Chapter 151
One by one, the trolls began to fall into a slower rhythm of defeat.
They were still regenerating, still adapting, still dangerous, but the battlefield had changed. Every time Nille and Lin Yue synchronized their attacks, the trolls no longer recovered cleanly. The combined fire and wind compression was now consistently disrupting their healing cycle, forcing openings that did not exist before. Where earlier they had been untouchable giants, they were now being forced into staggered, unstable motion.
Nille adjusted mid-fight.
He didn't announce it.
He simply changed how he held his internal spell compression.
A faint presence responded beside him, Nyx, his steward, observing his energy flow with precise detachment. Without interfering directly, Nyx subtly adjusted the structure of Nille's Fire Bullet Burst. The modification was small but critical: instead of pure combustion output, the spell now carried a layered destabilization frequency.
"Disintegration overlay…" Nille muttered under his breath, feeling the difference immediately.
He tested it on the next opening.
A troll charged.
Nille released a synchronized strike with Lin Yue once again, but this time his fire was no longer purely explosive. It carried Nyx's refined structure, an internal breakdown effect designed to weaken regeneration at the molecular level of mana reinforcement.
Lin's wind arrow followed perfectly, compressing the fire core as before.
The moment it struck the troll's chest, the effect changed.
Instead of simply burning and disrupting, the wound failed to stabilize entirely. The regeneration attempted to activate, but the disintegration layer broke down the healing process before it could complete. Flesh did not fully reform. The troll staggered, confused, its body unable to fully recover its structure.
Nhulla noticed immediately. "Its regeneration is lagging…"
Rume grinned as he drove his hammer into another troll's knee. "Finally. They're not bouncing back."
Professor Caelum's eyes narrowed slightly, analyzing the shift. "It's not just damage anymore. It's interference with their recovery cycle."
Lin Yue continued her movement without hesitation, her wind cutting through another troll's attempt to reposition. "Then we keep stacking it," she said calmly.
Nille nodded once.
The pattern was now clear.
One strike alone was ineffective.
But layered coordination, fire, wind, and now disintegration interference, was breaking the trolls' survival advantage piece by piece.
The battlefield shifted again.
Trolls still roared, still fought, still pushed forward under the caster's suppression field, but their confidence began to fracture as more of their kind failed to recover properly. Each synchronized attack from Nille and Lin Yue left lingering damage that no longer healed cleanly.
Nyx observed quietly beside Nille, making small adjustments in real time, refining the spell structure as if tuning an instrument mid-performance.
And for the first time since the battle began, the tide did not just slow.
It started to turn.
Despite the progress they had made, the battle remained far from over.
The combined attacks were working. The compressed fire, wind, and disintegration effects were creating wounds that the trolls struggled to heal instantly. Yet the reality before them remained frustratingly clear: the trolls' regenerative abilities were still a terrifying advantage.
A severed arm would fall to the ground, twitching as if still alive.
Moments later, the troll would simply retrieve the limb, press it back against the wound, and flesh would begin knitting itself together. Torn muscles reconnected. Bone fused. Burned tissue regenerated. Even deep wounds that should have crippled lesser creatures only delayed them.
The regeneration was no longer instantaneous, but it was still effective.
That alone made the trolls dangerous.
Every mistake the expedition made carried permanent consequences.
Every mistake the trolls made was temporary.
Nille understood this better than anyone.
As he avoided another sweeping attack and repositioned behind a fallen stone formation, his mind was already calculating possibilities. He still possessed options. Hidden ones.
Weapons.
Techniques.
Methods he had not revealed.
Methods that might end the battle much faster.
But he refused to use them.
Not because he doubted their effectiveness.
Because he doubted the battlefield.
Years of surviving the impossible had taught him a lesson many awakened individuals never learned:
The visible enemy is rarely the most dangerous one.
His eyes briefly swept across the surrounding terrain.
The cliffs.
The forest.
The shadows between ancient trees.
The distant mountain ridges.
Anywhere could conceal an observer.
