The air in that forked hallway felt heavier than before, like the dungeon itself was waiting for someone to screw up.
Two tunnels gaped ahead of them. One was a straight, clear stretch of ice-blue stone, lit faintly by the glowing moss along the walls. The other twisted down into darkness, half-hidden by jagged frost and broken pillars.
Klaus stood there, squinting at both like they were enemies on a battlefield.
"Zura," he said, "what does your gut say this time?"
Zura rubbed the back of his neck. "My gut's out of juice, man. You saw what happened last chamber. That was premium-grade 'told you so' material, and it's all spent now."
"That's not how instincts work," Klaus said flatly.
"Mine do," Zura shot back.
Mimosa tilted her head, her voice soft but firm. "I think we should take the straight path. It's more open, less chance of getting cornered."
Klaus frowned. "Or… that's exactly why it's a trap. Make one path look safe so you'll take it without thinking. Could be a psychological test. The other path might be the real way forward."
Sekke cracked his knuckles with a smug grin. "Either way, I'm ready. Bring it on, dungeon!"
Zura stayed quiet for a moment, chewing over what Klaus said. Yeah, the guy was annoyingly rigid, but he wasn't stupid.
He thought, 'If this was a manga panel, the 'obvious' safe path would definitely be where someone got obliterated in the next scene.'
Finally, he sighed. "Alright… doesn't matter which way we go. We're gonna hit monsters either way. Let's take the less obvious one."
They turned toward the darker, frost-choked tunnel, their footsteps echoing in the cold stillness.
The path narrowed, forcing them to walk single-file, until suddenly it opened into a massive cavern. And there it was—a huge ice door towering over them, runes faintly glowing along its edges, the air shimmering like heat waves even though the place was freezing.
Zura raised an eyebrow. "Well… that doesn't look ominous at all."
It was the gate to the treasury that was located at the center of the dungeon.
They struggled to open the door, but it wasn't tough.
The chamber was massive—vaulted ceiling, walls lined with silver veins that glimmered faintly in the torchlight. At the center sat a towering gate of blackened steel, ornate runes crawling across its surface like frozen lightning. Sekke's jaw practically hit the floor.
"Holy… holy crap! This is it! We're rich!" he yelled, practically vibrating. His eyes were wide, the guy already halfway to drooling over imaginary gold piles.
Zura stood there, his face shadowed, staring at the door like it was a bad omen.
' In the manga… his thoughts stirred, a tight knot forming in his gut. This is the spot. Yuno and his crew got ambushed here. Mars… Lotus Whomalt… and a bunch of Diamond Kingdom grunts. Could happen again. Or… maybe it's already happened. Hell, I don't even know what point in the timeline I'm in.'
He rubbed the back of his neck, scowling. 'Idiot. Haven't even tried matching events to what I know from the manga. Haven't done one scrap of research. But it's Julius' fault. They haven't contacted me once since I was summoned here. Gotta fix that. I will do some research once this mission is completed.'
Sekke suddenly broke his train of thought. "Yo! What's this button thing?!"
Before anyone could stop him—
CLUNK.
A deep, metallic echo rolled through the chamber.
The ground rumbled under their feet, dust raining from the ceiling. The steel gate began to shake violently, and the runes flared with an ominous crimson light.
"…Please tell me you didn't just trigger a death trap," Klaus muttered, drawing his weapon.
Sekke froze. "…I… uh… maybe?"
The rumble turned into a quake, ice and stone cracking as the massive vault door groaned open just enough to blast a wave of magic pressure through the chamber.
A hulking, frost-covered beast pushed its way out—a nightmare stitched together from bone, ice, and something still bleeding. Its roar shook the ground, and shards of frozen air shot outward, stabbing into the walls.
"Well," Zura sighed, summoning his magic. "Thanks, Sekke. You really know how to roll out the welcome mat."
"—Oh crap, that's not gold!" Sekke yelped, already backing up.
"You triggered this, didn't you?!" Klaus barked, shield snapping into place just in time to block a barrage of icicle spears.
"How was I supposed to know the treasure had a bodyguard?!"
"Because it's a dungeon!" Klaus snapped again, pushing forward.
Zura didn't waste time with the argument—he drew his sword, the blade already humming with mana. Mimosa's grimoire flared beside him, roots bursting from the icy floor to try and bind the monster's legs.
The thing tore through them like paper, lunging forward, frost breath hissing toward them. Zura ducked low, sliding on the ice, blade flashing up to carve across one of its legs. The frost instantly spread to his sword, numbing his fingers.
"Too slow!" Klaus barked, slamming his shield into the monster's chest to knock it back. "Zura, high! I'll cover!"
"Stop ordering me around!" Zura kicked off the shield, launching himself up. He spun midair, sword wrapped in flame magic, and brought it down on the beast's skull—ice cracked, but didn't break.
"Sekke! Distract it!" Mimosa shouted.
"Sekke-sama will do more than distract!" he declared, tossing out his bronze sphere magic—only for the beast to catch one in its mouth and chew it like candy.
"That's not encouraging!" Zura growled, landing hard on the ice.
The creature roared again, its tail smashing into Klaus's shield and sending him skidding back. Mimosa's vines lashed out to yank him out of the path of the next strike.
They were moving without realizing it—Klaus's shield redirecting blows, Mimosa covering with healing vines, Zura taking every opening to cut deep, Sekke… somehow managing to draw attention at just the right moments.
"Focus on the head!" Zura shouted, ducking under a frozen claw and slicing the tendon in its leg.
"Then stop missing!" Klaus fired back, slamming his shield upward just as Zura vaulted again.
This time, the flaming blade struck true—shattering the beast's icy crown and splitting its skull with a molten hiss. The thing staggered, roared one last time, and collapsed into a heap of frost and steaming blood.
The chamber went still except for their breathing.
Sekke wiped his brow. "See? Perfect teamwork. Totally planned."
"Planned my ass," Zura muttered, already scanning the shadows. "Something tells me that was just the warm-up."
***
A/N- Hey guys, as promised, I published 4 chapters mass release. Keep up your support. We are not getting power stones , or in any ranking. Thanks to those who give power stones and regularly comments. I feel motivated after reading your comments. I hope you have a nice day.