[Katherine’s POV]

  “It’s been quite a while since someone made it this far.”

  The voice froze her blood.

  Every hair on Katherine’s body stood on end, her muscles locking instinctively. The sound didn’t come from the massive statue looming before her. It came from the air itself, from something unseen.

  It wasn’t human.

  It wasn’t even close.

  For a fleeting second, she regretted never learning John’s technique. How to use Energy to map her surroundings would be more useful than most of her battle techniques. Now, blind in this darkness, she could only rely on instinct.

  And that instinct screamed danger.

  Whatever was speaking wasn’t ordinary. It wasn’t one of the corrupted reptilian they’d fought above. No, this presence was powerful and suffocating .

  It felt stronger than even the dragon she had faced on the surface.

  “You shouldn’t have come this way,” the voice continued, its tone calm, almost conversational, though each word vibrated through her bones. “No… there are still many corrupted above.”

  The voice came from everywhere at once. It was omnipresent, as if the cavern itself were speaking.

  Katherine’s pulse hammered in her ears as her eyes darted through the shadows. For a moment, she thought she saw them. Two pinpoints of crimson, glowing in the dark. Eyes. Watching. Waiting.

  “Show yourself,” she hissed, raising her Gauntlet. The others followed her lead, their arms lifting in unison, beams of light slicing through the darkness.

  The light revealed only fragments. Some broken pillars, the edges of the colossal statue, the shimmer of dust in the air. Nothing more.

  But the voice laughed, a low, resonant sound that seemed to crawl along the walls.

  “You won’t find me like that.”

  Katherine spun, sweeping her light across the chamber. Every time she turned, the voice shifted, always one step ahead of her, always out of reach.

  “Besides, this isn’t the main entrance. I’ll have to show you the way out.”

  The words had barely settled when movement rippled through the dark.

  Something massive moved.

  A deep, grinding sound filled the chamber. Katherine’s breath caught in her throat as a shape began to emerge from the darkness above her.

  A claw.

  It was enormous, easily the size of a transport craft’s wing. The air howled around it as it fell, slicing downward like a guillotine aimed at her.

  But before it could strike, Atlas was already moving.

  He leapt forward, faster than thought, one arm raised and burning with Energy. His fist collided with the creature’s descending limb, the impact detonating through the chamber like an explosion.

  How did he move that fast?

  The question flashed through Katherine’s mind, but it belonged to everyone who had witnessed it. She was a general of the Empire, proud of her speed and reflexes and yet she hadn’t even seen him move. One moment he had been standing behind her, the next he was intercepting a blow.

  The shockwave rippled through the air, slamming into her chest and forcing her back a half step. Dust rained down from the ceiling, and the massive claw halted mid-strike, locked in a dead clash against Atlas’s fist.

  And he didn’t yield.

  Then, at last, the creature emerged from the shadows.

  It was not the corrupted monsters they had fought above. This was something else, something purer, more terrible.

  A reptilian giant stepped into the light, its silver scales gleaming like metal. Its form was humanoid, but only barely. Its stance was upright, its shape muscular, yet its skin was layered in overlapping plates. The creature’s head was elongated, its nostrils flaring, its maw a jagged line of teeth that looked capable of tearing through steel.

  It towered over them, over four meters tall. Spines jutted from its forearms, and its claws were long, curved, and sharp enough to carve through stone. A thick tail extended behind it, twitching lazily, the motion slow but heavy.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Katherine’s breath caught, not from fear, but from awe. This thing was filled with Energy, its presence pressing against her senses.

  Atlas didn’t flinch. His hand still locked against the beast’s claw.

  For a heartbeat, the two forces stood frozen, predator and challenger, strength meeting strength. Then, with a sudden twist, the creature shoved Atlas aside. The movement sent the old merchant flying away.

  Katherine’s shock lasted only a moment.

  She was no helpless princess. She was a soldier, a general, and she refused to stand idle while someone else fought her battle.

  Katherine darted forward, using the creature’s immense size against it. She dropped low, sliding between its towering legs, her movements fluid and precise. Her hands, encased in hardened crystal formed from her own blood, sliced through the air like twin blades. She aimed for the joints, where even a giant could bleed.

  But the only sound she heard was the sharp clang of her crystalline blades scraping against its scales.

