The cliff's edge dropped into a frozen abyss, where ice walls glowed with bell runes, their blue light pulsing like a heartbeat. Qin Mo's shard screamed, its heat a faint ember against the cold flooding his veins. Yi, Ren, and Lian followed, their faces grim, the bells' chime a relentless summons.
[FFD System: Frostflame Balance: Heat 20% / Cold 80%. Warning: Shard overload imminent. Binding risk: 65%.]
Yi's threads trembled, her voice tight. "Your shard—it's breaking you."
Ren's daggers glinted, his eyes on the abyss. "My brother faced this cold. I won't lose him."
Lian notched an arrow, her gaze steady. "My family's relics warned of this. The Tax binds all."
A pulse shook the abyss, frost cracking as a figure emerged—Ling Shou, the bellkeeper, his robes frost-white, eyes glowing with Silent Tax runes. "Shard-bearer," he said, voice calm but heavy. "The bells demand balance."
Qin Mo's shard flared, heat surging, but the cold fought back, vision blurring. "Balance?" he growled. "Or slavery?"
Ling Shou raised a hand, frost swirling, forming a blade of ice. "The old gods sleep. The bells keep them."
[FFD System: Silent Tax guardian detected. Frost blade active. Heat loss: 25%. Balance: Heat 18% / Cold 82%.]
Ling Shou struck, his blade slicing the air, frost shards flying. Qin Mo dodged, Frost Veil shielding him, but the cold numbed his limbs. Yi's threads lashed out, binding Ling Shou's arm, while Lian's arrows struck his shoulder, frost blooming. Ren's daggers slashed his side, but Ling Shou's frost armor deflected, ice reforming.
Qin Mo unleashed Eagle Eye, spotting a bell rune on Ling Shou's chest—his core. Frost Charge propelled him forward, blade piercing the rune, the shard devouring its essence. Ling Shou staggered, whispering, "Balance… or ruin."
[FFD System: Guardian essence absorbed. Balance restored: Heat 25% / Cold 75%. Binding risk: 60%.]
Ling Shou knelt, offering a frostflame technique scroll. "Learn balance, or the bells will claim you."
Yi's eyes were hard. "He's one of them."
Ren gripped his daggers. "But he's helping us."
Qin Mo took the scroll, the shard stabilizing. "We'll use it to break them."
The FFD System chimed, urging them deeper.
[FFD System: Silent Tax resonance: 70%. Core trace: Abyss center.]
The abyss's runes pulsed, the bells' chime a call to the final debt.