The tip of the arrow was pressed right against Caver’s Adam’s apple, as cold as the ice creeping up the cave walls. Caver’s breath came in gasps, steaming in the damp air, while his hand still gripped the handle of his mining axe as if it were a part of his very soul. In front of him, Lyra stood with a firm stance, her bow perfectly curved, ready to release death in a single blink."I told you not to move, so don't move," Lyra hissed. Her sharp eyes—one forest green, the other human gray—stared at Caver with unconcealed hatred. "Shift that axe even an inch, and your throat is going to be the landing spot for my arrow. Got it, Pit Monkey?""Please, stop! Please, don’t hurt him!" Karla suddenly slumped to the muddy cave floor, kneeling as she held her child tightly. Tears streamed down her cheeks, which were stained with mine dust. "We’re just trying to run! My baby needs a safe place, I beg you!"Lyra glanced at Karla briefly, her lip curling in a sneer. "Run? Everyone in Qahara wants

The red glow from the eastern horizon wasn’t just dawn light. It was the Blood Pulse, a pulse of dark magic splitting the polar sky with a haunting color, as if the very atmosphere of Qahara was bleeding."The seal's key...?" Lyra’s voice cracked amidst the howling wind growing wilder outside the hideout. "I thought Agrasuuman just wanted to wipe out the lower castes. Turns out his goal is way more insane.""Karla’s blood is a rare commodity, Lyra. Extremely rare," Caver gripped his axe handle until his knuckles turned white. He glanced at Karla, who looked pale in the corner of the tree trunk. "I don't care about the king or Agrasuuman. I don't give a damn about the Elven. I won’t let a single hair on my wife’s head be touched by that garbage ritual."Suddenly, the sound of unnatural wings flapping echoed from behind the thick layer of snow covering the entrance. It wasn't the sound of a biological bird. There was the sound of small gears grinding and the rhythmic clinking of metal.

"No time to zone out, you idiot! Move, or we're gonna be roasted jerky!" Jack screamed, his voice nearly drowned out by the roar of explosions echoing from the Ogre patrol ship.Caver didn’t answer. He immediately grabbed Karla by the waist with one hand, while the other gripped the grimy rucksack filled with emergency supplies. Cold sweat mixed with ice trickled down his temples. Behind them, the black smoke that had been just thin wisps was now transforming into tall, faceless figures—shadow soldiers from the Blood Pulse ritual."Leo! Jump first!" Caver ordered.Leo, the former royal knight who now looked just as disheveled as the rest of them, performed a somersault over the ruined dock railing. His body landed on a pile of ropes on the deck of The Iron Crab."Caver, hurry up! The gap is getting wider!" Leo shouted, reaching out a hand.Jack’s large iron ship began to pull away, its steam engine let out a low roar, breaking the ice on the surface of the dark Qahara sea. Caver took