Side Chapter: The Prideful Demon Lord That Fell In Love and the Broken Summoned Hero (XXVIII).
===
Ninth Floor.
===
The moment Avery stepped through the passage leading to the ninth floor, she was greeted by a gust of freezing wind.
"AAAAH! IT'S COLD!" She immediately stumbled backward, nearly bumping into Haruki.
The boy blinked in confusion. "H-Huh? What happened, Avery-san?"
"IT'S FREEZING!"
Avery hugged herself, rubbing her arms furiously as another gust of cold wind swept through the entrance.
Haruki stepped forward, only to freeze in place himself.
"...Oh."
Before them stretched an endless expanse of white.
Snow covered the ground as far as the eye could see, forming rolling hills and deep valleys between towering evergreen forests. Far in the distance, enormous mountains pierced the ceiling of the cavern, their peaks covered in glaciers that shimmered beneath a strange, pale light.
Snowflakes drifted lazily through the air.
