I had never felt the weight of defeat like this before.
It wasn't physical pain. It wasn't pure fear. It was something deeper, crueler. The feeling of having given everything I could and still not having come anywhere close. The Sixth General remained at the front of the frozen chamber as if nothing had happened. His presence distorted the air, made my thoughts slow and heavy, as if the world itself refused my will to keep fighting.
My flame burned, but not like before. It didn't roar. It trembled.
The ground was covered in shattered ice, broken weapons, bodies of allies who could no longer get up. Some moaned softly. Others didn't move at all. The sounds of battle had faded, replaced by an oppressive silence, broken only by the crackling of ice forming again.
Aelthir Faelorn was kneeling a few meters from me.
Seeing that hit harder than any blow.
The SS-Class adventurer, the elf who seemed untouchable, was breathing with difficulty, leaning on his blade embedded in the ground. Dark blood ran down his arm, freezing before it could even touch the floor. He lifted his face toward me, and his eyes—once so steady—carried something I had never seen there before.
Urgency.
"Takumi… listen."
I tried to take a step, but my legs failed. Elara grabbed my arm before I could fall. Her face was far too pale. I could feel her mana almost gone, like a candle about to go out.
"You can't advance," she said, forcing steadiness. "Not now."
Vespera stood behind us, drawing an arrow with trembling hands. I knew she would miss. She knew it too. Even so, she kept the bow raised, as if that were all that remained of her pride.
Liriel murmured a faint prayer of light, nearly extinguished. A pale glow surrounded some of the wounded—more comfort than healing. The useless goddess, as she jokingly called herself, was doing what she could with what little she had.
The Sixth General tilted his head slightly.
It was a simple gesture. Restrained. But filled with contempt.
"Is that all?" his voice echoed inside my mind, not in my ears. "Is this everything you gathered for me?"
The pressure increased. Some adventurers behind us dropped to their knees from his presence alone.
Aelthir clenched his teeth and forced himself to stand. He limped until he was beside me.
"Listen carefully," he said quietly. "If we continue, we die. All of us."
"But…" My voice came out broken. "If we retreat—"
"If we retreat, we live," he replied. "And living means returning."
I looked at the General again.
He wasn't advancing.
He was waiting.
As if he knew that this decision was more painful than any blow he could strike.
That was when the ground shook.
Not like before. It wasn't the General's power. It was something else.
An explosion tore through one of the side corridors of the chamber, scattering ice and smoke. A red silhouette emerged amid the chaos, wings spread, fire slicing through the frozen air.
My heart almost stopped.
"Rai'kanna…"
She landed violently, forcing space between us and the General, creating an unstable wall of flames—fragile, but enough to break the pressure for a few seconds.
Lyannis came right after, wounded but standing, gripping her spear with fierce determination.
"You're terrible at choosing battles," Rai'kanna said, without any humor. "But it's not over yet."
Lyannis looked straight at me. "Takumi, the entire dungeon is collapsing. You need to get out. Now."
The Sixth General watched everything with calm interest.
"You called reinforcements," he said, finally aloud. "Still… irrelevant."
Rai'kanna bared her teeth in a tense smile. "Maybe. But not today."
Aelthir turned to the other allied leaders still standing.
"Order to retreat," he declared. "Immediately."
Some hesitated.
Then the General took a step forward.
The ice surged like a murderous tide, swallowing part of the ground where we had been seconds earlier. The decision was ripped from us by force.
"Run!" I shouted.
Chaos erupted.
Corridors collapsed, the ceiling groaned, demonic creatures surged from all sides trying to stop our escape. Rai'kanna and Aelthir stayed behind for a few moments, holding the impossible line, while we dragged the wounded, supported those who could barely walk.
Elara stumbled, nearly fell. I caught her.
"Don't you dare pass out now," I said, trying to sound firm.
She gave a weak smile. "I promise… at least for a few more minutes."
Vespera fired arrows while retreating, missing most of them, but hitting enough to open space. Liriel collapsed to her knees once, exhausted, and I pulled her up without thinking.
When we finally reached the exit corridor, a deep roar echoed behind us.
Not in anger.
In amusement.
The last thing I saw before the passage collapsed was the Sixth General standing between Rai'kanna's fire and the dungeon's own ice, unscathed, watching our escape like someone observing a play he already knew.
The dungeon fell.
We emerged onto the surface like survivors of a natural disaster. Wounded, bleeding, silent.
Aelthir dropped to his knees the moment he got out, finally without the strength to stay standing.
Rai'kanna landed beside me, breathing heavily. Lyannis leaned on her spear.
No one celebrated.
No one spoke.
I looked up at the gray sky, feeling my flame pulse weakly, humiliated.
We didn't win.
We survived.
And in that moment, I understood with painful clarity:
The Sixth General wasn't stopping us from advancing.
He was letting us go.
And that… was even worse.