The Undead Army's advance was not swift.
But the perfectly synchronized grinding of metal and clattering of bones carried a rhythm that seemed to devour heartbeats, shattering the wasteland's dead silence with every step.
Lin Qingyue and Lin Xiyue pressed themselves flat against the icy rock, suppressing their breathing to the absolute limit.
The overwhelming aura of death, so thick it felt tangible, washed over them, making the air viscous and chilling.
Lin Xiyue felt the Power of Holy Light within her stagnate, as if a warm stream had flowed into a frozen river, its current slowing to a crawl.
Though far from unusable, the oppressive discomfort of being so thoroughly suppressed made her brow furrow deeply.
She gripped the hilt of Dawn's Light, her palm slick with cold sweat.
The faint Holy Light emanating from the blade stubbornly resisted the encroaching darkness of this vast death domain.
"Sis... are we really not retreating?" she whispered, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
"Don't be afraid."
Lin Qingyue's voice was soft but carried a strange, calming certainty.
She reached out and gently placed a hand on her sister's shoulder.
A soft, pink-tinged energy flowed into Lin Xiyue.
The chilling sensation clinging to her instantly dissipated by more than half. Lin Xiyue even felt her stiff muscles relax slightly, and the Power of Holy Light within her began to flow joyfully once more.
It was Miss Pink Elf's Blessing.
Though the blessing's "light pollution" effect was... indescribable, it was astonishingly effective at resisting the corrosion of negative energy.
The pure, illogical concepts of "cuteness" and "beauty" were the natural enemies of all darkness and evil.
Lin Xiyue shot her sister a grateful glance, noticing that while Lin Qingyue's expression was grave, her beautiful eyes burned with an almost scorching light.
Lin Qingyue's entire focus was locked onto the Undead Army's line of march.
"Look, their movements are incredibly purposeful," Lin Qingyue said, gesturing with her chin toward the distance.
"Their formation is disciplined, their direction unified. This is no random wandering. It's more like they're executing an order... heading to a specific location."
"Executing an order?" Lin Xiyue followed her gaze. "With a force this massive, where could they possibly be going?"
"I don't know. But we'll find out soon enough."
Lin Qingyue's mind raced.
This Undead Army was undoubtedly the final challenge of the Dungeon trial—or perhaps the "key" to unlocking it.
Its appearance meant the Dungeon's final phase had been forcibly triggered.
And they, by a stroke of luck, had become the first candidates to stumble upon this secret.
This was a massive danger, but also a massive opportunity.
"Follow them."
Lin Qingyue made a decision that sent a chill down Lin Xiyue's spine.
"Huh?!" Lin Xiyue exclaimed in shock. "F-Follow them? With those Specters floating in the sky, we'll be spotted the moment we show ourselves!"
The Undead Army's coverage was far too vast.
The Specter sentinels patrolling the flanks extended their reconnaissance range to a terrifying degree. Following them would be no different from willingly jumping into a meat grinder.
"Who said anything about using our legs?"
Lin Qingyue glanced at her sister, her eyes clearly saying, "Did you forget something important?"
Lin Xiyue froze for a moment.
Then, as if recalling something amusing, she looked at her sister, then up at the night sky, her face twisting into an incredibly complex expression.
That expression was a mix of three parts excitement, four parts curiosity, and ninety-three parts pure, unadulterated schadenfreude she desperately tried to hide from her sister!
"Sis... you're not going to... again, are you?"
"What other choice do we have?" Lin Qingyue retorted irritably. "Or would you rather play hide-and-seek with hundreds of undead on the ground?"
In their current situation, ground pursuit was a death sentence.
The only way to break the stalemate was to use the Venti Trial Card's flight ability to tail them from a safe distance high in the sky.
"But... that look is just too..." Lin Xiyue couldn't control the corners of her mouth as she pictured her sister transforming into that green-clad bard. Her grin stretched uncontrollably toward her ears.
"Is this really the time to worry about appearances?" Lin Qingyue scolded righteously.
In truth, her own heart was bleeding.
She could already foresee that when she reappeared before her sister in that humiliating form, she wouldn't be met with admiration, but with a fresh round of merciless ridicule.
But for victory, for the points, for the sole champion's throne
A small sacrifice is a necessary price on the path to glory.
She turned away resolutely and mentally issued the practiced command.
"Use [Venti Trial Card]."
The familiar gentle breeze once again enveloped her.
Her long pink hair and sacred priest robes vanished like phantoms, replaced by a verdant short cape, white stockings, and those two iconic braided pigtails.
"Pfft..."
Behind her, Lin Xiyue's laughter—stifled at first, but ultimately bursting free—erupted as expected.
Lin Qingyue (Venti Form) slowly turned around. Far from being angry, she placed a hand over her chest and performed an elegant violinist's bow for her sister.
"Well then, my dear traveler, are you ready to begin our high-altitude sightseeing tour?"
Even her voice had become light and rhythmic.
"Destination—the Grand Gathering of the Dead~"
Before she finished speaking, a gentle updraft formed beneath their feet.
"Come, let the wind carry us~"
The two ascended once more.
This time, Lin Qingyue flew higher and farther, putting a full kilometer of straight-line distance between them and the Undead Army.
