“It really just opened like that,” Wendy mumbled beside him, struggling to keep her awe by closing her palm above her mouth.

  The grand ice wall extended toward the sky, forcing Suna to crane his neck up, wondering just how long it would take to reach up there. He, of course, had already seen this wall from afar before, but to actually stand at its base in an open snow field was something else. A gaping metallic gate was open, being pulled open by Undead Peasants with ropes that attached to a lever mechanism built into the wall.

  “After all of that trouble, it just opened like that,” Slea muttered, pulling her mage cloak tighter around her, shivering slightly to the cold.

  Tonight will be a big blizzard.

  Suna examined his surroundings, especially the forces accompanying them.

  A group of a hundred Undead Knights and various Undead Soldiers streamed into the gate in an orderly manner. Those were the sixth group. Floundea had specifically ordered the main army of the Undead King, which consisted of a thousand, to split into ten groups—and they had to stick really close to each other—no doubt because of Floundea and Slea’s capability to blow them apart if they did anything funny.

  Well, that of course included Suna too.

  Now, each group of the Undeads was ordered to advance an hour apart from each other, with Floundea’s group marching between them. The Undead King would enter with the first group to arrange the capital’s surrender when he reached the town.

  Bizarrely, they now held the entire army hostage like this despite being flanked. Their group consisted of the Third’s Tiefling, which had about perhaps ninety survivors, and Floundea’s hundred and twenty.

  Both Floundea and Amidela had been busy; that messenger kept coming to each of them, delivering messages back and forth. Slea had tried to check on Floundea, but the sheer amount of work Floundea had deterred her from doing so.

  “I’m not sure I should be even coming,” Min said, her head slumped down.

  “Come on, Min, no one held that against you,” Noa tapped her back as they began walking forward.

  “Right,” Min nodded, not all convinced.

  The shadow of the ice gate covered them briefly, and soon they passed into the other side. Suna eagerly spun and gazed upon build-in stair wall that stretched as far as his eyes could see. Two sets of them, each in tilted V. At the bottom of both stairs were small outposts with wooden fortifications.

  “Impressive,” he felt his breath escape him. “Its like they been expecting an attack or something.”

  “It's mainly about the resonance,” Wendy explained. “Having a bastion like this offers safety, and that made the resonance far stronger.”

  “Yeah, I can see that,” he wondered if he could Gale Step all the way up there. From the mountain, it might be possible, but from the bottom?

  “Honestly, my recommendation would serve better,” Reki said, crossing his arms as Floundea and Amidela’s Tiefling finally crossed.

  “Taking one of the walls as our base?” Slea scrunched her eyebrow. “They have no bath in there; they made it clear.”

  Reki was about to complain, but Noa cut him off, opening both of his palms and smiling warmly. “Now, the gate to the Third depth is inside the palace, no? It would be much better if we take the palace from the get-go. Besides, Suna wants the corpses and equipment, and the queen’s body, too. Also, this Thiefmaster Trial is about to happen.”

  Right, what was that about?

  Suna looked back to see Floundea walking with her four husbands, four survivors out of thirteen. The air was solemn around them.

  “Say, how long before we reach the capital?” Suna asked Wendy.

  “A couple of days,” the Lunarian answered, her floppy ear jerked when she tilted her head on Slea. “But, your friend here made it out in their escape in just one day, somehow.”

  “We were just running like hell,” Slea answered.

  “And lose a bunch of equipment,” Noa added.

  “Don’t forget the impromptu slide,” Reki said, chuckling.

  “Ah, right. James and I carried a dozen wounded—dragging them on that,” Min said, reminiscing on the memory.

  That was a whole story Suna had missed.

  “What?” Slea’s mouth curved into a smile, and she playfully bumped his shoulder as they kept advancing through the heavy snow. “Jealous of missing the madness?”

  “No, not really,” he said, rolling his eyes. Suna was not that suicidal, that sounded like…well, madness. “I do want to see the duel, though.”

  “It was scary,” Min said quickly.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “It was awesome!” Wendy cheered.

  Slea briskly turned to Wendy, her eyes brightened, and she lurched forward—engulfing her in a bear hug, startling the Lunarian, “See? Finally, somebody is actually appreciative. When I spoke about it to you lot, all I get is: ‘That reckless Slea’, ‘You shouldn’t put yourself up like that’, ‘What if your flame is not strong enough to melt her ice? Are you a fool? ‘Why are you trying to be suicidal like Suna? Look, he is dead now.”

  “Hold on, who said I’m dead?”

  They ignored him and just continued walking.

  Suna opened his mouth, about to hurl an insult, but instead, he just smiled and sighed. At the very least, everyone alive—except James, that is.

  “Its probably you, isn’t it, Reki?” he called.

  Reki tensed, correcting his glasses before laughing out loud at whatever Noa said.

  A heavy crunch of snow sounded behind him. There it was—James's casket, being carried by a dozen Tieflings. They had taken it from the King, who conveniently had six fancy caskets for each of his lords and himself, just in case they died and could be carried with dignity.

  Suna awaited them to be near him, and briskly walked near them. The Tieflings were sombre, their heads face up, and a resolute look passed between them.

  The Tiefling’s greatest honor tradition for their dead Thiefmaster was to bury their casket under a destination, which was full of treasure. And now, the Third Tiefling was determined to bury James under the Palace.

  “Can I help?” Suna asked.

  “Help?” the front Tiefling blinked. “Of course, but a lot of Tieflings wanted to carry James, so you can’t do it for long.”

