I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 56: No Time to Rest

The group spent the next hour studying the surrounding area, searching for any clues as to how so many people had ended up here.

None of the corpses showed signs of decay. The blood pooled beneath them was still wet, the scent of iron clinging to the air.

They had all died recently—on the same day, perhaps even within the same few hours. The man who had warned them must’ve passed mere moments before their arrival.

But why?

Where had they come from? And more importantly—why was such a large group of people travelling together in the Demon Realm?

Questions spiralled through Vale’s mind, each more senseless than the last. None of it aligned with what he had learned about the Demon Realm. Most spent every second alone, fighting relentlessly for survival, to think such a high number of people had found each other?

Then an idea struck him like a hammer.

If a group that large had travelled together, they must’ve left a trail behind.

And soon enough, they found it.

A long stretch of footprints pressed deep into the snow, vanishing into the distance. But what unsettled them most was where the trail led.

Toward the mountain.

The same mountain where they had seen the light.

"Was it them?" Vale muttered. "Were they the source of light?"

A hollow ache crept into his chest. If they were... then the hope they had clung to—the hope that had driven them through this frozen nightmare—was already dead.

He clenched his fists, forcing the thought away. There would be time for despair later.

For now, the only choice left was to follow the trail up the mountain’s slope and find the truth—whether the light was truly extinguished, or if something, anything, remained.

Just as they made their way toward it, the heavy wind had returned.

A frigid gale howled down the cliffs, whipping snow in thick sheets that consumed their vision. Visibility vanished, and the world was reduced to white and shadow.

But still, the group pressed on—heads low, eyes narrowed, pushing forward through the storm and following the trail toward whatever awaited them.

It hadn’t been long since they began their journey when ice golems suddenly erupted from the frozen walls flanking the winding path around the mountain slope.

Despite the fatigue still clinging to them from the recent battle, the group dispatched every last golem with swift, precise efficiency, leaving no room for mistakes.

They had grown more accustomed to the harsh terrain of the Snowveil Mountains, and with it, their combat skills had sharpened. Now, they moved with practised ease. Without uttering a single word, each of them acted as though reading the others’ minds. Even the once-terrifying Awakened monsters felt no more threatening than the dormant ones.

During a rare moment of calm, Vale couldn’t help but reflect on that strange truth. Defeating Awakened monsters was supposed to be nearly impossible—especially for those who hadn’t awakened their cores. True, a well-coordinated group of Dormant-core individuals could manage to bring one down... but their group?

Every single member—aside from Klein, whose abilities leaned more toward utility—could defeat an Awakened monster alone...

No.

Vale, Dain, and Ayla could each handle multiple Awakened monsters at once.

Their strength shattered all known limits.

Was it possible that the four students with the highest potential had somehow ended up in the same group? Or was something different at play—something far beyond coincidence? Perhaps it wasn’t just them that defied all expectations. Perhaps it was the Demon Realm itself, reshaping reality... and with it, reshaping those who dared to face its trials.

Whatever the answer was, Vale didn’t have the luxury of finding it—as his attention snapped to something far more immediate.

Something shifted in his vision—his gaze snapped toward it.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried to pierce through the dense wall of fog.

There it was again.

A blur. Movement behind the thick cover of the foggy sky—subtle yet unmistakable.

The group froze. The others had now seen it too.

All eyes locked on the swirling mist ahead, breaths held in tense silence.

"Did you see that?" Ayla asked, her gaze locked dead ahead.

"Yeah," Vale murmured, his eyes fixed in the same direction.

Then—a burst of wind struck.

The group staggered as the gale tore through the fog like shredded cloth, scattering it in all directions and unveiling a colossal silhouette looming in the sky above.

Two enormous wings stretched outward, nearly spanning their entire field of vision. Its body, encased in shimmering, translucent ice, caught what little light pierced the clouds and scattered it like a prism. As the last wisps of fog drifted away, the creature fully emerged—an ice dragon-like monster hung in the sky, majestic and terrifying, its presence dominating the mountain pass.

A deafening roar thundered through the air, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Seeing the massive creature, they did the only reasonable thing they could think of—run.

Snow crunched beneath their boots as they sprinted along the narrow mountain trail, their hearts pounding against their chests.

But their human speed was far too slow. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

With a single beat of its massive wings, the ice dragon soared ahead, effortlessly overtaking them. It now hovered directly in front of the group, suspended mid-air with unnatural stillness, its massive, reptilian eyes glowing faintly blue, locked onto the students.

It opened its massive maw, rows of jagged, glacier-like teeth jutted out like frozen spears. But before any of them could take in any of those details, the air around them shifted.

The temperature dropped, and the air thickened. Every breath became a struggle. Pale blue particles shimmered into existence around the dragon’s open maw, swirling like snow caught in a vortex.

Then, with another thunderous roar, it unleashed its attack.

A devastating avalanche of ice erupted from its mouth, surging toward them with unstoppable force.

With the creature blocking the path ahead and a sheer wall of ice to their left, the group had only one option—dodge right. Their bodies tumbled down the frozen slope of the mountain, swallowed by the snow and speed as the creature’s attack crashed into the spot where they had just stood.