Ice Sovereign

The blizzard had become more intense than ever. It was absolutely impossible for Indra to see anything, and sensing his opponent was not an option either.

As if it wasn't enough that his opponent could hide his intentions, the immense amount of Ice Energy made it difficult to sense any other magical aura around.

The Thunder's Pillar tried, at all costs, to predict the traveler's movements, launching powerful lightning bolts in various directions, missing miserably.

"SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!"

However, he received no response.

The ice, the dragons, and the energy spheres attacked relentlessly.

Indra tried to defend himself, when he suddenly thought he heard the hiss of the wind whisper something.

"...Weak..."

"What?!" He looked around confused; that voice wasn't Sariel's.

"Weak..."

"Useless..."

"Loser..."

At that point, Indra didn't know if he was hearing things, but the wind of the blizzard seemed to mock him, with voices he definitely didn't recognize.

"SHUT UP!" Feeling anger at the blizzard, which was mocking him, he tried to use his lightning to weaken it, but his efforts were futile, like trying to punch the ocean water hoping to destroy it.

"How did a weakling like you become a Pillar?"

"You tarnish the Council's reputation with your lack of power!"

"You think you're so special for being part of it, but you just take advantage of your fame to be revered by the public!"

"SHUT UP!" He fired numerous lightning bolts around. "I'M NOT LIKE THAT."

"You lie to yourself in an attempt not to face the truth..."

"...but deep down, you know you're just trash!"

"ENOUGH!"

Using his last strength, Indra drew all the lightning he could back into his sword and launched a spinning cut, managing, with some success, to spread the blizzard a little and observe around.

That's when he heard a loud, high-pitched sound, making him look back.

Then he saw Sariel a few meters away, surrounded by an immense amount of blue energy, the purest form of Ice.

He held his right arm up, with the glaive floating a few centimeters above his hand.

However, there was something wrong with his weapon, as it was completely obscured by a blinding blue light, making it impossible to see its real shape.

Noticing that Indra saw him, Sariel smiled.

Then, all the Ice Element around began to be sucked into Sariel's glaive, whether it was the snow on the ground, in the air, on the trees... everything was condensed into the weapon, even reducing the power of the blizzard and making it possible to see the surroundings better.

Like a magnet, everything belonging to Ice covered the glaive and spun around it, acquiring an elliptical shape. The weapon was completely covered in powerful magic, whose sound was like thousands of tornadoes trapped in a single object, and the cold that emanated from there seemed to freeze even the air.

Despite Sariel's ability to suppress his feelings, Indra was able to clearly perceive that this magic was clearly more powerful than his Lightning magic that he had just used.

Feeling urgency, the Thunder's Pillar tried to run towards the traveler to interrupt him.

But it was too late. Although this was a magic that took time, Sariel had already started it long before Indra noticed him.

In just a few seconds, all the snow that covered the forest was drawn to the glaive. In fact, the magic had used so much ice from the environment that it was possible to see the original color of the ground and the forest, which was in ruins due to the battle.

Then, the magic was complete.

Even the cold had been sucked into the glaive.

Indra's eyes widened in terror, and he felt his body freeze as he noticed what was imminent.

"In a vain attempt to protect himself, he tried using his sword to protect him, strengthening it with some lightning.

But it was too late.

The traveler hurled the glaive towards the Thunder's Pillar, which moved faster than anything he had seen in his life. It took only a microsecond for the weapon to reach him and pierce him.

The weapon passed through his stomach with ease, but he felt no pain; his flesh was instantly frozen upon contact, numbing his senses.

However, it didn't end there.

With the force of the throw, Indra was pushed for kilometers along with the weapon.

In just a few seconds, he was carried from his initial position to a small mountain, whose size was similar to the Scorched Mountain.

And it was there that the magic exploded violently.

Indra thought his magic was powerful, but what he witnessed, and felt, was something he had never experienced before.

A large sphere of blue light completely engulfed the mountain and spread for several kilometers, destroying everything around it.

That magic would have been powerful enough to destroy the entire Scorched Mountain's kingdom and still sweep part of the forest off the map.

While the explosion was still spreading, a shockwave swept everything around, accompanied by a cold so intense that any living being within a ten-kilometer radius would be instantly killed and frozen.

The blizzard returned more powerful than ever, with winds capable of pulverizing even rock.

Then, finally, the explosion ended.

Nothing remained but a crater five kilometers in diameter, its interior completely white, frozen, and static.

And in the center of the explosion was a fallen figure, lying down and barely alive.

Sariel's glaive remained lodged in Indra's stomach, but he felt nothing; the cold had completely frozen his body, sparing him from the pain.

His clothes were torn, and his helmet had shattered, revealing his face.

His hair was dark and touched his shoulders, and his thick eyebrows reinforced his serious facial features. His eyes were violet and energetic, and he had no beard.

A sudden weariness and deep drowsiness overcame him, making his eyelids weigh tons.

Keeping his eyes open had never been as difficult as it was now.

He tried to move his body, but nothing responded. He had to concentrate even to breathe, which was an extremely difficult task.

He was finished; he knew that very well.

That battle made Indra realize that Sariel was more powerful than the Ice Pillar, and by a wide margin.

No... In fact, his power even rivaled that of Feng Ping.

With each breath, his lungs ached like hell, as if he were constantly being pierced by thousands of tiny needles.

It was only a matter of time before the traveler appeared to finish him off.

This made him feel extremely frustrated, bringing him to the verge of tears.

He had failed the task he had been given, and he hadn't even come close to defeating his opponent.

At that moment, Indra remembered his childhood in Krimisha.

