Chapter 59 – Battle Against the Ice Dragon

The Ice Dragon lifted its head high, its massive chest expanding as it drew in a breath so deep it sounded like a cavern inhaling. The corrupted crystal embedded in its chest pulsed with a sickly glow, beating like a second, twisted heart.

“The first strike is coming!” Yuna shouted, driving her sword into the frozen ground, anchoring herself for what was about to come.

A second later, the dragon exhaled.

It was not mere frost breath—it was an apocalypse unleashed. A tidal wave of storm winds mixed with shards of darkness rushed forward, a frozen tsunami that sought to erase everything in its path.

“**Absolute Barrier!**” Zareen slammed his staff against the icy earth. A glowing white circle flared to life beneath their feet, rising into a dome of light that sealed them inside.

The storm hit like a mountain. Air became solid, needles of ice rained from every direction, and the very weight of the darkness pressed on their bones until it felt as though they would shatter. The barrier groaned and cracked, fine spiderweb fractures glowing as they spread across its surface.

“Hold it together!” Zareen shouted, his voice nearly lost in the howling blizzard.

Doni squeezed his eyes shut, yelling over the roar. “I don’t want to look! It feels like the sky’s falling on me!”

“If this breaks, we’re all popsicles!” Sari growled, gritting her teeth, sweat freezing on her brow.

Seconds stretched into an eternity. At last, the storm died down. The barrier shattered into a thousand fragments of light, but they were still standing—knees shaking, breath ragged, but alive.

---

### Counterattack

“Our turn!” Yuna’s voice rang like steel. She leapt, her sword wrapped in a corona of black energy, and carved a slash across the dragon’s wing. The blow struck true, leaving a hairline crack along one of the dark crystals.

“**Chain Bind!**” Sari hurled her weapon, the chains lashing around one of the dragon’s legs and locking tight. “I can only hold it for a few seconds!”

“**Rain Meteor Shot!**” Doni shouted, loosing a glowing barrage of arrows that rained down on the dragon’s side. The impacts hit the weak point Yuna had created, and a small explosion sent shards of corrupted ice scattering across the battlefield.

The dragon roared—a sound so deafening it made the mountain itself quake. The snow beneath their feet fractured, creating fissures that threatened to swallow them whole.

From the broken crystal poured more of that black smoke, flooding the air until it was like breathing through wet ash.

---

### The Aura’s Pressure

Zareen suddenly staggered, clutching his head. A whisper cut through the storm, slithering into his thoughts like poison.

*Give yourself to me… stop resisting. You are no different from me.*

The image of Gino in his corrupted form flashed before Zareen’s eyes—the glowing red gaze, the aura of pure darkness that had nearly consumed him. His hand trembled, his knees almost buckling.

“No… I won’t give in. I am not like you.”

With a cry, Zareen drove his staff into the ground. “**Perfect Cure – Light Veil!**”

A wave of pure white light erupted outward, pushing back the creeping black fog. The suffocating weight on their chests eased, and the small cuts and bruises across their bodies sealed instantly.

Yuna glanced back, her normally cold eyes widening slightly. “That wasn’t just healing. You cleansed the aura.”

Zareen nodded, sweat dripping down his temple. “Yes… it’s the only thing holding this darkness back.”

---

### A Flicker of Hope

Through the haze, Zareen caught a glimpse—just for an instant—of the dragon’s blue eye shining clearer, as if something deep inside was struggling to break free.

“Everyone!” he called out. “It’s still in there—the real dragon! We can’t just kill it. We have to seal it!”

Sari tightened her grip on her chain. “If that’s your plan, I’m in!”

Doni straightened, though his legs still shook. “Fine! Then this time, I’ll make sure my shots hit exactly where they need to.”

Yuna’s gaze lingered on Zareen for a heartbeat before a rare, faint smile curved her lips. “Very well. If that’s the path you’ve chosen, I’ll follow it.”

---

### The Dragon’s Second Breath

The Ice Dragon rose, its wings beating once and sending another shockwave across the plateau. The corrupted crystal on its back pulsed wildly, spilling out light so blinding it turned night into day. Its maw opened wide, gathering a sphere of blue-black energy that crackled with destructive power—an attack far stronger than the last.

“That’s its annihilation breath!” Yuna shouted, bracing her stance.

Zareen’s fingers tightened around his staff until they hurt. *Can Perfect Cure withstand something like that?*

There was no time to hesitate. *If I fail, everyone dies here. But if I falter now… we lose everything anyway.*

“All of you—behind me!” Zareen commanded.

The sphere reached its peak, and the dragon unleashed it. The beam of light and darkness erupted forward, devouring the sky as it came.

Zareen raised his staff, letting its glow engulf his entire body.

“**PERFECT CURE!!!**”

A column of white light exploded upward, meeting the dragon’s attack head-on. Darkness and purity clashed in the air, a storm of frost and radiance engulfing the battlefield. The sound was like glass shattering, like the mountain itself crying out.

Snow was blasted into a cyclone, the ground split apart, and for a moment it felt as though time stopped.

When the light finally dimmed, they were still standing—barely—but the plateau had been scarred, a massive chasm smoking between them and the dragon.

---

### The Turning Point

For the first time, the dragon hesitated. Its blue eye flickered again, clearer than before.

“We’re getting through to it,” Zareen whispered, his chest heaving.

“Then don’t stop!” Sari yelled. “Before it comes to its senses and crushes us!”

Doni was already nocking another arrow, his expression grim but determined. “This is it. We keep pushing until the very end.”

Yuna pulled her sword free of the ground, dark energy coiling around her like smoke. “Then let’s finish this fight the way we were meant to.”

Above them, the Ice Dragon let out another roar—this one not just of rage, but of pain.

And Zareen knew that this battle was no longer just a fight for survival.

It was a fight to save the guardian of the north.