Damien carried the passed-out Tione on his back as they finally approached the massive castle and entered it.
The structure was gorgeous—pure ice carved into soaring spires and elegant arches, every surface gleaming with an inner light that made it seem almost alive. But it was empty. Hollow. The halls stretched before them in cold silence, their footsteps echoing off walls that reflected nothing but their own tired faces. There were no furnishings, no decorations, no signs that anything had ever lived here. Just ice. Endless, haunting ice.
After navigating a few empty corridors, the group decided to rest. The Garden had taken more out of them than they realized. Tiona slumped against a wall, her breath coming in ragged clouds. Riveria leaned on her staff, her usual composure cracked with exhaustion. Damien set Tione down carefully and sat beside her, his body aching from the cold that still clung to his bones.
"Freezing," Damien counted off on his fingers. "Mental contamination. Stamina depletion." He let out a humorless laugh. "What the fuck is up with this place?"
"That is Celdia for you," Riveria said quietly.
Damien turned to her. "Who?"
Riveria's jade eyes grew distant, lost in memory or knowledge that seemed to weigh on her. "The Queen of the Elves. Celdia. An ally to the Hero Albert." She paused. "She was the strongest elf mage in history. Or at least, the books paint her as such. A saint." Her voice dropped. "Yet the visions I saw... it seems she went through a lot of things."
"The visions." Damien leaned forward. "I have been meaning to ask about that. But why did I not get any visions?"
Riveria met his gaze, something flickering in her expression. "I was actually going to ask you the same."
Damien frowned. "Hmm. Well, I suppose we will not know now." He gestured to her. "So what were in these visions?"
Riveria and Tiona both shook their heads.
"I do not remember," Tiona said, her voice small.
Riveria touched her temple, as if trying to grasp something just out of reach. "It felt like a fleeting nightmare. You remember it was scary, but... no memory of the contents themselves."
"I remember."
They all turned.
Tione was sitting up, her eyes clear, her voice steady despite the exhaustion etched into her face.
"Tione! You are awake!" Tiona rushed to her sister's side, wrapping her arms around her. Tione smiled and returned the embrace.
"Yeah, I am fine." She looked at Damien. "Sorry for causing you all trouble."
He waved it off. "Nah, do not worry about it." His expression grew serious. "Back at the topic at hand. You said you remember the visions?"
Tione nodded slowly. "They were memories of Celdia. I did not get much. It was the same memory repeating over and over." Her hands clenched in her lap. "I felt her pain. Her anger. Her sadness. The sense of betrayal..." She looked up at them. "As Albert's sword plunged through her heart."
Riveria shot to her feet. "What?!"
"Yes." Tione's voice was flat, hollow. "According to Celdia's memories, she was killed by Albert."
Silence settled over the group. Damien let out a long breath.
"Well, fuck." He ran a hand through his hair. "That explains the resentment in this place."
He sat in silence for a moment, letting the weight of it settle. Then he stood, his expression grim.
"Well, sorry to break it to all of you, but we have been here for thirty minutes already. Riveria's spell is slowly being undone." He looked at each of them in turn. "Not only that, Finn and the others are suffering hell right now. My mana has been depleting at a fast rate." His jaw tightened. "Which means my shadows are dying in bulk."
...
"I think we would be dead already, eh?" Gareth grunted as he blocked another attack from a purple tentacle, his axe slicing through it in one clean motion.
"I would not doubt it." Finn's spear slashed three tentacles at once as he twisted away from another lashing strike. "But try to survive as long as possible. I trust Damien."
Gareth smashed another tentacle, his laughter booming across the battlefield. "HAHAHA! Oh, I do not doubt the kid. We are alive because of him. Those shadows... oh, they sure are something."
Samira rushed ahead with Bete, the two of them cutting down tentacles in perfect sync. An arrow whistled past them, finishing off a third tentacle before it could strike. Ryuu notched another arrow, her sky-blue eyes never stopping their assessment of the battlefield.
Damien's shadows handled the rest. Igris took down three on his own, his greatsword carving through the corrupted limbs like paper. Diana's scimitar spun in deadly arcs, five tentacles falling before her before she pivoted to finish a sixth. Adonis moved in silence, his fists and feet shattering his fourth tentacle without a sound.
Everyone fought at the entrance of Floor Sixty. They had not even managed to get close to the Corrupted Spirit. These were mere tentacles. Her limbs. And they were struggling this hard. Not only that, occasionally a Demi Spirit emerged...like the Valgang from before...forcing the entire force to divert their attention.
Gareth's axe found another tentacle, but his expression was grim. "I am not even sure if we can take this monster down even with the support."
He paused, watching the endless wave of limbs emerging from the darkness ahead.
