The morning light was faint in the depths of the basin.
After a brief repetition of the mission briefing, the members of the Chief Squad began their move.
Karenina held her cards as ice shards whistled through the air, accurately piercing the skull of a Tier 3 magic beast. Ibuki Mio’s blade light flashed like electricity as she coordinated perfectly with Annie to clear another group of low-tier magic beasts entrenched on the cliffs.
Lomyu stood on high ground, occasionally using cards to restore the team’s mana.
**[Step 85]**
They were only a single step away from the 100th step.
Several hours of clearing had thoroughly plowed through the remaining nests inside the basin. The team’s mana was full, and their condition was at its peak. Only the final barrier remained — the entrance to the high-level zone, guarded by a “luxury gatekeeper lineup” consisting of eight Tier 4 magic beasts.
“Cassia, are you ready?” Lomyu asked in the squad channel.
“Received, Big Brother!” After several days of hard fighting while pulling mobs, Cassia’s voice had gained a hint of confidence. “We’ll be in position shortly!”
“Good.”
As he spoke, Lomyu’s gaze fell on the two nests where Cassia had pre-planted Shimmer Detonation cards.
“Shimmer Detonators, activate,” he ordered softly.
Deep within the two Tier 4 magic beast nests at the basin entrance, two extremely faint *poof* sounds echoed in succession. Those were the sounds of Tier 2 explosive cards being detonated. The blast power wasn’t enough to cause substantial damage to Tier 4 beasts, but it was more than enough to infuriate them.
“Roar — !”
The enraged beasts let out earth-shattering roars. Drawn by an invisible force, their movements became frantic and chaotic.
At the same time, Cassia’s squad was in position.
“Now!” Cassia shouted sharply as an enchanted arrow accurately struck one of the bulls.
“Ricochet!” “Sprint!” The three hunters poured all their acceleration skills onto themselves, instantly transforming into three blurry afterimages. They wove and lured through the eight beasts amidst their screams.
The chaos escalated instantly.
In the distance, several ripples of mana arrived one after another, aimed directly at the eight beasts at the entrance.
“It’s them.” A slight curve formed at the corner of Lomyu’s mouth. He “saw” the figures of Lilith and Elena appearing one after the other at the edge of the basin.
‘Long time no see, you two SSRs,’ Lomyu chuckled inwardly.
“Kafenir!” Lilith let out a furious roar. Her greatsword was wrapped in raging flames as she took the lead, charging into the battlefield toward a Lava Crocodile. The battle intent in her eyes was even more intense than it had been yesterday.
Elena raised her slender arm, her eyes behind her gold-rimmed glasses turning chillingly cold. Countless vines burst from the ground and earthen walls rose up, attempting to partition the battlefield and cut the beast group apart.
Following that, what seemed like an endless barrage of wind blades began to weave through the area.
“This isn’t right!” After striking a beast with her sword, Lilith was shocked to realize there were no marks on its body!
“There is no time.” Elena also frowned as she watched the wind blades explode against the beasts with limited damage.
As things stood, if they didn’t seize these relics, it would be a devastating blow to the squad’s already strained credit reserves — especially since they had already paid the “buyback” fee for their lives.
“Follow Lomyu’s plan,” Karenina spoke coldly, her wand glowing.
“Snowstorm, descend.”
In an instant, the sky darkened abruptly. Goose-feather snow, carried by a bone-chilling wind, spread out from beneath Karenina’s feet at a speed visible to the naked eye, instantly shrouding the entire basin entrance.
**[Extreme Cold Domain]**?!
Lomyu was stunned when he saw this move! ‘Isn’t this the signature skill of the SSR character, Karenina?’
‘Buddy, how do you know this?! Is this a mandatory skill for the Russell Royal Family, or…?’
The sudden spike in vigilance caused Lomyu’s thoughts to wander for a moment. But as he looked at his “brother’s” chest, he felt relieved.
‘Impossible. Absolutely impossible!’
‘Unless there is some artifact that can warp reality and change a person’s appearance… my bro definitely can’t be a woman!’
This was no ordinary blizzard; it was a domain of extreme cold that could instantly freeze the vitality of all living things.
“They really were waiting! The rat squad!” Lilith’s roar was drowned out by the wind and snow.
Her flaming greatsword grew weak in the blizzard, and the defensive barrier covering her body began to emit an overburdened *crack* within just a few seconds.
Elena’s expression changed drastically. The vines and earthen walls she had set up were quickly covered in frost, losing their resilience before collapsing. The glow of the defensive mana on the team members was also flickering like a candle in the wind.
“They recovered this quickly?” Elena’s teeth clenched. She hadn’t expected Karenina to directly use such a large-scale spell without regard for mana consumption.
“Defend!” she screamed, simultaneously pulling a defensive card from her robes to protect herself and the members beside her.
However, under the continuous scouring of the blizzard, the glow of the protective alchemy cards on the members of both the Black Queen and White Queen squads dimmed rapidly. Several cards even shattered and dissipated.
