两男一女的双龙挺进

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~SWOOSH~ ~WHOOSH~

Several figures rushed toward the far end of the city. For reasons unknown, the signal had shot out from the Frozen Forest—specifically from the Frozen Lake where Fluffington had been standing just a few hours ago.

Various factions, all vying for the treasured Elemental Crystal, moved at a rapid pace. They had missed the beast twice and were determined not to let it slip away a third time. This determination only fueled their efforts further.

Nox was no different. Using [Divine Velocity], he zoomed past the Mavericks Guild, who had been ahead of him.

"Huh, what was that?" Hex frowned, glancing behind him, but the boy who had been trailing him just seconds ago was nowhere to be seen.

"No way!" Hex exclaimed, his eyes widening as he spotted a golden beam speeding through the roads of Coastal City. The beam was especially noticeable in the night sky.

"Where\'s Brutus?" Reyes exclaimed as he glanced back. Moments earlier, he had seen a golden beam shoot past him, thinking it was an enemy attack. He called out to each of his guild members to ensure they were unharmed. Everyone answered—except for the kid.

"I-I think Brutus was the golden beam!" Hex, now just in front of Nox, stammered, struggling to believe his own words.

"Are you joking with me?" Reyes, usually calm, couldn\'t help but lose his cool at Hex\'s statement.

"I\'m serious, Guild Leader! I\'m very serious!"

"Godspeed!" Adin and Adam, the twins with the Tempest Mage class, shouted as electricity snaked through their bodies, bolting forward like literal lightning bolts.

All the Awakened rushing to the Frozen Forest—known as Iceborn—saw a golden beam dash past them, the compressed air sending them and nearby stalls flying.

A few seconds later, Nox arrived just in time to see the pillar of blue light disappearing.

Soon after, the twins caught up with him.

"Man, you\'re fast! This is the first time someone has beaten us in a race," Adin commented, giving Nox a pat on the back.

\'We were racing?\'

Soon, the Silver Mist Guild arrived, followed by Captain Bofan and his troops. The captain shot Nox a deadly glare before turning his attention to the thicket of frozen trees. Behind those trees was where the ominous aura was emanating from.

The Slim Outlaws and several other Awakened, whom Nox hadn\'t seen in the previous meeting, also arrived.

The Bladesong Academy arrived a moment later, wide smiles on their faces as they looked ahead with expectant glints in their eyes. Yup, they were a bunch of thrill-seeking bastards.

Nox\'s eyes caught a glimpse of the cloaked figure again, standing a bit farther away from everyone.

Just then, the Vermilion Kingdom led by the silver-haired boy, Ren, arrived. Ren glanced at Nox and shuddered slightly, the dreadful face of a cold, red-eyed woman flashing in his mind. Were they somehow related, or was she also after the cat because it was powerful?

Noticing Ren\'s gaze, Nox looked at the group, wondering why the silver-haired boy was staring at him so intently, but decided to focus on what was important.

However, that was when he noticed the absence of a familiar face in the group.

"Why isn\'t Wendy with them?" Nox looked intently at the students from the Vermilion Royal Academy, yet he still couldn\'t find the white-haired girl among them.

This made Nox a bit worried; he didn\'t think Wendy would be left behind, as it was only logical for the entire team to be present here since they would need everyone\'s assistance in securing the Elemental Crystal for themselves.

\'Did something happen to her?\' It was possible; after all, the other groups were hunting each other. \'Should I go and ask them?\'

Though he didn\'t know Wendy that well, he still wanted to make sure she was safe because she was the only daughter of Mrs. Celine, the town healer. If anything happened to Wendy, the poor woman would be very sad and become even more lonely—something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Little did he know it was already too...

Suddenly, everyone present felt a powerful aura burst forth from the forest. The temperature of the air dropped sharply, as if one had been placed in a deep freezer.

Nox shook his legs, shattering the ice sheets that were slowly crawling up. He looked around, seeing others also moving their bodies as their joints began to stiffen.

"It\'s so cold! Is this the doing of the Elemental Beast?" Brenda, standing beside Nox, complained.

\'Is it an Ice-type Elemental Beast?\' Nox wondered.

"Bladesong Academy, stand guard!" Brolly, the leader of Bladesong, shouted at the top of his voice, his eyes never leaving the forest where the aura was coming from, slamming into them like a tidal wave.

Unlike the Awakened, who had mana to keep themselves warm, the trees weren\'t so lucky—they were freezing before everyone\'s eyes.

"Solders, get ready! The beast is close!" Captain Bofan shouted as his soldiers spread out, summoning their weapons from their inventory.

"Scavengers! Get ready! This Elemental Beast holds the ticket to a better life! We\'ll no longer risk our lives in the wilds hunting monsters and preying on travelers—we\'ll be rich!!" The leader of the Slim Outlaws shouted while pumping his fist in the air.

"Hurray!"

"We\'ll be rich!"

Similarly, the other groups were also preparing.

~WHOOOOOOSH~

Nox felt the cold, bestial aura smash against his face, his skin becoming firmer. He frowned, thinking:

\'These fools… I thought they would take down the beast and then kill each other for the Elemental Crystal. Just what are they thinking?\' Nox felt like the only sensible person there.

"Maverick Guild, you know the drill. We stand by and let them do all the work, then we quickly extract the crystal from its chest and escape!" Reyes grinned like a schemer.

Nox had always known this man was very cunning, which he suspected was the reason he had become a guild master at such a young age. Traditional guild masters in Eos were usually in their 50s. Guild masters Reyes\' age were rare. Despite his youth, Reyes had a good head on his shoulders and was always calm and calculative.

Nox admired his personality; it was a shame he would have to snatch the Elemental Crystal for himself.

"Understood!" the Mavericks Guild echoed with mischievous smiles.

The ferocious aura continued to splash out like a great wave, and all the people who had been shouting earlier began to frown. The reason for their frowns was the sight of the thin, undernourished men freezing into statues.

\'The heck!\'

This was something none of them had anticipated!

Soon, another one of the thin men froze solid.

The atmosphere became even chillier as the presumed Elemental Beast drew closer.

\'Is it because they don\'t have enough blood?\' Nox wondered why only the undernourished people were turning into statues.

Looking around, he noticed that some fire mages, who were attempting to warm themselves with their flames, saw their fireballs disperse. Their expressions immediately changed. They hadn\'t even clashed with the beast, yet they couldn\'t use their fire-related skills anymore?

More and more people began to freeze. Nox frowned as he felt the ice creeping up from his legs. "Dammit, this Elemental Beast is really strong… Can we even defeat it?"

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