Chapter 115: White being

Disrespect. That was the only word that could describe the reason behind all my misfortunes during this mission. Starting with how little I respected the descend from the mountain almost resulting in me falling to my doom, now I was receiving the harsh penalty od disregarding this 'tiny cloud of snow'. 

Despite any logic or science that I could come up with, this weather didn't add up. While being soo high up as I was meant that a thick layer of clouds blocked my sight of the ground, it also meant that most of the extreme weather occurrences should remain way below me.

Sadly, this world didn't seem to follow any logic that I would devise. And just like that, I was stuck walking through a snowstorm so dense, that I could barely see my hand if I were to extend my arm as far as I could. 

Nevertheless, I continued walking. As much as I have time to finish the mission with not even a single day passing ever since it began, I was too eager to complete it. With the perspective of feeding Ayda all sorts of foods from earth or giving her a tour of my hometown clouding my judgment, I just tightened my teeth, powering my way through the snowstorm.

Step by step, I was getting just a bit higher. While at the current rate it would take me at least a few days of just constant walking alone to get to the top, I wasn't as naive as to believe that the gentle incline that I found on the opposite side of the mountain would be as gentle all the way to the top. Sooner or later, the slope that I was currently making my way through would turn into another almost vertical wall. 

After all, there was no way that this entire mission would be too easy!

It took over two hours for the weather to calm down. Forcing myself to move forward while constantly worrying over the state of my body, I found myself quite higher than I expected to climb during the storm. Looking down, I could vaguely make up the place where my previous hideout was located. Obviously, pinpointing its perfect location was no longer possible due to a new layer of thick snow covering all the tracks, but the general outline and shape of the mountain still made it possible to guess its general location.

And judging from how far away from it I already was, I actually climbed way, way higher than I expected!

"Let's hope this storm was the last hurdle… Before the worst part, that is."

Weather clearing allowed me not only to see the place where I came from but also to reconfirm whether the direction that I was climbing towards was right. Raising my head, I could easily spot the top of the mountain. And just like expected, while there was still quite a considerable distance that I could cover without worrying about the angle of approach, at least from my current point of view, I couldn't notice a single relatively safe path that would get me all the way to the top.

"Eh… I guess that means even more walking. Damn it!"

With a sudden bout of anger filling my veins, I stoped heavily on the soft snow below my feet. Only noticing what I just did the moment I finished my movement, I could only watch how at first… nothing happened. But in less than just a few seconds, the entire mountain started to shake slightly, as if what I stepped on wasn't a bit of snow, but a detonator for the nuke hidden in the core of this geological structure. 

Soon, the gentle shaking turned into trembling. The worrying trembling then transformed into what seemed like an earthquake. But not the one that I could just notice. From how I was barely capable to stand straight despite all the equipment that was supposed to keep me stable, I could tell that if such shaking happened to an urban area, then it wouldn't be urban anymore once it would end!

And then…

"Are you fucking serious?!"

Whispering to myself with my breath clogging in my throat, I took a step back. Then another one. Then I fell down on my bum, unable to even think about the shaking of the ground below me, too focused on the insanity right before my eyes.

An ice dragon. That was the only name that I could come up with to describe the outline that suddenly appeared right in front of me. From the look of things, it seemed as if this monster was formerly covered by a huge layer of snow and crystalised ice below it. But from how the shaking of its wings caused the turbulences that I was currently experiencing, it was clear that whatever was holding this thing below the snow, no longer had any power over the monster.

"Nope, I'm out."

Pulling myself to the back with my hands as I was too damn scared to actually stand up, I could only watch how this monstrosity finally stood up. Its body seemed to be either covered or made up out of some kind of strange, black ice. Its head was crowned with an enormous snowflake that continued to spin around itself.

Looking around, the monster scanned its surroundings. Sadly for me, its eyes almost instantly latched on me. With my mind already set on escaping from this place and failing this mission, I was about to confirm it by shouting the order for the system… But once again, my voice got stuck in my throat. 

Not because of fear though. Because this would be the very first time when I would give up on something that was important to me. As stupid as it would sound to anyone else who would face this monstrosity before me, I still couldn't let go of my dream of bringing Ayda to earth, even if it would mean clashing with this thing!

"I need to do something… stones!"

The flash of enlightenment that exploded in my mind somehow managed to cast all my fears aside. In the heat of the moment, I forgot the order in which I placed the artefacts all over my suit, pulling out a barrier stone instead of the fireball one. 

