Before entering the ck Cinder Forest, all the members of the Golden Light Squad were alive. The appearance of the Prime Thunder Demon didn’t change that.


    The spatial anomaly and Light Yellow monsters couldn’t break their sturdy squad. Fallen Crypt and even Fume Cathedral were only temporary crises they were prepared to deal with, especially with the support of Adam and Katrin.


    But... when gue Reaper arrived at this feast of death, instead of hunters or equalbatants, the Golden Light Squad became victims.


    First Lero, then E... Their journey wasplete, and it didn’t happen in a great battle, but in one move.


    Although gue Reaper showed respect towards Lero, but... how did he kill him? Yeah, gue Reaper simply stomped on Lero’s face, sting his head with one powerful trample.


    E didn’t even have time to realize what had happened before her head was ripped from her body, rolling away into a dark corner.


    This left only Osana and Oskar, who had been on the verge of death some time ago. If it wasn’t for E’s shot, then he too would be dead by now.


    Bam. Bam. Bam.


    Suddenly, the sepulchral silence was broken by the sound of one metal hitting another.


    While Adam, Osana, and Katrin stared wide-eyed at E’s decapitated body, thest member of their squad was trying to escape this hell by any means necessary.


    "Fuck! Open up!" Oskar shouted desperately, mming his sword against the gate time after time. Despite his physical power and the sheer sharpness of his sword, all he could aplish was a few scratches on this impregnable fortress.


    "What is he doing...?" Katrin gulped, clenching her hands into fists. She tried to quiet the trembling that had been running all over her body for some time now.


    "No! I’m not going to stay here anymore! We’re all going to die!" Oskar eximed with a face contorted with fear.


    He was ready to smash his hand into blood over the hilt of his sword, but to break the gate and escape from here. He waspletely consumed by animal fear after all the events. He realized that, very soon, he too would die. His mind simply couldn’t bear the thoughts anymore.


    gue Reaper tilted his head slightly to the side before approaching E’s decapitated body.


    He looked at her sniper rifle lying on the ground and lifted his foot, making a powerful stomp on the ground next to the weapon.


    The impulse, like a spring, threw the sniper rifle upward.


    Whoooooooosh.


    With one quick swing, gue Reaper cut the long muzzle of the sniper rifle before reaching forward with his right hand.


    He grabbed the short part of the muzzle, squeezed it tightly, and threw it forward like a spear with all his might.


    The sharp part of the muzzle cut through the wind currents with ease before piercing the back of Oskar’s head and exiting through his wide, open mouth.


    Bam.


    Oskar, who just a second ago had been trying to get out of the Fume Cathedral, became its next eternal prisoner. He, Lero, and E would never leave here again, at least their minds had ended their existence here as well as their souls.


    "Argh!"


    Katrin cried out in pain, causing Adam and Osana to turn around sharply. After what they saw, they thought that gue Reaper had somehow found a way to reach and kill her too.


    But what they saw was different from their expectations, though that too made their eyes go wide in confusion.


    Katrin, clenching her teeth tightly, thrust the spike of her root into her leg. No muscles or tendons were hit, there were only a few trickles of blood and a bright pain that filled Katrin’s mind, but that was exactly what she wanted.


    Osana’s corners of her mouth went up.


    ’Oh, it looks like she’s smarter than I expected. I’m not sure I would be able to figure it out in a situation like this.’ Osana pondered, she came to her senses by looking at Katrin’s serious and collected face.


    Katrin’s idea was simple enough - she had to somehow stop the thoughts that were slowly devouring her mind more and more. She was human, and like everyone else, she could experience fear and panic.


    Pain was a great tool to clear her mind, for all Katrin could think about was this bright sh of pain, then she began to control her own thoughts.


    "Does anyone have any suggestions?" Adam asked, staring intently at the gue Reaper.


    His gaze darkened, he had met E, Lero, and Oskar only today, but watching allies die was always difficult.


    Osana shook her head.


    "We must fight. Use all your abilities and powers. Katrin, is your artifact active?" Osana nced at her.


    Katrin shook her head.


    "Passive. It enhances my abilities and allows me to make them more powerful with more energy." Katrin shrugged.


    Osana nodded, waving her arms and causing blue petals to condense around her and Katrin. The petals became their armor, protecting their shoulders, elbows, and knees, the most important and vulnerable ces.


    Osana, however, did not have as many petals to fully protect their bodies.


    "My artifact is passive as well... Adam, you’re ready to fight on, aren’t you?" Osana nced at him. There was some uncertainty in her voice, but it had nothing to do with Adam but with her words about her artifact.


    Adam nodded.


    "Sure."


    Adam stepped forward confidently, there was no fear in his gaze.


    At this time, it had already gotten quite dark in Fume Cathedral, as many clots of energy disappeared, returning to thends and taking their bright light with them.


    The only thing that was there was the dim light of the moon seeping through the hole in Fume Cathedral. The night was the domain of darkness, and a thick ck fog covered everything in Fallen Crypt.


    Adam and gue Reaper nced at each other, about to attack.


    But...


    At the same moment, a particrly bright light seeped into Fume Cathedral, as if from a star that was rapidly approaching them.


    The light was so bright that the darkness quickly dissipated and the ck sky became white for a moment, even brighter than on a full sunny day.


    Adam, Osana, Katrin, and gue Reaper’s eyes moved to the side.


    Crackle.


    In a heartbeat, a huge object the size of arge monster mmed into the Fume Cathedral, shattering its sturdy walls effortlessly, the structure simply couldn’t withstand it.


    Shards of ss and stone fragments flew in front of the gue Reaper as a snow-white crystal flew over him, leaving behind a long plume that seemed toe from space.


    In the next second, the crystal flew another few dozen meters, shattering the majestic Fume Cathedral in two and sinking into the gray earth.


    Before finallying to a stop, the crystal traveled over a hundred meters, ending up half-submerged in the ground.


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Its bright light was soothing and threatening at the same time. The energy emanating from this crystal was majestic, one nce and one ripple were enough to attract the attention of even the strongest monster.


    Any creature desperate to possess the energy lurking within this crystal that wasn’t supposed to be here.


    This was the first time Adam and the others saw this crystal in person, but they had heard many times about this magical object that each of them needed as much as the gue Reaper.


    ’Adam...’ Silvana muttered with a tremor in her voice.


    It was Midnight Crystal.