"Cl▊ss one Cr▊ss-World C▊ntact detect▊d – Gr▊ve diver▊ence in h▊st▊ry."
"What are you?" Four said as she examined the creature that had just appeared before her with narrowed eyes. The ice beneath it was starting to warp and discord and the space around turned into a pitch-black void.
The creature stood silently, clutching a red shield and sword that radiated an otherworldly energy. Its movements were slow and deliberate as it gathered power, completely indifferent to the subzero temperatures suffocating the frozen world.
Without waiting, icicle spikes pierced the creature and tore it apart. The creature seemed to stand there, pierced by those spears of ice and dead.
But just as Four thought it was over, another space warp occurred right behind her. A slash made of holy energy, capable of even cutting dimensions split her in two before she could even react.
The top of her body collapsed onto the icy ground.
"▊▊▊▊▊▊▊▊" Armed with her staff, Sonya, now transformed into her apoptosis form once more examined the body.
Adramalech, who had been pierced by the ice spears stood up again, unbothered by the damage she had received. Both of them disappeared through a space rift and found themselves in Iliasville. The village was cloaked in white, its villagers standing like statues in the middle of the road.
Four stood there once more, at a relatively long distance from the two apoptosis that eroded the space around them. Her appearance was the same as before and the apoptosis understood quickly the nature of her powers.
"Be▊in Era▊ure"
"I won't let you," Four raised her hand once more, enveloping the two apoptosis in ice. A surge of ice going at a supernatural speed struck them both, slowing their movement for a bit.
With a single movement of her sword, Adramalech cut the frozen air and freed herself from the cold prison. Sonya followed suit with a blast of her holy energy, cracking the ice from within.
The village around them began to collapse into a surreal nightmare. The frosted streets twisted and fragmented, textures and shapes dissolving into chaos as the apoptosis' powers corrupted the environment. The ground trembled violently, fissures of black void splitting the ice. Above them, the sky churned into an abyss of absolute darkness, swallowing what little light remained.
Adramalech's eyes glowed with an eerie, crimson hue as she focused her power. Without hesitation, she bent the very fabric of time, vanishing in a blink and reappearing behind Four. Her blade moved faster and she carved the weapon into a pile of shaved ice.
But before the apoptosis could lower her weapon, the frost began to stir. The fragments of ice moved unnaturally, as though guided by a sentient will. They merged with the ground and began rising again.
In a mere second, Four's form was reconstituted, like an ice sculpture carved with intricate precision. She stood behind Adramalech, her hand clutching the very core of the apoptosis.
"You cannot destroy me," Four said, her voice as steady as ever. "I am this very world now."
Without hesitation, her hand and body transformed into a block of crystalline ice, encasing Adramalech in a vice-like embrace. The frost spread rapidly, engulfing the apoptosis in a cocoon that seemed to even stop her existence itself. The subzero chill seeped into every particle of Adramalech's being, her glowing eyes dimming under the oppressive frost.
Above, Sonya took flight, her form alight with holy energy. Raising her staff to the heavens, she began to channel an immense surge of power.
On the ground, Four broke her icy form apart, fracturing into shards before reforming behind the encased Adramalech. With a swift and deliberate motion, she waved her hand. The block of ice split cleanly in two, and with it, Adramalech's body followed suit, the two halves of the apoptosis collapsing to the ground in frozen silence.
Sonya lowered her staff and fired arrows of light one after the other, piercing buildings and statues before blowing up, transforming the air around them into a rain of ice shards. Four's body was hit by one of them but she quickly reformed herself at another location in Snow Heaven, in the hope of stalling the corrosion caused by chaos.
The fight went on as the two apoptosis rose to fight again and again, at a stalemate against the weapon. Even the angels living there could only stand there and watch as no side won over the other.
At least until the entire world was engulfed by chaos.
"That is why I am sending you," Ilias said, her voice resonating with divine authority. "Eden, Gnosis, Zion. The singularity world must not fall here. If it does, the Ark plan cannot succeed, and the Child of Judgment will never awaken."
In the Angelic Dominion, panic rose as the news of what happened in the singularity world reached them.
Eden raised her head while gripping tightly Longinus, the divine spear her goddess gave her. "We will not fail."
"I will destroy whoever did this, Ilias-sama!" Zion said with a determined look, her gauntlet tightening into a fist.
"Do not act alone, this is not an enemy we can fight if you rush like an idiot," Gnosis reminded her other mechanical comrade.
Ilias nodded, her eyes scanning each of her faithful Seraphs. "The Seven Archangels are on standby. If the situation spirals further, they will descend to assist you. For now, your mission is clear: locate the abomination within the singularity world, identify its weakness, and eliminate it before it drags the singularity world into chaos."
