Eternal Winter's Reign - Book 2 - Chapter 58 - Retreat (Patreon)

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Don't mind this. It's so that free readers can't see half the chapter.

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Alexander North

The battle proceeds in a much smoother manner than it had previously. With me sending one arc of cold energy at the bug after another before occasionally swooping in to claw at it. Taking it by surprise almost every time and scoring a blow.

That said, my blows don’t do all that much damage to it. Except for its vulnerable points like its eyes and wings. Wings of which it has none of anymore.

I just keep hitting the thing one time after another despite how little damage most of my attacks are doing. Because they are still doing damage. And the creature itself isn’t able to do all that much back to me in return.

Making this a rather one-sided battle.

Until the thing suddenly freezes stiff for some reason and I sense a strange energy coming from somewhere else. Following which the bug turns around and starts digging into the ground at a rapid pace, leaving me behind in a stunned silence for a second.

I don’t stay here for long, though, as I quickly begin chasing after it. Heading towards the hole.

Only for said hole to freeze up entirely, sealing itself shut and letting the frozen one hive queen escape.

I move up to the frozen tunnel before slamming my fist into it, only for it to not even crack. Probably because of how dense it is.

“Are you fucking kidding me…” I mutter while staring at the tunnel of ice, only to glance upwards when I hear a strange voice echoing out all around me.

“Be grateful a hybrid such as yourself is still alive,” the voice says rather monotonously and androgynously. Its words reverberating from building to building all around me.

I don’t hear anything else from the void after that one statement, though. And the faint presence I felt fades away just as quickly as it arrived.

Leaving me staring at the tunnel of ice rather blankly for a bit.

What the hell?

I guess there really was a Frozen Lord controlling that bug. Although if that’s the case, I wonder why they didn’t bother me until now?

They didn’t interfere at all until the queen was on the verge of defeat.

And even then, all they did was make it flee. They didn’t come to help.

Is this because of what their Winter God said? About the whole ‘don’t interfere with me unless I enter their territory’ thing?

I frown at the thought before shaking my head and sighing.

Well, whatever.

I didn’t manage to kill the queen, but I did at least manage to grow a lot stronger from it all. Thanks to the frozen ones the queen was making.

It’ll also take a while for the queen to recover. Assuming the Frozen Lord involved can’t just heal it, that is.

My thoughts grind to a halt when I notice something. A very faint sensation of the bug’s energy coming off of the ice.

Interesting.

I think I can track this.

A faint smile stretches across my face before I begin following the ice tunnel from the surface using the energy trail left behind.

Maybe I won’t have to abandon the hunt after all.

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Somewhere on Arran

Crao feels its inner rage growing even more turbulent as it watches the filthy hybrid following after the trail left behind by the hive queen. A completely unexpected turn of events in Crao’s mind. Albeit not one greater than the previous unexpected event. That of the hybrid very nearly defeating the hive queen in the first place.

The hive queen was far superior to the hybrid. It plain shouldn’t have been possible for the hybrid to win.

But, under Crao’s own senses, the hybrid pulled it off.

In a hideous manner, at that.

If there’s one thing the cold ones live by, it’s the idea of personal power and energy being the ruler of all. The determinant for who is stronger. And the decider of the hierarchy.

While Frozen Lords are perfectly willing to use warm one tactics against the warm ones, their battles between each other are meant to be contests of pure ability between the two cold ones or Frozen Lords. Cheap tricks like dropping a warm one structure on top of the cold one should not be used.

But while Crao despises the hybrid, it still considered him to be a Frozen Lord more than a warm one. Merely due to the Winter God’s declaration.

It didn’t believe the hybrid would resort to warm one tactics in the battle.

And it very nearly paid the price for it.

Crao multitasks, putting forth half of its consciousness to watch the hybrid following the hive queen and half of its consciousness to focus on the job it had been assigned. But after watching for a while, seeing the hive queen retreating towards a different hive outside of the capital city and within a nearby mountain range, Crao feels more reassured.

In fact, Crao begins to feel its confidence raising once more.

Since there is no way the hybrid can use any of those tricks on the hive queen when there aren’t any warm one structures nearby. Especially when there will be two hive queens present and not just one.

Of course, Crao will need to adjust the plans to accommodate the restoration of this hive queen and the loss of forces it will make, but those are inconsequential compared to the defeat of the hybrid. A defeat that doesn’t go against the Esteemed One’s will.

Crao takes a few moments to consider what sort of swarm the hybrid will make after being devoured by the hive queen. Since it isn’t allowed to interfere even to help the hybrid, taking capture out of the question.

But after spending a few minutes considering, Crao simply returns its full attention to the job of converting the world.

A job that is far more important than anything the hybrid could possibly be doing right now.