Chapter 136 The Confrontation

"It's time, Rachel," Lloyd said as he collapsed on the ground after bashing the brains of the last spider.

Rachel nodded as her eyes glowed an alluring shade of red-orange. Her wings appeared behind her as she floated up. Satoshi and Emma wondered what she was doing.

The wings on Rachel's back continued to grow until the flaming roots of her wings spread all over her body like veins coursing through every part of her system. Her face flared up, quite literally, and then she transformed into a phoenix.

That's right, a phoenix. Out of all the mythological beasts out there, it's the phoenix. Satoshi wondered why he kept on encountering phoenixes as if a certain author writing his life was giving him hints about his particular favorite creature.

After a squawk, the flames on Rachel's wings increased in their burning intensity and a flash of bright gentle red seemed to envelop the place. Immediately, Satoshi and Emma felt the positive effects of the gently fiery light touching their skin. They felt their energy being renewed and their overall condition getting better. After going through multiple Gates previously, they still felt the lingering effects of exhaustion even though Sera had fully removed it. Now those conditions were alleviated once again due to the healing effects of Rachel.

"So she was hiding that kind of skill, no wonder they could be that reckless. If the support of the team is this powerful, they could go all-out any time they want. What a solid team." Emma commented.

"No, it's not that the team is solid, it's that lady called Rachel who's a solid member of the team. She's an all-rounder, she can very well be a top superhero. Why have I not heard about her?"

"Probably because that place called Antarctica is a remote place?" Emma asked in return.

"Right,"

Pretty soon, Rachel reverted back to her human form and she heaved a sigh, smoke coming out of her mouth. "Is everyone all right?" She asked. Unlike Lloyd, she didn't think much about the tag-along, Satoshi and Emma. In her mind, she just thought that the two of them were acting out of cowardice.

"Yeah," Lloyd answered in behalf of the rest of the party. Once again he stole a glance at Satoshi and Emma but he didn't say a single word. After all, he was already well aware of what they're currently doing— assessing their abilities because clearly, they're stronger than them individually.

"What do we do now?" Caleb asked, remembering what Vinny just said before they engaged in combat with the ants and the spiders.

"We have no choice, don't we. We should defeat the boss, or else we're trapped in here forever." Lloyd continued. "First, we'll assess the situation and then we'll formulate a strategy. No matter how powerful the enemy is, there's bound to be a strategy that will defeat it."

? "But it's close to impossible to defeat it." Vinny continued. "I don't know what kind of monster she was but she's called the Ice Queen. Apparently, she's a powerful ice user summoned here as the boss of this Gate. I don't know if she's a monster or the remnants of what was once human, but needless to say, she could easily overpower the four of us. That's a given."

"But with these two teenagers with us, we might have the chance of winning." There was confidence in Lloyd's voice as he said that but everyone wasn't convinced. Apparently, Lloyd was the only one who saw through Emma and Satoshi's intentions. As for all of them, they already assumed that Satoshi and Emma were burdens. What use is a powerful superpower if the user doesn't know how to use it?

"You saw what they did while we were fighting. They just stood there without doing anything. Could we trust them to watch our backs once we get there?"

As soon as Rachel said that, Satoshi beckoned for his Windfan to follow right behind him as he walked toward Rachel. "You don't have to worry about that. I have a few plans in mind."

.....

A few minutes ago,

Due to the sheer coldness of the place and the fact that Satoshi was on guard from all the skittering, he didn't detect the powerful entity by the end of the Ice Cave. But as soon as Vinny said it, Satoshi immediately felt the raw energy that leaked out of the largest chamber of the cave. Chills ran p and down his spine after detecting such a formidable enemy. Even he wasn't confident that he could defeat such a figure.

"Dex," Satoshi called out, just when the others started charging at the ant horde that crawled towards the group.

[As you wish, Satoshi,] Dex immediately responded. Even though Satoshi hasn't completed his instructions, Dex already knew what to do. In an instant, Dex turned around and headed towards the huge chamber, activating his invisibility so both parties won't find his presence suspicious.

Cautiously, Dex flew towards the entity. For once, it wanted to disobey Satoshi's orders and go back since the energy emanating from therein was so overwhelming. Dex is a system, and so its senses could very well be keener than most humans. What Satoshi and Vinny felt was only a small fraction of what Dex felt as it got nearer.

Once Dex got to the furthest part of the chamber though, it reached a clearing, a huge space filled with ice. The first thing that Dex noticed were the two Ice Polar Bears that are as big as a five-story building. These two Ice Polar Bears were roaring and their forelegs stuck in mid-air as if they were frozen in time.

Fwoooosh~~~

Dex then felt cold air blow towards its screen, making it stagger backward before noticing the huge entity behind the already monumental ice bears.

It was an ice sculpture, no, a masterpiece, but compared to the size of the ice bears, it's relatively small, only three meters in length. The ice sculpture had the figure of a proportionate woman with her long hair and deer-like eyes that seemed to stare straight into Dex's soul if it had one. The ice sculpture was holding an orb in her left hand and a scepter in her right hand as if she was commanding a huge army. She was riding on a sleigh-like contraption attached to the reins of the ice bears.

[Scanning...] Dex inwardly said, studying every nook and cranny of the unmoving statue. After a few seconds, Dex then flew away and reported back to Satoshi, just when Lloyd and the others were dealing with the second horde of enemies.

"The Ice Queen, huh, would it work?" Satoshi asked Dex. It already knows what Satoshi was pertaining so it didn't ask anything back.

[Yes, but it comes with risks, Satoshi. And also, it is possible to make her your summon.]

"Why would I need such a huge summon?" Satoshi said before thinking about his latest familiar, Gabriel and his thoughts were immediately changed.

"It's time, Rachel," Lloyd weakly said after dealing with the last spider.

.....

Back to the present,

Together, the group started running towards the huge chamber so they could get a closer look at the monster that Vinny informed them about. With each step, Vinny's tremblings started to aggravate since she was more than nervous to get close to the monster. But she continued on along with everyone. After all, it's safer to be with the group than to be isolated.

The closer they got, the more they felt the raw energy that the monster was emitting. Lloyd wanted to tell the group to turn back a few times but he didn't.

And then they saw it, the towering figures of the Ice Bears and the Ice Queen.

"Whoa," Satoshi said. Compared to what Dex informed him, the actual image of the monsters was much more overwhelming in person.

"Humans? What are they doing in my realm?" The Ice Empress talked in utter confusion, then she winced as the clear voice of someone told him to attack the humans and kill them at once. She tried to resist, but the voice was just too strong.

"AAAARGHHH!" She started screaming, much to everyone's confusion.

"Everyone, brace yourselves!" Lloyd said as the two Ice Polar Bears turned mobile once again. They roared and started rampaging towards the group.

"Emma!" Satoshi shouted.

"On it!"

Without further ado, Satoshi started charging toward the ice bears, summoning Droplet and Windfan to assist him. He didn't want to summon Lighter yet since he was saving him to integrate with him later (when he engages in combat with the Ice Queen). With those two, Satoshi controlled all the ice in the vicinity and had Droplet merge with it, creating a wall of water that continued to shoot ice spikes. The Windfan started blowing hot air in the meantime, causing the power of the Ice Bears to dwindle.

"SATOSHI WATCH OUT!" Lloyd suddenly screamed, extending his hands as if Satoshi was at death's door.

And Satoshi indeed was, at death's door.