Even though she had expected this sight, her jaw clenched.

With an icy gaze, Rosha surveyed the area around the crimson snow field.

She had hoped ‘that’ wouldn’t be there, but her hopes were dashed the moment she spotted the massive black, rock-like form.

“…Damn it.”

It was a black dragon, crouched and resting.

“Wha, what is all this, Lady Roshanak?”

“Shh, keep your voice down.”

Rosha warned her approaching companions, even as despair set in, quickly recalling her memories.

‘I need to be extremely, infinitely cautious.’

This memory manifested as an illusion was the worst trial she had envisioned in her mind.

When the operation to secure the rift that had opened in the Tibet region failed for political reasons, and the demons inside spilled out, this dragon was released as well.

With scales and claws harder than steel, and a breath that could melt anything with deadly venom.

But the biggest problem was that it had the ability to control corpses.

‘With its disposition favoring self-preservation, it ended up holing up in these mountains, endlessly producing its own army day and night.’

One of her longtime teammates who had participated in the first extermination squad here had died. Perhaps their remains were scattered among these corpses.

After briefly looking over the corpses, Rosha turned her head away, her face set firmly.

‘We need to get out of here. Our numbers and strength aren’t enough to handle this.’

Dying in the illusion meant real death. In that sense, this illusion had been completely mismatched.

“So, is this something you actually experienced, milady? Or just an imagination?”

Lovell, who had silently approached and looked down, asked cautiously. It seemed too unrealistic to have actually happened.

Instead of answering, Rosha warned him,

“Soon, those corpses lying there will rise up and attack anything alive.”

“Pardon?”

“So let’s slowly retreat without being noticed.”

As she quietly backpedaled, her mind raced.

Although this was in the middle of an open snowfield, they would likely be standing, or perhaps even lying down, in the center of the forgotten god’s shrine. Or maybe they already had crystal blades pointed at their throats.

‘If I had maintained my 7th stage, I could have shattered this and escaped.’

Only a 7th stage domain could break through another 7th stage domain. Even the [Guid’s Lantern] couldn’t bridge the overwhelming gap in power.

Peering into her mana vessel with regret, it was clearly insufficient.

What should she do? How could she save them?

At that moment.

“Doesn’t that seem strange?”

Koko, who had been observing the illusion with an odd expression from earlier, suddenly pointed at a nearby tree.

Looking at the tree with a ‘what is that’ expression, Rosha suddenly realized it wasn’t swaying at all in the wind.

Upon this realization, a small smile emerged.

“…Haha, I see.”

“Have you thought of a way?”

“Perhaps, yes.”

That was an illusion auxiliary device disguised as a tree.

In other words, this entity wasn’t at a complete 7th stage.

For a true 7th stage magician, nothing but magic power was needed to deploy their domain.

However, as she clandestinely gathered her mana to dispel it, it was then that:

“…Hey. Did the dragon just make eye contact with me?”

Cassis muttered after inadvertently locking eyes with the dragon’s crimson gaze.

Grrrruuung-

Letting out a low growl, the dragon rose, and the corpses collectively began to stir.

Contrary to the common perception of moving sluggishly, the corpses ran or even climbed up the cliffs.

“…!”

With no other choice now, Rosha, who had openly gathered her mana, launched a massive fireball towards the tree – large enough to instantly incinerate a couple of ordinary trees.

Kwaaaang!

However, contrary to the explosive sound, the tree remained undamaged.

“…Huh?”

It was an unbelievable sight.

At least quickly grasping the situation, Froy blocked the approaching cliff and said:

“I’ll buy us some time.”

“Me too.”

The two special ability users unleashed their full power against the gradually appearing corpses.

The empty space erupted violently like a bomb, and the dense blue beams that had risen into the sky instantly transformed into sleek sword shapes, raining down onto the ground.

In terms of sheer numbers, it was an impressive display.

However, the two alone couldn’t hold off all the enemies.

“Hah, if the world is going to end, at least let it end gracefully! What is this?”

“Argh, get away!”

A few corpses that had managed to climb up the cliff rushed towards Rosha.