The three Seraphs nodded and steeled themselves as the teleportation kicked in. They soon found themselves in the icy world that had become the singularity, the stillness of it all interrupted by tremors coming from below.
Eden, her six wings unfurled, pointed toward the snowy continent in the distance. "They're fighting over there. Let's go!"
Without waiting for a reply, Eden gripped her spear and took flight, cutting through the icy winds with ease. Her focus remained fixed on the battlefield ahead, where the clash of power and the distortion of reality raged.
Zion and Gnosis followed closely, the former moving with the speed of a tempest, the latter calculating every move with precision. Together, they made their way toward the epicenter of the battle.
"Everything is frozen…" the man muttered as he took in the surreal view before him. As he stepped into the world, his expectations had been far from what lay before him. Coming from Hades, he had anticipated the world to be torn apart by the immense surge of magical energy he felt, but what he found was an eerie, frozen wasteland—unlike anything he had imagined.
His enchanted coat kept the biting cold at bay, but he could still feel the subtle tinge of frostbite creeping over his fingers. The numbing chill was only a fleeting discomfort compared to the vastness of the environment that stretched before him. Leaning down, he touched the frost-covered ground, his hand lingering on the ice as if analyzing it.
He closed his eyes, focusing, and then muttered, "It's a kind of spirit spreading itself through water."
Opening his eyes, he scanned his surroundings with a more serious expression, his mind piecing together the puzzle. "Which means I am basically inside her own body right now."
The truth sank into him like a weight in his stomach. It wasn't just water—it was more profound than that. That thing, the presence that stretched through the land, embodied the concepts of 'stillness' and 'cold.' She had become one with the world around her, and in doing so, she had frozen herself. Her consciousness had expanded across the world, locking everything in place, rendering it frozen in time.
He had no doubt that without the enchanted coat protecting him, the world would have gripped him in its unyielding chill, freezing him from the inside out. The world itself had stopped, each element of nature held captive by her will.
"Still, she must have a brain, a core."
It wasn't over. He knew what he had to do. Making it possible was another thing entirely, but he had to try anyway.
"Are you alive?" a voice resonated in his head. "This is Reaper."
The communicating device he handed over to Reaper seemed to work fine.
"I receive you," the man said, nodding along as he walked toward the village. Everything was in tatters, and it was clear the one responsible for freezing the world had fought something.
"Our contract still stands. If you manage to help us through this crisis, I will see what I can do about this girlfriend of yours."
"She is not my girlfriend," the man sighed, irritated.
"Whatever," Reaper replied, dismissively. "I need you to get Luka, the hero of this world. Find the pocket castle and try to retrieve him back here."
The man nodded again. He remembered the guy who had died earlier, and he knew where he had to go to retrieve him. The harder part was how he was going to bring him back to Hades.
"Now, try your best. I'm very busy right now, so don't fail." With those parting words, Reaper severed the connection, leaving the man alone with his thoughts.
He took a deep breath and surveyed the desolate village one last time before heading out toward the lost woods.
It wasn't a long road until he reached the frozen forest. Each tree was turned into a white popsicle, making it quite a beautiful sight to his eyes. It was one he was getting used to it already, however, and he decided to cut straight forward. Thanks to his 'special talents' he found the pocket castle quickly. However, it was encased in ice on the ground. He knelt down to examine it when a voice echoed through the icy woods, sending a chill down his spine.
"Oh? A human?"
The man froze, but as he looked up and saw the angelic figure descending from the sky, he relaxed slightly. The small blonde angel fluttered down with grace. Her face was marked by sadness, and as she landed in front of him, he noticed the shards of ice on her cheeks, tears that had frozen the moment they fell.
She looked at him with quiet, resigned eyes. "Are you here to save them?" she asked softly, her voice thick with grief.
"I am here to save Luka," the man said, ruffling his black hair uncomfortably. "May I ask who you are? And what's wrong?"
"Even now, humans don't recognize me…" the angel softly said. "Inuel… Puruel…" she then murmured, her eyes on the verge of crying again.
The man saw that she was on the verge of breaking down again and grabbed her softly by the head. "Here, it's okay. Everything will be alright."
The angel looked up at him and frowned slightly. "Don't touch me, human."
"R-Right, sorry," he whispered back, his voice apologetic as he quickly withdrew his hand. His eyes turned back toward the pocket castle, focusing on the icy structure before them.
"I tried breaking the ice, but it keeps reforming as soon as I melt it," the angel said, her voice filled with frustration and sorrow as she tried to hold back her tears.
