Chapter Five: The Fourth Army at Frostbridge

Serena placed a cloak around Lain’s shoulders. “What did you pay?” “Why ask?” “Whenever you see too much of the future, something disappears from your eyes.” He remembered his mother’s embrace and found only precise, frozen emptiness. “An old thing I no longer needed.” Serena did not press him. A dragon’s roar rose outside—not from the sky, but from the chasm. The transparent imprint floated up, casting silver text. 【Unbound Frost Dragon remnant detected.】 【The empty imprint may contain a second attribute.】 【Contract condition: offer a true name, or defeat the remnant’s will.】 Two ice-blue eyes opened in the abyss. “Human,” the dragon said, shaking snow from the tent roof. “Give me your name.”