Chapter 840 - Broken Ice (1/2)

Birds could usually be seen around the edges of this icy land, as well as animals that could withstand the cold, and the occasional patch of green. The deeper you trekked, the fewer organisms were seen. Usually, the threats they had to watch were not fierce beasts but the dangerous terrain covered in snow.

Everything was deadly silent. When they lightened their footsteps, they finally noticed the silence.

But they could not sense any organism nearby either, though there was a bone-chilling source of energy fast approaching. They could not locate its specific location but they knew that it came from deep into the icy lands.

Even the least sensitive warrior shuddered. “What… what is that?”

A sudden vibration came from beneath their feet, then quickly escalated.

There were no tall mountains nearby so they did not have to watch for snow avalanches and their field of visions remained wide. Other than the intensifying vibrations beneath their feet, they could not see anything out of the ordinary.

The initial faint vibrations turned into vigorous shaking so they could not stand. It was just a few seconds, there was no time to react. Run? To where?

Suddenly, they heard a ‘crack’ from beneath their feet.

“The ground is cracking! RUN!” The leader stopped hesitating and yelled for everyone to retreat from this snowy piece of land.

They had never met anything like this before, not even during the natural disaster, the ground did not crack like this then. Their tribe had been on an island with other islands nearby. They could see slave masters and their cities on the mainland across a narrow strait.

That year, during the disaster, the ground shook vigorously but it never cracked. The only threat they faced was a tsunami. There was an expedition team out hunting for gemstones then but most still returned safely. That was why they knew that this place with the gemstones did not have any occurrences as serious as a cracked ground.

They used to think this was a treasure of a place because it remained intact through the disaster and still produced gemstones. Now, they panicked.

A deep, dull crack echoed, approaching so quickly they did not know what to do.

Boom!

A deafening boom from afar brought an indescribable sense of power, like a thunder unleashed by the heavens.

The ancient permafrost was torn apart, a gulf forming right through it. This crack could swallow the largest beast they had seen in their lives.

The crack extended in all directions, widening at an alarming speed.

The snowy lands used to look like they were covered in a layer of silk but now, cracks wriggled through them, forcing the snow off and revealing the tough soil beneath.

A strong gust of wind tore through the air, picking snow off the ground.

The expedition team stared at the jigsaw pieces of what used to be the ground in terror. What was one supposed to do?

They did not know!

I can’t even run from this!

Cracks also appeared behind them, where they came from. It was hard to tell which path was the safest. They could only rely on instinct since they were trapped, hiding behind boulders as large as houses. They watched fearfully as the manic winds curled, picking up snow, ice and stone chips, gliding past the boulders and beyond.

The rumbling still had not stopped, they felt like their skeletons would soon fall apart from the intense vibrations in the ground. They could no longer hear each other speak, all they saw were the open and closing of their mates’ lips, and pale faces of terror.

The thick armour they wore and heavy weapons in their hands gave them no comfort. Some people curled up with their head in their hands behind the boulder helplessly. They no longer wanted to think if the boulder would also overturn from the cracking ground.

The grey clouds in the sky hung heavier. The ground would never return to its previous calm so soon.

Draughts of wind whistled as more and more snow was thrown around in the air, as if the winds were determined to blow away the thick layer of snow on the ground. They could not open their eyes in face of the wind and snow, nor could they see anything ten steps beyond themselves.

It felt like the apocalypse, the clouds rolling, the ground shaking and cracking. Every sound was a heavy hammer to their hearts.

Boom—

Another deafening rumble, with it came another shake. This time the source came from somewhere not far from the team. A shower of ice and rock chips pelted unto the boulder, crackling loudly and incessantly.

A crack appeared not far away, then extended in four directions. Many cracks passed just right by themselves. A foreign, eerie aura was mixed with the breeze, raising goosebumps all over.

Boom!

Large chunks of frozen soil flew in the air. They watched as the chunks flew among the snow and winds, above their heads and far away.