The man observed the situation and nodded. "I can imagine… This ice clearly isn't normal. It's almost alive." he then touched the ice encasing the castle and a tiny arc of red light coursed around his palm. He then punched the ice and to the angel's surprise, it didn't reform itself instantly.
"W-What? How?" she stammered, her eyes wide in disbelief.
The man quickly grabbed the pocket castle and held it in his palm. "Just a little talent of mine. That's all I'm good for, unfortunately." He then handed her the castle and looked at her with expectant eyes. "Can you tell me how to use it?"
The angel stared at the castle for a moment, still taken aback. Slowly, she nodded. "Yes, you just do this and…"
The both of them found themselves transported into the pocket castle, in the courtyard outside. Fortunately, most of it was fine, and the residents, while all packed together in a ball were mostly fine.
Valkyrie, who had been one of the only rescapees from the insanity that had taken over the world stood watch over the monsters who had been neutralized with the help of the angels and the heroes.
"Did Hild do good?" a mechanical voice broke out.
Valkyrie gave a nod, her eyes scanning the area before returning to the robot. "Yes, you did well," she answered with approval, overseeing the final tightening of the ropes around the restrained monsters.
"There, everyone is tied up," Luka swiped his forehead from the sweat he had broken from all the fighting.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Morrigan screamed as she thrashed around. "IMMA KILL HIM!"
"Her mouth is foaming," Cupid said with a worried look.
"Kyu!" Nuruko gestured as if everything would be fine.
The man chuckled quietly, feeling a sense of camaraderie despite the strange circumstances. "So… this is the pocket castle?" he said, his voice calm, as he surveyed the area once more.
"Yes…" the angel replied. "It's a miracle this place is intact. Looks like I've underestimated the monster lord's prowesses in creating such an object…"
Luka turned around upon hearing the familiar voice. "Ilias-sama? What are you doing here?"
The man looked over at the angel, recognizing the name that sometimes the White Rabbit had mentioned during her ramblings.
"Wait… you are Ilias?" the man said, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
The angel's expression remained unreadable, a subtle sadness flickering behind her eyes. "Yes," she answered simply.
Luka stepped forward, his stance serious, his gaze full of concern. "Where are your two companions? I thought—"
"Ugh…" Ilias felt the tears welling up once more, and her voice trembled with the weight of her emotions.
Luka's expression softened as the truth dawned on him. "Ah… I see. I'm sorry." He gave her a compassionate look before turning to the man standing beside Ilias. "And you…?"
"I'm here on behalf of Reaper," the man said with a serious tone. "My name is Wrimbo, glad to meet you, Luka." He held his hand toward him in appreciation.
"Reaper?" Luka exclaimed, clearly surprised that anyone else knew of her existence.
"Yeah, it's a long story…" Wrimbo scratched his head sheepishly, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. "And, uh, if you can't pronounce my name, don't stress about it too much. It's ancient speak from my world. Most people just call me the Bladeless, actually. So you can do the same."
Luka raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued but trying to keep the conversation light. "Then why do you have a sword strapped to your belt?"
Wrimbo's smile faltered slightly, and he gave a small cough before gesturing behind him. "...Another long story…" He cleared his throat, his expression becoming more serious. "Anyway, we need to move. I've been tasked with escorting you to Hades, and after that, I've got to deal with this ice calamity."
Luka's eyes widened with determination. "I will fight too!"
"No, you can't," Wrimbo said, his voice steady but firm. "You're the key to all of this. You're the one who needs to stay safe, so we need you to be okay."
"But—!"
"No means no," Wrimbo said with a sigh, his gaze unwavering. "I know how you feel. Your world is falling apart, and I'm sure it feels like everyone you care about is gone, but right now, you need to focus."
Ilias, who had been quietly watching the exchange, stepped forward, her voice calm yet resolute. "Even if I don't know this man personally, I believe he's right," she said, meeting Luka's eyes. "That thing is too powerful for you right now. You must know when to stop."
Luka stood in silence for a long moment, feeling the weight of their words pressing on him. His chest tightened, but deep down, he knew they were right. His heart was heavy with the helplessness of it all, but he couldn't deny the truth in Ilias's voice. Finally, he exhaled slowly, his shoulders sagging just slightly.
"Alright," he muttered, his voice softer now. "I'll do as you say."
Wrimbo gave a nod of approval, his expression softening. "Good. Let's get moving, then. Don't worry, I'll get rid of that threat."
"Also, I'm surprised you haven't been brainwashed yourself, Luka," Ilias noted while curling a flock of hair around her fingers.
Luka gave a weary shrug. "I don't know. Kazuya and the others have all been infected, but I'm still fine." He glanced down, as if trying to understand the strange immunity he seemed to have.
