The morning sun struggled to pierce through the thick ice windows of the North Tower, casting a pale, diffused blue light across the massive four-poster bed.

Judas was awake. He had been awake for twenty minutes, paralyzed by the sheer weight of the bodies pinning him to the mattress.

On his chest lay Seraphina, drooling slightly, her arms locked around his waist in a vice grip.

To his right, Ezra breathed rhythmically, her hand resting possessively on his shoulder.

To his left, Nina was sprawled out, her foot twitching as she chased imaginary rabbits in her dreams. Summer was above his head, while Nyx was nowwhere to seen.

"Wake up," Judas groaned aloud.

One by one, the harem stirred.

Nina yawned, her wolf ears popping up first. "Breakfast?" she asked, her eyes still closed.

"Meat," Summer's voice came from the pillow above Judas's head. "I need blood. The cold makes me hungry."

Ezra opened her eyes. They were violet, clear, and sharp. \

She is loud this morning," Ezra noted calmly.

"As always," Judas said.

"I see." Ezra sat up, the silk sheets pooling around her waist. She looked at Seraphina, who was still clinging to Judas like a barnacle.

Ezra poked the Ice Witch in the cheek. "Wake up. You are heavy."

Seraphina cracked one eye open. It was a kaleidoscope of frost. She looked at Ezra, then buried her face back into Judas's shirt.

"Five more minutes," Seraphina mumbled. "Charging."

"Get up," Judas said, prying her arms off. "We have work to do. You said there's something in the basement."

At the mention of the basement, Seraphina's sleepy demeanor vanished. She sat up instantly, her blue hair wild and messy. The temperature in the room dropped five degrees.

"The Hungry Thing," she whispered. "Yes. We must feed it. Or kill it."

Thirty minutes later, the group was assembled in the main hall of the tower.

Judas had used the System to create a basic kitchen—costing him another 200 Affection Points—and had cooked a massive breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast.

Nyx had eaten four plates, including the plates themselves, claiming the ceramic added a nice crunch.

Now, they stood before a heavy iron door at the back of the ground floor. It was covered in frost so thick it looked like white moss.

"Behind this door is the path to the Mana Tap," Seraphina explained. She was wearing her blue dress, but she had wrapped a red scarf around her neck—something she had stolen from Judas's inventory.

"The Tap connects to the deep leylines of the earth."

"And the monster?" Judas asked, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"A Guardian," Seraphina said. "The Academy placed it there to regulate the flow. But the flow stopped when I froze the tower. Now... the Guardian is corrupted. Starving."

"Great," Summer muttered, cracking her knuckles. "A starving basement monster. Just what I needed for digestion."

"Open it," Judas ordered.

Seraphina placed her hand on the door. The ice cracked. The iron groaned. With a heavy thud, the door swung inward.

A blast of stale, freezing air hit them. It smelled of ozone and rot.

"Lights," Judas commanded.

Nyx snapped her fingers. A ball of golden dragon-fire materialized, floating above their heads. It illuminated a spiral staircase carved directly into the bedrock, descending into the dark.

They walked down. The stairs were slick with black ice.

"Watch your step," Judas warned.

They descended for what felt like an eternity. The air grew heavier, charged with dense, chaotic mana.

Judas could feel the pressure pressing against his skin like a physical weight.

Finally, the stairs ended.

They stepped into a massive cavern. The ceiling was lost in the darkness above, but the floor was a lake of frozen, black liquid.

In the center of the lake stood a massive crystal pillar—the Mana Tap.

But wrapped around the pillar was something else.

It looked like a centipede made of obsidian and blue fire. It was enormous, easily fifty feet long, its many legs dug deep into the crystal.

Its head was a featureless mask of black stone, save for a single, vertical slit that glowed with a sickly purple light.

[Boss Detected]

[Target: Leyline Guardian

(Corrupted)]

[Rank: Elite- (Weakened)]

[State: Frenzied Starvation][Note: This creature feeds on mana. Physical attacks are 50% less effective.]

"That," Luna whispered, nocking an arrow, "is disgusting."

The creature sensed them. The purple slit on its face widened. A sound like grinding metal echoed through the cavern.

SCREEEE!

"It sees us!" Nina yelled.

"Formation!" Judas shouted. "Ezra and me on front line! Luna, cover fire! Nyx, keep the lights on! Seraphina... stay close to me!"

The Guardian uncoiled from the pillar with terrifying speed. It lunged across the frozen lake, its legs skittering on the ice.

