Sitting in the dimly lit tent, Lex Frost observed the man who had summoned them all after all these years. Lumian Frost still had that long beard and sharp eyes as before. But the brightness which had once inhabited them had been erased by the tides of time. Drinking ale from a wooden glass, he gave Lex a questioning look.

  “Tell me the real reason you have called us here. And don’t say something like it’s just your hunch like you always do,” Lex straightforwardly said.

  Putting down the glass and contemplating for some time, Lumian finally opened his mouth. “For the past century, I have been roaming different worlds. There is a war going on between the Light and Death factions. The others are observing it closely and will most likely take sides. There is a big chance for it to escalate further. This is the only chance we will get to strike at them without worrying about external interference.”

  “Is this your reason for dragging all the remaining survivors to their deaths?” Lex clenched his fists, his face showing a tint of anger.

  “I have lived for more than a thousand years. I have seen many new lives born, and many perish. I have seen dynasties change and was even involved in some of those. I was just an observer observing the world. But he was always there above, like a pillar supporting the sky. They were always there to accompany me in this lonely life.”

  Soon, Lumian’s eyes began to moisten. “I have not even had a proper sleep for more than a century. Whenever I close my eyes, I imagine their cries and screams. I remember my promise to protect them and failing miserably at that. I remember the children who I held in my hands, strewn across the roads like garbage.”

  Finally firming his resolve, he said, “I have not called them back here for revenge. I have called them for a march. A march straight to death. And they know full well what that means. We won’t be coming out of this alive. This is just a last resistance and a last stand for what we have suffered for all those years. But it’s not like we will be throwing our lives away. Currently, we have twelve Ascenders among us. Eight are here, and four will join later down the line. We will at least make sure that we drag as many of them down with us as we can.” By now, his cyan eyes had turned red, and a madness was visible within them.

  Lex just stood there listening quietly. Being an Ascender, he was privy to all the things happening in his surroundings. The sound of celebration and merrymaking was heard from outside the tent, a stark contrast to the heavy silence that had settled between them. There were several hundred people present, all around, clanking mugs and making jokes. All had cyan eyes and hair, a sign indicating that they were ice elemental Soul Casters. Finally gathering his resolve, he said, “Let’s begin.”

  Looking at the dumbfounded look on Lumian’s face, he firmly repeated, “Let’s begin The March Of The Frozen Dead.”

  A wide grin spread across Lumian’s aged face. “Tell me, what is the plan?” Lex asked.

  Lumian began his explanation. “The whole Serifa continent is enclosed under three Sensor Towers. They are easily able to detect incoming Ascenders and call for reinforcements. We will be attacking the northern one. The first reinforcement request from this one goes to that traitor, Liam, who is currently governing a city.” Saying that, he shot a slight look towards Lex, but seeing no reaction, he continued. “We will attack both spots simultaneously. Balvin is already positioned to block the extra reinforcements incoming from the inner area. We just have to get this done quickly before they break through Balvin.”

  Lex nodded at this plan. It was not too detailed and left most of the work to the ability of the people, but it was the best plan for such dire circumstances. Looking at Lumian, he said, “I will take care of Liam. You make sure the tower is properly destroyed.” Lumian wanted to object, but looking at Lex’s stern expression, he finally acquiesced.

  “What about the Shards of Godhood? Did you get anything on them?” Hearing this, Lumian moved his hand and took out a small leather bag. The bag was tightly enchanted with many concealment spells. Slowly moving his hand inside, he took out a glass container holding a blue shard. “We got to know about his death because the original shard split in three. At that time, not knowing who to trust, I split them among three people. Since you were not present, I gave one to Liam. But he stabbed us right in the back. He still most likely has it with him. It’s hard to merge with partial godhood, as it may affect the progression of Ascension, so nobody has tried to search for them until they are completely attuned to it. But it’s only a matter of time before someone gets completely attuned.”

