Ezra immediately shifted his body and stomped his feet against the ground.
The moment his boots struck the stone, his Cognis spread outward like ripples moving across the surface of water.
His sensory perception widened.
The movement of air through the cave.
The collision between the air pressure and the surrounding environment.
The faint sounds produced whenever the Young Ghost Crawlers moved across the stone.
Even the subtle fluctuations of Cognis.
All of them entered Ezra’s senses at once.
The different pieces of information mixed together inside his mind, slowly forming a white sketch of the entire cave within the black inner world of his mind.
Although, it wasn’t a perfect image.
Since there were still parts he couldn’t clearly understand, because the Elder Ghost Crawler’s Illusion was interfering with his perception.
But after Jeremy’s Illusion Alchemy had weakened it slightly, Ezra could finally make use of the information he had gathered.
He didn’t need to see everything with his eyes.
He only needed to find the thing that didn’t belong.
"Senior Samuel!"
Ezra shouted his name while glancing toward him.
Samuel was busy blocking the Young Ghost Crawlers rushing toward him when he briefly turned his head.
His eyes met Ezra’s.
The black eyes of the younger boy were completely focused, without the slightest sign of panic despite the number of monsters surrounding them.
Samuel clicked his tongue.
"Tsk."
He quickly turned around.
"What the hell is my Junior made of?"
Samuel muttered to himself.
He reached into his Space Bag and pulled out another set of Aspen Tree Vein Branches.
The moment the material entered his hand, Samuel brought his palms together.
Clap!
His Wood Alchemy Circle formed.
Samuel immediately slammed his hand against the stone ground.
BOOM!
The ground shook slightly beneath his palm.
Then the stone cracked.
Large Aspen Tree Vein Branches suddenly burst from beneath the ground.
CRACK!
CRACK!
The branches forced their way through the stone, growing upward at an angle.
They twisted as they rose, forming a series of elevated platforms that stretched toward the upper part of the battlefield.
Agnes immediately moved closer to Samuel to protect him.
She ignited her own Flame Alchemy.
Flames gathered around her sword.
She swung.
Slash!
A wave of flame cut through the Young Ghost Crawlers rushing toward Samuel.
Another creature tried to approach from the side.
Agnes turned her wrist.
Slash!
The second creature fell before it could get close.
Samuel kept his attention on the Aspen Tree Vein Branches.
The branches continued growing.
They rose higher.
And higher.
Until they created a path toward the upper part of the cave.
Ezra didn’t waste any time.
The moment the first elevated branch reached a suitable height, his body flashed toward it.
Several Young Ghost Crawlers noticed his movement.
They immediately changed direction.
Their bodies rushed toward Ezra from different sides.
Ezra didn’t slow down.
His Glock 40 was already in one hand, and the Desert Eagle was in the other.
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
The gunshots echoed through the cave.
Ezra moved while firing.
His feet struck the stone floor in quick steps as he changed his direction between the approaching creatures.
A Young Ghost Crawler rushed toward his left.
Ezra turned the Glock 40 toward it.
Bang!
The bullet struck its head.
Its body dropped.
Another creature rushed from his right.
Ezra shifted the Desert Eagle.
Bang!
The second Young Ghost Crawler fell.
He continued running.
Another one leaped toward him.
Ezra lowered his body and passed beneath it.
As the creature flew over him, he raised the Glock 40.
Bang!
Its body jerked in midair before falling behind him.
Ezra didn’t even turn around.
He continued toward the Aspen Tree Vein Branches.
When Hugh noticed him approaching.
He immediately thrust his spear forward, in front of his already formed Wind Alchemy Circle.
His Wind Alchemy ignited.
BOOM!
A large thrust of compressed wind blasted forward.
The force struck the Young Ghost Crawlers blocking Ezra’s path.
Their bodies were thrown away.
Some slammed against the cave walls.
Others were pushed across the ground.
The path opened.
Ezra continued advancing forward.
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
He fired again at the Young Ghost Crawlers that had managed to withstand Hugh’s wind thrust.
One fell.
Then another.
Ezra reached the elevated Aspen Tree Vein Branches.
He stepped onto the first branch.
His Cognis flowed into his legs.
He pushed off.
His body rose.
His foot landed on another branch.
Then another.
He ran upward.
The branches bent slightly under his weight but remained firm.
Ezra continued climbing at increasing speed.
His feet struck one branch after another.
Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
The sounds became faster as he moved higher.
The battle below gradually became smaller.
He could see Diane fighting on one side.
Agnes and Samuel were surrounded by Young Ghost Crawlers.
Hugh continued using his Wind Alchemy to control the space around him.
Emily’s Storm Field still flashed with navy-blue lightning.
Jeremy remained near the center of the battlefield, maintaining the Illusion Alchemy Circle.
Ezra reached the highest point the Aspen Tree Vein Branches had created.
He pushed off from the final branch.
His body rose into the air.
For a brief moment, Ezra was above the battlefield.
He looked down.
The entire fight spread beneath him.
Young Ghost Crawlers crawled across the floor, walls, and ceiling.
Webs covered sections of the cave.
Smoke from the earlier attacks remained in the air.
Flames from Agnes’s torches continued flickering against the stone walls.
And somewhere inside all of this was the Elder Ghost Crawler.
Ezra immediately focused his eyes on the place where it should have been.
"Where is it?"
His plain black plain eyes moved across the battlefield.
He searched for the smallest distortion.
The slightest movement that didn’t match the rest of the environment.
The Elder Ghost Crawler’s Illusion was still active.
Even weakened, it was difficult to distinguish.
Ezra reached into his Space Bag, taking out his second M79 grenade launcher.
