S-Rank Secret Realm Hollowgale Canyon

"Ding You have entered the S-rank secret realm: Hollowgale Canyon. Monsters within this zone significantly exceed your current level. Proceed with caution."

Light dissolved around the party, and a long, narrow valley resolved in its place walls pressing close on either side, a cold, unnatural wind threading through the gap ahead with a sound that didn't quite belong to ordinary weather.

It carried something underneath it, too faint to name outright but impossible to ignore a low, grinding note, almost like breathing, if stone could breathe.

As the only melee class in the group, Alexis took point without needing to be told, sword drawn, leading them single-file through the canyon's choke point.

The others fell in behind her, Frostbloom shielded in the middle of the formation, everyone's attention locked on the narrow walls pressing close around them.