The Citadel of Bingyeon (Ice Smoke)

Episode 16: Awakening

The blackened giant stone walls that stood encircling the enemy nation's last fortress loomed ominously like sharp monoliths, in stark contrast to the blindingly white tundra of the wasteland. The frequencies of the last signal from the star glass shards pulsed violently from deep inside the fortress's core, but just as we closed the distance, an ancient, rigid frost-magic barrier rippling across the entire fortress thoroughly blocked and sealed off our route of entry. It was no ordinary stone wall. It was a living, breathing icy vortex that raged with the intent of instantly shredding to pieces anything that touched it.

"This barrier is perfectly synchronized and fused with the frozen pulse deep in this wasteland."

Jiseok stepped briskly forward at full speed until he was right at the edge of the barrier and murmured softly. Military strategic focus rose sharply and firmly at the end of his deep, warm voice. His signature proud, enormous smile had vanished without a trace, replaced by a rough, resolute expression fixed on the enemy lines. He turned his head to look at me, and in the corners of his eyes as he stared at me there was a story of protection so deep and absolute it could not be escaped, shining dazzlingly as gentle warmth. He gently reached out a large hand toward me.

"I can slightly mimic the barrier's frequency with my ice magic, but, Seoha, the momentum is too heavy for me to break this seal with my power alone. We have to perfectly fuse our magic into one."

I didn't hesitate for even 1 second. Striding to the side right next to Jiseok, I smoothly slipped my fingers into his hot palm and locked our hands together, tightly and stubbornly, as if they might break. Even through the howling mountain wind, his touch was astonishingly warm and grounding, reassuring my pulse and instantly calming and arranging the celestial void-magic flames that had been wildly choking my chest, bringing them to stillness.

"Just synchronize gently to the rhythm of my heartbeat."

Jiseok whispered softly with his lips pressed close to my ear. He had precisely adjusted his hearing aid to completely block out the howling blizzard so he could focus fully on my breathing alone. His syllables were a comforting, certain silent promise that soothed me.

Together, we violently pushed our respective magical momentum forward. Jiseok unleashed a vast stream of brilliant, unwavering frozen magic like a waterfall, and I shot the overflowing purple celestial void cosmic dust within me as a dazzling beam aimed to strike. The instant our two magical energies violently collided in the middle of the air, a sudden, highly volatile distortion erupted across the entire atmosphere, soon triggering a massive explosive shockwave that violently shook the entire steep fortress. The wildly swirling wall of ice vortex shattered into millions of sparkling ice fragments and collapsed in ruin.

But our great victory did not last long.

Because the pure, immense physical scale of the magic explosion had effectively acted like a giant signal light, clearly revealing our coordinates across this dark desert. The scouts guarding the inside of the fortress instantly hyper-focused their gaze on us.

"Intruders on the perimeter! Sound the alarm!"

Dozens of guards wearing fragments of ironclad wasteland armor burst out in a full sprint, roughly gripping their swords as they smashed open the fortress's huge gate.

Chanyeon oppa and Hyunjin leapt in without hesitating even for 1 second, throwing themselves into the middle of the chaos. Hyunjin urgently sent out a panicked warning signal and violently swung his leather sleeve, and a wall of thick, massive dark smoke so dense it nearly blinded us swallowed the entire vanguard and choked off their breath. Chanyeon oppa moved with an absolutely commanding instinct, terrifyingly fast. He firmly and stubbornly braced the line at the side of my waist, supporting my body's weight, and became the anchor of a solid human shield between the approaching blades and me. We fought desperately to escape, but the physical army of enemies pouring endlessly out through the gate completely overwhelmed our momentum and crushed us mercilessly.

A heavy, brutal iron mace slammed hard into Chanyeon oppa's broad shoulder. The very next instant, as I screamed and desperately cried out his name, another guard's huge shield strike crashed mercilessly into the side of my waist. All the oxygen was cleanly knocked out of my lungs and my breath caught in my throat, and my exhausted, broken body, having taken the blow directly, tumbled as if it were being brutally dropped onto the frozen ground. The world twisted and began to spin completely into darkness on its own, and my willpower vanished entirely as the guards roughly wrapped heavy, brutal iron chains around my wrists and dragged us down into the deep, dark recesses of the fortress prison.

How long had that long, painful ordeal gone on? At last, the iron gate lock gave a heavy, sharp cracking sound and opened roughly.
Because I had carefully kept the star glass shard fragments I had collected so far in a leather pouch, the guards roughly seized my battered body, carrying me as they cruelly dragged me up the large stone steps. Then they threw me harshly onto the cold floor of the throne room's grand arched interior. At the far front edge of my vision, right at the exact center of the room, the cruel and merciless king of this wasteland sat high upon a deep, cold ice throne, radiating a chilling majesty.

"What on earth are you lot?"

the king pressed in a sharp, commanding voice. His voice was a buzzing murmur mixed with a sneering laugh like gravel scraping down, and he strode down from the high dais while lifting the leather pouch containing my shards in his hand. When he carelessly dumped the jagged purple crystal fragments onto the cold stone floor, the king's eyes flew wide as plates, filled with perfect shock and awe.

"How can you possess so many enormous shards? I thought the shards hidden inside my fortress vault were the only certainty in this entire universe!"