It was already loaded.
Ready to fire.
He held the weapon firmly.
Then Ezra closed his eyes.
His other senses became stronger.
His hearing began picking up low-frequency sounds from every corner of the cave.
He filtered out the sounds he didn’t need.
The Alchemy Attacks.
The cries of the Young Ghost Crawlers.
The movement of the Aspen Tree Vein Branches.
The clashing of weapons.
He pushed them aside.
He focused deeper.
His Cognis perception continued spreading.
He searched through the air pressure.
The movement of the environment.
The subtle fluctuations of Cognis.
Then he heard it.
Something faint.
Something that didn’t belong with the other sounds.
A low-frequency sound.
An infrasound.
Ezra’s eyes opened.
His senses followed the sound.
The Elder Ghost Crawler was moving.
It was heading toward Emily and Jeremy’s position.
Ezra’s expression remained calm.
"Found you."
His voice was low and calm.
He twisted his body while still airborne.
The M79 grenade launcher moved with him.
He aimed toward the side of the Elder Ghost Crawler’s head.
Then, his finger pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The gunshot echoed so loudly through the cave that several members of the group briefly glanced toward Ezra.
He was still airborne.
Agnes’s eyes widened slightly.
"Wh..."
She was about to ask what gun Ezra had used that could make that kind of sound.
BOOM!
A small explosion erupted.
The space around the impact, distorted.
For a brief moment, the air itself seemed to bend.
"KRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
The Elder Ghost Crawler suddenly appeared.
Its enormous body became visible as the explosion disrupted its Illusion.
The creature screamed aggressively, with pain entering its voice.
And anger followed immediately after.
Its eight violet eyes darted toward Ezra, who was still descending through the air.
Diane noticed it.
She was still fighting the Young Ghost Crawlers on her side when the Elder Ghost Crawler’s true body became visible.
She had also been searching for even the faintest sign of the monster.
Now she didn’t need to search anymore.
Because, Ezra had revealed it.
Diane’s expression remained as calm as ever.
But something about her changed.
This was the moment to take the battle seriously.
Diane Bergwyn.
One of the Seven Flowers of Britannia.
The Lady Genius of the Duke House of Bergwyn.
She was also known as the Ice Sleeping Beauty.
Her eyes were almost always closed or half-closed because she was constantly tired and always wanted to rest even while standing or in deep conversations with people.
But what happens when Diane actually opens those light-blue eyes completely?
That was something most people had never seen.
At least, not until a situation forced her to use her full skill and strength.
This was such a situation.
This particular method was what Diane used to benefit from her blessing and curse in harmony.
Diane’s light-blue eyes opened fully.
Light-blue Cognis flowed faintly from her body.
It moved like faint lightning flowing backward as she flashed through the air.
Her Space Bag suddenly opened.
Several ice crystal shards flew out in front of her.
They floated through the air while Diane moved towards them.
Clap!
Her hands came together.
The Frost Alchemy Circle formed.
She continued moving through the incoming Young Ghost Crawlers while the circle formed between her hands.
Her movements were smooth, while her eyes remained completely focused.
Right.
Left.
Side.
Front.
She shifted her body between every attack.
A web passed beside her face.
She tilted her head.
The web missed.
Venomous spit came from another direction.
Diane turned her body.
The venom passed beneath her arm.
Another Young Ghost Crawler lunged toward her.
She stepped sideways.
Its sharp legs passed through empty air.
Diane continued moving.
The Frost Alchemy Circle remained ignited throughout every movement.
She stretched both palms forward.
Light-blue Cognis, taking the form of lightning, shot from her hands toward the ice crystal shards still floating ahead.
The lightning connected with them.
The shards began to melt.
The separate pieces of ice compressed together.
The compressed ice began to take shape.
The material twisted.
Molded.
And finally...
Formed.
The ice finally became a long sword while it was still flying through the air.
The weapon shot forward faster.
Pshk!
It pierced through a Young Ghost Crawler blocking its path.
The creature was thrown backward with the ice sword still embedded in its body.
Diane didn’t stop there.
Clap!
Her hands came together again.
Another Frost Alchemy Circle formed.
When she separated her hands, the circle split into two.
Diane finally reached toward the flying ice sword.
Her body moved forward as she caught it.
Both hands wrapped around the weapon, with the Frost Alchemy Circles remaining ignited across her palms.
Immediately, the ice blade began releasing cold steam.
A faint hiss filled the surrounding air.
Diane lowered her body.
Then she jumped.
Her movement carried her directly toward the ground.
She brought the ice sword down.
BOOM!
The blade stabbed into the stone floor.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then...
The main Frost Alchemy ignited.
CRACK!
The ground shook.
A thick fog suddenly exploded from beneath the stone.
It spread outward across the battlefield, moving directly toward the Elder Ghost Crawler.
The creature had already opened its mouth.
Venomous saliva was gathering between its jaws.
It was preparing to spit directly toward the still-descending Ezra.
Then the Elder Ghost Crawler sensed something.
Cold.
An unnatural coldness spread through the ground beneath it.
Its eight violet eyes shifted downward.
But it was already too late.
The stone floor cracked.
CRACK!
Ice burst upward.
Large blocks of freezing ice rapidly grew from the ground and wrapped around the Elder Ghost Crawler’s lower body.
The ice climbed higher.
Past its legs.
Across its abdomen.
Toward its upper body.
The creature’s movement stopped instantly.
"KRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Its roar shook the cave.
But the ice had already taken hold.
Diane remained standing with both hands gripping the ice sword.
Her fully opened light-blue eyes remained fixed on the Elder Ghost Crawler.
The Ice Sleeping Beauty had finally awakened.
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