Aelith genuinely wondered why she had followed such a stupid idea. The wind whipped her hair into tangled clumps. She could barely hear anything—the sound vanished in the roar of the air. She looked down.
She tried to estimate how many meters they'd fallen. It had only been two seconds since they jumped, so impact couldn't be far off.
Loryn fluttered in the air, trying to use the wind's resistance to his advantage, but he was barely conscious as blood kept pouring from his chest. If the wound had nicked the heart or an artery, there was no way he'd survive the fall.
The white canary's roar jolted them. Aelith looked up: the creature was clawing at the air, roaring in panic.
Daion stretched as far as he could, clinging to the beast's fur. The monster aimed its beak at him, ready to fire. Daion gritted his teeth, planted his feet on its body, and wrapped Omega energy around his legs just like Marui used to. The effort almost tore his legs apart in one brutal surge.
He flew over the canary's body and, with a slash, cut its throat before it could spew that freezing liquid. The burning pain in his legs was unbearable, but he had succeeded.
In midair he reached Loryn and grabbed him around the waist, locking his arm while praying the nitrogen wouldn't shred them both. Loryn held on tight. Daion screamed at the wind with everything he had:
"Can you use your power to stop our fall?!" he shouted.
Loryn nodded weakly. "Only if I have enough time to decelerate. If I stop us suddenly, the kinetic energy will still kill us."
Daion nodded desperately, hoping he could do it.
"But while we're falling like this… I can only affect what's in contact with me," Loryn added.
Daion looked down at Aelith, several meters below, analyzing every possibility to save her.
There had to be a way. Letting her die was not an option. Anything would do—crazy or simple—he just needed an escape.
Maybe if I throw my sword to her and use the ability to pull it back… he thought as the third second of the fall ticked in his head. No… that would take too long. Maybe… the Primordial of Gravity. Can I do it?
He focused until the veins stood out on his forehead and he felt a tug—not from his gauntlet, but from above him.
"Aelith!" he shouted, raising his sword. "Catch it!"
The demihuman looked up, confused. She didn't understand at first—what was she supposed to catch? Was he insane?
Daion had no time to explain. He hurled the blade with everything left in him.
Aelith sharpened her focus on the gleaming object falling toward her. She hesitated for a moment, then reached out and caught it. The instant it touched her hand she felt a slight yank—the force of Daion pulling her along the bond.
He smiled and concentrated with everything he had left…
Aelith frowned in puzzlement—until she saw the canary's shadow rising behind her.
She screamed at the top of her lungs to warn them; they understood immediately and spun around. Daion bared his teeth as the beast raised its arm to kill him, ignoring the blood still gushing from its neck.
Loryn took aim at once and smiled. A single click, then the shot: the loud crack blew Daion's ears, replacing all sound with a harsh ringing. The bullet streaked through the air and struck the creature's forehead, blasting its brains out with a wet, grotesque pop.
A chill ran down Daion's spine.
"Now!" he shouted, thrusting his hand and pouring every ounce of focus into the wall.
His sword shot forward, slammed into the rock with a metallic scream, and drove deep—tearing the stone from the force of the fall.
A stabbing pain ripped through his head as Loryn gripped him hard and began braking their descent. Barely two seconds later Daion's back slammed into the ground with a sickening thud, at nearly sixty kilometers an hour. Anyone normal would have died instantly, but his body—tougher than a human's—held. He only felt an intolerable pain racing up his spine.
The creature fell shortly after with a thunder that shook the chamber. Daion watched it warily as he forced himself up. The beast convulsed a few times; without a brain it was nothing but a huge, inert chunk of meat.
What worried Daion was what he'd already guessed would come next.
Aelith exhaled, suspended about twenty meters up, supported by the sword lodged in the wall. She let go carefully and landed on all fours. Daion saw her move with feline agility and ran to her.
"Loryn! Cover yourself with something!" he shouted.