Anywhere could hide something waiting for an opportunity.
Nille had learned that lesson the hard way.
His thoughts briefly returned to Elarisse Bathalienne de Tamawon.
The memory remained vivid.
One moment everything had seemed manageable.
The next, he had found himself completely outmatched.
The difference in power had been so overwhelming that calling it a fight felt dishonest. He had been defeated effortlessly, surviving more through circumstance and luck than through skill.
That experience had left a permanent mark on his thinking.
Power was valuable.
Hidden power was priceless.
And revealing everything too early was often fatal.
Because once people knew what you possessed, they could begin planning around it.
Preparing for it.
Countering it.
Or targeting the people connected to you.
That final possibility concerned him most.
His gaze briefly shifted toward Lin Yue.
Toward Professor Caelum.
Toward Nhulla and Rume.
The people fighting beside him.
The people who trusted him.
If an unknown enemy appeared and learned too much about his capabilities, they might not attack him directly.
They might choose an easier target.
Someone close to him.
Someone less prepared.
Someone whose injury would hurt him far more than any wound he could personally suffer.
That possibility was enough.
Enough to keep his strongest cards hidden.
Enough to remain patient.
Enough to continue searching for another solution.
Lin Yue noticed the distant look in his eyes during a brief lull between attacks.
"You're holding something back," she said.
It wasn't an accusation.
Just an observation.
Nille glanced at her before returning his attention to the battlefield.
"Yes."
Lin did not press further.
She understood immediately.
Because Nille was not afraid of losing.
He was afraid of consequences.
There was a difference.
The young man had spent much of his life surviving situations where victory itself created new problems. Every choice carried a cost. Every display of strength attracted attention. Every secret revealed became one less advantage when the next crisis arrived.
And if his experiences had taught him anything, it was that there was always a next crisis.
Always.
Especially in a world where ancient beings, hidden clans, awakened entities, and supernatural powers could appear without warning.
The trolls before them were dangerous.
But they were known.
Predictable.
Understandable.
The unknown was what truly worried him.
Nille rolled his shoulders and tightened his gloves.
Then he looked back toward the battlefield.
The trolls were still advancing.
The caster was still maintaining the suppression field.
The fight was still ongoing.
Which meant the answer remained the same as it always had.
Adapt.
Observe.
Survive.
And keep enough hidden that tomorrow's enemy would never know exactly what they were facing.
The battle had gone on far longer than any of them wanted.
What had started as a confrontation had slowly transformed into a contest of endurance.
Not power.
Not talent.
Not even skill.
Endurance.
And in that category, the trolls possessed a terrifying advantage.
Their wounds healed.
Their strength barely diminished.
Their momentum remained constant.
Meanwhile, the five of them were beginning to feel the accumulated cost of every dodge, every sprint, every spell, and every close call.
Nille ducked beneath a sweeping arm before rolling behind a boulder. His chest rose and fell heavily as he caught a brief breath.
Across the battlefield, Lin Yue landed atop a broken stone outcrop, her usually calm expression showing visible fatigue.
"How much longer can this continue?" she asked.
No one answered immediately.
Because everyone knew the answer.
Not long.
Professor Caelum adjusted his grip on his staff and exhaled slowly.
"Long battles are rarely won by the stronger side."
A troll's hammer-like fist crashed into the ground nearby, shaking the valley floor.
"They're won by the side that can continue functioning after everyone else begins making mistakes."
Nhulla wiped blood from a shallow cut on her cheek.
"And we're getting close to that point."
Rume Ironbark laughed bitterly as he drove his hammer into a troll's knee to force it back.
"Close? Lass, I've been at that point for the last twenty minutes."
Despite the joke, his breathing was noticeably heavier.
Even the dwarf's stamina was beginning to show limits.
Lin Yue released another compressed wind arrow, striking a troll's shoulder.
The attack worked.
The troll staggered.
Then continued moving.
Again.
And again.
And again.
"These things don't stop," she muttered.
"No," Nille replied.
"They don't."
