After the Dominion Generator was destroyed.
the frozen valley finally fell silent.
The screaming wind was gone.
No more blue lightning tore across the sky.
No more blizzards swallowed the mountains.
Only silence remained.
Snow drifted gently from the northern sky.
Soft.
Almost peaceful.
Pale sunlight broke through the thinning clouds, spilling across the vast field of ice scarred by countless fractures left behind by the battle.
The valley had survived.
But none of them had escaped unscathed.
Bimo sat on a massive block of ice, clutching his ribs.
His breathing was shallow.
Dried blood stained the corner of his lips.
Even so, he forced out a weak laugh.
"Well..."
He winced as he shifted his weight.
"If anyone ever invites me on another vacation to a snowy place..."
He looked around at everyone.
"...please remind me to say no."
Dika lowered himself beside him, holding his trembling left arm.
"You'd come anyway."
A faint smile appeared on Bimo's face.
"Yeah."
"The problem is..."
"...I know myself too well."
Farhan was still staring at his laptop.
His hands trembled from exhaustion and the freezing cold.
Several keys had been smashed.
The screen was cracked.
But at last—
the energy graph had stabilized.
"The Core..."
"...is safe."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
As if he still couldn't believe it.
Lila lowered her tablet and let out a long breath.
"For now."
A few steps away, Sinta quietly scanned the team.
Making sure everyone was still breathing.
Still standing.
Still alive.
Then her gaze reached Arga.
Her expression immediately changed.
Arga remained kneeling in the snow.
The MBG lunchbox was still in his hands.
His fingers had turned a pale bluish white.
His breathing was weak.
His body trembled almost imperceptibly.
Inside the lunchbox—
eighteen glowing grains of rice rotated slowly.
Their light was calm now.
No longer wild.
Yet Arga could still feel one terrifying truth.
With every pulse of that light—
it took something from him.
Kai knelt beside him.
"You pushed yourself too far."
Arga tried to smile.
But couldn't.
"We're still alive."
Kai held his gaze for a long moment.
"Barely."
Suddenly—
the ground trembled.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Everyone turned at once.
Out of the drifting snow at the far end of the valley—
the Ice Guardian emerged.
Its gigantic body was covered in burns from synthetic energy.
White fur was stained with frozen blue blood.
Its steps were slower than before.
Yet every footfall still echoed like the heartbeat of the mountain itself.
Bimo swallowed.
"It's back."
Dika instinctively rose to his feet.
Sinta raised one hand.
"Wait."
The Ice Guardian stopped directly before Arga.
Its brilliant blue eyes rested silently upon him.
There was no anger.
No hostility.
Only something ancient...
and immeasurably deep.
Arga slowly forced himself to stand.
His knees nearly gave out beneath him.
He opened the MBG lunchbox.
A warm golden glow spread gently through the freezing air.
The Ice Guardian lowered its head.
The entire team froze.
Bimo blinked several times.
"Okay..."
"If a mountain-sized monster bows to you..."
He slowly shook his head.
"...I'm officially done trying to understand life."
Then—
something happened.
A blue crystal, about the size of a human hand, emerged from the Ice Guardian's chest.
It floated quietly toward Arga.
Kai immediately straightened.
"A Guardian's gift."
The crystal touched the MBG lunchbox—
and instantly merged into it.
WHOOOOOM...
All eighteen glowing grains of rice shone at once.
Arga gasped.
An unbearable chill rushed through his body—
only to dissolve into an overwhelming sense of peace.
The pain crushing his chest slowly faded.
His breathing steadied.
He looked up at the Ice Guardian, his eyes widening.
The guardian...
had just saved his life.
The Ice Guardian slowly lifted its head toward the sky.
Then it released one final roar.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!
The sound echoed across every mountain in the frozen north.
It was not a roar of war.
It was a farewell.
Moments later, the colossal guardian turned away.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
It walked into the endless white mist.
Farther.
Farther still.
Until its enormous silhouette disappeared into the falling snow.
The legend returned...
to where legends belong.
For a long moment—
no one spoke.
Only the gentle wind whispered across the frozen valley.
Then Farhan suddenly looked back at his laptop—
and his expression changed.
"Wait..."
Lila hurried to his side.
"What is it now?"
Farhan opened the global energy map.
Several points were glowing.
The Southern Island.
The Ancient Forest.
The Frozen Valley.
Then—
another point blazed far brighter than all the others.
A deep crimson-gold light.
Pulsing...
like the heartbeat of a giant.
Sinta stepped closer.
"Location?"
Farhan swallowed.
"...North Africa."
Kai immediately stiffened.
"That's not just another Core awakening."
Pak Rahmat had been standing quietly nearby the entire time.
Not a single snowflake rested on his shoulders.
As though the cold itself refused to touch him.
He studied the map in silence.
Then spoke softly.
"If that Core is awakening now..."
He paused.
"...then the ancient seal has already been broken."
Everyone turned toward him.
Sinta narrowed her eyes.
"What seal?"
Pak Rahmat didn't answer.
Instead, he turned to the now-clear northern sky.
"From this moment on..."
His voice was low.
"...you are no longer searching for the Cores."
His eyes settled on Arga.
"The Cores..."
"...are searching for you."
A chill ran down everyone's spine.
Farhan zoomed in on the African signal.
The satellite image flickered beneath violent energy interference.
An endless desert.
A crimson sandstorm.
And deep within that storm—
a colossal shadow moved.
Four-legged.
With a blazing mane.
Its eyes burned like a dying sun.
Lila instinctively stepped back.
"Is that..."
"...the next Guardian?"
Pak Rahmat answered without taking his eyes off the screen.
"No."
His gaze remained cold.
"It's the one..."
"...that imprisoned the Guardian."
Silence fell over the team.
Slowly, Arga closed the MBG lunchbox.
Inside, the eighteen glowing grains pulsed faster than before.
As though they, too, had heard the distant call from another continent.
Bimo struggled to his feet, one hand still holding his bruised ribs.
"Great..."
He let out a long sigh.
"I hate deserts."
Sinta looked at every member of the team.
"We leave..."
"...as soon as everyone can stand."
Kai stared toward the distant horizon.
"I just hope..."
"...we're not already too late."
Far away—
in North Africa—
the sky turned crimson.
The desert split open for dozens of kilometers.
Beneath the ancient sands—
a deep sound shook the earth.
DUUUM...
DUUUM...
DUUUM...
Like the heartbeat of a giant that had just awakened.
Then—
as the crimson sandstorm slowly parted—
two golden eyes opened beneath the earth.
The journey of the Nutrition Guardians was far from over.
It had only just become...
a war for the world.