Loryn reacted instantly, pressing the exposed parts of his clothes flat against the ground. Daion threw himself forward and tackled Aelith down, earning a grunt from her as they hit the floor.
He covered her with his body just as an icy rain poured over them. The nitrogen the creature had fired earlier came crashing down.
Daion growled as the cold pierced through his coat; luckily, the liquid was diluted enough not to cause serious injury. Loryn groaned from his spot, and Daion only hoped none of it touched one of his open wounds.
The rain lasted only a few seconds. Daion exhaled in relief while Aelith stared at him in shock.
"You didn't have anything to protect you from the nitrogen," he said.
Aelith's gaze dropped to Daion's arm—frozen solid and stiff. He smiled faintly, took off his coat, and wrapped his arm in Omega energy, trying to thaw the flesh and purge the trapped nitrogen.
"Should we absorb the canary's Omega energy?" he asked, resting a hand on the corpse.
"You could try," Loryn replied dryly.
Daion raised an eyebrow and began the absorption—only to scream as unbearable pain tore through his arm, veins turning black up to the shoulder. He pulled away at once.
"Did I forget to mention it's packed with so much energy it'd burn you alive if you tried to absorb it with your current level?" Loryn mocked.
"When you rank up, we'll come back," he added. "We'll need it if we want to get out of here."
Daion nodded and circulated his energy, purging the corruption from his system until the dark veins faded.
"How did you do that?" Aelith asked, genuinely fascinated by what she'd just seen. Daion looked confused. "Stop the fall?" she clarified, eyes wide with amazement.
Daion stood up while Loryn drank from a high-performance serum. In one swift motion, Loryn tore the arrow from his chest and emptied the vial, trying to slow the blood loss.
"Well…" Daion began, raising his hand to call his sword. "Looks like I did get a gift from the Primordial."
The sword floated up slowly and stopped a few meters away, trembling in the air. Daion held his breath, focused—but after a second, he exhaled, and the blade dropped with a dry metallic clang.
"Apparently, I can manipulate gravity—but only on this object," he said, still astonished.
"Is that even possible?" Loryn asked, arching an eyebrow as he watched Daion toy with the sword. "Sounds more like magnetism, don't you think?"
"Maybe, but since it's the Primordial of Gravity…" Daion replied. "Besides, magnetism involves electromagnetic fields, and I don't think that's what this is."
He tried to make the sword float again, but the blade slipped from his control and grazed his arm, leaving a shallow cut. Loryn sighed in exasperation.
"Can't you use it on other objects?" Aelith asked curiously.
"Manipulating gravity doesn't necessarily make something move," Daion explained. "I can increase gravity in a specific area to pull it toward me—or something like that. But I still don't get why it only responds to my sword."
He decided not to overthink it. Clicking his tongue, he sheathed the blade and flexed his frozen fingers; movement returned with no signs of damage. Just in case, he ate an orb to ensure no tissue had been compromised.
"As for Loryn," Daion continued, "he manipulates inertia. It's a property of mass—the greater the mass, the greater the inertia. If he reduces it, even a gust of air can lift us."
He began to elaborate but quickly realized this wasn't the time for theory. Grabbing his pack, he followed Loryn, who motioned impatiently down the path.
"But… if that's how it works," Aelith asked, "how were you able to stop me midair that time?"
"I didn't stop you with a force," Loryn answered, staring at his hand. "I just reduced your inertia. Without inertia, velocity doesn't matter—the body simply stops moving. It's like your energy disperses."
Aelith looked even more confused, which didn't surprise Daion. Even he didn't fully understand the extent of Loryn's control, though he figured years of calculating bullet trajectories had made him an expert at it.
They moved forward through the void. Nothing surrounded them but luminous veins snaking across the walls. Daion had to activate the light on his gauntlet to navigate, while Loryn kept a steady pace, guided purely by instinct and his memory of the map.