His eyes remained focused on the battlefield.
Always searching.
Always calculating.
Looking for something.
An opening.
A weakness.
Anything.
Professor Caelum landed beside him after avoiding a charging troll.
"This isn't a battle anymore."
Nille nodded.
"It's a siege."
Caelum gave him an approving glance.
"Exactly."
The professor looked toward the thirteen trolls.
"In a normal military campaign, no commander would accept this engagement."
"Not willingly," Rume agreed.
"Thirteen regenerating trolls against five people?"
The dwarf snorted.
"Any commander accepting those odds would be relieved of duty."
Nhulla laughed despite herself.
"Assuming they survived long enough to be relieved."
A moment later another troll smashed through a cluster of trees, forcing them to move again.
The group scattered before reforming further down the valley.
Running.
Dodging.
Evading.
Over and over.
It was exhausting.
Because every troll controlled enormous portions of the battlefield.
Their reach alone forced constant movement.
Their weapons extended that danger even further.
And every second spent moving was energy spent not attacking.
Lin Yue finally spoke what everyone was thinking.
"I understand now."
Nille glanced at her.
She looked toward the advancing trolls.
"Why so many awakened die."
Nobody interrupted.
Because they wanted to hear her finish.
"It isn't always because they're weaker."
Her gaze remained fixed on the enemy.
"It's because eventually they get tired."
Professor Caelum nodded slowly.
"Most battlefield deaths happen after exhaustion sets in."
"Not at the beginning," Nhulla added.
"Not even in the middle."
Rume grunted.
"It's the moment someone gets sloppy."
"The moment they think one mistake won't matter."
Lin Yue looked at the trolls.
"Then it does."
No one disagreed.
Because they had all seen it happen before.
One missed dodge.
One delayed reaction.
One bad decision.
And a veteran warrior disappeared forever.
Nille remained silent.
Listening.
Thinking.
Observing.
The trolls were spread out now.
Far more than before.
The longer the battle continued, the wider their formation became.
The battlefield had stretched.
Their coordination was becoming harder to maintain.
Even the caster troll at the rear was farther away than earlier.
That detail stayed in Nille's mind.
Something important was hiding there.
He could feel it.
Professor Caelum noticed his expression.
"You found something?"
"Maybe."
Nille didn't look away from the battlefield.
"Maybe not."
Rume laughed.
"That's the least reassuring answer you've ever given."
Nille ignored the comment.
His attention remained fixed on the terrain.
The troll positions.
The distance between them.
The caster maintaining the suppression field.
The flow of battle.
Then something clicked.
A small detail.
Tiny.
Easy to miss.
But it was there.
His eyes narrowed.
The trolls had spread wider than before.
Much wider.
Almost too wide.
And suddenly Nille realized he wasn't looking at thirteen individual enemies anymore.
He was looking at a formation.
A formation with a center.
A formation with support.
A formation depending on one specific individual.
The troll caster.
The one maintaining the spatial disruption.
The one preventing escape.
The one forcing this battle to continue.
A slow smile appeared on Nille's face.
Lin Yue noticed immediately.
"You found something."
This time Nille nodded.
"I think I did."
Professor Caelum followed his gaze toward the distant caster troll.
Understanding slowly appeared on the professor's face.
Nhulla saw it next.
Then Rume.
The dwarf's eyes widened.
"Oh."
Nille finally stood upright.
For the first time since the battle began, he wasn't looking at the trolls surrounding them.
He was looking past them.
Directly at the spellcaster in the rear.
The one thing keeping thirteen trolls from becoming merely a dangerous encounter instead of an impossible one.
And suddenly the battle didn't seem unwinnable anymore.
It simply had a different objective than they first thought.
The battle had reached the point where concentration became more important than strength.
Every movement mattered.
Every decision carried consequences.
The trolls had spread throughout the valley, turning the entire battlefield into a deadly maze of shifting threats. What had once been a single engagement had fractured into multiple smaller fights happening simultaneously across broken terrain, fallen trees, and jagged stone formations.