“Now.” Lomyu’s gaze was as sharp as a blade.
“Entering!” His figure suddenly vanished from the top of the cliff.
In the next second, as if he had teleported, Lomyu appeared like a ghost deep within the first nest!
“**[Ninja Art: True Dragon Explosive Flame]**!”
Five scorching dark-gold fireballs condensed in his palm instantly, then slammed ruthlessly into the Tier 4 beasts trapped by the blizzard inside the nest.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Continuous explosions rang out in the depths of the nest as the beasts let out pained wails.
“Eat my Dragon Sword!”
Lomyu’s Dragon Sword was unsheathed. The blade was pitch black, yet it reflected a forest-cold light. Lethal arcs of light followed his figure as he flashed through the nest!
“Melee combat against Tier 4 beasts? Whose teammate is this?!”
The Black and White Queen squads witnessed this scene and thought the man was insane! Compared to magic defense, a magic beast’s physical defense was only stronger! Never mind the physical strength required; an average weapon wouldn’t even be able to withstand clashing with so many “hard bones”!
“Hmph, decent courage, just lacking a brain.” Elena didn’t pay much attention to Lomyu’s figure. The sudden flame explosion just now was indeed powerful, killing all the beasts it hit directly. But according to her natural energy perception, while the remaining three beasts were injured, they weren’t in critical condition.
It wasn’t something one person could handle simultaneously!
“Hiya!”
With a **[Swallow Flight Slash]**, Lomyu charged directly in front of the nearest beast. A heavy strike shattered the opponent’s protective shell, and then, following the center of gravity, he slammed the Dragon Sword into the opponent’s joints.
*Squish!*
Blood splattered as a limb was forcefully torn off by the Dragon Sword!
“What on earth?!” Lilith watched the scene, rendered speechless. Inserting a weapon into a beast’s joint and then using brute force to tear the limb off?! What kind of weapon was he using? Wasn’t he afraid of it breaking?!
But Lomyu’s movements were only just beginning!
**[Slay]**
The moment he sliced off the beast’s limb, Lomyu clearly saw a piece of information appear on it. Then, several blade marks seemed to guide the Dragon Sword, leading it to dismantle and execute the target!
**[Mortal Slay Technique]** activated!
*Slash! Slash!*
The Dragon Sword slashed across! After partitioning the beast’s body according to its weak points, the fragile core was exposed!
‘Just like that!’
The Dragon Sword pierced in once more. The beast’s wailing stopped abruptly as it turned into specks of starlight and dissipated.
“What is that again?!”
In Lilith’s eyes, he seemed to be weaving between several beasts, leaving only blurry afterimages. With every flash, a beast completely vanished!
Outside the nest, in the center of the blizzard, everyone was stunned by the sight.
“Is that Kafenir? How can he…” Horror flashed in Elena’s eyes. She saw a blurry figure moving through the beast group as if he had no physical form.
“So fast…” Ibuki Mio stood beside Karenina, muttering to herself. Even as a martial artist, she could only barely catch the trajectory of Lomyu’s movements.
In just a few breaths, the eight Tier 4 beasts had all turned into mana and dissipated.
**[Obtained Relic: Tier 4 Lava Crocodile Core x4]**
**[Obtained Relic: Tier 4 Earth-Shattering Bull Horn x4]**
**[Title: Instrument of the 100th Step has been issued!]**
**[Instrument of the 100th Step: Gain a 20% discount when trading non-resalable items.]**
“That’s enough!” Lomyu stood with his sword raised. Not a single drop of blood stained the Dragon Sword.
This was the key title for the squad’s development! The school officials would treat low-tier materials as child’s play, but high-tier alchemy materials required this title to really “fleece” them! It was an absolute treasure!
*Rumble!*
Turning slowly, Lomyu looked toward the basin entrance. The entire Southern Valley suddenly underwent a violent tremor.
“Roar — !”
A roar carrying an ancient, frenzied aura echoed from the depths of the high-level zone, making everyone’s hearts race.
**[Announcement: Tier 5 Magic Beast “Abyss Ripper” has awakened!]**
**[Announcement: Final Stage — “Survival and Escape” has begun! All squads, please arrive at the final evaluation area within the designated time!]**
Following the academy’s broadcast, the magic beasts in the basin turned into mana glows and vanished one after another. Only the pressure from the Tier 5 beast remained, looming over everyone like Mount Tai.
Lilith and Elena set aside their grievances for this moment. Their gazes fell simultaneously on the figure of Lomyu at the basin entrance.
“This isn’t right. Elena, do you know what that is?!” Lilith roared, her greatsword pointed at Lomyu.
“It might be Kafenir’s helper!” Elena responded immediately. She knew that only by uniting could they contend with this unfathomable “Kafenir” squad.
“I hate you, but this time, we might have to work together!”
“The feeling is mutual! But I have no objections!”
Lilith’s greatsword burned with even more intense flames, intertwining with Elena’s magical glow to form a barrier of light.
“If you want to pass, you’ll have to go through us first!”