The silence hung heavy for a moment, and then Wrimbo gave a small nod toward the door. "Let's keep moving," he said, the urgency clear in his voice.
"So… The world froze over. What do we do now?" Daji asked with a concerned tone.
"Well, this world is doomed. It's only a matter of time before these two apoptosis wrecks it into oblivion," Vinum sighed in disappointment.
SubLuka watched through the scrying orb they had set up to look outside of the Land of Night. At first, he felt his stomach churn with the gravity of it all, but now he felt utterly defeated and hopeless.
He knew the world had its problems, but this… this was something beyond comprehension. Two entities capable of erasing space itself, two forces that could tear apart the very fabric of existence. It was a bleak reality, one that no amount of strategy or heroism could seem to challenge.
"Still, to think you humans would invent such a thing," Vinum pointed out, scanning SubLuka's face with a smirk. "You guys really don't know when to stop, don't you?"
"I didn't invent it. The idiots at the Council did," he sighed, his eyes glued to the orb. Est was giving him a shoulder rub to ease his discomfort, but it only made him even angrier. "Fuck… What is this idiot doing when I need her?" he clicked his tongue in frustration. He really needed Seris's help right now but he knew she was stuck in his world.
And I'm stuck with THESE people, he thought darkly, glancing at Vinum and the others. They were a ticking time bomb, unpredictable and dangerous. The moment they grew bored, he knew he'd become little more than a snack to them. It was just a matter of time. He had to find a solution, and fast, or else they'd lose patience—and the consequences of that would be far worse than he could bear.
On the plus side, he thought darkly, their sick minds would probably find a cure for his stupid impotence—just to eat him later.
With a deep breath, he straightened up.
That thing isn't invincible, he thought. Her weakness was obvious after he observed her fight from the orb. The whole world was her consciousness, but her brain could only be in one place at a time. The only issue was that she could move at a speed that was hard to keep up with.
In a matter of seconds, she could go from one side of the world to the other.
"So, boy?" Vinum cut off his thoughts. "Did you find an idea? Or are you giving up?"
She was teasing him, of course. It was all a game for her. All she wanted was to see how far he could go, how much he could endure before breaking.
"Would you be disappointed if I told you how to stop this?" SubLuka asked, half-expecting an honest 'yes' from her.
"I would be if you didn't," Vinum smirked, stepping closer to him, clearly intrigued. "So, what is it?"
SubLuka narrowed his eyes, measuring the sincerity in Vinum's response. "Wait, you're willing to listen to it? I mean, it could be dangerous to you too."
"Hohoho, what would be the fun in seeing a hero break from something else but us?" Daji interjected, her tone mischievous as she eyed Vinum with a playful smirk. "Besides, I'm also worried about Kazuya. So I'm willing to help."
SubLuka's lips twisted into a wry smile. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm lucky or cursed."
"Ufufu… Don't worry too much about it," Est whispered in his ear, her breath warm against his skin. "Now, what is your plan?"
He paused, gathering his thoughts. It was truly one of the worst teams ever, but it was still possible.
"Okay, so what we're going to do is—"
The fight was raging between the two XX-type apoptosis and the fourth weapon. Each clash sent shockwaves through the air, the earth beneath their feet cracking and crumbling into dust. Every strike seemed to shake the very foundation of the battlefield, as their powers collided with an intensity that tore apart the landscape.
Neither side could surpass the other; every attack was met with an equally devastating counter. The battlefield became more and more scarred with each passing moment.
A perpetual stalemate till the end of the world. But that wore down Four's mentality, and she began to display signs of wrath and confusion when confronted with an adversary who kept coming back no matter what she threw at them.
"Why won't you die!?" Four screamed, her voice cracking with desperation as she lifted a massive mountain encased in ice and hurled it with all her might at Adramalech.
The impact was cataclysmic. The shockwave surged from Snow Heaven to Grangold, tearing through the atmosphere with a ferocity that engulfed the village of Snow Heaven in a blizzard of snow and ice. Adramalech, however, even after being destroyed again, reformed herself and continued to slash her way forward.
"Ch▊▊s po▊er, gir▊ !." Adramalech downloaded fragments of the language from the Akashic records, its voice distorted by the strange synthesis. With terrifying speed, it flew toward Four, intent on continuing its assault.
In that instant, Sonya joined the fray. The two XX-type apoptosis synchronized their efforts, creating a powerful vacuum of chaos. The force of it sucked in the ice, attempting to draw in the very core of Four's consciousness—the 'brain' of the weapon.
But Four wasn't done yet. In an instant, she rebuilt herself at another position and created a wall of ice, separating the two apoptosis.
However, as soon as she created that wall, a voice erupted behind her, catching her off guard.
