After Solomon parted ways with the three world rankers.

Zoro incinerated a group of skeletal knights with a burst of crimson fire while walking over the scattered ashes. Vlad swung his silver blade to decapitate three approaching beastmen before stepping over their collapsing bodies.

Vlad flicked a stray bone chip off his blade. "You are falling behind."

Zoro rolled his eyes and ignited another fireball in his palm. "I am clearing out the enemies you keep missing. You keep leaving stragglers on the flanks."

Vlad sheathed his sword and pulled a battleaxe from his back. "I leave the weak ones for you because you constantly complain about being bored."

Miro walked silently between them. She summoned a shadow panther to crush a crawling undead soldier and dismissed the beast immediately.

She ignored their bickering entirely and kept her eyes locked on the dark corridor ahead. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Zoro sidestepped a rusted spear and grabbed the attacking skeleton by the skull. The bones melted into slag under his flaming grip. Zoro tossed the ruined remains aside and looked at Vlad. "I am worried about the streamer. He made a completely foolish choice. He will become monster food before we even reach the throne room."

Vlad crushed a fallen skeleton beneath his boot. "Then let him die."

Zoro kicked a chunk of shattered marble across the corridor and glanced back toward the eastern wing. He ignited a small flicker of crimson fire in his palm to illuminate the dark passage behind them. The red-haired mage paused his steps and frowned at the empty shadows.

"We really should have stopped the streamer from walking away alone," Zoro stated.

Vlad slashed horizontally through a thick curtain of mutated vines blocking their path. He stepped over a fallen pillar without looking back at his companion.

"He made his own choice," Vlad replied. "We possess absolutely no obligation to keep an eye on him."

Zoro extinguished the flame and jogged a few steps to catch up with the royal swordsman. He pointed a gloved finger back down the hall.

"The kid fought an entire army completely by himself while we got to rest," Zoro argued. "He took a huge fall from the tower and suffered multiple injuries. We immediately dragged him straight to the palace without offering him a single break. If we had just waited and let him catch his breath by the gates, he might have stayed with our group."

Vlad stepped over the dissolving plant remains. "We cannot make his life choices for him. He prioritized looting over safety."

"He could not have gone far." Zoro stopped walking and glanced back down the dark hall. "Maybe we should head back and check the eastern corridors before he—"

Vlad abruptly stopped walking. His knuckles cracked as he gripped the hilt of his sheathed sword. He stepped entirely into Zoro’s personal space, his blue eyes narrowing into a fierce glare.

"Stop it right now!" Vlad shouted, his voice echoing violently across the ruined walls. "Who exactly do you think you are? What gives you the right to constantly obsess over the well-being of strangers?"

Zoro held his ground and met the glaring royal without breaking eye contact. "I am an adventurer. We look out for each other in these ruins."

Vlad struck the adjacent stone pillar with a metal-plated boot. The impact sent a cascade of dust raining down onto the floorboards.

"People ask for assistance when they actually require it," Vlad snapped back. "When someone actively tries to distance themselves from a group, you back away. You are completely foolish.

You constantly fail to read the room and always force your kindness onto people who explicitly reject it. You need to let go of this self-righteous obsession and start thinking for yourself. Acting like a self-appointed savior will eventually get you killed."

Zoro crossed his arms over his chest. "Leaving a bruised novice behind in an anomalous death zone violates everything a guild stands for. Our team currently holds enough firepower to easily escort him while completing our own extermination request. Empathy is not a fatal flaw."

"Empathy becomes a liability when it strips away someone else’s personal agency." Vlad pointed a rigid finger at the mage’s chest. "He is an unregistered civilian who willingly dove into a restricted zone just to farm broadcast points.

He explicitly rejected your invitation to join our guild back at the campfire. The kid clearly values his independence and loot over traveling with escorts. Forcing your protective ideals onto him will not save someone. Maybe once or twice, but not always."

"Independence does not guarantee survival." Zoro crossed his arms and glared right back. "He is masking his exhaustion behind false confidence. A true veteran recognizes when a rookie is pushing past their breaking point. We had the experience to step in and prevent a tragedy."

"A true veteran also respects boundaries." Vlad lowered his hand and adjusted his sword belt. "If you coddle every arrogant rookie who walks into a dungeon, they will never learn to survive on their own merits. You are trying to protect him from the exact hardships that forge a capable hunter."

Zoro clenched his jaw and looked away. He understood the undeniable logic behind the royal’s harsh words. Solomon had actively chosen to brave the ruins alone for financial gain, and treating him like a helpless victim insulted the boy’s proven combat skills.

Nonetheless, the red-haired mage completely despised the idea of abandoning a wounded ally to the darkness.

Miro remained entirely silent while directing a shadow panther down a nearby stairwell. The summoned beast melted into the darkness to scout the lower levels. She subtly adjusted her purple bangs and raised a finger toward a set of collapsed archways.

"My summons detect a massive concentration of magical energy radiating from that specific direction." Miro dropped her hand and stepped toward the ruined arches. "The anomaly is undoubtedly waiting somewhere beyond this wing."

"Looks like the throne room wasn’t the cause, after all," Vlad muttered.

Vlad let out a sharp exhale and turned away from Zoro. He followed Miro into the dark chamber, leaving the mage standing alone in the hallway. Zoro rubbed his temples, gave one final glance toward the eastern wing, and finally moved to join his team.

They emerged into a cavernous gallery lined with destroyed portraits of ancient royalty. A colossal set of doors loomed at the very end of the passage.

The twin slabs consisted of pure black metal, etched with intricate, glowing golden runes that pulsed with intense magical power.

The structure stretched entirely from the floorboards to the ceiling, completely sealing off the final chamber of the corrupted palace.

Vlad, Zoro, and Mira had actually found the hidden chamber Solomon was looking for. Because of the ruins and collapse, the path to the hidden chamber had been exposed.

Nonetheless, the doors were locked and there was no way to open it. Finding the hidden chamber wasn’t important, to unlock it is what mattered.

The three of them looked around to see if there was a trigger to open it. Perhaps a hidden mechanism, a spell, or maybe just a keyhole. They searched for its weak points, such as hinges or a crack, but there were none.

Alas, the only way to open it was to follow the steps, and Solomon was already onto it.