The cocoon pulses with energy, and Seraphina rushes to Teruki.
"You will know what to do with this excess mana better than I will," she mutters in a shaky, nervous voice.
Teruki grasps her arm and almost instantly looks rejuvenated. She channels the mana straight into Adrian, trying again to heal him.
She places a hand beside his wounded eye, leaning close as if inspecting something invisible. She pokes gently at the wound. She searched for a way around the block. She lowers her head until their foreheads touch to get a better look.
"Wow, Teru, you're being very forward," Viri teases
"Shut up," Teruki snaps. She keeps working for several minutes, her brow furrowed in concentration, but the healing block remains. Eventually she pulls back.
"I am so sorry, Adrian. I cannot heal you."
"No worries," Adrian laughs. "If you did, it would ruin the challenge anyway."
"It is my fault," she whispers. "I am truly sorry."
"Relax, alright?" Adrian says gently. "My left eye had terrible vision to begin with. Now if it were my right eye, then we would have a problem."
Teruki gives a fake smile, but I can see the guilt still sitting heavy in her. More guilt than she ever admits.
"I am starving," Yuto announces loudly, trying to break the mood.
"Seriously?" Maki complains. "You ate before we were going to fight the spider."
"I did, but try making potions and everything during a fight."
"Lazy."
"What are you talking about? You have just been standing there."
"Emotional support," Yuto says proudly. "And I had to save this vial. We only have a little bit of the core left."
We start to settle, just for a moment, when the ice suddenly pulses.
Calder steps forward and gently pulls Teruki aside.
"Do not get lost," I hear Shino call.
They walk far from the group, far enough that they look like tiny specks in the distance.
I look over at Gerald. He sits on the ground. Calm and content. The second he spots Sera walking past, he jumps up, posture straightening.
"What was that skill?" Gerald asks Sera.
"It's a prototype," Sera answers quietly. Then she lights up. If you condense the mana at the exact temperature threshold, the cocoon becomes self-reinforcing and the output doubles and …"
She shuts her mouth like she realizes she said too much.
"…Anyway."
It's strange hearing her talk more in ten seconds than she usually does in a whole day.
"It's incredible! " Gerald smiles.
"Thank you." She smiles. "You're incredible as well. You were able to keep up with Viri and Reyna with nothing but your muscles."
"Rei, what's the next move?"
"It obviously will not hold forever, so let's take a moment to rest." She replies.
I look at Adrian. He has a small frown on his face, so I walk over.
"What are you thinking about, kid?"
"Nothing, old lady."
"You can be honest. There is nothing I have not heard in my old age."
"I'm just thinking about my mom," Adrian says with a tired laugh. "She always warned me not to become an adventurer. Too dangerous, she said."
"That is something I cannot relate to."
"Useless old hag."
Iso joins us and sits beside Adrian. Shino looks over at the group but never joins.
"Honestly, you could put a fake eye in," Shino suggests.
"Where am I going to get one of those?"
"I'm sure someone in the capital figured out how to craft them."
"Not the worst idea," Iso says. "You could even have a magic spell keep your vision up."
"I would rather be genuine," Adrian says. "I want people to know they can be strong without mana, but I also want them to understand the risks."
"That is actually kind of inspiring," Rei says.
"Didn't expect you to be that considerate," Shino mocks.
"Yeah, I just don't think my mom will understand it the way you do."
PULSE.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The cocoon pulses white. The cocoon glows with an eerie light. The cocoon shifts. It glows an eerie blue.
CRUNCH
The cocoon shatters into thousands of pieces. Chains and ice scatter across the surrounding area.
"Round two." Yuto grins as he rises to his feet.
The Queen does not speak. She is silent. For the first time she almost seems angry, almost aggravated. Her gems fade back into existence, but this time only one remains.
A white gem. An ice gem.
She lifts her arm.
A massive wall of ice forms behind an avalanche of snow. The snow pushes the wave forward, ready to crush everything in its path.
The wall is aimed toward Calder and Teruki, who still have not noticed the Queen is back on her feet.
Han yells Teruki's name, but she does not react. The sound fades as if the world itself has gone silent.
"Shino!" Iso yells.
Shino jolts to her feet, trying to outrun the ice. She stays beside it for a moment and throws her hook. The world feels frozen for a moment. We all hold our breath.
"CALDER!" Adrian yells.
"Teruki!" Rei yells. She shoots a bullet of fire towards the ice wall and avalanche.
The ice hits first. From our distance I cannot see what happens. We rush toward her, ignoring the Queen completely.
My legs buckle under the weight of everything I fear.
Rei's face is empty. She's drained of all the fire she usually carries.
Gerald's jaw is locked so tight I can hear his teeth grind. Maki looks pale, her hands shaking on her bowstring. Even Viri seems frozen, her expression unreadable behind the rising dust and ice. Every step feels heavier. Every heartbeat feels too slow. We are all running, but it feels like we are sinking.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Teruki repeats. "We would have survived. We would have survived."
Han holds her as she cries. Adrian sits beside her.
"Are you okay?" Adrian asks, but she does not stop.
"We would have survived. I could survive that cold," Teruki cries again and again.
I turn the corner and see Calder sprawled in front of the wall of ice. He is like a statue, locked in eternal winter.
His eyes seem resolute behind the frost. He looks calm. He was calm. He knew what he needed to do.
Adrian lowers his head. He stays quiet, and so do the rest of the Crusaders. Calder's body seems prepared and at peace. He seems almost happy.
Reyna melts the ice with her fire. Calder falls backward. Shino rushes to him, tears forming in her eyes.
The man in her hands looks nothing like before. His short brown hair is bleached. The ring on his right hand is frozen into his skin.
Iso kneels beside him.
"No pulse. If anything, be glad it was instant."
The Crusaders all remove their helmets and capes.
I look toward the boss. It stands still. It seems satisfied. It does not move. Adrian closes his eyes.
"If we could," Gerald says, "I would teleport away from this floor in an instant."
Adrian does not respond, and neither do the Crusaders. He looks at the boss with fire and pain burning in his eyes. He seems complete. He seems prepared. He seems different from the kid who entered this dungeon.
"What is the next move?" Shino asks, trying to hide her tears.
Adrian says nothing.
The Crusaders look to Gerald, but he has no answer either.
"Slime Queen," Adrian yells. "I know you can hear me!!"
"All you mobs are the same! Do you have any idea how many times I have heard you claim that we are monsters, that we only steal and destroy?! NO! We were taken from our home! You … killed Calder! I will not allow you to take the moral high ground! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
"You are not moral! You are not better than us! You are nothing but a stepping stone in our way!" Viri adds.
The Queen rushes toward us and we instinctively dodge. Adrian, however, stands firm in front of her. He slashes at the Queen.
The Queen looks toward Calder's body.
She sends hundreds of tendrils, but Adrian blocks them.
"Spear_of_Everfrost(effect: Instant, Stagger, HealingBlock)"
Adrian leaps backward to avoid the incoming spear, and in that moment the Queen rushes toward Calder's body. Shino tries to hook onto Calder's body, but the tendrils are too strong. They wrap around her hook and absorb it as well.
"NO!" Adrian yells.
She begins to shift and reshape into Calder.
Her standing in Calder's body is a provocation all on its own. The Crusaders Guild radiates a fierce heat, a rage I have never witnessed. If they unleashed their mana, the pressure would crush the room, just like Sho's.
Adrian goes silent. Seeing her wear Calder's face is enough to make him believe he failed.
He can't even speak.
"Do not you dare desecrate Calder's image," Gerald yells.
"I lost focus earlier," Shino roars. "Never again!"