"Longinus! Destroy that monster!" Eden from the Angelic Dominion shouted and threw the divine spear at the girl.
Thrown at blinding speed, the spear collided with the ground right at her feet. "This is—" Four understood the gravity of the situation as soon as she sensed the power emanating from the weapon. It threatened to kill her entirely, no matter how far and wide she had spread her own consciousness on the world.
In an instant, a blinding flash erupted, its brilliance swallowing everything in its path. The force of the divine spear's impact obliterated the ice, and in that blinding light, Four's form flickered and began to disappear. The very essence of her existence seemed to be pulled apart, as though the spear had targeted not just her physical form, but the very foundation of her being.
The flash faded, and her form vanished along with a patch of ice from the impact.
"Eden, behind you!" Zion yelled before breaking away the ice that was coming towards the third original angel.
"She still isn't dead… How dare she!" Gnosis's mechanical jaw clattered in anger upon seeing the girl surviving the divine lance. Using her beam scythe, she cleaved the ice in all directions around Eden to protect her.
The weapon was able to cut the link with the location Longinus had punctured. She separated her consciousness from the ice that had been blasted by the spear.
Eden frowned. It turned out more difficult than she expected.
"We need to end this—now." her voice was low but filled with resolve. The longer this battle dragged on, the more unpredictable it would become. Every second wasted was sending them closer to the end of the singularity world.
"Forbidden Art: Nine Tails Funeral Pyre!"
A voice erupted from behind Eden, and the whole area was now engulfed in flames. As she turned around, she saw the figure of Tamamo, one of the six ancestors of the Monster Realm.
With a mischievous snicker, Tamamo unfolded her fan, its edges flickering with embers as she reveled in the expression on Eden's face. "Sorry to interrupt, but I figured fire would be more effective."
"We don't need your assistance, monster!" Eden shouted, her fury boiling inside her. She was almost ready to destroy her right here and now but the orders of the goddess Ilias took priority. "At least try not to be a burden!" Eden warned before she lunged forward to the battle.
Gnosis, Zion, Adramalech, and Sonya were focused on destroying the threat. Yet every time they thought they had the upper hand, Four would evade with impossible precision, as if playing a twisted game of Whack-A-Mole. One time she was behind Zion, another she was away at a long-range, throwing spears of enchanted ice and shaping the terrain to her advantage.
"She is so annoying!" Zion raged out, throwing wildly her gauntlet in all directions in the hope of hitting her. "Stay still dammit!"
"She's a spirit, you idiots," she said, her voice dripping with amused condescension. "No matter how many times you hit her, it won't make a difference. You might as well try to punch the wind."
Gnosis halted mid-swing, her beam scythe crackling with energy. She turned her mechanical gaze toward Tamamo, her voice cold and sharp. "If you're so knowledgeable, fox, then why don't you enlighten us on how to destroy her?"
Tamamo's playful demeanor faltered slightly, a frown tugging at her lips. "I'm working on it," she replied curtly. Despite her vast knowledge of spirits and undead, Four presented a perplexing enigma. The entity before them was undeniably a spirit, but something ancient and untraceable had fused with her essence. The formula that created this weapon was beyond even her understanding—at least for now.
Still, the puzzle intrigued her. If she survived this battle, it would certainly be worth further study.
Also, what were the two apoptosis doing? The last time Tamamo saw them, they had been destroyed. It was strange they hadn't regenerated yet, given their persistence.
Her musings were interrupted by a flash of red lightning that cracked through the air, slicing an ice projectile aimed directly at her in half. The fractured shards melted before they could touch the ground. Tamamo turned sharply, her tails bristling, and her eyes narrowed at the source of the sudden interference.
"Need some help?" a calm yet commanding voice cut through the din of battle. Another crackle of crimson lightning danced in the air, dispersing the icy mist lingering around Tamamo.
"Well, well. If it isn't little Ilias. And…"
The fox ancestor's smile quickly faded as her gaze landed on the second newcomer—a man who stepped forward with quiet authority, his crimson lightning still crackling around his outstretched hand. His dark cloak billowed in the blizzard, and his sharp eyes carried an intensity that seemed to pierce straight through her.
Tamamo's fan lowered slightly. "I don't recall ever seeing you," she said, her tone less playful now, her sharp instincts kicking in. She could sense the immense power radiating from him, but its source was unlike anything she'd encountered before.
"Introductions can wait," Ilias cut in sharply. "We need to deal with that thing —now."
The man said nothing but nodded curtly, his eyes locking on the weapon afar, fighting the two apoptosis. He examined the situation for a while before turning to Tamamo.
"I'm not as fast as her. If you can, force her to come close to me," he said.
