They moved like a perfectly synchronized team because survival demanded it, but their mutual hatred still burned brightly.

"You’re going too slow," Meriel yelled, cutting a falling gargoyle in half.

"Speed this slide up, or we are both dead."

"Build your own magic bridge if you do not like mine," Kai snapped back.

Purposely forming a sharp bump of ice right under Meriel’s foot, Kai waited to see him stumble.

"Ah-" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Meriel slipped and nearly fell off the edge of the slide, but he caught himself at the last possible second by stabbing his sword into the ice.

"Watch your step," Kai offered with a fake smile.

"It is very slippery today."

Recovering his footing, Meriel immediately kicked a chunk of broken stone straight at Kai’s head.

Kai ducked under the flying rock, letting it smash harmlessly against the tunnel wall.

"My foot slipped," Meriel lied smoothly.

’He is insufferable,’ Kai thought, pouring more freezing water onto the path ahead.

’I should kill this fucker.’

Shooting out of the main chamber, they entered a long hallway.

Walls caved in rapidly, peeling away ancient murals and exposing the empty void outside the temple.

Kai jumped off the end of his ice slide and hit the floor running. Meriel landed right next to him, and they sprinted shoulder to shoulder through the collapsing corridor.

"You look terrible," Meriel mocked, breathing heavily as they dodged a swinging pendulum of broken stone.

"Are you sure you can keep running?"

"I will gladly dance on your grave when this is over," Kai promised. He threw a freezing spike at a loose ceiling tile right above Meriel’s head.

Meriel slashed the frozen tile away and elbowed Kai hard in the ribs.

Grunting in pain, Kai shoved Meriel right toward a crumbling hole in the floor.

Meriel jumped over the pit with practiced grace and offered a bloody grin. Fighting the collapsing temple and each other with every single step kept their adrenaline surging.

Turning sharply to the right, the hallway revealed another giant gap. Kai created another ice ramp to carry them over the missing floor.

Celestial energy buzzed loudly in his veins, begging him to unleash another large attack, but he needed to conserve his mana just to keep the path open.

"Don’t stop making ice," Meriel demanded, blocking a shower of broken glass with his armored forearm.

"I’m not your servant," Kai yelled back. "You just focus on keeping the rocks off my back."

A giant piece of the ceiling collapsed directly in front of them, blocking the entire corridor.

Kai didn’t have time to go around it.

Channeling his magic, he formed a sharp wedge of ice at the front of their sliding path. Meriel saw the plan immediately and stepped forward to add his own raw strength.

Swinging his broadsword straight into the blockage just as Kai’s ice wedge hit the bottom, Meriel broke the stone entirely.

Their combined attack shattered the obstruction completely, sending a shower of gray dust into the air.

Blowing right through the cloud of debris, they kept sliding upward.

"That was almost impressive," Kai noted dryly, wiping dust from his eyes.

"Don’t fall in love with me," Meriel replied, coughing loudly. "I am still going to mount your head on a spike when we reach the surface."

"Took the words out of my mouth," Kai laughed, though the sound held absolutely no joy.

Navigating another twisting corridor felt impossible as the void abyss continued eating the temple behind them.

Every time Kai built a bridge, the floor beneath it vanished a second later. He had to keep creating new ice paths while they were actively falling through the air.

Operating like this required absolute focus, and the constant bickering with Meriel actually helped keep his mind sharp.

"Jump," Meriel yelled suddenly.

Leaping forward, Kai barely avoided a glowing beam of unstable void energy that sliced through the floor where he had been standing.

He landed awkwardly on a tilted piece of stone and nearly lost his balance.

Meriel grabbed Kai by the collar of his shirt and hauled him back to his feet before he could slide into the abyss.

"I want the pleasure of killing you myself," Meriel explained coldly when Kai glared at him.

"I am not letting a random hole in the floor take my prize."

"You are welcome to try killing me anytime," Kai shot back, pushing Meriel’s hand away.

Holding the burlap sack close, Kai felt a fresh surge of freezing power. Sera’s memory gave him the focus he needed to build the final stretch of ice.

He aimed the ramp straight for the glowing moonlight and pushed all his remaining energy into the spell.

Building one final ice ramp leading toward a faint patch of natural moonlight shining far ahead, Kai pushed his tired body to the limit.

The exit was finally in sight, but the entire mountain was giving way. Running up the freezing path side by side, they ignored their bleeding wounds and their burning lungs.

The temple screamed around them, protesting their escape with a final barrage of falling pillars.

Meriel cut left and right, clearing the air so Kai could launch them toward the surface.

Slash.. Slash.. Slash..

Two bitter enemies were forced to operate as a perfect team just to survive the night.

[Structural Collapse: 89%]

Another prompt flashed right underneath it in a shade of red that practically blinded him in the dimming tunnel.

[Survival Probability: 12%]

’Twelve percent is more than enough for a gamble,’ Kai thought, gritting his teeth while he focused every remaining ounce of his mana into the front of the frozen path.

[New Title Progress: "Survivor of Fallen Stars"]

Meriel ran right beside him, his breath coming in ragged, painful gasps that echoed off the cracking walls.

He swung his broadsword in a desperate rhythm, smashing through a falling boulder that threatened to cut their escape route short.

Shattered pieces of ancient masonry exploded outward from his blade, peppering across the ice like sharp shrapnel.

A faint glimmer of natural afternoon sun suddenly flooded the far end of the tunnel, marking the location of the main entrance.