Chapter 44 - Rune The Movie Part 3 Finale

The wind shrieked like a living beast as the blizzard intensified, snow slamming sideways and piling thicker with every second. Visibility dropped. The world narrowed to white and shadows.

But Ryuji didn't care.

He launched forward with a roar.

Jyn cartwheeled casually out of the way, his dagger spinning between his fingers like a toy.

The snow didn't even touch him.

Ryuji slammed a fist into the ground.

A jagged spike of earth erupted—towering, sharp.

Jyn hopped onto it effortlessly, balancing on one foot as if posing for a magazine cover.

"Wow! You're fun!" he laughed.

Ryuji gritted his teeth and dashed up the spike, closing the distance in a burst of speed—

His punch landed.

Square on Jyn's jaw.

Jyn's head snapped to the side.

He froze for one terrifying heartbeat.

Then he turned back with a slow, stretching grin.

"Again."

Ryuji swung again.

Then again.

And again.

Each punch cracked through the air, heat puffing from Ryuji's breath as he attacked relentlessly.

Blood finally spilled—a dark drop landing in the snow between them.

Jyn's smile widened.

Suddenly—

His fist rammed into Ryuji's stomach.

A brutal, compact strike.

Ryuji staggered backward, choking out a breath as pain spread through his core.

Jyn leaned in close, eyes shining with fevered excitement.

"Amateur boxing, huh?! PERFECT for me to feel what that's like!"

He laughed—high, manic, delighted.

"HAHAHA—KEEP GOING!!"

Ryuji's face paled.

"What the hell IS this guy…?"

Ren shot forward at lightning speed, arcs flickering off his limbs like electric feathers.

His lightning sword carved toward Luno's neck—

But the boy simply wasn't there.

Luno faded.

Not dodging.

Not teleporting.

Just… not there.

He reappeared behind Ren, fingers stretched toward the back of Ren's neck.

Yuumo reacted instantly.

"HEY!!"

A proto-shot blasted from her sword's barrel, glowing and sharp—

Luno didn't even flinch.

He just tilted his head.

The shot skimmed past his cheek, melting a snowflake.

Yuumo's jaw dropped.

Ren landed beside her, teleporting through static.

"Yuumo. Focus."

"I am focused—he's SCARY!"

Ren rubbed his numbed arm.

"He's predicting our movements," he said under his breath. "Almost before we make them."

Luno raised his hand once more.

A thin ice blade materialized between his fingers—

long, needle-like, designed to sever nerves and freeze veins in a single strike.

The boy pointed it at them calmly.

No expression.

No breath.

No humanity.

Yuumo gulped loudly.

Ren lifted his lightning-coated sword, legs bracing against the snow.

"Stay behind me. If he hits you, you're done."

The ice needle flashed forward—

Ren barely deflected it.

His entire arm went numb instantly.

Yuumo grabbed his shoulder. "REN!!"

"I'm… fine," Ren forced out, though his fingers refused to move. "Just—don't let him hit you."

Luno tilted his head again.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Assessing them like livestock.

His empty eyes drifted between Ren…

…and Yuumo…

…deciding which one to kill first.

Jyn sprang forward with a dancer's grace—

—straight into Ryuji's punch.

A brutal hook split Jyn's lip open.

Jyn reeled back, touched the blood, giggled—

Then slashed downward.

Ryuji ducked by inches.

The dagger grazed his shoulder—blood sprayed across the snow in a thin arc.

Ryuji winced, grit his teeth—

—and rammed his fist into Jyn's ribs.

Bone cracked.

Jyn moaned in pleasure, not pain.

"Yes… YES—HIT ME AGAIN!"

Ryuji swung, kneeing him in the stomach.

Jyn coughed blood—dark droplets staining the snow—

Then bit Ryuji's arm like a feral animal.

"AAAGH—!"

Jyn ripped free, blood dripping from his teeth as he licked his lips.

"Mmm… you taste desperate."

Ryuji staggered back, clutching his arm.

"YOU PSYCHO—!"

Jyn lunged again.

Fists clashed.

Knees slammed.

Blood sprayed.

They slammed each other against the cliffside, the snow turning pink beneath them as they exchanged blow after bone-breaking blow.

Ryuji's knuckles split.

Jyn's nose broke sideways.

Both refused to stop.

The mountain shook from their impacts.

And Jyn's laughter only grew louder.

Yuumo fired another proto-shot.

Luno tilted his head 2 centimeters.

The blast missed entirely.

Ren darted in with lightning speed, slashing—

Luno raised a single finger.

Ren's blade stopped mid-air.

Frozen.

Not the sword.

The electricity itself.

Ren's eyes widened. "What—?!"

Luno looked into Ren's eyes.

Something ancient flickered inside that empty stare.

Yuumo felt her stomach drop.

"He's… he's not normal. Ren—BACK UP!"

But it was too late.

Luno opened his lips ever so slightly.

A cold whisper escaped:

"…Shatter."

The air cracked.

Reality warped.

Ren was blasted back ten feet, hitting the snow with a choked gasp, electricity sputtering uselessly.

Yuumo screamed his name.

"REN!!"

Luno stepped forward.

Slow.

Silent.

Every step he took, the storm itself bent away from him.

Yuumo aimed her proto-sword with trembling hands.

"S-Stay back!"

Luno raised his hand again.

But this time…

Something changed.

Symbols—cold geometric runes—spread across his arms, glowing faintly blue.

His hair lifted slightly.

His eyes darkened—

No longer empty.

Now bottomless.

Yuumo and Ren both froze in place—not from ice, but from instinctual terror.

Ren whispered hoarsely:

"He's… he's releasing power."

Luno closed his eyes.

When he opened them—

They glowed with a hollow, lunar light.

"…Order: Executed."

A wave of pure killing intent burst from him, blasting snow upward in a vertical column.

Yuumo screamed as she was thrown back.

Ren barely caught her, sliding across the icy ridge.

Luno stepped through the storm he created, expression unchanged.

He was no longer "the quiet kid."

He was something built to kill.

Ryuji began to breathe slowly, steadying himself as the icy wind whipped past his ears. Across from him, Jyn's grin stretched even wider, excitement twitching at the corners of his blood-smeared lips. Suddenly, without warning, Jyn's fist shot forward and rammed into Ryuji's stomach. The punch landed deep, compact, brutal—forcing Ryuji's body to fold around the impact. He staggered backward, choking out a harsh breath as pain radiated through his core like molten metal. He wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his trembling hand. His breaths steamed violently in the freezing air. His heartbeat thundered in his skull.

Jyn watched him with enthralled delight. He twirled his dagger once, then touched the smear of blood on his own cheek as if admiring it. "Oooh… look at that," he whispered with a growing smile. "You actually made me bleed. I'm flattered." Ryuji raised his fists, dropping into a stance, refusing to back down. Jyn's smile warped into something feral. "GOOD. LET'S GET BLOODY THEN!"

He lunged with dancer-like grace—only to run straight into Ryuji's fist. A vicious hook smashed into Jyn's jaw, splitting his lip even further. His head jerked violently to the side, but instead of flinching, he giggled. Before the sound had even faded, he slashed downward, but Ryuji slipped left and drove his fist into Jyn's gut. Jyn stumbled back from the impact, but recovered quickly enough to slam a punch across Ryuji's cheek. The two men collided again, and again, and again.

They traded blows like animals—punches slamming into ribs, jaws, temples, shoulders—wherever they could reach. Snow exploded beneath their feet as they staggered and lunged, blood spraying across the ground in thin arcs. Ryuji roared as he struck Jyn's face; Jyn screamed right back and hammered Ryuji's stomach. They pummeled each other without hesitation, without fear, without care for the damage being carved into their bodies. Every hit shook their bones. Every punch drew more blood. The world narrowed down to fists, screams, and survival.

Then Ryuji felt it—a hot pulse beneath his skin, swelling through his arm. His right fist began to glow softly with earthen energy, golden-brown light crackling along his knuckles. Jyn's eyes widened with sudden realization, taking an involuntary step back. Ryuji planted his foot deep into the snow, voice exploding from his chest: "EARTH… RISING COUNTER!"

The mountain trembled. The energy he summoned surged upward through his body and burst into his fist as he struck Jyn's abdomen. And in that instant, every hit Jyn had inflicted earlier returned to him—each blow magnified tenfold. The force blasted Jyn backward like a ragdoll caught in a cannon blast. He slammed into a massive boulder, cracking it open down the middle. Blood sprayed across the snow as he slid down the shattered stone, leaving a trail behind him.

Jyn coughed, smiling even as his body began to dissolve into white flakes and faint blue particles drifting into the blizzard. "Y-you… set me up…" he whispered, almost impressed. The wind took the last remnants of him. His form disintegrated completely.

Ryuji collapsed onto one knee, gasping for air, vision flickering. The adrenaline drained out of his body all at once. His legs shook violently. Blood trickled from his lip and nose. Finally he fell fully into the snow, chest rising and falling in weak, shallow breaths—but alive.

Ren and Yuumo skidded across the snow as Ryuji collapsed behind them. Their breaths hung in the frozen air, forming pale clouds that drifted upward into the blizzard screaming around them like a living beast. The storm raged with merciless fury, yet Luno stood untouched at its center—small, pale, and eerily still. His snow-white hair barely shifted in the howling wind, and his eyes remained empty and unblinking, two hollow mirrors reflecting nothing back.

Yuumo raised her Proto sword's barrel, willing her trembling hands to steady as she closed one eye and lined up her aim. Ren exhaled sharply, releasing his lightning sword. It dissolved into crackling threads of electricity that wrapped around his legs, reforming as glowing sigils across his shoes. With no hesitation, Ren blasted forward through the snow, his speed so intense that ice cracked beneath each step. He twisted into a low, electrified kick aimed straight at Luno's ribs.

Then—

Luno lifted his head by a single inch.

It felt like the world cracked open.

A crushing pressure wave tore through the mountainside, slamming into them with invisible weight. Ren stumbled a half-step back despite his enhanced speed, while Yuumo gasped as the air thickened into something suffocating. The temperature plummeted—colder than anything Shino or Kazuki had unleashed. A cold that crawled beneath the skin, slithered into bone, and whispered of death.

