Chapter 57

How much time had passed...? Elizabeth couldn't say. The flames engulfed her, but despite that, the persistent cold around her was stronger, and the heat she should have felt barely reached her.

"Arf... arf... arf..."

Her heavy and slow breathing followed its own rhythm, conserving as much air as possible, as each breath made it increasingly difficult to breathe.

The weight on the flames hadn't increased for some time, raising the question of whether the creatures had already left.

Lifting the ice over her head as she did before was impossible. Her legs trembled, her arms nearly gave in with the slightest movement, and she no longer had the strength to do such a thing. Her only option, besides remaining in that state forever, was to slowly dissipate her flames, hoping the ice wouldn't immediately fall on her body.

From bottom to top and starting from the edges, the flames began to disappear slowly. Despite the progress, nothing happened. The transparent ice surrounding her resembled a resistant and very deadly mirror. Without using magic or aura, as she brought one of her hands closer to that wall, her fingers began to freeze little by little.

The flames enveloped her, and despite their intensity, the nearby ice showed no reaction. Bringing her hands to the mirror, an even stronger flame was needed to melt that wall and create a path to the outside.

A prison...? No. A mirror capable of reflecting her own failure, for as the path was created, looking to the sides, a proof of her incompetence haunted her.

"..."

Her heart tightened, and words failed her, but before her eyes, as in a private corridor displaying her failures, those she was supposed to protect appeared one after another. Their terrified expressions and obvious unsuccessful attempts to escape.

Closing her tearful eyes, the path ahead seemed even more difficult. However, when a cold wind tousled her hair, she realized it had finally come to an end.

Bringing one of her hands to her mouth, her legs trembled, and as her eyes scanned the landscape ahead, they completely gave way on the frozen ground.

The sun rising in the distance, green nowhere to be seen, and no life visible. Houses, trees, or any other type of plant, it didn't matter; it wasn't just snow. Everything in her line of sight had been taken by the same transparent ice that had surrounded her moments ago.

Tremors consumed her, and clenching her fists tightly with a handful of ice, she heard heavy steps slowly surrounding her. With each step, the ice under the creature's feet cracked, but instead of hearing the breaking of a glass-like surface, all Elizabeth could hear was the sound of people's bones breaking.

Clenching her teeth to the point of drawing blood from her gums, she leaped. Her hand moved, and cutting through anything in its path, the sacred sword reached her fingers.

In the distance, the creature walked over a city covered in ice. Yet, although it wasn't possible, since the bodies of all the people there resembled empty glass shells more than flesh, bones, and blood, all Elizabeth could see was a mountain of destroyed bodies and a sea of red under her feet.

"Aaaaaaahhh!"

Her hand rose, and then the blade came down, cutting through the air. Hearing her scream, the creature looked in her direction quickly, but there was no time left. Her vision was already completely distorted, with everything around her spinning constantly.

Starting with the distant houses and slowly drawing closer. Not just superficially. With this movement, along with the ice dragon, the entire city was cut in half.

[Congratulations]

[You leveled up]

Dropping her sword on the ice, the blood she saw around her had never been so recognizable. After all, these black uniforms would never be forgotten by her. The tears of the families and the pleas of the parents... how could she forget something like that...?

"Do you trust me?"

Coming to attention, all the battalion soldiers responded in unison;

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Great."

The smile on her face that day, so miserable when remembered today, couldn't have predicted what would happen next.

"Then go finish this mission quickly, and when you get back, the first round is on me."

The shouts and smiles still appeared in her dreams, sometimes making her wake up in the middle of the night and unable to return to sleep. For it was supposed to be a simple mission, they told her. Just send the soldiers, those were the orders, after all, for such an insignificant mission, a commander wasn't necessary. But... then why did none of them return...?

The time had been calculated, six hours was the maximum time to be used... But then a day passed... The second came with tremors, and on the third, without a doubt, the nightmares began.

"Repeat what you said."

"Ma'am, they... it's confirmed that the alpha team was... wiped out."

Her hands trembling, her teeth grinding. With the departure of the one who had given her such news, her tears could not be held back. But now, after everything, the worst part would come... telling the parents and spouses what had happened...

"My son... bring back my son! Please..."

Tears gathered around her, while the list of names kept shrinking. Curses were uttered, but she didn't care. Some even became aggressive, for how else to react when receiving such news during a celebration, in the middle of a birthday party? As her clothes continued to get wet from tears and dirty from being thrown to the ground multiple times, some family members even ended up in the hospital.

"Please, tell me this isn't true... please... please... bring my husband back..."

After several empty coffins were buried, in the end, meeting their demands was impossible. However, easing her own guilt wasn't. After all, if she had gone with them, surely this wouldn't have happened, but... who made that decision...?

"What are you doing?! Are you crazy?! Put that down! Drop that weapon now!"

"Y-You... you know what this means?! This is an act of treason! How can you do this?!"

"Elizabeth, come on, you should understand... that mission was..."

"I had nothing to do with this... it was them... they decided!"

"You... how dare you say that?!"

"Bastard! You were the one who chose the responsible team in the first place!"

The sea of tears had already formed around her and kept drowning her more and more. But at the end of that day, the clear liquid took on a new color, becoming an intense red, along with its first inhabitants, those who cursed her deeply until their last breath. But... did any of them have the chance to do something similar...?

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Sorry, I honestly completely forgot to post the chapter. But well, rereading it now, I thought it might have been a bit confusing. So, could someone tell me if it's understandable or if it's better to rewrite it later?

Ah, and thanks for reading.