Nix and Pon circled Crater, going in opposite directions before meeting behind their target a few moments after the first contact.

"A bit slow, old man." Nix pushed flames into his bone hilts and flashed toward his target. The temperature around Crater dropped steadily as Nix approached; just before his blade strike, the air itself seemed to condense with tiny ice crystals that stung like tiny bees.

[Sword Dance][Flash Blade][Parry][Hamstring]

Quadruple Combination Successful!

[Crippling Strike]

Nix's footwork has enabled him to strike a vital area.

Nix has landed a Significant Strike.

Crater has been stunned.

Nix has turned his opponent's movement against him [Bleeding Applied].

Nix has slowed Crater's movements by forty percent.

[Dual Chain][Balefire: Hex][Sudden Strike: Dread Flame]

Combination Successful!

Pon has followed up Nix's attack with a Significant Strike.

Crater has been stunned.

Pon has landed a Critical hit.

[Dual Chain][Void Strike][Backstab]

Combination Successful!

Semmi has followed up Pon's attack with a Significant strike.

Crater has been stunned.

Semmi has landed a Critical hit.

[Dual Chain][Void Strike][Demon Blade]

Wind has followed up Semmi's attack with a Significant strike.

Crater has been stunned.

Wind has landed a Critical strike.

Crater has been infected with Demon blood, causing his defensive abilities to decrease by ten percent.

[Dual Chain][Trueshot: Air Burst]

Ronnie has followed up Wind's attack with a Significant strike.

Crater has been stunned.

Ronnie has landed a Mortal strike.

[Dual Chain][Simultaneous Shot: Sniper's Strike]

Darsi, Moki, and Dalton have coordinated a Multi-Burst attack!

Crater has been grievously wounded.

A blast of frigid air escaped from the staggering creature. Inferno's chain attacks quickly overwhelmed its abilities to defend itself.

[Life Sacrifice][Sudden Egress]

Crater has sacrificed all but one of his health points to use a skill.

Crater has entered a state of invulnerability and is attempting to escape.

"Running?" Nix jumped to one side when Crater reversed direction and charged toward him and Pon. He slashed at the creature as it ran by, but his blades passed harmlessly through the enormous body.

/Inferno: Nix: Shit... He's invulnerable?

/Inferno: Jun Li: Chase him; it can't last for more than a few seconds.

Crater took a dozen strides, his long legs crunching loudly on the ice as Inferno pursued him. Then, after only a few seconds, he stopped suddenly.

[Quest Updated]

Deep Winter War: Matched Pair

Description: After chasing Crater, it seems like your prey has evaded you.

Objective: Random pairs from your raid will team up in short instances. Survive at all costs! If either member of the paired group dies or is knocked off the platform, both of those players are eliminated. The last pair to survive this contest will battle the Goddess of Winter.

/Inferno: Nix: Shit... Bastard disappeared.

Crater's enormous form vanished, leaving Inferno alone on the icy battlefield. Then suddenly, Semmi and Pon disappeared, followed immediately by Nix and Darsi. Over the next few seconds, pairs of Inferno members blinked away.

The duo appeared on a large wooden platform. The room that contained them was octagonal in shape and formed from solid ice.

"So... Kill shit and don't fall off?" Nix snuck a peek at his partner, his face creasing in a large smile. "Hey, Darsi!"

The pony-tailed blonde returned his smile while she quickly broke down her long-barreled sniper rifle into a shorter assault weapon. In a few seconds, she switched out the barrel, stock, and scope, clicking them in place like someone who had done it thousands of times. "Trip-7... You'll have to front while I'll play backup." Darsi clicked a vicious-looking bayonet onto the end of her adjusted weapon.

Nix nodded in reply and pushed emerald dread flames into his bone hilts. "No worries."

/Inferno: Pon: I'm with Sem!

/Inferno: Darsi: I got Trip-7.

/Inferno: Ronnie: My big Sis!

/Inferno: Jun Li: Sila.

/Inferno: Banz: Gid!

/Inferno: Pinky: Chael!

/Inferno: Tess: Gypsy! Shit... We're both healers.

/inferno: Donri: Nebs.

/Inferno: Nezbit: Moki.

/Inferno: Wind: Dalton.

Nix felt Darsi's back push against his; with no obvious door, there was no way to tell from which direction their mobs would come from. "Head on a swivel, I don't like this."

"Me neither." Darsi scanned the area in front of her; suddenly, three howlers appeared next to the wall. "MY SIDE!"

Nix unequipped his bone hilts and raised both hands; an instant later, a half dozen flame strands wrapped around the incoming howlers, anchoring them in place.

The steady sound of three-round bursts echoed off the wall as all three mobs were quickly dispatched through the combination of fire strands and bullets.

