The Heart of a Guardian (Elsword)

Chapter 21: The Merciless Storm

A flare pierced through the thick snow storm, painting the surrounding frost in a dazzle of green. After waiting in anticipation for nearly half an hour for the first flare, the light was the only clear sign of life within the blizzard since the army had been swallowed by the white veil. Yet the relief of the first flare was short lived as, even through the wailing winds, an even more sinister unified howl of hundreds of demons responded to the unwelcome presence.

Still standing on board the Black Crow's main deck, Chung was unsure whether or not he should trust Add and his inventions. The self-proclaimed genius did manage to help him get this far, though. Why would he try to hurt the prince now?

"Time is ticking, your majesty," Add mocked, bowing in an overly courteous fashion as he motioned Chung towards the Rapid Deployment Chutes. The prince approached the row of metal cylinders cautiously and stopped at the entrance.

"This... isn't going to kill me, is it?"

"It definitely won't kill you," The white-haired male stated with a wry smile.

Chung sighed. There really was no other way down other than through the tubes. He carefully stepped into the tiny room, pulling his destroyer in with him as close as possible as the thick glass door slid shut in front of him. There was barely any room. With his cannon, he felt himself press against the rounded edge of the metal cylinder. Through the glass he could see the technophile working his magic through a series of projected windows.

"You're a lot heavier with that cannon," Add muttered, his hand turning up the dial on a few holographic knobs, "This will be a good first test run. Happy landing!" Add pressed a button.

"First test?!" Chung shouted through the glass. But before he could protest, he felt his gut fly up to his neck as he was shot out of the tube feet first towards the earth.

Frost and wind peppered his face as he was propelled through the thick blizzard towards the origin point of the first flare. His trajectory was traced by four purple lasers that surrounded his body and guided him through his flight like a rail. His distance to his destination was marked along the upper left laser railing in meters and he flew through the first several hundred meters at a blindingly fast pace.

By the 300m mark he was already bracing himself for a fatal landing.

200m. No signs of slowing down.

100m. This was it.

At the 50 meter mark his feet physically connected with a projected web that was resting along the guided rails and his body passed through it at a somewhat slower rate. At the 40 meter mark, it was the same thing. The web was stronger this time. The same followed for every ten meters until he hit the earth as effortlessly as jumping down a short ledge.

He survived. He may be waist deep in freezing snow but the feeling of ice on his legs was enough to reassure him that he landed without a scratch. Strange would be an understatement on how the landing felt. The sensation was akin to something like falling into a pillow or a giant marshmallow.

Shaking off the snow proved effortless as the thick blizzard pummeled him. Looking around through the storm he could barely make out the looming walls of a structure directly in front of him. This must be the Temple of Frozen Water. This must have been where the Velder army launched their first flare. Investigating the scene further he found traces of where the army had split. One path led towards what he assumed was the west along the wall while the other traveled at a more northeastern direction.

Recalling the briefing from last night one side should have Noah, and the other will have Aisha. It didn't matter which side he chose, now that he thought about it, as he wasn't sure which group went where. He just had to choose-