“The rift’s open!”

Though she didn’t understand the words, Night Frost knew what Andi meant. She twisted aside, dodging the attack from a lumpy growth, then reached the rift.

Her claws seized the rift, which was slowly beginning to close. With all her strength, she pulled outward—

The once-silent rift was torn open little by little.

Andi looked down at the flames and the trees constantly lunging at Night Frost. She drew a deep breath, reached behind her waist, gripped the hilts, and pulled out two weapons resembling the Eight-Slash Blades.

She took Night Frost’s place and fended off the thorny lumps for her. Abyssal Aura coiled around the blades. Under its influence, their surfaces dimmed, their sharpness drawn inward.

But at this moment, Andi’s blades were the sharpest things on the battlefield.

Andi swung her blades. With the Abyssal Aura empowering them, she easily split the wooden pillar before her in two. The lumpy growth inside didn’t escape the flash of her blade, either.

After the lumps died, the air seemed to fill with an extra scent. It lingered around Andi’s nose and made her nauseous. For a moment, she even felt the urge to stop.

But her gaze swept over the young Sorceresses on the scorched ground. She knew she couldn’t stop.

Andi wasn’t a good person. Still, keeping these little ones alive came first.

After that came Night Frost, the Calamity Dragon.

That was a Calamity Dragon—a young one, at that. If no disaster occurred and her identity became public, there was no way people wouldn’t be tempted.

After all, she held the secret to reaching the Ultimate…

Still, waiting for Sorceresses from every side to gather was no longer an option. Andi alone might not be able to deal with Night Frost.

They would talk about everything after entering the passage and securing their position.

Back then, Andi had lived peacefully inside a human fortress. The humans there were deeply conservative. Because of those Sorceresses who had pledged themselves to the gods, they hated and feared Sorceresses.

So Andi hid her identity and lived as an ordinary person.

But that identity would be exposed sooner or later.

One day, she saw someone pelting a girl with stones in the street. The man cursed her viciously. Apparently, throwing stones wasn’t enough for him, so he walked over and kicked her twice.

The girl could only sob weakly on the ground. The man ignored her completely.

There was an obvious Mana fluctuation coming from the girl. Andi decided to save her.

But without using Mana, she couldn’t defeat that burly man.

So she exposed her identity as a Sorceress.

That night, she didn’t return home. Instead, another Sorceress came looking for her.

Abyssal Aura coiled around that woman’s body. It belonged to a completely different power system from Andi’s.

That was the Sorceress tribe.

Most of them had accepted the power of the gods. At that moment, they extended an offer to Andi.

Andi was no fool. She knew that by tomorrow, the news of her being a Sorceress would echo through every street and alley.

In fact, the moment she let that man go, the news had already begun spreading.

There was no longer any place for her inside the fortress.

So she accepted the woman’s offer.

Before leaving, she killed the man who had bullied the Sorceress girl during the day. Then she nailed his head to the city wall.

The fortress had no law banishing Sorceresses. Andi had chosen to leave on her own.

She had also chosen to kill the man who had abused that girl.

Andi brought the girl to the Sorceress tribe. There, she accepted the gods’ power, scattered all her Mana, and gained Abyssal Aura.

She became a true member of the Sorceress tribe—in the language of the Surface World, a Fallen One.

The Sorceress tribe gave her a place to stay, but it wasn’t a good place.

Although Andi had accepted the gods’ power, she wasn’t their believer. She only wanted to protect these pitiful girls.

Those people regarded themselves as tools and wanted to offer everything to the gods.

The Sorceress tribe didn’t seem suitable for Andi, either.

In this world, power and status were both earned through strength.

Although Andi was a Chapter Three, she still wasn’t strong enough. She wanted the power of the Ultimate, but she didn’t want to follow the path of the gods.

Then she turned her gaze toward dragons.

With a dragon’s power, reaching the Ultimate seemed possible.

And so, she set her sights on Night Frost.

But back to the matter at hand.

Andi wasn’t particularly strong, but she could stop every single lump. Her blades were coated in dark, ink-like fluid.

She gave them a light shake, then threw herself back into battle.

Night Frost, however, was having a harder time.

She had already used every ounce of strength in her body. Yet the rift before her had expanded by only a sliver.

The vines inside seemed not to have burned completely. So Night Frost added another flame.

As soon as the fire fell inside, the vines and lumpy growths descended into chaos. They fled toward every open space they could find.

Night Frost’s pressure instantly lessened.

“Unseal…”

Since Andi wasn’t paying attention, Night Frost would take this chance to rip the thing open in one go!

Andi sensed a faint trace of something wrong. She abruptly turned her head.

Night Frost had suddenly burst forth with such terrifying power that Andi’s concentration scattered.

That was the Calamity Dragon.

How could Andi possibly be her opponent?

After Unsealing, Night Frost could use more of the dragon’s power. Scales crept up her arms, and a layer of dark gold covered her eyes.

Black Flame clung to her scaled arms, lending her even more strength.

With the Unseal active and the restraints inside the rift weakened, Night Frost easily tore it open to a height taller than a person.

She stared into the deep rift.

