Morning came quietly inside the dimensional tent.
Outside was another matter.
Jax stepped through the entrance carrying a mug of coffee and found Warden standing exactly where he had left him the night before.
Same position.
Same posture.
Shield resting beside him.
Sword at his hip.
The massive armored knight hadn't moved enough to leave tracks beyond the ones already surrounding his feet.
Jax took a sip.
"Morning."
Warden turned his helmet slightly.
"My liege."
"Anything eventful happen last night?"
Warden paused.
"Out here, I can report nothing of consequence."
Jax nodded.
"Good."
"However..."
Jax stopped with the mug halfway to his mouth.
Warden continued.
"I was not within your dimensional space. Therefore, I cannot attest to what you would consider eventful."
Silence.
Behind Jax...
Nyxian stepped through the entrance.
She stared at Warden.
Then at Jax.
Then back at Warden.
"Did he just make a joke?"
Zee emerged behind her, adjusting the straps of her equipment.
"I think he was answering the question literally."
Nyxian narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the armored knight.
"No."
She pointed at him.
"I'm counting it."
Warden gave no reaction.
He simply looked at Nyxian.
Then turned and resumed his patrol around the chamber, checking the shadows as they prepared to move.
Nyxian's grin widened.
"It was totally a joke!"
Llandra emerged next, already carrying Starpiercer.
"What did I miss?"
"Warden's becoming funny."
Llandra looked toward him.
Warden continued his patrol as though none of them existed.
She nodded.
"Seems normal to me."
Aurabelle stepped outside last, World Breaker resting comfortably across one shoulder.
"Are we ready?"
Jax finished his coffee.
He looked deeper into the frozen passage ahead.
"Let's find out what killed everyone who actually stayed."
The humor disappeared.
Warden lifted his shield.
Gryph rose from where he had rested near the cavern wall.
Fang uncoiled from the shadows.
The remaining shadow soldiers formed ranks behind them.
Jax smiled.
"Lead the way."
Llandra moved to the front.
And the Raid Cave came alive.
The first attack came less than twenty minutes later.
Llandra's fist shot upward.
"Stop."
Everyone froze.
Jax looked ahead.
Nothing.
Ice-covered stone stretched another hundred feet before disappearing around a bend.
Llandra slowly lifted Starpiercer.
"Something's there."
Nyxian whispered.
"Where?"
"Everywhere."
Jax's eyes narrowed.
Then—
The walls moved.
Ice exploded outward.
White creatures erupted from beneath the frozen stone.
Six-legged beasts covered in jagged crystalline armor crashed into the passage.
Behind them came something worse.
Tall creatures resembling wolves rose from the ground, their bodies seemingly formed from ice and frozen muscle.
Then the ceiling cracked.
Jax looked up.
"Oh."
Dozens of smaller creatures dropped.
"That's inconvenient."
"CONTACT!" Llandra shouted.
The corridor exploded into violence.
Warden slammed his shield into the first charging beast.
BOOM!
The creature stopped instantly.
Everything behind it did not.
Three more crashed into its body.
Warden's boots slid backward across the ice.
He stabbed his sword into the ground.
Metal carved a deep groove through the frozen stone.
Warden stopped.
"Hold."
Shadow soldiers rushed past him.
Spears drove between armored plates.
Swords struck frozen limbs.
A shadow mage raised both hands.
Fire erupted through the corridor.
Steam exploded outward.
"Left!" Llandra shouted.
Aurabelle was already moving.
Wind gathered beneath her feet.
She disappeared.
A heartbeat later—
CRACK!
World Breaker struck the side of an ice beast.
The creature didn't merely fall.
It crossed the entire corridor.
Its body smashed into the opposite wall and disappeared through several feet of ice.
Aurabelle landed.
She stared at the hole.
"...Oops."
Jax pointed.
"Good hit."
She grinned.
"Thanks!"
Three creatures charged her.
Aurabelle lowered World Breaker.