Yuumo swallowed hard.

"H-He hasn't even attacked yet…"

Ren gritted his teeth, lightning surging brighter up his arms.

"Doesn't matter. We take him together."

Luno blinked.

Just once.

And that was enough.

A ring of black frost erupted beneath his feet, expanding outward like ink spilled over white paper. It swallowed the ground, the rocks, even the air—muting all sound as it spread. Ren reacted instantly, grabbing Yuumo's wrist and dragging her back before the frost could trap their legs.

But Luno was already gone.

Yuumo's voice cracked. "Where—?!"

"Above!" Ren shouted.

Luno hovered silently in the air above them. He wasn't flying—he was simply there, suspended unnaturally. With a motion as soft as falling snow, he extended one small hand. Dozens of thin, crystalline ice needles formed around him, humming faintly as they aimed downward.

Ren's eyes widened.

"Move!"

The needles didn't fall fast.

They fell instantly.

Ren barely managed a lightning teleport, dragging Yuumo several meters away as the needles punched into the earth and froze it into obsidian-black glass.

Yuumo stumbled as they landed, breath shaking.

"He's… he's not even TRYING to kill us—he's just… observing."

Ren shot her a look, then glared at Luno's floating silhouette.

"You're a gamer, Yuumo… think. There's gotta be a weak spot somewhere."

Luno tilted his head—again in that same mechanically precise angle, like a looped animation. Snow spiraled around him unnaturally, pulled toward him as though the laws of gravity bent in his favor.

Yuumo fired another Proto shot.

The glowing projectile shot straight for Luno's chest—

and curved away at the last second.

The energy refused to touch him, curling harmlessly into the storm before dissolving.

Ren roared and lunged with a burst of lightning, appearing behind Luno mid-air and swinging in a lethal arc.

His blade passed straight through Luno's torso.

No resistance.

No impact.

Nothing.

Like slicing through a shadow.

When Ren landed, a cold hand pressed against the center of his back.

He froze.

Luno stood behind him.

Not an illusion.

Not an afterimage.

Just impossibly, horrifyingly fast.

Yuumo screamed. "REN—!!"

Lightning exploded from Ren's body on instinct, forcing Luno to withdraw—but frost spread across Ren's back in branching veins before the disconnect. Half his torso went numb, and he collapsed to one knee, coughing violently as pain wracked through him.

Ren clenched his frozen shoulder, feeling the cold bite deeper. Each breath felt like inhaling needles. Yuumo rushed to him, but he held up his hand.

"Don't… touch me," he rasped. "It'll freeze you too…"

Yuumo swallowed hard, forcing her gaze back to the boy floating silently above them. Luno's head remained tilted, studying Ren's suffering with no triumph, no curiosity, no emotion.

Just observation.

Yuumo's heart pounded.

Think.

Think.

THINK.

As if answering her thoughts, the snow at Luno's feet twisted upward—threads of frost gathering, shaping, forming new needles. Dozens of them.

Yuumo gripped her Proto sword tighter.

"Ren… I think I figured something out."

Ren forced one eye open. "What…?"

Yuumo pointed to the air around Luno—not at his body.

"Nothing hits him. Not your sword. Not my shots. Not even the snow. Everything curves away. He's not physical unless he chooses to be."

Ren winced but nodded. "…Selective intangibility."

Yuumo nodded back.

"Exactly. He becomes solid only to attack."

Luno's head tilted again.

The ice needles aligned like predatory fangs.

Yuumo steadied her breathing, lowering her stance.

"When he attacks… he's vulnerable. That's the window."

Ren's frozen hand trembled. His good fist clenched.

"Then… we hit him when he hits us."

"No," Yuumo said, eyes narrowing. "I hit him."

Lightning flickered along Ren's arms.

"Yuumo, wait—"

But Luno moved.

He dropped.

Silent.

Instant.

Inevitable.

He appeared in front of Yuumo, inches away, ice needle poised to pierce her heart—

And that was his mistake.

Yuumo saw the moment he became solid.

Just a blink.

But that blink was enough.

Her Proto sword transformed, metal folding and expanding into a massive shoulder-mounted cannon. A glowing support lens activated in her left eye, feeding targeting data directly into her vision.

Luno froze—

too close to evade.

Yuumo fired.

A beam of pure compressed energy erupted from the cannon, consuming Luno in a blinding blast of white and violet light. His body disintegrated instantly, scattering like black snow as the blast tore through him and into the blizzard.

When the light faded—

Luno was gone.

Completely.

Absolutely.

Nothing remained.

Yuumo's arms shook as the cannon shrank back into the Proto sword at her side. Her breath trembled. She glanced at Ren.

"I… I got him

Yuumo collapsed into the snow, her knees buckling as her Proto sword dissolved back into its base form. Her entire body trembled violently—her energy completely drained from the massive blast that erased Luno. She gasped for air, each breath forming broken clouds in the freezing wind.

Ren staggered beside her and finally lowered himself into a sitting position, clutching his shoulder as frost spread slowly from his back toward his ribs. His skin was paling, his breath uneven, but he still managed a weak, lopsided grin.

"A-at least…" Ren breathed out, shivering, "we… did our part…"

Yuumo nodded faintly, eyes heavy, her vision blurring at the edges as exhaustion pulled her downward.

"Y-Yeah… We bought Shoto time…"

The wind howled over them, carrying their fading voices up the mountain.

Far above them, Hina faced Sakiri in the courtyard before the fortress. Snow swirled violently between them, the world flashing white and red as Hina's flame sword radiated intense heat, warping the air but barely melting the ground. Her wicked grin grew sharper.

"Alright," Hina muttered, "round two."

She launched herself forward with explosive force. Her flaming rapier carved a fiery arc toward Sakiri's shoulder—

—but a thick slab of ice shot up from the ground, blocking the strike instantly.

Hina landed atop the ice.

She scoffed.

"Cute."

She stomped hard, cracking the frozen barrier beneath her feet, then dove again, rapier igniting into a blaze as she aimed straight for Sakiri's face—

Another wall of ice rose.

Hina snarled as she skidded backward.

"Are you gonna fight me or just build a damn igloo?!"

But Sakiri did not respond.

Instead, she extended her hand.

A rush of frost spiraled out, wrapping around Hina's legs. The ice solidified instantly, freezing her calves in place and locking her into the snow.

"Tch—seriously?" Hina growled, tugging against it.

Sakiri stepped forward, her expression calm but unreadable.

"Listen to me," she said quietly. "I won't fight you."

Hina blinked, her smile snapping into confusion.

"…What?"

"I won't fight you. Because I am not your enemy."

Sakiri lowered her gaze to the frozen ground, her voice trembling just enough to be noticed.

"The leader is."

Hina's grin faded entirely.

"…The hell are you talking about?"

Sakiri looked up at the storm-choked sky, snowflakes landing on her lashes before melting into shimmering droplets.

"Kazuki wants to freeze the entire world… and kill Shoto, to claim the Zamorak Sword for himself."

Her voice faltered for a moment.

"And after that… he plans to kill my older brother."

Hina's breath hitched.

"Your brother…?"

Sakiri's eyes softened with grief she had been holding alone for far too long.

"Shino."

The name echoed through the courtyard, carried by the icy wind—

blurring the line between enemy and ally for the very first time. 

The frost-crowned chamber vibrated with killing intent long before Hikaru stepped inside. The ice along the walls pulsed like veins, glowing faintly in the blue gloom. Shino stood near the center of the room, spear in hand, the cold around him thick enough to distort the air itself.

"Hikaru Tomioka," Shino said without turning, his voice low and rumbling.

"I expected the siblings. Not the archer."

Hikaru raised his bow immediately, drawing a long, shimmering arrow of compressed water.

"Where is Shoto?"

Shino finally turned his head.

The smile he wore was wrong—far too sharp for any human emotion, stretched with a hunger older than centuries. His icy breath curled like steam in the frozen air.

"He is preparing for his trial. And then…" His grip tightened around his spear until the frost cracked beneath his fingers.

"…I will kill him."

Neko hissed from Hikaru's shoulder, fur puffing up, claws digging through Hikaru's jacket.

Hikaru's voice stayed perfectly steady, cold enough to rival the room around him.

"You're not touching him."

Shino laughed—a deep, vibrating sound that sent frost drifting off the ceiling like falling dust.

"You? Stop me?" He raised his spear with casual menace.

"Very well. I will kill you first. Consider it a warm-up."

Hikaru fired instantly.

The water arrow shot forward in a spiraling arc, pressure tightening its form like a tidal wave compressed into a dart.

Shino stepped forward once.

The arrow froze mid-air and shattered into glittering shards.

Hikaru's eyes widened behind his glasses.

"Tch—his cold aura is even stronger than before."

Shino appeared in front of him in less than a blink—no footsteps, no motion blur, just sudden presence. The spear stabbed downward with terrifying precision.

Hikaru rolled aside at the last second.

The spear slammed into the ground, turning the entire floor around it into a slab of solid ice.

Neko leapt from Hikaru's shoulder as Hikaru slid backward, dual-wielding his bow while quickly forming two more water arrows.

Shino dashed forward—

a blur of black, white, and ice.

Hikaru fired—

once, twice, three times.

The arrows curved sharply, forming a triangular strike meant to box Shino in.

Shino swatted them aside with a single, sweeping motion of his spear.

The resulting shockwave of frost cracked the ground.

Hikaru kept moving, sliding across ice he created and shattered beneath him for traction. He sprinted behind a pillar, swung around it, and traced a circle in the air with his bowstring—

"Ice Pressure Shot!"

Three water-pressure arrows launched forward, cracking the air with sharp pops.

Shino caught one between two fingers.

The other two froze inches from his skin.

"You shoot well," Shino said calmly.

He tightened his grip.

The arrows shattered.

"But you lack the instinct to kill."

Shino lunged.

The spear came down in a vertical arc powerful enough to split stone.

