The Wolf temple's gate stood open, like someone had been dragged through in a hurry.
At the end of the corridor, the floor dipped into a shallow basin of water—ankle-deep.
Three lumps of Slime Condensate lay near the edge.
"Slimes were killed here," Diluc said.
Slimes didn't always leave condensate behind, so it was hard to tell how many there had been.
They jumped down, water splashing outward.
Kaito crouched immediately, pulled out a small container, and scooped up the three pieces.
Diluc stared. "…You're collecting that?"
"It's great in chilled drinks," Kaito said without looking up. "You should try fermenting something with it. Might make a surprisingly good wine."
Diluc's voice actually rose. "Your drinks have that in them?!"
He forced himself to calm down, then cleared his throat—hard.
He'd had plenty of Good Hunter's iced drinks.
And he'd liked them.
Kaito shrugged. "It's not poisonous. Relax."
Diluc clenched his fist.
In that moment, he made a silent vow: never again.
They pushed deeper.
A pair of flame-spraying mechanisms blocked the corridor ahead—left and right—cycling in intervals. Between them was a narrow safe pocket… with more condensate scattered on the ground.
Someone had passed through.
And if they'd made it past the first trap, they'd made it past the next.
Diluc muttered, "Start praying Kaeya's still breathing."
Kaeya could freeze the mechanisms briefly and dash through.
But the fact they were active again meant he'd been here a while.
Kaito didn't hesitate.
Two Stone Walls rose in front of the flame jets, blocking the fire cleanly.
They sprinted through—Kaito even snatched up another chunk of Slime Condensate as they passed.
Diluc stared. "…Convenient."
Even for a Pyro user, forcing your way through flame jets wasn't fun.
You wouldn't die, but you'd come out scorched and furious.
No monsters ahead.
Only traps.
A spiked pool blocked the path next—too wide to swim, packed with jagged protrusions.
Kaito calmly raised Geo beneath his boots like stepping stones.
He walked straight across.
Diluc followed, boots striking stone.
Diluc finally couldn't hold it in. "Do you ever run out of Geo?"
Kaito grinned. "Guess."
Diluc clicked his tongue again.
Then—
Kaito lifted a hand.
"Shh."
They were close to the upper chambers now.
A cold pressure seeped through the air—unnatural, sharp, and dense.
Diluc felt it too.
Without speaking, they split—one left, one right—pressed to the walls as they edged toward the next hall.
The chamber ahead was drowned in Cryo.
And worse—
there was no other elemental signature muddying it.
Diluc's expression darkened.
"So we really did run into the worst matchup."
At least it meant Kaeya was still alive.
If the Cryo pressure was still this intense, the fight hadn't ended yet.
They peeked in.
Frost coated the floor and walls. Kaeya's hair and cloak were dusted with ice crystals.
Opposite him floated an Ice Abyss Mage, chanting behind a shimmering shield—drawing Cryo straight from the leylines.
Even in a Cryo-rich environment, Kaeya's Vision couldn't refill as fast as that shield could.
Kaito's stomach tightened.
If we'd been even a minute later…
And selfish or not, one thing was obvious:
If one of these Vision holders died, Kaito's growth ceiling dropped with them.
Diluc drew his claymore.
The two exchanged quick hand signals.
One beat.
Then—
BOOM!
Pyro erupted at the entrance.
Diluc swung down with brutal force.
A flaming hawk burst from his blade and screamed across the chamber.
"Dawn!"
Where the firebird passed, frost evaporated into steam.
At the same instant—
Kaito stepped into the doorway.
A violent surge of wind snapped outward, sudden as a storm that didn't belong indoors.
His bandaged hands gripped an invisible greatsword and cut through the air.
"Gale Surge!"
The Anemo wave slammed into Diluc's firebird—
KABOOM!
Wind fed flame.
The reaction detonated, swallowing the chamber in a violent elemental blast.
The Ice Abyss Mage took it head-on.
Its shield flashed—
and shattered.
A shadow fell over it.
Diluc was already above, claymore blazing—
descending like judgment.
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