"You can start now."
The moment Caius said that, Izel stepped closer to the mass of steel weapons floating in the air.
At the same time, Caius, Ellen, and even Leona retreated behind her, leaving several meters between them.
Izel raised her hands toward the metal before tongues of orange flame formed within her palms.
The fire swirled before her hands, illuminating the surrounding area while the ice beneath it began to melt.
For a while, the flames continued spinning before her, their temperature rising higher and higher with every passing moment before she finally released them toward the metal.
A stream of fire extended from Izel’s hands to the floating metal, striking it without pause.
Not like she did in battle when she blew everything apart in a single burst... she wanted to heat it.
So she focused on keeping the flames stable and continuous without interruption.
"That’s really hot."
Leona’s words were drowned beneath the sound of flames battering the metal as she retreated farther back, while Caius remained standing there, watching without being bothered by the heat.
Slowly, the weapons began turning red while the ice beneath them melted and the water boiled before evaporating into the air.
The temperature was extremely high... and that was necessary because those metals weren’t ordinary either.
"I think you should compress them more now." Caius spoke to Ellen.
She stared intently at the glowing red mass of steel before raising her hands.
The pieces moved closer together, becoming softer as they did.
Even then, Izel didn’t stop and poured in more flames, hotter and stronger than before.
Eventually, the steel began melting and turned into a glowing liquid floating in the air.
More time passed, the temperature rising higher and higher while a large pool of water formed beneath them.
"And here I was complaining about the cold these past few days." Leona mocked.
After a few more minutes, Ellen looked at Izel before her.
"Alright, Izel, that’s enough."
The flames gradually slowed before stopping completely.
The girl released a tired breath while sweat dripped down her face before she smiled at Ellen.
"Your turn now, princess. Let’s see what you can do."
Ellen stepped closer to the molten liquid floating above the pool of water.
With both hands raised toward it, she poured all her concentration into the task.
She compressed the liquid together while thinking of the object they planned to create, shaping it with as much precision as she could manage.
The molten metal began changing shape, twisting, bending, and forming hollow sections in many places until it gradually took on the final form they desired.
Naturally, that process took time and a great deal of effort from Ellen before she slowly lowered it into the pool of water while making sure every part of it remained compressed with as much force as possible.
The moment the molten metal touched the water, it boiled and evaporated, forming a white mist that spread everywhere.
When the metal cooled and solidified, Ellen lifted it out and left it floating before them.
Caius stared at what resembled a large, thick needle several meters long, with thin seams running along its body that showed it wasn’t a single piece.
"Try it."
The moment he said that, the hollow seams widened slightly.
But with a creaking sound, the mechanism stopped moving, causing Ellen to frown.
"It doesn’t work."
Caius sighed.
"Of course it doesn’t... it’ll need adjustments and improvements."
...
Kyle and Elliot stood beneath the wide fissure at the entrance of the tunnel, staring at its ceiling.
Before Elliot’s eyes, a chunk of ice broke free and crashed into the ground, shattering apart.
"Doesn’t this seem a little excessive? This could backfire on us."
Kyle shook his head while glancing at the pillar rising in the center and connecting to the ceiling.
"No... it has to be like this."
Elliot sighed.
"If you’re sure, then it doesn’t matter."
"I wonder if the others have finished their part."
Kyle looked up toward the fissure.
"Let’s go up and wait for them."
Elliot nodded as gravity reversed around them, making their bodies lighter.
Then, with a small push from the ground, the two effortlessly leaped upward.
Soon their feet landed on the edge and gravity returned to normal.
Elliot looked into the distance around him where everything was silent and devoid of life.
No monsters wandered through the surrounding area, making everything easier.
They had previously considered luring other creatures to help create chaos during the battle, but in the end, all of them fled the moment they saw the Evil monster... perhaps a Great Rank monster wouldn’t, but finding one would be difficult.
The two remained there for a while until the others finally appeared in the distance, walking toward them.
A few minutes later, everyone gathered near the massive fissure.
The air around them felt heavy and filled with tension... exactly as it should before a battle.
Caius looked at the two expectantly.
"So, did you finish your part?"
Elliot nodded seriously.
"Yeah... what about you?"
He said the last part while looking toward Ellen.
She nodded before pulling something from her ring.
It was the object they had been working on.
The large needle-like piece of metal floated in the air as everyone’s gaze landed on it.
Kyle stepped forward and inspected it closely.
"Try opening it."
The moment he spoke, both the lower tip and upper tip of the needle unfolded into thin metallic wings, making it resemble a double-ended hook.
Kyle nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Let’s hope this is enough."
The needle closed once again, becoming nothing more than a sharp piece of shining metal.
Ellen returned it to her ring, and silence spread through the area.
Kyle stared into the fissure while running calculations through his mind, while Ellen returned the needle to her ring and Izel looked into the distance where the enemy was supposed to be.
Both Elliot and Leona remained silent, tension clearly visible on their faces.
But at that moment, Caius smiled.
"Come on... why is everyone so tense?"
"Each of us knows our role, so just don’t make mistakes and we’ll succeed... and even if you do, that’s fine too."
"The worst thing that can happen is becoming a light snack for the Evil monster."
Everyone looked at him with different expressions, all equally annoyed.
Izel sighed and shook her head, her red hair swaying in the air.
"That’s the worst motivational speech I’ve ever heard in my life."
A look of confusion appeared on Caius’s face.
"A motivational speech? Who said it was one?"
Ellen shook her head.
"Never mind. Let’s just see what we can do before we begin."
Caius shrugged while looking toward the east, where the first white thread of dawn had appeared.
"Let’s head down and rest so everyone can recover their strength before we begin at sunrise."
...
Far away from the group, deep beneath the ancient layers of ice, there was a vast hollow chamber from which numerous icy tunnels branched out and stretched in every direction.
Within that enormous space lingered the scent of blood and corpses while bones covered the ground everywhere, some enormous and others small.
But bones weren’t the only things present there.
Instead, sharp little cries echoed throughout the chamber.
All around the hall, among the bones, moved creatures only slightly smaller than an adult human.
Their smooth skin was pale gray, while their slender bodies resembled reptiles, complete with long tails, pointed heads, and mouths extending forward.
Two arms extended from their shoulders, but unlike their mother’s, those arms were short and barely capable of lifting their bodies from the ground before dragging themselves across it.
There were dozens of them.
Some fought with their siblings.
Others fed on the corpses their mother had brought earlier, while some lay weakly in the corners, waiting for death to claim their newly born lives.
And at the center of it all, the mother’s enormous body lay on the ground, rising and falling in a steady rhythm as the sound of her heavy breathing filled the cavern.
Her long, thick tail curled around her body while her powerful arms folded beneath her as she rested her enormous head on the ground, hiding her eyes beneath her heavy eyelids.
But in the next moment, a familiar scent slipped into her nose, causing her dark, heavy eyelids to tremble before opening and revealing the sharp pupil of her eye.
And within it, one could see madness and pure bloodlust... and more importantly, the desire to kill anything that approached her young.
And it seemed that desire would soon be fulfilled.
Her massive body rose as the thick tail stretched across the chamber, pushing away bones and the younglings that had been playing on top of it.
The small monsters rushed toward their mother, but a loud growl stopped them.
The Evil monster stared into a certain tunnel before stepping toward it, her enormous body sliding into the passage.
Heading directly toward the creatures that had been disturbing her for the past several days.
But today was not about threatening them and letting them escape.
It was about ending everything.