Blue light surged through Deinofrigus’s eyes and throat, gathering into a blinding core before erupting outward in a torrent of freezing radiance that devoured everything in its path.

  It was aimed directly at James.

  Spires of jagged ice formed at the tunnel’s mouth, filling the passage completely and sealing it shut.

  Cold vapor oozed from Deinofrigus’s maw as he turned his head to the right, his glowing blue eyes leaving a mystical trail as his cephalon moved.

  There, James knelt, breathing raggedly. Helga stood in front of him like a guardian, her wooden staff gripped tightly, her face furrowed with determination.

  “Hey, your fight is with me, not him,” Helga retorted.

  She gritted her teeth. Aware of the opponent she faced, she held nothing back, though the effort drained her mana rapidly.

  'Thanks to this kid', she thought. He gave me time to prepare this move. I’ll gamble the energy I have left'.

  The translucent crystal atop her staff began glowing emerald green. Beneath the voracious wyvern, numerous magic circles shimmered to life in a wide circular formation.

  Her teeth ground together as she raised her staff and cast:

  “Vacuum Vortex!”

  Wind began to swirl beneath the beast, faster and faster, until it became a massive whirlwind that swallowed the monster whole, howling with a cacophony of rushing air.

  Helga’s intent was clear, to strip the air away from the wyvern, trapping it within an airless vacuum and suffocating it.

  It was a brilliant strategy, using the environment itself as a weapon. However, the spell was extremely taxing, requiring time to construct the magic circles as conduits while consuming enormous amounts of mana.

  It would have worked perfectly against almost any opponent.

  But not against Deinofrigus, the Mythic-class wyvern.

  The whirlwind began freezing from the bottom upward. The wind solidified into ice, forming a massive white dome that imprisoned the beast inside.

  Seconds later, Deinofrigus spread his enormous wings, shattering the frozen wind into millions of shards that scattered in all directions.

  Helga summoned wind around herself and James just in time, shielding them from the storm of ice fragments.

  Deinofrigus stared down at them with glowing, malicious eyes, growling.

  'I still have mana left… I can—

  A strange pulse reverberated through Helga’s body.

  She froze like a statue.

  Literally.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Her joints locked, muscles stiffened, and even her facial expression remained trapped in place like a statue.

  'Eh?! she thought in confusion. What’s happening?

  Deinofrigus’s shadow loomed over them, his shimmering blue eyes casting a melancholic silhouette.

  “For too long I have condoned your nuisance,” Deinofrigus’s dreadful voice echoed. “Now… be gone.”

  Thousands of massive ice shards formed from thin air and, in an instant, shot toward the two.

  Suddenly, a gate bearing a three-eyed monster opened before them, swallowing the incoming shards.

  Another gate appeared, ejecting the same shards back toward the ferocious Mystic Beast.

  Deinofrigus raised his massive wings, blocking the assault.

  At the same time, a third gate opened beneath James and Helga, pulling them away from the chamber.

  In a narrow tunnel, the two were expelled from the portal, crashing onto the ground.

  “James, are you alright?” Aurelia asked worriedly, rushing toward them.

  Disoriented from the sudden teleportation, they lifted their heads, trying to understand where they were.

  “We’ve got to get out of here,” Sameer said urgently. “We’re all going to die if we stay any longer.”

  “H-Helga?!” Wolfton said in disbelief. “It really is you!”

  “Wolfton?!” Helga replied, equally stunned. “What are you doing here?”

  “Ahem!” Sameer interrupted irritably. “Do you two have a death wish? You can exchange pleasantries somewhere safer!”

  Helga’s stiffened body finally relaxed, and she flexed her limbs to regain control.

  Without wasting time, the nine quickly moved through the tunnels into a larger cavern. Guided by Sameer and Triste, they navigated paths none of the others would have noticed or considered using.

  Their familiarity with the dungeon’s layout raised suspicion in Helga’s mind.

  After traveling what seemed a safe distance from the wyvern, they stopped to catch their breath.

  “Helga,” Wolfton called, “I can’t believe it’s really you.”

  “You two know each other?” Lysandra asked.

  “Yes. Everyone, this is Helga. She was part of my cohort with Raven before we entered the academy. She’s a Grade-C adventurer,” Wolfton said cheerfully.

  The others exchanged glances. The magic she displayed far exceeded what a Grade-C adventurer should be capable of. Did Wolfton not know how the grading system works or he just chose to overlook her power in relation to her grade?.

  “Helga, meet my classmates, Aurelia, Lysandra, Jin, Edric, and James.”

  “Oh, nice to meet you all,” Helga said. “Though I would’ve preferred a more pleasant setting.”

  So the Silent Knight’s name is James… interesting, she thought.

  She then glanced at Sameer and Triste.

  “Oh, they’re members of the squad the army sent us to rescue from this place.”

  Helga raised an eyebrow.

  “So, what brings you here?”

  She hesitated, glancing at the two adventurers before answering.

  “It’s classified.”

  “Hm. How so?”

  Helga bit her lip.

  “There’s something you need to know. That wyvern will find us no matter what… that’s how we met again after I escaped it last time.”

  “Wait, this is your second encounter with it?” Sameer said, flabbergasted. “And you survived?”

  “I appreciate you saving us, but I think we’re better off separating.”

  “Huh? What are you saying?” Wolfton asked, confused.

  “That wyvern is targeting me, not you. I don’t want to drag you into my problems.”

  “No. You may not be part of the rescue target, but we’re acquaintances. I’m not leaving you!” Wolfton shot back.

  Helga paused, studying him.

  “I appreciate that… but you saw that beast. It was holding back. It enjoys giving its opponents a false sense of hope, making them believe they stand a chance.”

  “No one here can defeat it. If we stay together, we’re as good as dead.”

  “Then so be it,” Wolfton replied. “We didn’t come here unprepared. We fight together, even if it kills us.”

  Helga chuckled softly. “It’s only been a few months, yet your sense of justice hasn’t changed. Maybe surviving the Silverware Incident shaped you… but the same cannot be said for your friends.”

  Wolfton glanced at his classmates. Their expressions remained neutral; to them, Helga was still a stranger, and a suspicious one at that.

  His expression faltered, but Helga spoke first.

  “Thank you, Wolfton… but I’m better off alone.”

  She turned to leave.

  The dungeon, however, had other plans.

  The cavern wall ahead suddenly exploded inward, dust and debris filling the chamber.

  Deinofrigus’s massive winged limb tore through the wall as cold vapor poured from his maw. His glowing blue eyes burned with mystical malice.

  “More mortals?” he growled, a cruel grin forming.

  “The more… the merrier.”