Vastarael always thought that the Frozen Ruins came to existence after the Blizzard's Wrath destroyed the city's inhabitants. Peccavi regressed and killed the Blizzard's Wrath and gained the curse of the Frozen God, only for it to be broken by pledging her loyalty to him.
But now, he realized that the city was destroyed for the first time.
By a little girl.
The moment Vastarael and Phaenora appeared in the middle of the city, it hit them like a wall.
Vastarael glanced around, his eyes narrowing as he took in the chaos. The streets were littered with crumpled bodies, some convulsing as if fighting a losing battle against something unseen.
"What is this?" Phaenora whispered. "This… this isn't natural."
And then they saw it.
The first wave hit like an invisible tidal force. The ground split open, cracks racing across the cobblestones, swallowing carts and debris. Buildings groaned under the pressure, their walls crumbling inwards as if the city itself was being consumed from within.
A merchant, standing just a few feet from them, dropped to his knees. He clawed at his throat, gasping as black veins spread across his skin like wildfire. His eyes rolled back and with one final gasp, his body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.
The same thing was happening everywhere.
A woman screamed as her husband began to convulse in her arms, frothing at the mouth as the energy tore through his body. She tried to run, but her legs gave out as the same black veins crawled up her neck, leaving her choking on her own blood.
The air grew heavier and suffocating. Smoke from spontaneous fires clouded their vision and the stench of burning flesh and death made Phaenora gag. Vastarael reached out instinctively, grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer.
"What's causing this?" Phaenora demanded, her voice trembling. "It's… it's like the city's being killed."
Vastarael didn't answer immediately. His gaze fixed on the center of the destruction, where the energy seemed to be the strongest.
He was used to seeing death in his past life.
When Greshina Emberforge's time to delay the inevitable was up, Earth descended into chaos. He saw horrors that mortals would turn insane just by looking. The end of the world was not an easy thing to watch.
And when though tens of thousands of screams and corpses filled the massive medieval city, he was calm. His mental state was still strong despite being thrown into hell.
He didn't like seeing innocents dying but what would be do?
Using his Soul Vision, he could see their souls being tainted and turning black. It was as if they were being corrupted. Even if he used A Healing Circle or Runes, it wouldn't work.
He couldn't heal the soul. He could only do that if he was a Divine.
He could only watch as the entire city burned with red energy and corpses filling the streets.
And then, he saw her.
It was a little girl, no more than eight or nine years old, standing in the middle of the chaos. Her small frame trembled and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.
And yet, it was clear that she was the epicenter of it all.
The air around her shimmered with an ominous light, waves of toxic red energy radiating outward. Her screams were filled with anguish, cutting through the cacophony of collapsing buildings and dying cries. Every time she screamed, another wave of destruction surged outward, tearing apart everything in its path.
The ground buckled again, and another building collapsed into a heap of rubble, burying the screaming people trapped inside. The fires grew hotter, consuming what little was left of the city.
Phaenora's breath hitched as her gaze landed on the girl. The child's face was twisted in pure agony, tears streaming down her cheeks, her small body trembling with the weight of the destruction she was unleashing.
"How can a girl be so powerful?"
Before Vastarael could respond, another wave of energy surged out. This one was stronger. The cries around them began to dwindle, replaced by an eerie silence. The people who hadn't been killed outright were left twitching on the ground, their bodies contorted in unnatural ways.
And yet, Vastarael and Phaenora remained untouched.
The energy seemed to avoid them, splitting around them as if recognizing their presence. It only added to the surreal horror of the moment, standing untouched in the eye of the storm while everything around them burned and died.
"The being... it's protecting us," Phaenora admitted as she saw the strange energy shielding them. "EPOCH is protecting us from her."
The girl screamed again, louder this time, and the sky itself seemed to crack. The clouds parted, revealing an endless void of black and red above them. Phaenora clutched Vastarael's arm tightly, her usually bold demeanor replaced by a quiet, horrified fear.
