"Let me crack the ice for you," she said, lifting her slender hand into the air. In the next second, fractures began to form on the block of ice, slowly spreading in all directions before the entire mass shattered completely.
CRACK
The fragments of ice fall to the ground,
Tink Tink
"Hmm." Now, without the block of ice covering the crack, Sylveraine could see it clearly. And from between that crack, she saw a place—
Deserted, broken, and completely dark. There was no light anywhere. Only shadows.
"Is this a gateway to a different world?" she asked, gazing at the crack with newfound interest.
"Most likely," Aerisyl replied, agreeing with Sylveraine's guess.
"But that world is extremely dangerous. Everyone who touched the crack or even put their finger into it... died within seconds," Aerisyl added grimly, reminding them all of the danger this possible new world held.
"Indeed," Sylveraine muttered, her interest beginning to fade. "We need to find a way to completely seal this rift—before something dangerous comes through it."
"Well, duh. That's what we've all been thinking the entire time," Yurashi said from a short distance away, standing behind Seralyne with a mocking smirk.
"Haaa..." Sylveraine just sighed and completely ignored Yurashi's comment, turning back to Aerisyl. Yurashi, now entirely dismissed, stood there stunned and speechless, her jaw hanging open.
"Ho... how is this possible? She didn't fall for the rage bait? What the fuck—has she started evolving or something?" Yurashi whispered, pointing a shaky finger at Sylveraine's back.
She turned to Seralyne, the one she'd been hiding behind, and placed both hands on her shoulders, shaking her back and forth.
"Seralyne! Can you see this?! She didn't fall for the rage bait! How is this possible?" Yurashi cried out in disbelief.
"Yeah, yeah, I can see. Now stop frickin' shaking me around," Seralyne grumbled, shrugging Yurashi's hands off her shoulders.
"And can you please be serious for once? Especially now—when we have no idea what's on the other side of that thing," Seralyne added with a frown.
Yurashi stood there at Seralyne's words, wearing an expression that screamed: "Really?"
Not backing down, she snapped, "Oh, please, Seralyne. You can't fool me. I know you're only here because of the chance to fight warriors from another world. You're not here because you care about regular people—you're here because you just want a fight. You battle maniac," she said with a mocking grin.
But Seralyne, who had spent her entire childhood with Yurashi, didn't fall for the bait. Instead, she smirked.
"Oh really? I didn't expect a cat like you to notice that," she replied coolly.
"Anyone would—if they'd spent their whole childhood with an extra-large lizard. And for your hard-to-remember brain, I'm a fox, not a cat. Nine-tailed fox, thank you very much," Yurashi replied, her eyes locking with Seralyne's in challenge.
"What did you say?" Seralyne growled, a nerve visibly twitching on her forehead.
"Ohh, what did I say? I don't remember... could you help me recall?" Yurashi said, her expression taunting. "What is that you all got?"
"YOU—!" Just as Seralyne was about to explode and cave Yurashi's head into the ground, Aerisyl's voice cut through the rising tension.
"Guys, come here! We found something!" she shouted.
"Huff..." Seralyne exhaled sharply, trying to calm herself. She turned to leave and muttered over her shoulder, "I'll deal with you when we're back at the clan."
"Ohh please don't. I'm so scared," Yurashi said, hugging herself while pretending to tremble.
"Yurashi, stop it and come over here!" Aerisyl called again, more firmly this time.
"Okay," Yurashi said and finally walked over.
"What is it?" Seralyne asked, still clearly annoyed.
"Look at that," Aerisyl said, pointing at the crack and ignoring Seralyne's tone completely.
Following her finger, Seralyne peered into the rift. Within it, she saw something—something tiny. So small it would've been impossible for a normal human to see. But thanks to their bloodlines and powers, they could make it out. A small gray sphere was slowly passing through the crack. Inch by inch, it pushed itself forward and was nearly through.
By now, Yurashi had also arrived and was watching closely.
"What is that?" Seralyne asked, confused.
"We don't know either," Sylveraine answered. "Aerisyl and I were just checking the crack, and I saw it by chance."
"I see," Seralyne murmured.
"So what are we supposed to do now—just wait for it to come through?" Yurashi asked from the side.
"Hmm. Let me try using wind element to push it back," Aerisyl said. Not waiting for a response, she swiped her hand in the air, summoning a sharp wind blade that flew at high speed toward the crack.
BOOM!
"Did it work?" Aerisyl asked, narrowing her eyes at the rift.
But the crack was unchanged—neither longer nor smaller. And the gray sphere remained. It was now right at the edge... and then, finally, it slipped through and began to fall toward the ground.
They all tensed. Even Nyx—the usually carefree one—was ready to fight.
And then it happened. Before the gray sphere could even touch the ground, it shone. A burst of radiant gray light blinded everyone for a brief moment.
And when their eyes adjusted...
Where there had once been nothing, now stood something.
Tall. Muscular. Its skin smooth and bone-white. Its head featureless—save for two hollow, black eyes. Vein-like tendrils twisted across its shoulders and chest, and its long hands ended in razor-sharp, clawed fingers.
It stood in silence, staring directly at them.
"...What the fuck is that?" Yurashi whispered.