Third Person’s POV

Snow ridges, dark valleys, frozen streams, and towering clusters of conifers appeared across its surface in remarkable detail, while the tiny crimson footsteps marked upon it continued to move steadily forward.

Their own positions were marked by green footsteps on the map, making them move through this bewildering forest easily.

Those glowing tracks guided the three effortlessly through the Ghost Pine Woods, allowing them to cut through the dangerous forest with unnatural ease.

They traveled not upon the snow-covered ground, but midway through the darkness of the forest itself, leaping from branch to branch and crossing from trunk to trunk with swift, practiced movements.

The lower forest floor was dim, tangled, and treacherous, while the upper canopy offered speed to those capable enough to claim it.

As they moved through the frozen gloom, the second white-hooded figure suddenly spoke, his restrained voice carrying lightly through the wind.

"Is the other Severed Unity Scroll finally active, Axius?"

The young white-hooded figure holding the blue scroll did not slow even slightly.

"Yes, Uncle. It is finally active."

His voice that emerged from beneath the hood was magnetic and charming, smooth enough to draw attention even in such a grim place.

A faint smile rested on his lips, though there was something subtly sinister hidden beneath that handsome expression.

"It seems that useless old man Caspian was not so useless after all.

Once I obtain what I came for, I will make sure to reward him properly."

The way he said the final words carried a strange amusement that made the meaning of "reward" uncertain.

The green-hooded figure remained silent beside them and did not interfere in the conversation between the two white-robed men, who clearly seemed to be nephew and uncle.

She moved with disciplined quietness, neither too near nor too distant, like someone who knew her place well.

The older white-hooded man did not answer immediately after hearing his nephew’s words.

For several moments, only the sound of wind passing through black pine needles accompanied them as they crossed the branches.

Then he finally said in a low and measured tone,

"I only hope that nothing unexpected happens... and that no unknown variable arises."

Hearing those cautious words, Axius scoffed inwardly as he could not help but ridicule his uncle’s overly careful and timid nature inside his heart.

In Axius’s eyes, the older man possessed strength and experience, yet lacked the daring spirit required to seize destiny when the chance appeared.

Still, he did not show any of that disdain outwardly.

Instead, he merely nodded in apparent agreement while keeping his polite mask firmly in place.

Axius simply could not imagine anything unusual occurring now, especially not after the effort he had invested and the layers of preparation he had arranged for this expedition.

He had planned so meticulously, including all the factors like the bait, the traitorous guide, the severed unity scroll that would lead him to his prey, and the calculated timing that had all aligned in his favor.

He trusted greatly in his own foresight and intelligence.

Because of that, his confidence had already grown into certainty.

In his mind, the mysterious treasure hidden within these frozen lands had already become something that rightfully belonged to him.

...

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Ghost Pine Woods, young princess Arlene kept replaying the armored aura master’s warning again and again within her mind as she moved through the frozen forest.

Her cloudy blue eyes repeatedly drifted toward the ice golem that walked ahead of the group with the heavy coffin secured upon its broad shoulders.

During the past hour or so since the armored master had secretly conveyed his suspicions to her, she had not even bothered to glance properly at old man Caspian or his foolish grandson even once.

She didn’t give the old man a chance to discover her suspicion.

Though they still walked within the group, her mind had quietly distanced itself from them as she no longer saw them as harmless companions who had come to guide her.

Instead, they had become uncertain figures standing inside a fog of doubt.

This was not the first trial she had faced in her life, nor was it the first time she had ventured into danger.

She had crossed perilous snowfields, endured the journey toward the Twin Fang Mountains, fought magical beasts, suffered hardship, and returned alive through her strength and judgment.

Yet all of those dangers had possessed form.

They had possessed shape, fang, claw, spell, or blade.

But this feeling that she was having now was different.

The unknown suspicion that some conspiracy was quietly unfolding around her while she remained completely in the dark about its nature filled her with a frustration far greater than open danger ever could.

It vexed her deeply as she felt that she was like a blind person who could only see the dark even though light was everywhere around them.

As these thoughts occupied her mind, she began wondering in what form the hidden threat would reveal itself.

Would it come through betrayal, or would her enemies ambush her openly?

Just as such thoughts passed through her head, the hard, icy ground beneath her boots seemed to soften unexpectedly.

Arlene was confused for a moment.

She instinctively assumed there must be a shallow depression beneath the snow that had been hidden under loose snow and appeared like normal terrain.

Thinking no further, she prepared to simply step over it.

But before her foot could leave the ground fully, the softened patch beneath her suddenly trembled.

The movement was subtle, yet the instant she felt it, alarm bells exploded within her mind.

Every fear and paranoia born from her aunt’s warning and the armored master’s suspicions surged upward at once in her mind. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Without thinking further, she acted on pure instinct and jumped into the air.

Her body rose several feet above the shifting ground in one swift motion.

But in the very next instant, a thin green tentacle burst violently upward from beneath the snow.