2026-07-08 20:53:27
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Chapter 501
"I only paused it, Luna," Rick grunted. Sweat poured down his face. "The Emperor's magic is incredibly heavy. It is pure, absolute zero. It wants to stop all life. It wants to freeze all movement. I can hold this dome for a few hours, but I cannot hold it forever."Isaac walked over. He looked out through the glowing green magical barrier. "The temperature outside is dropping by two degrees every minute," Isaac stated calmly, looking at his cracked silver watch. "If it reaches absolute zero, the air itself will freeze. It will create a vacuum. The dome will shatter."Rick looked at Isaac. "Then we need a plan. And we need it fast."Rick turned his head. He looked at Ash. The little white-haired girl was sitting quietly on the warm ash inside the dome. The terrifying, jagged black shadow that had pointed out of her body was gone. The warm green light of Rick's dome had pushed the dark magic away from her. Her endless black eyes were calm again. She was just a little girl once more.
Chapter 500
The campfire was completely frozen. It was not just extinguished. The bright, dancing orange flames had literally turned into solid, pale white ice. The heat was completely erased from the world. Rick stood in the dark gray ash of the Eastern Wastelands. The freezing wind howled around him. It ripped at his torn green shirt. The air was so cold that every breath felt like swallowing tiny, sharp needles. He stared at Ash. The little white-haired girl stood perfectly still in the freezing mud. Her giant, endless black eyes looked forward. The blue light sparked deep inside her pupils. And stretching out in front of her, pointing directly toward the warm camp, was a long, jagged, impossible shadow. The shadow looked like a dark, sharp key. "The Emperor is awake," Ash whispered again. Her voice was split. It was the soft voice of a child, mixed with a deep, echoing, terrifying rumble of cracking ice. "And he is turning the lock.""Rick!" Luna yelled. She grabbed his arm. Her teeth cha
Chapter 499
Luna took his hand. She stood up. She felt lighter.They turned to walk back toward the warm orange campfires of the refugees. But as they took their first step, something strange happened.The air around them suddenly turned freezing cold. It was not the normal, biting chill of the winter wind. This cold felt heavy. It felt absolute. It felt like walking into a deep, frozen cave where the sun had never shined.Rick stopped walking. His smile vanished."Rick?" Luna asked, shivering violently. Her breath turned into thick white mist in the air. "Why is it so cold?"Rick looked down at the ground.Next to his boot, a small puddle of muddy water lay in the gray ash.As Rick watched, the muddy water began to freeze. But it did not freeze slowly.Thick, sharp spikes of solid white ice exploded out of the puddle. The ice crept rapidly across the gray ash. It spread like a spider web made of f
Chapter 498
Rick stared at her. His heart shattered into a million pieces. He understood exactly how she felt. He had felt this exact same way when he ran from his mother’s clinic fifty years ago. He knew the terrible, heavy poison of guilt. It eats you alive from the inside out.Rick did not tell her to calm down. He did not tell her she was wrong.Instead, Rick did something he had never done before. He took off his mask of strength.Rick reached out and gently grabbed her wrist. He pulled her hand away from her face. He looked directly into her crying eyes."Luna," Rick whispered. His voice was shaking. Tears instantly filled his own brown eyes and spilled down his dirty cheeks."I am so tired, Luna," Rick wept.Luna stopped crying for a second. She stared at him in shock. She had never seen him break down like this. He always smiled. He always promised to fix it."I am so incredibly tired," Rick
Chapter 497
Luna stopped walking. She stared at Barek. She stared at the white cloth covering Tara’s body.The horrible, crushing guilt slammed into Luna’s chest like a heavy iron hammer.She remembered the blood slipping through her fingers. She remembered feeling Tara’s pulse slowly stop beating. She remembered Barek screaming at Rick, calling him a murderer.“It is not Rick's fault,” Luna thought wildly, her hands shaking. “It is my fault. Rick was busy saving the little boy. I was supposed to save Tara. I was supposed to be the nurse. But I failed.”Luna looked down at her empty right sleeve. “If I had not destroyed my crystal arm... if I still had my magic... I could have healed her. I could have saved them all.”"Luna," Rick said, turning to look at her.But Luna could not look at him. She could not look at his kind, forgiving eyes. If he forgave her, she would break com
Chapter 496
The stairs of the Iron Citadel were made of cold, black stone. They were steep, jagged, and endless.Rick, Luna, Isaac, and Ash climbed up from the deep, dark vault. They left the golden ashes of the ancient creator, Orion, behind them. They walked in absolute silence.The battle was over. The Shadow Lord was dead. The Mother Seed was broken. But the silence did not feel like a happy victory. It felt heavy. It felt like walking through a graveyard.Rick led the way. He leaned heavily on his smooth wooden staff. The bright, brilliant green light of his magic was gone. Only a tiny, weak spark glowed at the tip of the wood to light their path. He was breathing hard. His dark gray coat was covered in dried blood and toxic gray ash.Isaac walked behind him. The Auditor’s spotless white suit was completely ruined. It was torn and stained with dark mud. But Isaac did not care. His pale gray eyes were wide awake. He was looking at th
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