Hikaru ducked, feeling the weapon slice the air above his scalp.

The ground behind him exploded into jagged frost.

Hikaru rolled and planted his hand on the floor. A water whip burst from his palm, snapping around Shino's arm and pulling taut.

Shino smirked.

"Water won't bind me—"

The whip froze instantly, turning brittle.

Hikaru was already airborne, flipping backward and firing a point-blank shot.

"Hydro Sniper!"

The arrow slammed into Shino's chest.

For the first time, Shino was forced back—one step.

Just one.

He looked down at the fractured ice coating his chest, then met Hikaru's gaze.

"You made me move," he said quietly.

"For that… I'll make your death quick."

Hikaru stepped back, forming yet another arrow, breathing hard.

Neko walked forward slowly, tail low, voice strangely calm.

"Hikaru… can you keep a secret?"

Hikaru frowned, not taking his eyes off Shino.

"What are you talking about?"

Neko took another step forward—toward Shino.

As Hikaru watched, confused, Neko's body began to glow with a faint amber light. His silhouette stretched upward. His limbs elongated. The fur melted away into skin. His posture rose, straightened—

And standing there was no longer a cat.

Before Shino stood a tall young man with medium-brown skin and a lean, athletic build. His thick, dark-brown hair fell to his shoulders, long bangs shadowing his eyes. Two thin braids hung beside his face, tied at the ends with yellow bands. Emerald-green eyes glowed beneath the dim frostlight, a single thin scar tracing down over his left eye.

He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders once, and smirked.

"Ah… it's been a while since I've done that."

Hikaru's jaw dropped.

"S-Since wh—?!"

Neko glanced back at him.

"I'm cursed. I'm not just some talking cat."

Shino's eyes widened—not in fear, but interest.

"The Egyptian…" 

Neko shrugged.

"Anyway, Hikaru… you should probably leave him to me."

Hikaru shook his head, tightening his grip on his bow.

The chamber groaned as the frost embedded in its walls thickened, reacting to Kazuki's rising aura. Crystalline branches of ice crawled along the floor, reaching like pale fingers toward Shoto's feet. Shoto exhaled slowly—steam bursting past his lips—then tightened his grip on the Zamorak Sword. His stance lowered. His heartbeat steadied. The timid boy was gone.

Kazuki lifted his hand.

"Archon Frost Art: Absolute Dominion."

The temperature plummeted violently. Frost erupted beneath Kazuki's feet and spread across the battlefield in a spiraling pattern—circles within circles, each carved with glowing runes that pulsed with ancient, merciless energy. Shoto's boots froze instantly, trapping him in place as the ice climbed upward, wrapping around his calves.

Shoto grit his teeth.

"Not again—!"

Dark flames surged from his gauntlets, bursting down his legs in a sweep of black heat that shattered the ice. He launched forward, carving a molten line through Kazuki's frost.

Kazuki didn't move.

Shoto closed the distance in an instant and swung upward, slicing toward Kazuki's ribs.

Kazuki flicked one finger.

A pillar of ice shot up from the ground, blocking the slash and launching Shoto back through the air. Shoto flipped mid-fall, caught himself on one hand, and pushed off the ground, sprinting back in.

"You're hesitating…" Kazuki swiped his fingers once again as an ice pillar struck the back of Shoto's head and another one hits his stomach as he gets launched towards the wall, causing the Runes to glow and flicker once again. Kazuki stares at the runes. "Jyn.. Luno.. they're dead.." Shoto dashes forward, he swung horizontally, dark flames trailing behind the blade like a comet's tail.

Kazuki slid backward effortlessly, not a single footstep touching the ground—his body gliding across the frost as though the ice carried him. His hand lashed forward, sending a barrage of razor-thin frost shards at blinding speed. Shoto slashed through them, dark fire colliding with silver ice in rapid bursts of steam.

"You're friends are dying cause you're trying to freeze the world!" Shoto snapped, but Kazuki's expression had not changed. "They are not my friends, just subjects.. besides. "It is the only way to get rid of you. The reincarnated Prince." 

Shoto lunged.

Kazuki met him.

Their blades collided again—dark heat spiraling against piercing cold. Sparks of red and blue burst outward, lighting the chamber in violent flashes. This time Shoto didn't falter. He pushed back, sliding Kazuki a full step across the ground.

Kazuki raised an eyebrow.

"He's adapting?" 

Shoto snarled, twisting his body and bringing his knee up sharply, slamming it into Kazuki's side. Frost cracked along Kazuki's ribs—but then reformed instantly, sealing the fracture in a layer of crystalline armor.

"My body is beyond human repair," Kazuki said. "Attacks like that won't work."

"Good," Shoto growled. "I wasn't aiming to break you."

He spun, his dark gauntlets disappeared as it goes back to the Zamroak Sword planting his foot and unleashing a diagonal slash. The Zamorak Sword erupted in a wave of dark flame that surged like a roaring dragon.

Kazuki crossed his arms.

"Archon Frost Art—Frozen Vortex Wall."

A spiraling barrier of twisting ice formed, absorbing the flames and scattering them into embers. But Shoto wasn't done. He dashed through the haze, appearing above Kazuki with the blade raised high.

He slammed the sword down.

Kazuki caught the blade with his bare hand.

Shoto's eyes widened.

Kazuki leaned closer, voice cold enough to cut.

"—you cannot stop fate."

Then—

Kazuki's frost exploded outward.

Shoto was engulfed.

The blast hurled him across the chamber, smashing him through two crystalline pillars. He collapsed onto the frozen floor, coughing, vision spinning. The Zamorak Sword skidded away across the ice, clattering to a stop several meters out of reach. All Shoto has now is the Dark sword. 

Kazuki approached slowly.

"Stand up, Shoto Kazami."

Shoto planted his palms against the ice, forcing himself upright despite the pain burning through his ribs.

"You will not die yet," Kazuki said quietly. "Not until the Trial begins."

Shoto staggered back to his feet.

The dark scales beneath his eyes pulsed.

His pupils thinned.

His aura flared.

"Shut up about the damn Trial!" Shoto charged forward before Kazuki could finish his next step. Dark flames burst from his heels, propelling him like a projectile. His fists—still gauntleted in shadow—reeled back, glowing with molten red cracks. Kazuki lifted two fingers to counter, but Shoto ducked under the strike and drove an uppercut into Kazuki's abdomen.

The impact shook the entire chamber.

Kazuki slid backward across the ice, boots carving long trenches into the frost. His cloak whipped violently behind him, for the first time losing its composure. Shoto didn't give him a breath—he lunged again, swinging down with enough force to split the floor.

Kazuki blocked the strike with his forearm, but the dark flames seared through the frost covering his skin. Ice shattered off his arm and scattered across the ground like diamond fragments.

He twisted his torso and unleashed another heavy blow, this one slamming into Kazuki's ribs with a crack so sharp it echoed across the chamber. Kazuki's body jerked, and he staggered, dropping to one knee.

Shoto didn't hesitate—he sprinted past Kazuki, sliding across the ice and holding onto the Dark Sword in one swift motion. Flames surged from the blade the moment his hand touched the hilt.

Kazuki rose slowly.

Shoto flashed behind him.

A vertical slash tore across Kazuki's back, rupturing frost armor and sending a geyser of steam into the air. Kazuki inhaled sharply—his first sound of pain.

Shoto landed several meters away, sword glowing like a beating heart in his hand.

He dashed forward—

Kazuki raised his arm—

And the two clashed again in a burst of red and blue light.

But this time, Kazuki slid backward with every strike.

Shoto pressed the attack relentlessly—blade arcs, flame bursts, explosive punches mixed between slashes. Kazuki's defenses fractured again and again as Shoto advanced like a storm.

Finally—

Shoto spun, dark heat coiling around him, and slammed the sword downward.

A pillar of black fire erupted from the ground, engulfing Kazuki entirely.

The chamber shook.

Frost cracked.

Chunks of the ceiling fell.

When the flames died, Kazuki stood hunched, one knee down, cloak burned at the edges, steam rising from his body. Ice armor had shattered across his chest, revealing pale skin—and beneath it, something glowing faintly blue, like veins of light.

Shoto steadied his stance, panting.

"I told you… I'm not dying here."

Kazuki raised his gaze.

For the first time, his eyes weren't calm.

They were furious.

He exhaled—

—and frost crawled across the ground so rapidly that Shoto stepped back instinctively.

Kazuki pushed to his feet, expression hollowing into something ancient.

"You misunderstand, Shoto."

His voice deepened, layered with echoes not human.

"This isn't about you dying."

Frost surged upward around him in spiraling arcs, lifting chunks of crystal off the ground. The runes carved into the chamber walls lit up in perfect unison, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

"This is about fate…"

The temperature dropped so violently that Shoto's breath froze mid-air.

Kazuki extended his arms.

"Archon Frost Art—"

The ceiling cracked—

The chamber darkened—

And a colossal sigil of ice formed beneath Kazuki's feet, spiraling outward like a blooming flower.

His entire body became consumed by frost and light.

"ARCHON ASCENSION."

The ice around him exploded.

Blue flames of cold energy rose in pillars.

Kazuki levitated, his cloak transforming into jagged wings of frost.

His hair lengthened, turning white at the tips.

His eyes glowed silver, slit like a dragon's.

Veins of luminous crystal spread across his skin.

Shoto stared up, sword trembling in his grip.

Kazuki's new voice echoed across the fortress—ancient, divine, merciless.

"You have done well to awaken me…"

He raised one hand, and the entire room froze solid.

"…but now you face an Archon."

Kazuki pointed a single finger.

The air cracked apart.

"Judgment begins."

The blizzard had calmed around them—not because nature relented, but because Sakiri commanded it to. Snowflakes drifted down in slow motion, hovering in the air like tiny suspended crystals. The world felt muted, quiet, caught in a breath that refused to be released.

Hina stood in the center of it, her flame rapier dimming but still radiating heat, steam rising in small curls around the blade. Her boots, however, were fused into the frozen earth beneath thick cuffs of ice—Sakiri's restraints held her firmly in place. Hina exhaled a long, impatient sigh, her sinister smile replaced with a scowl.

