Into the Storm

The entire region where Erebus Field had once stood suddenly fractured. Vast fissures opened in the snow, widening with each moment. Immense sheets of snow tilted and slid underground, collapsing as they turned into billowing avalanches. 

At the same time, the fissures glowed with angry red light, and torrents of lava shot from them, devouring the plain. The world was enveloped by a raging blizzard, so no one would have been able to see the awesome spectacle of the fiery cataclysm — Sunny himself only saw flowers of orange glow blooming here and there in the howling darkness. 

He swayed, struggling to stay on his feet. 

The chain reaction of chaos and destruction that the fourth salvo of the black javelins had caused was his measure in case a melee clash with the Winter Beast seemed unavoidable. The terrible heat of the molten lava was not going to put a dent into the titanic snowstorm, of course — in fact, the lava was already turning into volcanic glass.