Night Frost’s dark-gold eyes regained their light. She slowly lifted her head, and a dragon’s pressure burst from within her.

In that instant, every Spirit Thread attached to Night Frost snapped at once.

Night Frost maintained her unsealed form, yet her Mana was still fairly full. It seemed she hadn’t endured any particularly fierce battle.

After kicking her small body over beside Eye Orb, Li Dogegg turned her gaze toward the monster, watching its every move with caution.

“If it’s in this state…”

She glanced at her own body. Black scales covered her from head to toe in an instant.

With dragonification added to her unsealed state, Night Frost could now touch the threshold of the Ultimate realm.

Hard, milky-white claws grew from both her hands. At some point, the boots covering her feet vanished.

What was exposed beneath them was a pair of clawed feet covered in smooth black scales.

Substantial wings sprouted from her back. Membranes stretched between each bone.

Even the tail originally created through scroll mimicry was now covered in scales. It had changed from an illusion into reality.

Li Dogegg didn’t like using weapons. Close-quarters combat was much more straightforward.

She didn’t know how strong the monster was, but anything capable of defeating Night Frost couldn’t be underestimated.

The battle between Li Dogegg and the monster erupted in an instant. Every clash between them seemed capable of making space tremble.

The monster’s hands were as heavy as mountains. Every swing carried a terrifying Abyssal Aura.

Each strike seemed capable of sending Night Frost’s body flying. Even with Li Dogegg controlling Night Frost’s dragonification, she couldn’t clash head-on with the monster.

But Li Dogegg wasn’t afraid in the slightest.

She slipped through the monster’s attacks with astonishing agility, striking back with frightening speed and strength.

Her claws tore through the air inside the Abyssal passage, leaving claw marks across the void.

Her attacks landed on the monster’s hands, leaving behind faint white streaks.

The skin on the monster’s palms was incredibly tough. Even Li Dogegg’s dragon claws couldn’t injure it in the slightest.

Li Dogegg felt that Night Frost’s defeat wasn’t unfair at all.

To endure that long against someone with such strength and Spirit Threads was already impressive. If anything, Night Frost was the remarkable one.

The monster spread its palm. Three Array Patterns covered it.

The three Array Patterns were linked together, each displaying the Formation’s maximum power.

Li Dogegg felt her soul being dragged away. She hurriedly dodged and vanished into the darkness.

“That thing should be a Formation, right?”

Although she didn’t understand it, she had seen Night Frost use it so many times that she’d learned a little.

When the monster revealed the Formation in its palm, Li Dogegg felt as though her soul had been pulled out.

Fortunately, she reacted in time.

Li Dogegg’s soul was nowhere near as strong as Night Frost’s. She had only reacted because her body moved faster than her thoughts.

If her body had been even half a beat slower, she might have fallen into that mental Formation as well.

Night Frost’s Spirit Threads were so weak now. That Formation must have been responsible.

Li Dogegg felt that monster was becoming far too troublesome.

“So frail… Your master killed me once, you know. Though it was only in an illusion.”

Li Dogegg’s body trembled slightly.

The monster had actually found where she was hiding.

What had it just said? Night Frost had killed it once in an illusion?

In other words, this monster had a weakness, and Night Frost had discovered it?

Li Dogegg didn’t believe Night Frost, at full strength, was stronger than this monster.

If that was the case, then the monster should indeed have a weakness.

…

Night Frost’s soul continued to fall.

It was growing thinner and thinner. Darkness pressed against it from both sides.

Invisible waves of air sliced through the “flesh” of her soul, trying to tear it apart and devour it.

“How did I lose, exactly?”

Night Frost couldn’t understand why the monster had revived after she killed it once.

Was that its ability?

If so, it was absurdly powerful. If it could die and resurrect infinitely, Night Frost would never be able to defeat it in her lifetime.

No… She must have overlooked something.

The problem should lie in that space.

Earlier, the monster had spread its hand and released the Array Patterns. Those Array Patterns had created the arena.

Night Frost had originally thought it was merely a sealing Formation. The monster had even admitted as much.

But now, it seemed far more complicated than that.

As she pondered, Night Frost’s soul suddenly stopped falling.

Her entire body floated in the darkness.

“Why did I stop falling?”

Night Frost furrowed her brows. Something about this place was deeply wrong.

If this was the true Abyss, it should look similar to the place she’d entered before.

Night Frost had been unconscious back then, and Eye Orb had told her most of what happened.

Yet this strange descent had now come to a halt.

“Could I return to that arena if I fly upward?”

Night Frost’s heart stirred. She decided to try.

She stepped on the void and slowly moved upward.

But after taking just one step, a wave of weakness surged over her.

She had no strength left at all.

Her soul flickered in and out of existence.

As Night Frost stared at her body, everything that had happened suddenly became clear.

She hadn’t truly fallen into the Abyss.

And that Formation hadn’t really been a sealing Formation, either.

The Array Patterns had created an illusion and trapped Night Frost inside the so-called “arena.”

That brain had used its immense mental power to invade Night Frost’s imagination, making her believe she was trapped inside the arena.