"What do you mean he is your older brother…" she muttered, shifting her weight even though she couldn't move.

Sakiri didn't answer immediately.

Her pale eyes lifted toward the swirling clouds above the mountain, reflecting the faint blue glow of her frost aura. There was a strange softness in her expression—a far cry from the cold, emotionless demeanor she displayed moments earlier.

"I wasn't really born in the Edo period," Sakiri said quietly. Her voice was steady, but the underlying tremor was impossible to miss. "But I haven't awakened at all until two years ago."

Hina's brows knit together. The steam from her sword hissed as it met the surrounding frost.

"A-awakened?" she repeated slowly. "What, like… you were in a coma or something?"

Sakiri shook her head gently, her braids brushing against her shoulders as snow collected on them.

"No. Not a coma. Something worse."

Her gaze drifted downward, settling on the cracks in the ice beneath them. "Dragonprone are not always born as they appear. Some of us… sleep. Buried in human bodies. Dormant for decades until something triggers the awakening."

Hina's eyes widened slightly—not from fear, but from a rare flicker of curiosity.

Sakiri continued, voice quieter now.

"Shino was dead.. and reawakened 90 years ago thanks to Kazuki.." She clasped her gloved hands together, fingers trembling just barely. "But I… didn't awaken with him. I stayed dormant. A child. A human."

She breathed in shakily.

"For years, he thought he was alone."

Hina's scowl softened. Just a little.

Sakiri lifted her head again, meeting Hina's gaze with an expression that almost—almost—looked human.

"Now he's seeking revenge on the wrong man..That's why I joined the White Veil. Not because I believed in Kazuki, but because it was the only path that kept me close to my brother."

The suspended snowflakes shimmered faintly, as if reacting to her words.

Hina shifted her arms defensively, her rapier flickering brighter.

"…So you froze my legs," she said dryly, "because you're trying to help me?"

Sakiri's lips curled upward—barely a smile, more like a sorrowful acknowledgment.

"I froze you," she replied softly, "cause I don't want to fight. I need Shino to rest in peace." 

Hina's face hardened.

"…Why are you telling me all this?"

Sakiri closed her eyes for a moment, the blizzard holding its breath.

"Because if Kazuki succeeds… no one gets to choose who they are anymore."

Inside the frost-laden hall, the temperature had plummeted so sharply that even Hikaru's breath froze as soon as it left his lips. The light from the crystalline pillars wavered like candle flames trapped in ice. Shino stood at the center of the room, spear planted in the ground, posture relaxed but aura suffocating.

Neko—now in his true form, tall and muscular with emerald eyes glowing faintly—adjusted the yellow bands on his braided hair as if preparing for a casual spar, not a battle with a Dragonprone assassin.

Hikaru kept an arrow nocked, water swirling around its tip like a compressed tide ready to burst.

Inside the frost-laden hall, the temperature had plummeted so sharply that even Hikaru's breath froze as soon as it left his lips. The light from the crystalline pillars wavered like candle flames trapped in ice. Shino stood at the center of the room, spear planted in the ground, posture relaxed but aura suffocating.

Neko—now in his true form, tall and muscular with emerald eyes glowing faintly—adjusted the yellow bands on his braided hair as if preparing for a casual spar, not a battle with a Dragonprone assassin.

Hikaru kept an arrow nocked, water swirling around its tip like a compressed tide ready to burst.

Shino's cold gaze flicked between the two of them, frost swirling at his feet as he spoke.

"You… the young Egyptian who served King Remedus. I should have known you were still ali—"

Neko shoved a finger into his own ear, twisting it lazily.

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the ancient-history lecture. We don't have all day, lizard-boy."

Shino's eye twitched.

Before he could retort, Neko launched forward—his movements fluid and predatory, closing the distance in a blink. He spun mid-air, delivering a sharp, heel-driven kick aimed straight for Shino's jaw. Shino tilted back at the last second, the kick slicing past his nose, and countered with a thrust of his spear so fast the air cracked.

Neko dropped into a low duck, sliding across the frost with effortless flexibility. As the spear scraped over his hair, he lunged upward, seizing the front of Shino's kimono. With a powerful twist of his torso, Neko hurled the Dragonprone across the chamber like a sack of stone.

"Now, Hikaru!"

Hikaru had already drawn the arrow. His water magic surged around it, spiraling into a dense, shimmering pressure bolt. The moment he released it, the single arrow split—fracturing into a storm of ten thousand water-forged blades that filled the air like a glacial rainstorm.

The arrows struck Shino in a brilliant cascade of blue light—

—but the moment they touched his skin, they froze.

All ten thousand.

A sound like breaking glass exploded through the hall as the frozen arrows shattered and fell to the ground in a glittering avalanche.

Hikaru's eyes widened.

"Not even pressure magic…?"

Shino barely had time to finish straightening before Neko was on him again. A clean right hook slammed across Shino's face, snapping his head to the side. The dragonprone retaliated immediately—his leg whipping out in a brutal roundhouse that cracked against Neko's ribs and sent him skidding backward, colliding into Hikaru.

"Enough," Shino growled, his aura swelling, frost crawling up the walls.

Neko wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and smirked, unfazed.

"You talk like you're tired already."

Then, in one smooth motion, he reached behind his back.

A metallic glint flashed beneath his jacket.

And he pulled out a sleek, silver gun—etched with glowing runes, humming with a strange, ancient energy completely foreign to the icy throne room.

Hikaru blinked.

"…Neko. What the hell is that?"

Neko clocked his weapon. "A gun, what does it look like." 

Shino's eyes narrowed at the weapon in Neko's hand.

"Is that a g-" Neko interrupted, spinning it once around his finger before leveling the barrel at Shino's chest. "Spare the small talk Shino.." 

The silver gun hummed—soft at first, then deeper, like a heartbeat awakening inside the metal. Runes along the chamber walls flickered in response, as if recognizing the weapon.

weapon.

Hikaru stepped back involuntarily.

He had never seen Neko use anything other than claws, fists, or teleportation—and none of those glowed with this kind of ominous, pulsing darkness.

A faint, distorted ripple formed at the gun's muzzle.

Shino tightened his grip on the spear.

Neko flashed a playful grin.

"Dark bullets. Pure compressed shadow energy. They don't miss… and they don't forgive."

Before Shino could move, Neko pulled the trigger.

BANG—

The sound was not like a normal gunshot.

It was deeper, warped—like reality itself bent around the bullet. A streak of black tore through the air, shredding frost and warping the space behind it into a twisting, unstable blur.

Shino raised his spear instinctively—

The dark bullet curved.

It swerved around the speartip like a living creature, weaving through the air and slamming into Shino's shoulder with a pulse of shadow.

Shino staggered.

For the first time in over a century—

He actually staggered.

A burst of black static crawled across his skin, dissolving the frost around his wound. His eyes widened in disbelief as he gripped his shoulder.

Three dark bullets twisted through the air like serpents, zig-zagging around the stone pillars and converging toward Shino from different angles. He slashed two aside with his spear, but the third drilled into his ribs, bursting in a small explosion of shadow.

Shino skidded back across the frozen floor, boots carving harsh lines in the ice.

Neko blew the smoke from the gun's barrel, spinning it around his finger casually before pointing it at Shino again.

Hikaru stared at Neko.

"Wh-what are y-" 

Neko didn't even look. 

"My name is not Neko, it's Niamzish Hisukro.." 

Shino froze—not physically, but in expression.

The name hung in the air like a curse.

Niamzish Hisukro.

A name not spoken in over a century.

A name tied to Remedus' era—feared by Dragonprones like a whispered omen.

"You…" Shino breathed, grip tightening on his spear. "You were the king's shadow. His executioner. You should have died long ago."

Niamzish twirled the gun lazily.

"You sure got the history all wrong.." 

Shino snarled and charged forward—snow exploding beneath him, spear glowing with freezing intent.

Hikaru moved the same instant.

Niamzish teleported—not behind Shino, but beside Hikaru. The two exchanged a single nod.

Then they separated.

Hikaru slid across the ground, bending water into a spiraling barrier around himself. He fired a rapid succession of water-pressure arrows—each twisting in new trajectories, impossible to predict.

Shino deflected two—

The third curved—

The fourth multiplied—

The fifth struck his side, slowing him.

"Annoying," Shino hissed.

Niamzish teleported again, leaving a green spark in his wake. He reappeared above Shino, firing two dark bullets downward. The bullets curved midair, dodging the spear sweep and slamming into Shino's back—

—but didn't pierce this time.

Shino spun with monstrous strength, cracking the ground as he swung his spear upward. Niamzish vanished, appearing beside Hikaru again.

"He's adapting," Hikaru muttered. "Your bullets are hitting less."

"Just shut up and Follow my lead." 

Hikaru extended his bow.

Niamzish extended his gun.

The archer and the ancient warrior—

Side by side—

Aimed at the same target.

Shino lunged.

They fired.

A spiral of water arrows and dark bullets twisted around each other like twin dragons—one shimmering blue, the other black as void. The combined force exploded forward, tearing through frost, warping space, and crashing into Shino with a violent flash of steam and shadow.

When the smoke cleared…

Shino was on one knee.

Bleeding.

For the first time—

He looked genuinely furious.

"No…NOOO.." 

"Time to end this.." Niazmish smirked as Hikaru steadied his bow. 

A wave of killing frost blasted outward from Kazuki's fingertip, ripping across the chamber so violently that the floor cracked in spiderweb patterns. Shoto dove aside just as the frost swallowed the space he'd been standing in. A jagged glacier erupted there, reaching all the way to the ceiling.

Shoto hit the ground hard, sliding across frozen stone, his palms burning from the impact. He rolled onto his feet, dark flames flickering desperately around him to stave off the freezing surge.

Kazuki hovered above the arena, wings of razor-edged frost unfurling behind him like a deity carved from winter itself. Every slow beat of those wings sent shockwaves of cold rippling through the fortress.

