Lin Zhong had lost track of how long he’d been walking. His arms, which had been carrying Alice, were starting to go numb. Alice wasn’t heavy—in fact, she was quite light—but even so, time had taken its toll.

The little gray cat still pointed in that direction. Lin Zhong didn’t question it; he simply kept walking that way.

Did this path have an end?

Lin Zhong kept asking himself this. Cats had a keen sense of smell, sure, but even the sharpest nose couldn’t detect something dozens of kilometers away.

Lin Zhong was certain his cat wouldn’t lie to him. If it pointed that way, it meant there was definitely an unusual odor there.

But the place where a cat could smell something shouldn’t be that far, right?

“Aren’t we there yet?”

Alice pouted slightly, her little mouth forming a frown. True, Lin Zhong was the one walking and carrying her, but the unchanging scenery and biting cold were getting to her too.

“Seriously?”

Lin Zhong couldn’t figure out what was going on. He even felt like he might be walking in place. But the sensation of each step felt real enough.

Could there be an invisible wall or something?

“Reach out and feel if there’s an invisible wall or something?”

In Dungeon Instances, there was a special feature: though the map was limited, an invisible wall always existed at the edges. You couldn’t feel it while walking, but you could touch it with your hand.

Alice couldn’t be bothered to argue. She simply reached out her hand and grabbed at the white mist in front of her. But there was no sensation—just like a normal path.

“Nothing?”

“Meow!”

Before Lin Zhong could react, the little gray cat’s fur stood on end. Its raised paw dropped down, and its body turned around.

“What?”

Lin Zhong listened intently in surprise. Indeed, he could hear sounds of movement coming from behind.

Here they come?

Lin Zhong couldn’t help but wonder, but since the little gray cat had reacted, it probably wasn’t a false alarm.

“Can you use magic?”

He asked the girl in his arms. Asking a top student from the Magic Division if she could use magic was indeed idiotic. But for a freshman, it was somewhat normal.

“Obviously!”

Just as expected, Alice looked at Lin Zhong as if he were an idiot and replied.

“I’ll cover you. Cast the longest-lasting wind spell you have. The wider the range and the longer the duration, the better. Even if you unleash a Forbidden Spell, it’s fine. They’re here.”

Lin Zhong set Alice down, picked up the little gray cat, and placed it on Alice’s head. His fair hands then gripped the handle of Snowfall Thousand Chills.

“Hah, wind magic?”

“Hurry up! I’ll cover you!”

Getting closer, closer still. The brutal beastly aura drew nearer, and their target was...

Lin Zhong.

“Clang!”

An attack shot out from the thick fog towards Lin Zhong’s stomach. The tip of Snowfall Thousand Chills blocked it at his abdomen, a faint scraping sound emanating from the spear.

“Hurry!”

Lin Zhong swept horizontally. Snowfall Thousand Chills swept across the area in front of him, trailing a faint blue glow.

“Crack! Crack! Bang!”

The cracking sound of ice suddenly stopped, then shattered.

“Got it!”

Alice realized the gravity of the situation. She planted Sage Thousand Thoughts into the ground. The book on the staff flipped rapidly, and blue light flickered on Alice’s fingers.

“Inscribe!”

Her fingers pressed against the air in front of her. Characters began to write themselves, forming incomprehensible incantations as her fingers moved.

Her slightly narrowed eyes focused intently on the incantations. Faint blue flashes appeared on her forehead, and her chanting grew louder.

On the other side, Lin Zhong could sense the auras around him. He was sure they were moving fast, but their target was always him.

Damn it, isn’t it over yet? She couldn’t be chanting a Forbidden Spell, could she?

“Inscribe: Alice Collette!”

Alice’s eyes opened again. She lightly tapped her forehead. The faint blue flash imprinted on her index finger. She extended her finger and gently touched the incantation.

Forbidden Spell: Eye of the Storm

Instantly, a fierce wind rose. Gusts of wind wrapped around Lin Zhong and Alice, forming a tornado that cut off the surrounding environment.

The fog gradually parted, and Lin Zhong finally saw them.

There were only three enemies—or rather, three Werewolves. Three wolf-headed, human-bodied creatures appeared around Lin Zhong, also within the Eye of the Storm.

Deep gray fur, blue slit pupils, and a mouth slightly open with a putrid stench, revealing sharp fangs with bits of flesh stuck to them.

Blood still dripped continuously from their sharp claws.

The three Werewolves were enormous, easily three times Lin Zhong’s height.

“Mm, that’s enough.”

Alice slumped to her knees on the ground. The Forbidden Spell had drained all the remaining magic from her body.

“Now it’s my turn.”

“Snap!”

Lin Zhong snapped his fingers lightly. The grass on the ground gradually froze into ice. Each blade of grass suddenly turned into an ice spike.

And where Alice sat, a thin layer of ice formed, supporting her body.

Lin Zhong moved. He ran on this path of sharp spikes. With each step, a thin sheet of ice formed under his feet.

Upward thrust.

Lin Zhong thrust his spear forward. The Werewolf didn’t stand still; it lunged towards him, its sharp claws aiming for Lin Zhong’s head.

“Useless.”

Lin Zhong’s lips moved slightly. He swung Snowfall Thousand Chills like a baseball bat, sending the foremost Werewolf flying high into the air.

But this was only the beginning.

Lin Zhong executed a spinning strike with his War Spear, impaling the second charging Werewolf. He then swung the spear, embedding it into an ice spike on the ground. The Werewolf’s ear-piercing scream made Alice cover her ears from afar.

Blood dripped from the Werewolf’s back onto the ice spike. The third one, which had been charging, realized what was happening and skidded to a halt. But Lin Zhong’s figure had vanished.

It frantically searched for Lin Zhong’s figure, but instead heard a gentle voice.

“Looking for me~”

A hand rested on the Werewolf’s shoulder. Lin Zhong’s voice, gentle yet terrifying, came from behind it. The fur on its shoulder gradually froze over with ice.

“You really kept me waiting~”

“Crunch!”

Lin Zhong gently squeezed, and the entire shoulder shattered into countless ice fragments that fell to the ground.

“Grrr!!!”

“Sorry, but fly around for a bit to entertain me first.”

Snowfall Thousand Chills thrust again, sending its body flying high into the air. The Werewolf that had been impaled by the ice spike didn’t escape either; a spear thrust sent it soaring into the sky as well.

The next second, Alice witnessed a sight she’d never imagined in her life. Three heavily wounded Werewolves kept free-falling from high above.

And below, Lin Zhong moved at high speed, continuously thrusting the falling Werewolves back into the air.

The fog cleared, the Werewolves appeared, and then they flew away.