Chapter Twenty Nine

|| Zone Freeze ||

||For three seconds after activation, immobilizes any players or

monsters in contact with the ground within a five-yard radius of

the user.||

||Three-minute cooldown.||

|| Condition ||

|| Skill acquired via Christmas gift box ||

///////////////)

Maple's darkening power surges outward, the very air around her crystallizing into a vortex of frost. The temperature plummets rapidly, and the ground beneath her feet begins to crack and splinter, ice spreading in a rapid cascade.

Garuth, caught off guard, barely has time to brace himself. His flames, which had burned so fiercely, flickers and dims against the overwhelming cold. The courtyard is enveloped in a blizzard, the fierce wind howling with the force of a God's unleashed fury.

"Zone Freeze!" Maple's voice had echoed, layered with an intensity that sent chills down the spines of all who heard it.

The effect is immediate and cataclysmic. The wave of ice surges forward, consuming everything in its path. Stone statues, towering walls, and lush gardens are all caught in the icy grip. The temperature drops so rapidly that the air itself seem to crackle and snap, frost patterns spreading like wildfire.

Garuth's eyes widen in shock as the ice encases his body, his flames extinguished in an instant. The Sin of Pride, so confident moments before, finds himself trapped in a solid block of ice. The cold is so intense that even his enhanced body began to crack and fracture under the pressure.

All around the Capital city of Welvern, people pause and stare in awe and terror as the epicenter of Maple's power expanded. Streets freeze over, buildings are coated in frost, and the very sky seems to darken as the sun's light is refracted through the ice crystals. It is as if a second winter hady descended upon the city, a winter of pure, unrelenting power.

Within the courtyard, the other Sins can only watch in stunned silence as their strongest member is rendered helpless. Hamarie's breath, form visible clouds in the air as she shivers, her body instinctively recoiling from the intense cold. Thalion shields his eyes from the blinding light reflecting off the ice.

Mai sets down her hammer, Chrome behind her as he sends a worried look at his Leader.

Silvari, standing at the edge of the courtyard, feels her fear transform into awe. The raw power on display was unlike anything she had ever seen. "This... this is the power of Maple Tree," she murmured, her voice trembling.

Garuth, now a frozen statue, could do nothing but glare through the ice, his rage and pride burning in his eyes. But even he could not deny the overwhelming force that had subdued him.

Just as the city seemed on the verge of being completely overtaken by the ice, Maple's power reaches its peak. The ground quakes, the vibrations spreading outward and causing the frozen structures to creak and groan. The ice climbs higher, wrapping around buildings and reaching towards the sky.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the expansion stops. The wave of ice ceases its advance, leaving the city in a state of frozen stasis. The epicenter, where Maple stands, is surrounded by a crystalline palace of ice, her friends and foes encased within.

Maple herself, still radiating an eerie black-and-white aura, takes a deep breath, her eyes dimming with an eerie, red tint. "Stay down," she commands, her voice echoing through the ice-covered landscape.

Slowly, She sets her gaze on Garuth. "I won't let anyone hurt my friends," her voice crackles with the sound of cracks coming from the ice encasing the Sin of Pride.

Kaelith, barely able to keep herself standing, staggers back as if recoiling from the being before her.

"Wow." Talia pokes at a shard of ice sticking out of the broken wall. A smile adorning her face, unaware of the "It's ice, Monarcha look, ow!" She slips and falls dramatically before sliding down to the floor beneath them.

Monarcha tilts his helmeted head towards Maple, giving her a glance, his visor gleaming a green color. "I. Advise. Against. Proceeding. With. This. Action."

Thalion breaths out a cloud of frost before turning to Maple. "Do you realize what it is you're doing?"

Maple shifts her gaze to the tall elf, and Thalion feels his blood run cold. 'What is this pressure?' his knees buckle as he struggles to stand under her gaze.

Of course granting her attention to the elf meant that Maple's attention was no longer on the Sin of Pride, changing the target of her pressure.

Garuth's eyes glint with a cold fury as the ice encasing him begins to crack and shatter. He exerts his power, the very surroundings bending to his will. "Let it be known," he intones, his voice echoing through the courtyard, "that no ice shall hold me."

The ice around him explodes outward, shards flying in all directions as his flames reignites with renewed intensity. The ground trembles beneath his feet, the very earth groaning in response to his power as they turn to slag. "You dare to imprison me, girl?" he bellows, his body ablaze with a fierce, incandescent light.

Maple's eyes narrows as she braces herself, her aura increasing. "You hurt my friend, I won't forgive you."

Garuth raised his hand, flames swirling around it like a living entity. He points at the fool before him. "Burn," he commands, and the girl combusts, a torrent of fire erupting from from her body. The inferno consumes everything in its path as it shoots into the sky, the heat so intense it melted the ice instantly.

Maple is surrounded by flames as they lick and wash over her little form. The ground beneath her feet begins to melt, the intense heat causing steam to rise in billowing clouds.

Garuth's eyes widen in surprise. "Impressive," he acknowledges, his voice dripping with condescension. Before him, the little girl still stands, not even bothering to move from her spot as the flames hungrily sought purchase in her flesh, one that it couldn't find as she stood undamaged beneath the roar of destruction.

Maple stares at the Sin of Pride, a small smile creeping into her face, almost as if edging him on 'Is this the best you can do?'

Garuth's face twisted in rage. "You insolent—"

Garuth's eyes flared with anger. "Then let it be known," he growled, his voice dripping with venom, "that all who oppose me shall fall!"