Shoto's teeth clenched as he forced himself upright.

Kazuki's gaze shifted downward.

His eyes—now fully silver, glowing like lunar fire—carried no emotion.

"You have two swords, yet you use the elemental sword to change into these gauntlets.. and your Zamroak sword is on the ground.." 

He raised his hand again.

The massive sigil beneath his feet brightened, its runes pulsing like hearts made of ice.

Frost spiraled upward in concentric rings, locking the space around him into a cage of suspended time.

"I am only using this power to correct the world you threaten simply by existing."

Shoto's gauntlets would turn back to his dark sword as he gripped. "Shut up.." Kazuki extended his palm toward him.

"Your existence alone is the threat."

A beam of concentrated frost shot forward—so cold it burned blue instead of white.

Shoto planted his feet and roared, dark flames spiraling along his arms as he swung the Dark Sword upward. 

"DARK—

DRAGON—

REND!!"

The dark flames detonated, forming a serpentine torrent of black fire that collided with Kazuki's frost beam.

Heat and cold clashed with a sound like the world cracking in half.

The shockwave obliterated the floor, ripping through the room in a spiral of exploding ice shards and howling heat. Pillars shattered. Walls fractured. The ceiling crumbled, showering the chamber with frozen debris.

Shoto slid backward, boots digging trenches in the frosted ground as he strained with everything he had, muscles screaming beneath the weight of the Archon's power.

Kazuki didn't move at all.

His wings beat once—just once—and the frost beam intensified, swallowing the black flames.

Shoto's eyes widened.

"No—!"

The frost struck him full force.

He was hurled backward, smashing through a pillar and skidding across the floor until he slammed into the far wall. The impact knocked the air from his lungs, pain exploding across his ribs and back.

Steam rose from his body—where flesh met frost and fought to stay alive.

Kazuki lowered his arm slowly.

"You resist far more than expected," he said, descending a fraction toward the ground, wings folding into tight arcs of crystalline light. "Your instincts, your reactions… even your flame. You truly are Zamorak's successor."

Shoto forced himself upright, gasping, sword trembling in his grip.

The scales beneath his eyes thickened.

His pupils sharpened into slits.

Dark heat pulsed at his back like a beating second heart.

"I'm not Zamorak," he spat through blood. "I am a normal human being stop saying th-" 

Kazuki's expression, for the first time, shifted into something almost like disappointment.

"Fate does not care what you want, Shoto."

He stepped onto the ruined floor.

The room froze solid again—this time in absolute silence.

Kazuki raised both hands.

"ARCHON FROST ART—

ABSOLUTE HALT."

The entire fortress shook.

Reality around Shoto began to crystallize.

His movements slowed—

His breath thickened—

The dark flames around him dimmed—

Time itself started to freeze.

Shoto's eyes widened in horror as his own heartbeat slowed to a crawl.

Kazuki approached him like a god delivering a verdict.

"Your story ends here…" Time continued to die.

The world around Shoto had stopped moving entirely—snowflakes hung suspended in midair, frozen in place like tiny glass daggers. The dark flames around his arms dimmed, suffocated by the crushing force of Kazuki's Archon ability.

Kazuki stepped toward him, each movement echoing like a distant drum inside Shoto's skull.

"You cannot struggle against an Archon," Kazuki said. His voice reverberated through the chamber, layered and divine.

"No sword, no bloodline, no human will can undo this."

Shoto's eyes strained to stay open.

His muscles shook as the frost crept up his legs, locking them in place.

His heartbeat slowed again…

then again…

a dying drum.

Kazuki extended his hand toward Shoto's throat.

"It's over.."

Shoto struggled to lift his sword, but the blade felt impossibly heavy—like lifting a mountain underwater. His hands shook violently. Every breath was a shallow gasp, vapor freezing immediately in front of his lips.

Kazuki stepped closer.

He placed one hand on Shoto's chest.

Instantly, a deep burning cold surged through Shoto's body.

Frost crawled beneath his skin, turning his veins blue.

His vision blurred, tunneling to a thin circle of dim light.

His knees buckled, but the ice held him upright like a statue being sculpted.

"Your flame… your defiance… all of it ends now," Kazuki whispered.

"This world will be frozen into peace."

Shoto forced out a single word through cracking lips.

"Stop…"

Kazuki's fingertips glowed bright silver.

"ARCHON FROST ART—

LAMENT OF STILLNESS."

A shockwave of freezing energy exploded point-blank into Shoto's chest.

His body convulsed—

dark flames snuffed out—

and the freezing force slammed him backward through the air like a ragdoll.

He struck the far wall so hard that the entire chamber shook.

The stone behind him cracked.

The sword fell from his hand.

His body slid down the wall and collapsed into the frost, twitching weakly.

Shoto tried to push himself up, but only managed to lift his head a few inches.

His vision swam.

His limbs wouldn't respond.

His heartbeat felt faint… distant…

Kazuki approached with deliberate calm, each footstep freezing the floor in perfect, circular patterns.

"You are defeated, Shoto Kazami," he said, standing over him.

"Your power is sealed. Your flames extinguished. Your blood—Zamorak's blood—is mine to claim."

Shoto opened his mouth to speak—

but only a cracked whisper escaped.

"Kazuki…"

His eyes rolled back.

His body went limp.

Kazuki extended his hand, icy sigils swirling above his palm as he prepared to claim Shoto's dormant power—

"Do not worry," he said quietly.

"You will not die.

Not yet."

The runes spread, forming a cage of pale blue light around Shoto's unconscious body.

"You still have a part to play."

The chamber darkened.

Shoto Kazami lay still before the Archon—

defeated, powerless, and moments from having the fate of his blood rewritten.

Frost-runes ignited beneath Shoto—one by one, like lantern flames lighting a path straight into death.

The glowing sigils circled around him in perfect, spiraling order, each ring locking into place with a deep, resonant hum that vibrated through the entire fortress. Even the stone beneath the ice seemed to shudder, as if the ancient structure itself recognized the ritual's forbidden nature.

At the center of the runic circle stood Kazuki.

His crystalline wings unfurled behind him like frozen petals of a dying flower, each shard glinting with divine, merciless cold. His voice rose, layered with ancient echo, carrying the authority of something older than humanity.

"Through this rite," he declared,

"I sever Zamorak's lineage from its vessel—

and reclaim the world from flame."

Shoto's unconscious body lifted off the ground, limp and helpless, suspended by the ritual's grip.

A faint red glow pulsed from his chest—his last ember of inner flame battling against the crushing tide of frost that threatened to erase it entirely.

Kazuki raised his hand.

Silver frost swirled into his palm, gathering like a newborn galaxy of ice and death.

"Archon Frost Art—

Sovereign Extraction."

A pillar of pale light plunged onto Shoto's chest.

His back arched violently, frozen breath bursting from his lungs, and the dark scales beneath his eyes flickered, fading like a dying heartbeat gasping for one final rhythm.

Kazuki's wings expanded to their full span.

"The blood of Zamorak," he intoned,

"returns—"

A deafening crack shattered the ceiling.

Kazuki froze mid-sentence.

The runes flickered uncertainly.

Wind crashed through the chamber, whipping shards of frost into a spiraling storm.

From the broken ceiling, a white-haired boy landed in a crater of shattered ice—wearing a wide, gleeful smile that didn't match the deadly pressure radiating from his body.

Kazuki's eyes narrowed.

"…You."

Tetsuya dusted frost off his shoulder with casual annoyance, as if he had merely slipped into the wrong classroom.

"Sorry for my late arrival," he said, stretching his neck. "I had to take care of something… for a cat."

His wind sword dissolved from his hand, melting into a swirling vortex of air that wrapped around his body.

The wind condensed—then exploded outward, scattering dozens of small metallic boxes across the chamber floor like seeds planted for war.

Kazuki glanced at them, issuing a sharp, irritated click of his tongue.

"Tch. What was that for?"

Tetsuya kept his grin, infuriatingly bright and razor-edged.

"It's not for me," he said. "And it's definitely not for you."

His eyes darkened.

"It's for him."

He pointed at Shoto's suspended body.

Kazuki's jaw tightened.

Tetsuya stepped forward, aura crackling, the air twisting violently around him.

"You lay a finger on Shoto again," he growled,

"I'll break every bone in your Archon body…

and feed them to you."

The chamber trembled—not from Kazuki's divine frost, but from the raw killing intent pouring from Tetsuya.

Kazuki lifted his chin, unfazed but clearly annoyed.

"Mortal threats do not reach Archons."

Tetsuya grinned wider—feral, predatory.

The fortress floor fissured beneath his feet, cracks spiderwebbing outward as if the stone itself recoiled from his presence.

The ritual circle flickered violently—its stability shattered.

Shoto's limp body dropped several inches, almost falling from the beam of extraction.

Kazuki's eyes sharpened to lethal slits.

"You dare interrupt my ascension…?"

Tetsuya rolled his shoulders, wind swirling wildly around him.

"Let's go, dumbass."

Tetsuya smirked, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet.

"Nah. You're just slow."

Kazuki's eyes narrowed—

And the Archon vanished.

A blur of silver frost streaked directly toward Tetsuya.

Most fighters wouldn't have seen it coming.

But Tetsuya did.

He stepped—just stepped—two inches to the left.

Kazuki's hand of crystallized frost tore through the air where his throat had been a second before.

Tetsuya flicked Kazuki's wrist aside with two fingers.

Kazuki snapped around, wings slicing the air like blades.

Frost erupted toward Tetsuya in a spiraling barrage.

"ARCHON FROST ART—

GLACIAL—"

Tetsuya's foot hit the ground.

Just one tap.

His heel compressed the air, shattering the frost wave before it could form fully. Kazuki's attack imploded in a burst of pressure, scattering glittering shards.

Kazuki's eyes widened.

Impossible.

Tetsuya didn't stop.

He moved in—fast, precise, surgical.

A straight palm strike cracked against Kazuki's ribs, cutting through his frost armor like brittle glass.

Before Kazuki could recover, Tetsuya pivoted, elbow slamming into his sternum.

