The smell hit them before they even had a chance to rise on their own; it was the smell of charred and rotting flesh, of death.
The thick, sour smoke drifted through the thin fluorescent blue barrier separating the end of one floor from the path to the next.
It seeped across the threshold, a sluggish grey river seeking the two unconscious bodies lying in the snow, bodies that showed no intention of rising anytime soon.
The smoke found their nostrils. It was an assault, that foul stench of death and rot, and after a few minutes, it managed to steer them from the depths of unconsciousness.
After all, how could they stay asleep when that familiar smell was assaulting their senses?
Yes, familiar. Because to them, while this smell was slightly worse than they were used to, it was still the very same smell they indulged in when cooking their food.
The very same smell produced when they lit a mana beast's corpse on fire to cook another over it.
Ultimately, it was what finally managed to wake them up.
Azrael was the first to rise.
His eyes opened with a clarity not expected from someone just knocked unconscious.
His mind was clear, but his thoughts spiraled as the memories of the last two days returned in a quick agonizing flash.
He sat up quickly, head spinning, searching every direction for traces of the thing they had been running from.
They should be dead.
They had seen its hand push through the barrier before everything went black.
But no matter how much he examined their surroundings, he found nothing.
His other senses picked up no threat eather, only the smell of burning rot and the sound of Olivia's uneven breathing as she shifted in the snow, looking like she might wake any moment.
Olivia stirred just seconds after Azrael.
Her eyes opened slowly, revealing quartz-pink irises.
The first thing she saw was white, snow everywhere, surrounding her face. It was a comfortable cold for a couple of seconds embraced her face in a numb hug, then it began to sting.
She raised her head.
The first thing her eyes landed on was Azrael, staring intently at the barrier.
His deep black curls were littered with snow.
She watched the tension in his muscles coil tighter and tighter until, finally, he turned his head to face her.
His eyes were a beautiful wild amber, and they stared at her with a warmth that seemed to envelop her.
He stared, examining her for what felt like an eternity, taking in her long creamy platinum-white hair that was mixing with the snow, her beautiful pink eyes that were staring back at him with an intensity he couldn't ignore.
Before he finally managed to utter the words that had been stuck in his head since he saw her.
"Morning, Liv. How are you feeling?"
His voice held a faint rasp, the kind that came from just waking up, as if these were his first words.
His tone was low and slow, carrying an unspoken tenderness that wrapped around her.
Hearing him, she finally snapped free from her very own daze.
She threw herself back into the snow before answering.
"Am feeling exactly as you think after something like that. Fully and utterly exhausted,"
she said, her voice laced with mock tiredness.
Which made Azrael let out a small laugh, seeing she was fine.
He lay back in the snow too, this time choosing a spot right beside her.
They stared up at the ceiling, at the rocks, the icicles, and the mana stones shining their light down from above.
Neither spoke another word after confirming the other was okay, and the floor descended into a deep silence broken only by their breathing.
They were drained of mana. Their legs were sore, their bodies exhausted. They had no energy to move, and yet, lying there together in the snow, none of that seemed to matter.
The only thing they cared about was the other's well-being, and even that worry was quickly fading.
They ended up lying there for a solid three hours, just existing in each other's presence, until finally, their exhaustion had passed, their aches had healed, and their mana was fully recovered.
Olivia turned to Azrael. "I think it's about time we get moving. You ready?"
He looked over at her. "Yeah, am about fully recovered. So let's go. Can't be long before we're out of here, right?"
"Right."
Azrael grabbed his spear, which had fallen away from them and ended up buried in the snow.
And with that, they started to move again, descending the snow-covered stone stairs to the next floor, and what they didn't know yet
the last floor.
Stepping onto the new level, it didn't seem at all different from the others they had crossed.
It was just another wide, snow-filled expanse, empty except for the glow of mana stones above.
But this floor was different, though you wouldn't notice until reaching the middle.
As they reached the center, nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. The place was barren, just like the five floors before they'd encountered that monster.
But in the center, they finally saw them. They weren't mana beasts. They weren't monsters.
They were gigantic, thick spikes made of condensed snow.
Running their hands along the pillars, they felt it immediately. These spikes weren't soft. No, they were far from it. They were as tough and as solid as iron.
From the center of the floor onward, the way was filled with them. Every few steps was interrupted by another spike of frozen stone-snow.
And this continued, all the way, until the path ended leaving them standing infront of a gigantic door.