The monstrous creature, now shrouded in writhing shadows, raised its massive fists. One hurtled straight toward the Empress, while the other surged toward Edgarth's summoned door. In an instant, a second door materialized behind her—the fist reemerged from it, attacking from behind.
The Empress merely turned to the side, lifting her hand. A chilling aura spread from her fingertips. Ice crystallized midair, and the enormous fists halted inches from striking her.
Ryan and Edgarth's eyes widened in disbelief. She was stopping both colossal fists with mana alone.
A deafening shockwave rippled through the battlefield as the creature strained against her invisible force. The monstrous hands trembled, pushing harder, yet frost crept along their surface, consuming them inch by inch.
Edgarth whispered a command—his door vanished, severing the monster's hand. The severed piece disintegrated into frozen shards.
Then, in a swift motion, a dozen doors materialized around the Empress, forming a sphere, while another one opened beside Edgarth, and he hurled ten flaming potions into it. Each potion emerged from a different door encircling her.
Boom!
A chain reaction ignited—a never-ending explosion cycling between the connected doors, trapping her in an inescapable inferno.
Edgarth shouted over the blasts, "The doors are linked! The explosions are trapped in an endless cycle—there's no escape!"
For a moment, both he and Ryan watched the swirling vortex of fire, their breaths heavy. The explosions roared, their intensity warping the air itself.
Then, a cold dread seized them.
Inside the flames, two piercing eyes stared back at them—unharmed.
Ryan reacted instantly. His monster's cut-off fist reformed, merging with the remaining one, swelling into an even larger monstrous hand. Shadows poured into it, thickening its mass, warping its shape into something even darker, heavier, deadlier.
It struck.
The colossal fist slammed down from above, obliterating the doors upon impact and dragging the firestorm with it. The sheer force pushed everything downward, threatening to level the battlefield.
To prevent the devastating crash, Edgarth sprang beneath the descending mass, clutching a shimmering blue potion. Inside, it swirled like a miniature galaxy, tiny stars flickering within the liquid.
With precise timing, he hurled it upward.
The potion detonated midair, unleashing a shockwave of pure force.
The impact shattered the monstrous fist into oblivion, sending remnants of shadows, fire, and ice scattering across the battlefield.
As the dust settled, Edgarth landed beside Ryan, both of them drenched in sweat, their mana nearly drained.
As the air cleared, their expressions shifted—not to fear, but to despair.
The Icethrone Empress stood unscathed, not a single mark upon her.
"Not even an S-rank potion can harm her..." Edgarth muttered, his voice laced with disbelief.
For a few agonizing seconds, she merely watched them, her gaze cold and indifferent. Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, she raised her hand. Mana gathered around her, condensing into a colossal sword suspended in the air—so massive that it could cleave the city in two.
With an effortless swing, the blade descended. It sliced through the remains of Ryan's monstrous creation as if they were nothing more than brittle ice. The severed halves of the construct froze instantly, their towering form turning into crystalline shards before shattering into a thousand glimmering fragments.
A wave of frost erupted from the sword, surging toward them with unstoppable force.
Ryan's mind raced. He activated Shifting Realities, distorting space in an attempt to misdirect the attack. The frozen wave wavered, its trajectory shifting—but even that wasn't enough. Their lower bodies were caught in the ice, frozen solid in an instant.
Above them, the sword rose once more, its next strike already falling.
…
On the other side of the wall, four beams of light charged toward their targets.
Emma and Gerhard darted across the battlefield, narrowly evading the deadly blasts, while Cristina conjured a shimmering shield, intercepting two of the beams.
"Cristina!" Cirnath shouted.
"I'm fine! I can hold them off for a while," she responded, though sweat dripped down her forehead, betraying the strain.
Seeing the situation, Gerhard channeled mana into his ring. In response, a surge of unstable energy flooded back into his body. He leaped off his summoned beast and suspended himself midair between Oryu and Cirnath.
