Boom!

Dust and loose fragments of rock rained down from the jagged ceiling.

Once again, the cavern shook as the deafening roar echoed through the hollow recesses of the underground tunnel, its effects resonating against the walls of the stone like a frenzied drumbeat of destruction.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for them to reach the source of the chaos. Not when Seraphine was the one carrying them.

With all three safely locked in her grip, Seraphine made her way through the cave at an incredible speed, streaking through the dark corridors like a bolt of silver lightning.

Her steps were rapid and exact, and she moved almost noiselessly despite the speed she was going at.

The rough terrain that would normally slow down even seasoned adventurers meant absolutely nothing to her. She navigated through them all as if she had already memorized every inch of the cave.

Along the way, a few unfortunate Voidspawn attempted to intercept them.

Grotesque shadows lurking within the tunnels lunged out with distorted limbs and screeching hunger.

But they barely even had the chance to react.

Seraphine simply shifted her path slightly, weaving through the cavern like a phantom, leaving those creatures clawing at empty air as she passed them by without slowing down even for a moment.

Soon enough, the distant sounds of destruction grew louder. Heavier. And more violent.

’I hope... she didn’t kill the Voidspawn yet.’

In the original novel, the situation was far less dramatic than what was unfolding now.

Calyra had only encountered the Silk Tyrant by accident while escorting her teammates through the cave. The encounter had been sudden and dangerous, forcing her to stay behind while the others retreated.

Her role had simply been to buy time.

Just enough time for her teammates to escape safely from the nest.

Once they had evacuated and the immediate danger had passed, Calyra did not bother continuing the fight. There was no reason to risk unnecessary injuries or exhaustion against such a troublesome creature.

So she had simply withdrawn from the battle and left the Tyrant Silk behind.

It had been a cautious and sensible decision. However, Ruvian had no intention of letting the situation unfold that way this time.

As the distant thunder of Calyra’s magic continued to shake the cavern, a faint smile slowly appeared on his face.

Because there was something he wanted to achieve by letting Calyra continue the fight.

He wanted to know, with exact detail, what level of strength Calyra currently possessed — to assess and determine whether she was strong enough to bring her along on a mission to break her curse.

And while he was at it, there was a second reason.

He wanted to bring Rosalin along and give her the chance to see how Calyra fought with her own eyes.

It was for the sake of their growth.

"We are finally here," Seraphine said.

Seraphine put them down.

As they finally arrived at the edge of the passage that led into a vast open chamber, the first thing that touched their skin and pricked their noses was the cold air emanating from within.

It was bitterly cold... like stepping straight into the heart of winter itself, the chill so intense that it seemed to seep through their clothes and bite at their bones.

’Ah damn it. I forgot to consider that I’m weak to this level of coldness...’

Ruvian hugged himself, trying to warm his body.

"This cold magic..." Silvena said.

"Calyra’s ice spell," Rosalin finished.

Immediately, the two of them rushed toward the threshold of the passage, with Ruvian and Seraphine quickly following behind.

From where they stood, they realized they were on higher ground. The path ahead opened into empty space, revealing the vast chamber below while the towering walls stretched upward above them.

And everywhere they looked, countless frozen lines of ice crisscrossed through the chamber stretching from wall to wall, and from floor to ceiling, like a tangled web of glacial blades.

"But where is Calyra?"

Silvena said as she looked down toward the ground below.

Ruvian was also searching for her.

’Is she not here?’

Then a voice spoke.

"Above..." Seraphine said as she glanced upward.

Immediately, all of them lifted their heads.

There, floating in the air, was the person they were looking for, a staff held firmly in her right hand. And standing before her, pressed against an ice wall, was the Tyrant Silk — its massive body trapped inside a thick bulk of ice.

"Ehhh~ Did she already defeat the creature?"

Silvena said, a trace of disappointment in her voice.

Ruvian kept his eyes on both Calyra and the Tyrant Silk.

"No. It’s not over yet," he said. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

*****

[Calyra’s POV]

Breathing slowly, Calyra stared at the creature frozen within her spell.

Ever since her fight with the Tyrant Silk began, it felt as though the creature had been trying to avoid directly fighting her, mainly delaying the battle.

Of course, she knew what the spider queen was trying to do. It was most likely calling for its soldiers to come and back it up.

That was its first instinct.

Worried about such an outcome, Calyra decided to end the fight immediately by using her coldest ice spell.

However, strangely enough, although cold usually weakened spider breeds, this particular spider creature wasn’t affected by her ice magic at all!

That was when she deduced the possibility that this creature might possess cold resistance ability. If that was the case, then it would explain why her attacks had not affected the spider at all.

Slowly, the ice against the caged wall began to crack.

Either way, even though it’s not giving any damage, this ice attack had given her time to think about how to deal with this spider.

At least, one thing was for sure.

Now she understood why Ruvian had given her the necklace.

This will become a battle of endurance.

If the spider exhausted its mana capacity first, then it would no longer be able to maintain its cold resistance ability. Because every ability a monster possessed depended on the consumption of mana.

Slightly glancing downward, she suddenly felt a strong presence nearby.

That was when she saw a few familiar faces.

’They are here, too?’

Then she saw Ruvian, his cold dark blue eyes staring at her as if he was judging her.

Seeing those unbothered, indifferent eyes, and sensing that they were merely standing there as bystanders, she had a feeling that Ruvian had told them not to interfere with the fight.

’It seems like I was right.’

’He wants me to fight this creature.’

He was testing her.

For whatever the test was... she couldn’t tell.

But he better had a good reason for it after this.

At the same time, she could no longer sense the stronger presence of the other monster within the cave.

Naturally, she quickly assumed they had already dealt with it. With that in mind, Calyra refocused her attention on the frozen creature.

’I guess there’s no need for me to worry about it now.’

However, this time would be different. Since the beast would also learn that its soldiers were already defeated, it would likely move to being offensive soon.

If that was the case, then she should also get serious, as well.

Gripping her staff tightly, Calyra let out a quiet sigh.

Then, she slowly channeled a small mana into [The Heart of the Boundless].

Soon, the enchantment of the artifact activated.

Calyra could feel her Mana Essence triple!

Her mana regeneration also increased!

Crack!

In the next instant, the ice that had imprisoned the creature shattered.

──────── ✦ ────────

[Chapter 108: The Deepmarch Dungeon (13)]