  The scales are harder than the dragon’s. The realization hit her. Her strikes left not even a scratch. If only I hadn’t left the Crystal Bomb with the soldiers, if I hadn’t been teleported here—

  Her thought was cut short as the creature’s tail whipped toward her. She twisted aside just in time, the tail missing her by inches, the gust of its passing hot and violent.

  However, she wasn’t alone in the fight.

  From across the chamber, Alan stood with his arms raised, firing bursts of concentrated Energy that streaked like lightning. Each shot struck the beast’s legs, flaring bright against its silver hide before fading into nothing. He gritted his teeth, extending his free hand as his own boon took hold, gravity itself bending at his command. The air thickened around the creature’s feet, pulling it down, its claws grinding deeper into the stone.

  But the monster’s strength was obscene. Its limbs strained briefly, then flexed, and the pressure broke. The gravitational field only slowed it.

  And still, they pressed the attack.

  Adrian charged, his fists encased in dense layers of mineral, his boon transforming the very earth around him into armor and weapon both. His punches landed like thunder, each blow cracking the air. The stone beneath his feet fractured under the recoil of his strikes.

  Katherine had never seen a Meridius boon in action before, but she had heard the rumors. Seeing it up close was something else entirely. It was raw, violent, powerful.

  And yet, even with four of them, Alan’s precision, Adrian’s brute force, Atlas’s power, and her own speed, the creature barely seemed to notice.

  It moved with the arrogance of something the never tasted defeat.

  “You destroyed my brothers and sisters,” the reptilian entity boomed, its voice echoing through the chamber. “I expected more from those who dared set foot in this prison, especially this deep.”

  “My master entrusted me with the most sacred task. And you—” it snarled, spreading its claws wide, “you will not be the ones to defeat me!”

  The creature’s words ended in a roar that shook the air.

  Then it stomped.

  Its massive feet and tail struck the temple floor. The entire chamber shuddered, dust raining from the cracked ceiling as the walls groaned under the force. Stone split, ancient carvings shattered, and the floor rippled beneath their feet.

  Katherine staggered, bracing herself against a pillar to keep from falling. Her heart pounded, her mind racing faster than her pulse.

  I could use the Blood Rose… but it’ll drain me. If I do, It'll be risky.

  Her eyes darted across the battlefield, scanning the others. I need to check that Silver Crystal. But can I trust them?

  Alan. yes, him she could trust. They were friends, even in different Great Houses; he was reliable. But the other two?

  Her gaze flicked to Atlas, the unkown entreprenour, and to Adrian, the proud heir of Meridius. Both were powerful, dangerous, and unpredictable.

  No chance, she decided. But I'm dead if I wait for them.

  The creature’s tail lashed out again, slicing through the air. She ducked once, rolled beneath the second strike, and came up behind it, her boots skidding across the trembling floor.

  Her hands rose, trembling, not from fear, but from the surge of power building within her.

  “[Blood.]”

  The word left her lips like a command.

  From her palms, crimson liquid burst forth, streaming into the air in ribbons that twisted and coiled around her arms. The blood shimmered unnaturally, thickening, hardening until it glistened like molten crystal.

  Adrian and Alan both leapt back, instinctively retreating.

  “[Rose.]”

  The second word detonated like a gunshot.

  The air exploded with motion. The streams of blood erupted outward in a violent bloom, fracturing into thousands of crystalline shards. Each shard shot forward with the speed of a bullet, embedding deep into the creature’s silver-scaled hide.

  The reptilian behemoth roared. The red crystals pierced its armor, burrowing into its flesh.

  Katherine’s breath came shallow, her knees buckling from the blood loss, but she stayed upright. Through the haze of pain and exhaustion, she saw movement. Atlas, surging forward from the opposite side.

  He struck the creature’s stomach with a blow that cracked the air. The beast reeled, pinned between them, unable to evade.

  The Blood Rose blossomed in full, the crystalline thorns expanding, tearing deeper into the monster’s body.

  Katherine exhaled, the world spinning. Her eyes widened.

  It wasn’t the success of her attack that shocked her. Nor the sight of the creature faltering.

  It was Atlas.

  He had moved through her technique, through a storm of razor-sharp crystal, without hesitation, without so much as a scratch.

  How did he know? How had he known he wouldn’t be caught in the attack?