His ring was a rare magic item that stored mana and released it at the wielder's command.
However, it came with a dangerous cost. The returned mana was always unstable, increasing the risk of corruption—and after use, the wielder suffered severe sickness.
With the surge of mana coursing through him, Gerhard conjured twelve chains of hell. The chains grouped into four beam ones, each lashing out to intercept a laser. The reinforced chains held, but they strained under the relentless energy of the beams. As one shattered, another instantly replaced it, forming an unyielding defense.
Oryu frowned, momentarily caught off guard by Gerhard's resilience. But just as quickly, his smirk returned. He lifted his staff—the same staff he had used to defeat Kenneth Randall. The yellow gem embedded in its head began to glow ominously.
"You won't dodge this."
Energy far more powerful than the previous ones, gathered at the staff's tip, aimed directly at Gerhard. But before Oryu could release it, Emma was already there.
In a blur, she appeared above him, her entire body coiled into a single, devastating strike. Her glowing fist crashed against his back with brutal force.
Oryu's eyes widened in shock.
"That damned glove—"
The impact sent him hurtling downward.
Before he could recover, Gerhard's salamander which already positioned itself below him, its Jaws gaping open, revealing a churning inferno of molten magma.
A chain shot forward, wrapping around Oryu's staff and yanking it from his grasp.
His stunned expression vanished as the beast's fiery jaws snapped shut, swallowing him whole.
…
Inside the cathedral.
Nora and Rorin were locked in an intense battle, their movements so fast they were nearly invisible to the untrained eye.
Nora lunged at Rorin, her sword coated in frost.
"You're weaker than me."
But Rorin effortlessly deflected her attack with his hammer, proving her wrong.
Nora frowned and glanced at Edmond.
'That spell…'
She struck the ground with her sword, releasing a thick fog that spread through the room, obscuring Rorin's vision.
From his right, a shadow emerged—Nora, aiming to stab him.
"You think I'm an idiot?"
Rorin slammed his hammer into the ground, and a surge of light burst forth, dispelling the fog in an instant.
Nora's figure vanished just before the wave of light reached her, only to reappear several meters away as she was rushing toward Edmond.
Rorin began striding toward her.
"You may have a higher rank, but I've been doing this since before you were even born, kid."
Nora didn't wait. She lunged at Rorin, her form splitting into three as two identical mirages materialized from the fog. The real Nora charged straight ahead while the other two flanked him from opposite sides.
Rorin swung his massive hammer, hitting the one in front of him—only for it to dissipate into mist. A sharp pain shot through his right shoulder. He turned, eyes widening as he saw the mirage on his right solidify into the real Nora, her sword slicing through his armor.
Growling, he swung again, but the same trick repeated—her body melted into fog upon impact.
Nora danced around him, shifting between illusions and reality, slashing at him from unexpected angles. Within a minute, more than ten cuts adorned Rorin's arms and legs, blood seeping from shallow wounds.
Snarling, Rorin slammed his hammer into the ground, sending a shockwave that dispersed the mirages. The real Nora leaped back, narrowly avoiding the blast.
Rorin exhaled sharply, planting his hammer in front of him. Then, he closed his eyes.
Nora narrowed her gaze. "Giving up already?" she taunted, then rushed him again, weaving her illusions into the same deceptive formation.
She blinked into existence at his left, her sword aiming for his side—
Just as the the blade touched him, Rorin's eyes snapped open.
His hammer moved in a blur. "You need one second after switching places before you can do it again, don't you?"
Nora's eyes widened, but before she could react, the massive weapon slammed into her side with devastating force. She was sent flying, her body crashing against the stone wall with a sickening thud.
But Rorin wasn't done. He charged forward, hammer raised for a finishing blow.
A second hammer—identical to his own but glowing with golden light—manifested beside him. It was the Paladin's Manifest spell, an ability that mirrored his attacks with raw holy energy, amplifying their power. The radiant hammer descended, set to crush her where she lay. But before it could reach her, she smiled.
