I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 47: Snowveil Mountains

The air grew heavy.

The group lingered, studying the massive, humming structure of the teleport.

It rippled, burning through mana just to stay active.

Vale, not expecting his companion to activate the device, stood frozen, unsure of what to do next.

Then—a thought struck him like a hammer.

"Where does it lead to?"

His mind raced, torn between two choices. Trust the unknown and step through the teleport, or climb to the top of the tower and scout the surroundings for any sign of the Tree of Life.

"I say we take it," Dain said, an unbothered look on his face.

"What?" Vale asked, snapping his head toward him.

"It’s not like there’s anything out here," Dain shrugged. "We may as well try our luck."

The group hesitated, turning the student’s words over in their minds. As far as they knew, there was nothing out there but an endless field of rock and dust.

One by one, without speaking a single word, they came to the same conclusion. Determination hardened in their expressions.

Dain was the first to step forward.

The others followed quickly, moving with cautious, deliberate steps toward the rippling sheet of mana.

The closer they came, the thicker the air grew, clinging to their bodies like a living mist. The mana around them trembled with a hungry vibration, tugging at their cores and peeling away threads of essence with every step.

The portal pulsed and rippled—a restless force bleeding mana into the air. Its pull was steady and relentless. The hum deepened into a low, bone-shaking vibration that clouded their thoughts, until stepping through felt less like a choice and more like an inevitability.

Without hesitation, Dain lunged forward, vanishing the moment he passed through the frame.

Vale shook his head at the sight. With a weary sigh, he took a long step into the portal.

Instantly, his senses were swallowed by a complete void. He lingered in weightless nothingness before a chilling cold ran down his spine, followed by a gust of air so frigid it froze the breath in his lungs.

His vision returned—he gasped as he collapsed to his knees.

He stared down at his pale hands, their outline stark against the soft white canvas below.

Snow.

Vale’s eyes widened in wonder.

He had read about it, just like anyone, but he had never seen it. In the Kingdom of Verythmia, there was only relentless heat and rain. Snow was just a thing of distant stories—at least up until now.

A deafening roar tore through the air. The wind crashed against the mountainside, so fierce and constant it sounded like the very earth was screaming in agony.

Lifting his gaze, Vale took in his surroundings.

A vast, endless blanket of snow stretched in every direction. Above, a towering, jagged mountain peak tore into the sky like a blade. At its base, the remnants of an old road clung to the rocky slopes, winding around the mountain’s side.

Smaller peaks dotted the horizon, the mountain range stretching far beyond what his eyes could follow. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Vale’s eyes dropped closer to his immediate surroundings. He appeared to be on a summit—flat but narrow, leading only in one direction.

The very same road.

A loud groan snapped Vale out of his thoughts. He turned his head, following the sound to find Dain struggling to pick himself up from the ground.

Unbeknownst to Vale, who had been too focused on studying the landscape, the massive student had crash-landed after his leap, his bare upper body slamming against the freezing snow.

"You okay?" Ayla asked, though her gaze stayed locked on Vale.

"Yeah," he replied, meeting her eyes. "Any idea where we are?"

Ayla shook her head, her violet hair whipping lightly in the cold breeze.

"I read once about an endless range of snowy mountains," Klein said, brushing snow from his armour as he approached. "It was called... the Snowveil Mountains, I think."

"Snowveil Mountains," Vale echoed, the name lingering on his tongue.

He had never heard of such a place in the Demon Realm. Had it been discovered in the eighty years he had missed?

He turned sharply toward Klein. "What else did you read about it?"

"Not much. There wasn’t much to read in the first place," Klein admitted. "One person got close, but they never attempted to climb or cross it. They got lucky and found a Tree of Life while trying to walk around it."

Vale sighed, then scanned the horizon. Beyond the heavy fog and the endless stretch of jagged peaks, he saw no sign of solid ground—only mountains fading into a cold, colourless mist.

"Why would the teleport drop us here?" he muttered. "And why isn’t there a teleport structure on this side? Shouldn’t teleports work both ways?"

He narrowed his eyes at the swirling mist ahead, unease growing heavier in his chest with each passing moment.

The wind howled louder, carrying flurries of snow so thick it was hard to see beyond a few meters.

"We should find shelter," Vale said.

The group, already thinking the same thing, quickly agreed.

But there was one problem... where?

The summit they stood on stretched barely thirty meters across, with no rocks or structures in sight—there was nothing that could shield them from the relentless assault of the wind.

Vale didn’t need to waste time searching. There was only one path leading away from their position—the old, crumbling road he had seen earlier.

With no other choice, the group pushed forward, heads low against the wind, struggling over the uneven, snow-choked ground.

Step by step, they fought against the cold, the blinding snow, and the biting gusts of wind, forcing themselves onward in hopes of finding anything resembling shelter.

Then—they saw it.

Near the edge of the slope, tucked against the remnants of the old road, was a small crevice. Barely a meter deep and high, it was just enough to offer a mild protection against the punishing storm.

Without hesitation, they crammed inside, settling on the rocky ground and squeezing tightly to fit into the narrow space.

Vale glanced around at his companions—all but one managed to squeeze themselves in.

Dain was simply too large. The massive student had to half-sit, half-lie sideways, his broad frame awkwardly wedged into the cramped shelter.

Vale couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the sight.