Nille had become completely focused on one target.
The caster.
Or more specifically, the troll carrying the artifact responsible for disrupting spatial activation.
The longer he observed, the more convinced he became that the object hanging from the creature's waist was the source of the suppression field. Every pulse from the artifact synchronized with the violet distortions rippling through the air. If they could destroy it, escape would once again become possible.
That objective consumed his attention.
For several crucial minutes, Nille watched for an opening.
He studied the troll's movements.
Its guards.
Its position.
Its habits.
Searching for the exact moment he could strike.
Then he heard it.
A sound unlike the others.
Not a troll's roar.
Not the crash of weapons.
Not the impact of spells.
A voice.
Professor Caelum's voice.
"Nille!"
The urgency instantly made him turn.
And what he saw caused his stomach to drop.
Lin Yue had been caught.
Not killed.
Not mortally wounded.
But caught.
One of the larger trolls had managed to predict her movement after nearly an hour of fighting. As she landed from a wind-assisted dodge, the troll's massive arm swept across the battlefield.
The strike connected.
Not directly.
But enough.
The impact launched her through the air.
Her body spun uncontrollably before crashing through a cluster of young trees. Wood shattered around her as she bounced against the ground and finally rolled to a stop against a boulder.
For a brief moment she didn't move.
The battlefield continued.
The trolls advanced.
Rume was still fighting.
Nhulla was casting.
Professor Caelum was moving toward her.
Objectively speaking, it wasn't catastrophic.
Everyone present knew that injuries happened.
Lin Yue herself understood that reality better than most.
She had trained for years.
Martial arts.
Combat drills.
Spiritual exercises.
Sparring injuries.
Broken bones.
Bruises.
Concussions.
Pain was part of growth.
Part of becoming stronger.
Part of choosing this path.
No one entered an expedition expecting safety.
Not at their level.
Not in the Draconian Mountain Range.
Not against Level 450 trolls.
Yet despite knowing all of that—
Nille felt something inside him tighten.
Violently.
The feeling arrived before logic.
Before reason.
Before experience could intervene.
For a split second, he wasn't seeing Lin Yue.
He was seeing Granny Amparo.
The memory surfaced with brutal clarity.
The old woman lying unconscious.
Motionless.
Pale.
Unresponsive.
The fear.
The helplessness.
The inability to do anything.
Years of experience and emotional control could not completely erase that memory.
Because some fears never truly disappeared.
They only waited.
And now that same helpless feeling surged through him again.
Not because Lin Yue was dying.
She wasn't.
Not because she was critically injured.
She wasn't.
But because someone important to him had gotten hurt.
And for a brief moment—
His mind remembered what it felt like to lose.
Not a battle.
Not an opportunity.
A person.
"Nille!"
Professor Caelum's voice cut through his thoughts.
Reality snapped back into focus.
Lin Yue moved.
Slowly.
Painfully.
But she moved.
One hand pressed against the ground.
The other held her side.
A grimace crossed her face before she forced herself upright.
She was hurt.
But conscious.
Alive.
Still capable of fighting.
The rational part of Nille immediately recognized this.
She had likely suffered bruising.
Possibly cracked ribs.
Nothing life-threatening.
Nothing expedition-ending.
Any experienced combatant would assess the situation and continue.
And Nille did assess it.
But the emotional reaction had already happened.
Because regardless of logic, regardless of training, regardless of preparation—
Seeing someone you cared about get thrown through the air by a creature three times your size never felt normal.
It wasn't weakness.
It wasn't panic.
It was simply human.
Lin Yue finally managed to look toward him.
Even from a distance she could see the expression on his face.
And surprisingly—
She smiled.
A small smile.
A tired one.
As if she already understood exactly what he was feeling.
Then she wiped blood from the corner of her mouth and shouted:
"I'm fine!"
Her voice echoed across the battlefield.
The declaration was more for him than anyone else.
Nille stared for another second.
Making sure.
Actually making sure.
Not assuming.
