Snowmen. The Tribulation was seriously attacking them with snowmen?

This had got to be a joke. Compared to being nearly buried alive by a mountain of snow, this should be child's play in comparison.

And as Alwin would put it, it'd make sense since they were technically still children.

Niwla ignored such things; their focus right now was on clearing the Tribulation.

Through Winal's grip, Alwin managed to compress his body small enough to shift and adjust himself just enough until his mouth was finally free, unlike the rest of his body.

"C'mon, Niwla. They're just snowmen. There's nothing to be worried about. How about we have a snowball battle with them? It's going to be so fun. Of course, I'd be in charge of the main body."

Niwla ignored him.

Things were hardly as they seemed.

Now, what were these snowmen up to?

Niwla gripped his talons even tighter against the snowcoat-covered doorknob. Every single muscle in his feathery body was tensed, ready to react to the slightest provocation. His eyes traveled across the horde, observing them.

There were twelve snowmen, all of them waddling closer towards him, leaving behind a trail of trodden snow in their path. Surrounding him in a semicircle formation, they bent down, which involved rolling their middle and top spheres over the bottom sphere.

Niwla tensed. What were they about to do?

Alwin's style was blast first, talk later.

His was observed and react. Not the most flashy, but certainly one that would save on resources in the long run.

They dug their stick arms into the ground, digging a trench of snow. White powder gathered, rolling together, growing larger, until it clumped into heavy mounds. Using both of their stick arms, they picked up the amassed snow.

Wait, seriously. What were these snowmen up to?

They just made snowballs.

What in Cor's name was going on?

Inside their shared mindscape, Alwin said, "See Niwla. They're just snowmen. And they want a snowball battle. I bet this Tribulation is who can win in a snowball fight."

"I don't think it's that simple, Alwin."

All of a sudden, Winal let go of Alwin. Using all four of his legs that he had been using to keep the slime up, he pointed at what the snowmen were doing.

They threw their snowballs.

It couldn't just be a snowball. Could it?

Niwla didn't want to find out the hard way, unlike a certain slime.

He leaped off the doorknob, flapping his wings, fast and hard enough to keep him aloft. Looking down, he watched as twelve snowballs crashed into the toilet stall that Lapis had kindly set up for him to do his business.

Snow didn't explode into chunks. The walls of the toilet stall did. The snowballs pierced through them, leaving behind a perfectly circular hole in their wake, only stopping when they collided with each other inside the stall.

Niwla wanted to tell Alwin that he told him so, but there were more dire matters at the moment.

The snowmen bent down again, already digging up more snow for their snowballs. Niwla clicked his beak. With all of the snow pouring out of the screens, the snowmen had pretty much infinite ammo.

He had to end this fast.

Okay, Niwla, you can do this. This is your time to shine.

Turning to his otherselves—though they were more like brothers at this point—he commanded them.

"Alwin. Winal. I want you to prepare Homing Ice Needles. The new Mixed version. The target is their stick arms, the part where they connect to the snowmen. And Alwin, I want you to channel the intent to Mix. Winal, show him how it's done."

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The ant saluted with one of his legs, turning around to head into their Core.

"Wait, a Mixed version of Homing Ice Needles? How did you accomplish that? And why would you want to—"

Before Alwin could finish his sentence, a pair of fire and electric legs clamped over his mouth. He struggled, twisting and writhing in Winal's grip as he was carried into the Core.

Great, now that that's settled, he could focus on dodging the unusually strong attacks from the snowmen.

They lobbed snowballs at him. He flapped his wings even harder, trying to evade the onslaught, but his fat turkey body made it nearly impossible. The first one soared past him, so did the second and third, and the fourth one struck him right in the side.

Even with the Ice Resistant snowcoat, it knocked the wind out of him. And knocked him to the ground.

How?

Wasn't this supposed to be the best Ice Resistant gear that Lapis was able to find, even if on such short notice? And with his natural Ice Resistance, it shouldn't have been able to affect him to such a degree.

