CHAPTER 33: The Frost-Blade Outpost and the Dragon’s Claws
**ARC 4: THE NORTHERN WAR & THE RECLAIMING OF THE SOVEREIGN QUEEN**
Howling winds and blinding white snow swept across Frost-Blade Valley, the southernmost border pass leading into the mountain territory of House Aurelius.
Perched high on a jagged glacial cliff overlooking the valley sat the Frost-Blade Outpost—a heavily fortified stone fortress encased in thick blue ice. Armed with three Grade-4 spirit-cannon arrays and guarded by eighty elite Northern Frost Guards, all trained in House Aurelius's cold-sword techniques, this outpost was the first line of defense protecting the Northern Realm.
At the center of the fortress courtyard, a heavy-set commander clad in silver-and-blue plate armor—Commander Vane Aurelius, a Peak Spirit Vein Opening expert—sat by a roaring fire pit, sipping hot spirit wine.
"Keep those cannon arrays primed!" Commander Vane barked at his guards, wiping grease from his beard. "The High Elder ordered maximum security! If any unknown airship or spatial rift appears near the valley, blow it out of the sky!"
"Commander!" A guard running down the watchtower called out, pointing toward the snowy gorge below. "Two figures are approaching on foot through the snowstorm! They aren't wearing Aurelius banners!"
Commander Vane gritted his teeth, grabbing his heavy frost broadsword. "On foot? In this storm? Fire a warning bolt!"
Down in the snowy valley floor, the blinding blizzard blew harmlessly past Ethan and Elena.
Dressed in their dark navy-and-silver House Sterling coats, the cold mountain air didn't even chill their skin. Thanks to the Imperial Sovereign Dragon-Physique newly awakened within their bodies, their blood radiated a warm, gold-and-azure dragon energy that melted the snow two feet before it touched their boots.
THWACK!
A five-foot-long, icy spirit bolt shot down from the fortress watchtower, slamming into the snow twenty feet in front of Ethan, exploding into a shower of sharp ice shards.
Ethan didn't stop walking. He kept his hands tucked casually in his coat pockets, looking up at the high stone walls of the outpost with calm, dark eyes.
"They fired first," Ethan said softly.
Elena touched the hilt of her azure sword, her eyes flashing with a cold, gold-and-blue dragon gleam. "Dad said we test our new physiques here. Leave the watchtowers to me."
"Don't take all of them," Ethan grinned, unstrapping the linen-wrapped spear from his back.
Up on the fortress walls, Commander Vane looked through his brass spyglass, his eyes narrowing as he saw two teenagers walking casually through the snow.
"Just two kids?!" Vane sneered mockingly. "Are they lost commoners from the lower villages? Capture them! If they resist, break their legs!"
SWISH!
Before the thirty guards on the wall could even draw their swords, Elena vanished.
"Where did she go?!" a guard yelled, blinking frantically into the white mist.
BOOM!
A sharp, azure spatial ripple exploded directly on the fifty-foot watchtower platform!
Elena materialized mid-air above the guards, her azure sword remaining in its sheath. She didn't use Qi—she simply executed a single, gold-tempered dragon step, her boot coming down on the stone watchtower platform with raw, physical force!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The fifty-foot stone watchtower, built from anti-magic granite, shattered instantly under the raw, dragon-physique impact!
"AAAAAAAH!"
All twelve guards on the tower screamed as the stone structure collapsed into rubble, sending them tumbling fifty feet to the icy courtyard below, their armors dented and their swords snapping like wooden sticks!
"WHAT?!" Commander Vane gasped, his spirit wine spilling onto his armor in sheer terror. "She destroyed a granite watchtower with a single physical step?!"
Down at the main iron gates of the fortress...
Ethan walked up to the twenty-foot-tall, reinforced ironwood gates etched with Grade-3 defensive arrays.
Four elite guards charged at him from the side, their frost broadswords whistling through the air in a cold, coordinated cross-cut!
Ethan didn't draw his spear blade. He kept his spear wrapped in plain linen, holding the wooden shaft with his right hand.
STEP.
Ethan’s body blurred forward using the Nine-Bones Iron Dragon Method. His physical frame easily bypassed all four broadsword cuts!
He delivered four rapid, bare-handed elbow strikes directly into the guards' chest plates!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
CRACK!
All four guards flew backward like cannonballs, crashing through the wooden barracks walls sixty feet away, their chest armors caved in completely, knocked out cold before they hit the ground!
Ethan turned toward the twenty-foot ironwood gates. He raised his right fist, channeling his Imperial Sovereign Dragon-Physique physical power straight into his knuckles.
"Let's see how strong these gates are," Ethan murmured.
ONE PUNCH.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A deafening, shockwave-inducing explosion echoed across the entire valley!
The twenty-foot-tall reinforced ironwood gates—and the Grade-3 defensive array carved into them—were completely pulverized into a cloud of iron dust and wooden splinters! The sheer wind pressure from Ethan’s punch swept through the entire fortress courtyard, blowing over heavy wagons and knocking twenty remaining guards off their feet!
Commander Vane fell onto his rear in the snow, his broadsword slipping from his trembling fingers as he stared at the two teenagers stepping calmly through the ruined gateway.
"W-Who are you people?!" Vane stammered in absolute horror, his face pale as a sheet. "What kind of monsters are you?!"
Ethan rested his linen-wrapped spear over his shoulder, looking down at Commander Vane with a calm, unbothered expression.
"Ethan Sterling and Elena Sterling," Ethan said flatly. "Of House Sterling."
Commander Vane’s mind went completely blank. House Sterling! The commoner twins who destroyed House Zephyrus in the Core City!
Before Vane could even attempt to crawl backward, a soft, divine golden light illuminated the ruined courtyard.
BZ—ZZZ-T!
A golden spatial portal opened in mid-air above the fortress. Gabriel stepped out, his dark dragon-silk coat fluttering in the mountain wind, flanked by Lord Tyrion, General Ignatius, and Malakor.
Gabriel looked around at the completely neutralized, ruined outpost—destroyed entirely by his son and daughter in less than two minutes without drawing a single blade or expending Qi.
"Good job," Gabriel smiled warmly, patting both Ethan and Elena on their shoulders.
Gabriel turned his golden dragon eyes toward the terrified Commander Vane lying in the snow.
"Go tell High Elder Jonathan Aurelius," Gabriel’s voice echoed across the frozen valley like a rolling thunderstorm. "House Sterling has entered the Northern Realm... and we are coming for Evelyn."