Not hoping.
Confirming.
Then he finally exhaled.
A breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Lin Yue was right.
She was hurt.
But she was fine.
And the realization brought something unexpected.
Not relief.
Determination.
Because the feeling that had surfaced wasn't the same helplessness he had felt as a child.
Back then, he could do nothing.
He had no power.
No choices.
No means to protect the people important to him.
But now?
Now he did.
Nille slowly turned his gaze back toward the troll carrying the artifact.
The creature responsible for trapping them here.
The reason the battle continued.
The reason Lin Yue had been forced into this prolonged fight.
His expression became calm again.
Almost frighteningly calm.
Not anger.
Not rage.
Just clarity.
The same clarity that always appeared when he finally identified the real problem.
And in Nille's mind, the problem was no longer thirteen trolls.
It was one artifact.
One spellcaster.
One obstacle standing between them and freedom of movement.
Everything else was secondary.
And for the first time since the battle began, he knew exactly what he intended to do next.
The battlefield had deteriorated into something far uglier than a contest of strength.
Hours of continuous fighting had transformed the forested valley into a wasteland of shattered stone, uprooted trees, and smoking craters. Entire sections of the mountain slope had collapsed under the repeated impacts of troll war hammers and explosive spells. Broken trunks lay scattered everywhere, while gouges cut into the earth marked the paths of charging trolls.
The air itself felt heavy.
Smoke.
Blood.
Burned vegetation.
And spiritual residue.
The thirteen trolls were no longer pristine monsters advancing with confidence. Many carried severe wounds, missing chunks of flesh, burned limbs, shattered bones, and torn muscles. Yet they continued advancing.
Regeneration.
That cursed regenerative ability was still carrying them through the battle.
The expedition group was faring no better.
Professor Caelum leaned against a broken stone pillar for a brief second before forcing himself upright again. One of his arms hung at an unnatural angle, clearly broken, while blood stained his lower robes where a troll spear had pierced through his leg earlier.
Rume Ironbark looked even worse.
The dwarf was still standing through sheer stubbornness. Blood dripped from a deep cut across his forehead, running into one eye and partially blinding him. His right leg dragged slightly every time he moved.
Nhulla Loresong's back had been opened by a glancing strike from a troll blade. The wound wasn't deep enough to be fatal, but every movement caused pain and slowed her reactions.
Lin Yue had suffered the most recent injury.
A cracked rib.
A broken leg.
Even standing was difficult.
Yet she refused to leave the battlefield.
Nille hated seeing it.
Not because they were weak.
Not because they had failed.
But because every injury represented accumulated fatigue.
And fatigue eventually killed people.
A troll war hammer crashed into the ground twenty meters away, sending a shockwave through the valley.
Nille immediately stepped between Lin Yue and the approaching troll.
"Drink this."
He handed her a healing potion.
Lin Yue accepted it without argument.
Her hands trembled slightly as she removed the stopper.
"You look worse than me."
Nille ignored the comment.
"Drink."
She smiled faintly despite the situation.
Then obeyed.
The potion disappeared quickly.
A faint green glow spread through her body.
Not enough to fully heal her injuries.
But enough to stabilize them.
Enough to keep moving.
Enough to survive.
Meanwhile, Nille's attention shifted inward.
"Nyx."
The response came immediately.
"Present."
"I need more disintegration attached to the Fire Burst."
A brief pause followed.
"Current attachment ratio is three percent."
"I know."
"Increasing further remains unstable."
Nille already understood the problem.
The disintegration law wasn't originally designed for projectile applications.
It was a direct-contact phenomenon.
Trying to graft it onto another spell created instability throughout the structure.
Nyx continued.
"At current compatibility, three percent manifestation is the maximum safe threshold."
Nille clicked his tongue.
Three percent.
It was helping.
But not enough.
The trolls were still regenerating.
Still standing.
Still fighting.
"Push it."
"Probability of spell collapse increases."
"Push it anyway."
Nyx fell silent.
Then responded.
