Grinis began to rise.
Her body was scorched, her skin blackened and blistered. Not a single strand of hair remained. Smoke coiled off her burned flesh, and yet—she was trying to stand.
Eldrin didn't wait.
With a scream, he lunged forward, spear in hand. "Die already, you crazy rainbow!" But right before his weapon struck, her wounds began to heal—unnaturally fast.
Then—whoosh—Grinis leapt high into the air, clearing rooftops in a single bound.
"Ah, ah, ah…" Her voice echoed, ragged and maddened. "I didn't want to use this—not like this… But now?" Her eyes burned with fury. "I'll make you pay. I'll make all of you pay!"
Below, the ground where she had nearly died still smoldered. Her dagger lay where it had fallen… until it cracked and disintegrated into ash.
Eldrin's eyes widened.
She'd used it—the red crystal, the one embedded in every invader of the Godless Abyss here.
"If I hadn't activated my trump card the moment your spear struck me… I'd be dead," she growled.
The red crystal had fused to her heart, just like the others—but hers flared brighter. More vicious.
"How…?" Eldrin whispered, staggering back. "How are you still alive? What did you do?"
"Stop asking meaningless questions! What matters is—you're dead!" Grinis shrieked, her voice tearing through the air like a banshee's wail. "You're all dead!"
She clenched her fists, trembling with rage. "I was going to teleport you all somewhere else… finish you off while preserving my mana. But now? Now I don't have time for that. Plans have changed."
Her glare sharpened.
"And whoever attacked me from afar—he won't escape me either."
"You thought the circle vanished because I died, didn't you?" she snarled. "Wrong. I hid it—with something new. Something stolen from a kingdom that no longer exists."
Grinis raised a finger. "Skill: Ghost Sigil."
Vooop—
The teleportation circle reappeared, glowing bright yellow on the ground behind her.
"And now? Enough time has passed. It's complete. And don't worry…" Her smile twisted. "You won't go far. Just far enough to watch your home die."
"NO!" Eldrin screamed.
The circle flared.
Elif, Elena, and Icariel were swept into it.
"What?!" Icariel's voice cracked. "She's alive?! How?!" He tried to resist, but it was too late. The light engulfed them.
"Damn it! Damn it!" he cursed, his heart pounding as the glow overwhelmed everything.
The Void Swap was complete.
And then they vanished.
Across the battlefield, chaos deepened…
A statue shattered violently—one of the capital's sacred symbols. The district shook as yetis rampaged through the stone streets. Despite their best efforts, only two had been killed. Many more remained.
"Ah… there's no end to them," PrincessVirethiel muttered, sweat trailing down her face.
Beside her, Floon, the vice-leader, narrowed his eyes.
"Soldiers, switch to Formation Two! Prioritize aggressive offense—group attacks only!"
The knights moved swiftly, surrounding the yetis in rotating squads, trying to carve them down with synergy.
"Kill as many as you can!" Floon barked. But his thoughts were grim. "If only we had someone strong—someone with raw power. I hope they bring back Tessara. Or the Warleader…"
Then—a strange light.
A faint yellow glow appeared… from inside one of the yetis.
"What is that?" Floon asked sharply.
He raised a hand. "Everyone, fall back from that beast—NOW!"
The princess's eyes locked onto it as well. "Another circle?! What now…?"
Suddenly, from the sky, a massive yellow void circle opened like a portal tearing the air apart.
Five figures descended.
Two near the yetis that glowed with yellow light.
And three more—falling above the princess's group just a few feet from the shattered statue.
"Elena! Elif! The boy—catch them!" Princess Virethiel commanded.
The three royal guards moved swiftly.
They caught the falling women with ease, guiding them gently to the ground. The third guard reached out for Icariel. With one clean motion, the guard caught him—then dropped him straight to the ground.
THUD!
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Icariel snapped, rubbing his head.
The princess approached.
Elena and Elif bowed respectfully. "Thank you," they said in unison.
"What are you doing out here?!" the princess demanded. "You were supposed to be in the castle."
Elena's face was pale, her breath unsteady. "So much has happened… The castle is no longer safe. We were escaping, with Icariel's help—he saved us from the monsters. But then… the yellow circle appeared and brought us here."
Princess Virethiel narrowed her eyes at Icariel as he rubbed the back of his head. "That coward did?" she thought, disbelief tightening her jaw.
Meanwhile, chaos was spreading.
Eldrin, bloodied and barely conscious, lay on the ground. His spear had fallen. His wounds were deep, his body trembling—the adrenaline had ended.
Above him, Grinis stood tall atop a monstrous yeti, now fully recovered.
Her eyes were inhuman—one blood-red, the other solid yellow, void of whites or pupils. Her armor was reborn, fused tight to her skin. Her hands were now tipped with long, razor-sharp claws.
Her bald head gleamed in the sunlight—but her presence was monstrous. Demonic.
The soliders rushed to Eldrin's side, lifting him carefully, pulling him back for treatment.
"You did all this," Eldrin muttered, dazed, "just to send us a few blocks away…?"
He spat blood. "You're not a rainbow anymore…"
His voice dropped to a growl.
"You're a boldbow."
Grinis's jaw clenched, muscles tightening as fury surged through her. Veins stood out in her neck, pulsing with barely contained rage. "Tch… I had other plans," she spat. "I was going to send him to one of our monster HQs. End it cleanly. Then circle back."
She exhaled sharply, fists trembling. "But I used the Dered. Time's running short now. I couldn't afford detours—and once I sensed the yetis had already descended here, this became the only viable option."
Her voice dropped, cold and final. "And now… nothing can be changed. But—"
Her eyes swept the area. "Why didn't more elves come through the teleportation circle?" she muttered. "I could swear that I felt people inside the houses." The thought flickered through her, momentary and strange. But it wasn't enough to distract her. Not now.
