The party continued to be assaulted by steel wing sparrows as they moved deeper into the territory. These monsters were strong enough to dominate a territory, but they had been born in the upper area of the Frozen Expanse, so their levels ranged from 30 to 40. Meanwhile, the two male jotun were also close to level 40 and had S-Rank life orders. As for the females, they were even stronger with levels over 40. Weiss, who hadn’t acted yet, had reached the third gate and was over level 60. The swallows were numerous, but Weiss’s party was over-leveled for this region of the Frozen Expanse.

In truth, this was the only safe way to handle wild dungeons. During their few days of travel, Weiss’s team had already run into several situations that would have been very dangerous for teams below level 40. They weren’t stimulating their classes much by killing enemies weaker than them, but they managed to progress through the dungeon without any setbacks.

Half an hour after they entered the swallows' territory, a shrill screech pierced through the sounds of battle. Jayce and the others tensed up as that was clearly not the cry of a swallow. The pesky flock suddenly became agitated and they halted their attacks. After a few seconds of hesitation, they dove back into their holes. The jotun readied themselves, but their expressions betrayed their excitement and anticipation.

The mist had already thinned because of the swallows’ activity. Through it, Jayce could see a pure white figure gliding towards them. Its wingspan was nearly ten meters long and so it had to be careful or it would clip itself on the ice pillars. With blade-like ghostly white feathers, green eyes that glowed like two tiny suns and talons the size of Jayce’s face, this eagle was definitely the most intimidating monster Jayce had ever seen. Just as he was feeling worried, Weiss gave an order he couldn’t understand.

“Everyone aside from me and the porter stands 10 meters back. Now.”

The rest of the team hurriedly moved back, leaving the pair alone as the eagle approached. Then, Weiss started walking towards the eagle by herself.

“Porter, while we kill this monster, you need to stay nearby. Preferably as close as you can. From now on, if you stray more than 20 meters away from that monster, I’ll execute you.”

‘Stay close? That thing is obviously over level 40. It might even have a higher level than you!’ Jayce thought bitterly.

“That sounds important, maybe you should get someone else to do it?”

Rather than answer his question, Weiss barked out another order. “Elva, be ready to grab the staff if he dies.”

As the eagle drew close, Jayce saw it first glance at his staff before turning towards the greatest threat among them. With another screech that shook the entire territory, the eagle dove at Weiss. Four curved swords appeared in her hands, but she merely stood there without making a move to defend herself. As the eagle’s talons swept over her, Weiss’s body blurred and faded like an illusion.

Jayce recognized this ability. It was the sole Trickster ability that Mize’s feathered dragon had received from leveling up. However, the feathered dragon could only make a part of itself illusory, while Weiss’s entire body had vanished.

The eagle rose into the air but now it had a passenger. Weiss spun her swords in a reverse-grip and the blades glowed with dark blue mana before they plunged into the eagle’s back. The eagle’s blade-like feathers were extremely resilient, and despite her reinforcing them with an ability, the swords only penetrated halfway to their hilts. Or, to put it another way, Weiss was able to plunge four blades into it despite the monster’s defenses.

With the eagle’s large body, it should have been able to tank a hit like that. Yet, the instant the blades pierced its flesh, the eagle released a pained cry and its wings became tense. The arc of its flight quickly plunged into a divebomb.

Cursing furiously, Jayce could only hope it was an accident that the bird was falling towards him. Though, considering Weiss had set him up to stand there, it likely wasn’t. He just barely managed to dive out of the way before the eagle crashed onto the frost encrusted stone floor where he’d been standing.

Because of Weiss’s arrangements, the other jotun were standing in an arc less than ten meters away from the downed bird. Before they could strike, the bird’s feathers lit up and an explosive chill burst out in a 30-meter radius. This time, both the jotun and Jayce cried out in shock as a mix of cold air and pure force knocked them away.

Weiss had vanished somewhere, avoiding the attack entirely. As for the other jotun, their clothes and artifacts protected them fairly well, though they were still blown off their feet. The jotun also seemed to have a natural resistance against the cold, so the freezing component of the blast was the least of their worries.

