At the foot of the snowy mountain stood the party led by Groselle the Giant.
Since Abner had sent three members of an official Intis team into the book, the party had grown to eight.
They were Groselle the Giant, a Guardian; Shatas the Elf, an Ocean Songster; Snowman the ascetic, a Light Priest; Mobet, a Solomon Empire noble and Dream Stealer; and Longzel, a Loen soldier and Disciplinary Paladin.
The other three had been sent in by Abner: Difo, a Notary, and Dorn, a Solar High Priest, both members of Purifying Light, an official Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun team; and Darcy, an Appraiser from the Machinery Hivemind.
Now they stood together at the mountain's foot, staring in silence at the snowy peak, its upper half completely collapsed.
After a long while, the impatient Shatas was the first to speak. "What happened? Why did Ulyssan's lair suddenly collapse?
"And why was the destruction so severe?"
She was asking the young nobleman beside her, Mobet. Partly because she was closest to him, and partly because he was skilled at Decryption—more reliable than anyone else here.
The rest of the party turned toward him as well. His flaxen hair, dark-brown eyes, high nose, and thin lips gave him an air of arrogance.
Mobet Zoroast studied the mountain for a long time before saying uncertainly, "It looks like the result of a clash between High Sequence beings... And we probably couldn't see what happened because one of them blocked our view somehow...
"Hmm. I think they were protecting us."
At that, Ms. Darcy of the Machinery Hivemind said in disbelief, "A fight between High Sequence Beyonders? What kind of beings could cause destruction like this?"
Groselle scratched his head, apparently thinking it over, but Shatas answered before he could speak. "A