CHAPTER 424: 424. END OF THE CHALLENGE ONE

Inside the vast sinkhole that lay at the heart of Veins Peak Island—a massive crater carved from the top of the towering Veins Peak Mountain—Temptress descended deeper and deeper into the unknown.

Lily Gomes, now donning her pirate identity as Temptress, was slightly rattled from the earlier ambush by the mysterious blonde girl. But her focus had returned, sharp as ever. With each meter she dropped, she scanned the shadowy interior of the sinkhole, sweeping her divine sense across every cave opening, crack, and crevice in the stone walls.

Even in the chaos, her instincts remained flawless. Every suspicious fluctuation in the air, every trace of energies – nothing escaped her notice. But there was one thing she hadn’t expected.

"...Why is it getting so damn hot?" Temptress muttered, her sultry voice echoing faintly off the stone.

She floated downward, her eyes narrowing.

"There aren’t any volcanic formations on this island, right?"

The Veins Peak had never been known as a volcanic mountain. But now, the temperature had surged unnaturally. The air shimmered with heat, her breath steamed even in midair. It wasn’t uncomfortable for her—she could handle extremes—but it was strange.

Roughly 300 meters from the bottom, she finally spotted what seemed to be the "ground." Except, it wasn’t ground at all.

"...Water?"

It shimmered beneath her like a mirror of molten silver—an underground lake or reservoir, but bubbling violently like a cauldron. Steam rose in thick waves, and the surface rippled and hissed.

"Boiling?" she murmured. "Just like a geyser near a volcano... but this place isn’t volcanic. So what’s heating it up?"

Then a spark of realization flickered in her eyes.

The item she was sent to retrieve belonged to Gunn Calway — a former Federation Lieutenant and a renowned Fire Attribute user. That was the only clue she had. She didn’t know the object’s shape, size, or energy signature. Nothing.

’If the water’s boiling,’ she thought, ’maybe the item’s some kind of fire-based artifact... something powerful enough to radiate this much heat...’

With a flick of her whip, she dove into the water.

The scalding liquid sizzled against her skin, but it was a point that she could handle, any normal person would have been boiled like an egg in hot water. Even submerged, she extended her divine sense, combing through the depths for anything unnatural—any trace of prana, or aura.

Nothing.

Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. Then Half a Day passed.

Eventually, she rose back to the surface, soaked, glistening, and irritated.

"Impossible," she muttered, her voice low and commanding. "There’s no prana... no aura... not even the faintest energy signature. But something has to be causing this heat."

She sat cross-legged in the air, letting droplets roll down her skin as she stared at the bubbling water.

What was she missing?

---

The Next Day

On the surface above, tension ran high. A large crowd had gathered near the edge of the sinkhole. All eyes were locked on the mouth of the sinkhole.

Mana and Su Fei— now bearing the identities of Ghost Princess and Lady Reaper —stood silently, unmoving, statuesque in their poise.

It’s been exactly a day since Temptress accepted the Challenge.

"Hahaha! Time’s up!" Kanth laughed arrogantly, lighting his signature cigar. "We won the first challenge!"

Ghost Princess didn’t even blink. She simply nodded, her expression unreadable. Lady Reaper doesn’t even look at him.

Kanth froze mid-laugh, not expecting such a calm response.

He opened his mouth to gloat further, but Talindra interrupted him before he could speak. "Enough. Let’s not waste time. Decide the second challenge."

Her tone was firm, but her eyes betrayed a flicker of expectation. If they win one more Challenge, She can have Temptress and All the beauties along with them.

The crowd dispersed slowly, murmurs spreading among the spectators. The ’fake’ Phantom Pirates had lost the first round— at least by the rules.

But the calmness of Ghost Princess and Lady Reaper unsettled more than one onlooker.

---

Moments later, Temptress soared out of the sinkhole, landing gracefully beside her crewmates.

She was soaking wet, steam rising from her body. Her whip sizzled faintly from residual heat, but her expression was unreadable.

Suddenly, Raindrops began to fall.

Temptress and Ghost Princess Eyes Lit up.

From the top of the mountain, thick mist began to roll in like fog from a dream. Visibility dropped to near zero in seconds.

The audience gasped as the mist shimmered with prismatic light, and just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished—leaving the Phantom crew gone.

