana and Grans sighed.
Reinhard’s lips twitched, but he didn’t say anything, and then he asked. "How many souls do you guys have?"
"Right now, all four of us are around 280 souls, with Scath being at 300." Roana says, leading Reinhard to slightly widen.
Nikki giggles and says. "Let’s go, guys. I can already tell tomorrow we will be very busy."
Everyone nodded before getting up and moving away from the table. All of them dispersed to their respective rooms, exhaustion finally catching up with their bodies..
Reinhard entered his room, closing the door softly behind him. He pulled out the file he’d kept, the one about the golden child with the imaginary sister.
He sat on the bed, opening it to read again, committing details to memory.
Tomorrow, they’d infiltrate Mekhko Research again, exploring whatever depths existed below the underground facility they’d seen. Tomorrow they’d gather more evidence, piece together more of the puzzle.
"And hopefully find Anasha..." Reinhard muttered softly as he kept on reading.
...
Reinhard felt himself once again.
All around him was a familiar endless abyss, and then light began to shine from far away from him.
It was soft at first before it started to grow brighter and brighter, swirling in every color he could name and more he could only feel.
Then the light rushed out towards him and moved over his body. Reinhard felt oddly warm as his body began dissolving, joining the light and following it.
There was no sense of self, no boundary between him and the light, and then everything went white.
And when the whiteness cleared, the icy realm returned.
Reinhard hovered above that frozen expanse again with mountains sculpted from crystal. The great frost giant stood at the center, and it wasn’t moving as if waiting for something.
Around it were the smaller ice-beings that were staring at the familiar ice crystal that was being licked by the massive cow.
The cow continued licking the ice over and over before something happened.
Then a tremor ran through the ground.
The ice began cracking, slowly and deeply, until a fissure split the ice crystal. From that ice crystal, a soft light glowed, which was oddly warm, unlike the cold radiance of everything else.
Steam seems to spread out wherever the light touched before even more cracks appeared on the crystal.
Then came movement as a pale ivory hand tipped in bronze fingers that gleamed like metal pressed upward through the frost. Crimson lines traced along its surface like molten veins beneath translucent skin. Another hand followed, gripping the edge of the crystal, and then a figure pulled itself free from the ice.
It was smaller than the frost giant, perhaps a third its height, yet unmistakably stunning. Its hair flowed in long, pale strands that shimmered like threads of moonlight, and vivid crimson eyes that reflected the frost around it.
The frost giant watched in silence as the being rose to its feet.
The smaller ice-beings stared in interest while their heads tilted toward the new arrival.
And the towering cow stared down at the figure with a tilt of its head, but did not do anything else.
For a moment, all was still.
Then the frost giant stepped forward.
The air trembled as its massive foot pressed down, and once it was close, it bent low to look at the new being. While the new being looked up expressionless while tilting its head, Reinhard could see hints of surprise and wonder in its crimson eyes.
A hum passed between them before Reinhard saw the softness in the giant’s eyes. It was similar to what it showed to the small ice beings and less than what it gave to the towering cow.
The giant extended one vast hand, leading the pale being to blink and then place his smaller bronze hand against it. For an instant, a burst of frost and crimson light met in the space between them, neither cold nor warm, but something in between.
A welcome, and the world seemed to breathe again.
The smaller ice-beings let out soft growls, a chorus of approval. The frost giant straightened, and the newcomer’s hair rippled in the cold wind that followed.
From that moment, the pale one was part of their rhythm.
He learned the frozen plains first, from how they shifted and groaned underfoot like living things. The frost giants walked slowly as they took in the area, while the pale one moved faster and almost gracefully in contrast to their hulking steadiness.
Yet when one of the giants raised its hand, summoning a pillar of ice from the earth, he mirrored the motion, and the same creation rose just as tall, smooth, and sharp, as if he’d been doing it for centuries.
The giants rumbled in approval.
One of them, a smaller figure, with curved crystalline horns and a faintly luminous chest, approached. She was different, her form more fluid than the others, her motions soft, and her ice was tinted faintly blue, her eyes pale as frost-covered glass.
When she gestured to him, the others gathered around.
A circle formed giants towering above, the pale being at their center. She lowered herself into a stance, one hand rising, one held behind, the air around her beginning to hum.
Reinhard blinked in surprise as he grasped that they were going to fight each other.
The first blow came swiftly as she swung, and a column of ice erupted toward him. He caught it mid-air, hands flashing with crimson lines, and shattered it. The fragments spun in slow arcs around them, each one reflecting both of their faces in miniature.
The giants’ deep voices rumbled, the sound echoing across the plains.
The duel grew fierce.
The frost giant moved with power, her strikes wide and relentless, her steps shaking the ground.
While he moved swiftly, his bronze hands carving arcs of red light that cut through the frost.
When she brought down both fists, he blocked, and the impact sent ripples of ice shooting in all directions!
But there was laughter that rang out around them.
The giants laughed, and even the female giant’s eyes shimmered faintly with delight.
When at last she landed a blow that sent him skidding across the frozen plain, the others raised their arms, a silent gesture of triumph.
The pale one rose again, smiling faintly, and his crimson eyes met hers, and though neither spoke.
But the connection was clear, there was recognition between the two.