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  Hearing what he needed, Lex went out of the tent. A young teenage girl approached him and gazed at him with a deadpan face. Since he had been teaching her for several years, he had already adapted to this behavior and was able to identify her thoughts from the slight clenching of her hands. Nodding his head, he said, “We will soon be starting a war. This is your last chance if you want to leave. Afterwards, it would not be possible, even if you want to, Neva.”

  The girl, Neva, just shook her head. Her cyan hair, tied in a ponytail, flailed behind her. Lex could only let out a deep sigh. “Pack your things. We will be leaving soon.”

  And a few days later, the attack on the city happened.

  Neva looked at Nel, who had started to show some unexpected symptoms. The next moment, she only had time to move her hands in front of her before a fist slammed into her, and she was thrown back, slamming into the wall and nearly breaking it. Nel, whose whole body was glowing, looked at her fist, which had thrown the young girl back.

  Clenching and releasing her fists, she commented, “It’s a lot stronger than I expected.” Looking ahead, the girl had started to get up. “At least tell me your name before I end you. I don’t like to fight nameless people,” Nel demanded.

  Slightly rubbing the trickle of red blood from her mouth, the girl said, “Neva.”

  Nel just nodded her head and, rushing towards Neva, threw another punch. However, the intense sequence from before did not occur. Neva had easily dodged the punch by slightly moving her body aside. Magic circles started to glow around Nel, and ice spikes shot towards Neva from all directions. Looking at the porcupine-like structure formed beside her, Nel nodded in satisfaction.

  But her happiness did not last long. All the spikes started to crack slowly. Soon, they all crumbled, and Neva, who was standing in the middle, was completely unscathed.

  Seeing this, Nel felt a burning sensation in her chest. She really, truly wanted to kill this girl.

  “Hey.” She heard a soft voice. “I had high expectations from the teacher’s grandkid. But you are really a true disappointment.” The disappointment was visible on Neva’s face. To a bystander, she seemed like a girl who had been betrayed by a loved one.

  “You!” Nel let loose all the borrowed power she had obtained from the orb. The entire corridor was filled with frost. “What do you even know about me! No matter how much I tried, he always gave me the same look. I worked hard, but nobody appreciated what I had done. They all said that I was lacking. How can a talented person like you understand?”

  “True. I can’t understand,” Neva nodded her head. Taking a step, she had already appeared beside Nel and closed her hands around Nel’s neck. It happened so fast that even Nel, with her boosted abilities, was not able to sense it. Then she heard the final words in her life: “How can you have so much time to play around instead of training?” Frost spread from the spell that had appeared above Neva’s hand and completely encapsulated Nel. The last image on Nel’s mind was her mother happily drinking the poisoned tea she had given her. Would things have been different if she had made different choices?

  A Rank Six Paragon died just like that. There was no struggle or chance to escape.

  When Neva looked around, the whole corridor was still frozen solid and covered in ice. From the looks of it, the walls were made from a special material to guard against Soul Casters. Only an Ascender would be able to break them in a single blow.

  Just when she was starting to walk away from the scene, she heard footsteps coming from the other side of the corridor. Looking back, she saw a young adult man with long cyan hair approaching her while clapping his hands.

  “You are?” Neva subconsciously asked. She didn’t remember such a person from the briefing.

  “Me?” the man pointed to himself. “I’m just the husband of the girl you killed.” But instead of rage, there was just curiosity on his face. Looking at the frozen corpse, he simply said, “She borrowed my power but was still easily dispatched by you. It seems it was true, what they said about Lex Frost. He truly has a special talent for spotting talent. Alas, it led to his own family’s downfall.”

  Then, moving his attention towards Neva, he said, “Well, since you have killed my wife, I should at least take revenge.” Saying that, he raised his right hand. There was no spell or elemental fluctuation, but Neva felt an instinctive sense of danger from her right, and she jumped back. But it was not quick enough, and an ice shard was lodged in her shoulder.

  With a serious expression, completely different from before, she muttered a single, heavy word.

  “Ascender.”