"Attempting optimization."
At the same time, Nille shifted his awareness toward another presence.
"Hyde."
A low voice answered.
"I know what you're thinking."
Nille's eyes remained fixed on the battlefield.
The troll carrying the artifact had finally become visible again.
It stood near the center of the enemy formation.
Protecting the caster.
Protecting the suppression field.
Protecting their victory condition.
"What can we do?"
Hyde's response came immediately.
"Destroying regeneration is easier than overpowering it."
Nille already suspected that.
"Inject poison."
A pause.
"Corrosive compounds."
Another pause.
"Direct delivery through retractable arms."
Nille's eyes narrowed.
That could work.
Not perfect.
But possible.
The challenge was reaching the troll.
The battlefield itself was actively resisting them.
The suppression artifact continued pulsing with violet energy, distorting space throughout the valley.
Every pulse disrupted dimensional stability.
Every pulse prevented escape.
Every pulse forced the fight to continue.
Nyx finally spoke again.
"Artifact located."
Nille immediately focused.
"Where?"
A small marker appeared in his perception.
Not on the troll's belt.
Not around its neck.
Inside its armor.
Embedded near the left side of its chest.
Protected.
Concealed.
Difficult to detect.
No wonder Nyx had struggled.
The artifact itself was generating interference.
Even her scanning capability had been partially disrupted.
Nille stared at the target.
Then looked around the battlefield.
His companions were reaching their limits.
The trolls were still advancing.
Time was running out.
"Nille."
Lin Yue's voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned.
She was standing again.
Leaning slightly on her good leg.
Holding herself upright through stubborn determination.
"I can still cast."
Nille frowned.
"You need rest."
"We all need rest."
She gestured toward the battlefield.
Professor Caelum narrowly avoided another attack.
Rume staggered after blocking a hammer strike.
Nhulla's movements were becoming slower.
"They won't last much longer either."
Nille knew she was right.
Lin Yue took a slow breath.
"I can create a wind barrier."
"For how long?"
She hesitated.
"Less than a minute."
Nille remained silent.
"A minute is my absolute limit."
Another troll roar echoed through the valley.
Lin Yue looked directly into his eyes.
"Whatever you're planning..."
She already knew.
"...do it while that barrier is active."
The realization settled over the group almost immediately.
This was becoming a final play.
Not because they wanted it to be.
Because circumstances demanded it.
Nille slowly surveyed the battlefield one last time.
The trolls.
The terrain.
The artifact.
His companions.
The distance.
The timing.
Everything.
Then he made his decision.
Half his remaining spiritual energy.
That was the cost.
A dangerous amount.
But still survivable.
Nyx continued absorbing energy from the malignant cores stored within the enclave. The remains of Lightning Dire Wolves and dozens of Stymphalian Birds had provided a substantial reserve, but conversion was still ongoing.
Not fast enough.
Not for this fight.
Not for what came next.
Nille exhaled slowly.
Then looked toward the others.
"Professor."
Caelum immediately understood from the tone alone.
"You found a solution."
"Maybe."
Rume laughed weakly.
"That's still not reassuring."
Nhulla managed a tired smile.
"At least he's consistent."
Nille finally looked back toward the troll carrying the artifact.
His eyes hardened.
Not from rage.
Not from panic.
But from certainty.
The next move would decide everything.
And somewhere deep inside the valley, the suppression artifact pulsed again.
Unaware that it had finally become the true target of the battle.
The moment Nille made his decision, the battlefield shifted into controlled urgency.
"Everyone, defensive spells. Now. Hold until I open the gate."
His voice was calm, but final.
Professor Caelum immediately reacted, dragging his remaining mana into a layered arcane barrier that wrapped around the group like a fractured dome. Nhulla followed, reinforcing the structure with a spiraling wind lattice that redirected incoming shockwaves. Rume planted his hammer into the ground, forcing a rune-sealed earth bulwark to rise beneath them, while Lin Yue, despite her injuries, raised her hands and formed a compressed wind barrier that sealed the gaps between their defenses.