It was so dark that no light could be seen. Perhaps that was why the people of the Surface World had named it the Abyssal Rift.

“Let’s go!”

Night Frost didn’t know what Andi intended, but she still called out to her.

Andi nodded. She turned around and raised a barrier around Night Frost. Then she used her Abyssal Aura to lift all the Sorceresses and stuff them into the Abyssal Rift.

They didn’t know what lay inside the Abyssal Rift.

But they had come this far. How could they turn back now?

Andi’s original plan had been to obtain the Elven Codex and use it to predict danger.

That plan had failed.

Now that the rift was open, this was their last chance to leave the continent. It would be dangerous, but they could only try.

Night Frost strained to hold the rift open. After Andi had sent every Sorceress inside, Night Frost slipped behind them.

She took out a Magic Stone and threw it out just before the rift closed.

It was a marker left behind for the Elderly Elf and the others.

Once everything was done, Night Frost collapsed. She withdrew from her Unsealed state.

She was tired.

Just tearing the rift open had consumed an enormous amount of her strength, let alone keeping it open.

The Eye Orb’s gaze fell on Night Frost.

Night Frost knew this wasn’t the time to rest, either. She forced herself upright and looked around.

The place was pitch-black. Night Frost pinched together several sparks and tossed them into the air.

Apparently, one of the Sorceresses was also skilled with fire. She imitated Night Frost and threw a ball of flame upward.

The Sorceresses were not far in front of Night Frost. Andi was checking them for injuries.

After confirming that everyone was fine, she slowly stood up.

“Thank you.”

Fertini got to her feet and continued serving as the translator between Night Frost and Andi.

Night Frost shook her head, indicating that no thanks were necessary.

“This place really is a little strange…”

Night Frost looked at Li Dogegg, then at the Eye Orb.

She wasn’t familiar with these things. From here on, she would have to rely on Li Dogegg, who had traveled this path before, and the knowledgeable Eye Orb.

Night Frost asked Li Dogegg what it had encountered the last time it traveled this route, and whether there had been any other dangers.

Li Dogegg answered that it hadn’t really paid attention to the passage.

It had simply charged straight through.

Thinking about it, that made sense.

Back then, Li Dogegg had been a powerful Calamity Dragon. Its physical abilities were tremendous. It had even been able to avoid defeat for a short time while surrounded by six Chapter Three Magic Maidens.

Crossing an Abyssal Rift must have been effortless for it.

Yes, the more she thought about it, the more sense it made.

Li Dogegg seemed unreliable here. That left Night Frost with no choice but to investigate everything inside the rift herself.

This was her first time stepping into an Abyssal Rift.

She didn’t understand how it worked, but she could firmly stand on the ground.

Wasn’t the other side of a rift supposed to be the void?

This was completely different from the situation when Night Frost and the Eye Orb had arrived.

“No. They’re different.”

The Eye Orb looked toward Night Frost.

“Before, Li Dogegg forcibly pushed us inside. That wasn’t an Abyssal Rift, but simply a spatial rift.”

“We fell into the void and arrived on this continent. Now, we’re traveling through an Abyssal Rift.”

The Eye Orb sorted out the differences between an Abyssal Rift and a spatial rift.

“Your Magic Maidens’ naming system separates Abyssal Rifts and spatial rifts very clearly. I assume this is part of the reason?”

If that was true, then spatial rifts appeared by accident, while Abyssal Rifts were created by someone?

“Think about all the invasions so far. If those Abyssal Rifts were spatial rifts, the Chapter Threes would be one thing.”

“But how did all those weak creatures cross over? I exhausted myself just protecting you.”

There was some truth in what the Eye Orb said.

“Do you know about the humans’ expeditions? The Magic Maidens’ expeditions also rely on Abyssal Rifts.”

“Every expedition takes place at a specific time. Perhaps it’s related to the distance between the Abyss and the Surface World…”

“Of course, that’s only a theory among some researchers.”

“Some researchers believe that once the Surface World moves too far from an Abyss, the passage will break apart.”

“This time, we’ve entered an Abyssal Rift. Perhaps we’ll be able to prove whether that theory is true.”

The deeper Night Frost thought about it, the colder she felt inside.

But this wasn’t the time to speculate.

Abyssal Rifts were far more stable than spatial rifts. For Night Frost, that should count as good news.

“You don’t look so good. (Dragon Tongue)”

Fertini relayed Night Frost’s words to Andi.

Andi nodded first, then shook her head. She looked at Night Frost, then at Fertini.

She told Fertini to have the little Sorceresses wait in a corner.

Then she left only the three of them behind.

“I don’t want the children to see me in this miserable state.”

“Let’s make a deal, stranger.”

Night Frost stiffened slightly, completely confused.

She hadn’t exposed her identity. Her disguise was still intact.

How had Andi recognized her?

“Just now, the moment I stepped into this passage, I heard the voice of a god.”

“It wants me to fight you to the death.”

“I know I can’t defeat you. Can you take them away?”

“These children have never accepted the gods’ power.”

“Tell her that, Fertini.”

“Didn’t I tell you before? Your tears are precious. They should only ever be shed for yourself.”