Fortunately, the nimble swordsman Lovell swiftly dealt with them, while Koko secretly assisted him with magic from time to time.

Watching her companions precariously battling the onslaught of corpses, her heart raced.

‘I have to do something. We can’t all die here.’

Saaaaaa-

Gathering all the surrounding mana, Rosha summoned flames into the air.

From the blazing cloud-shaped fireball, a massive dual-pronged spear of flame descended.

A grand magic spell specialized for a single point, ‘The Chastising Spear.’

Slowly revealing itself as if a god looking down from above, it powerfully plunged towards its target at some point.

Kwaaaaaang!

The ground trembled, and the flames rose up threateningly.

However, the tree that had withstood the direct hit of ‘The Chastising Spear’ remained unbelievably intact.

‘…How am I supposed to deal with that?’

Since the [Guid’s Lantern] also pointed to that tree, as frustrating as it was, it seemed to be the only clue.

So she had to destroy that tree, no matter what.

An object that couldn’t be destroyed even by grand magic.

Somehow.

“…”

Suddenly, the memory of Koko teaching her magic long ago resurfaced.

Seeing her talent for magic, he had added with a satisfied expression:

-You may still be a small fry, but if you manage to survive for a long time, you might eventually encounter ‘preset’ things.

-Huh? What are you talking about, all of a sudden?

-For example, attributes like ‘extremely sturdy’ or ‘indestructible’ bestowed upon sacred relics. Do you really think they are truly sturdy and indestructible just because those phrases are written in their info windows?

-Well… I’d have to use sacred relics to find out.

-Teeing!

Exasperated by her response, Koko had left this advice:

-To tamper with preset ‘settings,’ you must start by reading the framework and structure. Understand?

-If you keep this in mind, there is nothing absolute in this world. In that sense, your ability is optimal for ‘reading’ things!

‘Reading.’

For 18 years, she had gone through countless trials following the blue window’s intentions, but she had never properly understood Koko’s words about ‘reading.’

She had been using the [Guid’s Lantern] primarily as a near-future precognition ability.

Yet, the vast crystal maze from this trial suddenly came to Rosha’s mind.

-The top is open but unclimbable, and the walls cannot be destroyed.

Those who had experienced the second trial would always say this when sharing their stories.

They had tried circumventing or destroying the crystal maze walls, but each time, the blue window had prevented their actions.

The crystal maze walls that could never be destroyed.

Just how were such ‘settings’ bestowed?

Her thoughts accelerated, as if her cognition was rapidly ascending.

Rosha looked around with her golden eyes.

Flap-

The dragon was already flapping its wings, flying towards them.

Although still fighting back, despair gradually crept onto her companions’ faces.

As if realizing there was no other option but to await the approaching death.

“…”

However, Rosha’s vision no longer perceived the dragon.

Instead of the illusion, she saw the actual elements comprising it.

The various objects disguised in different forms, but whose true nature wasn’t much different from the ‘indestructible walls’ that made up the crystal maze.

Gazing at one of them, she was amazed to see the flow of power that constituted it.

‘The framework and structure.’

She felt like she understood what those words meant.

In a heightened state of awareness that would collapse if her concentration wavered even slightly, she slowly touched that flow.

Then, the tree that had remained unfazed even by the grand magic ‘The Chastising Spear’ gradually began to crack before-

Craaaash!

Shattering into pieces.

Like breaking a crystal.

“That’s it!”

As if forgetting he shouldn’t speak, Koko laughed uheheehee. But no one was paying attention to him.

And for good reason – the dragon’s form was rippling like the moon’s reflection on water.

The illusion was rapidly fading.

〔How, how is this possible?〕

Hearing the entity’s voice, Rosha opened her eyes, trying to etch this feeling into her memory.

She was still inside the shrine, but the situation had changed slightly from before.

Around their bodies gathered in the center of the shrine, crystals had grown like withered branches, their sharp tips poised to strike at any moment.

It was at that moment.

“Rosha, you just rest here.”

With a resounding clang, Cassis, having shattered the crystals with his sword, tossed aside the empty elixir bottle and recited fiercely,

“I don’t know who you are, but you’ve lost now.”