Talis charged at Ether, spear in hand. Ether brought Tellendor up to his chest and used his other hand to block his stomach.
But Talis' spear penetrated through his defenses. It went past Tellendor and the arm, and directly into his stomach.
The spear stuck out from the other side. Blood dripped off onto the already bloody snow. He smiled and kicked Ether off the weapon.
"Stay dead this time!" Talis mocked Ether's unofficial title.
Cerus marched up beside Talis, he had two explosives ready to use against the Frosticus' walls. "Where to?"
"Look at them, they are failing their defense. Just march up to those walls and blow them up, I already took care of their strongest!" Talis answered.
Before Cerus walked away, Ether noticed he had claw marks across his face. They were from Oria's hands.
Ether wished someone would come and rescue him, but he knew he was dead. No one could reach him, he was too deep into enemy territory.
He had two options: to lie down and bleed out, or to get back up and try to fight back to safety. Ether picked the second option.
He mustered up the last amount of strength he had left in him to pick himself up while Talis wasn't looking directly at him.
"Aww, running away so soon?" Talis chuckled. "GET UP THEN!"
Ether barely managed to get back on his feet. He already has gone through enough during one single battle. His body was starting to wear out, but his Will wouldn't allow him to die so easily.
"That's it, good boy - good boy Ether. NOW DIE!" Talis screamed.
He formed a replica of Tellendor in his own hand, then brought it against Ether's chest. Before the false Tellendor landed, Ether rose the real one to his side.
The weapons collided, making a loud ring. Talis' strength sent Ether flying sideways up the Mountain.
He slammed against the snow. But he realized Tellendor wasn't in his possession anymore. He accidentally dropped his weapon after Talis struck him.
Ether turned around onto his belly, then continued crawling up Digon. But Frosticus' walls appeared to be so far away. It was like crawling for an eternity.
But Ether still wanted to survive. He couldn't let Talis kill him, he wanted to be back in Krugi talking with Oria and Jakery. But those memories faded away from his memories.
Now, the only thing in his mind was survival. He could hear Talis walking up to him, warriors moved as he walked up the mountain.
"Bravo, Ether, bravo! You know, maybe this is why the Coros family is so impressive. They are just complete fucking morons who can't seem to know when they're dead," Talis taunted.
Ether turned around to face Talis. "Are you loyal to the Nine Rules of Reality?"
Talis laughed, then picked Ether up by the neck. "Of course. Why you ask?"
"The Second Rule of Reality states, 'creations who believe to be something they aren't do not exist.' If... you're so loyal, then why won't you kill yourself?" Ether responded.
Talis threw Ether up into the air, then formed a mace from ice. Before Ether could touch the ground, he struck Ether with the mace. He went flying up the mountain.
When Ether reopened his eyes, he realized there was a crack in his helmet. But that didn't matter to him, he looked back down to where Talis was.
His rival calmly walked towards him, with someone else close behind. Pearl joined her ally as he walked up to Ether. Both of them seemed murderous.
But Pearl seemed a bit off, as if her murderous energy desired something else from the kill.
Ether desperately continued to crawl upwards. Right now, he could see the front lines. He saw the Light Legion had devastated Infinus and Frosticus warriors alike.
No one from his side remained alive, other than him. He was the only last ally alive.
"Hey, babe, look at what we have here. It's that Coros!" Talis said to Pearl.
"Just because I 'winked' at you with BOTH eyes doesn't mean I like you. And he seems badly hurt, wouldn't it be more interesting if you brought him back to Dire?" Pearl suggested.
Ether overheard the conversation, he didn't want to go back into the Light Legion's walls. Going there would be worse than death. They would endlessly torture him and make his life a living hell.
A sudden surge of adrenaline took over Ether's body. His slow crawling became quicker, what was better was everyone watched as Ether crawled away.
No one wanted to get in between an elite and a Legion leader. Especially when they were rivals since young. But what made it better was they pitied Ether's condition.
Killing a Prime who was nearing death without having a valid reason to killing them was considered cowardice amongst many factions, Light Legion included. The only one there who had the ability to kill Ether was Talis.
"That is a good idea, but I want to do the killing this time. Fuck Dire!" Talis laughed. "Let's see, how about I teach you a little more about myself? We never got to look eye-to-eye, probably for the best anyway..."
Ether began crawling even faster, his eyes could see the Legion walls up ahead. He realized there were a few Cemtras, Siege Weavers, Sky Beasts, and Variants outside.
They were trying to get whoever they could back inside the walls. Ether caught a glimpse of Jakery and Valentine trying to hold back elites and warriors.
"VALEN - "
Talis stomped on Ether's head, shattering whatever was left of the helmet. "Shh, let me talk. Anyway, you might be curious on how I earned my Third Rule, eh?"
Ether didn't respond, he tried to shake the foot off the back of his head.
"Aww, good to hear. Anyway, I brought down a Legion solo! It was called... dammit, what was it called? The... Yuto Legion? I don't know it was something in Icitru, what does it mean, buddy?" he jokingly asked Ether.
"Get off my head, you fucking disgrace!" Ether managed to tilt his head in a way that would allow him to speak.
Talis took his foot off Ether's head and grabbed him by the hair. "Hey, hey!" he formed a smaller mace in his hand, then struck Ether across the face with it. "That Valentine Sherpa didn't teach you manners!"
Ether looked up at Talis. His vision became blurry, it was his blood loss taking its toll. Before it became too severe, he managed to catch something happening behind Talis.
Pearl walked up to Talis with a piece of armor plating in her hand. The plate shifted into a weapon. After it became a pole, Pearl stopped and looked down at Ether.
"Want to hit him once, babe?" Talis asked Pearl.
She calmly looked up at him. "For the last time," she carefully rested the pole on her shoulder. "I am not your 'babe.'"
Talis laughed, then tried stepping closer to Ether. As his foot came down, Pearl swung the pole against Talis' head.
He stumbled backwards, bewildered at what just happened. Pearl didn't give Talis time to recover, she kicked him in the stomach.
"AH! You fucking... alright, I offered you my heart, and you gave me your hatred. Alright then!" Talis sadistically laughed.
Talis formed another spear, but before he could do anything about Pearl, she swept the pole under him. He fell over, face first.
Pearl stood over Talis, then brought the pole down on the back of his head twice. Knocking Talis out for the time being.
Light Legion warriors gasped at what just happened, they just witnessed a betrayal right in front of their eyes.
Pearl nonchalantly dropped the pole, then looked around. Everyone around her drew their weapons, but before anyone could stop her. Their armors randomly formed inward spikes, stabbing into their bodies.
Killing them all instantly.
Pearl looked down at Ether, she grabbed him by the shoulder and carried him in her arms. She marched up to the walls.
As she walked, more and more warriors dropped dead. Pearl made sure the path was open for her only.
Jakery and Hizentre stopped fighting and looked at the strange event unfolding before them. Before any of them could attack, they noticed the unconscious Ether in her arms.
"You! Quickly, get inside. We need to leave!" Jakery called out to Pearl.
She nodded and calmly walked through the gaping hole on the wall. When she stepped inside, Infinus and Frosticus warriors alike confronted her.
But they quickly dropped their weapons and brought her a Sky Beast. They weren't sure if they should trust her, but they were sure they should keep Ether safe.
That was the end of the story for the Frosticus Legion. What once was a Legion made for the mighty and powerful Thawed now became a shell of what it was.
Many lives were lost during the siege, and many would feel the aftermath after it was over.