Return of the Legendary Runesmith-Chapter 545 - 544- Desperation

"Shouldn’t we be there with the girl?" Chris asked the woman standing before him, her back turned as she faced the blazing horizon.

They had already taken their positions. This was the closest they could get to the planet’s core, the very point from which the heat erupted in violent waves.

Cooling artifacts were fastened to their uniforms to keep their skin from scorching. The heat rippled visibly through the air. Every breath felt thin and suffocating. The ground beneath their boots was soft and unstable, almost molten. Yet none of that unsettled Chris as much as the sight ahead.

Iris remained composed. "No. That’s not what we were instructed to do."

Chris let out a strained breath. "Commander, I don’t usually question your judgment. But that girl is about my daughter’s age, and you’re sending her alone to her death?"

His gaze drifted forward again.

A lone figure with silver hair walked steadily toward the red zone.

Her skin was visibly burning. They could see it. They could feel her suffering even from this distance. Yet her pace never faltered, let alone stopped.

Iris clenched her fists, conflict flashing across her face before she spoke in a low voice. "This isn’t for her safety. It’s for ours. Adrian said that if we got any closer, even before the heat reached us, her spell would kill us."

Chris’ eyes widened. He snapped his head toward Elana.

The girl had stopped.

Her spear rose into the air.

And then it began.

.....

Elana could feel the violent mana in the air as clearly as the heat itself.

She did not falter. That was not what he expected of her.

She must succeed. That was the only outcome she allowed to exist.

She closed her eyes.

The heat, the turbulence, the ground beneath her feet all faded from her awareness.

Hear the armament.

Resonate.

Let your mana dissolve into it. Let it spiral. Let it devour the noise of the world.

Her eyes opened slowly.

Dark runes surfaced along the spear, glowing with a muted, ancient light. The same marks carved themselves across her arms as she exhaled, frost trailing from her lips.

"From the marrow of silence..."

Her foot slid forward. The spear traced an arc through the air, leaving behind a crescent of pale blue light that lingered for a heartbeat too long.

"From the depth of the abyss..."

She drove the spearhead into the earth and turned with it. Frost erupted outward in a widening halo, delicate in shape yet merciless in intent.

"From the breath of a dying sun..."

She leapt.

She landed with her right foot extended, spear angled downward.

The ground fractured.

White spread from that single point, racing across stone and soil, freezing everything it touched. Not violently but the effect was absolute.

Her gaze sharpened, stripped of warmth, filled only with will.

Cold gathered around her in tightening spirals. The air thickened. Sound dulled. Even the raging heat that had smothered the land for centuries recoiled under the pressure of descending frost.

Elana rose to her full height.

For the first time, the distortion ahead became clear. The mutant growth that had baked the planet in relentless heat began to solidify, its camouflage collapsing as thermal waves died under her dominion.

She twirled the spear once more.

"Freeze. Submit to the Void."

She struck the blunt end against the ground.

A single, heavy sound echoed.

Then the world turned white.

Not covered.

Claimed.

....

"What?!"

"Guh!"

Every soldier threw an arm over their face as the world around them turned white. A violent blizzard surged outward, crashing into them with brutal force.

"Take cover!" Iris barked, raising her shield instantly.

The others followed without hesitation. Their fingers were already glowing red, not from heat, but from the sudden clash of extremes.

They drove their shields into the ground and crouched behind them.

The freezing surge pushed them back, boots carving through the unstable soil, yet they held their ground with locked jaws and planted knees.

Far behind them, the reinforcement unit was forced to raise their shields as well, bracing against the violent wave of cold.

Adrian neither flinched nor looked away.

He stepped forward instead.

His eyes gleamed. His lips parted, then curved into a faint smile. Pride, excitement, and immense relief flickered across his face.

"You made it work, Elana... I’m so proud of you."

...

At the center, the explosion gradually subsided. The raging waves slowed.

The soldiers exchanged uncertain glances.

"Commander?" Chris asked.

"I’ll scout. Stay back."

Iris lowered her shield and rose carefully, stepping forward to witness what had just unfolded.

Her breath left her lips in white mist as she surveyed the transformed battlefield.

At the center, she stood.