From this altitude, the Tide of Bones on the ground below became a silently writhing shadow.
At a hundred meters high, they were just two nearly negligible dots, completely free from the risk of being discovered.
"Do you see it?" Lin Qingyue pointed toward the distant horizon, her voice blending with the wind. "Their final destination is right over there~ It seems a grand 'concert' is about to be held."
Following her sister's finger, Lin Xiyue squinted.
At the edge of the horizon, the silhouette of a massive, dilapidated building flickered in and out of view under the pale starlight.
It was an ancient-style church.
Its spire had half-collapsed, and its walls were covered in a spiderweb of cracks and dark moss. Yet it still stood stubbornly, radiating a bizarre aura that intertwined solemnity with sinister evil.
A dark energy, even denser and purer than that of the Undead Army, emanated from the church as its epicenter, continuously corrupting the entire wasteland like ink spreading through water.
"Is that... their nest?" Lin Xiyue murmured.
"I'm afraid so." Lin Qingyue's expression grew more serious. "That 'Conductor,' the Death Knight, is likely heading there to stand guard. Or... to welcome an even more important 'special guest.'"
A dreadful thought took shape in her mind.
The final boss of this Dungeon wasn't the Death Knight.
It was... something hidden within the church.
Circling like hawks, they trailed the Undead Army from a distance, flying all the way toward the dilapidated church.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived near the church.
Lin Qingyue chose to land on a high slope with a wide field of view. From there, they could overlook the entire church while remaining concealed in the natural shadow of a rock formation.
The moment she touched down, she canceled her transformation, reverting to her pink-haired Priest form.
She let out a long sigh of relief.
Her own form was so much more comfortable.
Lin Xiyue also leaped down lightly, her face still flushed with the lingering thrill of flight.
"Sis, what do we do now? Just wait here?"
"Yes, we observe first," Lin Qingyue nodded. "This is the eye of the storm. I believe we won't be the only audience."
As if to prove her point, the faint sound of shifting gravel echoed from a deeper shadow nearby.
The sisters instantly tensed, their hands flying to their weapons.
Three figures slowly emerged from the darkness.
Leading them was a young man in a fiery red mage's robe, his expression arrogant.
An orange-red flame danced on his fingertip, condensing into a miniature, flapping flame sparrow—a clear display of elemental control far beyond his peers.
Beside him stood a burly man with bulging muscles, a giant axe slung over his shoulder, and a female assassin concealed in the shadows, only her slender, graceful figure visible.
This squad was well-equipped and exuded a calm, steady aura, clearly a top-tier team that had fought their way through the Dungeon. They too had been drawn by the movements of the Undead Army and showed surprise at finding someone had already claimed the prime vantage point on the slope.
The Red-Robed Mage's gaze swept over the sisters. When his eyes fell on Lin Xiyue's ornate shield and the pure, almost blinding Holy Light emanating from Lin Qingyue, his arrogance softened slightly.
"Anyone who made it here at this point is no fool," his voice boomed with confidence. "Zhao Shihao, from Linjiang No. 1 High School. Our squad is a joint force of the city's top three. It seems we were all drawn by the 'commotion.'"
Lin Xiyue remained vigilant, angling her shield slightly forward to cover half of her sister's body.
Lin Qingyue met his gaze calmly, her voice cool. "Lin Qingyue, from Yicheng Seventh High School. This is my younger sister, Lin Xiyue."
Zhao Shihao studied the sisters' flawless defensive posture, a flicker of admiration in his eyes. "A Paladin and a Priest... making it this far with just the two of you is impressive. In this situation, fighting alone is suicide. Our team has enough DPS, but we're missing a reliable frontliner and a healer. Interested in a temporary alliance?"
His proposal was direct and pragmatic.
Any squad that had survived this long and dared to approach the final boss area understood the principle: "United, we prosper; divided, we fall."
Yet Lin Qingyue gently shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, but we're used to working as a pair."
Unfazed by the blunt refusal, Zhao Shihao laughed heartily. "Understood. Then I hope that if our goals align, we can at least avoid becoming enemies. How about we call ourselves friends?"
"Agreed," Lin Qingyue replied coolly.
Just then, two more groups appeared from different directions almost simultaneously.
To the left was a full four-person squad: Warrior, Mage, Priest, and Assassin. Their equipment was standardized, and their movements carried a disciplined, military-like air, clearly an ace team from a top-tier high school.
To the right were only two people: a silent, mountain-like Swordsman carrying a greatsword as wide as a door, and a female Mage wielding an ice-crystal staff, her presence chilling the air around her.
In the blink of an eye, four teams—eleven people in total—had converged on the small hillside.
Everyone's gaze bypassed the others, fixed intently on the Dark Church that was swallowing the Undead Army.
The air crackled with a strange, volatile equilibrium.
They were potential allies.
And the most dangerous competitors.
Just then, the Death Knight, who had reached the church entrance, abruptly reined in his skeletal warhorse.
He slowly turned his head. The two ghastly white soul-flames in his eye sockets swept across the face of every student on the hillside, spanning a thousand meters with unnerving precision.
"ROOOOAR—!!!"
An inhuman roar, saturated with tyranny and the stench of death, erupted from his chest, echoing across the entire wasteland!
At that moment, the earth began to tremble violently