By morning, Oliver and Kira had finished eating the last of the crocodile meat before setting out once more through the snow-covered forest.
As they ate, Oliver decided to speak. Since he knew nothing about this world, Kira was his only source of information. He needed to ask questions — anything that might help him understand where he was.
"Do you know where we are right now?" Oliver asked, his gray eyes fixed on Kira.
Kira looked at him silently for a few moments, then slowly nodded.
"Yes," she said, finishing the last piece of meat.
"We're in the Northern Mountains — a frozen region covered in snow all year round. If we move west, it'll take a few months to reach the Crimson Kingdom."
"What about the east or the north?" Oliver asked.
"To the east lies one of the most dangerous places in the world — the Forest of Death. And to the north are the Mist Mountains. Either direction means certain death unless you're experienced enough to survive there."
"I see," Oliver muttered.
'So, west is a kingdom… east is death… and north is more death. What kind of hellish setup is this?' he thought bitterly.
"You're not from any of the villages near the Crimson Kingdom, are you?" Kira asked suddenly.
Her question made Oliver tense slightly.
He thought fast, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't sound suspicious.
"No," he said finally. "I don't know much, really. I grew up in a place far away and ended up here by accident."
Kira studied him, searching for any sign of deceit, but found none. Even so, her suspicion didn't fade.
"How long do you think it'll take us to reach the Crimson Kingdom?" Oliver asked, scooping up a handful of snow and letting it fall over the remains of the campfire, extinguishing it completely.
"I'm not sure," Kira replied, standing up. "Maybe a few months — depends on whether monsters keep attacking us."
Her eyes stayed calm, indifferent to the thought of fighting monsters again.
Oliver frowned slightly. She was insane, wasn't she?
He felt genuine terror every time he faced a monster, but she… she seemed completely unfazed.
Most likely, Kira was simply used to it.
Standing up, Oliver adjusted the knife strapped to his hip where he could draw it quickly if needed. He hesitated before reaching for his wolfskin cloak. He had torn most of it yesterday to use the fur for Kira's wounds.
Wearing it now would just slow him down — and it wasn't warm enough to make a difference anyway.
With a tired sigh, he took one last look at the cave before stepping out into the cold, Kira following close behind, sword in hand before sheathed it again.
Together, they moved across the snow-covered ground left behind by the last storm. Oliver's eyes constantly scanned the area, searching for any tracks — signs of monsters nearby.
In the two months he'd spent surviving in this frozen hell, he had learned how to read tracks, follow patterns, and avoid ambushes.
His instincts had sharpened — now he could catch even the faintest noise his senses allowed.
As they advanced, something made Oliver stop suddenly.
Kira noticed and froze as well.
"What is it?" she asked, scanning the surroundings for threats.
"A pack of wolves passed through here," Oliver murmured, crouching beside the tracks. "Judging by the number and depth of the prints, there are at least six of them."
He recognized the pattern — the same one he'd seen before when wolves hunted.
"How can you tell how many there are?" Kira asked, curiosity flickering in her voice.
"By the depth of the tracks and the snow's displacement," he explained.
Kira tilted her head, her dark eyes studying the prints — but to her, they were just messy marks in the snow.
"Wolves move in a line," Oliver said. "The leader walks in front, and the others follow, stepping in his tracks. That way, other monsters or animals think there's only one — when there are many."
Kira nodded, still not fully understanding, but trusting his judgment nonetheless.
Soon, they decided to circle around the area carefully and keep moving west, avoiding any unnecessary fights.
---
The wind howled between the trees like a mournful cry.
With every step, the snow sank beneath their boots, muffling the sound of the world. Oliver moved silently, his senses alert to every shifting shadow.
For a long while, nothing disturbed the calm — until a sharp, cracking noise echoed among the trunks.
Crack.
Oliver froze instantly.
The sound came from the north, past a cluster of frost-covered pines.
Kira turned toward him, her hand already gripping her sword's hilt.
"You heard that?" she whispered.
Oliver nodded, crouching slightly to observe the terrain. A faint wisp of white vapor rose from the ground ahead. Then came a screech — high-pitched, unnatural — that sent a chill down his spine.
The snow split apart.
A moment later, something emerged from beneath the frozen earth.
A colossal creature rose from the snow — an ice spider nearly four meters tall, its body encased in a crystalline exoskeleton that glimmered like blue glass.
Its legs, long and blade-like, pierced the ground with a metallic clang. Beneath its abdomen, a row of fangs dripped with bluish liquid that hissed as it touched the snow.
