System: Daily login!!, jackpot on the first day!!!

While the five of them continued to engage the various monsters spawned within the Realm Gate, Taufik had a different priority. For him, combat was only a means to an end. His real goal lay in uncovering the truth behind this world, this enclosed dimension hidden beyond the veil named the Realm Gate.

"The main energy of this world is still Mana... Now then, let's see just how vast this place truly is"

With a quiet hum of concentration, Taufik summoned his mana wings, translucent appendages of pure energy flaring from his back. In a burst of acceleration, he shot into the sky, climbing higher and higher into the atmosphere.

This was his first test: to see whether this realm had a vertical limit, an artificial ceiling like in many games or stories he once played and read.

"Hmm… So there's no altitude limit, huh?" he muttered, hovering at the edge of the atmosphere. Yet something else caught his attention.

He gazed upward. Or rather, outward.

Strangely enough, there were no stars, no constellations, galaxies, or cosmic dust.

The infinite backdrop of space was barren. Only three celestial bodies existed here: the small world beneath him, the distant sun providing faint illumination, and a lone, pale moon. Nothing more.

"Can something like this even exist? Or is it… a unique trait of Realm Gates? A contained, artificial dimension?" He exhaled. "Never mind. This is only the first floor... I can't jump to conclusions yet"

Turning his gaze back to the planet below, Taufik narrowed his eyes, focusing his senses. The fog that blanketed most of the surface was thick, almost magical in nature, but his perception, sharpened by his Concept power, allowed him to pierce through it.

"Let's see if those three creature types are really the only inhabitants here"

Using advanced mana detection and his own observational skills, he began circling the planet. It didn't take long for him to grasp the scale of this world.

"If I measure it precisely, this entire planet… It's no larger than Pluto. Actually, it might be even smaller than Earth's moon. That would explain the minimal gravity and lack of atmospheric pressure"

His scan of the life signatures confirmed what he had encountered thus far: only three distinct species seemed to exist here, each monstrous, each warped in its own way. Yet among them, one group was clearly dominant.

"Decaying dryads… they're everywhere. Sprawled across the corrupted forests like fungi on rotting wood. No signs of any civilization, no organized hierarchy, no sapient life besides them. Is this planet truly limited to just those three races?"

He descended back to the surface, landing softly on a high ridge overlooking a dead grove of twisted trees and skeletal vines.

The air was thick with tension, Mana twisted by decay and desperation.

With a flick of his fingers, he called up the system interface once more.

[Objective: Calm the forest spirits and restore the balance of Fae energy to escape]

Taufik furrowed his brow.

"Calm the spirits? Restore balance? But how exactly? Should we purify them? Subdue them? Or..." His eyes narrowed. "Kill them all? In the first place, with this 'fea energy', is it what they call Mana in here?"

He considered the option.

"But wiping out every inhabitant would take far too long… and for a first-floor challenge, it would be far too extreme. Unless... the point isn't to kill everything"

He glanced up again toward the fogged canopy. Somewhere deep in this rotting world, the key to restoring balance was hidden.

"No. The real question is... how do I force the forest to listen?"

Taufik pondered the question, hovering silently above the withered trees. But no matter how many angles he examined it from, no definitive answer came to mind.

The forest spirits weren't mindless, but they were feral, corrupted. Diplomacy seemed impossible, and brute force felt wrong.

"...Tch. This is getting nowhere." He let out a deep sigh. "Let's check on the others"

--------

- Somewhere.

"Rijal! Give us some fire, now!" Caldwell's voice cut through the fog like a blade as another wave of decaying dryads surged toward them.

The creatures' limbs cracked unnaturally with every movement, their bark-like skin splitting and oozing black sap. From their hollow sockets, an eerie, soulless light glowed, watching, hungering.

The very ground trembled beneath their clawed feet.

"Wait!" Rijal shouted, planting his boots firmly into the dirt. He gripped his staff tightly, his knuckles pale.

Mana began to swirl, wild, hot, and thick like molten gold, flowing into the ancient runes carved into the staff's surface.

A radiant golden light ignited at the staff's tip, growing brighter, hotter, unstable.

He raised the staff high above his head.

"...Kusanagi! Lend me your power!"

With a fierce cry, he slammed the staff down.

*BOOM!*

A ring of flame erupted outward in a blazing shockwave, blasting through the mist in a perfect circle.

The fire wasn't normal, it sang, echoing with divine fury and Spirit Magic.

The dryads closest to it howled and screeched as the purifying flame burned them to ash.

The rest recoiled, halting their charge.

For now.

The wall of fire gave the team a moment, just one, to breathe.

"Haaahh~ For a first floor, why the hell is this so hard?" Asahi muttered between gasps. His mana wings flickered erratically, scorched from overuse.

He had been darting across the battlefield, striking with precision and speed, his katana danced but even so, the enemy felt endless.