  “A couple of hours?”

  “Yes! I’m sure he will smile down on us.”

  --

  The journey was a peaceful one. When the humans saw him carrying James's casket, they insisted on doing it too. Min was the only one who was hesitant, but she ultimately did side by side with Noa.

  When night came, they rested on a hastily erected tent that was struggling to battle the blizzards. Slea and Suna were both placed inside it, and both were tasked to keep the campfires up. He kept summoning more and more Emberwinds; in a way, it was strange not to fire it, but this use was not bad at all.

  Suna noticed Jack sitting alone with a shadow spear resting by feet—conveniently hidden by stacks of boxes, which were all of their supply. He appeared to be lost, and Suna decided to plopped down near him.

  “I heard Floundea has her own tent,” Suna said, summoning Emberwind. Jack’s face was revealed. The warm ember showed the dark bags under his eyes.

  “Hm,” The Tiefling smiled. “I’m not sure it's best to be with her now. It was my haste to assist you that caused so many of my fellow Runebearers to die.”

  “If not for you, I think Landfred will escape Jack.”

  “Landfred? That was his name?”

  Suna nodded, tipping his head up, leaning back against a crate. It felt like a lifetime ago when he, Jack, and Wendy rested under a roof without needing to worry about fighting. He missed the feeling, so he shall not take this moment for granted. Because he knew this would only last for a mere moment before the next fight.

  “The Shadow Rebel had a name, too. Uln, I think?”

  “I see,” Jack mumbled. “Tell me, Suna. What is it like to live in a world that’s not created by the system?”

  “I was born lucky. So I’m not sure if you want me to tell you.”

  “No, if anything, I want to hear it more now.”

  Suna told him, in all honesty, he didn't know where to start. So he began explaining to Jack about a globe, a planet, and then countries where the Upperworld almost extends forever. He told him the sides of his world that were locked in endless war, and he was born in a peaceful side.

  It turned out he had plenty to tell.

  --

  “The final gate,” Floundea remarked beside Amidela, who gave her a nod of acknowledgment.

  They stood on a mound that was level with the Capital’s wall. Compared to the massive ice wall of the Bastion, this city gate looked almost dull, with its height easily jumped over with a couple of good Gale Steps. But what impressed him the most was how it kept going, and inside were various blocks of buildings ranging from tall to short, with the grand palace right in the middle.

  Suna’s attention immediately went to the palace. It may not be as large as the Ice Wall, but the architecture was impressive—it seemed designed to resemble a tree, with the tallest towers having multiple glass panes that reflected the blue crystalline light far above.

  “We will really take that from him?” Suna whispered to Slea, suddenly doubting this.

  Slea, on the other hand, gave him an excited bob. “I always wonder what the inside was like; the duel was in its courtyard, so we did not get to see anything.”

  “Thiefmaster,” Amidela said, bowing her head at Floundea. “I had gathered everyone that capable of using Gale Step, totaling thirty of us.”

  Amidela bit her thumb, the Tiefling muttering under her breath. “With Jack's new Spear, we could transfer five people inside, too. If it comes to it, can I count on you to go with the Third? Archer?”

  “Of course,” Suna said.

  “Ah, I will go too,” Min ran next to Suna.

  “Very well,” Floundea said. “Let me descend then. Forward.” She commanded.

  Jack and the rest of the Runebearers followed her, sliding down the mound, and bravely, with only four protection, approached the gate.

  Atop the wall was the Undead King, crossing his arms with his cloak flapping incessantly.

  “You think we will fight?” Suna whispered to Amidela as he walked beside her, who had been ready with the Third’s Tieflings.

  “Perhaps,” Amidela said. “I always thought the negotiation was too one-sided on our side.”

  “Huh, maybe I’m at fault for that,” Suna grunted.

  “No, it's only right to demand wealth from these undead. Besides, these negotiations allow them to live, and that alone should be something they do not take for granted. However, even if we were allowed in and took the palaces, this still invites the most dangerous element of all.”

  “Attempt on Floundea’s life?” Suna guessed, and that earned Slea’s attention.

  “Yes, the Thiefmaster was not well,” Amidela said, opening her palm and forming a fist. “Which was why I need to ascend to become Theifmaster.”

  “Wait, Amidela. Would the system count you as an objective to protect if you ascend to be one?” Suna asked. This. would give them a great advantage.

  “Yes, it will,” Amidela said, and Suna grinned widely.

  “That’s great!” Suna almost cheered, but Amidela’s expression was sour. “What is it?”

  “To be acknowledged by the system… I need to do the hardest Thiefmaster’s trial to obtain the highest honors.”

  “And that is?”

  “To steal something precious against a strong opponent and alone in a large building. Usually, we do it against Drow Tower and had planned to enact that experience by borrowing some of the King’s strongest undead. But, I just got a quest recently—telling me to steal a Necromancer’s staff.”

  “What,” Suna chuckled. “So we're supposed to sneak you into this Third Depth alone, and hope you complete that?”

  “No, Suna, you misunderstand. What I must go to alone is the Necromancer’s house, a green dark lab apparently.”

  “That's still ridiculous,” Suna reasoned, “You should not take that risk.”

  “Ridiculous? But, if I use this Altar like you and Jack did… I might be able to get something that can help.”

  “If you had good corpses, that’s it.”

  “I had taken down one of the Undead Rebel’s lieutenants. It's the best I have. Now, look, Suna, the gate is opening. Let's enter, you humans should rest—it's well earned.”