"Alright, Yeon-woo and I will attack from a distance," Varek would say as he took his position.
The hunter Yeon-woo positioned herself next to him, while Axel, Henry, and Mark took the rear guard.
("Don't go")
Roy, for her part, was thinking about getting into position, but was stopped by a voice in her head telling her not to.
"What the hell?" She looked at her companions in confusion, but it seemed none of them had spoken to her.
The Kaldvargr glared at the group of hunters with a menacing look, then began to gather a large amount of mana in its hand.
Slowly, what seemed to be an ice spear formed in Kaldvargr's hands, apparently intending not to let them go.
"Let's go, just like we planned!" Henry said as he took the lead, followed by Axel and Mark.
"By the power of Cernunnos, maximum power!"
Henry's sword had reached a colossal size, a weapon only a giant would be able to wield, but Henry carried it with ease.
"Let's see if you can dodge this!" the man would say confidently, as he swung his weapon towards the monster once again.
The Kaldvargr, on the other hand, created an ice wall to defend itself, but in doing so, it failed to notice Axel and Mark on either side of it.
Axel, bringing his axes together, prepared for a strike against the monster's body.
Mark, on the other hand, did not hesitate to charge his spear's flames, readying his attack.
"You blasphemous humans!!" the Kaldvargr shouted as it summoned several ice daggers from the ground, but these were melted by an arrow from Yeon-woo, enhanced by Varek's magic.
("We're winning, that's clear, but something feels off, I have a bad feeling about this,") Roy thought as she watched the battle unfold.
"What's wrong? Did you forget about me?" Henry exclaimed as he, along with his two companions, prepared a final attack.
He spun his entire body to increase the speed of his massive weapon. Although it cost him some mana, it was the best possible move.
The Kaldvargr couldn't react in time and was completely struck by the blade, forcing it into the ground. Axel and Mark, meanwhile, managed to get away just in time.
"Alright, this is our victory!" Yeon-woo would shout excitedly; they had defeated a formidable enemy.
("No... I still don't feel its spirit, it's not dead,") Roy thought as she watched the scene cautiously, feeling an incredible weight in her chest.
("Death, death, death")
The same voices as before resurfaced in Roy's mind; it seemed it wasn't just a simple gut feeling.
"Watch out!" The girl screamed, following the voices.
"What's wrong, Roy? We just need to finish it off and..." Axel approached confidently where Kaldvargr's body was supposed to be, but to his surprise, there was nothing there.
"Hey, we've got a problem, the Kaldvargr escaped! We need to..."
In a matter of seconds, the pure white snow turned red. Before Axel could finish speaking, a spear had pierced his stomach.
"What? What... the hell?" The hunter collapsed to the ground from the wound.
The Kaldvargr, who was supposed to be cornered, was now in a distant tree. Its bluish skin had turned completely purple, still bearing the black marks all over its body.
"What...? What the hell!" Yeon-woo, the hunter, immediately panicked; they were supposed to have the advantage.
("Death, death, death")
The voices invaded Roy's mind once again; the word "death" repeated over and over. Slowly, she began to understand what they might be trying to tell her.
"Kaldvargr, YOU BASTARD!" Letting her emotions take over, Axel went straight to confront the monster.
"Wait, Axel, we need to protect Mark," Varek shouted, trying to heal his companion, but upon approaching, he was met with a terrible surprise.
Although Mark's body seemed normal on the outside, inside, it was completely frozen. The hunter Mark was dead.
("I knew it, I knew it, we're all going to die,") Roy could instantly feel Mark's soul; if her hunch was right, they were all in danger.
The result of the confrontation between Axel and the Kaldvargr was swift; Axel was completely overwhelmed, meeting the same fate as Mark.
Henry, for his part, was on his knees before the monster, having run out of mana.
"Run!" the group leader would shout, only to be swiftly cut down by the Kaldvargr.
"What the hell happened? We need to get out of here!" Seeing the main defense fall, Varek decided to start running, but immediately, a dagger pierced his right leg.
"No, I don't want to die!" Yeon-woo collapsed to the ground as she watched the Kaldvargr approach.
Like a predator, the monster slowly advanced toward the group; after all, these three alone posed no threat to him.
("Death, vengeance, kill him, let us have our revenge")
Roy, for her part, stood still as she listened to the voices in her head. She wasn't feeling well at all; her mind couldn't think clearly.
"I, I, I..." The girl took several steps back and grabbed her weapon.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't beat him, run!" Varek shouted as he healed his leg.
But before he could continue yelling, Roy decided to end his life.
"What, have you gone mad? I know we're going to die, but..." Yeon-woo began to complain, but Roy killed her instantly.
"I, I, I'm sorry, I didn't want to, they made me, the voices..."
Nonsensical words spilled from the girl's mouth as she stabbed her weapon into the ground.
A massive surge of mana erupted from the girl, immediately alerting the Kaldvargr, who began to move faster.
But his path was blocked by the strike of a spear, the spear of someone who had already been defeated.
It was Mark, who still seemed alive but with completely black eyes. Following him were Henry and Axel.
"Death, death, vengeance." With those words, Roy's eyes turned completely black; this was Roy's true ability.
She was a necromancer, but even she didn't know it.
***
Although the rifts followed an established habitat rule, it was quite common to see places that slightly broke this pattern.
In an area filled with glaciers and what seemed to be large chunks of ice, footsteps could be heard in the distance.
"Alright, so it's just you three left." That was Martyn, who was there for one reason only.
"I didn't expect them to be so big," the boy would say sarcastically as he looked at what appeared to be three large monsters.
They looked like large apes with long legs and white fur.
[Inventory:]
[Greenflare Sword]
[Greenflare Dagger]
"No matter, I'll hunt them down anyway," the boy would say as he brandished both weapons.
[Forest Monsters: 10/10]
[Cave Monsters: 50/50]
[Snow Monsters: 0/3]