"Come on!"
She vanished again.
Nyxian sighed.
"She really enjoys this."
"Yes," Zee replied.
"She does."
A creature lunged toward them.
Nyxian's hand snapped outward.
Lilith's Kiss screamed through the air.
The whip wrapped around its throat.
Her second lash caught one of its legs.
Nyxian crossed her arms.
Then pulled.
The creature flipped sideways.
Straight into Fang.
The giant serpent struck.
Fangs buried into frozen flesh.
The creature spasmed.
Nyxian smiled.
"Teamwork."
Fang swallowed it.
Nyxian's smile vanished.
"...Or... breakfast."
Jax laughed.
Then something screamed from above.
He looked up.
A crystalline creature dropped directly toward Zee.
She didn't move.
Its claws stopped three feet above her head.
Suspended.
Zee looked upward calmly.
The creature struggled against an invisible force.
Her fingers slowly curled.
The beast rotated in midair.
Then flew backward.
Straight toward Gryph.
The gryphon slammed into it at full speed.
Ice exploded across the chamber.
Jax smiled.
"Nice."
Zee adjusted her grip on Sanctaris.
"I've been practicing."
Llandra fired.
An arrow disappeared around the bend.
A distant explosion followed.
Then another.
And another.
Jax glanced toward her.
"What were those?"
"Reinforcements."
"Were?"
Llandra lowered Starpiercer.
"Were."
Jax nodded approvingly.
They continued.
The deeper they traveled...
The worse the cave became.
Frozen insects the size of dogs poured from cracks in the walls.
Ice serpents erupted beneath their feet.
Twice, the floor itself collapsed.
The first time, Gryph caught Zee before she disappeared into the darkness.
The second—
Aurabelle simply Wind Walked across the opening.
Nyxian stared after her.
"Show-off."
Aurabelle turned around while walking backward through the air.
"You'd do it too."
"I have wings."
"Exactly."
"...Fair."
Hours passed.
The Raid Cave seemed determined to exhaust them.
It failed.
If anything—
The Vixens became more coordinated.
Llandra rarely needed to call targets anymore.
Aurabelle knew where she wanted them.
Nyxian learned exactly when Llandra needed something pulled out of position.
Zee protected openings before anyone realized they existed.
And Warden—
Warden organized everything else.
A shadow knight moved left.
Two mages took elevation.
Fang disappeared into a side passage.
Gryph circled overhead whenever the ceiling allowed.
Warden rarely spoke.
He didn't need to.
Jax noticed.
The shadows understood him.
Not like soldiers receiving shouted commands.
More like pieces of the same thought.
The transformation was remarkable.
Warden wasn't merely becoming stronger.
He was becoming a commander.
Jax stayed behind the main line whenever possible.
Not because he needed protection.
Because they didn't need him.
That mattered.
The Vixens weren't passengers in his adventure.
They were adventurers.
And they were becoming damn good ones.
Eventually the tunnel began descending.
The temperature dropped with every hundred feet.
Ice no longer merely covered the walls.
The walls were ice.
Their footsteps echoed through blue-white corridors.
Jax glanced at Aurabelle.
Her midriff remained exposed beneath her armor.
No goosebumps.
No shivering.
Nothing.
Nyxian wore what could generously be described as an outfit designed with absolutely no consideration for winter.
Her chest was mostly exposed except where modesty required otherwise.
Her legs certainly hadn't been dressed for subzero temperatures.
Llandra wasn't much better.
Zee had robes.
Technically.
Thin ones.
Jax looked at the ice again.
Then at the women.
Magic.
More than a year in this world...
And some things still took getting used to.
He certainly wasn't complaining about the scenery.
The logistics were simply fascinating.
Aurabelle caught him looking.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She looked down at herself.
Then smiled.
"Looking at my armor?"
"Something like that."
Nyxian immediately turned around.
"Was he looking at me too?"
"No."
"Rude."
Llandra sighed.
