Chapter 1253 Crusade

Ruby was an ordinary department store salesperson. Today was the day she finished her late shift. Dragging her exhausted body, she wrapped her thin coat tightly around her and hurried home. This part of the city always seemed a bit bleak and run-down, but she'd grown accustomed to it. She was calculating her monthly expenses and wondering if she should send some money home.

The biting cold came without warning, far worse than the cold wind in late winter, as if it could freeze the soul directly.

Ruby shuddered violently, her breath instantly turning into a thick white mist. She subconsciously looked up, trying to find the source of the cold.

The scene at the alley ahead almost made her blood freeze.

A girl with long hair as white as ice, barefoot, was slowly walking out of the dark alley.

Visible vortices of cold air permeated her body. Wherever she passed, the ground, walls, and even the air made slight "cracking" sounds and were quickly covered with a thick, opaque layer of ice.

What made Ruby's heart stop even more was that in the alley behind the girl, she could vaguely see several human silhouettes that were running or struggling - they had completely turned into ice sculptures, all their vividness frozen forever in an instant.

Absolute fear gripped Ruby's throat. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out. She tried to turn and run, but her legs felt heavy and stiff, as if welded to the ground. She could only watch helplessly as the icy girl approached, her lifeless, icy blue eyes scanning the street below.

Everywhere she looked, the terrifying frost spread rapidly, like a living thing! Streetlights went out, cars were frozen, and shop windows exploded and filled with ice! The cold frantically plundered the meager heat in her body. Her eyelids grew heavier, and her vision began to blur and turn gray.

In the second before her consciousness was completely swallowed by the cold darkness, the last thing she saw was her outstretched hand, which was covered with thick white frost and was losing the last bit of consciousness.

Just as Ruby's consciousness was about to completely dissipate in the bitter cold, a sharp sound of air piercing approached from afar. Several aircraft painted with the symbol of Destiny pierced the icy air like giant steel eagles, hovering above the streets.

The hatch opened, and figures clad in white and blue combat uniforms, armed with strange weapons, swiftly descended through the air. Swift and well-trained, they immediately spread out in battle formation, their weapons emitting blazing beams or a barrage of projectiles, aimed directly at the ice maiden strolling through the frozen streets.

However, when those attacks approached a certain range around the girl, their speed visibly decreased rapidly, and were eventually frozen and deflected by a layer of extremely cold barrier that suddenly appeared, or simply condensed into ice lumps in the air and fell to the ground, making crisp shattering sounds.

The Ice Maiden seemed disturbed by the attacks. She raised her hand slightly, and countless huge, sharp-edged ice cones instantly condensed in the air. As if fired from invisible crossbows, they shot towards the newly appeared warriors with a shrill whistling sound.

The warriors dodged, their movements slowed by the freezing temperatures. Icicles crashed against the walls and ground, sending icy shards flying everywhere, further exacerbating the harsh conditions. Occasionally, a warrior would be brushed by ice shards or struck by the chill, their movements becoming even stiffer. Some even slipped and fell on the rapidly freezing ground.

They tried to outflank them, but the Ice Maiden just stood there quietly. Every time she waved her hand, a new ice wall would rise from the ground to block their way, or turn a large area into an instant freezing death trap.

The warriors' attack was extremely difficult, with minimal effect. Instead, they were constantly falling due to frostbite or being unable to evade the attack, and were dragged back by their companions. They seemed unable to truly threaten the existence of the center, and could only barely slow the expansion of the frozen area.

Just as the soldiers seemed increasingly overwhelmed and the frozen realm was about to swallow up another street, an extremely brilliant pink light, like a rainbow tearing through the gray sky, fell from the sky at a speed beyond the limits of visual capture and landed precisely in the center of the battlefield.

The light faded, revealing a figure. It was a woman with long pink hair, wearing an ordinary off-white dress. She looked like a girl who had just finished shopping, but in her hand she held a gorgeous longbow that looked like it was carved from crystal.

Her appearance instantly changed the atmosphere of the battlefield. The pervasive, extreme cold seemed to be repelled and weakened by a warm and powerful invisible force field around her.

When the soldiers below saw her coming, their movements became noticeably more orderly and coordinated, as if they had found a backbone, and began to surround her to provide support and cover.

The pink-haired woman ignored the surrounding icicles and chill. She gracefully raised the crystal longbow in her hand. An arrow composed purely of warm light automatically gathered, and she released the bowstring.

The arrow of light shot not at the Snow Maiden but high into the sky, then exploded into countless soft points of light, which fell like a gentle spring rain. Wherever the light points reached, the ice began to melt rapidly, revealing the frozen ground's true color. The deadly chill in the air quickly dissipated like morning mist dispelled by sunlight.

The cold force field around the Ice Girl became noticeably unstable. She tried to gather more powerful frost power, but the newly formed ice crystals quickly disintegrated and melted under the illumination of those warm light spots.

The pink-haired woman danced across the icy plain, effortlessly dodging the occasional icicles. Each draw of her bow was a graceful gesture, effortlessly lifting weights. The arrows of light she fired were always able to precisely dissolve the frozen surface of an area, or deftly shatter the Ice Maiden's imminent attack.

The tide of battle turned in an instant. The once unstoppable spread of the ice was completely contained, receding at a visible rate.

Finally, the pink-haired woman appeared in front of the Snow Girl as if teleporting, extended a slender finger, and gently tapped the latter's forehead. The Snow Girl's body trembled, and the icy blue light in her eyes completely dimmed. Her body fell limply, and was gently caught by the pink-haired woman.

The terrifying low temperature that enveloped the city receded like the tide, and the sun once again shone on the streets filled with a mixture of ice and water and the mess.

The pink-haired woman held the sleeping Ice Maiden in her arms and nodded slightly to the relieved warriors around her. Then, a stream of pink light enveloped her once more, and the next moment, she vanished without a trace, carrying the Herrscher in her arms.

One of the Valkyries glanced at the lone survivor nearby. Ruby's mouth dropped open, and she shuddered slightly, shocked that something like a sci-fi movie could actually happen right next to her.

But at this moment, she felt a cool touch on the palm of her hand. She looked down and found it was a beautiful rose quartz.

Looking at it, for some reason, she thought of the beautiful pink-haired woman, and her originally frightened heart slowly calmed down.