This was worse than an Emergency Rift.
Losing a single squad member inside a Rift was bad enough. Painful? Yes, but still within the realm of control.
But this? A full-blown clash erupting within the team itself, between the two most powerful fighters in the group? This wasn't just a setback. This was a disaster waiting to unfold.
And to make matters worse, this Rift expedition had somehow spiraled into a murder case. Someone was dead, and now everyone was scrambling to figure out who the killer was.
Orion and Elias clashed again, streaks of movement too fast for the eye to follow. The next impact hit with terrifying force, the blaze of fire colliding violently with the surging might of water magic. The air cracked and shuddered. Everyone nearby instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces from the explosive backlash.
"Stop it! You idiots. Stop it!" Oriana's voice thundered across the battlefield. "Someone stop these two damn fools!"
Two of the team's defenders quickly raised their shields, stepping forward, but hesitation clung to their movements. The fury erupting between Orion and Elias was overwhelming, their blades moving with lethal speed, every strike laced with deadly intent. A few of the crew even stepped back, retreating to avoid being caught in the battle.
"Orion! Elias! Stop it or we'll all be killed because of your stupidity!" Oriana shouted again, her voice raw with fury and desperation.
Without waiting, she drew her sword, ready to charge in, ready to force them apart herself.
But just as she was about to move, two other crew members surged forward. Both were defenders, and both threw themselves between the combatants, slamming their shields hard against the incoming blades.
The clash sent shockwaves through the air as Orion and Elias were both knocked back, forced to retreat a few steps, still glaring at each other with blades raised, tension crackling like lightning between them.
No one moved.
Everyone waited to see if they would stop, or if the storm was just beginning.
"Step back or I'll kill you too!" Orion growled.
Elias responded with maddening calm. "Sure. Just like you killed the first one."
The words struck like a blade.
At once, Orion's rage flared. The fiery aura around him exploded into a blazing inferno, flames licking the air, pulsing with raw fury, as if daring anyone to get close. He was no longer holding back. He was teetering on the edge.
"We stop this now," Oriana snapped, still planted firmly between them, determined to shut it down before it spiraled any further. "Before your pride gets us all killed."
But reason had long since left the battlefield.
Orion wasn't someone who cooled off, especially not when provoked like this. And right now? He was a burning storm barely held back.
Worse yet, Orion wasn't just anyone, he was the highest-level combatant in the squad. He wielded a Sigil. He held a Relic. And not just any Relic… a sword imbued with the spirit of a phoenix.
A freaking overpowered Relic!
It didn't just grant overwhelming destructive force. It had a healing aura that allowed him to survive damage that should've been fatal. In a fight, Orion wasn't just dangerous, he was near impossible to kill.
And Elias?
Tave didn't know much about him. The guy was quiet, secretive… something about him always felt off. Tave didn't trust him, not even close. But even he had to admit, this murder didn't feel random. It felt too sudden, too precise. Like it was orchestrated?
And as for Orion, arrogant? Absolutely. Violent? Certainly. But a killer? Not like this. Not someone he didn't consider a challenge. Orion provoked people he deemed strong, not those he saw as beneath him.
The scout who'd died? He wasn't a threat. No way Orion would snap over someone like that.
At least… that's what Tave believed.
Or maybe… that belief came from personal bias?
Because deep down, he just really hated that smug, blonde bastard. The kind of face that begged to be stomped into the dirt.
And then, suddenly… Everything shifted.
Movement stirred beyond the trees, catching everyone's attention at once. A rustle. A growl. A shadow breaking through the surrounding.
Heads turned. Eyes widened.
From between the tangled branches emerged creatures on four legs, their bodies blackened and scorched like burnt earth, their hides glowing with veins of molten lava. Cracks along their limbs pulsed with heat, and their breaths came in heavy, steaming huffs.
Lava Hounds.
Each one stood waist-high to an adult, with broad shoulders and searing-hot fangs. There weren't just one or two of them. There were dozens, at least a dozen, maybe more. Tier 3 monsters.
Deadly. Aggressive. And worst of all, coordinated.
If Orion and Elias couldn't be stopped, they would be swallowed in seconds, and no one! No one in the squad would survive a full-on attack while this level of infighting continued.
"Monsters incoming!" someone shouted.
Weapons were drawn instantly. Tave took out his sword. Fang growled low, already reading the enemy's movement, eyes locked on the glowing beasts.
Yet in the center of it all, Orion and Elias remained locked in their standoff, blades poised, fury unyielding. The two defenders still stood between them, holding the line, barely.
"We need to postpone your idiotic fight before we all die a stupid death!" Oriana barked, her tone sharp and cutting.
"Shut up, Oriana!" Orion snapped. "I'm the leader of this team, and my decision is to kill this trash first."
"You stupid asshole!" she roared back. "We'll all be dead before you're done swinging your damn ego!"
It was chaos. Total, critical, chaos!
Those monsters weren't the kind that could be handled with brute strength alone. They required strategy, precise positioning, coordinated teamwork, the very foundation of surviving a Rift Expedition.
And right now, that foundation was cracking.
If the team didn't fall into formation soon, the long-range attackers would be picked off first. The support roles would be torn apart. It would be a massacre.
"Damn it, Orion!" Tave muttered from behind cover, hands tightening into fists. "Why the hell did I write such an infuriating character into my own story?!"
Orion. The name alone was becoming a curse.
The monsters were fully emerging now. One by one, then in packs, from the thick line of trees, their lava-cracked limbs prowling forward with low, guttural growls that echoed through the clearing. The air was hot, tense, seething. The Lava Hounds were surrounding them.
And yet, in the heart of the chaos, two of their own were still poised to kill each other.
Orion and Elias, locked in their deadly standoff, looked ready to strike at any second.
But then, movement.
Lily, standing near Tave, moved her hands in a rapid flurry of precise seals. Her focus was razor-sharp. A sudden burst of water-element aura exploded around her, surrounding her body in a shimmering field of aquamarine light.
Tave, reacting instantly, raised his left hand and summoned a glimmering, transparent bag out of thin air. Its contents swirl with suspended liquid. Without hesitation, he hurled it skyward.
Everyone turned at the motion. The bag burst mid-air, splash! And water scattered into the air above them in a fine, glittering mist.
Tave didn't stop. Another throw. Then another. With quick, practiced movements, he sent more bags into the air, each one spreading more water into the space above them, the droplets hanging there, suspended like floating glass.
Lily held her final hand seal, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
And then, the water moved.
It trembled, shimmered, and suddenly surged outward with force, shooting in all directions toward the encroaching Lava Hounds. Slashing waves, arcs of sharpened water, all enhanced, all lethal.
In an environment like this, where natural water was scarce, using physical sources gave a massive edge to Water Element High-Affinities like Lily. She had turned the battlefield itself into a weapon.
The first wave of Lava Hounds roared as the attacks struck, water sizzling against molten hide, steam hissing into the air.
Now... there was no room for hesitation. No space for ego or grudges.
Everyone had to defend themselves, or die here.
Because no one, no one, could survive a Rift like this alone. The only way out was through.
Together. Or not at all.