No one knows how long the two of them had been on this floor. Days and nights did not exist here. There was only an unchanging gray sky, a vast field covered in snow, and silence.
On this floor, Yui and Zalarosa lived for an entire month.
They slept in an old abandoned house, half-buried under the snow, and every morning they rose for only one purpose: to reach the final floor.
Every evening, creatures covered in black sand appeared, attacking without purpose, without sound, as if summoned by an invisible entity. With every encounter, Yui and Zalarosa learned something new about themselves… and about the floor.
Zalarosa advanced through the snow, wearing a coat of frozen leather, her blue eyes shining calmly.
She raised her right hand, and from the tips of her fingers emerged small pieces of ice—not sharp, but round—spinning rapidly around her.
Then…
Zalarosa: "Angle Break."
She twisted one of the ice spheres in a strange way, and it launched sharply, resembling the edge of a sword, moving at great speed. It struck the monster in the back and pierced straight through it.
Yui (from afar): "You're still using that strange name."
Zalarosa (smiling): "Better than the first name I gave that move… 'Random Spiral Snow Strike.'"
Yui was sitting near a fire she had ignited from her clenched fist, without any firewood. Just fire—purified from the elements.
She carried no sword. Her right hand glowed slowly, and the flames danced in her palm as if playing with her.
Yui (thinking):
"Mom… I miss you. How are you now… I'll return soon… I wish I had never come on this adventure with that stupid guild."
As the days passed, Yui began to discover unique skills:
"First Breathing Flame"
A combat method that relies on converting her breaths into small sparks that explode when she claps.
"Flame Heart"
A defensive technique that envelops her body in slow-moving fire that burns anything that touches it with gentle lethality.
"The Blazing Eye"
A single eye that reveals the enemy's energy source and grants her the ability to identify their weak point.
Yui was not extraordinary, but her intelligence turned her flames into precise tools, not merely instruments of destruction.
One night, creatures attacked them—creatures that did not walk… but crawled within the snowy ground.
Zalarosa jumped back the moment she felt the vibration and shouted:
Zalarosa: "Be careful! The ground isn't safe!"
She drew her sword mid-air… then charged toward the monster at tremendous speed, stabbed it, and pinned it to the ground.
She rushed toward Yui and shouted:
Zalarosa: "Yui! Are you okay?!"
Yui: "Yes, I'm fine."
Zalarosa: "You scared me. Be more careful."
On Day 30—
Yui began to feel something strange within the fire inside her.
Yui (whispering): "…These flames… they're strong. Fire comes from anger, and the more anger there is, the stronger it becomes. But why is it strong now? I'm not angry."
When she closed her eyes, she began to see the path of fire inside her body, as if she had sunk into a world of dormant magma.
And there, she found it.
"Flame of Memory" — the fundamental flame that allows the use of the fire element.
Yui's flames had been unstable. Yui understood the reason, adjusted herself, and the Flame of Memory returned to its normal state.
Outside, Zalarosa was digging a small tunnel, uncovering a massive city completely frozen beneath the snow.
Zalarosa: "…Maybe this floor used to be a city… and it died entirely."
On the final night of this floor, the pair sat in front of Yui's fire.
Yui: "Zalarosa, let me tell you a story…"
Zalarosa (looking at the gray sky): "…Alright. In the end, there's nothing but boredom. There's nothing here… It'll be fun to listen to a story."
Yui:
"Long ago, in an era and age with no known name, humanity was at the peak of its prosperity. That planet was stable, everything intact. The Ten Rulers governed the planet, organizing and developing it… It was said those rulers were so powerful they could destroy entire stars.
After years of peace, a person from another world appeared—called the Intruder. When he arrived, he wore a crown upon his head, as if he were the destined king of that planet even before his birth. He demanded the land and the heavens from the Ten Rulers as his throne.
But the Ten Rulers rejected all his demands. Because of this, the Intruder summoned a colossal army of entities still unknown to this day. History never gave them a name—unknown beings, of unknown origin. No one knows where they came from.
That army was led by five individuals of terrifying power. Only one of them was ever known by name: Yor, the Commander of Time and Death.
When that army arrived… war began. Kingdoms fell. Civilizations vanished from history, and history itself eroded. The planet descended into chaos. Water turned to blood, air became poison, the sky turned to fire. Humans became beasts seeking only food. From hunger and poverty, they devoured one another and drank each other's blood.
The war between the Intruder and the Ten Rulers lasted a thousand years. In the end, the Ten Rulers fell. That era was named the Black Age… the end."
Silence followed.
Zalarosa:
"That story… I've heard it many times.
But it's… extremely strange.
Who was that Intruder? Where did he come from?
And more importantly…
How could he defeat the Ten Rulers?
I can't believe they were truly defeated. That's impossible."
Then—
It appeared.
A spiral staircase of ice emerged… extending from beneath the city, toward a new floor.
But Yui and Zalarosa… did not move yet.
Because this floor, after everything they had endured… had become a temporary home.
To be continued…