"Can we focus on the A-Rank Raid Cave?"
"Fine."
Nyxian looked at Jax.
"We'll discuss this later."
"I'm devastated."
They rounded the final corner.
And everyone stopped.
Ahead stood two enormous doors.
Not stone.
Ice.
Symbols glowed across their surface.
Zee stared at them.
Her expression changed.
"Jax."
"Yeah?"
"Whatever is behind that..."
She tightened her grip on Sanctaris.
"...is significantly stronger than everything else we've encountered."
Jax studied the doors.
"Boss room."
Llandra nodded.
"Boss room."
Aurabelle stepped forward eagerly.
"Finally."
Nyxian looked at her.
"You've been waiting to say that all day, haven't you?"
"Yep."
Jax rolled his shoulders.
"Alright."
He looked at everyone.
"Same rules."
"No unnecessary risks."
"If something goes wrong, pull back."
He looked toward Warden.
"You protect them."
Warden lowered his head.
"My liege."
Jax placed one hand against the doors.
"Let's meet our host."
He pushed.
The doors opened.
And winter itself waited beyond them.
The chamber was enormous.
Far larger than anything they had encountered inside the cave.
Ice crystals stretched from floor to ceiling.
Massive frozen pillars disappeared into darkness hundreds of feet overhead.
The ground was coated in frost so thick that every step left a footprint several inches deep.
At the center of the chamber...
Something moved.
A giant rose from an enormous throne of ice.
Twenty-five feet tall.
Perhaps more.
Its body was covered in thick blue-white flesh wrapped beneath crude armor.
A massive wooden club rested beside it.
Except the club itself was frozen.
Not coated in ice.
Frozen.
As though winter had seeped into the weapon's very existence.
The giant stood.
The cavern shook.
Aurabelle slowly smiled.
"Oh..."
Nyxian glanced toward her.
"You're excited."
"Very."
The giant lifted its club.
Its eyes opened.
Brilliant blue light filled them.
Then—
It roared.
The sound shook ice loose from the ceiling.
Stalactites dropped.
The group scattered.
One slammed into the floor where Nyxian had stood.
Another shattered beside Warden's shield.
Jax studied the giant.
No System name appeared.
No convenient explanation.
Just power.
A lot of it.
"Okay."
He looked toward the others.
"Let's see what it does."
Aurabelle lowered World Breaker.
Llandra drew an arrow.
Nyxian separated Lilith's Kiss into both hands.
Zee raised Sanctaris.
Warden stepped forward.
And the battle began.
Their first plan lasted eleven seconds.
Warden charged directly toward the giant.
Gryph swept toward its right.
Fang circled left.
Aurabelle followed behind Warden while Llandra and Nyxian separated.
Perfect.
Until the giant slammed its club into the floor.
A circle of blue magic exploded outward.
Jax saw the portal forming.
"Oh, that's new."
Ten creatures emerged.
Smaller Frost Giants.
Still enormous.
Still armed.
And directly between the Vixens and their target.
"Change!" Llandra shouted.
The formation broke.
Aurabelle intercepted the first giant.
World Breaker struck its knee.
Bone exploded.
Nyxian caught another across the face.
Zee hurled a third sideways.
Warden continued toward the boss.
The boss pointed.
A beam of white-blue magic erupted from its hand.
Warden raised his shield.
BOOOOOOM!
The blast struck.
Ice spread instantly across the shield.
Then Warden's arm.
Then his shoulder.
"WARDEN!" Aurabelle shouted.
Warden tore his arm free.
Pieces of frozen armor shattered away.
He dropped the shield.
Then kept moving.
Jax watched carefully.
"Interesting."
Warden reached the giant.
The club came down.
He dodged.
The weapon struck the floor.
Everything around the impact froze.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
Stone.
Ice.
Debris.
Even the air seemed to crystallize.
Jax's expression changed.
"Don't let that thing hit you!"
"Excellent advice!" Nyxian shouted.
