Kirgar maniacally laughed as he dodged the countless beams. From where he stood, all he could see were the white beams that moved in unpredictable ways: some circled around to attack his back, others zigzagged toward him, a few burrowed through the ground and emerged beneath him, but most simply went for him directly.
He rode the snow and navigated it through the web of beams looking to burn a hole through his chest. Even when Sol made it so the beams would attack in a way that was impossible to dodge, the orc would create walls of ice to block a side and create an opening.
'He's toying with me…'
Sol could tell the orc wasn't truly going all out against him and was just having a blast evading the attacks. He hadn't even transformed into his snow giant or conjured other snow creations to protect him.
Sol remembered from the visions that the orc appeared in the cave unharmed. Which meant all of this wouldn't stop him, and he could see why. The orc was agile enough to dodge the beams, and when there was no choice, his ice was strong enough to block them. Maybe only the main beam would be able to hurt him, but it was too slow at turning unlike the smaller beams.
Sol took out a mana potion and chugged it down, replenishing his quickly depleting mana supply.
'I'll leave him here then. Hopefully he doesn't get bored and charge through it all.'
Knowing there was nothing he could do here, he continued to feed the full spectrum his mana but left for the cave to check on Nataly and Lapis.
Fortunately, the full spectrum didn't require his full attention as it could automatically target anyone he designated thanks to the power of chromatic blue. There was a downside of it becoming more predictable, but he knew it wouldn't hit the orc either way.
Entering the cave, Sol looked for his squad and spotted them huddled together at the end of the cave, which had an oddly dark blue wall. He approached and saw Nataly coughing blood while desperately chanting her most potent healing spell.
"[Life Dew]! [Life Dew]!"
Drops of light green sap fell on Lapis, revitalizing her with the energy of life. Though it was Nataly's strongest healing spell, the wounds slowly mended while freezing blue lines continued to spread outward from her back and had reached her waist and neck.
"Out of the way! [Life Drop]!"
Rex stood up and allowed Sol to take his spot as he also joined in healing Lapis' wounds. While her back was closing faster than before, the veins of ice continued to expand outward, only slower than before.
'It's not enough!'
Sol chugged another potion before he ran out of mana from full spectrum and placed his hands on her bloody back. He began to chant every useful spell he knew to help her recover. He didn't hold back.
"[Flame Boon]! [Light Cleanse]!"
The fire spell bestowed cold resistance and vigor to fight off the encroaching frost, but the spell was quickly canceled as it was overwhelmed by its polar element. [Light Cleanse] fared slightly better, but it only served to slow the spread as it continued to spread until it reached either her head or her heart.
Everyone was surprised by him using spells of different elements, but they knew it wasn't the time to ask. What was more shocking was that even with spells from four different elements, it wasn't enough to stop the ice infection. The ice arrow was specially created by Kirgar, and it contained energy that almost rivaled one of his true attacks like the massive ice spears.
But Sol didn't give up and continued to spam his three spells in rotation. Nataly helped as well by continuously chanting her healing spell while Aron fed her another potion.
But no matter how much they tried, the ice continued expanding.
"Dammit! [Light Cleanse]!"
Sol chanted another spell, but he suddenly felt a hand grab his. It was Lapis, who was barely conscious and felt numb from the ice energy ravaging her body.
After a lot of struggle, she managed to eke out a few words.
"Royal Library… third floor… Ophis…"
"Ophis? What does that have to do with anything?"
As much as Sol wanted to understand what she meant, she ignored his question and handed him her spatial ring.
"Take it… and promise…"
[Health: 12/700]
Sol had kept an eye on her health the entire time, and no matter how many spells he cast, even when he multicast them, the number didn't go up. It only delayed the inevitable, and he could no longer deny it.
"Okay… I promise." Sol spoke with a heavy heart. All he could do now was comfort her in her final moments, though he desperately wished there was something else he could do.
Hearing his words, Lapis formed a faint smile. She stopped resisting, allowing the ice to finish her off. It rapidly spread to her heart and froze it instantly before spreading to other parts of her body. She began to crystallize until her entire body froze over and became an ice sculpture.
The squad watched her final moments with different expressions ranging from sorrow to rage.
Sol clenched his bloody fist in anger. But he wasn't allowed to dwell in his own thoughts for long as a deep booming voice resounded in the cave.
"I thought I told you orcs to bring them alive. They serve little purpose to me dead."
Everyone stood up and looked around in tense confusion.
"I don't see anyone… Could it be an A-Ranker that specializes in stealth?" Rex wasn't able to detect anything.
Sol gave his squad a signal to group up as they moved towards the end of the cave. They put their backs against the backmost wall, and Sol called out to the mysterious voice.
"Who's there?!"
There was a pause of silence as the voice realized that the visitors weren't the usual ones he had. The whole cave began to rumble as the wall they were pressing their backs against began to move. The squad leaped back to face the wall, but it was then that they realized it was no wall.
A massive eye was revealed, taking up the entire back wall of the cave. What they thought was a wall was only its eyelid.
The deep voice spoke in a puzzled tone. "Humans? And you're not offerings?"
"What? No, of course not!"
Sol instantly rebuked as he feared that this massive being would suddenly kill them thinking they were offerings. Though he wasn't in a good mood after witnessing Lapis' death, he had to move forward because if he didn't they might all soon join her.
"Ah, then you have come to trade?" The deep voice spoke with somewhat eagerness. "I feel a great source of energy nearby."
'From offerings to trade? He switched tones fast…' Sol was unsure how to proceed with this being, but he tried to take it from the top.
Sol spoke in a respectful manner. "I'm sorry, but we don't know who you are. We came here seeking shelter and were unaware you lived here."
"Seeking shelter? Interesting. First, let me introduce myself. My name is 𝜟Ƶลꗪలల٢ ᗫɨ ⨈ల٢ ⧨లԂɨⱦØล 〒٢లลꗪɨ℃. But you may call me Orna."