Tamamo raised an eyebrow, her tails flicking as a sly smile crept back onto her face. "Oh? Giving orders already, are we? Bold of you." However, her smirk was short-lived. The way he stared at her gave her the creeps and she soon tempered her teasing.
"Fine," she said, snapping her fan shut with a flourish. "I'll play along. But if this doesn't work, don't expect me to save you."
The man gave a slight nod of acknowledgment, his attention already returning to Four.
Tamamo warped time and space to approach the weapon. "Hey little ice cream…" she whispered to her. "How about a real challenge? Or are you too busy running away?"
It was a simple tactic, of course, she knew that. But sometimes the simpler the better.
Four's attention shifted sharply, her cold, calculating blue eyes narrowing on the fox ancestor. Without a word, she conjured dozens of ice spears that came out from the ground toward Tamamo, intent on silencing her taunts.
Tamamo, unfazed, twirled her fan with effortless grace, deflecting the oncoming spears as if batting away pesky insects. Each impact sent shards flying, but none could breach her defense.
"Not bad, little popsicle," Tamamo taunted. "But I thought you were supposed to be a challenge."
Four's expression remained stoic, but her icy aura intensified. The ground beneath her cracked and splintered as she prepared to retreat at full speed.
Before she could retreat to reposition, a wall of radiant flames erupted behind her, cutting off her escape. "Nowhere to run now, is there?"
Four turned, her frosty gaze locking onto Tamamo. Without hesitation, she lunged forward, catching even the fox ancestor momentarily off guard. Tamamo stepped back, her fan flicking open defensively as she began retreating toward the man.
The trap was set; all that remained was for him to strike.
Using her magic, Four formed a blade of enchanted ice in the place of her left arm and poised to cut the fox mercilessly. But Tamamo had already anticipated the movement, stepping aside in a blur of motion as Four's glaived slashed the empty space.
This was it—the opening the man had been waiting for.
In an instant, a blade materialized in his hand, surrounded by an arc of searing crimson lightning. The weapon pulsed with an aura so intense that even Tamamo paused, her usually composed expression betraying a flicker of unease. Her nine tails stood rigid, sensing the sheer destructive potential emanating from it.
This was no ordinary power. It was neither magic nor science but something far more primordial, far more absolute. It wasn't bound by the rules of the mystical or the constraints of technology. It was an energy designed for one purpose alone: the annihilation of anything supernatural in the world of man.
Mythical creatures, divine beings, magic—it didn't matter. Before this energy, all such forces were rendered powerless. Only the untainted existence of humanity itself could remain unharmed from it.
Tamamo stepped back, her instincts screaming caution. "What is that?" she murmured, her tone uncharacteristically serious.
A single slash coursed through the ice sculpture that was Four's body. It was nothing impressive for the naked eye. The swing came quietly, no shards were sent flying, no big explosion, it was just a simple cut.
Four's body crashed into the snow. The power that had cut her tried to destroy her being as it spread to every part of her consciousness. She felt her structure fall apart with each passing moment, her movements became sluggish and muted as she tried to flee from them.
Yet, even as her whole being was deteriorating, she fought to escape, her will clinging stubbornly to survival.
Her whole body turned into snow, and a dead silence fell upon the battlefield.
"Is… Is it over?" Ilias asked, her face bewildered upon seeing that calamity being put down with so much ease.
"No," the man replied, his gaze steady on the corpse. "I don't know how but she—"
Before he could say anything more, the ground started to shake. Not from the erosion of chaos no, but from the snow slowly moving and gathering toward them.
From there stood another body of Four, her eyes filled with fury toward the man who had cut her. The cut—the one she suffered was still present in this sculpture as if she was unable to rebuild herself correctly.
"You… You insolent…" she growled, the ground shaking even more with her rage.
"And now she is throwing a temper tantrum…" the swordsman sighed. "I wounded her but she moves her core so fast I couldn't destroy it entirely."
Ilias' gaze flickered between the man and the resurrected form of Four. "Then what do we do now?"
"You wait for me to save the day!" SubLuka's voice echoed throughout Snow Heaven. From there, every gaze turned upward to see him falling down, his jacket flapping wildly against the wind.
Vinum was attached to his back, her face saying more than a thousand words about how she hated this.
Daji followed close behind, her hand attached to the sleeve of his jacket, and Est floated behind them, unbothered by the cold thanks to her Nightmare body.
Four's furious eyes flickered upward, her body tensing, ready to react to the unexpected newcomers.
In this cold, no normal humans without protection could survive. Taking that into account, there was no way for him to even step foot outside the Land of Night.
"You're a succubus, right, Vinum? That means you can transfer your life force to me."