"Huff… this is bad..." Daniel collapsed to one knee, his breath ragged. He let his cross-shaped sword clatter beside him, sweat drenching his robes. "I've nearly drained all my Holy Power..."

Reza, still holding his defensive stance, scanned their surroundings. "Guys, I know this might sound crazy, but… isn't fighting not even our main objective?"

That made them pause.

Caldwell, still in his werewolf form, his fur scorched in patches and his claws bloodied, growled low as he glanced at the writhing mass of dryads pressing against the fire wall.

"What Reza said is true," he admitted, eyes narrowing, "But right now… we don't have a choice. We can't negotiate. We can't retreat. Their numbers are too great. If we stop, we get swarmed. At this rate..." His eyes glowed faintly. "We'll be stuck in this cycle forever"

Suddenly-

"Guys..." Rijal's voice wavered.

They turned to him.

His arms were shaking violently, his staff trembling as the magical fire began to flicker.

Sweat streamed down his face.

"I… I don't think I can hold this much longer..."

The golden flames cracked.

The wall of fire that had been their only shield-

Was breaking.

"*Sigh* I don't think I have any choice left... other than using Excalibur," Caldwell muttered, his voice heavy with reluctant resolve.

The firewall behind them collapsed in a wave of sparks and smoke. Another swarm of decaying dryads poured through the broken gap, their grotesque forms twisting in the gloom, hungering for blood.

Caldwell narrowed his eyes. "Damn it... where the hell is that bastard cousin of mine?"

He raised his clawed hands toward the sky as a deep growl rumbled in his throat. Mana surged around him, condensing, twisting into threads of ancient power.

"... By frostbound oath and frozen breath, Blade of ice, defy all death.

Excalibur of endless cold... To my hand, your hilt I hold!"

The air changed.

A cold mist swept through the battlefield, so frigid it turned the moisture in the air to glittering frost. It crept over the dryads like a creeping death, slowing their movements, freezing their limbs mid-charge. The black sap leaking from their bark froze into obsidian icicles.

The world went quiet, breathless.

Then... *crack!*

A small shard of ice manifested in Caldwell's palm. Perfect. Still. But as the chant echoed into silence, a deep fracture split its surface with a sharp sound.

*crk-kk!*

In a burst of glittering frost, the shard shattered.

And from the remnants emerged a blade of haunting beauty.

Excalibur.

Unlike the legends of light, this was his version, a sword of winter's judgment.

Its blade shimmered with a pale blue hue, almost translucent, like carved ice that never melts. Frozen mist trailed from its edge. Even the air around it crackled faintly, distorting reality as if rejecting the heat of life.

Caldwell gripped the hilt tightly.

The moment he did, a low hum resonated from the sword, as if acknowledging its wielder.

"Come on then," he growled, stepping forward, frost clinging to his fur. "Let's see if you rot faster when frozen"

Behind him, the others watched in awe.

Even the dryads seemed to hesitate... Just for a moment.

--------

Caldwell raised Excalibur skyward, the blade humming louder now... resonating with ancient, frozen might.

The cold deepened.

Frost crept along the ground like living veins, spreading in every direction. Even the fog recoiled from the biting chill.

The decaying dryads snarled and shrieked, their corrupted energy buckling under the overwhelming cold.

Then, Caldwell's eyes glowed icy blue.

"Winter Judgment: Thousand Blades of the Frozen King..."

The mist above them swirled and spiraled into the sky like a reverse blizzard. And then-

Swords began to form.

One by one, they emerged from the air, ice-forged blades, identical in shape but each uniquely carved with frozen runes. Dozens. Then hundreds. Then a full thousand swords, floating in a vast circle above them, each glimmering with pale, deadly light.

The battlefield stood still.

Even the dryads stopped moving, their corrupted instincts warning them of the storm to come.

Caldwell pointed Excalibur forward.

"... Fall"

With that one command, the sky rained blades.

Each sword fell like a shooting star, piercing the ground and enemies alike with terrifying precision.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The sound of steel meeting corrupted bark echoed like thunder. Screams of the dryads filled the air, quickly swallowed by the roar of shattering ice and crumbling bodies.

The earth trembled under the relentless barrage.

In seconds, the horde was shredded, impaled, frozen, annihilated.

When it was over, nothing moved.

Where once stood a tide of enemies now lay a frozen graveyard, an icy field pierced with a thousand swords.

Caldwell lowered Excalibur, his breath fogging in the cold air.

"...Haaah. That should buy us some time"

The others stared, awestruck.

"Remind me never to piss you off," Asahi muttered, still catching his breath.

"That was... beautiful," Daniel said, clutching his sword.

Reza only nodded, silently grateful.

Caldwell turned toward the horizon, eyes narrowed.

"But this is just the first floor... if it's already this bad..." He tightened his grip. "Then something far worse is waiting at the top"

....

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