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The damage was not particularly high, but the force behind it was immense. The boss was finally interrupted mid-action and staggered back several steps.

“I can’t face the Empress again… I’ll make you all… die…” Zedana muttered deliriously, his consciousness already slipping. At that moment, the Ring of Inferno faded away.

Starmew rushed over and unleashed a breath of frost, instantly freezing the weakened flames. Encased within the ice, the boss’ face looked ashen. Zadana offered no resistance, its will to fight already extinguished.

‘Checkmate.’

Suppressing the discomfort in his body, Zane continued swinging the Mana Blade, controlling Starry to follow up with another Icy Moon Slash. Treka simply discarded her longbow altogether, pulled an arrow free, and gripped it like a dagger as she stabbed Zedana repeatedly. The sight was frightening.

If the enemy had been an ordinary creature rather than an elemental being, she would surely have been splattered with blood from head to toe, becoming a legendary she-devil on the spot.

For ordinary players, 90,000 HP would have been an intimidating wall to overcome, but for the three of them, it was no longer a real obstacle.

Half a minute later, the aura of flames completely dissipated beneath the relentless Ice Spike. Starry directly advanced to Level 32, while Zane reached Level 31, and Starmew also rose to Level 31.

After Level 30, the experience required increased drastically, so the leveling speed naturally slowed down. Even so, the experience from a Level 40 Unique boss was still extremely generous.

The flames slowly dispersed, leaving behind a blazing crimson battle robe and a small flame radiating red light. Reaching out to inspect it, the equipment’s attributes immediately appeared.

What an incredible piece of armor! As a Level 40 Unique item, its base attributes already spoke for themselves, but the Ring of Inferno alone elevated its value to an entirely new level. And the Flame Enhancement… for mages specializing in fire magic, this was practically like giving a tiger wings.

Anyone they disliked could simply be blown away with a single Flameburst. Zane wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. Since it required Level 40 to equip, he would just store it away for now.

Next came the small flame.

That single short line of description was all there was.

“What is this…?” Zane wondered aloud.
“A Flame Core. I’ve heard they only appear in higher-rank fire spirits. I didn’t expect it to be real.”
“What’s it used for?”
“Hmm… let me think… it should be good for starting campfires!” Treka answered without hesitation.

“…” Zane was speechless. “You should treat your wounds first.”

“Mm…!” Only then did she belatedly feel the pain. Her soft lips tightened as tears shimmered in her eyes, making the sight pitiful enough to stir sympathy.

“Are you… alright?” Zane asked awkwardly. Comforting girls was the one thing he was worst at.

The Light Elf shook her head, signaling that there was no need to worry. She then crossed her hands, and a soft white glow blossomed from them.

…

Every half a second, a healing number of 3000 popped up, steadily restoring her HP bar until it was completely full. Her wounds rapidly healed as if they had never existed, and Zane’s HP was conveniently restored to full along the way.

“Do you want to rest for a bit?” Zane asked.

“…” Treka fell silent for a moment. “No need. Let’s head back first.”

If their guess was correct, Blazing Zedana corresponded to the crimson ley line near the Wind Guardian Spirit. What would happen after Zedana’s death remained uncertain. Would its minions continue supplying energy to it?

There were too many unknowns. For now, they needed to return to the original forest and confirm the situation themselves.

“Alright.” He had barely taken a single step. The ground suddenly trembled. Zane nearly lost his footing and almost collapsed. Moreover, at some point the temperature had begun dropping continuously. Snowflakes drifted through the air while patches of green grass sprouted rapidly around them.

‘What’s happening? I did not invoke Frost!’

The trembling beneath the earth grew increasingly violent. Grass had already spread to their feet without them noticing, covering the rocky ground all around. White snow blanketed the area, its chilling touch settling upon Zane’s blonde hair.

‘What the hell is going on!?’

“Tre—” He turned his head, and his gaze froze in that instant.

Lightchaser Treka had already been frozen into a statue of ice. Chunks of stone rose sharply from the ground, lifting the frozen statue high before enclosing it within. But it didn’t stop there. Green vines coiled upward layer by layer, binding the stone into a massive green bundle like a tightly wrapped dumpling before launching it off into the distance.

Zane stared in utter disbelief. They actually kidnapped her right in front of him!? Without hesitation, he transformed into the Swiftshadow Wolf, while Starry dismissed the Frostfang Tiger and swiftly mounted his back.

“Hmph.” Somewhere in the distance, a faint female voice could be heard scoffing with disdain. In the next moment, a particularly pristine snowflake shimmered as it drifted toward them, lowering the already frigid temperature even further.

‘Something’s not right. We absolutely must not make contact with that thing!’

The white wolf activated Lightning Rush and burst forward with explosive speed. In an instant, he veered away from the eerie snowflake and sprinted toward the direction Treka had been taken.

But after an unconscious glance backward, he realized something unsettling… The grass, the trees, the rocky ground—everything had vanished. All that remained was a vast expanse of frozen glacier.

***

“Guildmaster, I’ve called everyone over, but…” TribalChief hesitated.

“If you’ve got something to say, spit it out. Don’t beat around the bush.”

“She refused to come.” In truth, she had never replied at all. This was simply a more polite way of putting it.

“I see… forget it. Whether she comes or not won’t change much.” Skypride rubbed his temples and shook his head. Having a hidden class on their side made him happy, but refusing to follow orders was another matter entirely.

Although that person had not joined the guild, given the Vice Guildmaster’s relationship with her, she was practically one of their own already. He would need to find time to have a proper talk with her later.

“By the way, how much Frostcrystal Ore have we mined?”

“About a hundred pieces or so. But that’s just from the entrance area. We haven’t explored deeper inside yet.”

“…Not good enough. Send more people over. We can’t let this place slow us down. Finish mining the first round quickly, then figure out the respawn timer.”

“Got it!”

***

By the time they arrived at the coordinates Rainflower had called out in the regional announcement, the place was already packed with people.

The small cave entrance had been completely blocked by a large circle of high-level players.

At a glance, every one of them was above Level 20. Judging by the glow of their equipment, each player had several Rare items, with a few even wearing one or two Epic pieces. It was quite a luxurious lineup.

“What’s with Cloud Edge acting like this? This map is open to everyone, yet your guild just decides to claim it for yourselves?” one player finally shouted in protest.

“Exactly! Dreamscape wasn’t opened by your Cloud Edge guild, so why aren’t we allowed in?”

“So this is the so-called number one guild? Is this really the extent of your tolerance? Afraid someone might mine a little ore and end up crushing you later?”

The players’ noisy complaints overlapped with one another, turning the entire map into something that sounded more like a bustling marketplace.