For a brief moment, the group became a layered fortress in the middle of chaos.
Then Nille moved.
He stepped forward alone, just far enough from the group that the trolls would recognize the shift in target priority. His breathing slowed. His fingers tightened inside the Tactical Hard Knuckle Gloves. Nyx and Hyde synchronized immediately within his spiritual network, stabilizing the spell framework as he began compressing energy far beyond safe threshold.
"Fire Burst… Tier Six."
The words left his mouth quietly.
But the world responded violently.
The fire didn't appear as a simple explosion.
It manifested as a collapsing sphere of compressed combustion layered with unstable mana pressure, forming a dense red-black core that distorted the air around it. The ground beneath Nille cracked instantly, unable to withstand the pressure release forming in his hands.
Nyx forced disintegration fragments into the outer shell at maximum allowable instability—three percent integration now pushed beyond safe structure limits. Hyde reinforced directional containment, shaping the burst into a controlled annihilation vector aimed directly at the artifact-bearing troll.
For a fraction of a second, everything paused.
Then Nille released it.
The Tier Six Fire Burst detonated not outward, but forward, compressing space itself as it surged. The valley lit up like a falling sun. Trees within its path were reduced to ash before contact, stone fractured into molten fragments, and air itself screamed under pressure distortion. The troll formation collapsed inward as the blast carved through them, forcing even the regeneration-heavy bodies into immediate structural breakdown.
At the center, the artifact-bearing troll was struck directly.
The explosion did not simply burn it, it overwhelmed its regeneration cycle entirely, shattering its defensive structure and destabilizing the suppression field it maintained. The violet spatial distortion flickered violently, then fractured.
But the cost was immediate.
Nille's body jerked as the recoil surged back through his system like a collapsing wave. His knees buckled mid-stance. Blood forced its way up his throat as his spiritual channels overloaded. He barely managed to extend his hand forward.
"Gate… open."
Space cracked open behind the group.
A narrow portal stabilized for only seconds.
"Now!" Hyde commanded sharply.
At the same instant, the Celestial Cloth around Nille's back activated on its own, reacting to Nyx's emergency directive. Retractable arms extended from the fabric like living constructs, wrapping around Lin Yue, Professor Caelum, Rume, and Nhulla with controlled precision. The moment each of them was secured, Hyde and Nyx forced a synchronized extraction sequence.
Lin Yue reached toward Nille instinctively. "Nille!"
But the pull of the gate was already active.
All four were dragged through in a burst of spatial displacement.
The battlefield vanished behind them.
In the final second, Nille stepped forward into the collapsing gate, but his vision blurred completely as exhaustion overtook him. The backlash of the Tier Six cast finally consumed his consciousness, and his body went limp mid-transition.
The gate sealed.
They reappeared inside the Rune Forge sub-basement with a violent spatial snap, the group landing hard but alive among stunned staff and activated defensive alarms.
However, something else crossed with them.
A massive shape tore halfway through the closing edge of the portal.
A troll.
Only partially.
Its upper body crashed into the Rune Forge floor, while its lower half remained severed and lost in the collapsing gate behind it. The creature roared in agony, dragging itself forward with regenerating limbs already attempting to reattach, but the damage was too severe and unstable due to spatial displacement interference.
Rune Forge guards reacted instantly, surrounding it with containment sigils and binding chains as it struggled to regenerate within the sealed space.
"Alive!" one guard shouted. "But contained, don't let it stabilize!"
The troll thrashed violently, half its body still missing, regeneration attempting to restart in chaotic pulses as enchanted restraints suppressed its movement.
Nearby, Lin Yue pushed herself up despite injuries, eyes immediately searching for Nille.
"Where is he…?" she whispered.
But Nille was not standing.
He lay unconscious on the Rune Forge floor, breathing shallow, body still faintly glowing from residual spell overload, the cost of forcing a low tier spell to reach a Tier Six Fire Burst, through unstable layered casting to hundreds of folds.