In an identical room, Pon and Semmi easily cut through three rounds of howlers. The first wave was a group of three, the second was four, and the third was a single mid-tier howler that the old mage Instantly took down with dread flame.

/Inferno: Tess: Shit... We lost!

/Inferno: Nezbit: So did we. The last Howler picked up Moki and tossed him off the stage.

/Inferno: Moki: Sorry, guys!

Pon glanced at Sem, who had a wide smile plastered on her face. "You look happy!"

Semmi shrugged slightly. "It could be us that ends up facing Khione!"

Pon nodded, his face looking somewhat grim. "That will be fine with me."

"I won't let you down. Even though I'm not as strong as you, count on me when it matters!" Semmi gripped one of his hands and leaned her blonde head against his shoulder. A moment later, they both disappeared.

Nix was in the process of high-fiving Darsi when his companion was replaced with someone else. "Must be my lucky day."

Sharl smiled slyly and hefted her shield in one hand. "New pairs?"

"Guess so. Protect me, so I don't get hurt."

The Inferno tank laughed at his comment. "Okay, but I expect compensation."

/Inferno: Semmi: New pairs? I'm with Junie!

/Inferno: Pon: Donri.

/Inferno: Sila: Darsi.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Gideon.

/Inferno: Banz: Pinky!

/Inferno: Nix: Sharl!

/Inferno: Chael: Dalton.

/Inferno: Wind: Nebs.

The pair stood shoulder to shoulder, not really concerned that the next fight was looming. Nix was confident that nothing outside of a raid-level boss could remove his new companion from the platform. He slammed his emerald flame blades together, causing sparks to shower them both. "Guess the partners will keep changing?"

Sharl shrugged slightly. "Probably, although I won't complain if I get stuck with you."

Nix laughed at her sly expression, his thoughts instantly traveling to the hot spring cave near his property. "We got this."

The rounds stayed the same, three mobs, four mobs, and then a tougher mid-tier. Nix found himself paired with Semmi, Jun Li, Gideon, and then Ronnie. No more pairs were eliminated as Inferno did what they do best.

Ronnie used her [Airburst: Arrow] to kill the last of the four mob groups. She held her bow loosely in one hand while her dark eyes watched the Inferno Leader. "Too bad this is in pairs and not threes. You, me, and Sis make a great threesome."

"Threes would be even worse; this is ridiculous." Nix smiled at the innuendo. "This is going to take a while; those of us that remain aren't going to be easily eliminated.

"Sure, but then Sharl and I could help you pass the time." Ronnie smiled sexily, her lips pursed slightly.

Nix's reply was cut short by the appearance of the mid-tier howler. He sent two dozen flame strands at the creature, pinning its arms while completely immobilizing it. Without mana, he had been relegated to CC or swords; the mid-tier was an easy kill with his ability to completely lock it down.

Ronnie sent shot after shot into the creature while it struggled to escape Nix's flame strands. "Hopefully, we'll come back around to partner again!"

Nix nodded, smiling when she kissed him wetly on the cheek. "Stay alive!"

Ronnie was still smiling a few moments later when she appeared beside a new partner. "Hey, Sem."

Semmi returned the greeting. "Bet you wished you'd get Nix twice in a row."

"Yep." Ronnie watched guild chat as the players listed their current partners, something they'd been doing since the start. Her smile faded somewhat when she noticed the last paring.

/Inferno: Semmi: Maybe this is a test of endurance?

The blonde officer flexed her shoulders while she studied the room. "Get back to the middle, Ronnie. The first round will start soon."

Instead of complying, Ronnie shook her head and stepped off the platform. "Time to stop."

"HEY!" Semmi shouted in surprise when Ronnie vanished from the room; a moment later, she also disappeared. "The hell?"

Ronnie shrugged slightly when the two of them appeared in the holding area next to the other eliminated pairs.

/Inferno: Ronnie: They're together; everyone else step off.

/Inferno: Jun Li: What?

/Inferno: Ronnie: Pon and Nix are together; everyone else needs to forfeit.

Semmi stared at Ronnie for a long moment before she nodded to herself.

/Inferno: Semmi: She's right. We can't risk either of them being eliminated.

/Inferno: Wind: Shit!

/Inferno: Sharl: I hate it!

Although no one liked it, the pairs stepped off of their platforms and appeared in the holding area one by one. After thinking it through clearly, it became evident. The strongest pairing would be the two people who could kill the Ice Goddess by themselves.

Nix shared a glance with Pon and then opened up his hud. "Guess it's just the two of us?"

Pon nodded. "Got any mana yet?"

"Nope. The Archmage strike is such a sham." Nix scowled in disgust; draining all your mana for a few days seemed a bit overboard.

The old man beside him laughed at the face he was making. "Good thing you got those blades, Noob."

Nix smiled and made a rude gesture; an instant later, they were both transported away.