A Frost Giant swung at her.
She ducked.
Lilith's Kiss wrapped around its wrist.
She used its momentum to swing herself beneath the attack.
Her second whip wrapped around its ankle.
She pulled.
The giant crashed.
Aurabelle's hammer finished it.
One down.
Nine more.
Then the portal opened again.
Llandra stared.
"You've got to be kidding."
Eight more emerged.
Jax looked at the growing battlefield.
"Okay."
The plan was officially dead.
"Reset!"
Everyone withdrew.
But the giants didn't give them time to fully regroup.
The boss raised one hand.
Another blast.
Warden turned.
Shield gone.
He tried to use his sword to deflect it.
The magic struck.
Ice swallowed his entire body.
Warden froze solid.
The boss moved faster than something that size had any right to move.
Its club swung.
CRACK!
Warden shattered.
Aurabelle froze.
"WARDEN!"
Jax watched the pieces dissolve into shadow.
"Interesting."
She turned toward him.
"Interesting?!"
Jax's eyes remained on the boss.
"He's fine."
But he didn't summon Warden back.
Aurabelle noticed.
No time to ask.
A summoned giant charged her.
World Breaker met it.
The fight continued.
Their second plan lasted longer.
Almost two minutes.
Llandra created two Astral Echoes.
Three identical elves separated across the battlefield.
Then the real Llandra vanished.
The two visible Llandras ran toward each other.
Jax watched.
"What is she doing?"
They clasped hands.
Something invisible stepped onto them.
Both echoes crouched.
Then—
They threw.
Nothing launched into the air.
At least...
Nothing anyone could see.
An arrow suddenly appeared halfway across the chamber.
BOOM!
It struck the boss's shoulder.
The giant staggered.
Another arrow appeared.
BOOM!
Then another.
The boss roared and fired wildly toward the ceiling.
Llandra became visible for barely a heartbeat as she twisted through the air.
Her clones moved beneath her.
She landed on their joined hands.
They launched her again.
Nyxian stared upward.
"Okay."
She grinned.
"That's awesome."
Llandra disappeared.
Another arrow exploded against the giant's neck.
Aurabelle attacked low.
World Breaker slammed into its shin.
The giant stumbled.
"NOW!" Llandra shouted.
Gryph dove.
The gryphon accelerated through the chamber.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster.
The boss turned.
Too late.
Gryph slammed into its chest.
The giant staggered backward.
Jax smiled.
"There we—"
A portal opened.
Directly behind Gryph.
Three Frost Giants emerged.
One grabbed the gryphon.
"Oh."
Gryph tore free.
The boss raised its hand.
White-blue light erupted.
The blast struck Gryph mid-flight.
The gryphon froze.
Completely.
Momentum carried the frozen shadow forward.
It struck the floor.
CRASH!
Gryph shattered.
Jax watched the pieces dissolve.
No command.
No resummoning.
Nyxian noticed.
Her eyes briefly flicked toward him.
Jax was watching the boss.
Counting.
Timing.
Studying.
Another portal opened.
More Frost Giants poured through.
The shadows met them.
A knight disappeared beneath two clubs.
Another caught a frost blast.
Ice spread across his body.
A summoned giant struck him.
He shattered.
Two shadow wolves attacked from opposite directions.
One disappeared beneath a giant's boot.
The other buried its teeth into an ankle before a club crushed it against the floor.
One by one...
Jax's forces began disappearing.
The Vixens continued fighting.
Not losing.
Not overwhelmed.
But every plan became more difficult as their support dwindled.
Llandra ran directly toward one of the frozen walls.
Three steps.
Four.
Five.
The boss fired.
She kicked away.
The blast missed.
Llandra flipped backward through the air.
She vanished midway through the rotation.
Three arrows appeared.
Three explosions struck the boss's face.
Nyxian attacked from below.
Her whips wrapped around its leg.
She pulled herself forward instead of trying to move something twenty-five feet tall.
