The Author's Viewpoint
Chapter 160 - The Collapse Has Begun

Chapter 160: Chapter 160 - The Collapse Has Begun

Surely, the difference in power became devastating once the gap exceeded two stages. More than 20 levels apart. This wasn’t just any enemy. This was a Named Demon. A Gaia Champion.

At this point, even if Tave’s entire team were present, it still wouldn’t be enough to defeat this one. Not unless they had a perfectly balanced squad, every role aligned, every strategy built precisely to counter this demon’s specific weaknesses.

But Tave didn’t have a full team. It was just the two of them.

And if this Named Demon chose to end their lives tonight... there’d be nothing they could do to stop him.

Yet, something else was at play now.

Something Tave was counting on. Hoping for. Praying it might buy them time... or maybe even save them altogether.

Then, in that tense moment, Tave felt it.

Shadow tendrils slithered up from the ground, coiling tightly around his legs in an instant. The grip was powerful. He could see Vanya stiffen beside him, her expression sharpening with tension as she too felt the same binding force rise.

"Listen to me, kids... I don’t have time to waste on you," the Named Demon said coldly.

More likely... he didn’t want to waste time. Or maybe, he couldn’t kill Tave.

Not yet. Not when the moment they’d been working toward—when the gate to Yunatea was about to open—was finally here.

If the Rift Challengers died now, it would throw everything into disarray. So in a twisted sense, letting Tave and Vanya remain alive inside the rift would serve their purpose just as well.

"You stay here," the demon continued. "And consider it my apology that I won’t be able to bring you along to witness your country’s fall. Think of it as a bit of mercy... from me."

He laughed, a dry, echoing sound, unnatural and sharp through the horse-like maw that twisted into a cruel grin, illuminated by the flickering chaos around them.

And then... the shadows surged.

They rose higher around Tave and Vanya, thickening, twisting upward into a dome. Within seconds, they were sealed in, swallowing them whole in complete and suffocating dark.

And just like that, silence.

Tave exhaled slowly, the breath shaky as the overwhelming chaos from outside faded completely—shut out by the sealed darkness surrounding them. Not a single sound, not a flicker of storm or scream, could reach them now.

Softly, elemental particles began to shimmer in the air, casting faint illumination across the confines of the shadow dome. The glow revealed Vanya beside him, still trapped in the same confined space.

She stepped forward, placing her palm gently against the dome’s inner wall. Energy rippled beneath her touch.

"Can we break through this wall?" she asked.

Tave shook his head.

He knew the strength of this dome—designed specifically to contain them. Even though it was formed from the shadow element, the same as his own, his power was nowhere near the level of a Gaia Champion.

Still, Vanya continued trying, even without a clear answer from him. Her efforts didn’t stop, until finally, she turned toward him, her expression drawn with fresh worry.

"Tave... I don’t see Fang. Where is he?"

"I sent Fang... just before we were trapped," he said softly.

"To save the others?" she asked.

He nodded in response, slow and solemn.

After that, they both sank to the floor, grounded in the grim reality that there might be no way out. If no one reached them in time, they would be swallowed along with the rift when it collapsed.

And the weight of that truth pressed heavily on Tave’s chest.

Until, at last... something changed.

A tremor ran through the dome wall, a gentle but unmistakable vibration. Both of them turned sharply toward it.

"Tave?" Vanya whispered.

Energy rippled across the inner surface, shimmering like a living pulse. Tave rose to his feet, stepping closer, reaching out with one hand. He touched the trembling wall and spoke in a hushed breath.

"Light element?" he murmured.

"Someone’s using a Light element from outside?"

"Yes... this barrier can only be broken by the Light element," he said slowly. "But... I don’t remember anyone among us who can wield it."

They waited.

The vibrations continued, pulsing steadily through the dome. Vanya still had her hand pressed to the wall, and slowly, so faintly it was almost imperceptible at first, the chaotic sounds from the outside began to bleed in. A distant roar. A gust of wind. The echo of battle.

Someone was out there. Someone was really trying to break through the dome from the outside.

And they waited.

For what felt like forever.

In reality, it was only about ten minutes, but every second dragged on like an hour, stretching the silence taut with suspense.

Then, finally, a small opening began to form in front of them. Light trickled in, followed by a voice.

"Your Highness, Princess Vanya. Please hold on a little longer. I’m trying to destroy this thing."

It was Vellion.

Tave turned to look at Vanya. She shook her head slowly. No, no one should have known. No one was supposed to know that Panpan was actually Vanya.

"Your Highness..." came another voice, this time a woman’s. "Forgive me for not realizing... for failing to protect you, Princess Vanya."

"Elowen..." Vanya whispered.

"Vellion figured it out," Elowen added gently, her voice muffled but clear enough through the opening.

"What—so Panpan is really the crowned princess of the Vensalor Kingdom? Damn, this is seriously mind-blowing," another voice chimed in. This one unmistakably Finn’s.

After a few more moments, the dome finally cracked, then collapsed entirely.

The shadows dispersed, and the figures of their four companions emerged from the light: Vellion, Elowen, Finn, and Lina. Relief washed over the confined space as familiar faces came into view.

At once, the two forest elves dropped to their knees before Vanya.

"Forgive us... we should have protected you from the start."

Vellion and Elowen muttered at the same time, clearly caught off guard by the moment.

"It’s alright," Vanya said gently. "You may rise."

Finn shifted awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "So... uh, what do we call her now?" he asked, glancing between the others. "I mean, this is... kind of a lot to process."

Vanya offered a soft, reassuring smile.

"Whatever makes you comfortable. Panpan, Vanya... I don’t mind either way."

But their words were cut short as the wind around them picked up, howling violently once more. They all knew, staying out in the open like this was no longer an option.

Without hesitation, they sprinted toward the main building, finding cover behind its crumbling walls to shield themselves from the storm. The relative calm allowed them to finally speak properly.

"Vellion has broken through," Elowen continued. "He’s a Gaia Grand Master now. And he’s unlocked an affinity with the Light Element."

Vanya turned to him. "That’s incredible, Vellion. I’m so proud of you. And grateful... you saved us."

Vellion was clearly uncomfortable with praise. "I only did what I had to, Your Highness. Nothing more."

Finn stepped forward, frowning slightly as he glanced around the battered ruins of the fortress. "Alright... So what now? I mean, what should we actually do?"

At that same moment, their eyes were drawn to the sky, where high above, a massive dimensional fracture had opened, raw and unmistakable.

Everything around it was being pulled upward, air, debris, chunks of shattered terrain, sucked into the spiraling void like a great invisible vortex. And in that terrifying swirl, they saw it clearly:

Dozens, no, hundreds, or thousands of monsters being dragged into the fracture, swallowed effortlessly by the collapse.

"Is that... the sign the rift is collapsing?" Finn asked.

Tave didn’t hesitate. Even though none of them had ever witnessed a collapse firsthand, he knew what they were seeing.

"Yes," he replied grimly. "That’s exactly what it is. The rift is collapsing. Every monster inside will be pulled in... and then expelled into the outside world."

Finn’s brows knit, eyes flicking from the sky to Tave. "Wait, so are we going with them? Will we get pulled in too?"

Tave slowly shook his head. "No. Unfortunately... the rift only ejects monsters."

He paused, letting the weight of his next words settle in.

"Rift challengers stay behind. Just like the stories say. We get left inside. And when the rift collapses, we’re buried with it."

He said it like a truth carved in stone. Like a price already paid. As if death wasn’t a possibility anymore. But an inevitability, waiting just beyond the next breath.