Alruin and Evan seed to share the sa thoughts.
“For a demon’s rules, these are far too simple,” Alruin noted.
“There must be plenty of traps. And what is an ‘Eyed Aurora Sphere’ supposed to look like? Surely it’s not the size of a pea. Demons are crafty like that,” Evan added.
“And let’s not forget,” teor interjected, “the sign only says ‘how to leave the Winter Estate.’ It doesn’t ntion returning to the human realm.”
Everyone, experienced with the Demon Realm to varying degrees, imdiately doubted the demon’s words.
Lucas shivered, teeth chattering.
“W-We should get moving and pair up. If we stay like this, I think I’m g-going to freeze to death.”
“Agreed. We need soone—anyone—to find that long-nad sphere. Even if it feels like we’re playing into the demons’ hands, we don’t have a choice.”
Alruin looked around at the knights and spoke again.
“I’ll pair with Lucas. Evan, you’ll team up with Edgar. And teor, you should stay with Crescent to protect her.”
“Yes!”
“Understood.”
That’s when it hit all of us—a cold chill far sharper than the biting wind.
Everyone’s gaze simultaneously turned to one person. Each of us had realized the sa thing at the sa mont.
The rule was to form pairs, but there were seven people here.
“Adrian.”
Alruin called out Adrian’s na, his eyes uncharacteristically wide.
A shadow of dread flickered in everyone’s eyes.
How could this be?
There had been a trap from the start.
Adrian, looking bewildered, finally spoke.
“What should I do?”
“Then, you can pair with Lucas—”
“Ah!”
“!”
Before Alruin could finish speaking, the ground beneath Adrian abruptly gave way. He plumted into a gaping hole that had appeared without warning.
“Adrian!”
Everyone cried out his na, their voices filled with shock.
His scream echoed as he fell deeper and deeper, fading into a distant void.
The pit he’d fallen into was pitch-black, bottomless.
Ti seed to freeze. No one moved, no one spoke.
Then, a cascade of snow collapsed into the pit.
Just as I instinctively stepped back, soone grabbed my arm and pulled away.
“Careful.”
It was teor.
Even as I moved back, my eyes stayed fixed on the gaping abyss.
The others were equally stunned.
Finally, Edgar managed to speak.
“Is… Is Adrian dead? Adrian!”
His voice rang out into the black void. He called again and again, but there was no response.
Could he really be dead?
Just like that? It didn’t make sense.
He had been standing with us just monts ago.
Of course, death was always a possibility in the Demon Realm, but for soone to vanish so suddenly, so unceremoniously, was unthinkable.
Then, sothing shot out of the pit and landed in the snow.
Startled, the knights recoiled, but the object quickly settled on the snowy ground.
Curious, I focused on it—and it felt as though I’d been struck on the back of the head.
It was a jacket, white with light blue and gold accents. I knew it all too well.
Monts ago, it had been draped over my shoulders.
“That’s… Adrian’s jacket, isn’t it?”
Evan picked up the coat.
It was the sa jacket Adrian had tried to lend , the one I had firmly refused.
Evan stared at the coat in his hands before turning his gaze to .
The other knights looked at too.
I could tell we were all thinking the sa thing.
Could Adrian have thrown the jacket to as he fell, intending to lend it to even in the face of death?
How could that be possible?
I felt as if my brain had short-circuited. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.
Evan hesitated before stepping closer to . Carefully, he held out the jacket.
“Crescent, it seems Adrian ant for you to have this. Given the circumstances, you should wear it. You look like you’re the coldest among us.”
“…What?”
In that mont, I snapped back to my senses.
The cold I hadn’t noticed before suddenly hit . My entire body felt numb, as if I were freezing solid.
I had to put on sothing warr.
I had spare clothes in my inventory, but with everyone around, I couldn’t just pull them out. And I didn’t want to wear any of the other knights’ clothes either….
“Do you think… Adrian might still be alive?”
My voice trembled as I asked the question no one could answer.
Guilt clawed at my heart.
Then, teor spoke.
“Adrian’s probably still alive. The sign said, ‘If anyone finds the Eyed Aurora Sphere, everyone escapes.’ If soone dies, the word ‘everyone’ wouldn’t apply anymore, would it?”
“…You think so?”
Now that I thought about it, teor’s logic made sense.
At the very least, the Winter Duke wouldn’t directly contradict the wording on his own sign. Not unless he found so demonic loophole.
Alruin nodded in agreent.
“That must be the case, Crescent. Adrian is still alive. For now, we need to trust that and focus on finding the sphere. It’s the only thing we can do.”
“…Alright.”
Reluctantly, I accepted the jacket Evan handed to .
My head still throbbed.
Why hadn’t we realized sooner that soone would be left out if we paired up? How had we overlooked sothing so obvious?
But even if we’d noticed earlier, would it have made any difference? Soone still would’ve been left behind.
Crunch. The sound of boots on snow broke the silence as the knights resud walking. I turned and slipped my arms into Adrian’s jacket.
The coat felt heavier than it had before.
The sound of everyone’s footsteps was heavy too.
Seconds dragged like hours. No one spoke.
After walking for so ti, Alruin’s voice cut through the silence.
“It’s ti we split up. As we discussed earlier, pair up and search for the sphere.”
“Understood.”
“Yes.”
Everyone agreed, and Alruin gave a final glance around the group. His expression was solemn but resolute.
“We’ll all make it out alive. No matter what happens, do not lose your pride as knights of Ammas.”
“Yes.”
“Y-Yesh, shir.”
Lucas’s frozen tongue tripped over his words as he chattered.
Everyone pretended not to notice the odd pronunciation, each exchanging a glance with their partner. This might be the last ti we looked one another in the eye.
Then, I turned and started walking with teor.
Even wearing Adrian’s jacket, my body remained stiff from the cold.
The cold wouldn’t leave anyti soon.
How much farther could we go like this?
“teor, aren’t you cold?”
At this rate, I wasn’t even sure I could fight if an enemy appeared.
teor’s voice reached shortly.
“I’ve never been in a place this cold.”
“ neither.”
So he was cold too.
He looked fine on the outside, but even teor was enduring the freezing temperatures.
Just a brief exchange of words made the cold feel a little more bearable.
What might Adrian be going through right now? Where could he be?
I couldn’t stop thinking about him, but I refrained from voicing my thoughts.
Talking about it wouldn’t change anything.
“…The master of this place is truly demonic. We might freeze to death before we even find the sphere.”
“That’s exactly the intention. They enjoy watching humans freeze.”
“I’d rather fight demons in a warm place.”
This cold was unbearable.
I’d been to countless dungeons, but this was by far the worst.
The cold wasn’t just numbing my body—it was freezing my ability to think and act.
I squinted at my surroundings, struggling to keep my eyes open.
Snowflakes clung to my lashes, obscuring my vision.
No matter how much I looked around, there was no sign of shelter—no buildings, no cover.
In this situation, all I could think about was my inventory.
Ah, I have matches in my inventory.
If only I could light a fire, even just a small one.
Part of wanted to use a teleportation ticket to go straight to the Winter Duke, but I couldn’t leave teor behind.
It felt like my brain was freezing over as my body trembled uncontrollably.
That’s when I felt sothing brush against my hand—a sensation of soone else’s hand slipping into mine.
Reviews
All reviews (0)