SSS Frost Sovereign: Rewinding The Apocalypse!-Chapter 50: The thistial’s greed

The gloomy frost finally dissipated, leaving only Wester’s frozen corpse behind.

It was too quick. Too abrupt...not even Seban could understand what had just happened.

Icard remained standing for a few seconds longer.

[Your Mana Pool Limit Has Been Greatly Exceeded And Mana Supplement Has Been Forcefully Withdrawn]

At that, Icard dropped to one knee, exhaustion crashing over him as the frost he exhaled slowly faded away.

"Icard!"

They rushed toward him. Not far away lay Eric. Alia had already gone to him.

"Are you okay?" Reya asked urgently.

"Yeah. I think so," Icard replied weakly as Reya helped him steady himself.

His gaze shifted to Eric.

Eric’s body was scorched black, veins faintly glowing beneath his skin where the crimson flames had burned too deeply.

His clothes were charred, torn apart where power had erupted through them, and faint heat still radiated from his body.

This was worse than the time he used the crimson flames on Wester’s sent attacker the other day.

They helped Icard over to Eric. Alia had carefully pulled him free from the rubble he had crashed into.

"What’s wrong with him?!" Alia asked, panic rising in her voice.

"How did he do that? He looked completely different," Matt added.

Icard breathed, recognizing the state Eric was in.

’I can’t believe he reached the peak of the first stage this early’ he thought to himself.

’That state is the Crimson Blood-flare. The peak of the lowest stage in his keeper’s space’

Just as Icard had floors, a lot of systems had stages.

And in Eric’s case, each stage had a peak - a state that changed Eric’s form and power greatly, including his personality, just like in the frost tower.

There were other peak stage forms with unique skills each, but this was the lowest.

And although he had tapped into it, he wasn’t really ready for it.

It probably wasn’t something he could do on command now and moreover, he had used it when he had insufficient mana.

That would cause him serious mana shock.

But then, he would definitely recover from it, in time.

"He’ll be alright," Icard said quietly.

’Eric isn’t unconscious just because of Wester’s strike. Most of this is mana shock. I just hope he recovers early,’ Icard thought.

His eyes traced the scorched lines where flames had burned straight through Eric’s shirt.

It was an incomplete manifestation, crude and unstable, but it was real.

And Eric had reached it already. Mostly by himself.

Icard huffed softly.

’Perhaps, that time he spent in that coma from Katar’s battle back then...did his keeper help him?’

That speculation was quite far so Icard just dropped it.

Then he smiled faintly.

’Last time, he was definitely the star of our group. It took me long enough to catch up to this bastard’

Meanwhile, Rybie had witnessed everything now and was left nearly speechless, along with Seban who he had stopped from interfering earlier.

’Those kids... Such absurd talent for mastery and raw power,’ he thought in awe. ’And there’s no Erwald among them. If I could just pull them to my side...’

It was while he was distracted by that thought, in that instant, Seban whom he kept in check just then, vanished quietly.

Rybie noticed immediately, but it was already too late.

His body melted into a flowing shadowy essence, slipping past Rybie like liquid darkness.

And he had a target.

"Damn it!" Rybie shouted.

Seban surged forward, swift and silent, headed toward where Icard, Reya, and the others were gathered.

He emerged from the ground a few meters away, rising as if breaking through the surface of water.

His blue scale lean and hare-like form shimmered faintly.

The mane of hair running from the back of his head down to his tail turned black as he closed in, eyes locking onto them like prey.

’For someone to display that kind of power, his potential must be extraordinary,’ Seban had thought as he closed in.

’Wester was talented but he can’t even compare to this brat. If I take his mana essence, it could be invaluable.’

They all saw it coming. His sudden emergence. The black essence gathering around him, ready to be unleashed.

His target was Icard. And likely the rest of them.

But none of them could react in time. Not against an Erwald. Especially not when Icard was completely drained.

This attack could wipe them out in a single strike. Icard could tell that much. But then,he wasn’t really fazed at this.

Just before Seban could unleash his attack, a bolt of lightning crashed down between them.

The impact shattered the ground with a blinding flash and thunderous force exploding outward.

Seban was repelled instantly, sent skidding backward on all fours.

Everyone there froze.

The sudden arrival stunned them all. Alia and the others stared ahead, eyes wide as recognition dawned immediately, just after another near death experience.

A figure stood amid the fading sparks, lightning still crackling faintly around him. His presence overwhelming, even though his form was quite small.

Katar had arrived.

’I was wondering when he started loving flashy entrances,’ Icard thought with an inaudible huff.

Icard already knew that if Katar knew Seban was a thistial, he would never allow his incarnations to go alone.

If the thistial were to come at them, he had to be there to step in. And so, he wasn’t really surprised.

Even Rybie had not expected this but still, he was not shaken by Katar.

"Are you insane?! You’re using your powers here! Are you trying to attract spawns this way?!" Rybie yelled.

Even Seban’s skill earlier had been restrained, subtle enough not to draw attention. But this Erwald had descended with blatant force.

The dust finally settled.

What stood revealed was a massive snow cat, his body covered in thick, white fur that shimmered faintly under lingering sparks of lightning.

Rybie’s eyes widened slightly at the sight.

"You..." he muttered.

Katar stood there casually, with his posture relaxed and his tail swaying slowly behind him as if nothing of importance had happened.

His expression was utterly indifferent, like he didn’t care about the possible implications of his actions now.

"What? Do you have a problem?" he asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he looked at them.

Seban stiffened immediately.

"You... are you trying to endanger everyone here?!" Rybie snapped again, more concerned at what Katar could cause right now.

"What does it matter?" Katar replied flatly. "Am I supposed to care about everyone?"

"Tch." Rybie clicked his tongue in irritation at Katar’s blatant nonchalance.

"Kataaaaar!!!"