Chapter 108: The Frozen Vow and the King's Melancholy
The atmosphere inside the Crystal Glazier had shifted from "deadly cold" to "emotionally devastating". Von (Volt) stood motionless, his obsidian scythe, the Void Reaper, humming with a fractured, hesitant energy. Opposite him, Elara, the Frozen Queen, stood like a statue carved from grief and moonlight.
"Volt," Elara's voice echoed, sounding like wind whistling through an empty canyon. "Do you remember the day you gave me this ring? You told me that even if the Heavens fell, you would find a way to keep the sun shining on our garden. Well... the Heavens fell. And you weren't there to catch them."
Aki, who was currently shivering so hard he was vibrating, looked back and forth between the two. "Wait, wait, wait. Von, let me get this straight. You were a Dark Lord, a Demon King, the Scourge of the Seven Heavens... and you had a garden? What did you grow? Soul-flowers? Petunias of Pain?"
"Aki, shut up," Sai whispered, his voice heavy with respect for the scene. "This is ancient history. Real history. Not the garbage they teach us at the Academy."
Rena stepped forward, her eyes fixed on the fifth fragment floating behind Elara. "The fragment is feeding on her soul-fire. Von, if you take the fragment, the magic keeping her 'alive' in this form will vanish. She isn't just a guardian; she is the lock itself."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Memory Link Synchronized. 92% Re-awakening. New Passive Skill: 'Eternal Grief' - Dark Mana power increased by 50% when fighting for a loved one. Warning: Emotional stability at critical levels.]
Von finally spoke, his voice cracking for the first time in two lifetimes. "The Judges didn't just seal me, Elara. They used you. They knew that no barrier of stone or celestial fire could stop me. So they used the only thing I couldn't bring myself to destroy."
He took a step forward, the violet-gold aura of his armor dimming. "I didn't forget the garden. I didn't forget the ring. But the man who gave you those things died a thousand years ago. What stands before you now is a ghost seeking vengeance."
"Then show me that vengeance, my King!" Elara shrieked, her eyes turning into white voids. She raised her hands, and the very floor of the ice cave rose up, forming massive spears of 'Absolute Zero' ice.
The Battle of Hearts (And Slippery Floors)
The fight was unlike any other. Elara moved like a blizzard, her attacks graceful yet lethal. Every time she struck, the air crystallized into jagged shards. Von was forced into a defensive dance, parrying her ice-blades with a heavy heart.
"Bonesy! Do something!" Aki yelled, as he dodged a stray icicle that nearly gave him a permanent nose job. "Use your ribs as a shield! Use your skull as a bowling ball! Anything!"
The skeleton, however, was currently frozen solid from the waist down. It let out a pathetic clack-clack sound.
"Great! My undead bodyguard is an ice lolly!" Aki grumbled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a 'Fire-Oil Bomb' he'd been saving for a special occasion. "Sorry, your Majesty! But I really want to go home and take a hot bath!"
Aki threw the bomb. It hit the floor near Elara's feet, creating a sudden explosion of orange flames. The ice beneath her melted for a split second, causing the Queen to slip.
It was the most un-majestic thing to ever happen in a legendary duel. The Frozen Queen of the North did a comedic wobble, her arms flailing like a startled duck, before she landed squarely on her backside.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Achievement Unlocked: 'Slippery When Wet'. Aki has successfully tripped a Mythical Being. Reward: +2,000 XP and a 'Legendary Banana Peel' (Consumable).]
"Aki!" Rena and Von yelled in unison.
"What?! It worked, didn't it?" Aki shouted back, already hiding behind a pillar.
The Queen sat on the ice, her porcelain face showing a flicker of... something human. She looked at Aki, then at Von, and then she began to laugh. It wasn't a scary, magical laugh; it was a tired, genuine one.
"A thousand years..." she whispered, the ice around her body beginning to crack and flake away. "A thousand years of waiting for a tragic, epic end... and I get defeated by a thief and some oil. Volt... your choice in friends has always been terrible."
Von walked over to her and knelt down, placing his hand on her icy cheek. The heat from his 'Dark Sun' armor began to melt the frost that had encased her heart for centuries. "They are a nuisance, Elara. But they are mine."
The Final Sacrifice
Elara reached out and grabbed the fifth fragment from the pedestal, placing it into Von's hand. The moment their fingers touched, the cavern began to glow with a blinding, white-blue light.
"The Judges are watching through the ice, Volt," she said, her form beginning to dissolve into glowing snowflakes. "By giving you this, I am finally free. But the path to the sixth fragment is guarded by the 'Judge of Storms.' He won't be as easy to trip as I was."
"Elara, I will find a way to bring you back," Von promised, his eyes burning with a new kind of determination.
"Don't," she smiled, her face fading into the mist. "Just make sure the garden is beautiful when we meet again."
With a final shimmer, she vanished. The ice cave, once a prison of grief, was now just a cave.
[QUEST COMPLETE: The Frozen Vow. 5/7 Fragments Unified. Title Evolution: 'The Mourning Sovereign'. New Skill: 'Glacial Domain' - Freeze all enemies within 100 meters for 5 seconds.]
Von stood in the silence, the fifth fragment now a permanent part of his armor. He looked down at his hand, where a faint, icy ring mark remained on his finger.
Aki walked up, patting Von on the leg (since he couldn't reach his shoulder). "Hey... sorry about the bomb, boss. And the duck-wobble thing. I didn't mean to ruin the 'dramatic sacrifice' vibe."
Von sighed, the dark energy around him softening. "It's fine, Aki. She needed to laugh one last time."
Sai walked over, carrying a half-frozen Bonesy on his back. "Where to next, Von? The 'Storm-Judge' doesn't sound like he likes visitors."
"The 'Sky-Peaks of Zephyrus'," Von said, looking toward the clouds where thunder was already beginning to rumble. "We have two fragments left. And a lot of gods to kill."
Aki looked up at the mountains and groaned. "Storms. Great. I'm going to get struck by lightning, aren't I? Bonesy, if I get hit, promise you'll use my ashes to fertilize Von's garden!"
The skeleton responded with a single, mournful clack.