In the distance, it stood.

Elana’s entire presence had changed. She was no longer straining to hold her ground.

Frost radiated outward from her body.

The heat that once dominated the land now felt insignificant before such overwhelming authority.

And she did not stop.

Elana stepped forward.

Towards the cause of the chaos.

The twenty feet tall plant stood in the distance.

Its whole body was blazing red, fiery and angered.

Its stems branched in all directions, its roots outgrown above the land as well.

At its crown rested a bubbling bud of lava that seethed in rage and retaliation.

"L-Let’s move!" Iris ordered, still shaken by what a mere teenager had accomplished.

The unit rose immediately.

What they saw ahead stole their breath.

Relief simmered beneath their exhaustion. Frustration followed close behind as they finally laid eyes on the reason their people had suffered for so long.

They charged as one. Spears leveled, fear burned away and replaced with sharpened resolve.

With every slow step Elana took, the land before her surrendered to frost. Ice spread in widening circles, freezing soil and stone beneath the cold waves that escaped her with each steady breath.

Her spear revolved above her head like a silent halo.

An invisible pressure wrapped around her, dense and absolute. Even standing near her felt like stepping into the grasp of death itself.

The soldiers rushed past her position.

The girl had fulfilled her role.

Now it was theirs.

The mutation beast came into full view.

It too was encased in frost.

The creature shuddered and released its power. Massive petals along its body flared open, erupting with magma. Molten bursts exploded outward every second, devouring the snow and turning ice into steam.

Yet before the heat could fully reclaim the ground, it froze again.

Faster than the beast could melt its surroundings, Elana sealed it over once more.

She was absolute.

Iris seized the moment. "Charge!"

The soldiers fanned out in formation, circling the monstrous plant with disciplined precision.

Two of them launched forward at once, their weapons glowing as they thrust their arms ahead. Ice spikes shot toward the creature’s head in a sharp volley.

But the plant radiated relentless heat. The spikes began to melt midair, thinning, shrinking, until they evaporated before ever reaching their mark.

The two soldiers clicked their tongues in frustration and dropped back to the ground.

Another stepped in.

"Haaa!"

He slammed both fists into the earth.

The ground ruptured instantly. Jagged earthen spikes burst upward, charging toward the creature’s thick stem.

CLANG.

The impact rang out like metal striking metal.

The spikes shattered on contact.

The plant’s stem did not so much as tremble.

The retaliation almost killed the man if not for the sudden wave of frost froze the molten orb falling its wave, making it just a chunk which the man easily dodged.

One after another, they launched their attacks at the mutant plant.

Blades, spells, elemental bursts, everything they had.

They gave everything they had to at least inflict damage on the creature. They knew Elana doesn’t have endless mana and she would falter at some point.

This might be their only chance since the plant seemed agitated enough to retaliate in full force and might become the end of the world.

So they were desperate to end this today. They had to!

"Gaaah!" One of the soldiers, out of frustration, slammed his fists into the root of the plant. But again, nothing.

They were desperate and agitated but the creature radiated such intense heat that most assaults dissolved before impact. The few that managed to land struck its outer shell and failed to pierce it. That hardened layer was tougher than any material they had encountered before.

Iris ground her teeth.

They had not come this far to fail.

Every sacrifice. Every fallen soldier. Every pair of hopeful eyes waiting for them back home. If they failed here, all of it would mean nothing.

She lost her family, her comrades, even her lover in the past. No, she couldn’t let that go in vain. Not when she finally has things in her hand to handle.

"You all!" Iris commanded sharply. "Stand back."

Flames began gathering around her weapon, swirling hotter and denser as she fixed her glare on the towering monster.

She was going to end this with one strike even if it burns her soul.

Her eyes were red with rage, flames erupted around her, melting the snow and mirroring the magma the plant released.

But before she could move—

Something streaked past her.

THAK.

It struck the plant with a heavy impact.

Iris turned.

Adrian stood a short distance away, a golden artifact resting in his hand.

A faint smile curved his lips.

"Mind if I join?"

°°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- The spell she used goes beyond the natural laws of the world. That was not production of frost but phenomenon inversion. Well, thanks for reading.