Judas dashed to it. Summer had made it's movement stagnate, giving him a chance to strike the creature shell.

BOOM!

The impact shook the cavern. Judas was thrown backward, sliding across the ice. The creature's shell didn't even crack.

"Too hard!" he yelled, shaking his hand. "It's like hitting a mountain!"

Ezra stepped in, her sword flashing. She aimed for the joints in the creature's legs.

Clang! Clang! Sparks flew, but the blade barely scratched the obsidian.

The Guardian reared up, preparing to spew a torrent of purple bile.

"Judas!" Seraphina tugged on his sleeve. "It is made of Void Ice. Regular attacks won't work. We must shatter it with thermal shock."

"Thermal shock?" Judas dodged a glob of acid that hissed as it melted the floor. "I'm not a fire mage! Ignis is the fire mage, and I threw him out!"

"You are heat," Seraphina said firmly. She grabbed his left hand. "Be my battery."

[System Alert]

[Party Member 'Seraphina Frost' is initiating a Link Skill.]

[Do you accept?]

Link skill? What the hell was even that? Judas screamed in his mind as he accepted a probe from Seraphina.

Instantly, he felt a drain on his mana. It wasn't painful, but it was massive.

It was flowing out of him, through his arm, and into Seraphina.

But as his mana entered her, it changed. It wasn't just raw energy anymore. It mixed with her constitution.

Seraphina's eyes glowed with a blinding white light. Her hair began to float, turning from blue to pure, radiant silver.

"I am the winter," she whispered. Her voice echoed, overlapping with a deeper, more ancient tone. "And you are the sun."

She raised her free hand toward the charging monster.

[Combo Skill Unlocked: Glacial Supernova]

A sphere of white energy formed in her palm. It wasn't cold. It wasn't hot. It was a paradox—a point of singularity where temperature ceased to exist.

"Break," she commanded.

She fired the sphere.

It hit the Guardian square in the chest.

There was no explosion. No sound.

For a second, the entire cavern turned white.

Then, a sound like a thousand windows shattering at once.

CRACK!

The Guardian froze. Literally. The black obsidian turned white.

The purple fire extinguished. The creature halted mid-lunge, transformed into a perfect, majestic statue of ice.

"Now!" Seraphina gasped, her knees buckling. "Hit it!"

Judas didn't hesitate. He drew his sword. He channeled the last of his remaining mana into the blade.

[Lightning Sword Slash]

He dashed forward, a streak of purple lightning in the dark. He leaped into the air and brought his sword down on the frozen statue's head.

SHATTER!

The statue exploded. Millions of ice shards rained down like diamonds.

The massive body of the Guardian disintegrated, leaving nothing but glittering dust.

[Target Defeated: Leyline Guardian]

[Lightning sword slash gained few levels]

[Level Up!] [Level Up!]

[Lightning Sword slash: 28]

Judas landed on the ice, breathing hard. He turned to catch Seraphina as she collapsed.

"Warm..." she mumbled, pressing her face against his chest before passing out.

Affection: 60

"Is it dead?" Nina asked, poking a pile of ice shards with her foot.

"It's dust," Summer said, wiping black slime off her arm. "Good job, ice cube. Didn't know she had that in her."

Ezra walked over, sheathing her sword. She looked at the unconscious Seraphina in Judas's arms with a complicated expression.

Judas looked at the Mana Tap. The corruption was gone. The crystal pillar began to glow with a healthy, rhythmic blue light.

The hum in the air changed from chaotic to harmonious.

Even after defeating the monster, Judas felt no happiness. Rather an impending doom crept his spine. Judas gulped down his panic as he said, "we did it."

They returned to the main hall an hour later. Judas placed Seraphina on a couch near the fireplace and collapsed into a chair.

But his moment of peace was short-lived.

Suddenly, the air in the tower vibrated. It wasn't the Mana Tap. I

A massive holographic projection appeared in the center of the room, overriding the tower's defenses.

It wasn't just in their tower; Judas could see through the window that the same projection was appearing over every building in the Academy.

It was the face of an old man with a beard full of stars.

Headmaster Cornelius.

"Students of the Dragon Academy," the Headmaster's voice boomed, echoing across the snowy campus. "The balance of power has shifted."

Judas sat up straight. The girls gathered around him.

"For three years," Cornelius continued, "The Three Kings have ruled unchallenged. But today, the North Tower has a new master. A new faction has risen."

'What the hell is going on!' Judas cursed.

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