After passing through an extremely dark and winding tunnel, Elsa finally saw the end of it.
It was a stairway entrance, appearing before the two of them through a shaft of light.
Below the stairs was pitch-black, so dark that nothing could be seen at all.
Yet Elsa had an incredibly strong premonition.
The person she had been longing for was right beneath those stairs.
Soon, Viktor's voice sounded beside her ear, "Go in. He's inside."
"Remember, don't forget what you promised me."
Elsa's heart thumped wildly as she dragged her heavy steps onto the staircase.
One step, two steps.
She didn't know how long she walked, not even realizing it herself.
Around her, there was nothing but darkness.
She kept walking, continuing downward.
Ahead in the darkness, a beam of light appeared.
Elsa stepped into that light, and in an instant, a powerful brightness surged toward her.
She raised one hand to shield her eyes, barely managing to adapt to the glare.
Finally, a whistling wind rose beside her ears.
She squinted, slowly opening her eyes.
The surroundings seemed like an entirely new world.
This was a plain, incredibly vast and open.
The sky was filled with dark, gloomy clouds, giving off an oppressive feeling.
In the distance, there seemed to be several towering mountain peaks, but beneath those heavy clouds, she couldn't see them clearly.
At some point, the staircase behind her had vanished without a trace. When she looked back, there was only a vast plain.
Elsa clearly remembered that she had been walking downward along the stairs, deep underground.
So why had she arrived at an open plain instead?
Suddenly, Elsa's body trembled slightly.
It felt as if a deep, unfathomable gaze was fixed on her.
'No...'
Elsa reacted sharply, a chill spreading through her entire body.
This place was a space created by spatial magic, something only mages could build.
That gaze belonged to Viktor.
He was watching her the entire time.
Before Elsa could adapt to her surroundings, suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind her.
"Are you… Elsa?"
Elsa's body stiffened. She spun around sharply and looked back.
In that instant, she felt joy and excitement surge through her.
It was the person she had been thinking about day and night.
At this moment, he had appeared by her side.
Seeing Elsa turn around, Cindy was just as excited, nearly overwhelmed with joy.
He hadn't been mistaken, this was his Elsa.
"Elsa, are you here to save me?!"
"Since you can get here, you must be able to find a way out!"
"Quick! Let's leave together! Get out of here!"
Perhaps because he was too excited, his body trembled uncontrollably.
He stumbled toward Elsa, step after step.
But just as he was about to reach her, a red sword light flashed, and scorching flames burst violently beneath Cindy's feet.
Startled, Cindy hastily retreated, staring in disbelief at Elsa, who had swung her weapon at him.
"Elsa…? Why…?"
'I'm sorry, Cindy.' Elsa closed her eyes, unwilling to let Cindy see the complicated expression on her face.
Within this space, she could feel Viktor's surveillance at every moment.
She understood that if she didn't do what Viktor told her to do, then both she and Cindy would die here, buried together.
'So, for you to be able to leave here alive, please forgive me, Cindy.'
'My love.'
Elsa opened her eyes again. At this moment, her gaze was ice-cold.
Her voice, carrying a distant chill, reached Cindy's ears.
"I'm sorry."
"I have pledged my loyalty to Lord Viktor."
Shock filled Cindy's eyes, something he couldn't accept.
He stood there blankly, staring at the Elsa before him, as if she were an entirely different person.
"Elsa, you…"
"How could you…"
But Elsa's gaze was frigid, as though she were looking at a stranger, prey to be hunted.
"This is the task Lord Viktor, my master, has given me."
"…Master?" Cindy's emotions began to collapse. He widened his eyes, staring at Elsa, shouting madly.
"Tell me, Elsa!"
"Tell me this isn't real!"
Slash!
The flaming blade tore through the air, drawing a burning arc that completely ignited the space between them.
Cindy could no longer see Elsa's expression. He could only hear her voice, calm and detached.
"This is the truth, Cindy."
"Draw your weapon."
She raised the weapon in her hand, the cold gleam of the blade aimed directly at Cindy.
At that moment, it felt as if something struck Cindy's heart, wrenching it painfully.
He couldn't accept what was happening before him. His body staggered as he stepped back twice.
