The moment the bell rang, the remaining mages who had been left behind in the City Hall and barred from joining the assault on the Gordons clan all groaned in anger.

They had wanted to participate in the attack on the Gordons Clan, because they had been made to believe that with enough merit gained in the battle, they could exchange those points for cultivation resources, allowing them to rise through the ranks much faster.

But since they had not been selected, all they could do was remain in the City Hall, swallowing their frustration.

Now, hearing the alarm out of nowhere only seems to fuel their anger further, as they gripped their weapons, and they stormed out, marching toward the Space Axis with dark expressions.

They had only one mission, to destroy whoever had dared to cause troubles inside the city hall, whether it was righteous duty or misplaced rage no longer mattered to them.

All of them shared the same burning intent—

except one.

Steven.

He had already been stripped of his duties and was awaiting transfer to the capital to face trial for disobeying a direct order from a superior.

Initially, he had been selected as part of the force that would march against the Gordons Clan, but he had refused.

Claiming it went against the very reason he had joined the City Protection Squad in the first place, more than that, it went against him as a person, as he could not bring himself to attack a clan that has time and time again given their all to protect the city.

As the mages rushed toward the Space Axis, they began to feel the air growing unnaturally cold, but they brushed it off as nothing more than a change in weather and continued forward without a second thought.

But then they turned the corner, and came to a stop permanently, before them stood countless ice sculptures. Perfectly preserved. Frozen mid-motion.

Even without moving closer, they all knew the truth, those figures had once been their colleagues, their gazes slowly shifted toward the figure at the center of it all.

The mage was strolling forward calmly, as though walking through a garden rather than a field of death, he casually tossed what appeared to be a black piece of attire onto the ground.

Then he snapped his fingers, causing a small black flame to flicker to life.

It was strange to them, watching someone ignite even the smallest spark of flame in what had become a frozen wasteland, yet the figure did exactly that.

He then flicked the tiny black flame forward, sending it toward the black clothing that had been thrown to the ground, beside him stood another figure, one that looked as though it had been carved entirely from ice itself.

That was when confusion truly set in, just what was happening here?

Then the mage before them raised his head, and many recognised him, while their eyes fell on the emblem fastened neatly to his pocket.

“That... that’s Alec Gordons,” someone whispered.

Gasps spread instantly, as they struggled to understand what Alec Gordons was doing there, why someone who was no longer even supposed to be in the city had returned.

But when their gazes drifted back to the frozen remains of their colleagues, the answer became painfully clear.

Alec then spoke, his voice calm and level.

“I will only ask this once, and I need a direct answer. Drop your weapons and remove your armor. I will take that as you renouncing your loyalty to the Estonia City Hall.”

“Anything other than that,” he continued, “and I can’t guarantee you’ll leave here with your lives.”

He finished speaking with his hands still tucked into his pockets, his body shivering slightly under the influence of Titan’s raging ice storm, even though he was shielding himself with mana and it was not aimed at him, the cold was still oppressive since he was in the middle of it all.

Alec believed he was offering them a chance to live, but he realized how wrong he was only seconds later, as slow smiles spread across their faces.

Then a mage at the back stepped forward and laughed.

“Brothers, we’ve all been angry that we didn’t get to take part in the war, but who would’ve thought such a big piece of meat would drop right into our laps?”

“Just imagine how many points the City Lord will give each and every one of us for capturing someone like Alec Gordons, the one known as the next bearer of the Gordons Clan.”

“Attack!”

They charged toward Alec and Titan without hesitation.

Alec didn’t even bother with them, he just blasted off the ground into the air and shot toward the direction where his clan estate was located, seeing him leave so abruptly, the mages immediately tried to chase after him.

But they had all forgotten one thing, someone was still there with them.

[> High Tier Spell – Absolute Zero <]

Titan spoke as he took a single step forward, the moment his raised leg touched the ground, the frozen domain, which had already stopped expanding, surged outward once more, and this time at a terrifying speed, far surpassing its previous range.

In that instant, the mages finally realized they were in grave danger.

Earlier, when they had rushed in, they hadn’t even bothered to check realms, but now they had clearly heard the golem cast a High Tier spell, which meant it was at least in the Low Tier 7 realm.

To them, that was a mountain many of them might never reach in their entire lives.

“Please, wait!” they pleaded.

But their cries fell on deaf ears, because the moment the icy domain engulfed them, frost crawled up their bodies, starting from their legs and racing upward faster than anyone could resist.

There was no time, and no escape.

In moments, half of the City Hall was swallowed by ice, with countless new ice sculptures forming where living mages had stood only seconds before, when Titan finished, he leapt into the air and flew in the direction Alec had gone.

With his speed, he had no doubt he would catch up before Alec reached the clan estate.