Only the Girls recognized what had just happened.

The Mist — Created by Mathilda.

And the Rain — an effect of Tyler’s elemental domain.

Their signature. Their flair. This how they stage their showy exits and grand entrances. Which means Tyler is Awake and came here to pick them up.

---

Back at the luxurious room they had rented on the island...

Tyler stood beside the window, watching the distant mist roll back across the peaks. Mathilda and Darla lounged behind him.

Then the door opened, and the girls entered.

"Looks like someone had a great nap," Lily said with a teasing smirk.

Tyler turned around and scratched his head sheepishly. "Haha... yeah. Sorry about that. I got cursed and knocked out."

"The ink he used in that letter... it’s the Catalyst for curse. It’s something ancient. I’ve never seen anything quite like it," Lily said, arms crossed. "That curse wasn’t just strong— it was refined enough to put a Grandmaster to sleep. We need to be more careful from now on."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Lily, Mana and Lady Reaper into their usual attire. The atmosphere was calm but tense, like the quiet after a storm.

"Well," Tyler said, stretching his arms above his head, "can we copy it? That ink, I mean."

"Nope," Mathilda replied flatly. "I tested the residue. After the curse activated, it turned back into regular ink. It’s a one-time thing. No way to replicate it without the original formula, and I doubt even Kael has more."

Tyler clicked his tongue. "Tch. That’s a shame."

"I’m sorry I couldn’t win," Lily said, her voice softer now.

Tyler waved it off like it was nothing. "That whole thing was a bullsh*t challenge. They gave you no information and ambushed you. We still have two games left—it’s far from over."

Lily’s demeanor shifted, a slow, mysterious smile curling her lips. "Oh, but I did find out what Gunn Calway’s treasure is."

The room went silent.

"Wait, really?" Darla asked, blinking.

Lily nodded and began recounting her experience at the bottom of Veins Peak.

"At first, I thought it was just water," she said. "Boiling, angry, bubbling water—just sitting there like a bad joke. I scanned the whole area, top to bottom. No energy signatures. No mana. Nothing that should be making it heat up like that. I was getting frustrated."

She began to pace a little as she continued. "So I did the most logical thing— I took a sample. I bottled some in a mana-stabilized flask and brought it out of the water. I figured Mathilda could analyze it. But as I held the flask, I noticed something... strange. The temperature started to drop."

"Drop?" Darla tilted her head. "Like... cooling down?"

"Exactly," Lily replied. "That’s when it hit me. The heat wasn’t from the water itself. You know how Nine Nether Water stays cold even after it’s removed from its source? I thought maybe it was a similar kind of elemental liquid, but no... It was just ordinary water. No attributes. But the moment I took it away from its place, the heat faded."

---

Back when Lily was at the bottom of the sinkhole...

Lily tried to take the whole pool in the Pocket Dimension.

The boiling water suddenly turned to solid ice, freezing everything in an instant. Lily, still in her Temptress costume, was caught in the sudden frost, her body encased mid-air. But her whip sparked to life, surging with lightning, and shattered the ice around her with a crackling burst.

"Definitely sus," Lily muttered with a smirk.

Just as she regained her bearings, the temperature shifted again. The frozen lake began to steam violently, heat radiating in waves. Then, without warning, the rising steam condensed beneath her feet and erupted upward—launching her into the air like a geyser blast.

Lily twisted mid-flight, stabilizing herself quickly. But when she returned to the bottom to investigate, everything had changed.

No boiling water.

No ice.

No steam.

Just silence. The entire space below was completely empty.

Not even her divine sense could detect a trace.

---

Back to present,

"That’s no elemental pool," Tyler said slowly. "That’s an anomaly. Or worse... the water has sentience."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Lily nodded. "We need to ask Gunn Calway directly what the hell that thing really is."

"Agreed," Tyler said.

He turned toward the window, eyes narrowing slightly.

"For now," he added, "you girls should rest. Before we propose the second challenge, we need to collect what Kael Driftsbane owes us."

"That’s right," Lily said, folding her arms. "He promised us something if we agreed to the first challenge. He’s not getting out of that."

Tyler grinned and he equipped his Phantom Mask. He turned into Phantom Blackwood.

Mathilda and Darla also equipped the Phantom Masks.

Without another word, they followed Tyler out of the room.