There was a radiant light that spread from her body, golden and merciless. It purified and destroyed the demon beast that attacked her.

Evangeline stood slick with blood as her hair glowed with her immolating light. She took a step forward, a fog coming from her breath as she tried to warm herself up.

It was cold. Well, that was no surprise, she was in a snowy region. The world, as far as she could see, was blanketed in fields of white stretching endlessly across the horizon.

Slow, steady snowflakes fell from the heavens, covering her head and armor in white.

It was a little harder to see in the blizzard that was growing stronger, but she had superhuman sight.

Holding her sword in her hand, she radiated light to keep herself warm.

However, this action made her a beacon to anything or anyone in the region.

Still, she was unbothered. She was confident there were not many things here that could harm her.

This was how it felt to be powerful. This was what it meant to walk without fear.

"We're no longer in Lysithara or the Duhu Mountains…"

Evangeline had survived a gauntlet of three dire death zones and had witnessed up close just how powerful the great dragon Ashergon was. She had experienced the peak of fear and existential dread.

Even so, Evangeline was still afraid of death zones. Like anyone else, she rightfully would be. No sane person would ever want to return to those horrible places.

'A place where the laws of nature don't even make sense and anything and everything can kill you…'

She walked through the blizzard, her light drawing creatures close.

The soft sounds of snow being crushed under her boots traveled faintly to her ears. It had only been thirty minutes since she entered the arena, but it seemed she would not get any rest.

She didn't quite see what it was, but something was approaching her. It made very little sound in the snow, whatever it was must have been used to it. This was its territory, after all.

It took her a moment to realize what was coming.

The white background camouflaged its hulking form very well, but she still saw it.

Evangeline could feel its hostility even before she saw it, an ability she had picked up from her predecessor and teacher, Valarie Sunwarden, the last Ascendant of the previous generation.

It was the ability to sense hostility, or rather, the gaze and intent of something. Basically, it allowed her to know if she was being watched, a skill invaluable in a place like Lysithara, and here as well.

It wasn't alone. She closed her eyes, hearing them approach. She could feel their eyes on her.

It came closer, close enough for her to differentiate its white fur from the snow.

It was a bipedal creature. It wasn't some strange or warped thing that radiated unnatural wrongness, like a twisted design born from the perverted nightmare of an evil god.

No. It was actually quite normal, as far as the world was concerned.

It was covered in fur, almost like a monkey, but it stood tall like a man or an orc, over eight feet tall, with wide hands and blue eyes.

It had two tusk-like fangs and charged forward.

Evangeline stayed calm as the creature—a yeti—rushed at her.

It was just a monster. Nothing more.

She raised her sword, unleashing a thin golden slash through the air.

[Radiant Blade.]

The crescent slash traveled swiftly, cutting through the air and striking the yeti's large stomach. The hulking creature was cleaved in half, its upper body falling to the side while its lower body continued to run under muscle memory. But its body soon realized it was already dead.

A small growl escaped its mouth as a gust of coldness left it, as if signaling the departure of its soul.

Evangeline felt a pang of sadness at the stillness of its body.

It almost made her think of Matia's pale expression, her eyes cold as ice and Damon's pain when he had returned with her.

'Is it because it has the same type of attribute as her…?'

Evangeline knew she couldn't lose focus or become melancholic. The objective was to gather medallions, and she had to get ahead of Damon.

Holding her sword, she heard the roars of the other yetis echo out as something jumped down from the air.

Right where she had been standing, she flashed aside in a burst of light. Her next move was a precise stab under its chin, blood flowed as she pulled her sword out, weaving before its legs.

Another yeti waved its hand, ice growing from where she had been standing, skewering its already dead companion.

Evangeline dashed around its next attack, raising her hand as balls of immolating light shot forward, charring the yeti's body as it tried to block with ice.

However, Evangeline only glowed brighter, her light becoming fiercer. The beams passed through the ice, shattering it and killing the yeti instantly.

In the next moment, something burst from the snow behind her and lunged forward, but she raised her hand without looking and punctured its heart with her sword. Blood soaked her hair, sizzling and burning under the heat of her glowing armor.

She glanced at the blood on her sword, the snow cold against the warmth that ghosted over her skin.

More of them were coming.

With a boom in the snow, she rushed forward, sword in hand. Golden light flashed everywhere as the yetis roared in battle. The abominable snowmen turned into smoking corpses, the white snow now soaked with red blood.

Within an hour of entering the arena, Evangeline had slain seventy-two of them, accumulating a sizeable amount of medallions.

She kept her breathing steady, took a deep breath, and cleaned her sword. Turning toward a tree, she pointed her blade and spoke.

"Who are you? Show yourself."

There was nothing there. No one.

Still, her sword remained pointed in that direction.

"I can feel your gaze. Come out."

The light around the area distorted as a young man with horns appeared, his expression cold.

"Brightwater… now I can kill you."

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