Minutes pass in silence while the group recovers.
Clive slowly opens his eyes as the meditation ends.
The energy potion has restored part of his strength, though the exhaustion from the battle still lingers in his muscles.
Abel sits nearby, examining the dark green crystal carefully.
When he notices Clive waking, he stands and walks over, handing the crystal back to him.
"This crystal," Abel says quietly, "is the life core of the rats."
Clive studies it again.
Now that he knows its purpose, the faint energy pulsing inside the crystal feels more distinct.
He glances around.
Rosalyn sits cross-legged, eyes closed in meditation.
Elie is also recovering her strength.
The last surviving guard rests beside them, breathing slowly while channelling his energy.
Abel returns to meditation as well after consuming a portion of the crystal's energy.
Elodie still lies unconscious nearby.
But her breathing has become steady.
The potion is working.
Clive stands and walks toward the edge of the narrow ledge where they had escaped.
Below them, the cavern floor is still alive with movement.
The rats continue jumping and clawing at the stone wall, desperate to reach them.
Clive crouches and watches them carefully.
Then he looks down at the crystal in his palm.
A thought crosses his mind.
He focuses his spirit power.
Carefully, he attempts to draw energy from the crystal.
The crystal responds.
A thin wisp of corpse energy slips out and flows into his palm.
The moment the energy enters his body, Clive feels the familiar transformation begin.
His flesh stiffens.
Cold energy spreads through his veins.
His body begins turning into something closer to the living dead.
Realising the danger, Clive quickly activates his bloodline ability.
"Corpse Body."
Grey spreads across his skin as the ability stabilises the foreign energy.
Instead of corrupting him, the corpse energy flows through the spiritual channels of the third blood refining array.
The array absorbs it.
Refines it.
Clive focuses inward.
With his Spirit Life observing the process, he can clearly sense the transformation of the energy.
The corpse energy becomes purer.
More stable.
It strengthens the third bloodline slightly.
Clive nods to himself.
So the crystals can help him cultivate the Corpse Bloodline.
He continues absorbing small wisps carefully.
Suddenly, he hears movement behind him.
Clive turns slightly.
Elodie is waking.
Rosalyn immediately crawls forward.
"Elodie," she says softly.
Elodie opens her eyes slowly.
For a moment, she remains still, then sits upright.
She closes her eyes again briefly and enters meditation.
After a few moments, she exhales and stands.
Her strength has returned enough for movement.
Elodie turns toward Elie.
"Do you still have energy potions?"
Elie nods.
"Yes."
"Do you need another one?"
Elodie nods once.
"Yes."
Elie hands her another potion.
Elodie drinks it without hesitation.
Then she walks calmly toward the edge of the ledge and looks down at the rats still swarming beneath them.
Abel opens his eyes and notices her movement.
"What are you doing?" he asks.
Elodie does not look away from the cavern.
"I have recovered enough," she says calmly.
"I'll take care of them."
She raises her sword.
Cold energy gathers along the blade.
Then she swings.
"Ice Rose."
A stream of icy fighting energy shoots downward.
The energy strikes the cavern floor like a seed entering soil.
For a brief moment, nothing happens.
Then the ground cracks.
A frozen stem bursts upward.
It grows rapidly.
A massive rose made entirely of ice begins forming.
The crystalline flower expands higher and higher.
From the base of the icy stem, vines explode outward.
Each vine is covered with sharp, frozen thorns.
They spread across the cavern floor like a living forest.
The temperature drops instantly.
Ice spreads across the ground.
The swarming rats freeze where they stand.
The vines strike.
Each thorned vine pierces through the corpse monsters.
Some rats are crushed instantly.
Others are impaled and frozen solid.
Green crystals spill out from shattered bodies.
The vines continue moving.
Destroying every rat in the cavern.
Within moments, the entire battlefield becomes silent.
Even after the rats are dead, the ice continues spreading.
The entire cavern freezes.
Walls.
Floor.
Even the remains of the monsters.
Everything becomes locked beneath a thick layer of frost.
Clive stares down at the frozen cavern in awe.
The cold air makes him shiver.
Only now does he fully understand.
Before this moment, Elodie had been fighting with depleted energy.
She had never fought at full strength.
Now recovered, her true power is terrifying.
Clive lets out a quiet breath.
"Wow."
His voice carries genuine amazement.
Elodie lowers her sword calmly as if nothing extraordinary had happened.
After gathering the crystals from the frozen cavern below, the group carefully descends and continues their exploration of the mine.
Now that the rats are gone, the tunnels grow eerily quiet.