Only three had come with her—Elena, Elif, and Icariel—excluding Eldrin, the one she was fighting.
"You're not even worth my attention anymore," she hissed. "Now—who is the one that attacked me? Where is that bastard?"
Eldrin's gaze, blurry with pain, landed on Icariel.
Grinis followed the look—and froze.
"So… that brat," she growled, her eyes narrowing. "He's the fucker who did this to me?"
"No," Eldrin said immediately, sharp and final. "Leave the boy alone!"
Eldrin's reaction was all the confirmation Grinis needed.
It was him.
His panic gave him away. Too raw. Too fast. Too real.
The word had leapt from his mouth before he could stop it—pure instinct. Regret followed instantly, curling in his gut like a blade turned inward.
"Thanks for confirming," she said coldly, raising a glowing purple hand.
Her spine arched. A tremor ran through her beastly limbs. One clawed hand twitched skyward—then clenched like she was ripping open the sky itself.
"Skill," she hissed, voice like grinding metal, "Roar of Unity."
A pulse of purple mana spread across the battlefield. Instantly, a glowing 'U' appeared on the chest of every yeti.
"What did she just do?" Floon muttered, narrowing his eyes.
The answer came in the form of a chorus of monstrous roars. The yetis howled into the air, their bodies swelling with enhanced power. Every one of them had just received a 20% boost to all their stats for thirty minutes.
"Die, you fucking fairies!" Grinis screamed, her voice breaking into madness. "Yetis—full power! Kill everyone! Burn it all to the ground!"
The monsters surged. One beast that had been struggling now roared and hurled a group of soldiers through the air like dolls.
"Damn it!" Princess Virethiel cursed. "I have to step in again!"
Icariel stood up, his heart pounding. "I almost pissed myself when I thought about where she'd teleport us, but now that we're here… I feel oddly relieved. Even if those monsters just grew stronger, and we are surrounded by them, at least this isn't unfamiliar territory." He thought, regaining a bit of confidence.
Suddenly, the yeti Grinis was standing on snatched her up in one massive hand and hurled her like a missile.
Virethiel moved like a flash of silver frost—but she was a breath too slow. Her dagger passed through Grinis by inches.
Suddenly, the White Sense flared, alerting Icariel.
Danger.
A warning echoed in his mind: "On guard."
Icariel crossed his arms instinctively. Foom! Grinis slammed into him, sending him flying through the air and crashing through the wall of a stone house.
Elif and Elena could only stare, wide-eyed.
Elif gasped sharply. "Icariel!" she cried, reaching out instinctively, though he was already gone from view. Her voice cracked with panic, torn from the horror.
Grinis now stood near Princess Virethiel, Elena, and Elif. She barely spared them a glance, but it was enough. The pressure was immense. Bloodlust thickened the air. Elena and Elif were frozen, sweat pouring down their faces, their bodies refusing to move.
"You damn monster!" Virethiel shouted, lunging with a powerful kick. Grinis dodged easily, uninterested.
She turned her back on them and walked toward the ruined house where Icariel lay.
"Get up, you fucking brat. I'm not playing dead games with you."
"She's fast." His breath hitched. "Voice, I don't just need advice—I need a miracle."
"Scan her body with your sense. There's no way she could heal and become that much stronger out of nowhere. Something's definitely off."
He didn't need to look. He tapped into White Sense, closing his eyes to see clearly through mana.
"Her mana core's shattered… but… there's a red energy inside her heart."
"Then she has used an enhancement—those burn out quickly and devastate the body. Running's impossible. Since you can't, hold on and stall for time."
Grinis stepped through the wreckage, fury in every footfall.
"Come on, fucker. Cut the act. When I hit you, you didn't even bleed—like slamming into a fucking concrete wall."
He rose slowly, brushing soot from his black elven tunic. Not a mark. Not even a tear.
Unharmed.
"Why the hell didn't that hurt?" he whispered. His hands ran down his ribs, expecting something cracked. Nothing. Not a bruise. Grinis' claws had left scratches on stone—but not him. "This new superhuman body? Yeah, it's worth every damn struggle voice."
He ruffled his hair with a sheepish grin and added, "Can you spare me, please?"
Grinis twitched. Her bald head gleamed under the sun.
Her claws dragged across the ground, gouging deep furrows into the scorched stone. The air shimmered around her with raw mana—thick, burning, almost alive. Each step cracked the floor beneath her, vibrating through the rubble like a death knell. Her breath came in ragged bursts, each exhale reeking of sulfur and madness.
"What??! You almost killed me—no, you DID kill me! If it wasn't for my trump card, I'd be dead. And you want mercy?"
"You dragged me into that spell! How was I supposed to react? I'm sorry it turned out like that!"
Veins bulged across Grinis' face.
"...Turned out like what?"
"...B-A-L-D."
Silence.
Grinis' scream tore the air apart. "You took my power. You took my hair. And now I'm going to take your head, brat!"
She exploded forward, a blur of raw fury. Her claws sliced the air with a shrill whistle, fast and lethal—like the scream of a banshee given form.
"Shit! I wanted to buy time and made her even angrier!" Icariel cursed, dropping into a defensive stance.
Virethiel, watching it unfold, snapped into action.
"One of you stay here and protect Elena and Elif! The other two, with me! That boy will die without help!"
The guards saluted, but one stepped forward, hesitating.
"My Highness, I can't."
Virethiel's green eyes sharpened, piercing through the doubt. "What do you mean, you can't?"
The guard's face drained of color, his voice trembling.
"When I caught that human boy… falling from the sky… the moment I touched him…"
He swallowed hard, the weight of his words thick in the air.
"My arms… broke."
Virethiel's breath hitched. "WHAT?!"