Behind the three, the deserter army began reacting.
Orders shouted.
Formations tightening.
Beasts manifesting in their bodies like a cascading wave as commanders responded to the now obvious threat.
It was too late for negotiation.
Too late for peaceful resolution.
Too late for anything except violence and consequences.
The temperature kept dropping.
20 degrees below the starting point...
25 degrees.
30 degrees.
Selphira smiled... Not warmly obviously.
With the satisfaction of a predator that had been patient long enough and was finally being allowed to hunt.
"Last chance," she said quietly. "Surrender and return to your posts or accept appropriate punishment for desertion."
Silence from the army. Movement and mana signatures but no verbal response.
"Very well."
The temperature dropped another 10 degrees in a single second.
And not only that...
Selphiraโs mana was like a huge pressure making air feel heavier.
Not metaphorical weight, the actual physical sensation that made breathing slightly more difficult, that made movement for many feel like pushing through some resistance that shouldnโt exist, that pressed against the senses of every tamer within 400 meters like an atmospheric change before a storm.
But before completing invocation, she executed technique not requiring physical beast manifestation.
It was a direct application of elemental control sheโd perfected during decades of mastering the ice element her beast combination provided access to. And it was a dramatic declaration that would establish the tone for the confrontation to come.
Not the kind of technique you used when you wanted to leave room for negotiation.
But the kind you used when you wanted everyone present to understand exactly how seriously you took their offense.
This wasnโt weather.
"First," Selphira announced with a voice cutting through the cold like a clear bell, "weโre going to make you suffer inclement cold. Letโs see if this motivates you to remember that the wall you abandoned is considerably โwarmerโ than staying here freezing under the discipline you deserve for desertion."
It was psychological warfare as much as tactical preparation. Making them question whether standing their ground was worth the physical misery.
Already working, too. Silver-rank soldiers in enemy formation were reacting to sudden cold with visible discomfort.
Shifting weight. Rubbing arms. Breath coming faster as bodies tried compensating for heat loss.
It wasnโt temperature level causing immediate damage but was sufficiently unpleasant that maintaining position for extended time would become increasingly difficult as minutes passed.
And that was before Selphira deliberately intensified the effect for those who decided to resist instead of retreating.

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