“It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?” I asked, thinking we could last quite some time feeling cold as long as we kept moving. “If we get into a good rhythm of jogging, we’ll be able to move through it before we really feel the effects of the cold. How long does your spell last Seika?”

“That’s the problem, Adel,” she replied. “My spell is not cast once, but rather it needs me to continue casting it in order to remain in effect.”

“What happens if you lose concentration?” Man prompted her.

“If I lose my concentration, the bubble will disperse and we will be left unprotected in the middle of the magical blizzard. And I am pretty sure those colorful magical whips will not give me much of a chance to concentrate on casting the spell anew.”

“What do we have to do to assist?” I asked, now understanding why she said she needed our help.

“I’ll start casting the spell and move forward while maintaining it,” she explained. “It will take some effort to keep my focus on reciting the incantation while walking and feeling cold. What’s more, the spell requires me to have my eyes closed, though it doesn’t limit my movement. This means I’ll need some extra clothes around me to keep me from shaking as long as possible.”

“That’s easily done,” Kard said, and produced some extra coats from his bag.

“I will also need somebody to hold my arm and lead me, as I’ll be walking blind,” Seika continued.

“I’ll do that,” said Krysha. “You, Kard, can walk in front of us. It will be a good idea if we all tie ourselves together. Do we have enough mundane rope?”

“We do,” Man replied, and produced a very long piece of rope from his own bag.

We wasted no time in getting Seika dressed properly, making sure the additional clothes would not limit her movements. Once she was ready, we started tying ourselves with the rope at which point Seika told us the last part of her plan.

“It may be the case I’ll need protection while we are crossing,” she said, “so the spell doesn’t get interrupted.”

“Since I’ll be walking next to you,” Krysha said, “I’ll hold my cape up to cover your face from incoming snow.”

“Adel and I will take care of any other distractions that may come from behind,” Man offered.

“This should be enough then,” Seika said. “In case the barrier fails, you all stick to me and I’ll cast a fast spell of protection until our hourglasses teleport us back.”

“Seika–” I tried to protest, but her look told me she would have none of it.

“This place here is far beyond our powers, Adel,” she said angrily. “I only hope that if the bubble bursts, I will be able to protect you long enough, but the truth is I’m not sure. So don’t disagree with me on this. If I lose my concentration, you stick with me and we leave.”

“Okay, sister,” I grunted submissively.

I knew she was right. She was the only spellcaster we had, and it was only natural she would call the shots when it came to plans revolving around magic. Once the rope was tied nice and tight around all of us, we walked toward the beginning of the magical blizzard and nodded at each other to show we were ready for her to start casting.

The moment she began chanting the enchantment and closed her eyes, Krysha grabbed her and raised her cloak up above her face. Kard, who was now in front of her, tightened his cloak in preparation and grabbed Krysha’s arm with his left hand while he used his right one as a guard against the blowing snow. Man and I, standing behind Seika, tried our best to be vigilant around the whole periphery and waited until the spell kicked in.

Once Seika had chanted the whole 64-word incantation once, the spell manifested in the form of a growing semi-transparent golden bubble around us. The bubble stopped expanding once it had reached a diameter big enough to contain all of us.

The initial shock from the cold hit us much harder than it did Seika, but this was the reason she wore so many clothes and furs. However, I didn’t doubt that if the path ahead of us was too long, she would start soon shivering too. With the spell functioning as it should, Krysha prompted Kard to start walking and our little convoy began as Seika continued to chant.

Once we entered the space where the magic of Arirlun and The Divine clashed, our nullifying bubble started producing sparks where each of the rainbow-colored whips lashed at it. At first, I was worried it wouldn’t be able to hold, but even after being hit many times in rapid succession, the bubble seemed to be standing its ground. Thus, we kept walking at a relatively fast pace set by Kard and Krysha, who acted as the eyes of our group.

Five minutes in, a little mishap almost ruined everything. The cloak protecting Seika from the winds and snow got blown toward her and almost entered her mouth, barring her from speaking the words. Fortunately, Krysha was quick to act and the worst was avoided. As far as Man and I were concerned, we were simply barring gusts of wind coming from behind and stretching furs above Seika’s head whenever we saw a clump of snow detach itself from the high mountain walls and fall toward her.