Oliver stepped back instinctively.
"What the hell is that?"
"An Ice Spider," Kira answered coldly. "A mid-rank monster — its armor's so hard normal weapons can barely pierce it."
The creature moved slowly, but every step made the ground tremble.
Its many eyes shone like frozen orbs, fixed on them.
"Then we should find another way," Oliver said quickly, not taking his eyes off the beast. "We can go around before it notices us."
Kira shook her head.
"If we do that, we'll lose days. The mountains are full of crevices and blocked paths."
She tightened her grip on her sword.
"We fight."
Oliver scowled.
"Fight? Against that?"
"If we retreat now, the storm will cover our trail, and we'll lose the path west," she said calmly. "Besides… it won't let us go. It's already scented us."
As if confirming her words, the spider let out a shrill screech and arched its body. Shards of ice broke off its abdomen and shot through the air like crystal spears.
Oliver dove behind a tree trunk as the shards struck, embedding themselves in the wood with a dry thunk.
Kira dodged one that grazed her cheek, leaving a thin red line.
"Any bright ideas?" Oliver shouted, gripping his beast-horn knife.
"Yes. Cut the legs," Kira said without hesitation. "They're the weakest points. If we sever the joints, it'll fall — then we strike the abdomen."
"Fantastic," he muttered. "Four meters of icy death with blades for legs. Perfect plan."
"If you're scared, stay behind," Kira replied flatly.
Oliver gritted his teeth, irritation and fear burning together in his chest.
The fear was real — but so was the will to survive.
If he ran, she'd die… and he wouldn't last long alone.
"Fine," he said, drawing his knife.
The curved horn blade gleamed faintly in the gray light.
"I'll distract it from the right. When it jumps, hit the rear legs."
Kira nodded, her eyes cold and focused.
The spider screeched and lunged with terrifying speed for its size.
Oliver rolled aside as one of its legs slashed through the air, missing him by inches. Snow exploded where it struck.
Kira dashed forward, her sword slicing through one of the front legs.
A spray of thick blue blood hissed as it hit the snow.
The spider shrieked, spinning toward her.
Oliver saw an opening and charged. He slammed his knife against the armored shell — but it barely scratched the surface.
'Too hard,' he thought grimly.
He shifted his aim and drove the blade into the soft joint between two plates. This time, it sank in deep.
The monster screamed, twisting violently. A massive leg slammed into him, throwing him several meters across the snow.
He hit the ground hard, the air knocked from his lungs.
Kira didn't hesitate. She drove her sword into another leg, cracking the icy shell. The creature staggered.
"Oliver!" she shouted. "Now!"
He forced himself up, gasping. With a guttural cry, he charged, leapt onto a damaged leg, and thrust his knife deep into the spider's abdomen.
The sound was wet and horrible.
The monster shrieked one last time and convulsed violently, flinging Oliver aside. He rolled through the snow, his shoulder burning with pain.
Kira seized the opening — her blade, coated in frost and blue blood, plunged straight through the spider's head.
The creature convulsed, let out a dying hiss… and collapsed.
Silence returned, broken only by the wind.
Oliver breathed hard, staring at the massive corpse.
Blue blood seeped from the wounds, steaming against the snow.
Kira cleaned her sword on the white ground, saying nothing.
"D-Did we really… kill it?" Oliver asked, still dazed.
The fight had lasted less than a minute — the most intense minute since his arrival in this world.
He dropped onto the snow, chest heaving, lungs burning from cold and exhaustion.
Kira stepped toward the carcass, expression unreadable. Without hesitation, she plunged her sword into the monster's chest and split it open with precise cuts.
Its organs — dark, slick, and glowing faintly blue — spilled onto the snow. The sight made Oliver's stomach twist, but he couldn't look away.
Expressionless, Kira reached inside and pulled out two small, glowing crystals pulsing with a faint light.
"It was a Nightmare," she said quietly, holding them up.
"A… what?" Oliver frowned.
"A Nightmare," she repeated, as if it were obvious.
He shook his head. "I heard you. But what's a 'Nightmare'?"
Kira blinked in disbelief, surprise flickering into confusion.
"You really don't know?"
"Know what?" he asked. "It's just another monster, isn't it?"
Kira stared at him for a long moment, trying to tell if he was joking.
But Oliver's face showed only honest confusion.
To him, it was just another beast — big, terrifying, but nothing more.
He'd never stopped to think about what these creatures actually were.
Survival had always been the only thing that mattered.