Kazuki was forced backward—an Archon, pushed by pure physical force.

A rapid series of strikes hammered into Kazuki's torso—palm, fist, elbow, knee—each hit collapsing more of Kazuki's ice plating. Frost exploded in small bursts with each impact.

Kazuki swept his wing like a blade.

Tetsuya ducked under it, sliding across the ice with flawless control.

"That all?" he taunted.

"Might as well fight me with warm lemonade."

Kazuki exhaled sharply.

Frost surged from his feet, locking the air around him into sharp crystalline storms.

"You are arrogant."

Tetsuya shrugged.

"No. I'm better."

Kazuki materialized above him, hand glowing with lethal cold.

"ARCHON FROST ART—

ABSOLUTE—"

Tetsuya was already moving.

He leapt straight up thanks to the wind sword's power that's around his body. and twisted mid-air. His heel whipped across Kazuki's jaw, snapping the Archon's head sideways.

Kazuki was thrown across the chamber, crashing through a pillar of frozen crystal.

The entire room shuddered.

Tetsuya landed lightly, hands in his hoodie pockets.

 Kazuki rose from the rubble, hair disheveled, aura shaking with anger he could no longer hide.

"You… pest."

Tetsuya grinned wider.

"You're damn right."

Kazuki's wings surged outward, their edges transforming into serrated blades of living frost.

"You think your demeanor alone can defeat an Archon?"

Tetsuya lowered his stance for the first time.

"Heh, just my luck." 

Kazuki rose from the shattered ice pillar, crystalline wings unfurling in a violent snap. Frost spiraled outward with each movement, the temperature plummeting so sharply the walls began to crack under the pressure. His silver eyes burned with an Archon's fury now—no restraint, no elegance, only wrath.

Tetsuya didn't flinch.

He reached out lazily with one hand.

The wind answered.

A ripple of air twisted in his palm—quiet, invisible—before forming into the familiar shape of his Wind Sword. But when Tetsuya held it, it wasn't some blade used for brute force. It was light, almost weightless, its edge shaped purely by airflow, its presence indistinguishable from the air itself.

He didn't swing it like a swordsman.

He held it like an extension of his fists.

Like a martial artist wielding a spirit-borne weapon perfectly fused with his movements.

Kazuki's voice echoed sharply.

"You bring that sword into this chamber? Foolish."

Tetsuya smirked and rested the blade casually against his shoulder.

"Nah. I'm just giving you the tiniest handicap. Wouldn't want you crying later."

Kazuki vanished.

A streak of silver.

A burst of frost.

In an instant, he was above Tetsuya, hand glowing with a spear of condensed frost energy aimed to impale him.

Tetsuya's foot shifted half an inch.

Wind spiraled.

The Wind Sword flicked upward—not in a sword strike, but a redirection.

A martial artist's parry.

Kazuki's attack missed entirely, his arm thrown off-course as if the air itself betrayed him.

Kazuki's eyes widened.

"Impossible—"

Tetsuya stepped into his guard.

A rising knee slammed into Kazuki's ribs. The impact rippled through the Archon's frozen armor, cracks splintering across it like lightning. Before Kazuki could recoil, Tetsuya twisted the Wind Sword around his forearm and spun.

The blade extended into a slicing arc—

not a cut, but a pressure strike.

Wind compressed so sharply it sliced the frost plating off Kazuki's shoulder in a spray of crystalline dust.

Kazuki stumbled back for the first time.

Kazuki roared, lunging with renewed force, wings firing shards of ice in all directions. Spear-like frost javelins formed instantly, shooting toward Tetsuya.

Tetsuya didn't dodge.

He moved through them.

A pivot.

A slide.

A whip of his heel.

Each motion carried a gust of cutting wind, deflecting projectiles with precision and fluid grace. The Wind Sword flicked between his fingers, striking pressure points in the air to collapse Kazuki's attacks before they even formed fully.

Kazuki blinked and Tetsuya was already in front of him.

A palm strike hit Kazuki's sternum.

Wind burst from Tetsuya's hand, concentrated into a shockwave.

Kazuki was thrown backward, smashing into the floor hard enough to crater the ice beneath him.

The Archon inhaled slowly, anger burning through his cold aura.

"You are nothing but a boy…

and yet your technique—

it distorts even my domain."

Tetsuya rested his sword casually on his shoulder again, head tilted.

"That's because you rely on power," he said. "I rely on skill."

Kazuki rose, frost swirling violently around him.

"You dare—"

Tetsuya pointed the Wind Sword at him, the blade humming like a storm waiting to break.

"Shut up and fight." Tetsuya stared at Shoto, who was defeated with a huge cocky smile on his face "So you just gonna surpass me like that huh?"

Shoto still lay unconscious within the shattered ritual field, frost creeping over his arms, chest, and jawline. His breath came in shallow, uneven bursts—each exhale fogging into fragile crystals that shattered before reaching the ground.

He was slipping.

But then—

Something pulsed.

A faint beat inside his chest.

Not his heart.

Something deeper. Older. Waiting.

The frost covering Shoto's body trembled.

A second pulse—harder this time—sent cracks through the ice encasing his ribs. Dark heat flickered beneath his skin like embers beneath ashes. His fingers twitched. His pupils moved beneath closed eyelids.

Kazuki didn't notice—too focused on blocking Tetsuya's next blow—yet the runes around the ritual circle began to glow in panic, reacting to something they were never meant to contain.

A third pulse—

The entire floor shook.

The Zamraok Sword appeared on his right hand as Shoto clenched it tightly. Dark flames sparked across Shoto's arms, burning through the frost with violent, unpredictable energy. His gauntlets reformed around his hands in jagged patterns—half-complete, unstable, dripping sparks of black and crimson light.

Shoto's eyes snapped open.

His expression was wild.

The pupils were slit.

The scales beneath his eyes were darker than ever.

And his breath came out as a blend of steam and flame.

He whispered through clenched teeth:

"…stop…"

The frost beneath him shattered in an expanding ring.

Cracks tore across the ruined chamber floor.

Tetsuya stopped mid-strike.

Kazuki paused as the air trembled.

Shoto slowly rose to his feet, dark flames licking his shoulders, his expression shifting between battle instinct and something deeper—something ancestral—waiting to break free.

Kazuki turned toward him sharply.

"Impossible. The ritual was not complete. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" 

Shoto's head lowered.

His grip tightened on the Zamorak Sword as it flew into his hand from across the room, pulled by sheer instinct.

Dark fire erupted from the blade.

Tetsuya smirked in disbelief.

"There he is…"

Kazuki stepped forward, frost swirling violently around him.

"You know nothing about that swo-" 

The scales that were below his eyes began to grow around his face, small sharp fangs began to grew on teeth. Shoto's eyes lifted.

And for the first time—

Kazuki stepped back.

"I said…

Stop."

A blast of dark fire erupted outward, shaking the entire fortress and rupturing the last remnants of the ritual.

Shoto Kazami—

The one now standing in his place…

felt like a waking calamity.

Tetsuya landed beside Shoto, wind swirling around his fists, hoodie torn, hair whipping wildly from the air pressure. Shoto stood with his head lowered, chest heaving, dark flames burning from his shoulders like wings of an awakened beast. His pupils were thin slits. The scales along his cheekbones had grown. His breath hissed out as steam and fire.

Kazuki lifted himself from the crater he'd been thrown into, crystalline wings reforming behind him in jagged, explosive layers. His expression—usually calm and cold—was twisted with fury and disbelief.

Tetsuya cracked his neck.

Shoto raised his sword, eyes half-feral.

They didn't speak.

They didn't need to.

Kazuki's aura exploded, frost spiraling violently across the chamber, freezing every shadow, every breath, every echo. The temperature plunged so sharply that the stone floor cracked and bled steam.

"Both of you will fall."

Tetsuya smirked, lowering his stance.

Shoto growled softly, dark fire coiling around his boots.

Kazuki vanished first—Archon speed turning him into a streak of silver.

Shoto reacted on instinct, swinging his Zamorak Sword across the empty air—

Kazuki appeared above him instead, spear of frost aimed at his skull.

Tetsuya moved before the strike landed.

He grabbed Shoto's collar—

yanked him down—

and kicked upward with a burst of wind-enhanced force.

His heel connected with Kazuki's wrist, knocking the spear strike off course. Frost erupted sideways instead of downward, tearing a canyon into the chamber wall.

Shoto's eyes widened, his instincts furious and confused.

Tetsuya barked,

"Focus, idiot! He's not the enemy—yet!"

Shoto growled again, barely restraining himself.

Kazuki descended like a meteor, wings slicing the air into frozen razors.

Shoto swung—

Tetsuya dashed in—

Both collided with Kazuki at the exact same moment.

Shoto's blade struck Kazuki's left side.

Tetsuya's heel hammered Kazuki's jaw.

The Archon crashed into the runic floor, cracking it further.

He rose slowly, cold air boiling from his wounds.

"You dare… you DARE touch me with mortal hands—?!"

Kazuki spread his wings wide.

The entire fortress shook.

"ARCHON FROST ART—

CRADLE OF EXTINCTION."

The floor beneath them turned into a swirling vortex of frost and gravity.

Shoto's legs buckled—

Tetsuya skid sideways—

the entire battlefield collapsed inward like the world was being inverted.

Kazuki hovered above, palms raised, a deity of winter looking down at two insects.

Shoto forced his flames outward—dark fire spreading across the collapsing ground, turning the cold into steam and shadow.

Tetsuya slammed his foot into the air, using compressed wind to stabilize himself mid-fall.

Together—

Shoto aimed his sword upward.

Tetsuya thrust his palm forward.

A spiraling blast of black flame and compressed wind shot directly toward Kazuki—

Kazuki crossed his arms—

The explosion that followed shattered the central chamber.

The ceiling split.

The walls collapsed.

Ancient ice pillars disintegrated into storms of glittering shards.

From the smoke—

Kazuki emerged again.

Barely scratched.

But breathing harder.

"You… two… are beginning to irritate me."

Tetsuya smirked "Shut the hell up and fight already." 

