Chapter 367: Air, Ice, and Earth

Ryan first evaluated Karol’s condition and confirmed that, unlike Chloe, she did not appear severely affected and could cope with the lack of air without any problems.

Looking back at Chloe, Ryan thought for a moment that the most sensible thing to do would be to have Chloe return to Kowarre by going back through the portal behind them, just as Karol had suggested.

But then Lise, upon hearing Ryan’s thoughts through their mental link, let out a sigh full of annoyance and decided to intervene.

"I cannot believe that at this stage my master still has a subordinate causing him trouble," the dragoness complained, advancing a few steps toward where the affected girl was standing.

Lise stopped in front of Chloe and looked her up and down with obvious reluctance, though she was willing to solve the inconvenience so as not to delay her leader’s plans.

"I will only do this just this once, understood?" Lise said in a warning tone before preparing her power.

Then Lise, under the bewildered gazes of everyone present, released her energy and rapidly began to cool the stone room.

She raised a hand to shoulder height and created several transparent ice spheres that rose up and floated silently throughout the room.

Next, using her second element, Lise created small whirlwinds that spun at full speed inside each sphere.

That concentrated wind struck the inside of the ice spheres without stopping, grinding the ice into countless tiny particles. Through the combination of her two elements, Lise transformed the frozen particles into pure, freezing air.

At a signal from the dragoness, the bubbles floated straight toward Chloe’s face and popped right in front of her.

A blast of clean, freezing air hit the girl head-on.

Chloe gasped suddenly with an open mouth and coughed a couple of times while desperately filling her lungs with that fresh draft.

Thanks to the other spheres opening up in the room, the air around them became easy to breathe once again. The pale hue gradually disappeared from Chloe’s face as her body recovered from the suffocation.

"Breathe slowly, human. And do not waste my air," Lise said, lowering her hand with disinterest once she finished her technique.

Ryan stood looking at Lise for a brief moment with the intention of congratulating her for doing a good job and solving the problem so quickly, but he did not manage to say anything.

"Thank you very much, Miss Lise. You saved me," Chloe immediately expressed her gratitude, breathing with relief as she recovered the firmness in her legs.

"Do not mention it, I only did it so you wouldn’t ruin my master’s plans," Lise replied, turning her face away.

At the same time, Karol looked in amazement at the cold particles that had renewed the atmosphere of the entire sealed chamber.

"That was amazing, you have an impressive control over your skills to combine ice and wind in that manner. It is something that would have never occurred to me to do," Karol praised her, recognizing the great magical dexterity that such a precise trick required.

This happened after even Irina and Beatrice congratulated Lise for acting like that.

Lise, feeling highly flattered by the compliments she received, instantly cast aside her cold attitude and returned to her usual, perverted behavior. She turned toward Ryan with sparkling eyes, clasped her hands together, and pressed herself against his arm while squirming her body with obvious desire.

"Young master, did you see how well I did? Please congratulate me too and feed me a little of your delicious energy as a reward," Lise begged with lust in her voice, hoping to receive some prize from her leader.

Ryan sighed upon seeing her sudden mood change and immediately refused, calmly pushing her away to make it clear to her that they were in the middle of a mission and did not have time for that.

"You had better control yourself, now is not the time for that."

"But young master."

"Silence. Like I said, now is not the time for that."

"As you command, young master."

Once the setback was resolved, Karol took a couple of steps forward, stood in front of all of them, and with a smile full of superiority on her face, she spoke up.

"Alright, it seems it is my turn. Since I don’t see exits of any kind, and as Lise said, we are underground, I suppose I must take care of this, right?" Karol said, adjusting the brim of her hat with total confidence.

Right after, the mage searched through her clothes and took out her elemental relic, the Earth Twin.

Karol held it for a second and then gently released it into the air. The object stopped on its own, floating right in front of her chest, emitting a steady, faint light that resonated with the room’s mana.

"With this, I can amplify my own capabilities," she said, smiling with pride as she channeled her power through the floating relic.

Ryan watched the scene from behind and decided to give her a warning upon seeing her acting so confident.

"Just be careful not to cause a cave-in," Ryan said ironically, hoping the mage would measure her strength well.

Lise, who had already regained her composure by her master’s side, also intervened upon remembering the danger of drawing attention in that territory.

"And do not emit so much magic that the demons detect us either. It would be a problem if they discovered this place, and even more so if they saw us coming from here," Lise continued, looking at Ryan to reaffirm the importance of moving in secret.

Ryan nodded, agreeing with his subordinate about keeping the underground portal’s existence hidden.

"Yes, yes, I know," Karol said without wiping away her smile, and aimed her hands toward the back wall.

Immediately, her relic-boosted skill began to work on the terrain with great precision and without generating any sudden tremors.

Several rocks emerged from the ground in an orderly fashion, rapidly shaping themselves until they formed a perfect staircase in front of the group.

As the staircase rose, the compacted earth above it parted to either side, forming an ascending tunnel that extended all the way to the surface.