She slid beneath it.
Lilith's Kiss sliced across the back of its knee.
Aurabelle appeared above her.
Wind carried her forward.
World Breaker struck the same damaged joint.
The giant dropped to one knee.
"YES!" Aurabelle shouted.
Fang was already moving.
The serpent slipped between the summoned Frost Giants.
Bite.
Move.
Tail.
Move.
A scratch.
A puncture.
Nothing dramatic.
Then one giant slowed.
Another stumbled.
A third's leg stopped responding entirely.
Zee noticed.
"They're vulnerable to Fang's poison!"
Jax nodded.
He had already noticed.
"Keep him moving!"
Fang became a nightmare.
The serpent flowed through the battlefield while the remaining shadows tried to keep attention away from him.
A Frost Giant swung.
Fang slipped underneath.
His tail opened a thin cut behind its knee.
Another reached for him.
Fang bit its wrist.
Released.
Moved.
The giant took four more steps.
Then collapsed.
Llandra fired from somewhere invisible.
A poisoned giant dropped.
Nyxian's whip dragged another directly into Aurabelle's swing.
World Breaker finished it.
For the first time...
They were gaining ground.
Then the boss noticed Fang.
Its glowing eyes tracked the serpent.
Jax saw it.
"Fang!"
The frost blast came.
Fang twisted.
Not enough.
Magic struck his body.
Ice spread across the massive serpent in an instant.
One summoned giant raised its club.
CRACK!
Fang shattered.
Aurabelle looked toward Jax.
Again...
Nothing.
He didn't summon Fang.
He didn't summon Gryph.
He didn't summon Warden.
He watched.
Another portal formed.
Six more Frost Giants entered.
Jax's eyes narrowed.
Same interval.
Nearly.
He looked toward where the portal disappeared.
Then toward the boss.
Then the dead Frost Giants scattered across the chamber.
A shadow mage screamed.
A blast caught him across the chest.
Frozen.
Shattered.
Gone.
Another knight disappeared.
Then another.
Nyxian landed beside Jax.
Her breathing remained controlled.
Lilith's Kiss curled around her.
"You're not bringing them back."
"No."
She glanced toward the dwindling shadows.
"Why?"
Jax didn't answer.
A Frost Giant charged.
Nyxian moved to intercept.
Jax caught her arm.
"Wait."
A surviving shadow mage hurled a fireball.
The giant raised one arm.
The explosion staggered it.
Aurabelle finished the job from behind.
Jax watched the body fall.
Another one.
He looked toward Nyxian.
"How many times has he opened that portal?"
Nyxian blinked.
"You're asking me?"
"Six."
Llandra landed nearby.
Visible again.
"Seven."
Jax looked toward her.
"The first was before you started counting."
She drew another arrow.
"Seven."
Jax smiled.
"Good."
Nyxian stared at him.
"He's thinking."
Llandra's eyes shifted toward the battlefield.
Warden gone.
Gryph gone.
Fang gone.
Most of their knights gone.
The wolves had been reduced to four.
Two shadow mages remained.
Grim and Steed still fought near Nyxian.
The Vixens were unharmed.
Mostly.
But the army around them...
Was disappearing.
Across the chamber...
The Frost Giant boss rose again.
The damage they'd inflicted was real.
Arrows protruded from its body.
One knee was badly injured.
Cuts covered its legs.
A deep dent marked its armor where Gryph had struck.
But it remained standing.
And surrounded.
Another portal began to form.
Llandra looked toward Jax.
"Do you have what you need?"
Jax watched the magic.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
More Frost Giants emerged.
Eight this time.
He smiled.
"Almost."
The summoned Frost Giants charged.
Grim hit one.
Steed intercepted another.
A shadow wolf leapt at a third.
A club caught it.
Gone.
Three wolves.
A mage launched lightning.
A giant absorbed the strike and continued forward.
Nyxian attacked.
Lilith's Kiss wrapped around its throat.
She pulled herself upward.
