[The Golden Circle Headquarters - Hidden Chalet]
The Grand Elder, a withered man named Count Vargo, sat by a roaring fire. Baron Von Klerk stood before him, trembling.
"He... he burned the invitation, Grand Elder," the Baron stammered. "And he knows about my debt. He is not a normal human. He is a demon."
Count Vargo sipped his wine. "He is an upstart. New money. He thinks he can buy the Alps? He does not understand nature."
Vargo pressed a button on his desk.
"Initiate Protocol: Whiteout."
The Baron gasped. "But... he is skiing on the North Slope! An avalanche there will bury him under fifty feet of snow!"
"Precisely," Vargo smiled. "An unfortunate skiing accident. Tragic. And then, we will claim his castle."
[North Slope - Sterling Mountain]
Alex was carving down the mountain on a pair of custom-made gold-plated skis ($50,000). Luna was right behind him on a snowboard, scanning the perimeter.
"The air is fresh!" Alex shouted over the wind. "Maybe I should buy a ski resort next!"
Suddenly, Luna's earpiece crackled.
"Master! Seismic warning! Detonation detected on the ridge above!"
BOOM.
A massive explosion echoed through the valley.
Alex looked up. The entire side of the mountain was moving. A white wall of snow, fifty feet high, was roaring down toward them at 100 miles per hour.
"Avalanche!" Luna screamed. "There is no cover! We cannot outrun it!"
Alex looked at the white death rushing toward him.
"System!" Alex shouted. "Shop! Survival!"
[System Shop - Emergency Tab]
Thermal Bunker Bubble: Creates an indestructible force field for 10 minutes. Cost: 5,000 TP.
"Buy it!"
[Purchase Confirmed.]
Just as the wall of snow slammed into them, a golden sphere erupted around Alex and Luna.
CRASH.
The world went dark. The roar was deafening. Thousands of tons of ice and rock crushed against the shield.
Inside the bubble, it was warm and silent. Alex brushed snow off his jacket. Luna was panting, her hand gripping Alex's arm tight.
"Are we... alive?" Luna whispered.
"We are," Alex checked the timer on the holographic shield. "We have 9 minutes of air."
Alex's eyes glowed in the dark.
"That wasn't nature," Alex said, his voice colder than the snow outside. "That was a detonation."
He checked his God's Eye map. He could see the heat signatures of the men who planted the bombs retreating to a hidden chalet on the other side of the valley.
"The Golden Circle," Alex growled. "They tried to bury me."
"What do we do, Master?" Luna asked, pulling out her knife. "Do we dig out and kill them?"
"No," Alex smiled cruelly. "They like the cold so much? Let's see how they handle it."
"System... show me who owns the power grid for this mountain."