CHAPTER 236: THE ATTACK

The first attack came suddenly. The ground shook under the weight of dozens of charging beasts...wolves, snow panthers, and horned boars, all wrapped in white fur and frost. Their eyes gleamed silver as they rushed forward with terrifying speed, but their movements, though violent, were uncoordinated compared to the stillness of the greater beasts watching from afar. These were the lesser ones...Initiate to Adept rank at best...unlucky pawns sent to test the intruders.

Lira was the first to react. With a sharp breath, she spun, the air around her whirling into a cyclone. Her wind Qi surged violently, carving through the snow like invisible blades. The first wave of beasts met the edge of her storm and were instantly torn apart. "You picked the wrong group to charge into," she said through gritted teeth, the wind whipping through her hair.

Selene moved beside her, her hands glowing with emerald light. "Keep them off me," she called, and when Lira nodded, Selene thrust both palms forward. A gust exploded outward, forming razor-sharp wind currents that cut down a pack of leaping wolves mid-air. Their bodies slammed into the snow, leaving streaks of crimson behind them. "I told you, I hate cold places," she muttered under her breath, brushing frost from her cheek.

A few meters away, Nyx’s aura burned brighter than ever...icy blue and shimmering. Every breath she took froze the air around her, and her eyes glowed faintly as frost gathered at her fingertips. She moved with the grace of someone born for this climate, her attacks elegant yet devastating. With a single motion, she summoned dozens of crystalline shards from the ground and launched them toward the beasts. Each shard exploded upon impact, freezing flesh and bone in an instant. The ice cracked under its own pressure, leaving shattered bodies littering the field.

Mirielle, though visibly nervous, fought beside her. Her Qi flared softly, a pale white that flickered weakly against the biting cold. She raised her hands and mimicked Nyx’s movements, forming smaller spears of ice that darted toward a group of snow panthers. Her aim was true, and one fell instantly, but the others broke through her frost and lunged again. She gasped and stumbled back until Nyx flicked her wrist, freezing them mid-air before they could reach her.

"Your control’s decent," Nyx said softly, her tone neither mocking nor kind, merely observing.

Mirielle nodded shakily, panting hard. "Not enough... not yet."

"Then keep up," Nyx replied, her eyes cold and focused on the next wave.

The sounds of battle echoed across the mountainside. Wind howled...not from the storm, but from the raw Qi that filled the air. Beasts screamed as they were cut down, torn apart, or frozen where they stood. The snow was no longer white but stained with faint streaks of red.

The Empress stood at the center of it all, calm as ever. Her eyes observed the scene with a detached serenity, her hands folded behind her back. Her aura was sealed tight...she hadn’t even drawn on her Qi yet. It was as though she were merely watching a show unfold before her.

Lucas stood near her, his cloak fluttering in the biting wind. He hadn’t moved either. His gaze shifted from one girl to the next, watching the flow of the battle, studying how each of them fought...their strengths, their coordination, their composure under pressure. He noticed the Empress glance at him briefly, a small smirk curving her lips.

"You do not fight?" she asked.

"Not yet," Lucas replied quietly. "They can handle this wave. The real battle hasn’t started."

The Empress’s smirk deepened slightly, her eyes glinting with faint amusement. "You learn quickly."

"I observe," Lucas said, his tone calm despite the chaos around them. "That’s what keeps one alive."

All around them, the clash continued. Lira’s winds howled like blades; Selene’s gusts burst with invisible force. Nyx’s frost expanded, spreading in a perfect pattern, slowing the beasts’ movements until their bodies cracked under the strain. Mirielle fought bravely beside her, still struggling but refusing to back down, her breath coming out in bursts of frost and fatigue.

Within minutes, the snowfield fell silent again. The ground was littered with frozen carcasses, the remains of dozens of lesser beasts sprawled in every direction. The girls regrouped, their breath heavy, their cloaks fluttering under the wind.

Lira turned to Lucas, a small smirk of pride on her face. "Not bad for a warm-up, right?"

Lucas nodded slightly, scanning the field. "Not bad at all," he said softly. "But don’t relax yet."

The old guide wiped the frost from his beard and gave a nervous chuckle. "If those were the lower ones..." he began, his voice trailing off as he looked toward the shadowed ridge above them.

Everyone followed his gaze.

There, in the distance, seven glowing pairs of silver eyes blinked through the fog....calm, calculating, and far more intelligent than the beasts that had just fallen.

Selene swallowed hard. "Then what comes next?"

Lucas’s expression hardened. "The real threat," he said quietly.

The Empress did not move, nor did Lucas, nor the two Divas who stood poised beside her. They watched as the weaker beasts charged again, another wave of snarling fangs and icy claws, their white fur glistening under the dim mountain light. The Empress’s sharp eyes observed the unfolding battle in silence, her expression unreadable, though her presence radiated calm authority even amid the chaos.

Lucas had his arms folded, his cloak fluttering softly in the freezing wind. He too made no attempt to intervene. His eyes followed the rhythm of the fight...Lira’s sweeping gales slicing the air, Selene’s razor winds exploding with precision, Nyx’s frost blooming like crystals of death, and Mirielle’s trembling but determined strikes. The mountain air trembled under the weight of their combined Qi, and yet... none of them seemed to falter.

Aeloria leaned closer to the Empress and whispered, "Your Majesty, they have been fighting since the first wave began. Their strength does not wane. Even the one called Lira has been releasing her Qi without pause, and yet she shows no sign of exhaustion."

The Empress said nothing for a while. Her eyes narrowed slightly, focusing on the three lovers or Lucas who now fought in perfect harmony, their elemental energies swirling around one another like threads of light and wind and frost. Their movements were coordinated beyond training...it was as if their Qi flowed through a single source.

Lucas stood still, his expression calm, his hand occasionally tightening behind his back. His eyes gleamed faintly for a brief moment, and the air around the girls seemed to thrum with renewed strength. None of the Divas noticed, but the Empress did.

"Interesting," she murmured under her breath, her tone low and intrigued.

Seraphine, turned to her. "Your Majesty?"

"Look closely," the Empress replied quietly, her eyes still fixed on Lucas. "Their Qi replenishes itself as though drawn from an unseen well. No mortal reservoir should last this long, not even for those of royal cultivation."

Aeloriabfrowned and observed again. Indeed, the girls fought with reckless abandon, unleashing energy after energy, storms and frost spiraling endlessly. Normally, their bodies should have weakened under the drain, but instead, they glowed brighter with every passing moment.

Lucas’s gaze shifted toward them briefly, his lips parting in a faint whisper no one heard but the wind. A pulse of energy spread outward, invisible yet potent. Lira straightened instantly, her breathing steadying as her blades sang again through the frozen air. Selene’s next gust split the ice into shards, and Nyx raised a hand to summon another blizzard-like surge.

The Empress’s lips curved slightly, almost into a smile. "So that’s it," she said softly, more to herself than anyone else. "They are feeding on his Qi."