The ground beneath Maple's feet begins to quake as gravity is multiplied a hundredfold, fissures opening up as Garuth's power surges through the earth. Flames erupts from the cracks, the heat intense enough to scorch the air. The castle groaning from the pressure as it begins to thaw.

Maple's smile seems to grow even wider. She steps forward unshaken by the gravity imposed on her, the ground caving in with her every step, a dark aura bursting from her as it washes over the flames with a greedy fervor. "You want a fight?" she asks, her voice steady and resolute.

With a swift motion, Maple summons a crystal like shield and leaps toward Garuth. The ground shakes with her first step, the intensity of her power creating shockwaves that ripples through the courtyard. Garuth raises his hands, summoning a wall of flames to intercept her, but Maple's shield cuts through the fire like a bullet through smoke.

|| Shield Attack ||

She slams into Garuth with her momentum, the impact creating a shockwave that sends him flying. He crashes into a nearby building, the force of his landing causing it to collapse in a cloud of dust and debris. Maple doesn't give him a moment to recover. She raises her hand towards the Sin of Pride, a red tint surrounding her malevolent aura aiming to crush Garuth beneath its weight

|| Saturating Chaos ||

A dark viscous liquid from the pits of the abyss bursts out of Maple's hand shaping into a gaping maw that cuts through the air.

But Garuth flexes his speed once again. He rolls to the side, avoiding the strike, and counters with a wave of flames that surges toward Maple. The fire washes over her and spreads outwards, scorching the ground around her. The heat is intense, but Maple doesn't budge.

A popping sound draws Garuth's attention and his eye twitches as he gazes at his city, to be more precise, he gazes at his city and then through his city. Maple's attack had missed him and then smashed through every single structure in it's path until it was outside the city. A few seconds later, a mountain in the far distance loses a significant chunk of it's mass from an invisible bite.

"You think you can defeat me?" Garuth sneers, his voice echoing through the courtyard.

With a flick of his wrist, he alters the laws of gravity, pulling Maple towards him with incredible force. She struggles against the pull, her feet dragging across the ground, but Garuth's power is too strong. He raises his hand, "Sever." and brings it down in a slash.

Like a comical joke, the world literally splits apart for a moment as reality is undoubtedly cut in two. Massive structures crash and fall, with explosions not far behind. People immediately begin running for dear life, trying their damnedest not to slip on the ice.

Garuth's smiles as he watches the destruction, his smile freezes however when he spots Maple in the exact same spot she had been, a new shield in her hands. The night colored shield gleams in an eerie light, releasing steam as a purple crystal protrudes from it's surface.

Her mouth moves, and then the shield morphs, it takes a shape that reminds him of his subordinate, Monarcha, the Sin of Greed, a large tube like structure with a pointed end surrounded by a blood red halo.

|| Counter ||

A massive red beam of pure destruction as s launched towards the Sin of Pride But this time, he fights back. "Let it be known that I am unbreakable!" he roars, his voice shaking the very earth. The ground shatters, fragments flying in all directions as the attack connects in a mind numbing boom of an explosion.

The ground beneath them cracks open, lava bubbling up from the depths of the earth, the city of Welvern in ruins.

In the midst of the destruction, a feral smile crawls up Garuth's face, he raises his hand and alters the law of motion around him. "Let it be known," he growls, "that I cannot be restrained."

Suddenly, Garuth's movements becomes a blur, his speed multiplied by at least fifty fold. He closes the distance between him and Maple in an instant, his fist wreathed in flames as he aimed a powerful punch at her. Maple barely manages to raise her shield in time, the force of the impact sending her skidding backward. The shockwave from the blow shatters windows and crumbles walls around them.

Garuth doesn't relent. He follows up with a barrage of punches and kicks, each one carrying the force to level buildings. Maple blocks and parries as best as she could, but the sheer speed and power of Garuth's attacks are overwhelming. Each hit sends tremors through the ground, causing nearby structures to collapse into rubble.

Maple's smile unnerves the Sin of Pride as he suddenly feels intense pain from his hands, that, along with the multiple purple crystals that protruded from the shield's surface each time he hit it, causes him to distance himself from her.

His hands, upon Garuth looking at them had become mangled beyond recognitions, his bones protruding in various joints.

'That shield... I should be unbreakable. How did it get past my defenses?'

Of course this was the result of multiple devours from Maple's favorite shield.

"Reset." Garuth's arms immediately glitch back to normal as he glares at the girl before him. Not even a scratch on her form. 'Even if I went all out, chances are I won't be able to win completely, not unless I invoke my fragment. No, it's just a little girl, a little stronger than a few of the Sins but a little girl nonetheless.'

"Ok I think this has gone on long enough. I would rather not die today." Hamarie's voice cuts through the tension.

Garuth stares at the Sin of Lust with his rage filled eyes. "Hamarie." He growls, the fight was starting to get exciting.

Hamarie flicks her thumb behind her. "Don't look at me, the last thing we want is triggering Wrath, and with all this killing intent being tossed around, we're well on our way." Behind her Rory is curled up on the floor, trembling as she struggles to restrain her fragment, wisps of black energy wafting from her body.

Chrome appears before Maple. "You ok?" A small smile on his face. He ignores the strange half smile on her face as he places his hand on her shoulder. "You kinda worried me for a second."

Light returns to Maple's eyes as she regains clarity. "Chrome... He killed you."

Chrome chuckles. "Yep, and I never want to experience that again." He straightens. "I'm okay now though... I think."

The courtyard is now a battleground, with shattered remnants of the once-grand city surrounding them. The sky above is obscured by dark clouds, heavy with the weight of destruction