The frigid blizzard gnawed at everyone's bodies at terrifying speed. The sudden plunge in temperature robbed them of even the briefest moment needed to chant a spell or form a hand seal—before they could react, stiffness crept rapidly through their limbs.
And just as their bodies were freezing solid, before the exorcists could even think about how to break the deadlock, a snow avalanche like a surging white tide came crashing down on them head-on.
Under normal circumstances, even if this group had encountered the Snow Woman face-to-face, they might not have been able to defeat her—but retreating safely should not have been especially difficult. That confidence was precisely why they had dared to venture deep into the snowy mountains in the first place.
But just as the Snow Woman herself had said, they were far too greedy. And so they had been played like fools from the very beginning by the illusion created through the power of the Sesshōseki.
This team of exorcists was far from weak. Although there were no A-rank spiritual power users among them, out of seven or eight people, at least two possessed solid B-rank spiritual strength.
Even so, that kind of lineup was still no match for the Snow Woman. But human exorcists relied on all kinds of spells and tools—their combat strength could never be judged by surface impressions alone.
A team like this, even if the Snow Woman was capable of wiping them out, should not have been defeated so effortlessly.
Yet after casually annihilating this fairly capable group, the Snow Woman quickly repeated the same method on other teams.
The end result for those she targeted was almost always the same: they were turned into ice sculptures, buried forever beneath the vast expanse of white snow.
Just as she had said before—humans were foolish, greedy creatures. And according to their exorcist common sense, they had never heard of a Snow Woman being capable of creating illusions.
Of course, there were cautious individuals among these exorcists. But once they saw their companions "kill" the weakened Snow Woman and seize the Sesshōseki, even the most careful among them could no longer restrain themselves.
Sometimes, the Snow Woman didn't even need to act personally. She would simply watch as exorcists who had been calling each other "brothers" moments ago turned on one another, slaughtering each other over the supposed ownership of the Sesshōseki.
What they didn't know—what made it all so laughable—was that both the Snow Woman they had killed and the so-called Sesshōseki were nothing more than illusions.
And yet these humans fought desperately over something that didn't even exist. By the time they were utterly exhausted, the Snow Woman barely had to expend any effort at all to reap the final harvest.
Using this method—and with the snowy mountains as her home field—the number of exorcists entering the mountains dropped sharply in a very short time.
Soon, however, as the number of remaining targets dwindled, the Snow Woman herself became extremely cautious.
Because although fewer people remained, those who did were without exception opponents she considered troublesome.
One team consisted of more than ten people, and judging by the spiritual pressure they emitted, most of them had reached B-rank.
Another team was small in number, but it included an A-rank spiritual powerhouse—and the aura they gave off was something the Snow Woman found particularly unpleasant.
As for the final team, the reason the Snow Woman paid attention to them had nothing to do with their raw strength.
Their behavior was simply far too strange.
The strongest members of this team were a teenage boy and a sword-wielding shrine maiden, both possessing B+ rank spiritual power.The middle-aged man and the monk among them were around B-rank, and there was also a young girl whose spiritual power was only C-rank.
Such a team couldn't really be called strong—but it wasn't weak either. The Snow Woman had already buried many teams like this.
What surprised her was just how abnormal their actions were.
Everyone else was desperately charging uphill, risking their lives to hunt her down and seize the Sesshōseki.But these people? They had indeed entered the snowy mountain—but they lingered near the foothills, wandering around aimlessly. Even more absurdly, they were actually having snowball fights.
Compared to the others, this group looked less like they were here for the Sesshōseki and more like they were here on vacation.
In the past, if the Snow Woman encountered exorcists who hadn't come with obvious hostility, she wouldn't have taken the initiative to attack them.
But today was different.
She had already decided to teach humanity a cruel, unforgettable lesson.
Anyone who entered the mountain today had to die—no matter what intentions they had originally brought with them.
Among the three remaining teams, the Snow Woman ultimately chose Yūto's group first.
Compared to the other two more dangerous teams, she feared that unforeseen complications might arise if she dealt with them first. It was better to eliminate the weaker humans as quickly as possible.
While Yūto and the others were still happily throwing snowballs, heavy, goose-feather-like snow suddenly began to fall before them. Without any warning at all, the Snow Woman appeared right in front of them.
A beauty so perfect that even women like Kujō Hinano and Yamato Kuga would feel jealous.Skin truly as white as snow.Long hair as beautiful as freshly fallen frost.
The moment the Snow Woman appeared before Yūto's group, the previously laughing and fooling-around members of Kamishiro Issei's team froze in utter shock.