They entered a narrow corridor. A sense of dread grew inside Daion with every step.
Proceeding cautiously, they emerged into a new chamber—a plain antechamber bathed in a cold, bluish glow.
Before them stood a massive double door, towering over two and a half meters high. And right in front of it, motionless, was an ice-corrupted guardian with its arms crossed. Its beard of glacial crystals gave it a severe, almost regal look. Even hunched, the creature stood well over three meters tall.
The sentinel didn't react immediately to their arrival—he merely lifted his gaze with mild curiosity.
"I am sorry, Invoked," he said, his voice heavy and almost resigned. "Under different circumstances, we would greet you with an ambush and a swift death… but today, we have more pressing matters. Turn back now, and I'll let you live."
The creature's weary tone caught Daion's attention.
"And who exactly are you?" he asked, scratching his head in genuine confusion.
"I am the Guardian—the strongest among the Ice-Corrupted, charged with protecting these gates," the being replied simply, as though no further explanation were needed.
Daion sighed. He was getting tired of these absurd hierarchies and enemies who introduced themselves dramatically before dying. He just wanted to finish this and get out as soon as possible.
He glanced at Loryn, expecting a reaction—but froze. Loryn's expression was grim, almost terrifying. His body was tense, like a string ready to snap, every muscle locked in place.
Daion leaned closer and whispered, "What's wrong?"
"This is bad…" Loryn muttered under his breath, half speaking to himself. "If he's standing guard here and talking to us like that…" He took a step forward. "You're about to summon him, aren't you?"
The corrupted's eyes flicked toward him sharply.
"How does a human know that?" the creature asked, choosing his words carefully, as if afraid of revealing too much. But unfortunately for the guardian, Loryn already seemed to understand.
"Daion…" Loryn said, eyes wide as pieces of information connected in his mind. "We have to kill every single one of them—right here, right now."
"What are you talking about?" Daion asked, confused, while Loryn loaded his rifle.
"In short: if we don't stop them now, a noble will emerge here," Loryn said firmly.
Daion and Aelith tensed immediately—the mere idea froze their blood. The guardian glanced at them sideways, cautious but intrigued.
"The Spirit of Winter," Loryn continued. "One of the most powerful spirits among the corrupted. So powerful, in fact, that when it manifests, its soul splits in two—the Twin Nobles of Winter."
"I'm surprised you know that," the guardian growled, baring his crystalline teeth. "Even among us, that information is restricted. But yes… right now, its soul is descending into its first form."
Daion swallowed hard. Loryn turned to him.
"You'll have to go in and stop the summoning," he said decisively.
"And how the hell am I supposed to do that?" Daion shot back, confused. "And why am I the one going alone when you're the one who knows what's happening?"
"No one truly knows," Loryn replied. "You'll have one chance. When you enter, they'll still be disoriented—use that moment to destroy whatever's causing the temperature drop. If you succeed, the noble won't be able to manifest in this world."
"How do you even know all this?" Daion asked, his voice shaking slightly.
"It doesn't matter now," the hooded Invoked replied flatly. "And as for going alone: this one—" he nodded toward the giant "—is the general of the Ice-Corrupted. He's the strongest. Aelith and I will have to hold him off. Your reaction speed is the best we've got. Is that reason enough?"
Daion swallowed again. The reality was clear: even if he managed to destroy the source of the cold, he'd be trapped inside with who-knew-how-many corrupted. If they were lucky, maybe they'd weaken once the temperature rose—but surviving would still be nearly impossible.
Loryn sighed. He'd already made his decision without waiting for Daion's response. Daion only lifted his gaze with resignation, while Aelith still looked lost, unsure what was expected of her. Daion glanced at her and subtly gestured, hit him. She nodded.
"I don't know if you're drugged," the guardian began, taking a step that made the ground tremble as an icy wind surged toward them, "but what kind of idiots announce their plan in front of the enemy?"
