As ti passed, the creature repeated the sa movents over and over again, but no matter how much it gestured, Ethan and the others couldn’t fully understand.
They threw out a few guesses—none of which were correct. Frustrated, the shadow lynx began spinning in circles on the spot.
When they were out of ideas, sothing clicked in Ethan’s mind. He pointed at Doe and asked, "Have you seen her before?"
The lynx looked confused, unsure why Ethan was asking, but still turned to Doe. After a brief mont, it shook its head.
"What about her?" Ethan pointed at Celeste.
The lynx turned its head, staring at Celeste before slowly nodding.
Ethan’s eyes lit up. He glanced at the group. "Can anyone determine how long these bones have been here?"
Doe and Celeste both shook their heads.
Instead, Leo and Williams turned to look at Victor.
"Damn, Vic, I didn’t know you had that skill!" Ethan grinned. "Can you check if these bones have been here for about five years?"
Victor nodded and began inspecting each one carefully.
"I heard top-tier snipers need a good understanding of wind speed, humidity, temperature, and even how fast bones weather in different conditions.
So experts can just glance at a skeleton, feel the air, and instantly figure it out.
Looks like the rumors are true. Never thought we had soone like that on our team."
Celeste spoke softly beside Ethan.
Leo smirked, clearly enjoying the praise. "Of course! Vic isn’t just any sniper, he’s the best. The man can calibrate his own rifle and hit a fly from two kiloters away."
"Oh?" Celeste raised an eyebrow. "And what’s your special skill?"
"I—" Leo was about to answer when Williams cut in.
"He’s still a virgin."
"…You son of a—" Leo’s face turned red in an instant. He shot an embarrassed glance at Celeste before grabbing his folding shovel and charging at Williams.
Ethan and Celeste watched the two bickering with amusent.
Especially Celeste. For the first ti, her expression softened, revealing an emotion she had never shown before. But it didn’t last long. Her face suddenly tensed, and she clenched her hand behind her back.
"What’s wrong?" Ethan noticed the change imdiately.
Celeste took a deep breath. "It’s moving."
"What? The parasite?" Ethan’s expression darkened.
Celeste nodded. "Yeah. I’ve never felt it move before. Maybe because I was always asleep when it did."
"When did it start?"
"The mont we entered the mountain. Then it stopped again."
Ethan studied her for a mont, then said, "We’ll get rid of it this ti. I promise."
Even as he said it, uncertainty weighed on his chest. But what else could he do?
Celeste gave a bitter smile. "I’m not afraid of dying. I just hate failing the mission Vaughn gave . If I don’t make it, you should leave the Ninth Division."
"Why?" Ethan frowned.
"The division is a ss. You might get taken out by your own people before you even realize it."
She hesitated before adding, "I think this parasite issue… was caused by soone inside."
Ethan nodded. He had already suspected as much. Otherwise, where had the classified orders co from?
Before he could speak, Victor called out from the side. "Ethan, your guess was right. Based on temperature and seasonal shifts, these bones have been here for about five years."
Ethan hurried over, and the others followed.
"That ans, based on the arrangent of the skeletons, the shadow lynx Doe saw forty years ago… must be this one."
Ethan pointed at one of the skeletons. "Eight in total. Every five years, one dies. And this one here—it should be four or five years old."
"That explains why it doesn’t recognize Doe. The lynx she saw back then is already dead. It was the first one in the cycle."
"But it does recognize Celeste," Ethan continued. "Which ans she really was here before."
He glanced back at the lynx. "Every one of them probably tried to escape… but sothing kept them trapped."
"Every five years, they co here to give birth. Then they die. So what the hell is this altar for?"
Ethan suspected that soone had discovered the last remaining shadow lynx was nearing its end. That ant there would soon be nine skeletons, completing whatever grim ritual this altar was ant for.
Perhaps that was why they had been sent here on a classified mission, just pawns in a larger ga, ant to die in the process.
No one could say for sure, and Ethan kept his theory to himself. He stepped into the center of the altar, glancing at Celeste.
His gut told him sothing, but without proof, he couldn’t be certain.
After a brief rest, his soul energy had recovered a bit.
This ti, he closed his eyes, suppressing the range of his soul sense to an extrely small area.
It was ntally exhausting, but he had no other choice. He had to see what was hidden below.
The altar’s material was clearly sothing special. His soul sense barely managed to seep through.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he finally made contact with whatever was beneath it. Your journey continues at .Côm
"Idiot! Use the energy inside the Gate of Ascension! How can you be this stupid?"
A sudden voice echoed in his mind—Morzan. Ethan hesitated for a second before focusing inward.
Thin wisps of mist rose from the lake inside his mindscape, drifting through the gate in an instant.
A surge of energy jolted through him.
So the source energy inside the Gate of Ascension could replenish his soul power…
"No sh*t. Source energy is condensed soul power. The entire space exists to store it. You really thought you could rely on the scraps leaking out?"
Morzan mocked him before falling silent again.
Ethan ignored him. He’d gotten used to these snide remarks. His first attempt at drawing power from the gate was a ss—too much at once.
A powerful shockwave burst from his body, sending the group staggering backward.
"Soul energy… materializing? How is it this strong?" Doe gasped.
Crack.
A crisp sound echoed from the center of the altar—the exact spot where Ethan had focused his soul sense.
Everyone took a step closer, eyes widening.
The altar, made of so unknown indestructible material, now had cracks spreading across it like a spiderweb.
Thinking back to the shockwave earlier, they shuddered.
If Ethan had focused that energy on a person instead of the altar… Would they have been blown to pieces?
What they didn’t realize was that Ethan had compressed his entire two-kiloter soul sense down to a single foot-wide column.
It had taken him five whole minutes just to achieve that. f this were a fight, who would give him five minutes to cast a skill?
In this era, standing still for five minutes would get you turned into bullet-riddled at.
But now a new problem arose. If the altar was breaking… what would happen next?
As the cracks deepened, Ethan suddenly felt the resistance below weaken significantly. Sothing was erging from beneath the altar.
Before he could see what it was, his eyes caught a familiar symbol carved into its surface.
His breath hitched.
The parasite.
It was the exact sa grotesque mark as the one on Celeste’s back. Its twisted features made Ethan’s scalp tingle.
Just as he was about to get a closer look, a sudden force pulled at him.
No one else seed to feel it. Because whatever it was—it was draining his soul energy.
In an instant, his power surged out like a rushing tide. And in the depths of his mindscape, the tranquil lake inside the Gate of Ascension began to boil.
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