"Well, that can't be good, right?" He said while slowly turning around to face Olivia, but as his eyes scanned over her, they were immediately pulled towards the snow behind her.
There, he saw tens, no, hundreds of crimson red eyes poking out of the snow looking at him.
Without wasting a second, he threw the rabbit's body into the air as he controlled his spear to pierce it midair and follow him.
While he ran to Olivia, he threw her on his back and started dashing to the previous floor without so much as looking back when he finally heard.
"SSSSHHHHHHHREE!"
Seeing the creatures who had killed their mother running away as if they would let them escape, the rabbits wasted no time as they quickly climbed out of the little burrows they made under the snow.
And began to give chase to the wretched things.
Each one of them jumped into the air, then onto the crystalline steps they made in the air to jump higher and feather in just two leaps.
But Azreal wasn't ideal either; he was using all his strength to dash to the last floor they were on, but at the same time he was killing as many rabbits as he could, both with his hands and.
The spear that was hovering in the air, zigzagging behind him as he ran.
As it moved, it killed all the rabbits that were in the air, jumping after them, impaling their bodies with the blade, and using gravity to push them all the way down the spear's body.
Because if he was going to kill them anyway, he figured he might as well get dinner while they escaped.
Blood and frost scattered through the air as the spear tore through another rabbit, pinning its limp body against the icy ground before wrenching itself free to continue the hunt.
Azrael didn't stop; he couldn't.
The air behind him screamed with that same piercing "SSSSHHHHHHHREE!", echoing like metal grinding against glass.
The rabbits were angry, and they were letting the world bear witness to that anger
Olivia clung to his back, eyes wide, the cold air biting at her skin. "Az they're everywhere!" She said while pulling out her sword from down within her shadow.
As she grabbed the dark almost misty sword she began to dispatch the rabbits that were getting too close to them.
"I noticed!" he barked, twisting his hand sharply.
The spear responded instantly, spinning in midair and slicing through three more of the crimson-eyed mana beasts before snapping back into pursuit.
The snow beneath his boots shattered under the immense gravitational pressure he was unconsciously exerting with every step.
The air itself seemed to bend around him, white powder lifting in waves, sucked into the vortex of his movement.
But no matter how fast he ran, the horde only grew thicker.
Dozens of them, maybe hundreds, leaping from the snow, their crystalline steps forming in the air like glowing ladders.
Each jump brought them closer, feral, relentless, their eyes glinting with a murderous rage.
One landed on his left, jaws snapping at his leg. Azrael slammed his palm down. Gravity increased around the creature, flattening it into a crater of blood and frost.
Another lunged from above, but Olivia intercepted it midair, slicing it clean through.
"Just a little further!" Olivia shouted over the storm of shrieks. "The passage, it's right there!"
Azrael could see it now a jagged icy staircase ahead, half-buried in snow, leading up into shadow.
Relief flickered through him for half a second before the ground beneath them cracked.
A thunderous rumble split the frozen silence.
"Az run as fast as you can NOW something's coming and it's not a regular rabbit, we are way too weak to fight it now, so Run."
Hearing Olivia's warning Azreal quickly called back his spear to his hand, and reduced gravity on his body as much as he could before using all his strength to dash towards the staircase.
He dashed forward, gravity bending to his will as the world around him blurred.
The air tore past his face, the snow beneath his boots exploding outward with each step.
Olivia clung tightly, her sword still dripping with faint wisps of dark mist as they sprinted for the staircase.
The shrieks behind them grew louder, dozens merging into one deafening, metallic scream that made his teeth ache.
The very air vibrated with fury.
Azrael didn't dare look back. He could feel it, the sheer pressure, the rumbling of something massive tearing through the snow in pursuit.
They reached the staircase, jagged and slick with frost.
Without hesitation, he leapt onto it, his weightless body gliding upward in long, powerful strides.
Olivia looked back just once, and instantly regretted it.
The snow behind them bulged, swelled, rose. Something fast was forcing its way through the other rabbits, displacing entire chunks of the floor as it came.
