Chapter 226: Chilling Perils "Hikari, did you find the exit yet?" Midnight Duchess inquired.
"It’s that door," Yuzuro pointed toward a metallic door at the very end of the room. "But it seems locked, and we need some kind of key."
"Does it have a knob?" Xin asked.
"I don’t think so."
"Then we only need to find the key," Midnight Duchess said, doing her best to reduce the Snowworms’ numbers that threatened to overwhelm them.
"Is this it?" Xin dangled a frosty-looking key in front of the crew, acquired by his golems while they killed the Snowworms.
"Agh! Lord Schrödinger! You already found it?" Yuzuro exclaimed in glee.
"My golems got it when they killed a bunch of Snowworms."
"I’ll create a path," Midnight Duchess declared, positioning herself in front of the Snowworm horde that blocked the door. "You go and check if it’s the key to the next room."
"What if it isn’t?" Xin asked, his expression unchanged.
". . . Then you’ll be stuck on the other side with a bunch of worms," Midnight Duchess answered him like it wasn’t life-threatening at all. It was a normal day in the dungeon.
"Egh!" Yuzuro squirmed at the thought.
Xin nodded. "Got it."
"You two, don’t act like it’s the most natural thing in the world! Have some sense of fear!"
"There’s no use in getting scared now," Xin said. "It’s a life and death situation from the start. We’re all prepared to die in this dungeon at some point."
Midnight Duchess agreed, "It’s all about the adventure."
"You guys are being careless! If we die here, we’ll surely suffer a huge EXP penalty loss!" Yuzuro protested. If that happened, it was back to cleaning HQ for her!
"Ready, Lord Schrödinger?" Midnight Duchess asked.
Xin nodded in response, while Yuzuro could only hold back her tears and snots on the side.
In a whirlwind of shadows and ice, Midnight Duchess unleashed her unique assassin skill [Shadow Waltz].
The room seemed to darken as she moved, her cloak billowing like the wings of a nocturnal bird. Her form blurred, duplicating into multiple phantasmal images.
Each image danced and weaved among the Snowworms, her movements a symphony of deadly elegance.
Shadow Waltz allowed her to manipulate the shadows to obscure her true form, confusing the Snowworms and diverting their attention.
With every calculated step, she left behind a trail of vanishing silhouettes, each one distracting the worms as she maneuvered through the horde.
Meanwhile, Xin dashed toward the door when a path was created, his footsteps echoing in the icy chamber. His hands trembled slightly as he inserted the frosty key into the lock.
The metallic clink of metal meeting metal seemed deafening in the tense silence that enveloped the room.
Everyone held their breath, their eyes glued to the door, anticipation hanging in the air like a heavy fog.
Time seemed to stretch, the seconds dragging on as if reluctant to reveal the door’s secret.
And then, with a soft yet decisive click, the door opened.
A collective exhale of relief filled the room, mingling with the echoing hiss of the Snowworms.
Without wasting a moment, everyone rushed through the doorway, their hearts pounding in their chests. The transition from one room to another was swift, a seamless escape from the clutches of the icy peril behind them.
However, the third room stretched before them, a daunting icy chasm that seemed to mock their progress. To cross it, they had two choices: attempt a daring jump or risk plummeting into the abyss below, where monstrous creatures lurked amidst the colossal icicles hanging menacingly overhead.
Misjudging their leaps could result in a deadly plunge or being impaled by the sharp icicle points above.
Moreover, venomous snakes slithered within the icy stalactites, poised to strike if their delicate homes were disturbed.
"N-now what? A deadly chasm!" Yuzuro’s voice quivered with panic, her eyes wide with fear.
In contrast, Midnight Duchess and Xin appeared unfazed, their expressions seemingly untouched by the impending danger.
. "What should we do?" Midnight Duchess’s scanned the ceiling, her mind calculating the risks. "It seems causing a commotion here would lead to disaster. Those icicles could rain down on us, and those snakes would strike us down with their poison."
"You don’t have a rope, do you?" Xin inquired, his expression was calm as his voice. "We could use it to swing across, but there’s nothing sturdy to attach it to on the other side. No rocks or ledges."
"You guys are way too calm about this," Yuzuro sighed in exasperation, her hands thrown up in surrender. "Are you talking to the weather or something?"
Midnight Duchess shot her a sidelong glance. "Panicking won’t change our situation, Hikari. We need to think this through. Perhaps there’s a hidden mechanism or a way to distract the snakes without causing a catastrophe. Let’s observe and strategize before making any hasty moves."
"Maybe we could use your elemental golem to create an ice bridge?" Yuzuro suggested, not really thinking what she had said.
Midnight Duchess and Xin stared at Yuzuro.
"W-what?" Yuzuro stammered, feeling a little perturbed under their intense gaze.
"Yuzu, that’s a surprisingly good idea!" Xin exclaimed, his face lighting up with newfound optimism. He immediately started instructing his golems, clearly considering her suggestion.
Midnight Duchess tapped Yuzuro on the shoulder and beamed at her. "You can be useful at times, too, Hikari."
Yuzuro’s heart broke into a million tiny pieces as she cried inwardly, whispering to herself, "I know that I’m usually dead weight in the group. I’m so sorry for my incompetence."
The Elemental golems swiftly moved into action, their massive hands pressing against the icy walls of the chasm.
With incredible precision, they manipulated the frozen surface, shaping it into a sturdy bridge that spanned the perilous gap.
The ice bridge gleamed in the soft light, its surface smooth and even, providing a secure pathway for Xin and the others to cross safely to the other side.
The golems’ elemental control over ice ensured that the bridge was not only stable but also resistant to the biting cold, allowing the group to traverse the chasm without any issues.