Cold wind bellowed through the cavern, making the massive icicles hanging from the ceiling sway and chime like a soft, haunting symphony.

  Pristine blue ice and snow coated the rocky surface.

  Chilling.

  Aurelia rubbed her arms as the dropping temperature caressed her skin.

  The others felt it too. The deeper they went, the colder it became.

  It was abnormal. Weird. This wasn’t just a regular cavern.

  This was a dungeon.

  “What are you misfits whimpering about? It’s just a little cold air,” Lupin scoffed.

  “…”

  “We didn’t say anything, did we?!” Jin whispered.

  “Your lackadaisical bodies are a dead giveaway.”

  Abruptly, Lupin stopped. His eyes caught something in the snow. He crouched to inspect it.

  A footprint.

  Weird for two reasons.

  First, it was the only one there, none before it, none after.

  Second, it belonged to a stickman.

  “Seems we’ve got a guest with us.”

  “Mana Zone.”

  Golden aura burst from Lupin’s body, spreading far beyond what normal senses could perceive.

  A Mana Zone was a region where ambient mana density became abnormally high and stable, forming a localized field that altered how energy behaved. Mana particles clustered and resonated, amplifying spell efficiency, sharpening senses, and strengthening both creatures and artifacts within it.

  With enough power, control, and knowledge, a cultivator could create a Mana Zone using their own energy.

  But it had a fatal downside.

  Mana consumption skyrocketed.

  That was why it was only used in dire situations.

  Lupin expanded his Mana Zone to its limit, nearly five kilometers in radius.

  Yet… he sensed almost nothing.

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  Only snow.

  Rock.

  Howling wind.

  Unnatural.

  Beads of sweat rolled down his face. He could only maintain such a vast field for thirty seconds at most. He retracted it.

  Then

  !!!

  A violent quake shook the cavern.

  Rocks fell.

  Icicles shattered.

  Lysandra reacted instantly. A massive gate shaped like a three-eyed monster materialized above them, swallowing the falling debris.

  But it wasn’t over.

  The ground beneath their feet cracked.

  Then collapsed.

  Below them was a vast, lightless abyss.

  They began to fall.

  A massive golden aura arm shot out, catching Jin, Lysandra, Wolfton, Aurelia, and Edric.

  Lupin pulled them close. Golden wing-like energy erupted from his back as he surged upward.

  Suddenly—

  A whip-like appendage coiled around him from the darkness below and yanked him down in an instant.

  Lupin understood immediately.

  Whatever was down there was strong. Strong enough to ambush him without warning.

  Without hesitation, he hurled the five back toward the surface, wrapping them in his aura to shield them from falling debris.

  “Sergeant Major Lupin!” Jin and Lysandra cried out.

  Silence followed.

  The cavern became eerily still, as if nothing had happened moments ago.

  The five stood frozen.

  “He just… sacrificed himself for us,” Aurelia whispered, choking.

  “He’ll be fine,” Edric said firmly.

  “He’s a tough nut to crack. He’ll beat whatever’s down there and come back alive. Sergeant Lupin is a survivor.”

  The others exchanged glances, then nodded.

  “You’re right. If there’s anyone who would fight tooth and nail and win, it’s him. Even James would say so.”

  “It’s our turn,” Lysandra said. “We rescue the squad. We become the champions we’re meant to be.”

  “…Guys,” Jin said slowly. “Where’s James?”

  They looked around.

  He was gone.

  “Could he have fallen with Lupin?”

  “If anyone can survive that, it’s James,” Edric said. “He’s a Being of Old, after all.”

  That thought oddly comforted them.

  They moved forward.

  The wind was normal at first.

  Then faster.

  Heavier.

  Violent.

  It roared through the cavern with monstrous force, lifting them off their feet and hurling them away.

  Far.

  Too far.

  …

  Elsewhere.

  In an open, snow-covered field, Saeyeon, Raven, Fenrir, and Camila were surrounded by starving Were-vampires, their maws dripping with saliva.

  Saeyeon wasted no time.

  She extended her arm.

  A scythe of shadow, pulsing with a crimson hue, formed in her grip.

  She spun it effortlessly.

  In a blink, she lunged.

  A massive phantom scythe of crimson light loomed above her own.

  “Milky Way!”

  She struck.

  The Were-vampire collapsed, lifeless.

  Instant, she defeated a Were-vampire easily, something Raven fought with his life on the line. .

  “Wow… that’s Saeyeon for you,” Camila muttered. “ She's second only to James. And even that’s debatable.”

  “Spiral Galaxy!”

  Saeyeon spun like a living cyclone, the crimson phantom blade slicing downward.

  Three more Were-vampires fell.

  “Wait—she’s going to kill all of them!” Raven panicked. “Isn’t she supposed to leave some for us?!”

  He wasn’t joking. The system quest depended on his contribution.

  He wanted to fight.

  But his sword was shattered.

  Then he remembered.

  His evolution.

  A new ability.

  The Were-vampires, enraged by Saeyeon’s massacre, charged toward them.

  Raven focused.

  He imagined the weapon he knew best.

  His shadow rippled, thickened, and solidified.

  A sword took shape in his hand.

  Simple.

  Dark.

  Perfect.

  Raven exhaled slowly and smirked.

  “Come on, you rabid abominations…”

  “Come taste death.”