We stood there, staring into the darkness beyond the pit until I spoke in a slightly sarcastic tone, trying to lighten the mood.
"So, let’s head into the unknown. Just don’t forget to pray we don’t end up somewhere like this room again."
Maybe I wasn’t very good at this... whatever.
My ability had been active the entire time, prepared for anything that might happen.
Through it, I didn’t sense anything above us—just a tunnel stretching upward and fading beyond my range.
Leona looked at the skeletons with pity and a trace of sadness. "What about them?"
"Yeah, we can’t just leave them like this," Talia quickly added.
It would’ve been better if that girl stayed quiet before she jinxed us again.
I looked at them in disappointment. "Instead of thinking about how to get out of here, you’re filling your heads with the dead... What’s so important about them right now? They’re just skeletons."
"You can think about that and come back for them after we get out... if we’re still alive, of course."
I thought they would push the idea out of their minds after what I said, but Elin stepped toward one of the skeletons, ignoring me.
"We can’t leave them here." Her tone left no room for argument.
Well, she was their princess in the end. Maybe I would’ve been like her in that situation... but unfortunately, I wasn’t a prince or anything like that.
I clicked my tongue and didn’t argue further. Instead, I stood there watching them straighten the skeletons, wrap them in the clothes they wore, and then place them into their rings.
Some of them had to force themselves—like Izil and Talia. They were probably scared and disgusted to touch them, but they did it anyway in the end.
Unlike them, the princess handled the remains with complete sincerity, as if trying to show her care for her people who had already died.
Only Kyle stood there waiting like me. He neither approved nor rejected what they were doing... maybe the only thought behind that calm face was getting out and making sure his sister was safe.
It’s not like I was some emotionless monster or anything, but to me, those lifeless bodies held no importance.
If they had been alive, I would’ve done everything in my power to get them out of here... after all, I’m still human.
But only with my own life placed above theirs.
I wanted to tell them that if they were planning to do this from the beginning, why hadn’t they done it earlier—but I changed my mind and stayed silent.
I turned my hand and looked at the tattoo on my wrist. All this time, I had been trying to summon the Key of Dimensions, but it kept refusing.
"I feel like this won’t end well."
...
After waiting for a while, the others finished gathering all the skeletons and placing them in their rings, then returned to stand beneath the pit.
Silence fell again as we stared at the tunnel, which resembled the mouth of a hungry beast.
I quickly pulled everyone out of their unease and looked at Elliot. "Go on. What are you waiting for?"
He didn’t argue. Instead, he created a staircase of ice and began climbing. I followed right behind him.
After a few steps, Elliot reached the pit, squeezed his body through it, and I followed.
I crawled through the opening that barely fit me and emerged on the other side, standing on what remained of the door.
Using Elliot’s light, we were able to see the place. It wasn’t anything special.
Just a tunnel about three meters wide, stretching upward without end.
"Looks like we’ve got a long climb ahead."
Elliot nodded. I reached out and touched the walls; they were smooth, offering nothing to grip. They were also made of a different kind of stone than the previous room... much harder and more durable.
If that room had been made of this, we would’ve definitely died there... though obviously it couldn’t have been. After all, for magic to work the way you want, you always need special materials that meet certain conditions. And clearly, the material used for that room’s walls had satisfied the spell’s requirements.
While we stood there examining the walls, Kyle climbed out of the pit and joined us.
The two of us stared at Elliot. "Go on. Start making us some stairs."
He opened his mouth to protest, but in the end said nothing. The light he had been maintaining vanished. Instead, we used ordinary lamps I carried in my ring, and he began creating ice supports to prevent the staircase from collapsing at the very first step.
Maybe he felt like we were treating him like a servant now... Elliot, break this. Elliot, make that.
And honestly, he wasn’t wrong. He had done most of the work.
But what could we do? None of us had an ability that made things easier like his did.
Maybe if Elin were stronger, she could’ve carried us upward using her control over metal... but unfortunately, she had only recently broken through to the Advanced rank.
The rest of the girls climbed up, and we stood there in that narrow space under dim light.
We waited until Elliot finished forming the supports, then he began shaping the stairs and climbing, and we followed behind him.
One after another, we ascended the ice staircase leading into the unknown.
No one spoke. The only sounds in the dark tunnel were our footsteps striking solid ice and the sound of our breathing.
Especially Elliot’s—his breathing had grown rough. He was clearly getting tired from creating so much ice.
Time passed. We had already climbed hundreds of meters when Elliot’s ice formation slowed, and he spoke in a broken voice from exhaustion.
"Guys... I need a break... This is too much ice at once."
I sighed. "Alright. We’ll take twenty minutes so Elliot can recover his energy and essence."
When I say it like that, it makes it sound as if Elliot is the burden here...
He looked like he wanted to comment on my words, but he didn’t have the energy. Instead, he pulled out an essence stone and began absorbing it to replenish his reserves.
Soon, the twenty minutes passed.
"Come on, Elliot. You’ve rested enough."
He looked at me, teeth clenched, probably preparing to curse me—but I quickly cut him off.
"It’s not that I don’t want you to rest. But as you can see, we’re standing on a massive chunk of ice... and even if your ice is stronger than normal ice, it’ll melt eventually. You don’t want us back at square one, right?"
At that, he fell silent and turned to continue forming the stairs, muttering under his breath.
"Just wait..."
Wait for what? No one knows.
...
More time passed, and we climbed hundreds of meters more—but this time, something new entered my perception.
The end of the tunnel.
I looked at Elliot, who was panting heavily, and patted his back. "Come on, hero. Not much left. I can already feel the end of the tunnel."
He turned his head toward me. "Really?"
I nodded. "Yeah... about 300 meters left."
Elliot nodded and continued forming the ice.
Before building each step, he had to create supports connecting it to the steps below us, forming one tightly bound structure so it wouldn’t collapse at any moment.
He continued until the tunnel’s exit finally began to appear.
"You don’t sense anything up there, right?" Elliot asked.
I felt nothing except empty space. "Yeah, there’s nothing strange... or at least nothing I can sense."
After some time, we finally reached the end.
Elliot took the first step out of the vertical tunnel and stood on solid ground.
The place was so vast that the lamp in my hand illuminated only a small area... but that didn’t last.
Because suddenly, light flooded the entire space—not from me or Elliot, but from the place itself.
When that happened, I braced myself for anything, even ready to jump back into the tunnel—but thankfully, nothing occurred.
Everyone climbed out behind me and stared at the place.
"What the hell is this?"
Before us was an enormous space built from the same black stone as the tunnel.
It was so large it could hold a small village.
And near the ceiling, more than ten meters above us, numerous lights illuminated the area.
"Guys... I think you need to see this," Leona’s voice said.
Everyone turned at once to look behind us.
A few meters away was the only part of the place that wasn’t completely black... because it was covered in carvings.
A black vortex, at its center a void containing an eye.
Beneath it were several lines written in an ancient language.
I didn’t even need to read them to know what they meant... but Elin did.
"The Watcher Behind the Wall of Existence."
"The First Voice of the Void."
"The One Who Comes from Beyond the End."
"The Devourer of All."