After 5 minutes, Squad 1, 2 and 4 were sent out ahead of everyone else. Squad 6 would be released shortly after. Using the frozen sea as a platform, the squad members ran over it, reaching the mainland only after minutes.
The island they were on was called Heaven's Playground, for an unknown reason, it was called Haven for short. Of course, none of the students knew that.
It was named that because Regulus saw this island as a place similar to heaven. He believed himself to be God, at one point in his life, however, not now. Not when a real god was on the verge of awakening.
There were four parts to the island. The exterior was split into three—jungle, forest and mountainous area. The part in which they entered was the jungle area.
Despite the prickling cold lightly stabbing them, they forged on, nevertheless. Even with heat gear, the freezing air still was numbing some of them.
The Lesser Niflheim spell that Akane cast directly affected a fair portion of the jungle, a line of the central base, and some of the mountainous area. It would be a hindrance to both ally and enemy alike.
Lesser Niflheim was an effect spell, rather than an offensive spell. It meant that it would maximise the use of frost over its destructive capabilities. The time limit of Lesser Niflheim was 20 minutes. Short, but worthwhile.
In other words, it was a gamble. It was up to the main actors to see whether it would work out or not.
·———·
Within the central base, Eden, communication was a no-go. Even though nothing was destroyed, both comms and security were rendered immobile by the rime.
As some homunculi had already learnt, attempting to remove the rime manually was impossible. Some already had frozen limbs from touching it. Even using tools did not work.
What from there?
In the main communication room, which was in the west of Eden, an Arcana stood there, observing the homunculi panicking, not knowing how to deal with the ice.
From an outsider's perspective, the scene would seem strange and abnormal. Despite their pain, the homunculi kept listless expressions while helping one another.
Losing a limb was inconvenient for any creature. Monster, wild animal, and human alike. The same applied to homunculi. They felt pain but had no use in displaying it. Regardless, it was troublesome.
"Children, do not worry about your loss of a limb for I shall do my best to restore them."
The Arcana announced.
It was a woman with a soft voice. Her face was hidden by a starry veil. All that could be seen was her placid smile. In her hand was a book. The dress she wore was navy blue with golden sparkles.
The woman approached a homunculus who had a leg frozen and shattered.
"Hymn of Regeneration."
She held out the book; the pages gently fluttered as a gale of wind swept past. A gentle melody played and a green magic circle, along with a glyph, hovered over the injury of the homunculi. As the magic circle passed through it, the bones regrew, then the muscles, nerves, and finally the skin. It was as good as new.
A miracle had been performed.
The homunculus looked up at the Tarot with glistening eyes.
"Thank you, Lady Zara."
He said.
"Now, child, run along to the Wicked One. Tell him that we are under attack and tell him the situation of the communication room."
"Yes."
He follows his orders and ran out of the room towards Regulus' quarters.
"Now, all of you, make a line in front of me, I shall restore as much as I can of all of you. Please, do not get high expectations. Oh, and, do please avoid the ice glaze. I would rather not have to deal with more casualties than this."
Lady Zara sighed.
"Well, I have contacted Eta, Kyran and Zyion. They should be able to deal with the incoming threat. If not, then I will have to greet our guests personally. As a priestess that is not my job, however..."
For the first time, she lost her placid smile.
"The Wicked One may have invited monsters to our nest."
·———·
"Okay, from here, let's split up."
Akane suggested to Yoko and Kaguya.
The two nodded.
Yoko's team went straight ahead toward the base. Kaguya's team went right and Akane's team went left. Before they were out of sight, Akane shouted.
"Remember to dodge the frost! Even in heat gear, you last more than 10 seconds on it!"
This was the initial stage of the operation.
The first was to confuse the opponent somehow, disrupting their communications and having them blind with no cameras.
Those conditions were fulfilled when Akane used Lesser Niflheim.
The second was to attack from as many sides as possible. Sure, a larger group would be stronger and harder to take down but they would be easy targets. Besides, having groups that are too large can affect the squad's performance as a whole.
Splitting up made it so that the opponent would have trouble finding them. If they were not found, the ones at a disadvantage were the defenders.
Each squad had a job. They all had the same jobs. Defeat any Major Arcana they come across and report Emika's whereabouts when and if found.
"!"
Suddenly, Yoko's senses went off.
Yoko was a sniper, and though she was, her Singularity did not help her snipe at all. Her Singularity was called Danger Awareness. It was as it was named. The girl was aware of anything that could cause her harm.
"Everyone! Scatter!"
They were around 100 metres away from the entrance of Eden when a wave of fire barrelled toward them. They all scattered into hiding places, avoiding the frost.
All of them took a peek at the entrance, where a man sat at a table, playing chess by himself.
"Checkmate."
Despite him playing on the white side, the black pieces won the match. He had been moving the pieces all by himself.
The man looked to be in his twenties. His hair was platinum and his eyes were red and white, almost like a target. On the right side of his face, a tattoo branched from his eye to his cheek.
The man stood up from his table and glanced at the forest.
"You all won't get past me."
He declared with a smirk.