Home/The Ice Age Came? And I Just Got Married?!/ch 31

Chapter 31.

I knew it would happen—which was why I'd deliberately turned around, making it obvious I was dropping my guard.

"Wolves pressure their prey, looking for weaknesses, waiting patiently until the prey makes a mistake. So Eve, if you want to fight them, you have to give them bait and set a trap."

Bang—!

Click. Bang! Click. Bang—Bang!

I shot the first wolf in the head as it lunged, then sent flames surging behind me.

I spun around and fired at the two wolves that had hesitated, startled by the fire, hitting them both in the head.

The corridor fell silent, filled only with blazing flames. I withdrew the Redstone's power. The fire died down, and darkness rushed in once more.

"Eve—if Father and Mother ever ask you to go somewhere alone with them, don't go. Tell them you won't go without Graham and Julian. Understood?"

Looking back, Graham had said a lot of strange things.

I had no idea why he'd told me not to follow Mother and Father.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no one who could answer that question.

Anyway, our parents disappeared long before the ice age—and they never said anything like that before they vanished...

Was Graham safe?

Come to think of it, I never heard why Graham had gone to study abroad in the neighboring country, Norsellan.

He'd left without a chance to talk, only a letter.

...I don't know. First, I need to find Logan.

Thinking that, I checked the wolves' bodies once more.

They didn't seem like ordinary animals—they looked closer to the "snow monsters" mentioned in the novel.

Could they have been experimented on?

A mutated wolf suddenly appearing in the underground of a military base—it wasn't that far-fetched.

Especially since I'd just come from the "lab."

I walked past the wolves' bodies.

I didn't know the way, but I sensed a Winterstone energy in one direction—it felt like the Redstone I'd given to Logan, Marcus, and Charlotte.

Thump! Thump-thump-thump!

Then I heard a dull noise, like someone knocking on a door.

Howl—!

A wolf's cry followed.

I summoned fire again to light my way, loaded my rifle, and moved forward—watching ahead and checking behind.

Thump!

Thump! Thump!

The knocking grew closer. It was definitely living people—several of them.

I ran toward the sound.

At the end of the corridor, a thick iron door appeared—one that would be hard to open with brute force, even for trained soldiers.

A rusty nameplate hung above it:

[Quarantine Zone]

And just then—

Howl—!

A wolf's cry erupted from right behind me. Wolves had appeared.

One by one, blue eyes emerged from the darkness.

At least five of them—twice the size of normal wolves.

BAM!

A rough voice came from beyond the iron door.

"Is there someone out there?!"

"Answer if you're alive!"

I didn't know how long they'd been trapped, but the thick frost on the doorframe suggested quite a while.

I glanced at the door, then aimed my rifle at the wolves. If I opened it now, the wolves would flood in.

I had to deal with them first.

Click—

I loaded my hunting rifle again.

Bang—!

A gunshot rang out.

The lead wolf's shoulder exploded.

I was good at hunting, but I didn't have combat prowess like Logan's.

So I'd use the Redstone's power.

I opened my palm. A small spark grew into a flame, then into a large fireball.

It spun fiercely, scattering sparks. After a tense moment, the flames surged toward the charging wolves.

BOOM—!

WHOOSH—!

Brilliant flames exploded in the dark corridor like a bomb, rising menacingly.

Three wolves died instantly. The remaining two hesitated—

Click—

I loaded my rifle, aimed, and hunted them down.

Bang— Bang—

Two precise shots to the head.

I straightened my back.

The crackling of dying embers filled the silence.

The situation was over.

I turned and looked at the now-quiet iron door.

The people who had been making a racket moments ago were silent.

They must have guessed what happened from the explosions and gunfire.

They probably thought I was dead.

Drip—

I roughly wiped my nosebleed with my hand, then reached for the doorknob—and pulled back.

It was unbearably cold.

I pulled gloves from my pocket, put them on, and turned the knob. It wouldn't open—it had frozen solid.

Now I understood why they were trapped inside. The iron door had frozen shut.

I took off my gloves and concentrated the Redstone's power into my palm.

The frost and ice on the iron door melted, water streaming down.

Click—

I turned the knob—the door opened.

Creak—

Carefully opening it, I thrust the muzzle of my rifle inside.

"Don't shoot!"

Someone shouted. I could hear them loading their guns too.

I rolled a small flame ball across the floor like a marble.

"Aaah!"

Someone screamed.

But as the fireball settled and grew brighter, I could finally see the interior.

As expected, soldiers were trapped in the quarantine zone. The thick iron door had frozen solid, trapping them inside.

Five soldiers.

Three of them had their guns aimed at me.

"How long have you been here?"

At my question, the soldiers aiming at me exchanged glances.

"About ten days, I think."

I could see marks on the floor where they'd counted the days.

"How did you open the door? There were those monstrous wolf bastards outside..."

"I killed them."

"What?"

Ignoring their bewildered response, I scanned their condition.

They were armed but not in combat gear—as if they'd rushed out in a panic and gotten trapped.

"Did you all flee in here to escape the wolves?"

"No—it was a trap."

"A trap?"

"There was a traitor. Food was running out and there were too many mouths to feed."

Ah—could the person who opened the door for us have been that traitor?

It seemed likely. Logan had said he felt eyes on him.

"On top of that, there were those insane wolves roaming the base. Every day was hell."

According to the soldiers, the ice age had brought drastic changes to the naval base.

Temperatures had dropped exponentially, even deep underground.

Many had left the base. After about a month, only about twenty remained.

Even those died—from freezing outside by accident, or simply freezing to death in their sleep without proper insulation.

In the end, only six were left.

One of them betrayed the others.

"What was the traitor's goal? To hoard food alone? Then he must still be inside the base?"

At my question, the soldiers nodded.

Now that they mentioned it, besides the Redstones my group carried, I could faintly sense other Winterstone energies.

"Does that traitor happen to have a special mineral with magical properties?"

At my question, the soldiers' eyes widened.

"Yes—he has a blue Winterstone."

So he'd lured them into the quarantine zone, then closed and froze the iron door.

Because a Bluestone could create ice, snow, and water.

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