They crossed the threshold.
Two seconds later, the world below erupted.
A concussive BOOM ripped through the cavern, the sound so loud it felt like the air itself shattered.
The shockwave chased them up the stairs, hurling shards of ice and snow like bullets.
Azrael stumbled as the force hit him, nearly dropping Olivia, but he pushed forward, his lungs burning, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
Then, silence.
He collapsed just past the last step, both of them tumbling into the previous floor, panting hard, breath fogging the cold air.
For a moment, neither spoke. Only their ragged breathing filled the stillness.
Then, CRASH!
They both flinched as a violent tremor shook the staircase behind them.
A small shadow loomed below, unseen, and the faint outline of something smashed against the invisible barrier dividing the floors.
A burst of white snow exploded outward on impact, rising in a swirling storm that obscured everything.
The light bent oddly through it, and all they could see were shapes, small , shifting, furious.
Azrael slowly stood, chest heaving.
"What… the hell was that?" Azreal whispered, his voice barely audible.
Oliva didn't answer.
She just stared into the swirling snow, watching as the small shadow on the other side pressed a small clawed limb against the barrier.
For a heartbeat, the translucent wall strained, cracks of faint blue mana light spidering through it before fading.
Then the shadow backed away, sinking slowly beneath the snow.
Azrael muttered, pushing himself upright. "Let's get back to the cave."
They moved quickly but quietly, retracing their steps through the steps of glimmering frost until the familiar hollow came into view, a shallow alcove carved into the snow where they'd made camp before.
It was colder than before, the air biting against their skin, but it was a shelter.
Once inside, Azrael and Olivia lowered onto their backs and Azrael leaned his spear against the wall.
Olivia sighed and walked over to it, pulling off two of the rabbit corpses still skewered along its length.
Their fur was singed in places, but the meat was intact. "Guess dinner's on you tonight," she said softly, forcing a tired smile.
Azrael chuckled weakly. "Don't mention it."
She dragged the two carcasses toward the center of the cave and snapped her fingers while she spoke ignite.
A faint spark of orange flame flared to life on her palm before she dropped it onto the pile.
The fire hissed and crackled, its glow painting the ice walls in flickering shades of orange and blue.
Warmth seeped slowly into the air.
Azrael picked up his spear again, wiping it clean against his sleeve.
He glanced toward the other rabbits piled in the corner, their once white fur now stained crimson. "We'll keep some for tomorrow," he said, his voice low.
Olivia nodded and knelt beside the fire.
Olivia set down the spear and pulled the two rabbits from the piles end, laying them on the cold snow floor. The air was heavy with frost, every breath a cloud of pale mist.
She crouched beside the fire pit they'd just made and struck her palm open, calling to that faint ember of flame she could control.
The corpses didn't burn like wood, the flesh hissed and spat, releasing an oily smoke that filled the cave with the sharp scent of iron and fat.
She stripped what fur she could from the remaining carcasses, using the spear's edge to cut away strips of skin.
"Meat for heat," she murmured, voice low, almost to herself.
The fire caught slowly, greedily licking at the fatty remains she'd tossed in, and soon the heat began to crawl back into the walls.
Beside her, he watched the way she used the spear tip to scrape clean the hides, the way she moved as if she'd done this a hundred times before.
When the furs were clean enough, she held them over the smoke, drying them bit by bit. The smell was awful, but warmth was worth any stench.
She rubbed the skins between her palms as they dried, softening the fibers so they wouldn't harden like bark.
By the time the flames had dimmed, she'd managed to twist thin cords from the rabbit sinew and tie the furs into something wearable, rough wraps for their shoulders and feet.
"Better than nothing," she said, tossing him one.
He caught it, feeling the lingering warmth in the hide. "I'll take that over freezing to death."
Olivia smirked faintly, turning back to the fire. "Then let's not waste it.
They settled side by side, backs to the wall, the glowing rocks reflecting dim orange against their faces as they held the rabbit meat with the spear rotating it slowly hoping for something at least edible to eat.