177 - The Frostburrow Wyrm

The plateau shattered before anyone had time to understand what was happening.

A deep vibration rolled beneath the expedition's feet, followed by a violent rupture that split the frozen ground from one end of the plateau to the other. Snow and ice erupted upward as something enormous forced its way through the buried layers beneath them. The Northern Ice Colossus reacted immediately, driving one massive foreleg into the ground, but the creature emerging from below struck upward with such force that the entire six-legged guardian was lifted off the surface and thrown several dozen meters across the ice.

"Move!"

Yerin's voice cut through the chaos.

The expedition scattered.

A section of the plateau collapsed where Rafael had been standing only moments earlier. He leapt across the widening gap, landing hard beside Diego as another explosion of dark ice erupted behind them.

Subin remained near the center.

His hand closed around Simple Edge.

The creature finally emerged.

It was enormous.

The Frostburrow Wyrm's body stretched nearly fifty meters from its armored head to its thick, segmented tail. Dark blue plates covered its entire body, each one layered like overlapping shields. Six powerful limbs ended in hooked claws capable of tearing through the frozen rock, while a pair of curved horns extended backward from its head.

Its eyes opened.

The pressure that followed was immediate.

Several members of the expedition felt their bodies become heavy.

The air itself seemed to compress.

"Level 218," Ara shouted from behind the defensive line. "A+!"

The Wyrm opened its mouth.

A deep roar erupted across the plateau.

The sound wasn't merely loud. Mana traveled through it.

The surrounding ice cracked simultaneously.

Yerin drove her spear into the ground and released her own mana to stabilize herself. Jae-hyun crossed his blades in front of his body while Ethan formed a dense weapon-shaped barrier.

Even Subin felt the pressure reach his body.

The Wyrm wasn't targeting them.

It was simply releasing its strength.

And the environment couldn't withstand it.

"That's not a normal A+ monster," Jae-hyun said.

"No," Rafael replied, staring at the creature. "It's stronger than the ones we've fought before."

The Wyrm suddenly disappeared beneath the ice.

Subin's eyes narrowed.

"Jump!"

The ground beneath the entire group exploded.

Subin moved first.

He pushed off the collapsing surface and reached higher ground just as the Wyrm erupted beneath him. Its horn passed within a meter of his body.

He swung Simple Edge.

The blade struck the creature's armored head.

The impact sent Subin backward.

His boots carved two deep lines across the ice before he stopped.

His hand tightened around the sword.

The Wyrm's armor had not been cut.

A faint line remained where his blade had touched it.

Subin looked at the mark.

Then at the Wyrm.

"Strong."

The creature charged again.

This time Yerin intercepted it.

She thrust her spear forward, releasing a concentrated burst of mana that struck the Wyrm's neck.

The attack barely slowed it.

Yerin's expression changed.

The Wyrm swung its head.

She managed to evade the direct impact, but the force of the movement sent her flying.

"Yerin!"

Subin disappeared.

He caught her before she struck the ice and landed several meters away.

"I'm fine," she said immediately, though her breathing was heavier than before.

Subin looked back at the Wyrm.

It wasn't attacking randomly.

Every movement brought it closer to the central crystalline formation.

The creature dug one claw into the ground.

The plateau trembled.

Ara suddenly shouted, "Subin! Stop it from digging!"

He looked toward her.

"The channels beneath the surface are connected to the junction. If it breaks through again, the entire plateau could collapse!"

The Wyrm struck the ground.

A massive crack spread toward the central formation.

Subin moved.

His sword flashed.

Three cuts appeared across the ice ahead of the Wyrm, forcing the creature to shift its path.

It reacted immediately.

Its head snapped toward him.

For the first time, its attention fully focused on Subin.

The Wyrm charged.

Subin waited until the last moment.

He stepped to the side and cut upward.

Simple Edge struck beneath the creature's jaw.

This time, the blade penetrated.

A thin line of blood appeared.

The Wyrm roared.

Its tail swept across the plateau.

Subin raised his sword.

The impact drove him backward through the ice.

He stopped only after his body had carved a deep trench across the frozen surface.

Yerin and Jae-hyun moved simultaneously.

Yerin's spear struck the Wyrm's exposed side while Jae-hyun attacked the damaged section beneath its jaw.

The Wyrm twisted violently.

Jae-hyun barely escaped.

"That armor is regenerating!" he shouted.

Ara immediately answered, "It's not regeneration. It's circulating mana through the plates!"

Subin understood.

The creature's body wasn't simply protected by thick armor.

Its entire outer shell was functioning as a defensive system.

Every time they damaged one area, mana moved through the surrounding plates and reinforced it.

"Then don't keep attacking the same place."

Subin lowered his sword.

His breathing became steady.

The Wyrm charged once more.

This time Subin didn't meet its strength directly.

He moved around it.

One cut struck the front leg.

Another touched the joint between two armor plates.

A third cut landed against the ground.

The Wyrm followed him.

Subin continued moving.

He wasn't trying to injure it.

He was changing its direction.

The Wyrm became increasingly aggressive.

It slammed its claws into the ground, creating waves of broken ice.

Subin jumped between them, his movements becoming faster as he learned the rhythm of the creature's attacks.

Then the Wyrm vanished underground again.

Subin stopped.

His expression hardened.

"Everyone away from the center!"

The team moved.

The ground beneath Subin exploded.

The Wyrm emerged directly below him.

Its jaws opened.

Subin's body twisted in midair.

Simple Edge came down with both hands gripping the handle.

The blade struck the Wyrm's upper jaw.