"It doesn't matter if you heard us," Loryn said softly from beneath his hood. Daion thought he saw one of his eyes open wider than the other, its iris twisting unnaturally. "Because you're going to die anyway."
The demon smirked, amused—and in an instant, he was in front of them. Daion was reminded of a mid-ranked corrupted, though this one was faster—almost vanishing into thin air.
The creature threw a punch, and the ground exploded into a whirl of frost. For a split second, Daion felt life drain from his body. When he blinked again, Loryn was still standing—motionless, eyes locked ahead, his expression fierce. One of his eyes blazed with impossible intensity, trembling as if in pain.
Daion refocused—and realized the guardian was completely frozen mid-motion, his fist suspended inches from Loryn's face.
"Such strength…" Loryn grunted. "This mortal body could barely shift the air around it."
Mortal body? Daion thought.
Loryn raised his rifle and fired—but instead of tearing the corrupted apart, the guardian was hurled backward, slamming against the wall with a metallic crash. The bullet hit the ground moments later, crushed flat.
Daion watched nervously as the corrupted being rose effortlessly to its feet. Its abdomen was made of fractured blue ice. The monster lifted its gaze, clearly surprised. Loryn exhaled slowly, then shouted,
"Do it, Daion! Go full speed!" —and hurled him forward with force. "I'll give you thirty seconds of momentum. It won't be much," he added, "your body won't handle it for long, but it'll let you move at the pace of your reaction time."
Daion immediately understood what he meant, and even Aelith seemed to grasp the implications as her body began to shift.
He shot forward like a missile toward the door, but the corrupted one moved like lightning, intercepting him with ease—the difference in power was overwhelming; one hit would be enough to kill him. Loryn strained to stop the attack—his eye turned blood-red before he shut it tight with a pained grunt. The punch continued its course. Daion tried to raise his sword, but he wouldn't make it in time.
Then, with a dull thud, Aelith burst from nowhere and slammed the corrupted being with a full-force punch. He rolled across the ground. Daion stared in disbelief: her aura was fully unleashed. Her arms had doubled in size, her legs had taken on a beastlike form, and her claws tore into the ground beneath her. Her fangs jutted out like those of a saber-toothed predator, and her eyes burned with solar ferocity as her fur bristled, outlining the stance of a perfect hunter.
Daion caught the thought running through her mind:
Another noble would mean the fall of the frontier… and Thero's utter destruction. I won't let that happen.
She clenched her fists and launched herself at the corrupted being, who barely reacted before taking another blow to the abdomen, fracturing his icy torso again. Aelith seemed to grin with fierce excitement.
This bastard can take my blows at full power.
"You idiot!" Aelith shouted after Daion as he kept running. "Don't you dare screw this up or I'll kill you myself!"
I think they'll handle that if I fail, he thought, but he still smiled back at her.
Daion surged ahead at full speed. He raised his sword and, gathering all his strength along with the boost of his inertia, smashed through the door with ease. He caught the frustrated roar of the corrupted being just before another of Loryn's bullets struck its mark.
A couple of corrupted turned toward him as he passed; Daion drew his blade and, with two swift slashes, cut them down effortlessly. He sprinted to the end of the corridor, where a ledge opened into an area much like the earlier void—except it was flooded with light.
It was a circular chamber, the ceiling rising dozens of meters above a floor paved with luminous stones, much like those from the demihuman den. He scanned the place in an instant, searching desperately for any anomaly—and then he saw it. In the center, suspended between the ceiling and the floor, a membrane held a sphere of ice at its base.
That's got to be the device, right? he thought, leaping high enough to leave a trail of frost swirling below. The corrupted turned as one, watching him descend straight toward the membrane. Daion readied his sword, certain of his target—until a voice echoed in his mind.
"When you're absolutely certain of something, when there's not a shred of doubt left in what you believe… that's the moment you must…"
End of Chapter 37.