"It is not even focused on us. These are the forces it can spare. And we are struggling with them." He looked at Finn. "What about her main forces?"
Finn's spear danced through the air, cutting down another cluster of tentacles before he answered. "Now, now. Since when do you fear a challenge, Gareth?" A grin tugged at his lips despite the exhaustion evident in his movements. "Come now! We have seen Zeus and Hera. If we want to become better, we start NOW!"
Gareth's laugh returned, louder than before. "HAHAHA! Motivating me, are you! Well, you are damn right we will be better! AGHHHHHH!"
He drove his axe into a massive tentacle that had risen behind Finn, splitting it in two.
....
Meanwhile, the elite team led by Hedin and Fels approached the entrance of Floor Forty-Nine.
Ottar led the group, his massive frame moving with the practiced ease of a man who had walked these depths countless times. Behind him, the rest of the team descended in formation—Leon, Hedin, Hogni, the girls from the Hostess of Fertility, the healers from Dian Cecht. Fels drifted among them, his dark robes whispering against the stone.
They reached the open space.
And stopped.
There was no Balor.
Floor Forty-Nine was known for Balor. The towering monster could be seen from anywhere on the floor, its massive form impossible to miss. Not being able to see it meant only one thing.
It was already dead. The three-month respawn period had started.
Leon's laugh echoed across the empty chamber. "HAHAHAHA! Now that... is something." He turned to Hedin, grinning. "Looks like your prediction was wrong."
Hedin's lips curved into a rare smile. "Well, I suppose so. Finn has always been a wild one, but to think he would go and take down Balor..." He shook his head. "What a risk."
He turned to Ottar. "Well, looks like you came here for no reason, eh?"
Ottar's voice was deep, monotone, but his eyes scanned the battlefield with an intensity that belied his calm. "I want to see it. The battle location."
Hedin shrugged. "Hmm. Sure."
The elite team moved toward the entrance of Floor Fifty, passing through the area where Balor usually roamed. As soon as they reached the place, each of them began to analyze. Slowly, realization dawned.
Leon. Hedin. Hogni. Ottar.
All of them. Legendary adventurers. Their eyes widened in shock.
Even Fels—an immortal adventurer who had lived for hundreds of years—had never seen something so shocking.
Chloe Rollo, Anya Fromel, and Lunoire Faust were friends of Ryuu and Damien. They had a respectable relationship with Loki Familia, and when they heard about Ais's troubles and the danger, they had joined the elite team alongside Mia Grande to help their friends.
Chloe noticed the atmosphere instantly. She moved closer to Mia, her voice low. "Mama Mia... why are they so tense?"
She turned to look at Mia and found her with her mouth open, staring at the battlefield like she had seen a ghost.
Finally, Leon spoke. "Oh, my dear friend... the reason for our shock? Well..."
"Don't fucking say it." Hedin's voice was sharp, his usual composure cracking.
"No reason to pretend otherwise." Ottar's monotone cut through the tension.
Chloe's frustration boiled over. "What the hell is going on?"
Mia answered, her voice barely a whisper. "Only one..."
"One?" Chloe looked between them. "One what?"
Mia pointed at the ground. At the footprints scattered across the battlefield. At the patterns of destruction that told a story only the most experienced adventurers could read.
"These are signs of only one person fighting." Leon's voice was calm, but his eyes never left the carnage before him. "That means someone soloed Balor." He paused. "And I think everyone here knows who."
Chloe shook her head. "One person? Bullshit. Look at the signs. Multiple footsteps. These are signs of an expedition taking out Balor."
Leon raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? What kind of expedition has wolves walking among them? Footprints of lizardmen? Monsters like that? None that I know of."
Chloe's eyes slowly widened.
"It was most likely that kid... Damien?." Leon's voice carried across the silent chamber. "Damien and his shadows. He soloed Balor." He turned to look at Ottar. "A feat someone has been dreaming of. In fact, many have." A grin spread across his face. "And yet, the youngster's first expedition, and he solos the strongest known Monster Rex." He laughed, the sound genuine and warm. "Well, now. I am actually super excited to meet him now! HAHAHA!"
The Freya Familia stood in silence.
Hogni's hand tightened around his sword. Hedin's expression was unreadable, but his eyes burned with something that might have been respect or envy—or both. Allen, standing at the edge of the group, said nothing at all.
Ottar simply stared at the battlefield, his massive hands clenched at his sides.
Each of them had dreamed of it. Each of them had trained for it. Hogni. Hedin. Allen. Even Ottar. All of them had secretly tried to be the first to ever solo Balor.
And a rookie had done it on his first outing.
Leon was still laughing. Amused with how Damien had managed to rattle the entirety of Freya Famillia without meeting any of them yet...
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