Jayce had it particularly bad, as his body wasn’t nearly as strong as a jotun’s. He managed to survive the shockwave with a shattered barrier and a few cracked ribs, but the cold was a real problem. Hurriedly collecting his shellshocked mind, Jayce urged his soulfire to drive the chill out of his body. Once the ice plastered to his skin melted, Jayce drank the blood of a level 40 monster in big gulps. Bloody Vitality did its work as his damaged skin and cracked bones started to knit themselves back together.

The eagle flapped its enormous wings and prepared to take flight, but that was when Weiss leapt out of its shadow and plunged a dagger into its neck. Dark blue mana erupted from the wound, but the eagle’s vitality was staggering. It slashed Weiss with its talons and knocked her down.

Before it could get any further, a grenade exploded above its head. This one exploded into a sticky substance that covered the eagle’s eyes and mouth. A trio of cannonball-like bursts of mana shot towards the eagle and Jayce turned to see Theresa’s eyes glowing with purple mana. Her floating top had vanished and in its place floated three cube-shaped cannons. There was a sphere with glowing purple veins embedded in the back of each cube while the sides facing the eagle had extremely wide barrels.

At the same time, abilities from the Flow Controller and Marksman also bombarded the eagle. Its feathers continued to glow, negating the majority of the damage while its wings flapped and sent out sharp waves of light. Elva and Froker used their weapons to clash with the blade lights, shattering them.

Blood continued to pour out of the eagle’s neck and back. It also seemed to be having trouble breathing through the sticky goop on its face. Still, it fought furiously like it didn’t know the meaning of the word death.

As Jayce watched the battle from a ‘safe’ distance, he saw Weiss and the others deliver several fatal blows before the eagle finally toppled to the ground. Even if it was one of the strongest creatures in the Frozen Expanse, this eagle could only be 10-15 levels above Weiss and its level definitely didn’t exceed the limit of the third gate. Jayce was honestly surprised that it had hung on for so long.

Just as Jayce was about to relax, he noticed that everyone was still staring at the body with tense expressions. In fact, the jotun looked more serious than they had when the eagle was alive. Gritting his teeth, Jayce made sure to stay within 20 meters of the corpse.

Less than 30 seconds after its death, a bright green light erupted from the eagle. Jayce and the others watched silently as a mass of transparent white feathers rose from the corpse. Jayce’s pupils shrank as he stared at the ethereal feathers that were now floating in the air. With his abnormally strong soul, Jayce had the ability to sense the souls within living beings if he concentrated. Meanwhile, he didn’t need to concentrate to see the souls of the dead. The eagle’s soul was still in its body, while the massive thing floating above it was a strange mix of mana and a soul far more powerful than his own. Despite it not having a physical body, even normal people could see this creature.

“What the hell is that thing?” Jayce breathed.

The feathers quickly collected themselves into a serpentine shape. Rather than a snake, it gave off the impression of an eastern dragon. A pair of deep green eyes scanned the room, landing on the staff in Jayce’s hand. After a few seconds, it tore its eyes away and looked at Weiss and the others. Seeing these threatening presences, the serpent’s body arched warily, and it seemed to be preparing to flee. That was when Weiss stepped forward and brought her two pairs of hands together in a praying gesture.

“Spirit of freedom and travel, hear my plea.”

The serpent glanced at Weiss, then at the staff and then at Weiss again. Having made a decision, it brought its head closer to Weiss.

In its eyes, Jayce saw a strange kind of intelligence. The spirit definitely wasn’t sentient in the way humans were, but it still reacted to Weiss’s prayer.

The spirit placed its head in front of Weiss, waiting to hear her request. Then, Weiss grinned and Jayce got a bad feeling. A blade appeared in one of Weiss’s hands and she gripped it tightly. Different from her curved swords, this blade was decorated with gold and jewels to the point of looking ornamental. A cold black light traced the blade’s movements as it suddenly slashed towards the spirit’s torso. Before the spirit could react, it was bisected.

Of course, the spirit was just a mass of feathers, so bisecting it didn’t mean death. A furious screech caused the nearby ice to crack as the spirit’s two halves both turned to run. The Flow Controller sprang into action as runes flashed across her body. Within seconds, she put up a rippling barrier that Jayce had never seen before. The spirit’s bodies pushed against the barrier and rather than repel them, the barrier slowed them down as if it were a muddy swamp. Inside the barrier, Weiss slashed out again and the serpent’s front half became two fourths. An inky shade of dark blue seeped out from the cuts and spread through the serpent’s body. As it spread, the serpent’s movements became weaker.

