Luna had walked for hours through the blizzard and still hadn’t found any sign of nd. However, she had noticed a few signs of life hiding the snowstorm. As expected, the creatures here used the environment to aid with their hunting.

  But....

  So far, her dagger was still clean because the cursed creatures were currently focused on resisting the strong winds which also helped hide her scent from the predators. However, if the winds slowed down before she found any nd, that would be a whole other situation she needed to avoid at the moment.

  Under the helmet, her face had grown pale after feeding her mind with so much information after overusing Qi sense. She was using it like a radar that stretched for about a kilometer since most of her ‘advanced radar’ was offline.

  Luna silently continued searching for nd while traversing the ice terrain. She was tired, cold, and hungry after walking for so long. She was occasionally tempted to activate cross-country communication, but she was focusing all her energy on keeping herself warm for now. She may have been very different from mundane humans but she didn’t carry that slight resistance to elements most ascenders had.

  Len was fully immune to the coldness of this world so Luna was sure she was going to survive unless attacked by something more powerful and impossible to escape.

  After walking for a couple more hours, Luna’s eyes finally nded on a distant orange light. Its brightness easily cut through the darkness and snow like they were nothing.

  She stopped and asked herself. “What is that?” her eyes stayed on the orange light. “A beacon or a lighthouse of sort?”

  Much as she wanted to find out what it was exactly, her concerns were much bigger than that. She was still ignorant about this world, its rules, and the possible prisoner of this floor. There was also the fact that she was getting hungrier by each minute.

  She needed to find something to eat.

  “Damn it…” Luna hissed. Her movements were now getting slower. She was now getting thirsty. Was it even safe to drink the bck water under feet?

  Once she was warm enough, Luna decided to turn on her communication to try and get in touch with anyone nearby. The suit’s screen blinked green when she transferred most of the suit's energy to enhance the communication.

  While that happened, a holographic screen appeared in front of her. It dispyed all the active zenshi reactors. The screen showed three green dots, meaning that these suits belonged to ascenders since the ascender’s soul gate constantly recharged their reactors.

  If she were to guess, the three green dots were Gail, Snow, and Darkness. The single red dot represented a dormant suit that was still online, representing Lena because the environment wasn’t a problem to her like the rest. The remaining orange dots belonged to active suits which belonged to Luna and Valentine.

  Once the communications were online, Luna let out a command. “Initiate cross-country communication.”

  [initiating cross-country communication]

  The suit’s intelligence responded as it began to communicate with other suits in its reach. The chances of this working in this snowstorm were close to zero so Luna wasn’t confident about this. She started to feel a little cold as the surface of her armor started to freeze instantly. After she toned down on the power, the suit's heating was no longer as effective as before. If she had two zenshi cores or her own zenshi, the suit would’ve been a lot more powerful. But, unfortunately, even with two cores, this specific model was designed for people who easily lose stamina after using their super strength for too long. To make that possible, many functions had to be removed including the compatibility with two cores.

  ‘She thought I wouldn’t notice….’ She was well-informed about the technology of the real world.

  After waiting for about twenty minutes, Luna smiled when something aside from the sound of wind reached her ears.

  [Lu…na! Are you….there? Gd…alive]

  She immediately sighed when she heard Valentine’s voice.

  [Thank gods. Valentine, I’m on a frozen…ke of sorts. Where are you?]

  [What is that? L..Lake? No….you…get off now! The Frozen Sea is Dangerous!]

  Valentine's final statement felt like being hit by a rock. Before she could ask why, her suit was hit by more static, and then it was completely silent.

  [Valentine….Valentine!]

  She called out his name a few more times but all she received was utter silence. The storm had finally interfered with the signal. Nevertheless, at least someone was still alive.

  ‘I need to leave this sea. But where do I run to? There is no nd at all.’

  She continued crossing the frozen sea without encountering anything. The snowstorm hadn’t reduced but she getting used to the sound whistling sound of wind and the crunch of ice as she counted her steps whenever she was bored.

  After reaching a certain part of the frozen surface, Luna was hit by an overwhelming pressure that instantly turned her blood cold. Her grip on the Poison Sin tightened as she looked around for any danger. Her senses hadn’t warned her of anything yet so where was this pressure coming from exactly? When she moved, Luna felt a chilling, predatory gaze lock onto her from below the ice surface. It was coming from the bck waters.

  She gulped and slowly moved her eyes to the surface with her Binocur vision active. ‘Oh no….’ The sight that met with her eyes was something that sent a chill down her spine. Luna spotted a massive shadow, slithering and unduting as it swam rapidly toward the surface. Its size was monstrous, dwarfing everything around it as it got bigger and bigger.

  Just then, panic surged through her veins as she burst into motion, her body propelled by sheer terror. Luna darted across the ice, each step a desperate attempt to escape the unseen horror below. The ice behind her shattered with a deafening crack as something massive exploded out of the water.

  A screech, unearthly and bone-chilling, tore through the air. The sound was so piercing that Luna felt her ears bleed. She didn’t dare look back, but she could feel the creature’s malevolent presence bearing down on her. It was as if death itself was reaching out to cim her.

  The creature’s screech was followed by a guttural roar, a sound so filled with hatred and hunger that it seemed to reverberate through her very soul and make the frozen ocean tremble. The air around her grew colder, the temperature plummeting as the beast’s icy breath washed over her.

  Luna ran faster, her heart pounding in her chest. Her breath came in ragged gasps, each step a desperate bid for survival. She could hear the creature’s massive form crashing through the ice behind her, each impact sending tremors through the ground. The ice splintered and cracked, the shards flying in all directions as the beast tore its way toward her.

  “Shit shit shit…..” Luna's mind raced as she tried to think of a way to escape this monstrous predator. She could feel its killing intent, a palpable force that seemed to wrap around her, suffocating and relentless.

  She chanced a gnce over her shoulder and her breath quivered. The creature was unlike anything she had ever seen in any book. Its body was a grotesque amalgamation of scales and spines, its yellowish two eyes glowing with a malevolent intelligence. Rows of jagged teeth glistened in the darkness as its maw opened wide to reveal a cavernous throat lined with razor-sharp spikes and tentacles swinging without direction.

  At first gnce, Luna could tell It was intelligent. She could tell It had been watching her, stalking her from the depths and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Now, it had her in its sights and there was no escape.

  Luna's legs burned with exertion, her lungs screamed for air, but she couldn’t stop. She had to keep moving and needed to stay ahead of the horror that pursued her.

  As Luna ran, the ice beneath her feet began to glow with an eerie, otherworldly light. She barely had time to react before a gigantic tentacle burst through the thick ice, sending shards flying in all directions.

  The ground beneath her shattered, the sound echoing like a death knell through the frozen wastend.

  Acting on pure instinct, Luna channeled every ounce of her remaining energy into her legs, propelling herself into a powerful leap. She soared through the air, her heart pounding, and nded with a heavy thud on a distant icy surface. Behind her, the monstrous tentacle smashed down, obliterating the spot where she had just been standing.

  The creature let out a furious screech, its frustration visible as it thrashed the ice, searching for its lost prey. She knew she had only moments before the horror beneath the ice realized she was still above water.

  Turning her back to the chaos, she sprinted directly into the snowstorm. The wind howled, whipping icy fkes against her helmet but she forced herself to keep moving. Each step was a fight against the biting cold and the deepening snow that tried to slow her down.