In reality, there had been nothing there.

Night Frost had defeated a fragment of mental energy created by that brain inside the arena.

As long as its source remained intact, a mental entity could be created in any number with enough mental power.

That was why Night Frost hadn’t truly killed the “monster.”

Thinking about it carefully, Night Frost had seen the Array Patterns released by that monster before.

They seemed identical to the Formation on the cover of her father’s notebook, which she had found in District Twenty One.

Could that monster be connected to her father?

That shouldn’t be possible.

Night Frost put those chaotic thoughts aside for now.

She was still trapped inside the illusion. This pitch-black Abyss was part of it as well.

Earlier, every bit of falling had weakened her soul by the same amount.

Now that the descent had stopped, maintaining her position no longer consumed her soul or mental power.

But if she couldn’t move, how was she supposed to break free from this illusion?

Her body in the outside world had to be in great danger.

That brain possessed tremendous mental abilities. With her soul this weak, if it took advantage of her condition and killed her soul…

Then she would no longer be herself.

【If it’s in this state…】

Just as Night Frost began to worry, a familiar voice rang beside her ear.

It was the voice of the Calamity Dragon.

Perhaps she had guessed what was happening outside.

Night Frost slowly let out a breath.

Li Dogegg must have taken control of her body. That was why Night Frost had stopped falling.

“But that monster is incredibly powerful. Even Li Dogegg probably won’t last long.”

“I need to find a way to break free from the Array Patterns.”

The fastest method was to destroy the Array Patterns.

But getting Li Dogegg to destroy them would be easier said than done.

Night Frost’s soul was stronger than Li Dogegg’s, yet she had still been trapped inside.

This truly made no sense.

【That thing should be a Formation, right?】

Li Dogegg’s voice reached Night Frost again.

Sure enough, the monster had revealed a Formation. It was probably trying to end the battle quickly.

Night Frost bit her fingernail.

There was far too little time…

【I almost fell for it. Good thing I moved fast.】

Wait.

Had that thing escaped directly?

The tension in Night Frost’s heart eased.

If that was the case, she still had some time.

【Damn it! What’s that thing’s weakness?】

Night Frost couldn’t exactly trust Li Dogegg’s brain.

Although she was searching for the monster’s weakness, she probably wouldn’t find it.

“Li Dogegg’s voice reached me. Does that mean my voice can reach her too?”

“If I tell her the monster’s weakness, and she kills it, then I might be able to escape.”

Night Frost decided to try.

She shouted toward the void several times, but nothing happened.

That made sense.

The fact that Night Frost could hear the outside world didn’t mean her voice could be heard outside.

This was a mental Formation. Her mind had been trapped, and a considerable amount of her mental power had already been consumed.

“Li Dogegg’s soul and mind entered my body. That’s why I can hear her voice.”

“So I should be somewhere inside my own mind. The Formation is simply preventing me from sensing my surroundings.”

But how large could the inside of her mind really be?

Night Frost released Spirit Threads from her body. They surged in every direction.

【I’ve been hurt…】

Night Frost sensed Li Dogegg’s thoughts drawing closer.

She withdrew most of her Spirit Threads and sent them rushing in only one direction.

Her mental power was already struggling to bear the strain.

“Can you hear me?”

Night Frost plucked at the Spirit Threads. Her voice echoed through the mental space.

Outside, Li Dogegg had dodged the monster’s attack, but the scales on her arm had been forcibly torn open.

A bloodstain appeared across the surface.

Blood struck the ground and transformed into Black Flame.

Li Dogegg clutched her arm and vanished into the darkness once more.

【You’re… Night Frost? I can hear you.】

Li Dogegg’s voice reached Night Frost’s ears.

“We don’t have much time. I can’t hold on for long.”

“If you haven’t fallen into the Formation, attack the monster’s torso with everything you have.”

“Once its torso is burned away, those hands won’t be able to move.”

“If that doesn’t work, use Black Flame to burn through the Array Patterns and release me.”

【Understood.】

Night Frost withdrew her Spirit Threads.

Those few seconds of contact had consumed a tremendous amount of her concentration.

She could only hope Li Dogegg could break the Array Patterns.

Ideally, she would eliminate the monster altogether.

After receiving Night Frost’s message, Li Dogegg couldn’t help grinning.

A single bright, white fang showed between her teeth.

She lowered the hand covering her arm.

The wound had already healed. Only the scales couldn’t regrow in such a short time.

Li Dogegg gathered her strength where she stood and quietly waited for the monster to arrive.

She knew the monster had a way to locate her position.

Sure enough.

The monster stepped out of the darkness once more.

And that was Li Dogegg’s chance.

Amid the powerful thud of Night Frost’s heartbeat, her body transformed into a dragon’s form.

Black Flame burst and leaped between the black scales.

Then she charged straight at the monster.

This seemed to be within the monster’s expectations. A contemptuous sound escaped its throat.

But in the next second, the monster’s massive body shuddered.

Li Dogegg’s voice overlapped with Night Frost’s.

“We’ve got you.”