Since his battle with the demon king, SubLuka had lost the ability to naturally access his mana. Every spell he cast, every shred of magic he used, was drawn from external sources—the Od in the air, enchanted stones, or, most perilously, his own life force.
With that in mind, even if used his control spell to lower the temperature around him, he wouldn't last for long as his life force would give way before he could even fight.
But with a portable succubus giving him enough life force, now, he could go as wild as he wanted. The bubble he had created with his magic surrounding him, Daji and Vinum was now good enough for him to survive the cold.
"Talismans, fire!" he shouted and aimed his launcher towards the group below.
The talismans landed quickly in four directions around the group and exploded in a flash of light. A barrier was quickly created around them, and SubLuka landed.
"You really pull off the weirdest spells…" Vinum mused upon seeing the boy's magic. "It only anchors the mind of the people to this space."
"Are you sure you're not cold?" Daji asked, her golden eyes sparkling mischievously as her tongue flicked out. She leaned closer, a teasing smirk on her lips. "I could always tuck you away in my kimono, you know."
SubLuka shot her a look of irritation. "I'm sure, you idiot!" he snapped, clearly annoyed. "Now focus on protecting us!"
"Once we arrive, I will trap her into a barrier so that she won't be able to reform somewhere else," the second part of the plan was done.
"I, Eden, will support you!" The angel arrived right next to them and poised her spear.
"I hate to say it but I don't have much time left," Tamamo said, her form already flickering as the world's balance began pulling her back to her own realm. "The rest is up to you, angels." And with that, she vanished, leaving only the faintest shimmer of her presence behind.
"You think you can trap me in this stupid barrier?" Four scowled. But her eyes went wide with realization when a certain voice echoed in her mind.
That's him! That's Luka! Get rid of him now!
As if to answer the call, Sonya appeared out of nowhere and swung her staff toward SubLuka.
"Wha—" he choked out as he saw the distorted form of the priest crackling with energy, trying to kill him.
Eden blocked the attack with all her might, but the accumulated experience the apoptosis gained from fighting the weapon turned her into a much more powerful foe than the one she fought back at Ilias Temple.
"Urgh!" Eden let out a strained cry as the force of the blow pushed her back, cracks forming beneath her feet in the snow.
SubLuka ducked instinctively as a barrage of ice spears materialized midair and hurtled toward him. "Seriously, what did I do to this chick?!" he shouted, twisting his body to evade the frozen projectiles. His movements were quick, but the weight of Vinum clinging to his back added an extra challenge.
Vinum's arms tightened around his shoulders as she braced against the motion. "Careful, boy. I don't want one of those spears to hit me."
"Just focus on the energy supply!"
With a step of Four, SubLuka could feel the ground beneath him change and an omen of death gripped him. "Daji!!"
"Hohoho! On it!" the fox laughed heartily before warping the three of them around inside the enclosed barrier just in time to avoid the ice spikes menacing to skewer him.
Est who had been flying arrived just in time behind the weapon, unnoticed. "Ufufu, fall into a dream little one."
A spell intended to hypnotize the target was launched at Four, and with the power of a Nightmare, even a spirit of ice could fall victim to her charms.
It was for a split second, but at that moment, she was distracted by Est.
" Next, Est is going to charm her. Considering you are on the same level as my friend, I think you can pull it off." The third step of the plan was done.
However, Adramalech appeared right in between the group and their enemy and targeted Four.
"No! Don't wake her up!" SubLuka shouted, gritting his teeth as he saw the apoptosis ready to stab the weapon.
Another force arrived just in time to stop the apoptosis, the swordsman Wrimbo stepping in just in time to deflect Adramalech's sword. "Now, Luka!" the man shouted over his shoulder as he fought back the apoptosis.
SubLuka jumped forward. "Give me everything you got, Vinum!"
"Good grief," Vinum muttered, though her voice carried a playful edge. "You work me to the bone, boy." Despite her words, a sly smirk tugged at her lips as she channeled a surge of energy into him.
A fiery warmth coursed through SubLuka, igniting his every nerve. The now-able mage joined his hands in unison and began chanting.
Two steps, he was two steps away from the girl.
She woke up. Her head turned around just in time to see the threat coming towards her. In less than one second, her arm shot toward him, ready to kill.
"I won't let you~" Daji's voice interrupted her as the fox transformed into an Alraune and shot her vines to diverge slightly the position of her arm off course, making her miss her ice bullet.
The bullet of ice thrown at supersonic speed grazed SubLuka's cheek, leaving a trail of blood and frost as he grabbed her wrist.
"If I manage to isolate her sense of self to only her body, we might be able to kill her." Now, the most important part of the plan was set in motion.