The group moves cautiously through the deeper passages.
Eventually, they enter another cavern.
This one is much larger than the others.
The moment they step inside, everyone stops.
At the centre of the cavern floats something unnatural.
A swirling black portal.
It hangs several meters above the ground, rotating slowly like a vortex of darkness.
The air around it trembles.
Clive immediately feels the difference.
Spiritual energy.
It flows through the cavern once again.
For some reason, the energy suppression that had covered the town no longer reaches this place.
The portal pulses softly.
Dark energy swirls within it.
The sight of the swirling black portal sends a chill through everyone present.
For a moment, no one moves.
Clive feels something he has not felt since entering the mine.
Air.
Not ordinary air—but the subtle presence of spiritual energy.
An alchemist apprentice cannot absorb spiritual energy directly, yet the Spirit Life inside their body constantly interacts with it. The Spirit Life senses the surrounding energy like a fish sensing water.
Clive inhales deeply.
It feels as if he can breathe again.
His gaze sweeps across the cavern.
Beneath the floating portal stands a man.
The man holds a crimson crystal in his palm. The crystal pulses faintly, releasing waves of dark energy that ripple through the ritual array carved into the cavern floor.
Near him stand two figures.
A woman.
And another man.
Clive's eyes narrow.
He recognises the woman immediately.
Larissa.
At the far end of the cavern, several nobles kneel in chains, surrounded by ritual markings drawn in blood.
Elodie steps forward.
Her gaze fixes on the man holding the crystal.
"Free the prisoners."
Her sword slides from its sheath with a cold metallic whisper.
She points the blade directly at him.
The man smiles calmly.
"I cannot do that."
His voice is relaxed.
"They are required for a higher mission."
Elodie's eyes narrow dangerously.
Before she can speak again, Elie steps forward.
"You want to open the gate to the spirit world through blood sacrifice!"
Her voice echoes sharply across the cavern.
The man turns his gaze toward her.
"Yes."
His smile grows slightly.
"And if you understand that, then you should know you shouldn't stop me."
His eyes gleam with fanatic certainty.
"When the gate opens, your goddess can return to the world before the destined time."
Elie stiffens.
She exchanges a quick glance with Abel.
Abel steps forward.
"Have you forgotten the Divine Covenant?"
His voice carries authority.
"Any blood sacrifice is forbidden."
"If word of this spreads, you, your church, and the Lord of Disaster will face judgment from every god."
The man's expression twists.
The calm smile disappears.
His face turns into a snarl.
The crimson crystal in his palm pulses violently.
"Then none of you will leave alive."
The ground trembles.
From the ritual array beneath them, corpses burst from the stone floor.
Their skin is black and metallic.
Their eyes burn with corpse energy.
Some carry the aura of apprentice alchemists.
Others radiate the strength of official alchemists.
The man raises his hand.
"Kill them."
The corpse warriors charge.
Larissa moves first.
Her body blurs forward like lightning.
She targets Elodie directly.
Ice energy explodes from Elodie's sword as she meets the attack.
The clash between ice and disaster energy shakes the cavern.
Clive has no time to watch.
A corpse warrior with the aura of an apprentice alchemist lunges toward him.
Clive activates his bloodline.
"Corpse Body."
Grey spreads across his skin.
His nails extend into claws.
The corpse warrior swings its blade downward.
Clive steps aside.
His sword flashes upward.
Steel collides with the black-metal skin of the corpse.
Sparks fly.
The creature's strength rivals his own.
The corpse attacks again.
Clive blocks and twists his body.
Then drives his elbow into its chest.
The creature staggers.
Clive takes advantage instantly.
His blade slices across its throat.
Black energy erupts from the wound.
But the corpse does not fall.
It roars and lunges again.
Clive narrows his eyes.
These corpses are stronger than the rats.
He ducks beneath the next strike.
Then swings low.
The blade cuts through the corpse's knee joint.
The creature collapses to one side.
Clive leaps forward.
His sword plunges straight through its skull.
The corpse jerks violently.
Then collapses.
Clive pulls the blade free.
The black energy dissipates slowly.
One corpse destroyed.
But the battle across the cavern continues raging.
Ice and disaster energy collide where Elodie and Larissa fight.
Holy light erupts from Abel's staff as he battles two official-level corpse warriors.
Elie supports them with divine shields.
Rosalyn fights beside Clive, striking down weaker corpses attempting to surround them.
The cavern becomes a storm of clashing powers.
And beneath the swirling portal above them, the ritual continues pulsing ominously.