Ten minutes passed, and I could see Seika was having a hard time maintaining her concentration as Krysha was constantly rubbing her wherever she could. The cold must have seeped through all those layers of clothing, but there was nothing we could really do apart from hoping this would soon end.

Five more minutes passed and I could already feel my legs becoming stiffer as the cold had a good grasp on my limbs. My movements were slower, almost automatic, by now and I was wondering how was Seika able to maintain such a demanding spell under these circumstances for so long.

Thankfully, two minutes later and just as we were all about to give up, I heard Kard say that he could see the end of the rainbow whips we were walking through. This was just enough of a push to motivate us into walking faster again, knowing that Seika would soon be able to release the bubble and our cold-resistant cloaks would start working again.

By The Divine our happiness was short-lived.

“Up!” I heard Man shout as he unsheathed his blades.

Turning my head up to look at what he was warning me about, I saw a very big chunk of snow, and quite possibly ice, come down on us. It was too late for me to use my swords so instead, I tried my best to stretch a thick piece of fur above Seika in the hopes that Man would split it into enough pieces for it to be insignificant in weight when it reached the fur.

Man actually did manage to hit the big chunk with both of his swords and a third time with his right hand but the sound each cut made was a sign that he was carving a block of ice. I tried my best to hold the furs so the ice would simply bounce back up and away from Seika.

I was able to do it for the first piece. And the second. But the third one to land on the fur was significantly larger, and my hands gave into its weight.

The ice hit Seika on the head, and even though the hit was not strong enough to cause her harm, it was definitely enough for her to lose her concentration. Suddenly, I felt the warmth of my magical cloak envelop me once more but the welcome and familiar feeling was immediately overshadowed by the sizzling pain of multiple colorful whips drawing blood from my body with each lash.

The magic-nullifying bubble had burst and we were so close to crossing. The whips hit us in rapid succession and some of the hits were strong enough to throw me onto Seika. I glanced at the HP of everyone in the party view only to realize how fast it was being depleted.

I worried that she wouldn’t be able to cast a spell at all during all this commotion and that was when I felt a strong push directing me toward the end of the corridor, where the magical blizzard wasn’t in effect.

Seika and Krysha in front of me were also moving along the same trajectory, along with Kard who was being pulled along as his rope was tangled with my sister’s. To my horror, I couldn’t see Man anywhere until I managed to turn my head backward, blood dripping from multiple cuts on my eyebrows.

Man was the one who had pushed us forward but I couldn’t pull him when I reached for my part of the rope connecting the two of us. His rope was severed as soon as the whips started hitting us and that was why he had pushed us.

It took us several steps to steady ourselves from the force Man had put in sending us here and when I raised my head I could feel the cold air on my face and see steam rising from the blood running through the multiple cuts in my arms and legs. But I did not feel the whips tearing my flesh anymore. I looked back and saw that we had successfully reached the other side, but Man was still in there.

“I’m going back!” I screamed, and turned toward the blizzard once more.

“Adel!” Seika shouted, and yanked me back toward her with the rope.

“I’m going, whether you like it or not,” I shouted as I unsheathed my swords. “Either you let me go, and pull me back when I tell you, or I cut myself loose.”

I didn’t wait for an answer and ran toward Man. I didn’t feel the rope pull me back, but I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Seika move as close as possible to where the clash of the gods was still taking place.

I thought I heard her chanting the same spell once more but I could not be sure. The whips hurt so much more now that they were cutting the same wounds again. I brought my hands up in front of my face as I dashed and to my surprise, many of the rainbow-colored whips were absorbed by my angelic blades.

This bought me some moments of undisturbed search for Man but it was not enough. The swords started shining and I instinctively discharged them as I did during our practice rounds. A large horizontal pillar of light, a mesh of all colors, was launched in the direction I was pointing my swords.

The whips immediately started injuring me again, but the brief blast of light was enough for me to spot Man lying on the ground. I ran to him and tried to tie my rope around his waist. He was not moving and his HP was down to zero, yet the whips were still hitting him. Still drawing blood. Still shaking his unmoving body. I tried to pick him up, my swords sheathed once more, and yanked the rope three times.

I felt a pull catapulting me toward my friends. I barely managed to keep us together, and the damage in my eyes was now so severe I could not see anything other than pulses of light. The pulses of my heart beating. I didn’t feel the ground when I fell. I only felt the pulses.

Until they stopped as well.