"Veneri! We have to stop her. She's going to destroy everything!"
Vastarael didn't move. His golden eyes were fixed on the girl, filled with a mixture of sorrow and determination.
"Leave this to me."
"Are you insane, Veneri? She'll kill you!"
He didn't respond, his eyes locked onto the trembling figure of the little girl in the distance. Her cries were shaking the earth itself, sending shockwaves that radiated outward in violent, unpredictable bursts. Crimson fires crackled, debris flew like shrapnel, and the air was suffused with a toxic energy that seared the lungs with every breath.
Vastarael stepped forward and immediately the force of the shockwaves struck him. Even though the energy was not affecting him, the force of it was.
His body jerked violently as if he'd walked into a wall of pure agony. The air around him rippled with heat and energy, his white hair whipping wildly around his face.
"Veneri!"
Phaenora's voice cut through the chaos as she staggered, trying to follow. But the pressure was too much.
The sheer force of the energy slammed into her like a tidal wave, pinning her in place. She reached out, struggling, her fingers curling as if she could physically pull him back.
"You can't do this alone! Stop being stubborn!"
He didn't look back. Each step forward felt like dragging his body through molten steel. The raw energy of the girl's anguish tore at his skin, blackened veins streaking across his arms and legs. His body began to burn, flesh peeling away as the toxic essence ate at him.
But he kept walking.
With every step, he called on his own essence, forcing it to heal him. Sapphire blue light shimmered faintly over his wounds, mending his skin as fast as it was torn apart. The regeneration wasn't perfect. His body screamed in pain, his muscles spasming under the constant strain. Sweat dripped down his face, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, forcing his legs to move forward.
The closer he got to her, the stronger the energy became. But...
He could feel it.
The girl's anguish. Her rage. Her despair.
Her pain wasn't foreign to him. It was familiar, painfully so. Vastarael's eyes softened, a flicker of understanding crossing his face as he staggered forward. She wasn't just destroying everything out of malice.
She was crying out for something, someone, to save her.
He felt the same when he found Runner in the avalanche during the migration.
He could feel the emotions of those in despair and pain. And she as one of them.
He clenched his fists, the veins in his arms glowing faintly with sapphire essence as he pushed through another shockwave. It slammed into him like a battering ram, forcing him to his knees. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he spat, wiping it away with the back of his hand.
Behind him, Phaenora struggled against the invisible force keeping her in place. Her usually confident demeanor was gone, replaced by panic and fear as she shouted his name.
"Veneri! Stop! You're going to die if you keep this up!"
Her words were drowned out as another wave of energy surged outward, sending a fresh torrent of destruction across the burning city. Vastarael gritted his teeth, his boots scraping against the scorched ground as he rose to his feet again.
The strange connection he felt to the girl grew stronger with each step. He could see flashes of his own past in her cries—moments of helplessness, of grief and rage. The times when he had wanted to scream at the world for what it had done to him.
He was just like her.
She screamed again and another wave of energy surged outward. This one was stronger, brighter, laced with a fiery intensity that burned everything in its path.
Vastarael braced himself, raising his arms as the energy slammed into him. His body convulsed under the impact, his essence barely holding him together. He fell to one knee, panting heavily, his vision blurring.
But he didn't stop.
Phaenora watched helplessly, her hands trembling as she struggled against the force binding her in place.
"Damn it, Vastarael! Don't you dare die on me! I saved you once so don't make me do it again, please!"
He glanced back at her briefly, offering a faint, reassuring smirk before dragging himself to his feet again.
The girl was only a few meters away now, her small frame trembling with the sheer intensity of her power. Her screams were raw, broken, filled with a pain that seemed endless. Her fists were clenched so tightly that blood dripped from her palms.
He was using his essence to regenerate his body from the force of the shockwaves and the energy that his entire body was not visible. One could only see wisps of sapphire blue essence surrounding a being, the white hair and his eyes being visible.
He then did something he never thought of doing.
He hugged the girl.