Seeing the notification, Thorian smiled. "The other two groups should have cleared their respective chasms by now."

While Thorian contemplated his next moves, Nox and William were still astonished by the display of power he had just shown. Nox walked toward Thorian, surprise evident in his eyes. "What was that move just now? I've never seen anything like it!"

"Every time I think I've gotten a grasp of your powers, you show me something even more absurd," William admitted as he approached Thorian. "Never in my life did I think I would witness such magic. Had you used that move on a battlefield, you could have completely obliterated a couple of battalions at the very least."

"Well, this skill combination is certainly one of the strongest ones in my arsenal," Thorian admitted in a humble tone.

"So, are you saying that you still have abilities that are even stronger than this?" William asked, shocked. "Your power truly seems to have no limit."

"I know exactly the limits of my powers," Thorian responded. "As for more powerful skills, I cannot use them freely. My ultimate ability can only be used once per month, and other skills of the same caliber have similar restrictions."

With his new staff, the Elemental Scepter, Thorian had access to two new powerful skills. Yet, similar to his Elemental Domain, they had a long cooldown period.

Thorian surveyed the chamber, now engulfed in flames. He realized that if the fire burned much longer, the smoke would jeopardize William's ability to breathe. Without hesitation, Thorian conjured a series of Greater Water Balls, dousing the Royal Guard's lair and extinguishing the flames. He didn't stop there; with precise gusts of wind, he dispersed the lingering smoke and then, with a subtle manipulation of the air currents, purified the atmosphere within the chamber.

William took a deep, unobstructed breath and turned to Thorian, his eyes reflecting a mix of relief and gratitude. "Thank you.”

"You're welcome," Thorian replied, his smile genuine and warm. The simplicity of the exchange, the straightforwardness of the gesture, seemed to melt away any remnants of tension that had existed between them.

Thorian then looked around the chamber, searching for clues to the next challenge. The Royal Guard was certainly not the major monster that the quest had warned them about, and there was still the Shadow Queen. Thorian was half-expecting her to appear the moment the Royal Guard was slain, but it seemed she resided in a different chamber.

Using his Elemental Sight, Thorian scanned the room but found no major traces of mana. Even with his Predator’s Gaze, he could not find any hint of the next chamber.

Suddenly, Thorian had an idea. Remembering that the Royal Guard had tried to ambush them from above, he looked at the chamber's ceiling. Using his Elemental Sight, he could see a significant clump of mana above them.

"It seems like we have some climbing to do," Thorian commented, eyeing the mana clump.

Following his gaze, Nox asked, "Do you see something? I haven't sensed any weird presence."

"Well, she's not here, so you wouldn't notice her presence," Thorian replied. "But we should wait for the others before proceeding further. They wouldn't forgive us if we confronted the queen without them.

Nodding in agreement, the three bided their time until the additional parties regrouped. Given the anticipated difficulty of the battle ahead, Thorian led William and Tristan out of the chasm, delegating their safe return to the village to Alacritas and his team. The upcoming conflict with the queen seemed to surpass Thorian's confidence in his ability to protect them while also focusing on her defeat.

Returning to the chamber, Thorian cast his gaze upwards. "It appears we'll need to carve our own path to the queen's lair."

“In that case, allow me the honor,” Ifrit said with a grin as she approached Thorian. “My lord, where is she? I can blast open a path toward her.”

Guided by Thorian's direction toward a concentration of mana, Ifrit summoned a massive sphere of magma and hurled it towards the ceiling, which erupted in a colossal explosion.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Warning: You have awakened the major boss of the area: the Shadow Queen.