The moment their boots hit the ground on the other side, everyone froze.

What they saw wasn’t a simple greenhouse. It was a massive, subterranean cove.

Cold water rushed right beneath their feet, rising almost up to their ankle level. High above, sunlight poured through a giant, jagged crack in the cavern’s ceiling, illuminating a roaring waterfall in the distance. The air was incredibly thick, saturated with so much raw mana that glowing blue motes floated effortlessly over the water’s surface like fireflies.

However, the most bizarre sight was the colossal, completely wrecked ship resting dead in the middle of the underground lake. Shrouded in heavy water mist, it looked like a forgotten relic of a bygone era.

"This is..." Sera spun around in a full 360-degree circle, her eyes wide. "This place is a literal rainforest."

She took a deep, long inhale of the humid air — and immediately choked.

"Cough! Cough!" She stuck her tongue out, grimacing in absolute disgust.

"Ugh... breathing here feels like inhaling straight water."

Lyria let out a low chuckle as she saw her dramatic protest.

Ignoring her, Lucian and Cassian gently set the stretcher down. The water rushed just past the midpoint of the bed’s legs, keeping the mattress completely dry. Pushed by the gentle draft, the glowing blue motes of mana drifting in the air gravitated toward Aria, settling gently onto her ashen skin.

After thoroughly observing the heavy humidity of the area, Elira whipped her head back toward the bed.

"The moisture level here is perfect," she noted sharply. "Look. It’s working. Her withering is already slowing down."

Hearing those relieving words, Cassian let out a shuddering exhale. Front the looks of it the calming atmosphere of the cove seemed to forcefully smother his unhinged, aggressive nature. Without a word, he waded over to a nearby rock, sat down and silently began pulling off his soaked shoes and rolling up his wet pant legs.

Meanwhile, a few feet away, Zeri casually stretched her upper body all the way down to her toes and suddenly plunged her entire face straight into the water.

When she pulled back up, hoping for a fish, she had nothing but a mouthful of tangled seaweed.

Seeing this, Kaelen actually let out an unexpected laugh.

Zeri just spit the weed out and let out a lazy, deadpan yawn.

Seeing the others momentarily lower their guard and relax, Lucian ignored them completely and got straight to work. Stepping up beside Aria’s bed, he stared down at her.

System. Scan Aria’s body.

[ Scanning ]

[ Environment: Extreme Humidity / High Mana Density detected. ]

[ Target Status: The Withering Tether (Active) ]

[ Effect: Withering progression slowed by 10.0%... 10.1%... 10.3%... ]

Watching the numbers go up with narrowed eyes, his deadpan expression turned serious...

It’s barely been 10 minutes since we arrived and it’s already 10%... at this rate, it won’t take long to normalize. In almost 2 hours the growth will hit 100%...

A hope flickered in his eyes.

System Can she really get cured just by resting here?

[Yes and no... Aria will regain her consciousness and her body will recover within hours. Nonetheless, keep in mind, if she goes out of here, her condition will quickly go back to how it was... To permanently end this, you have to force whoever is controlling Aria’s mana to deactivate the tether...]

With the tension finally easing in his chest, he let out a heavy breath of relief.

As long as she is safe for now, that’s enough. Right now, Aria’s life is the only thing that matters.

lingering on Aria for a few more seconds before shifting his gaze. He walked toward Kaelen.

Seeing him approach, Kaelen instinctively flinched, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his staff for support.

However, Lucian had no intention of scaring him. Stopping a few paces away, he bent forward into a formal bow.

"Thank you, Kaelen. If you hadn’t told us about this place, I could never have saved Aria. I will always be grateful to you for this and for this I owe you one."

Nearby, Cassian let out a mocking smirk. "Useless show-off."

Kaelen stood frozen, awkwardly, as his face turned red. "I-It’s fine... please stop bowing."

Just then, a commotion from the back of the group drew their attention.

Zeri was easily climbing up the jagged cavern wall, digging her cat-like paws into the stone. Her eyes were fixed on a massive cocoon hanging high above.

The cocoon looked completely transparent from the outside, covered in unique glowing dots and designs like a butterfly’s chrysalis. Though in size, it was easily twice as big as a normal human.

Zeri was heading straight for it. Standing below, Lyria and Sera were shouting.

"Zeri, come down right now! That could be dangerous!" Lyria called out.

"Oi, idiot!" Sera cupped her hands around her mouth. "Do you want to end up in a coma next to Aria? Get your butt down here!"

Elira just stood nearby, her hands flat in her pockets, simply observing Zeri’s grip.

THUMP.

Suddenly, a loud heartbeat echoed. No, it wasn’t just a sound—it felt like the entire earth vibrated for a second.

Everyone went on high alert. The light, tranquil atmosphere instantly began to turn eerily heavy and dark.

Zeri immediately jumped back down to the ground as soon as she noticed the massive cocoon starting to twitch.

System, scan it.

[ Target: Starling Butterfly ]

[ Status: About to hatch ]

[ Detail: A pure spirit-type monster. It acts as a supreme parasite, leeching the life force and mana of all living beings in its territory to feed itself. ]

Just then, Lucian’s mind buzzed.

Wait... I know about this event. This is a hidden event from Volume 1 where Aria gets trapped in the curse, and Cassian kills this exact butterfly to get the first ever...

Spirit Core. The one he awakens with Aria’s help, swallows, and uses to evolve his mana core into a Spirit Core...

Gritting his teeth, Lucian shot a quick glance at Cassian, who was already in a defensive stance in front of Aria’s bed.

Either way, there is no time to think about all that right now. I have to kill this butterfly myself, no matter what. I have no idea how much the ’hero’ has grown since last time, considering I can’t even see his stats anymore. And I absolutely cannot let this crying shit-head get any more overpowered.

THUMP!

A second heavy heartbeat echoed, causing loose rubble to fall from the cavern walls.

Kaelen flinched, hiding behind Lyria like a scared cat. Meanwhile, Lyria kept her graceful, unblinking glare fixed on the giant cocoon as it slowly started to hatch...

"Everyone, get ready..." Sera shouted, drawing her blade.