After Lena returned from "Cooling off", Storm Rider repaired the coral wall with her sorcery. Her conversation with Snow had been cut short by the incident but that's okay because Snow had shared with her so much information in that short exchange—especially about the mortal realm.

  Len losing her temper had caught everyone off guard. As someone trained to have better control over her emotions, it was shocking to see her break character and almost kill a Highblood. She was one step away from starting another war between clans and the possible death of thousands or millions of mortals like it did when House Night and Val were fighting for territory a few years ago.

  Since then, a neutral agreement was made to ensure that powerful forces like the Houses should never fight near settlements unless it is a subjugation.

  In other words, clans or Houses could only fight each other during subjugation.

  Anyway, to avoid something like that from ever happening Snow made the big decision and stripped away Len’s title as Captain for this mission as a punishment.

  Then, he demanded everyone to focus on the current mission until further notice. They all agreed of course. And soon, the order had returned.

  The Cursed Creature was still soaring through the terrifying dark sky over the frozen terrain. It didn’t fly over the Ivory Tower because of the magic hole. But flew around the tower while in search of its prey. Its horrific screeches could be heard from time to time and the sound of its large wings flapping echoed across the territory to act as a reminder of its existence whenever they thought it was gone.

  As of now, It was the only obstacle between them and the tower.

  Luna was confident in the group’s ability to cross the Kingdom and make it to the Ivory Tower. However, the only two people that were capable of flying were too weak to fight off a high-end Tyrant.

  ‘This means that the only person strong enough is…’ her intelligent dark eyes traveled to the person with the strongest presence here.

  Storm noticed her gaze and sighed. “Fine…I will do it.” Storm Rider cut the silence, her tone deep and balanced.

  “But I didn’t say anything.”

  “I read your mind. No one here is strong enough to kill a cursed tyrant like this one. Fairly, at least. Also, the guardian on the next level might be stronger than me so I need you to all be in your best shape.”

  Darkness leaned back and stared at the flames. She didn’t look very excited about this like she usually did when she heard fights. “What kind of guardian is stronger than you?” she asked. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

  “A Pantheon,” Luna replied instead of Storm Rider, “a Pantheon guards the next floor. It's a three-eyed lessor deity with unknown powers.”

  Lena growled and cursed. “It's a deity protecting the heart of this tower, of course. This is going to be a hard one."

  “Wait--how is there an uncorrupted deity in this tower?” Gail suddenly asked. "Aren't all divine beings corrupted by the madness or Ether?"

  Luna shrugged. “It’s simple. There is no corruption on the last floor of this tower,” Luna began to explain the observations she had made while in the tower. “Over the past months of our journey, I made a series of unique observations; during our time in the Crimson Desert, I needed the suit’s reactor active because the Black Ether readings were above average and concentrated. In other words, infection was very possible on the first floor, hence why I needed to be under a reactor’s protection.

  "But when I got here, I noticed there was barely enough ether to corrupt a human. My armor has been off for weeks now and I’m still here. It's just an assumption but I think there is no Black Ether on the next floor because the black ether in the air drops at a phenomenal rate.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Luna had deducted all of this while in the coral building. She would go up to the balcony and record the Black Ether levels of this floor every time she got the chance to.

  ‘ I only did that because I was cautious and I didn’t trust Storm’s words at the time.’

  Anyway, she was right about the ether here being too weak to affect a mortal. But that didn’t mean a mortal would be safe in this world. The temperatures were dangerously low and creatures here carried Black Ether but that didn’t spread into the air.

  It leaked off the bodies of these cursed creatures like the Kraken. It had infected the dark waters to a point where it was so concentrated that the reactor wouldn’t save her if she was dragged any deeper by the cursed creature.

  “No black ether, you say,” Snow cut in, sounding intrigued by Luna’s theory.

  Luna nodded and replied in an even tone. “I can’t show you right now because my suit’s on the verge of breaking apart.”

  The tiny reactor’s remaining energy was currently being used to keep a few parts like arm bracelets, and a silver breastplate over her tunic for her protection. The enchanted cloak kept the rest of her body warm and its fabric could withstand almost everything.

  “Alright. So we have an uncorrupted deity on the next floor…can we assume that the prisoner too isn’t corrupted too?”

  Lena shifted her gaze to Luna.

  “Yes, we have to be prepared for the worst.”

  “What if there is a way we can avoid the fighting?” Valentine suddenly spoke and the shelter’s atmosphere tensed. “The goal is to destroy the tower. Isn’t that what subjugation is? We can attack the heart and destroy it. We can split up into groups, one group fights the deity while the other goes for the heart.”