From a very young age, he was respected for his impressive skill in battles and his great magical power.

He was always the talented boy who got everything he wanted and was admired by all the girls, causing envy to the other boys who couldn't do anything, since they couldn't defeat him even in a group.

It was for this reason that, still in his adolescence, he was called to help in the war that had plagued humanity for years, achieving numerous victories and climbing several ranks in the armies of Krimisha.

One day, however, all his companions were defeated in an attack. He was the only survivor and fought against hundreds of angels at the same time, causing a spectacle of lightning in the sky.

Thanks to this, Ardos and Feng Ping arrived just in time to help him.

The way they both were able to handle that with such ease made Indra admire them and want to become as strong as they were.

And he saw in Feng Ping a rival to be surpassed, given that they were of similar age.

In the following battles, his hatred for the Angels made him even stronger, being able to defeat hundreds of them alone, saving his companions who always thanked him with huge smiles.

It wasn't long before he met Ardos again, where he was called to fight alongside him and other people at the same level of power.

Thanks to Ardos' leadership, humanity was able to rise again and defeat the angels.

In the meantime, while the war was still going on, the rivalry between Feng Ping and Indra began, with the Thunder's Pillar always losing.

Despite this rivalry, the Wind's Pillar never acted with contempt towards him. In fact, he seemed happy to try to teach him.

But everything changed suddenly when the angels attacked the kingdom where Feng Ping lived and killed his tutor and father figure.

Remembering all of this, Indra finally realized something.

Feng Ping didn't despise him; he was just still dealing with the death of his tutor, which made him become a closed-off person.

"Why... did I only realize this now?" He felt deeply regretful for only understanding his companion's feelings on the verge of death.

The Thunder's Pillar remained lying down while his own feelings slowly devoured him.

"I found you..."

Indra tried to lift his head and look at the owner of that voice, but he couldn't even do that. Giving up on that, he simply waited; he knew very well who it was.

"You look way calmer, huh? Are you cool now?" Sariel appeared in his field of vision, flashing a playful smile as he made that joke.

"Just hurry up and kill me. If you take too long, I'll recover my strength."

"Haha! Do you really think I didn't notice what you're trying to do?"

After hearing this, a look of doubt appeared on Indra's face.

"What do you mean?"

"You were sent to investigate the situation at the Scorched Mountain, probably a hunch that it was linked to Aegreon kidnapping the angel. Following the necromancer's tracks and the frozen forest, you came to us."

"So what?"

"You Council members are forbidden to kill each other, so if you're found dead, the Council will assume that either Aegreon betrayed you, or someone as powerful as a Pillar is involved. Both options will lead the Council to investigate us with all their might."

After hearing this, Indra smiled.

"Yes, that's right. If you kill me, they'll put even more effort into stopping you. And if you let me live, I'll recover and be an obstacle you could have eliminated. I may have lost, but the Council still won..."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely. You lost! You can kill me, as my work as part of the Council is complete. My death will save humanity!"

Then a smile appeared on Sariel's face.

"You're forgetting a very important detail... I could very well alter your memories and make you forget all this."

"Ha! How are you going to do that?" Indra laughed. "I'm a Pillar, and your main element isn't even Alteration! If you were like Koeus, the Pillar of Alteration, you'd be able to do that. Recognize that you lost!"

Upon hearing this, Sariel simply laughed. It wasn't a laugh of despair or a euphoric laugh, but a soft, restrained laugh, like someone who heard something wrong being said, and he knew the answer.

Not understanding that reaction, Indra tried to look at the traveler's face when he saw something in his eyes that made him remember a feeling he had forgotten since childhood.

Fear...

"Yo-You... are a V-Volatile?" He felt his heart freeze.

"Surprise!" Sariel mimicked a father revealing a big birthday present to his daughter. "Too bad you're going to forget all this..." He slowly brought his hand closer, which was glowing in a brown hue.

"Wa-wait! If you erase my memories, the Council will be suspicious!" Indra tried to persuade him.

"That's why I'm going to alter them a little. I'll make you believe that you fought against Elgor's Sect and lost your arm in the process, as well as your weapon."

"My arm?!" Indra tried, at all costs, to move, but it was completely useless.

"Yes, my dear..." Sariel grabbed Indra's right arm, which was still holding his long sword. "Your arm..."

And, with a strong pull, the traveler tore off the Thunder's Pillar's arm, making him grunt in pain.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, his senses were still numb, so he didn't suffer as much.

"Urgh! What do you intend to do with my weapon?"

"Oh, you didn't even scream, as expected of the Council. As for your question, I'll give it to an important friend. Now, let me close that wound." The traveler used Protection magic to heal the wound on his arm, but only on his arm. "Well, time to learn the secrets of the Council!" He approached and touched his forehead.

"NOOO!" Indra shouted, trying to resist Sariel's magic in vain.

'I can't let him! I have to warn the Council about this man!'

But his mind was soon invaded without the slightest effort. He tried to scramble his memories to make the process more difficult, but it seemed the traveler knew very well what to look for.

After some time, Sariel moved away from him.

"Hmm, so Aegreon really isn't working for the Council..." After saying this, he was thoughtful for a while. "Well, time to change your memories."

"NOOO!" Indra shouted again, feeling his mind being invaded and his memories gradually transforming. "ARDOS, FENG PING, SAVE ME!"

Indra tried to resist as much as he could. He couldn't let him find out more about the Council, he couldn't lose the information he had acquired about him, and he didn't want his memories with Feng Ping to be altered, especially now that he had realized the reasons behind his actions.

But... it was useless. No one would come to help him, and that man would escape unharmed.