A massive shockwave spread across the plateau.

For an instant, the Wyrm stopped.

Subin landed on its head.

He immediately realized something.

The creature wasn't trying to bite him.

It was trying to continue forward.

Its destination was the central junction.

Subin looked beneath them.

The crystalline structure was pulsing violently.

The Wyrm's body was reacting to it.

"You're trying to get away."

The Wyrm roared.

Subin didn't know whether it understood him.

But he understood the behavior now.

The creature had been trapped.

Something beneath the plateau was forcing energy upward. The Colossus had been keeping the Wyrm from reaching the surface because its digging destabilized the junction. The Wyrm, however, wasn't trying to destroy the junction.

It was trying to escape the pressure beneath it.

The problem was that every path available to it passed through the junction.

Subin looked toward the valley.

There was another route.

A natural underground channel that bypassed the central formation.

He had seen it when the plateau first cracked.

Subin jumped from the Wyrm's head.

"Rafael! Ethan! Clear the western ridge!"

They immediately moved.

"Jae-hyun, Yerin, keep it facing north!"

Neither questioned him.

Yerin rushed forward, spear flashing as she struck the Wyrm's front armor. Jae-hyun attacked from the opposite side.

The Wyrm turned toward them.

Subin ran toward the western ridge.

His sword moved.

One cut.

Then another.

The ice covering the old underground channel split apart.

A narrow opening appeared.

But it was too small.

The Wyrm wouldn't fit.

Subin looked at the surrounding rock.

He raised Simple Edge.

Sword Intent gathered around the blade.

This time he didn't try to cut the creature.

He cut the mountain.

The frozen rock separated.

A massive passage opened beneath the ridge.

The Wyrm turned.

It sensed the opening.

But before it could move, the central junction released another violent surge.

The entire plateau shook.

The Northern Ice Colossus charged.

It slammed into the Wyrm from the side, preventing it from reaching the junction.

The two monsters collided.

The impact shattered several hundred meters of ice.

The Wyrm retaliated immediately.

Its claws tore into the Colossus's crystalline armor.

The Colossus roared.

For the first time, Subin saw blood beneath its white armor.

"Subin!" Yerin shouted.

He knew.

The creatures couldn't continue fighting.

The longer they fought, the more damage the plateau suffered.

Subin raised Simple Edge.

Sword Intent expanded.

Not outward.

Inward.

He concentrated everything around the blade until the sword became almost silent.

The principle he had learned from the ancient frozen sword returned to him.

Stillness.

Not stopping movement.

Creating a point that remained stable while everything around it moved.

Subin stepped between the two creatures.

The Wyrm's claw descended.

He cut.

The claw stopped several centimeters from his body.

Not because Subin had overpowered it.

His blade had intercepted the exact point where its momentum changed.

The claw slid away.

The Colossus swung from the opposite side.

Subin turned.

One cut redirected its movement.

The two creatures separated.

Subin stood between them.

"Enough."

The Wyrm stared at him.

The Colossus lowered its head.

For several seconds, the plateau became silent.

Then Subin turned toward the newly opened passage.

"There's another way out."

The Wyrm hesitated.

Subin stepped aside.

The creature slowly moved forward.

It entered the passage.

The Colossus watched it disappear.

Then the ground beneath the creature began to collapse again.

Subin immediately realized the danger.

The passage wasn't stable.

He rushed forward.

The Wyrm's massive body was already halfway inside when the ceiling began falling.

Subin's sword moved repeatedly.

One cut separated a falling block.

Another redirected a second.

A third opened the passage farther ahead.

The Wyrm continued moving.

Behind Subin, Yerin and Jae-hyun helped stabilize the collapsing entrance while Rafael and Ethan cleared the larger debris.

The Wyrm finally reached the valley beyond.

It stopped.

For a moment, it looked back.

Then it disappeared beneath the snow.

The plateau remained intact.

Barely.

The Northern Ice Colossus returned to the central junction and began moving around it again.

Ara rushed toward Subin.

"Are you injured?"

"No."

She looked at the deep cuts across the plateau.

"That was almost a disaster."

Subin looked toward the valley where the Wyrm had vanished.

"It wasn't trying to fight us."

"It nearly killed us."

"I know."

Yerin approached, still holding her spear.

"That's why it was dangerous."

Subin nodded.

The creature hadn't needed hostile intentions to become a threat.

Its strength alone had been enough.

Jae-hyun looked at the enormous scars left across the plateau.

"That thing could probably destroy an entire A-rank dungeon by itself."

"Maybe," Subin said.

He looked toward the Northern Ice Colossus.

"But it wasn't the strongest thing here."

Everyone followed his gaze.

The Colossus stood silently beside the crystalline junction, its enormous body partially illuminated by the blue light beneath the ice.

Nobody spoke for a moment.

They had entered the World Dungeon expecting stronger monsters.

But the lesson of the Northern Ice Plateau was different.

Strength wasn't always expressed through combat.

Some creatures destroyed.

Some protected.

Some simply tried to survive.

And when those forces collided, even an S-rank expedition could be caught in the middle.

Ara checked the route ahead.

"The northern passage is open."

Yerin looked at Subin. "Are we continuing?"

Subin looked once more toward the valley.

Then he sheathed Simple Edge.

"Yes."

The expedition gathered their equipment and began moving north.

Behind them, the Northern Ice Colossus resumed its slow patrol.

Far beneath the frozen earth, something massive moved through the newly opened passage.

The Frostburrow Wyrm had escaped.

And this time, it was no longer trapped beneath the junction.