Kazuki was still transforming.

A second pair of wings began forming—

crystals extending—

ice veins glowing across his arms.

Kazuki lifted his head, expression hollow.

"You two…

fly too close to a god."

Kazuki's icy wings spread like a divine executioner's mantle, frost spiraling violently around him as he faced Shoto and Tetsuya. His silver eyes burned with a cold so bright it illuminated the entire collapsing chamber, each breath he exhaled turning into a swirling storm of lethal winter. But as Shoto rose—dark flames erupting from his body like blackened wildfire, his pupils sharpening, the scales beneath his eyes deepening—Kazuki realized something he had not predicted: Shoto was adapting to his Archon presence.

Kazuki's jaw tightened. "It's okay… as long as Shino is alive… this world should be completely frozen… I JUST HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU IMBECILES!"

Shoto held his blade with trembling, burning hands—feral eyes locked onto Kazuki in raw defiance. Kazuki inhaled, and the temperature plummeted so fast the fortress walls split open, ancient runes cracking apart as the air itself formed thin veils of crystalline frost. Then the Archon lifted his arms slowly.

"I did not wish to show this form…"

Frost expanded beneath him, blooming in perfect symmetry like a cosmic glacier-flower.

His first pair of wings folded inward, dissolving into pure light.

"…but resistance must be crushed."

A second pair of wings erupted from his back—larger, jagged, blinding.

Tetsuya froze mid-step. "What the hell…?"

Shoto's eyes widened.

Then came the third pair—massive serrated arcs of cold so dense they may as well have been blades meant to carve the world apart. Snow, air, even sound froze in place.

Tetsuya whispered, stunned: "…that's… not normal Archon."

Kazuki's body shifted—his skin becoming translucent like living crystal, glowing blue veins pulsing beneath the surface. His hair lengthened into pure white strands, silver markings etching themselves across his chest like divine scripture. His voice twisted into three overlapping tones—human, draconic, and celestial—when he declared:

"ARCHON FROST ART—

TRUE ASCENSION."

The world cracked.

A shockwave of frost ripped through the fortress, obliterating walls and pillars, hurling frozen debris outward like shattered glass. The sky above the mountain dimmed as a massive glowing sigil formed, radiating across the heavens. Tetsuya slid back several feet, carving a trench in the ice. Shoto barely stayed upright as dark flames spiraled around him in chaotic bursts.

Then the final wings erupted—a fourth pair, enormous and smooth as ancient glacier glass, glowing with pale moonlight.

Eight wings.

An impossibility.

Tetsuya's cocky smile vanished. "…Eight wings…?"

Shoto swallowed hard—no Archon in history had ever manifested such a form.

Kazuki hovered above them in full divine monstrous beauty, frost swirling in endless spirals around him. His voice thundered:

"THIS is the true form of the Frost Sovereign."

He lowered his gaze toward Shoto—a gaze cold enough to erase civilizations.

"You stand before the origin of winter itself."

Above the fortress, the sigil grew brighter, preparing something catastrophic.

At that moment, Shoto looked to the side—where Yumiko lay unconscious and freezing. His expression hardened.

"Tetsuya… grab Yumiko and get out of here."

Tetsuya glanced at her… and clicked his tongue. "Tch. Fine."

He scooped her into his arms and sprinted toward the exit.

Kazuki raised both hands—

and the world dimmed.

Light drained from the sky.

The sun flickered like a dying candle.

Even Shoto's flames shrank, struggling to exist.

Kazuki whispered, gentle and apocalyptic:

"ARCHON FROST ART…"

The temperature dropped so sharply the fortress shattered from thermal shock—

walls splitting, floors rupturing, pillars dissolving in ribbons of ice.

Kazuki took one slow, godlike breath.

"…WORLD ENTOMBMENT."

Outside, Niazmish and Hikaru were dragging themselves through the crumbling corridors as Shino rose unsteadily to one knee. The fortress shook violently. Shino looked up as the sigils flickered rapidly.

"…Shoto Kazami."

He sprinted away. Hikaru started to chase. "HEY—WAIT—!"

But Niazmish grabbed him. "No—we can't go after him! The entire chamber's collapsing!"

Hikaru cursed, then turned to flee as well.

Outside, Hina and Sakiri waited in the snow, watching the fortress tear itself apart. Suddenly, Niazmish—now back in cat form—Hikaru, and a sprinting Tetsuya carrying Yumiko blasted out of the collapsing entrance, sliding across the snow.

Hikaru shouted, "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!"

Tetsuya shot back, "Don't worry about it, Archer."

The sky ruptured.

A colossal beam of frost descended—

wider than the mountain,

brighter than moonlit glaciers,

carrying the silence of a world buried beneath ten thousand years of winter.

Every spark of warmth escaped the land.

The mountain peak crystallized instantly.

Stone shattered mid-freeze.

Even time faltered.

A dome of absolute zero engulfed everything.

Inside that dome—

Shoto's gauntlets shattered into black dust, reforming instantly into the Dark Sword in his grip. His breathing was ragged. Frost bit into his bones. His flames flickered like dying embers. But he crossed his arms into an X, the blades howling with condensed darkness.

A swarm of chaotic, destructive energy spiraled around him as he slashed twice—

forming a massive burning X-shape that cut through the collapsing reality.

Shoto roared:

"X—SABER—DEUS!!!"

The dark flames burst forward—

a black cross of annihilation—

racing upward to collide with Kazuki's world-ending beam.

The world-ending frost beam roared downward—an execution delivered by a god. It wasn't just cold; it was the death of heat itself. A tidal wave of divine winter, wide enough to swallow mountains, tore through the sky with merciless precision. Above it, the enormous sigil shone like a dead star reigniting, runic rings rotating in perfect celestial harmony as Kazuki directed the spell like an Archon conductor of the world's final symphony.

At that exact moment, Shoto's X-Saber Deus tore upward—a cross-shaped torrent of black fire, violent, hungry, twisting reality as it climbed. The air warped and shrieked around it, bending unnaturally, as if existence itself feared touching the attack.

When the two forces collided—

the world turned white.

A sound like ten thousand glaciers shattering at once consumed everything. The fortress didn't simply crack—it disintegrated. The mountain groaned as fissures ripped through its spine. Clouds split apart. Trees vaporized. Light vanished beneath the spiraling violence of black fire and divine frost.

Shoto dug his heels into the fracturing ground, every muscle screaming, both hands clutching the Dark Sword and the Zamorak Sword so tightly the hilts cut his palms. Blood streamed down his wrists, hitting the air and instantly vaporizing into hiss­ing steam. Frost crawled upward along his arms, stabbing into his flesh, threatening to freeze his bones solid—but the black flames around him roared back, refusing to die.

High above him, Kazuki hovered with impossible calm. His eight crystalline wings spread behind him like frozen halos of a god who had already won. His voice layered through the air—human, draconic, and divine all at once.

"THE WORLD—FREEZE!!"

The frost beam intensified.

Shoto's legs buckled.

The X-shaped blast trembled.

Blue cracks splintered across the black fire.

His strength was failing.

His flames were dimming.

His vision blurred.

"No…" Shoto whispered, chest rising weakly. "No… I'm not losing to you…"

Then—

a pulse.

Deep.

Ancient.

Violent.

A heartbeat that wasn't his heart.

The same pulse that resurrected him earlier.

The same pulse Kazuki feared.

The same pulse that belonged to Zamorak.

Shoto gasped as dark heat exploded inside his ribs—erasing frost in a burst of black fire so intense it shook the air. His pupils narrowed into razor slits. The scales beneath his eyes thickened, creeping across his cheekbones like markings of an awakening demon. His fangs sharpened. His breath rolled out as molten steam.

His entire aura erupted.

Kazuki's eyes widened—a rare, genuine flicker of fear.

"What—?"

Shoto dropped the Dark Sword.

His trembling fingers wrapped around the Zamorak Sword, lifting it slowly, almost reverently.

Dark fire spiraled around him, dragging oxygen, snow, fractured stone—everything—into a vortex of suffocating pressure. The battlefield distorted like space itself was bending around him.

Shoto whispered hoarsely:

"Zamorak… End…"

The flames detonated around him in a dome of black and crimson light. The temperature spiked so violently the entire mountain groaned under the pressure.

Shoto swung downward.

Not a beam.

Not a slash.

A detonation.

A spiraling explosion of dark fire erupted from the blade—

shaping itself into a colossal dragon made of shadow, flame, and raw hatred.

The dragon roared—a sound that tore through clouds and shattered the sigil overhead—before launching upward at Kazuki with its jaw open wide.

Kazuki's silver eyes blazed with panic.

"No—NO—THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE—!"

Shoto's dragon consumed the remnants of X-Saber Deus, absorbing it—

growing larger—

faster—

more violent.

It slammed into Kazuki's frost beam, broke it, and then continued upward, jaws clamping around Kazuki himself.

Kazuki's scream ripped through the collapsing fortress:

"NO!!!!!!!!!!"

The dragon exploded on impact—

a world-shaking blast of black fire, silver frost, and shattering reality.

The sky ruptured.

The mountain shook.

Kazuki vanished inside the explosion.

The chamber groaned as cracks split through the frozen walls. Shards of crystal ice rained from the ceiling. Every stone trembled, every rune flickered and died. With Kazuki defeated, the fortress itself began to fall apart—its very foundation unraveling like a dying beast.

Shino stepped forward through the crumbling ruin, each footfall echoing with murderous intent.

His eyes were wild—rage-blinded, bloodshot, burning with centuries of hatred.

"Kazuki is down…" he growled, frost spilling from his breath.

His voice trembled with fury.

"Shoto Kazami…"

Shoto staggered to the left, barely balanced. His body shook with exhaustion, his vision blurred. The flame that had sustained him moments ago now guttered weakly inside his chest.

Shino twirled his spear, the motion swift and elegant despite his rage.

Then he charged.

The ground cracked beneath him as he sprinted forward—

A blur of frost, hatred, and killing intent.

Shoto exhaled shakily.

He tightened his grip on the Zamorak Sword—

And swung.