Her heel struck its jaw.
The giant staggered.
Zee caught its club telekinetically before the weapon could come down.
Aurabelle charged.
World Breaker struck.
The giant collapsed.
Two more shadows disappeared behind them.
Jax counted.
Not the dead.
The living.
Three wolves.
Two mages.
Four knights.
Grim.
Steed.
That was almost everything left.
Aurabelle landed beside him.
Her ears were high.
World Breaker rested in both hands.
"Jax?"
He looked toward her.
"You okay?"
"I'm great."
Her eyes moved toward the battlefield.
"Warden isn't."
"He'll get over it."
Despite everything...
Aurabelle laughed.
Another frost blast tore across the room.
Zee caught part of it with a telekinetic barrier.
The rest reflected off a crystal wall.
One of the remaining knights froze.
A Frost Giant struck him.
Gone.
Jax watched the reflection.
Another piece.
The boss wasn't merely powerful.
Its magic followed rules.
The club followed rules.
The portal followed rules.
The freezing followed rules.
And every summon...
Every single one...
Was a creature of the Raid Cave.
Not a person.
Not a naturally born race.
Constructs.
Creatures created to fight.
Created to die.
Which meant...
Jax looked toward the bodies.
Dozens of them now.
Nyxian saw his expression.
"Oh."
Llandra fired another arrow.
"What?"
Nyxian grinned.
"He's got it."
Jax smiled.
"Yeah."
The boss lifted its club.
Another portal began opening.
Jax raised one hand.
"Enough."
Darkness rolled across the chamber.
Not from one body.
From everywhere.
The shadows they'd lost began returning all at once.
Warden rose first.
Black armor formed from the darkness.
His shield appeared.
His sword followed.
Crimson cape settling behind him.
"My liege."
Beside him...
Gryph erupted from the floor.
Wings unfolded.
The gryphon screamed.
Fang coiled into existence.
His massive body slid across the frozen ground.
Then the rest.
Knights.
Wolves.
Mages.
Every shadow destroyed during the fight rose again.
The Vixens watched the battlefield repopulate in seconds.
Aurabelle grinned.
"There they are."
But Jax wasn't finished.
His hand remained raised.
He looked across the dead Frost Giants.
"Come forth."
The room darkened again.
One giant twitched.
Then another.
Five.
Ten.
More.
Their bodies lifted from the ground.
Blue-white flesh faded beneath darkness.
Eyes became black flame.
Weapons reconstructed in shadowed hands.
The boss stopped.
For the first time...
The enormous creature did nothing.
It simply stared.
At its own soldiers.
Standing again.
Facing it.
Nyxian laughed.
"Oh, that has to piss him off."
Jax looked toward Warden.
He didn't need to give an order.
Warden turned.
His sword lifted.
Three Shadow Frost Giants moved immediately.
Then four more.
A line formed.
Shadow knights filled gaps between their legs.
Mages moved behind them.
Fang disappeared along one flank.
Gryph spread his wings.
Grim and Steed moved toward the opposite side.
Within seconds...
Warden had turned Jax's replenished force into an army.
Llandra watched him work.
"He's been planning too."
Jax smiled.
"Good commander."
The boss roared.
The portal fully opened.
Eight more Frost Giants marched through.
Aurabelle lifted World Breaker.
"Want me to stop them?"
Jax stared at them.
Then at the newly risen Shadow Frost Giants.
Then at the bodies still scattered across the floor.
Finally...
He understood the fight.
They had spent the entire battle treating the boss's summons as a problem.
They weren't.
They were inventory.
Jax's smile widened.
"No."
Aurabelle glanced back.
"No?"
"Let him summon."
The new Frost Giants charged.
Warden raised his sword.
Jax rolled one shoulder.
"Okay."
Everyone looked toward him.
"Gloves off."
He reached for Peacemaker.
The boss roared again.
Another portal began forming behind it.
Jax smiled.
"I've got a new plan."