"Good enough…"

Pressing the two pieces of the wooden structure together, I activated the first measure against this dragon. Turning its head to the side as it watched my actions, I could swear that I saw the sparks of joy appearing in the icy eyes of the dragon. At first, I was puzzled about what could that look mean.

And then, the monster swept his muscular arm at me. 

"Wha…?"

I didn't receive the attack directly. My body was still perfectly intact. Not even a single wound scarred my skin. From the looks of things, the barrier made by the artefact was far more than capable of withstanding this kind of simple attack from the dragon. The problematic part was, that this barrier was anchored in my hand, where the artefact was. And with that said, there was absolutely nothing that kept it in place, where the powerful attack reached my defences!

Launched high into the air, by the time my momentum died off as I reached the apoapsis of my orbit, I saw the peak. The same peak that I was so desperate to reach. And a strange, fully white figure without any facial features sitting on an icy throne right where my destination was.

"Not even the last boss, huh?" 

Moving my sight before the dragon below and the smiling alien on the level of my eyes, I couldn't help but feel my hopes fading away. If that damned dragon was nothing more but a sidekick of the being that awaited my arrival at the top of the mountain…

As much as I wanted to return right away, the moment my body, still surrounded by a barrier, finally started falling right back into the dragon's jaws. With each passing second stretching almost to infinity in my perception, I stelled my resolve before reaching to another pocket of mine. With my fall only accelerating, it was truly the last possible moment to do so. As soon as my fingers grasped the edgy structure of the artefact, the wind alone forced my hand out of my pocket. 

"You told me not to use it…"

Recalling Sanders advice that I received just before leaving for the mission, I tightened my teeth. Since I was going to fail the mission anyway, there was nothing stopping me from testing that dangerous artefact, was there?

Invoking every last bit of my strength, I took aim while falling down… Before throwing the artefact down. Turning around in midair to increase the drag of the air in my fall as much as I could, I kept my eyes focused on the stone with my lips ready to utter the order for my system. Once the stone got close enough, I simply invoked the familiar emotion of repulsion, squeezing its upper part against its charging stone.

Right as it was about to hit the Ice Dragon's body.

WHOOSH!

In one instant, I felt as if my body was being ripped apart. With the dragon still quite a considerable distance away from me, there was no way for it to reach me with its claws. Even if it did, my barrier should just change the direction of my fall. With the momentum of my falling body changing from rapid to breakneck, it seemed as if just change the direction of my descend was enough to squeeze the juices out of my body!

With blood flowing down out of every orifice of mine, I could only see as the initially shiny point that the artefact turned into, quickly turned black. In a single, fluid motion, the enormous body of the dragon lifted, before turning into a short thread. Before I could watch it getting swallowed by the artefact, my consciousness started to wane under the immense momentum that no human body could withstand. 

The last thing that I saw, was the tiny strand that the entire, enormous body of the dragon turned into getting sucked to the black point that my artefact turned into. The last thing that I felt, was all my joins dislocating and the overwhelming pain associated with it.

And then, the world around me suddenly turned into heaven. Filled with nothing but perfect whiteness, it was a place where I knew that no harm could ever come my way. Even if someone were to ask me how I knew it, he would only receive silence for an answer. 

The only thing that made this strange space bring back the last moment of my life, was the appearance of the very same figure that I spotted at the peak of the mountain.

"Honestly… I didn't expect you to turn that desperate… Or rather, did you even know what you created?"

Even though this strange being had no face to speak of, I could somehow tell that it was brimming with curiosity.

But so was I.

"Create what? Wait, who the hell are you? Did I die?

Unable to wrap my head around what was happening right now, I could only hope that this strange being would be lenient enough to at least answer my question before making me pass on to whatever afterlife would turn out to be.

"First off, I can tell that this… item that you used, was supposed to repulse anything close to it. Sadly, it was poorly crafted, with two major errors inside its structure. Instead of repulsing, it was attracting, and the only limiter on its usage was the second broken part. In other words, what you created… Well, the image that you had in your head was right. If I was even a tiny fraction of a moment late, this black hole you created would collapse and radiate its entire mass away. In other words, you almost brought the end not only to this planet but the entire star system!"

Ending his explanation with an exclamation, this strange being suddenly created another icy throne to sit at, before resting its body on it.

"Don't worry though. In your world, it would simply fail to work. Not enough energy in the air to support the explosive growth of the magic reaction. But to answer the other two questions of mine, I will use just a single explanation."

As if some kind of parasite invited its bottom, this strange, white being stood up from his throne before spreading its arms and looking down on me with an emotionless smile.

"I'm the one behind that system of yours. Back in the days, I… We were called Bart. It's nice to meet you, Krist."