---
Chapter 17: The Icy Mana
Scene 1 — Heart of the Forest
The forest fell silent, as if someone had stopped it from breathing.
The sounds of insects vanished, while small sparks of heat from the previous attacks ignited the edges of the grass, causing it to burn.
Renion stood frozen in place, her eyes trembling between anxiety and fear, while Kiura threw the melted half of his sword onto the ground.
The metal hit with a heavy clang… as if announcing the beginning of a far more dangerous phase.
Kiura thought as he clenched his fist tightly:
(I'm completely exposed… no weapon… no defense… what can I even do?)
Enzo chuckled lightly from a distance, his voice echoing between the trees.
Enzo: "Don't end the fun so quickly… let's enjoy this fight as much as possible."
Kiura stepped back, steadying his breathing.
He could see it clearly now—Enzo wasn't fighting for a goal…
He was fighting for the feeling itself.
The feeling of burning. Destruction. Pleasure.
Suddenly, Renion shouted with determination:
"Stone Prison!"
Massive pillars erupted from the ground around Enzo, closing in like a stone cage.
But Enzo merely touched two of the pillars…
Pressed them…
They cracked under his grip, then shattered as dust scattered into the air.
Renion: "He's strong… far too strong."
Enzo rose into the air, his hands glowing with a deep crimson light, then shouted in a strange voice:
"Entertain me more!"
Fireballs rained down from the sky like falling meteors, slamming into the ground and leaving behind smoking, scorching craters.
Kiura and Renion tried to dodge, but some of the attacks grazed them, throwing their bodies backward.
Kiura, breathing heavily:
"Enough… this is enough."
And at that moment…
His hand grew cold.
Unnaturally cold.
He looked down… and saw white vapor rising from his skin.
Renion, eyes widening:
"Icy mana… it's appeared again!"
The grass beneath Kiura's feet began to freeze, thin blue lines spreading across the ground.
The sensation was strange… as if he were remembering something distant, something buried deep in his memory.
Kiura thought:
(What is this power…? I don't know how to use it, I don't know why it appeared, but… I have to gamble.)
Enzo descended toward the ground, but Kiura waved his hand, freezing the landing spot.
Even so… the ice melted instantly the moment Enzo's foot touched it.
Enzo: "Fire against ice… this is getting more fun."
He advanced slowly, every step melting the ice beneath him.
Kiura coated his arm in ice and charged forward.
His frozen fist collided with Enzo's blazing hand—thick steam erupted from the impact, like a silent explosion.
From the side, Renion launched rapid water spheres.
Enzo turned to block the water, but Kiura seized the moment…
He leaped toward Enzo's face and delivered a direct icy punch, snapping Enzo's head back and forcing him several steps backward.
Enzo's smile widened… unsettlingly so.
Enzo: "Beautiful… teamwork… that's what I want. Show me more."
The camera circled around Enzo as Kiura and Renion moved swiftly on both sides:
Renion fired fine rock projectiles,
Kiura hurled sharp ice shards,
And Enzo deflected the attacks effortlessly…
Some blows struck him—yet his smile only grew wider.
Kiura (thinking anxiously):
We're pressuring him… but he's smiling more! This isn't normal.
Renion: "Maybe… maybe he's S-rank… which means we're far beneath him."
Kiura: "If that's the case… why isn't he avoiding our attacks?"
Renion: "Because they don't really hurt him… and because he's enjoying the fight."
Kiura, fiercely:
"Then we push harder… a coordinated attack… now!"
Renion stood firm and raised her hands, gathering her maximum mana and shaping the water element.
A dense water sphere formed before her palms.
At the same moment, Kiura hid behind a tree, watching for the perfect timing.
Renion unleashed a massive water column toward Enzo—
He leaned back lightly, letting the water rush past his face.
In the very next instant…
A stone pillar erupted beneath his back—he reacted instantly, dodging it and veering sideways toward the trees.
But as he reached the tree—
Kiura emerged from the shadows, gripping a sharp piece of ice, and hurled it straight toward Enzo's chest—
The scene cuts.
The screen fades to black.
The narrator's voice whispers slowly:
"Will this strike succeed in changing the course of the battle?
Or will Enzo reveal a power he has yet to show… and completely overturn the scales?"
---
To be continued…
---