A single diagonal slash.

Shino passed him in a flash—

His spear thrust aimed for Shoto's heart—

But he froze mid-step.

A thin red line appeared across his chest.

Then he coughed.

A spray of blood hit the collapsing floor.

His steps faltered.

His eyes widened—not in rage, but disbelief.

"N… no…"

Shoto swayed on his feet, panting, barely conscious. He bent down, fingers trembling as he reached for his dark sword lying on the fractured ground. The instant he touched it, the blade liquefied into shadow, reforming around his arms as jagged black gauntlets.

He stared at Shino—tired, hurt, but resolute.

"I'm sure…" Shoto whispered, voice cracking, "…with everything that's happened—the world freezing, the suffering—it's the only reason the king and the prince did what they did."

He looked away.

"I'm not them."

The chamber let out a final roar as massive chunks of ice collapsed from above. Shoto's legs buckled, but a burst of flame erupted beneath his feet. He launched himself upward, dark fire carrying him through the crumbling ceiling.

He escaped the collapsing throne room in the last second.

Behind him—

Shino remained standing a moment longer, spear slipping from his weakening grip. The frost that once swirled around him vanished into steam. His breath shook, then stilled. His body trembled once… then went still.

The Dragonprone toppled forward, collapsing amid the ruins.

Lifeless.

And then—

The ice began to break.

Across Japan, the frost that had sealed whole cities like a crystal coffin fractured under invisible heat.

In Kyoto, frozen streets groaned as cracks spidered through the ice.

In Tokyo, towers sheathed in blue crystal splintered, their surfaces melting into cascading waterfalls.

People trapped in frozen time gasped violently as breath returned to their lungs.

Color flooded back into the world.

Heat rose from the earth like a sigh of relief.

The frost that had strangled the nation recoiled, steaming as it melted. Snow disappeared in waves. Rivers thawed and surged back to life. The blizzard over Mount Fuji peeled apart, unraveling as though time reversed with every inch.

Shoto burst from the ruined chamber and landed on the mountainside, the last fragments of dark flame flickering around him. His gauntlets dissolved into black smoke. His scales faded. His fangs dulled. His vision blurred.

He collapsed to his knees.

One final breath escaped him—

And then he fell forward, unconscious.

Steam drifted off his back as the snow around him melted in a small circle.

The world was saved.

The steam rising from the broken mountainside drifted like ghosts, lifting away the last remnants of Kazuki's frozen domain. The wind carried warmth for the first time in days, melting scattered patches of snow into glistening water that dripped steadily down the carved stone.

At the center of the crater, Shoto pushed himself upright—slowly, painfully, but on his own feet. His breath came in faint clouds, his legs trembling beneath him. But he was alive… and conscious.

From the east slope, Hikaru, Tetsuya carrying Yumiko, Hina, Sakori, and Neko hurried toward him. Their silhouettes grew sharper as the steam parted, each expression etched with worry, shock, or overwhelming relief.

"He's actually alive.." said Hikaru. 

Neko's eyes widened to the size of moons as the cat quickly runs towards him. "K-Kid?! You're standing?!"

Yumiko stirred in Tetsuya's arms, head lifting weakly as she blinked through exhaustion. The moment she saw Shoto upright, tears welled instantly.

"Shoto…!"

Tetsuya let out a shaky exhale disguised as annoyance, but his clenched jaw betrayed the flood of emotion hitting him. "Tch. Took you long enough."

Hina smiled deviously, "dumbass didn't actually die, good for him." 

Sakori was in disbelief as she looks at Shoto then at the Chamber. "Shino.." 

From the opposite side of the crater, through another trail of melted snow, another group approached.

Ryuji staggered forward, still bleeding from the brutal fight with Jyn, but refusing to stop.

Ren limped beside him, supporting Yuumo who had Endo's unconscious body held tightly in her arms. Yuumo's legs shook with each step, but the moment she saw Shoto standing—her eyes widened, the fatigue in her body almost dissolving.

"Holy crap…" Ren whispered, voice cracking. "He's—he's alive."

Ryuji let out a sharp laugh, half pained, half relieved. "Of course he is. Why else wouldn't he be." 

Yuumo stared at Shoto like she was witnessing a miracle. "Shoto… you… you actually made it."

Even Endo—barely conscious—lifted his head enough to see Shoto in the distance. He blinked several times before letting out the faintest smile.

On one side stood the battered trio: Ryuji, Ren, Yuumo, and Endo.

On the other stood the others: Hikaru, Tetsuya, Yumiko, Hina, Neko, and Sakori.

Both groups—two halves of the same war-torn family—slowly closed the gap between them.

Shoto lifted his head.

His eyes were tired.

His body shook.

His injuries screamed.

But a soft smile—gentle, relieved, real—spread across his face.

He took one step forward.

Then another.

And another.

Until he could stand tall enough for everyone to see him clearly.

"Guys…" he said, voice hoarse but warm. "…I'm back."

Ryuji choked down a laugh. Ren punched the air weakly. Yuumo hugged Endo closer as if grounding herself. Hikaru pushes his glasses up and looked the other way. Tetsuya smirked. 

Neko leaped onto Shoto's shoulder, smacking the side of his head lightly. "Tomorrow morning we will train, top of the morning!" 

Yumiko, still weak in Tetsuya's arms, reached out a trembling hand.

Shoto walked straight toward her.

Finally…

The battered, frozen, broken battlefield felt warm again.

Sakori stepped into the ruined chamber slowly, her boots crunching over shards of melted frost and broken crystal. The glow of the dying runes reflected in her pale eyes, casting soft blue shadows across her face. Behind her, Hina—having finally reverted back to her normal self—stumbled slightly as she followed, still shaken by everything that had happened.

"H-Hey…" Hina murmured, voice trembling as she tried to keep her balance. "Wh-what are you… going to do now…?"

Sakori didn't answer immediately.

She stood in the center of the collapsed ritual floor, letting the cold wind drift through her hair as she looked around at the destruction: the shattered ice pillars, the collapsed ceiling, the traces of her brother's aura fading into nothing. Her eyes softened—not with tears, but with a quiet, heavy acceptance.

Finally, she turned her gaze toward Hina… then toward the rest of the group gathered outside behind her—Ryuji leaning on Ren's shoulder, Yuumo still holding Endo, Hikaru and Neko watching from the side, Tetsuya holding the unconscious Yumiko, and Shoto lying weak but breathing.

"You have a strange group of friends," Sakori said quietly, almost as if the thought surprised her. "Chaotic. Loud. Reckless."

Her expression softened further.

"But… they care. They care enough to risk everything."

Hina blinked, her breath catching a little. "So… you're coming with us?"

Sakori shook her head.

"No."

She stepped forward, kneeling beside a patch of broken frost that still held faint traces of Shino's energy. Her fingers brushed the icy surface with a trembling gentleness she hadn't shown anyone before.

"I'm staying here."

Everyone froze.

Sakori lowered her head, her voice quiet, steady, and filled with a determination that came from something deeper than duty.

"I have to bury my brother."

Her hand curled into a fist.

"And… I have to erase this place. Completely."

The wind blew through the ruins, carrying away the last remaining flecks of pure white frost.

Sakori continued, her tone firm but calm:

"This fortress, this mountain, the rituals… none of it deserves to remain. Too much has died here. Too much suffered."

She stood again, facing the others with a small, sad smile.

"So go. Take your friend. Rest. Live."

Hina swallowed hard, staring at her—not as an enemy, but as a girl who had lost everything.

Sakori turned her eyes away before the sorrow in them could be seen too clearly.

"I'll finish what I need to do here."

Then, softer—almost to herself:

"For him."

Shoto, weak but awake, leaned on Ren and Hikaru for support as he stepped forward, taking in the sight of Sakori standing alone amidst the rubble.

Her silhouette looked small against the collapsing white stone. Lonely.

Determined.

Shoto took a breath, steadying himself before stepping toward her.

"Hey.."

She turned at the sound of his voice. Her expression remained calm, unreadable, but her eyes softened ever so slightly when she saw him standing—alive—after everything that had happened.

Shoto managed a tired smile, one hand pressed against his ribs where bruises were forming.

"You don't have to decide everything today."

He paused, letting his words reach her.

"And you don't have to stay alone on this mountain forever."

Sakori blinked, surprise flickering just barely across her face.

Shoto continued, voice quiet but sincere:

"If you ever want to join us… even for a while… even for a moment… you can."

Hina nodded behind him.

Neko flicked his tail in agreement.

Tetsuya raised a thumb without even looking emotionally invested.

Yuumo waved softly, Endo drooling asleep in her arms.

Ryuji, still bruised from his fight, gave her a tired grin.

Even Hikaru bowed his head politely.

Sakori looked at them all—the strange, chaotic, stubborn, ridiculous group of people who faced down two Archons, destroyed a fortress, and still found space to offer her a place among them.

Her lips parted slightly.

"…Thank you," she whispered.

She stepped back, looking over the ruined chamber one more time—where her brother had fallen, where the frost had begun, where it would all now end.

"I'll finish what I have to do here," Sakori said softly. "But… maybe someday."

Shoto smiled.

"That's enough."

The wind shifted, gentle now. No longer cold. No longer cruel.

Hikaru helped Shoto turn back toward the path down the mountain.

Tetsuya adjusted Yumiko over his shoulder.

Ryuji limped beside Yuumo, who kept fussing over him.

Neko curled around Shoto's neck, purring softly.

Hina gave one last look at Sakori, then nodded before joining the rest.

And together—slowly, carefully—they began their descent.

The long white slope stretched before them, but for the first time since the chaos began, the snow wasn't biting or hostile. The sky was clearing. Warmth was returning to Japan. Cities thawed. Rivers flowed. People awoke.

The world exhaled.

Shoto looked back only once, seeing Sakori silhouetted against the rising sun—alone, but no longer abandoned. Carrying her grief, but no longer carrying it in silence.

The mountain behind them trembled lightly as structures collapsed into harmless ruins, erasing the last traces of the White Veil's tyranny.