“The rarest type of monster born from mana with extremely pure aspects.” Weiss muttered, her grin growing wider. “You can’t imagine how frustrated we were when we stumbled upon you, only to let you slip through our fingers. But maybe I should be glad that you’re so good at running away. If you hadn’t run all the way to this backwater place, I would have worried that someone else would snatch you.”

Enraged, light erupted from the serpent’s three bodies and three sonic booms rang through the dungeon simultaneously. The bodies whizzed around the edges of prison and Weiss laughed at its seemingly futile effort. Light trails filled the magically enclosed space until they swirled together and suddenly vanished. The Flow Controller’s expression changed, and Weiss arrested her laughter. There was a heavy ripple in the air before the three serpents popped into existence above the barrier. Their once vibrant green eyes were now flickering like broken lights. It seemed like that move had taken a lot out of them.

Still, they forced out another burst of speed, each charging into a different member of Weiss’s party. The spirits slipped into their enemy’s bodies, but the jotun easily repelled them. All of them were wearing artifacts to guard against this kind of possession. Out of the three, none of them should have succeeded. However, one of the two quarter bodies flew inside Jayce.

Realizing their mistake, the other two bodies turned around and fled. Sadly, after being poisoned and using so much energy, their chances of escaping looked slim. Weiss and the others chased after them, but she turned to Froker and shouted, “The porter’s been possessed. Cripple him for now and we’ll extract the spirit after we catch the other two.”

Froker chuckled and turned towards Jayce, who was standing in a daze. The jotun walked forward at a deliberate pace, dragging his war hammer on the ground behind him.

“Little bastard, I know how quickly you heal. This time I’ll tie your legs so they stay crooked for the rest of your life.”

Just as Froker was about to reach his striking range, the heavy backpack and sack that Jayce had been lugging around vanished into thin air. The staff that had enticed the spirit of freedom also disappeared. Shifting his stance, Jayce lifted his hands in an odd gesture that only made sense once a gun appeared between them. This gun was a noble mix of white and gold and there was a dim blue vortex swirling around its barrel. Two fierce eyes looked up at Froker and the jotun was surprised to see that they were perfectly lucid.

Weiss and the others looked back when they heard an unfamiliar gunshot. They were just in time to see Froker topple to the ground. The male jotun was wearing a protective artifact, but it wasn’t polished. Since his artifact was only one grade above Jayce’s polished rifle, the two were basically on par. Jayce had also enhanced the bullet with an Acceleration Tag. Seeker cracked Froker’s barrier, which had failed to fully shelter his body from the force of the headshot. That force was what sent him toppling to the ground.

Before anyone could react, Seeker vanished, and a tiny crustacean’s claw took its place. Jayce tapped it, condensing an acceleration tag on its surface. He tossed it towards the larger of the two escaping spirits and the Cleansing Charm suddenly sped up as its acceleration tag burst. The Cleansing Charm hit its mark and immediately broke apart, doing what it could to cleanse the poison ailing the spirit.

Jayce’s motives weren’t exactly altruistic, as he needed the spirit to run so that Weiss didn’t decide to chase him down first.

Possibly more invigorated by the gesture than anything else, the two escaping spirits rushed into the mist while sonic booms sounded behind them. Weiss cursed and chased after the larger one while shouting a series of orders. The other jotun followed her into the mist, leaving Froker behind with Jayce. Even though he had been caught off guard, both Froker’s level and his life order were significantly higher than Jayce’s. His party wasn’t worried about him at all.

When Froker leapt to his feet, he was assaulted by a hail of bullets from Tiny Hammer. The jotun covered his face and his skin lit up briefly. The bullets bounced off him, only leaving bloody scratches. He chuckled and lowered his hands, but then his laughter was cut short. Jayce hadn’t pushed his luck and chose to vanish into the mist after firing a single volley.

As he sped past pillar after piller, Jayce noticed that a wide grin had appeared on his face at some point. No matter how things turned out, Jayce wouldn’t regret his decision to attack Froker and run. After treating him like disposable trash for several days, he wondered how these people would feel if he successfully escaped with most of their talismans and a quarter of their precious spirit.

Though, first he’d need to win a game of tag against a three-meter four-armed creature of violence and spite.