"No… Elsa."
"This isn't real… this isn't real…"
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, as if falling into madness, eyes wide, hands flailing wildly before him.
"You're not Elsa! You can't be her!"
But the instant his frantic shouting ended, Elsa's figure had already appeared before him.
The blade flashing with cold light tore through the air, carrying an extremely sharp force as it came down toward Cindy.
Clang!
At the last moment, Cindy swiftly drew the greatsword from his back, blocking the lightning-fast strike.
The force was immense, forcing him to retreat several steps.
After steadying himself, he stared in shock at the weapon in his hands.
His pride and joy, the greatsword, now had a visible crack along its edge from that single cut.
'How… how was this possible!?'
This greatsword had been gifted to him by the Lesser family at great expense.
Cindy had even used it to cleave through half a mountain, without even a nick appearing.
But compared to that, what he found even harder to accept... was Elsa.
Under that terrifying force, Cindy could clearly feel it.
Elsa was serious.
After striking once, the woman's body blurred at high speed, her figure vanishing into afterimages.
The moment she disappeared, Cindy felt the hair on his entire body stand on end.
As comrades, he and Elsa had fought together for who knew how long.
He knew very well just how fierce Elsa's attacks were.
And likewise, Elsa knew him just as well.
His instincts screamed that danger was closing in.
Cindy raised his greatsword and swung it violently behind him.
BOOM!
As a fourth-tier warrior, Cindy's powerful body still couldn't withstand that brutal force.
Dust exploded from beneath his feet, cracks tearing open across the ground.
Ferocious winds swept across the land, the raging gusts slamming into Elsa's armor with loud thuds.
"Impossible!"
Elsa was just an assassin...
An assassin who nearly crushed him, a warrior, in a contest of raw strength?
"There's nothing impossible about it." Elsa's figure reappeared as she spoke calmly.
She could feel the lightness brought by the armor she wore, and the strength granted by the blade in her hand.
The sensation was incredibly strange.
But at this moment, Elsa couldn't afford to relax.
She lifted her head, a cold glint flashing in her eyes, and continued launching her attacks at Cindy.
She could show no mercy, no personal feelings whatsoever.
Otherwise, Cindy wouldn't be able to leave this place alive.
She had to use all her strength, relying on this powerful equipment, to cripple Cindy.
Even if it only left him clinging to his last breath, it would still achieve the result she desired most.
Alive. Leave this place.
With that thought, Elsa's attacks grew even fiercer.
The number of afterimages in the sky increased, leaving Cindy unable to tell from which direction the danger would strike.
He could only do his best to block Elsa's relentless attacks.
Yet with every block, his hands trembled more violently.
The battle raged intensely.
Yet no one noticed that high above, within the massed dark clouds, a figure slowly appeared.
Viktor looked down, bored, watching the fight below.
He had no interest whatsoever in their struggle.
"No skill at all."
Though they were both around level forty, NPCs and top-tier players were simply not comparable.
Players had better equipment, more meticulous planning, and more refined control.
In Viktor's eyes, Cindy and Elsa were nothing more than two ordinary NPCs who had barely passed level forty.
There was nothing entertaining about this fight.
If one had to make a comparison, it was like, two Silver-rank players desperately trading blows.
Viktor watched coldly from above.
"How boring."
Even though they were both fourth-tier, whether in strength or technique, neither of them came close to Angus Delin, a boss-class unit.
After all, even at the same tier, bosses and ordinary fourth-tier NPCs were never comparable.
"Is it? I think it's pretty interesting."
Vega, standing on Viktor's shoulder, stretched its neck, trying hard to look down below.
It had always enjoyed this kind of cricket-fighting spectacle.
"But that man is going to lose."
"That's only natural." Viktor replied flatly, without the slightest emotion.
When both sides' strength and technique were similar, the quality of their equipment played a decisive role in influencing the outcome.
Elsa was wearing armor and weapons that Viktor had enhanced five times in a row, greatly boosting her attributes.
Cindy, at only level forty, was already one level lower than Elsa.
With such a gap in equipment, resisting her was even more difficult.
"However, this test can already end."
A trace of cold air radiated from Viktor's body. "Someone with no value left to use…"
"Can die."