No time to waste reflecting.

Niwla pushed himself off the ground with his wings, dodging a snowball, only to leap over another with one big flap.

Now, the snowmen were staggering their shots instead of launching all at once? They just had to make things harder.

Soon enough, he could sense that familiar tingling in his throat. As long as everything had been set up correctly, it shouldn't matter if he wasn't looking directly at the snowmen.

"Withdrawal! Mix! Homing Ice Needles!"

A bundle of Homing Ice Needles condensed right in front of him. They looked right. Then again, he had just given them a cursory glance before ducking under yet another snowball.

The Homing Ice Needles zoomed forth towards the closest snowmen. Small jets of icy blue wind vented out from their sides as they tried their best to stay on target.

It definitely looked like it was working. Though the fact that they were clumped up together left much to be desired.

Problem for future him.

As they got closer, they split into two bundles, each one honing in on either side of the snowmen.

They struck the stick arms, shaving them clean off. But some embedded themselves into the chest of the snowmen, simply because their target was too small, and there were just so many needles.

Icy blue mist was vented out of those needles. Okay, a welcomed outcome. Now that snowmen would be slowed. Though not like it would not be useful now that it was literally unarmed.

However, something else happened.

Instead of slowing down, it sped up, rolling itself closer to its amputated limbs. It bent down, touching the stick. It slid upwards, sinking into its snowy flesh, locking itself back into place.

Something else was happening.

That snowman's body was reshaping itself. Instead of three spheres of increasing size, it was now four. A large one that acted as a body, a slightly smaller one at the side—its head—followed by two tiny ones atop that head sphere. Ears presumably.

The buttons shifted as well, moving to the new head, same for the carrot. As for the sticks, they broke apart, forming four limbs and a tail.

Instead of a snowman, it had transformed into a snow-rat.

Niwla had so many questions, but instead of being given the ability to analyze what just happened, Alwin stormed into their shared mindscape.

"See, I told you something bad would happen," he said, facing Winal, who walked in behind the slime.

"What are you talking about, Alwin?" Niwla asked.

"I was trying to warn you before I got slime-napped. Why are you shooting Ice Elemental Spells into an Ice Elemental… thingy? I don't even know how to classify that thing."

"I…" Niwla struggled to think of a comeback, but he knew that Alwin was right. He was too caught up in testing out his new Homing Ice Needles, so he didn't even consider what a foolish endeavor this was. "You're right. I'm sorry. Winal, take the wheel."

The ant nodded.

There was a flash of light as the Cold Turkey disappeared, instead replaced with fire and lightning as Winal the Crimson Gold King Ant appeared. The coat he wore had fallen by the wayside. There was no chance that he could even wear it, given his unique physiology.

He looked around, observing the situation.

That single snowman wasn't the only one going through some changes. The other eleven morphed as well. Spherical lumps of snow, rearranging themselves.

"Wait! But I didn't even attack them. Why are they changing?" Niwla exclaimed.

As if able to hear what transpired within their shared mindscape, the snow beneath them began to shift. It formed words, spelling out the message, "If you want to use a higher Tiered monster, then the Tribulation's got to go up a Tier as well. Same rewards, though. No takesie-backsies. Have fun."

Dammit.

He never expected such a thing to happen.

Niwla was pretty sure that something like this hadn't happened before. Perhaps the Tribulation Beings rewrote the rules of the Tribulation just because of him and his Core Skill.

Even worse.

Winal was beginning to shiver.

The snowstorm kicked up, and not even the flames pouring off his body were enough to abate the frigid chill. Winal should've had some innate Ice Resistance, seeing that he was partially on fire. Wait, partially.

Did it get cut in half because of his electrifying other side?

Niwla looked to Winal and said, "I think you have to take the Ice Resistance Pills."

The ant nodded, walking over to the coat that he had tossed aside.

"Wait!" Alwin screamed, just before Winal was about to ingest a single one of those light-blue marble-sized pills. "I have an even better idea."

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