"Cold that remembers."
The air turned to glass before they even stepped out of the stairwell. Each breath crystallized in front of their lips and lingered—refusing to fade. The corridor opened into a world of jagged blue and white, a frozen cathedral carved by time itself.
Frost Giants moved among the pillars—each step shaking frost from the ceiling like falling stars. Their skin was the color of ice, runes burning across their shoulders in faint azure light. Between their ribs, something like frozen magma pulsed, slow and heavy.
Lucilla shivered. "Their hearts… are crystallized mana."
Mary nodded, her voice misty and soft. "Be careful. Those runes—each one's a spell."
Rhazor grinned, already drawing his blade. "Guess we're fighting art pieces now."
Asura just smiled, cracking his neck.
"Let's melt some snowmen."
✦ The Frost Trial — Battle Begins
The first Frost Giant roared, lifting a shard of glacier like a sword. Its swing tore the air apart—an avalanche in motion. Asura darted forward, his movements light, careless, too quick for something human.
He kicked off the ice wall, spun upside-down midair.
Blazing Arc (Asura)
A crimson crescent of fire cut across the sky, exploding on the giant's forearm and melting rune-carved flesh into steam.
Mary stepped in, snapping her fingers to tempo. Each snap produced a musical note—physical, glowing, and vibrating through the air. The notes struck the second giant's knees and cracked the ice beneath it.
Resonance Beat (Mary)
Each pulse of her melody disoriented the monsters' mana flow.
Lucilla danced forward with unnatural grace, slicing her palm and whispering, "Blood binds blood."
Red tendrils coiled from her wound, weaving into a spear of hardened scarlet.
Crimson Lattice (Lucilla)
The spear launched, impaling the third giant through the chest and freezing in place as her blood reacted with its mana core.
Rhazor moved next—heat rushing in where Mary's sound and Lucilla's blood chilled the air. His sword erupted in gold-orange flame.
Infernal Fang (Rhazor)
He swung horizontally; the molten wave clashed against the fourth giant's leg, melting through its frozen armor.
✦ Asura's Counterstrike
Asura skidded across the ice, laughing to himself as his feet sparked frost and flame.
He dropped his center of gravity—palms touching the ground. Mana surged beneath his hands.
The temperature plummeted.
Frostbite Touch (Lv.5)
A frost ring exploded outward, freezing everything it touched—including the melted rivers Rhazor left behind.
A giant reached for him. Asura didn't move.
Glacial Spear (Lv.5)
Ice spiraled out from his shoulder and launched itself forward like a railgun. The spear pierced the giant's neck, shattering it like glass.
Lucilla gasped. "You're freezing their mana channels!"
Asura just smirked. "Guess it's contagious."
He inhaled, his breath a cloud of frost and light.
Absolute Zero Zone (Lv.5)
The cavern's thermal balance collapsed in a heartbeat.
Frost surged inward—choking rune-circuits, stiffening mana flow, locking the giants mid-motion.
Cracks webbed through their bodies, glittering like shattered stars.
Mary strummed an invisible string, producing a high, final note.
Cracks raced through all four giants at once.
A half-second later, they shattered.
Silence fell—only the sound of their breathing echoing off the frozen stone.
Rhazor leaned on his sword, panting. "Okay… maybe too much snow melting."
Lucilla giggled softly, her crimson eyes glowing faintly in the icy reflection.
Mary twirled a single strand of hair and sighed. "And that was just the trial…"
Asura tilted his head, eyes tracing the far wall—where a narrow crack of light pulsed softly.
"Guess that's the exit."
✦The Diverging Path
The group walked toward the glowing wall. The closer they got, the stranger it felt. The "exit" wasn't the usual spiral stairway down—a neat circular descent lined with carved runes and embedded crystals.
No, this one was… wrong.
The walls were fractured and scorched black. The usual blue glow of dungeon veins here turned red, like blood running backward. The air smelled of old magic—something ancient, something burned.
Mary's brow furrowed.
"Hold up. This isn't the normal path between floors."
Rhazor gripped his sword tighter. "Yeah… it feels off. Like it's alive."
Lucilla shuddered. "It's definitely not the same as before."
The three turned toward Asura.
He blinked at them, then shrugged.
"Looks fine to me. Maybe you guys need your eyes checked—could be the cold. Or mana sickness. I hear doctors can help."
Mary groaned. Rhazor facepalmed. Lucilla frowned.
They all decided to move on anyway; the floor behind them had sealed itself with a sheet of opaque ice that hadn't been there moments ago. Turning back wasn't an option.
So, they pressed forward into the narrow, uneven corridor. The walls creaked as if alive—like bones grinding together. Frost turned to stone, stone turned to charred crystal.
Mary led the way, her faint music echoing softly like a lantern.
Rhazor followed, sword glowing dimly for light.
Lucilla kept pace beside them, alert.
Asura trailed lazily behind, hands in his pockets, eyes scanning the distorted patterns in the walls. His heart raced—not with fear, but anticipation.
If there's something strong down here… maybe something ancient or aberrant…
I could learn from it.
He grinned.
Then—
Lucilla blinked. "Asura?"
Silence.
She turned—where he'd been standing, the stone was already spiderwebbed with fractures.
He was gone.
Rhazor and Mary stopped, confused.
"Asura, this isn't funny!" Rhazor shouted. His voice bounced strangely down the tunnel.
The ground cracked.
Lucilla screamed—the stone beneath her feet vanished.
Mary lunged forward, but the ice beneath her shattered, collapsing into darkness.
"Lucilla!"
Rhazor ran for her—too late.
The entire corridor gave way beneath him next.
The last thing Rhazor saw was a flash of Asura's faint, startled grin from above—then the floor broke completely, and they all fell into the black.