Lying sprawled on the stone floor, I gasped rough breaths, and the heavy iron chain constricting my wrists struck the cold floor every time I moved, crying out in sharp, painful hissing squeals. I tried to part my lips and override with even a single word, but before my mouth could even open, the grand chamber sank in an instant into absolute silence, frozen in perfect absolute zero.

The three star glass shards scattered on the floor suddenly began beating like mad, all at once pouring out a blindingly brilliant and intense glow of twilight-purple cosmic dust in every direction like a waterfall.

At the same moment, the final finale arrived. The last fourth shard fragment, strictly sealed and locked deep inside the king's private vault, violently shattered the steel display case holding it and burst free in an instant. Then, drawn by irresistible celestial magical gravity, it flew fiercely toward the center of the throne room in a terrifying trajectory.

The four shards began floating across the air above my head, then blazed white enough to blind the eye and spun at high speed in formation. And with not a single line of error, they perfectly fused into one single piece, finally completing an exquisite, dazzlingly beautiful queen's crown fixed with pure purple cosmic dust.

The crown descended with an elegant, smooth motion and settled perfectly onto my hair with not even a centimeter of misstep.

The instant the touch of that cold metal crown reached my forehead, an unimaginably vast, blinding energy of pure light burst forth from deep within the core of every magical system inside me. The shockwave swept across the entire grand throne room, cutting mercilessly through it, and the heavy iron chains that had cruelly bound and imprisoned my wrists shattered completely in an instant, then vanished into the air and disappeared. The many guards surrounding us were also thrown back by that overwhelming force, brutally bouncing and rolling across the stone floor.

With the coronation of the crown, a dramatic, unhurried awakening of quiet precision came into my mind, so intense it stole my breath. My true identity, the celestial authority I could wield, and the entire noble divine story by which I had pierced into this world were written transparently across my consciousness. I was no longer merely a lost, drifting stranger or traveler. The certain queen chosen by the universe to unite and rule the scattered territories, the true ruler of the Court of Smoke and Ice, had finally awakened with a complete pulse.

Slowly, I pushed my body up from the dirt floor. The twilight glow of purple cosmic dust swirled beautifully and magnificently around my loose, plain commoner's tunic like an imposing royal fur mantle, wrapping around me as if in escort.

The enemy king staggered back several steps toward his ice throne, his face completely drained white as he began to tremble all over, seized by raw, overwhelming terror and panic. He raised a trembling finger and pointed it at my face, and his cracked voice shot up an octave, breaking apart like a scream in the middle of the sentence.

"A-monster...! You're a terrifying demon who crawled out of that void!"

A cool, steady, unmistakably confident smile spread across my face. I decided to directly override my momentum into the heartbeat of his absolute terror. As I stepped forward, my voice dropped an octave, carrying a buzzing vibration that soaked into my spine with chills, overflowing with raw, absolute power and gravity.

"Do I really look like a monster to you?"

I demanded as I stared at him with a sharp, piercing gaze. Celestial void flames were blazing in my eyes, bright enough to blind.

"If you believe I'm a demon, then you should be on your knees right now, begging the gods you serve for your life. Release the seal on the containment device imprisoning my squad and remove the chains completely. If you defy my orders for even 1 second, I'll personally shove my hand deep into your chest and shred that worthless heartbeat in the gaps between your ribs."

Completely overpowered by the momentum of absolute force, the blinded king had no time to think about any rational arrangement and screamed at the surviving scouts as if he were sprinting for his life.

"Let them go! Release those squad members now! Get those intruders out of my sight and completely erase them immediately!"

A few minutes later, the heavy oaken door crashed open with a racket, and Chanyeon oppa, Hyunjin, and Jiseok, with their chains cleanly removed, strode powerfully into the room.

Beneath the brilliantly shining sacred crown of the cosmos, the feeling of shared joy flowing between the four of us in that very instant we confirmed my imposing figure standing proudly and majestically was itself an overwhelming shock and a story of salvation. A huge, sunlike smile burst once more across Chanyeon oppa's face through the broken scars, and Jiseok came closer to clasp my knuckles again, letting out a breathless little laugh with hot eyes filled with deep relief and absolute devotion.
But our great festival of completion did not last long.

Because beyond the stained-glass window installed high in the throne room, a sharp, enormous pillar of crimson magical flame shot straight upward into the sky above the fortress citadel. Due to the aftermath of the fortress's secret vaults and magical locks shattering and collapsing in an instant, the intruder-detection automatic manual override emergency signal grid had fully activated and triggered a countdown timer. A huge beacon exposing our exact coordinates to the elite high-council patrol squads sweeping across the tundra was writing itself fiercely across the night sky.

The smile lingering at the corner of Chanyeon oppa's lips vanished completely in an instant. His large, warm hand immediately clamped firmly and stubbornly around my waist and side, pulling me tightly into his side embrace, and the sharp, decisive atmosphere of a supreme commander cleanly cut through the air of the entire room.

"The entire kingdom now knows exactly where we're hiding."

Chanyeon oppa lowered his head near my ear and ordered in a voice sunk an octave deeper, heavy with gravity. His warm breath scattered against my skin, and his thumb slowly traced a steady, reassuring line along my waist.

"Keep formation. We move now."