It was a dreadful gamble, a battle of the speed of the mind. How long until she would surpass his protection against the cold? How long until he would find the very core of her being?
It all happened in a fraction of a second, but it was there. His hand was numb with cold, the frostbite now taking over his arm.
He could feel it. Her consciousness expanded inside the space encased by the talismans. The cage was enough to stop her from reforming somewhere far away, but it wasn't enough to kill her.
What they had to do, was destroy every last bit of her, every molecule of water connected to her consciousness.
He had hoped to hijack her awareness and localize it to her own body, but she was faster. His control spell failed, and he returned to reality.
The frost had completely taken his arm now, with the cold cutting through his nerves like daggers. The anguish was excruciating, piercing his consciousness with an intensity that threatened to consume him.
Still, he held on, his teeth clenched as he fought through the excruciating pain. Failure wasn't an option.
"Die!!" Four screamed as the ice took over him.
A flash of inspiration came through him. The flaming lizard that tried to punch him earlier surfaced in his mind.
"Burning spirit… Flame on!" he shouted, his arm now more painful than ever as flames shout out from his very body.
The ice began to melt, evaporating in a cloud of steam as the fire devoured it. SubLuka's body screamed in agony and rage, but he endured. His arm, still clenched around Four's wrist, fought against the freezing grip of her power.
Now, he could try again. "Control!!" he cried again, forcing his mind to listen to his heart as the pain threatened to consume him.
A vast sea of nothingness surged through his mind.
A small village where a little girl was sold to inconspicuous mages.
A prison of ice.
"Now!" he had it. The core of her very being, her memories.
As if it was their boss, Gnosis and Zion appeared in unison one slashing the arm that threatened to turn SubLuka's body into an ice cube and the other punching the weapon into ice shards.
Vinum, behind his back, held her hand toward the weapon after confirming that everything worked. "Omega blaze!" she exclaimed.
A blazing inferno erupted from her, a searing wall of flame that swept across the battlefield. It collided with the remnants of Four's form, engulfing her in an explosion of heat.
Despite the flames, despite the sheer force of the attack, SubLuka knew—he felt it. There was still something there. Even reduced to vapor and steam, the essence of her, the water that formed her being, remained.
She was not gone.
Water. That was her very existence. Her very nature.
Even with her consciousness shattered, even with her physical form reduced to steam, there was no true annihilation. Water couldn't be destroyed by fire alone. It could be vaporized, it could be turned to steam, but the cycle would continue, and it would reform.
SubLuka's heart thundered in his chest. The only thing that could erase her now was extreme heat, something above 2,000°C (3,632°F).
But SubLuka was anything but ordinary. He may be called weak, a mere human, but the detective had fought demons, gods, and even primordial forces of nature in the past. Though he didn't exactly 'fight' one of them and instead befriended it.
There was a spell he had once conjured long ago, a feat so taxing it had stripped him of his natural ability to channel mana. Even attempting it now would have been unthinkable—if not for the ancient succubus fueling him.
But with Vinum's life force coursing through him, the impossible became trivial.
Truly it was unfair that a genius in magic like him was reduced to make-do with his little reserves.
In a world with enough mana, he would've been unstoppable.
"Grand magic: Activate…" he raised his hand in a receiving state, and uncurled his index towards the steam. Atoms began to coalesce at his command, their bonds twisting and bending to his will.
Mystics added with the knowledge of science.
A natural phenomenon only achievable by someone capable of immense control.
"Star of dawn."
A blinding flash erupted from his hand, the intensity rivaling the birth of a star. It was pure, radiant light and unimaginable heat, converging into a searing sphere that burned with the fury of the sun's surface. The temperature soared beyond reason, obliterating the H2O molecules suspended in the air. Every droplet, every vaporized fragment of her being, was consumed by the heat.
The battlefield warped around the inferno, the air trembling under the sheer force of the spell. The energy of the spell coalesced into a short-range explosion, leaving nothing but scorched earth and silence in its wake.
As the light dimmed, a vacuum formed where the steam had once been. The vapor was gone—erased at a molecular level. The landscape lay charred and lifeless, marked by the overwhelming power of SubLuka's magic.
For a moment, silence reigned. The onlookers stood frozen, their expressions a mixture of awe and disbelief. None had anticipated such devastating energy from the seemingly fragile mage.
SubLuka swayed, his legs trembling under the strain. His face had turned pale, his strength drained. He exhaled shakily, his body crumpling to the snow as exhaustion overtook him. The cold bit into him, but he no longer cared.
Even if this was where his life ended, he had done it. He had corrected at least one mistake from his shattered world. And for him, that was enough.
Feeling the last of his strength drained, he collapsed completely, his heartbeat beating ever so slowly…