They simply couldn't imagine how the Snow Woman—whom everyone else had failed to find after crossing mountains and ridges—had suddenly appeared right in front of the very group that had been planning to slack off.
Her appearance was far too sudden.
Despite their playful behavior, Kamishiro Issei and the others were professional exorcists. Even while joking around, they had been maintaining a high level of vigilance toward their surroundings.
And yet, the Snow Woman had appeared without the slightest warning—and beforehand, they hadn't sensed even a trace of yōkai aura from her.
"Hiding her presence through ice and snow, huh? Everyone, prepare for combat!"Kamishiro Issei said grimly."So much for taking it easy… things really never go the way you plan."
Even though he couldn't understand why she had主动 sought them out, Kamishiro Issei could clearly sense her hostile intent and immediately warned Yūto and the others to be on guard.
After all, the yōkai standing before them was the infamous Snow Woman. And fighting an A-rank Snow Woman in this kind of environment—it was impossible not to be cautious.
Facing the tense formation of Kamishiro Issei's group, the Snow Woman maintained her icy expression. She casually raised her hands and clapped lightly.
"Roar—! Roar—ROOOAR!"
Accompanied by wave after wave of thunderous roars, tall silhouettes slowly emerged from within the blizzard.
Each of these massive figures stood several meters tall, their bodies covered in thick white fur, to the point that their facial features were barely distinguishable.
When dozens of these hulking shapes appeared in the snowstorm, Kamishiro Issei and the others were once again struck dumb.
These massive, white-furred monsters were also yōkai—known as Snow Beasts.
Snow Beasts were another type of yōkai said to appear frequently in snowy mountains, though their fame was nowhere near that of the Snow Woman.
There were several legends regarding their origins. One claimed that Snow Beasts—also called Snow Men—were of the same race as Snow Women, merely male counterparts.
Another theory suggested that Snow Beasts were formed from the souls of men who had been drained by Snow Women and died in the mountains.
But regardless of which theory was true, one fact was indisputable: Snow Beasts were weaker and far less renowned than Snow Women.
As for why that was… well, one could only assume that people in this country were hopelessly shallow. Compared to a peerlessly beautiful Snow Woman, a huge, ugly Snow Beast simply didn't stand a chance in popularity.
At the moment, Kamishiro Issei and the others had no interest in pondering the origins of Snow Beasts.
Because they had realized just how dire their situation was.
And in their hearts, they cursed the intelligence-gathering teams at least a hundred times over.Who the hell said this snowy mountain only had a lone Snow Woman?!
Then what the hell were these Snow Beasts?!
There were more than ten of them—each one a C-rank yōkai. That alone was more than enough to give them serious trouble.
After all, their side only had five people. Kujō Hinano could barely protect herself against Snow Beasts, let alone face the Snow Woman directly.
Compared to Kamishiro Issei's grim expression, Yūto, staring at the Snow Woman and the Snow Beasts before him, wore a strangely meaningful smile.
Back in the world of the Nurarihyon, Yūto had obtained the skill Mind's Eye, which allowed him to perceive stealth, illusions, and charm techniques. After being enhanced in the Fate world, the skill had grown even more powerful.
Yamato Kuga, after honing her swordsmanship for so long, likely possessed a form of Mind's Eye as well. But the Snow Woman's control over the Sesshōseki was clearly far superior to that of the crude Nurikabe they had encountered before.
So although Yamato Kuga sensed something strange about the Snow Woman and the Snow Beasts, she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.
Yūto, however, saw something entirely different.
Through his Mind's Eye, the Snow Woman and the Snow Beasts before him appeared only as faint, translucent phantoms. Meanwhile, Kamishiro Issei and the others had clearly already fallen into an illusion—fighting fiercely against nothing but empty air.
The brutal environment of the snowy mountains already drained a person's willpower. In such extreme cold, resistance to illusions naturally plummeted even further.
Whether it was the monk Hakuba, whose Buddhist cultivation ran deep, or Yamato Kuga, who had begun to grasp Mind's Eye, none of them were able to avoid being dragged into the Snow Woman's illusion.
Just as Yūto watched Kamishiro Issei and the others desperately struggling against imaginary enemies, and as the Snow Woman—the mastermind behind it all—materialized nearby, preparing to gently end their lives…
A figure suddenly appeared behind her without the slightest warning.
"I don't recall Snow Women being capable of illusion techniques this powerful,"the newcomer said calmly."So it seems the intelligence was right after all—the Sesshōseki really is in your possession."