The loud, thunderous roar echoed out, causing the air around us to tremble.
Ahead of me, at the edge of the cliff, a chunk of snow fell and separated from the rest, dragging more down with it.
Far away from us, the monsters paused for a moment from whatever they were doing and raised their heads at the sound.
But it quickly faded, and everything returned to normal.
"What the fuck is this?" Izel was the first to speak after everyone fell silent.
I remained silent for a few moments before answering, "Maybe the owner of this place woke up after smelling its next meal."
"Hehe... please stop saying that kind of stuff." Leona glared at me with dissatisfaction as she objected to my words... perhaps she thought I was joking.
I raised an eyebrow. "I’m not joking."
She shook her head. "Doesn’t matter, just don’t say it, or it might actually happen."
I shrugged. "Why are you scared? It’s not like this is the first time something like that happened."
My eyes drifted toward the focused Kyle before I asked, "Did you spot anything over there?"
He calmly shook his head. "No."
How disappointing. At the very least, I wanted to know the source of that thing before closing my eyes and heading down there.
Elliot stepped closer to the edge. "Let’s hope the only special thing about that creature is its loud voice."
"Hahaha... don’t make me laugh here."
Did he really believe those words?
He gave me a glance over his shoulder before focusing ahead again.
He stepped toward the sharp edge below while ice reformed beneath his feet, creating the first stair downward.
Without hesitation, I followed behind him as I descended, and the others soon joined us.
The freezing wind slammed against my face while I focused my senses so I wouldn’t overlook even the smallest detail.
After all, the ruins were somewhere around this area.
Maybe twenty kilometers away from us, maybe only a few meters, or anywhere else in every possible direction.
"How long do you think it’ll take to search this place?" Ellen asked from behind me while I stared at the vast expanse of ancient ice.
"I don’t know. I might find it in a single day, or it could take several times longer depending on the circumstances... especially since we’re not the only ones here."
It was obvious battles would be unavoidable during this search... and perhaps hiding would sometimes be necessary as well.
I thought for a moment before speaking. "Why don’t you all stay somewhere below while Elliot and I move around and search?"
That would be better than moving around this place with five people, but apparently someone had a different opinion.
"Don’t be shy... just say we’re baggage slowing you down." Izel’s voice came from behind me again.
I answered indifferently. "No need to say it when you already know it yourself."
"What if you run into something dangerous?" Leona asked with some concern.
I simply shrugged. "The thing capable of killing me can kill all of us too, so it doesn’t really matter."
Izel clicked her tongue. "Tsk... arrogance."
"I understand that it might be more efficient, but it’s better if you don’t go alone." Ellen’s calm voice echoed from behind.
Well, she had a point.
I looked ahead at Elliot, who was calmly walking while creating stair after stair quickly and without much effort... very useful.
"Fine, then Elliot and I will go."
Elliot let out a long sigh while Ellen replied, "That would be better... but don’t stay away for more than a day, or we’ll start thinking something happened to you two."
"I know," I answered.
Soon enough, we reached the bottom, our feet landing on the icy ground.
Ahead of us, the ice rose and fell, forming many chaotic shapes and blocking vision into the distance.
I looked at the others as they descended the stairs before glancing toward Elliot. "Shall we go then?"
He shrugged. "Let’s do it."
"Then stay around this area. I’ll send a signal if we find anything... or do the same if you see something or change your location."
I looked toward Kyle. "And Kyle, watch the area from somewhere high up... you know, in case the source of that roar shows up."
He nodded. "I was going to do that anyway."
With that, I turned around, ready to leave, until Izel’s voice stopped us... or more specifically, stopped Elliot.
"Wait... at least make us a decent place. You two aren’t expecting us to stand here waiting for a whole day, right?"
Elliot froze in place, his shoulders dropping in exhaustion. Then, with a long sigh full of frustration, he turned back around. "Fine."
...
After Elliot created a place for them inside the ice to stay in, we set out to search this area where the entrance to the ruins was supposedly located.
Moving around with only Elliot was much smoother and easier than staying with five people while wandering through this place searching across the ancient ice.
And bringing Elliot with me would actually be useful unlike the others, especially now that he had reached the Intermediate Rank 3 and his abilities had undergone major growth.
We moved across the blue ice while the echoes of our footsteps reverberated through it.
"So, do you actually have a plan, or are we just wandering randomly around this place?"
"We’re wandering randomly. Finding this place is purely a matter of luck."
With that mark covering such an enormous area, we truly were relying on luck.
"Still, do you feel anything important?" Elliot asked.
I shook my head. "So far, no... except that this place is hollow and contains many massive tunnels below."
From what I sensed, there were countless icy tunnels beneath us, each dozens of meters wide and tall, intersecting and connecting with one another constantly.
We walked between two massive walls of ice standing several meters high, then in the next moment I pulled one of my swords from my ring and gripped it tightly in my hand.
"There are a few monsters ahead of us."
Elliot nodded before drawing his own sword and preparing himself while I added,
"And don’t make too much noise."
"I know."
With that, we continued forward between the ice until we emerged from between the two massive structures into a somewhat open area.
I was the first to step outside, and the moment I did, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed from my right as something ran across the ice.
I turned my head to see a Rank 2 monster rushing toward me on four thin curved limbs, with a long jaw extending forward and thick white fur covering its entire body.
The moment only a few meters remained between us, the creature leaped toward me with speed and agility.
All I did was take a step to the side, and at that exact moment it began descending toward the place where I had been standing, its front limbs stretching toward me while its mouth opened wide, revealing sharp teeth and flying saliva.
But the moment I stepped aside, I swung my sword upward, and before it even landed on the ground, the cold metal passed through its neck and separated its head from the rest of its body.
Its body crashed onto the ground with a dull sound, scattering shards of ice everywhere before continuing to slide away across the frozen surface.
Of course, it wasn’t the only one.
Using the same sword and without much effort, I spun in place and delivered a horizontal slash toward my left side.
At that moment, another monster was there, lunging toward me with hunger in its eyes.
My sword passed through its open jaw, piercing through the bones of its skull and splitting them apart.
I stepped aside, letting its body continue forward with the momentum it already had before it slid across the ice and slammed into the massive structures behind me.
At the same time, Elliot had vanished from his spot and appeared behind another one that had been charging toward me. Then, with a swift movement, he stabbed his sword into its body and injected lightning into it, causing it to collapse dead just like its brothers.
Bright red blood splattered across the blue ice, staining it while more monsters continued rushing toward us without pause.
Elliot vanished from his spot again, appearing beside one of them, and before the charging monster could even realize what happened, the sword had already severed its head and thrown it onto the ground.
Then, without moving from his place, he thrust forward into empty air, only for the sword’s blade to vanish into the atmosphere and appear several meters away, piercing through the skull of another monster.
What an incredible ability... he had even come close to mastering short-range teleportation instead of merely shortening straight-line distance.
"How jealous I am."
I muttered while slashing toward the side without turning my head. I felt my sword cut through flesh as another soul faded from my senses.