  “And then what?” Snow asked the dark-haired man.

  Valentine shrugged and answered in his usual nonchalant tone. “We win of course.”

  “We don’t win, Valentine! We free someone who was locked in this tower for a reason we don’t know yet.” Snow stood up and continued, “The next floor is the Moon goddess’s domain according to our friend over there. The being in there isn’t like The Undead King. He’s similar to her….”

  His eyes landed on Storm Rider who was staring at them with a somewhat devious expression. They had discussed how to bring this news down on the group. Everyone needed to know what kind of enemy they might have to go against to prepare.

  The pantheon was lesser diety but no one here was even a fraction of his strength. if they all attacked intending to kill him, they would all perish. So, they needed to proceed with absolute caution.

  “This isn't like the previous floors because the being imprisoned there is said to have committed a grave sin that even the gods were greatly against. I suggest we go to the next floor, avoid the deity guarding it, find shelter, and wait for reinforcements to arrive before doing anything rash like destroying the heart without knowing what it looks like. Storm Rider will take care of the ice bird as we make a run for the tower.”

  “Aye Aye Captain.” Valentine lifted a thumb and forced a smile.

  “I agree with the captain.” Luna jumped in. “None of us is strong enough to fight against a deity. And if we could, we wouldn’t walk away without casualties.”

  “Ah…it sucks to say this, but we should sit this one out. I’ve almost lost my life to rock spiders…I can’t be careless again,” said Darkness, sounding a bit ashamed about her decision.

  “I also agree,” Gail raised his hand to remind everyone he was still with them.

  “Me too, I guess. This sounds like the safest option.” Lena sighed heavily. She had calmed down but her mood said otherwise.

  They exchanged looks in silence. And once they were clear with each other, they faced their captain...Snow.

  He was standing next to the fire with a serious look. Aside from being the strongest mortal here, Snow was an official member of the Government army. Meaning he was more experienced than all of them combined. He was a strategist who knew how to respond to situations.

  This is why he was one of the top choices for Commanding Officers in the Hansho Division.

  Snow smiled weakly and summoned his weapon before signaling Storm Rider to move forward with the agreed-upon plan.

  Luna looked at the Fire Keeper. She was standing at the entrance, staring at them with the same wistful look in her eyes.

  She averted her eyes away from the team and stared directly at Luna while she mouthed a few words.

  “From this point, you can’t walk away.”

  Luna nodded when she understood what she meant. She had made her choice and accepted the consequences that would come with whatever she was going to do. Valentine was right, sacrifices needed to be made for the better. But in this case, she was the sacrifice not millions of people.

  “I hope you all survive,” Storm Rider said with a voice full of vigor. “You may be the most interesting humans I’ve seen in a long time."

  With those words, she willed her life essence to her hand and called upon her forged weapon.

  “Let me use you once again, " she said in her heart, focusing all her energy on her second Soul Gate. Her essence flowed, and the air around her right hand started to bend at will.

  Golden sparks appeared around her hand and strings of golden and red light grew from her forearm and merged in her palm. The energy cackled more as a golden lance manifested from the center of her palm.

  She stomped it down and a great pressure was released from it.

  The mortals in the room were already sweating after withstanding seconds of this great pressure.

  “Hmm… it's different now.” Storm creased her eyebrows when she noticed the changes in her weapon. “The last time I used this thing was when I was at my Third Gate.”

  During her era, humans were incapable of creating forged weapons since most knew only basic sorcery. The forged weapons they used in combat were usually picked up and restored after confirming their affinity.

  The Breaker of Heaven was one of those weapons her father managed to restore to its original state.

  ‘With a name like Breaker of Heaven, I should have known that it would evolve alongside my progression. I should pass it on to someone else soon.’

  With a heavy sigh, Storm Rider left the shelter and disappeared into the gathering snowstorm. It wasn’t as strong but the snow always messed with her field of vision.

  She gathered all her energy and unleashed her godlike presence to let the cursed creature know of her presence.

  Immediately, the clouds above the ice kingdom were split by a blast of wind that added to the snowstorm.

  Storm Rider saw the massive shadow overhead. She almost regretted her decision. Killing a cursed creature like this—without a summon—would be brutal.

  ‘Maybe if I create more versions of myself…no, I need to save that energy for later.’

  With her mind set up, Storm Rider’s eyes turned pure red. The hair on her head attained a reddish—gold glow when she let the power of her domain go all out. The snow blowing in her direction immediately melted and the snow she was stepping on sizzled and melted too.

  “Make it out of this, Lunaris. Become our first strike at the True Celestials and their little allies."

  She said to herself before she shot off the ground like a powerful torpedo.