The rubble-strewn tunnel suddenly opened up into a circular stone chamber nearly twenty meters wide.
Ores embedded in the rock walls glimmered faintly, casting a hazy glow that filled the space.
At the center lay a dried-up mineshaft, its rim scattered with rusted tools and gnawed bones—clear evidence of a monster's nest.
"This should be the first spawn point." Lina raised her glow lamp and shone it toward the shaft's depths. Where the light reached, clusters of writhing shadows clung to the rock walls.
"Watch above. Cave Bats."
Kiriya had already summoned two clones, positioning them in a triangular guard. Tilting his head back, he spotted the shadows moving—wings stretching nearly half a meter, hooked claws gripping the cracks in the ceiling, and jewel-red eyes glimmering with hunger in the dark.
[Cave Bat]
[Level: 18]
[HP: 1200]
[Skill: Sonic Shock (emits a piercing wave that deals minor damage and inflicts Slow) ]
The system panel's prompt confirmed it—individually weak, but in numbers, they were swift and deadly. Their group, Slow from Sonic Shock, could easily trap players in a swarm.
"At least ten," Kiriya muttered, his fingers tapping lightly on his sword hilt. "They're sensitive to light. The glow lamp might draw them in."
Lina immediately dimmed the lamp until only a faint blue shimmer remained. "I'll raise an ice wall to block their rush. You take the opening to deal damage." Her right hand pressed to the wall, icy mana flooding through her fingertips. "Ice Wall Barrier!"
With her chant, a wall of ice three meters high and five meters wide erupted from the ground. Jagged spikes jutted from its surface, cutting off the bats' perch from their position while reflecting the mineral glow, illuminating the ground beneath their feet.
"Skreeee!"
The sudden barrier agitated the swarm. All ten bats spread their wings at once, shrieking as they dove at the ice wall.
Their bodies slammed hard against it—but the barrier held firm. Only a few shallow scratches marred its surface, leaving the swarm staggered and disoriented.
"Now!"
Kiriya's command came in sync with Lina's defensive retreat. She slid back toward the wall's flank, her blade crystallizing into frost, ready to cut down any that broke through.
Meanwhile, Kiriya and his two clones surged forward like three streaks of black lightning, converging on the wall's left, center, and right.
"Phantom Slash!"
Three half-moon arcs of sword energy burst outward in unison, blooming like silver lotuses as they struck the bats perched along the ice wall.
-361!
-356!
-366!
The trio of bats screeched, their HP shaved down by a third before they tumbled from the air. But the remaining seven quickly adapted, abandoning their headlong dives. Clambering across the ceiling's cracks, they began circling wide, seeking to flank from the wall's edges.
"Three on the left are mine!" Lina's voice rang, layered with magic's resonance. She ignored the wounded bats and raised her sword toward the circling trio. "Frost Thrust—Scattershot!"
The ice spear at her blade's tip fractured with a sharp crack, splitting into three jagged shards that streaked forward like guided bolts. Each struck precisely at the bats' wing joints.
-179!-185!-183!
The three bats shrieked, losing control and smashing into the stone walls.
On the right, Kiriya's clones had already intercepted four bats. They didn't engage head-on—instead, their shifting, flickering movements baited the monsters into lunging, scattering their formation. Using that distraction, Kiriya himself darted behind the ice wall and closed in on the three crippled by Lina's ice shards.
"Phantom Stab—Flurry!"
The reinforced bronze sword darted like a viper, nine consecutive thrusts piercing the bats' exposed bellies.
-241! (Critical)
-246! (Critical)
-239! (Critical)
The trio disintegrated into smoke before their cries could even finish echoing.
"Four still on the right!" Lina called from the other side of the wall. She had already finished the stragglers on her end, now training her blade on the clone-entangled swarm. "Want me to assist?"
"No need." Kiriya's answer was firm. He gave the order: "Tighten the circle."
At once, the two clones shifted tactics. One's Phantom Slash forced two bats back, while the other bashed a third across the skull with its hilt. Herded by the pincer, all four bats clustered into a narrow zone.
Seizing the moment, Kiriya's feet flared with mana as he Shun-Stepped overhead. Channeling power to its limit, he combined his strike with his clones.
"Clone Sync—Phantom Slash!"
Three arcs of sword light spiraled downward like grinding saws, detonating within the packed swarm. He deliberately overlapped their trajectories—amplifying the damage at the strike's center.
-365!
-359!
-363!
-183!
-178!
-186!
The four bats shrieked in unison, their HP bars dropping instantly to zero. Smoke and fragments of leathery wings scattered across the chamber floor.
From the first alarmed cry to the swarm's annihilation, no more than thirty seconds had passed.
Sheathing her sword, Lina crossed to him, ice-blue eyes glinting with awe. "Your clones move in even tighter sync than before." She had noticed it in that final strike—their paths avoided crossing, their timing blocked every escape route. "Almost as if… they think on their own."
"Just cleaner calculations." Kiriya wiped blood from his blade, his voice steady, though the flicker of a smile tugged his lips. "Your Ice Wall came at the perfect moment, too. Right as they launched. Without it, the fight would've dragged twice as long."
It was no empty compliment. Without her wall forcing the bats into waves, his triangular assault could never have unfolded so smoothly. Control first, strike after—her rhythm turned his solo tempo into a duet.
Lina suddenly smiled, pulling two strips of Bat Jerky from her pack—small food items that restored a little HP. She offered one. "Looks like we've found a pretty good formula for fighting together."
"A formula?"
"Mm." She took a bite, her ice-blue eyes curving into crescents. "My frost for control and defense, your phantoms for offense and disruption. Like… Frost and shadow, coexisting."
Kiriya paused as he accepted the jerky. That image replayed in his mind—the reflection of icy light across his phantom doubles, flowing together like two interwoven currents. He chewed the tough meat. Somehow, its dryness carried a faint sweetness.
"The Boss should be close." Lina approached the mineshaft, raising her lamp to peer into the depths. "According to the guide, the 'Mine Lord' is hiding at the bottom of the well—a stone giant wielding a massive Warhammer."
Faint crimson lights gleamed in the darkness below, accompanied by the weighty sound of breathing. The Mine Lord had already sensed them.
"It's Warhammer carries wide knockback," Kiriya recalled the strategy notes he'd read. "When you cast your Ice Wall, move toward the left wall—there's a hollow there you can use to avoid its strike."
Lina nodded, tapping her sword against the lingering shards of ice. "I'll give you a three-second signal. Be ready with your clones to draw their aggro."
No wasted words. Yet an invisible thread seemed to link their thoughts seamlessly.
Kiriya summoned fresh clones. His reinforced bronze sword glinted cold in the cave's eerie blue glow. "Then let's see what this stone giant can do."
Lina lifted her glow lamp, leading the way down the steps carved into the shaft's edge. Frosty mana flowed around her, intertwining with the phantom auras of Kiriya's doubles.
Together they lit the path forward—two entwined streams of ice and shadow, guiding them into the Boss's lair.