Alruin and Evan seemed to share the same thoughts.

“For a demon’s rules, these are far too simple,” Alruin noted.

“There must be plenty of traps. And what is an ‘Eyed Aurora Sphere’ supposed to look like? Surely it’s not the size of a pea. Demons are crafty like that,” Evan added.

“And let’s not forget,” Meteor interjected, “the sign only says ‘how to leave the Winter Estate.’ It doesn’t mention returning to the human realm.”

Everyone, experienced with the Demon Realm to varying degrees, immediately doubted the demon’s words.

Lucas shivered, teeth chattering.

“W-We should get moving and pair up. If we stay like this, I think I’m g-going to freeze to death.”

“Agreed. We need someone—anyone—to find that long-named sphere. Even if it feels like we’re playing into the demons’ hands, we don’t have a choice.”

Alruin looked around at the knights and spoke again.

“I’ll pair with Lucas. Evan, you’ll team up with Edgar. And Meteor, you should stay with Crescent to protect her.”

“Yes!”

“Understood.”

That’s when it hit all of us—a cold chill far sharper than the biting wind.

Everyone’s gaze simultaneously turned to one person. Each of us had realized the same thing at the same moment.

The rule was to form pairs, but there were seven people here.

“Adrian.”

Alruin called out Adrian’s name, his eyes uncharacteristically wide.

A shadow of dread flickered in everyone’s eyes.

How could this be?

There had been a trap from the start.

Adrian, looking bewildered, finally spoke.

“What should I do?”

“Then, you can pair with Lucas—”

“Ah!”

“!”

Before Alruin could finish speaking, the ground beneath Adrian abruptly gave way. He plummeted into a gaping hole that had appeared without warning.

“Adrian!”

Everyone cried out his name, their voices filled with shock.

His scream echoed as he fell deeper and deeper, fading into a distant void.

The pit he’d fallen into was pitch-black, bottomless.

Time seemed to freeze. No one moved, no one spoke.

Then, a cascade of snow collapsed into the pit.

Just as I instinctively stepped back, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

“Careful.”

It was Meteor.

Even as I moved back, my eyes stayed fixed on the gaping abyss.

The others were equally stunned.

Finally, Edgar managed to speak.

“Is… Is Adrian dead? Adrian!”

His voice rang out into the black void. He called again and again, but there was no response.

Could he really be dead?

Just like that? It didn’t make sense.

He had been standing with us just moments ago.

Of course, death was always a possibility in the Demon Realm, but for someone to vanish so suddenly, so unceremoniously, was unthinkable.

Then, something shot out of the pit and landed in the snow.

Startled, the knights recoiled, but the object quickly settled on the snowy ground.

Curious, I focused on it—and it felt as though I’d been struck on the back of the head.

It was a jacket, white with light blue and gold accents. I knew it all too well.

Moments ago, it had been draped over my shoulders.

“That’s… Adrian’s jacket, isn’t it?”

Evan picked up the coat.

It was the same jacket Adrian had tried to lend me, the one I had firmly refused.

Evan stared at the coat in his hands before turning his gaze to me.

The other knights looked at me too.

I could tell we were all thinking the same thing.

Could Adrian have thrown the jacket to me as he fell, intending to lend it to me even in the face of death?

How could that be possible?

I felt as if my brain had short-circuited. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.

Evan hesitated before stepping closer to me. Carefully, he held out the jacket.

“Crescent, it seems Adrian meant for you to have this. Given the circumstances, you should wear it. You look like you’re the coldest among us.”

“…What?”

In that moment, I snapped back to my senses.

The cold I hadn’t noticed before suddenly hit me. My entire body felt numb, as if I were freezing solid.

I had to put on something warmer.

I had spare clothes in my inventory, but with everyone around, I couldn’t just pull them out. And I didn’t want to wear any of the other knights’ clothes either….

“Do you think… Adrian might still be alive?”

My voice trembled as I asked the question no one could answer.

Guilt clawed at my heart.

Then, Meteor spoke.

“Adrian’s probably still alive. The sign said, ‘If anyone finds the Eyed Aurora Sphere, everyone escapes.’ If someone dies, the word ‘everyone’ wouldn’t apply anymore, would it?”

“…You think so?”

Now that I thought about it, Meteor’s logic made sense.

At the very least, the Winter Duke wouldn’t directly contradict the wording on his own sign. Not unless he found some demonic loophole.

Alruin nodded in agreement.

“That must be the case, Crescent. Adrian is still alive. For now, we need to trust that and focus on finding the sphere. It’s the only thing we can do.”

“…Alright.”

Reluctantly, I accepted the jacket Evan handed to me.

My head still throbbed.

Why hadn’t we realized sooner that someone would be left out if we paired up? How had we overlooked something so obvious?

But even if we’d noticed earlier, would it have made any difference? Someone still would’ve been left behind.

Crunch. The sound of boots on snow broke the silence as the knights resumed walking. I turned and slipped my arms into Adrian’s jacket.

The coat felt heavier than it had before.

The sound of everyone’s footsteps was heavy too.

Seconds dragged like hours. No one spoke.

After walking for some time, Alruin’s voice cut through the silence.

“It’s time we split up. As we discussed earlier, pair up and search for the sphere.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

Everyone agreed, and Alruin gave a final glance around the group. His expression was solemn but resolute.

“We’ll all make it out alive. No matter what happens, do not lose your pride as knights of Ammas.”

“Yes.”

“Y-Yesh, shir.”

Lucas’s frozen tongue tripped over his words as he chattered.

Everyone pretended not to notice the odd pronunciation, each exchanging a glance with their partner. This might be the last time we looked one another in the eye.

Then, I turned and started walking with Meteor.

Even wearing Adrian’s jacket, my body remained stiff from the cold.

The cold wouldn’t leave me anytime soon.

How much farther could we go like this?

“Meteor, aren’t you cold?”

At this rate, I wasn’t even sure I could fight if an enemy appeared.

Meteor’s voice reached me shortly.

“I’ve never been in a place this cold.”

“Me neither.”

So he was cold too.

He looked fine on the outside, but even Meteor was enduring the freezing temperatures.

Just a brief exchange of words made the cold feel a little more bearable.

What might Adrian be going through right now? Where could he be?

I couldn’t stop thinking about him, but I refrained from voicing my thoughts.

Talking about it wouldn’t change anything.

“…The master of this place is truly demonic. We might freeze to death before we even find the sphere.”

“That’s exactly the intention. They enjoy watching humans freeze.”

“I’d rather fight demons in a warm place.”

This cold was unbearable.

I’d been to countless dungeons, but this was by far the worst.

The cold wasn’t just numbing my body—it was freezing my ability to think and act.

I squinted at my surroundings, struggling to keep my eyes open.

Snowflakes clung to my lashes, obscuring my vision.

No matter how much I looked around, there was no sign of shelter—no buildings, no cover.

In this situation, all I could think about was my inventory.

Ah, I have matches in my inventory.

If only I could light a fire, even just a small one.

Part of me wanted to use a teleportation ticket to go straight to the Winter Duke, but I couldn’t leave Meteor behind.

It felt like my brain was freezing over as my body trembled uncontrollably.

That’s when I felt something brush against my hand—a sensation of someone else’s hand slipping into mine.