Chapter 6: Heaven or Hell

  The valley was a masterpiece of silence, a hidden sanctuary tucked away in the jagged ribs of the mountain range.

  Pale blue roses—rare, ethereal things that only bloomed in the deepest frost—poked through the pristine drifts.

  Their petals were as delicate as shaved ice, swaying gently in a crystalline breeze that tasted of pine and ancient stone.

  To any weary traveler, this hidden grove was a slice of heaven fallen to earth, a reward for surviving the climb.

  Then, the first drop of "Hell" fell.

  It wasn't rain, and it wasn't the melting of a glacier. It was a heavy, warm bead of crimson that landed directly onto a translucent blue petal.

  The liquid didn't bead off; it stained the flower, a jarring streak of red against the holy white and blue.

  Richard looked up, and his breath hitched in his throat.

  Above them, perched on the jagged lip of a limestone cliff, stood a nightmare draped in fur. The Demon Bear was a mountain of matted muscle and malice, standing nearly twelve feet tall on its hind legs. Its chest heaved with a rhythmic, wet growl that seemed to vibrate the very marrow of their bones.

  Blood dripped from its jowls in a steady, gruesome rhythm, painting the snow below in a scarlet rain.

  At its feet lay the mangled, silver-furred corpses of a whole pack of snow wolves—beasts that had tried to defend their territory and had been systematically dismantled.

  The bear’s eyes didn't just glow; they burned with a predatory red light that promised only a violent ending.

  The stench hit the party next—a nauseating wave of iron-scented blood mixed with the musk of a Rank B predator.

  Richard felt a chill that had nothing to do with the sub-zero air. It was the icy finger of death tracing a slow line down his spine.Behind him, he heard Rose gasp, her hand flying to her mouth. The party stood like statues, their boots feeling like they were cast in lead. In the presence of a Rank B beast, the air itself felt heavy, as if the gravity of the mountain had doubled.

  "RUN!"

  Richard’s roar shattered the silence like a hammer through glass.

  The world dissolved into a frantic blur of white and red. They scrambled for the safety of the giant pines, but the mountain was a treacherous host. The snow was a trap, hiding patches of slick, black ice. Rose’s boot lost its grip, and she went down with a cry of terror.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  She scrambled to look up, but the sky had disappeared. In its place was a massive, fur-clad paw, tipped with claws like obsidian daggers.

  It swung toward her with the unstoppable force of an avalanche. Rose squeezed her eyes shut, her mind flashing to the image of the wolves. She expected to be ground into a paste of meat and bone.

  CLANG.

  The sound of steel meeting bone-hard claw rang out, a high-pitched scream of metal that echoed off the cliffs. Richard stood over her, his legs shaking, his boots buried six inches deep into the frozen earth from the sheer weight of the blow.

  Sparks danced against the white snow.

  "Get up, Rose! Move!" he grunted, his teeth bared in a snarl of pure desperation.

  The battle became a desperate dance of survival. Gray moved in, his heavy iron shield booming with every impact, the metal denting under the bear's relentless fury.

  Nord flickered through the shadows of the pines like a ghost, his daggers seeking the narrow gaps in the beast's thick hide.

  Lucy’s hands trembled as she chanted, her voice cracking under the pressure. Fireballs hissed through the freezing air, blooming like angry orange flowers against the bear’s charred fur.

  Despite their coordination, the bear refused to fall. Its "Hell" was deeper than their resolve

  "Inferno Blast!" Lucy screamed, her voice a jagged edge of panic.

  The world turned white-hot. The spell consumed every drop of her remaining mana, leaving her skin ash-pale and her lungs gasping for air. The flames roared in the confined space, melting the snow into a thick, choking mist and turning the grove into a humid graveyard.

  As the steam cleared, the Demon Bear still stood. It was a scorched, terrifying husk, its fur smoking, its left eye melted shut. It was in a terminal frenzy now—a state where pain only fueled its speed.

  BAM.

  The sound didn't just reach their ears; it hit their chests. Richard didn't even have time to bring his sword up. The bear’s shoulder-charge launched him backward like a ragdoll. He smashed into the cliff face with a sickening, wet thud. The stone cracked behind him, a jagged crater forming where his spine met the rock.

  The world went gray.

  Richard slumped to the ground, his consciousness flickering like a candle in a gale. He watched through a red haze as his own blood pooled in the snow, mixing with the crushed blue petals of the roses. Heaven and Hell were finally one and the same—a beautiful garden soaked in the price of failure.

  "So... this is how it ends," Richard whispered, the words tasting of copper and bile.

  "RICHARD! GET UP! PLEASE!"

  The screams of his teammates sounded like they were miles away, muffled by a deafening ringing in his ears. He saw them running toward him—Gray’s shield shattered, Lucy stumbling, Rose reaching out—but they were too slow. The Demon Bear loomed over him, its massive shadow swallowing him whole.

  It raised its remaining good arm, the muscles coiling like steel cables. It was going to end it now—one final strike to turn his head into a meat-paste.

  Death was coming, and as Richard’s eyes began to close, he realized it didn't feel cold anymore. It just felt heavy.

  He was hopeless in this situation. He could not do anything

  In front of death flash of past brushed past his eyes . He made a ridiculous smile.

  In his memory a bright red hair girl gently smiling. Then he his wooden sword and made the promise that he will protect her at the cost of his life.

  Everyone's face was grave that they going to lose their precious member . Rose eye turned red and water drops from her eyes.

  Then a violent wind cutting sound heard . The Demon bears arm was send flying but it was not Richard

  Everyone shocked of sudden turn of events