"You forgot—I'm an Elementalist."
A towering surge of water erupted from nowhere, crashing into Rorin like a tidal wave. It absorbed the impact of his hammer, halting his advance.
Rorin steadied himself, his grip tightening on his hammer. Then he saw it—Nora was still smiling. A chill ran down his spine as realization struck. The water hadn't been meant for him.
He turned sharply—just in time to see the wave rushing toward Edmond.
"Damn it."
Rorin turned and with a speed faster than ever, he sprinted back. He whispered an incantation under his breath, and in an instant, four dwarven figures made of pure light materialized before him. Each one bore a massive shield, their glowing barriers stretching wide enough to cover the entire width of the room. Together, they stopped the wave of water in its tracks.
Nora wasted no time. She unleashed a barrage of water spells, each strike cracking the shields further. Rorin gritted his teeth, holding firm, but the damage was mounting.
He stole a glance behind him. Edmond's face had changed—wrinkles creased his once-youthful features, his body trembling under the strain of his magic.
Rorin turned back and exhaled.
"You fight like this, and you take away my options," he muttered, rolling his shoulders.
Then he sprinted forward, his shield-bearing dwarves moving with him.
Nora conjured a long spear of ice around her sword and lunged, her movements precise, deadly. She struck the shields with everything she had, the frozen spear cracking them further—but she was a second too late.
The dwarves surged forward, their immense shields slamming her against the wall, pinning her in place.
Rorin raised his hammer, pouring every last drop of his mana into it. Holy light radiated from the weapon as he brought it down with a thunderous crash.
The shields shattered. The hammer connected.
Nora gasped, blood trickling from her nose as she crumpled to the ground.
…
Leo was swallowed by complete darkness. A single light flickered into existence, illuminating the space around him. His eyes adjusted, and there it was—Liamond's grimoire, floating in the void, a ball of golden light hovering above it.
"It looks like we stepped into a trap," Liamond muttered, his voice tense.
They barely had a moment to process before a gleaming slash cut through the air.
A scream tore through the silence.
"Aaa…!" Liamond's agonized cry sent a chill down Leo's spine. He turned, and his breath caught in his throat. Liamond's left arm lay severed on the ground, blood spurting from the open wound.
"Albert, what are you doing?!" Wina screamed in horror.
Franked moved faster than anyone, throwing himself between Liamond and Albert.
"That's not Albert," he growled.
Albert—if it was even him—grinned wickedly, his eyes gleaming with malice. Then, without another word, he took a few steps back and vanished into the shadows.
Leo dropped to his knees beside Liamond, reaching for his sword.
"No cheating," a voice echoed from everywhere at once.
The world twisted. Leo's vision blurred, and suddenly, he was no longer kneeling beside his wounded friend.
Instead, he was alone in an empty room.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
"Hey, kid. Let's play." The voice was playful, taunting.
Leo tensed. "Who are you?"
"Win the game, and I'll tell you. Oh, and don't even think about refusing." The voice chuckled darkly. "Your friends? They're already trapped in different rooms, caged in their own memories. If you refuse, I'll kill them."
Leo clenched his fists, fury rising in his chest. "Bastard…" He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to calm down. "And? What's the game?"
"It's simple." The voice dripped with amusement. "Find me, and you win. Find me, and I'll answer all your questions."
A pause. Then the voice added with a sinister edge, "But there are traps everywhere. So be careful."
Not having another choice, Leo took a deep breath and stepped toward the door. His hand hesitated for just a moment before gripping the handle. With a push, he stepped outside.
The hallway beyond was dimly lit, stretching endlessly in both directions. The air was thick, heavy with something unseen yet suffocating. The walls seemed to shift ever so slightly, as if the entire place was alive, watching him.
With cautious steps, he moved forward.