The Silver Knight:

He TRULY regretted not finishing his Saniya radar on time...

Yuki-onna was already a silent opponent. With this new variable, she was utterly unsettling to fight against.

"Captain, where is she?!" he asked, his voice betraying his growing desperation.

Tash closed her eyes, clenching her paws and scowling. "Damn it. The wench poured so much of her Saniya into this fog. It's a thick layer of protection against my sixth sense." Her expression softened. "Keep your eyes peeled. I'll try to discern her signature amidst this mess. It will take a while."

His heart raced with the crushing responsibility entrusted to him as if there hadn't been enough pressure before. Oh, what was he complaining about?! This was the weak, afraid Asra talking! The Silver Knight was fearless, unflinching in the face of danger, and welcomed the burden of being a true hero of the oppressed!

His legs, laced with a drop of light magic, darted, running circles around the captain like a bestial wolf protecting its young. His Silver Blaster™ was always in hand, pointed to shoot the slightest uncommon glint that pierced through the fog.

"There!" Captain Tash shouted, pointing at somewhere on his right. "She's moving fast around us!"

"What is she scheming?"

"How am I supposed to know?!"

A sharp pang prodded the back of Asra's head.

"Oh, brave Knight. You lost a game you were not aware you were playing..."

The hero turned his head to face his canine comrade!

...Or so that was the intention. Instead, he twisted his left leg fast enough to send a dull ache to his joints.

No... The same technique she used on the captain... He was too busy with Stella's training and weekly patrols to create countermeasures himself!

"KNIGHT! WHY ARE YOU-" The canine was interrupted by the shrill clink of her claw clashing with, most likely, Yuki-onna's ice blade. That added to Asra's distress, petrifying him into a catatonic, helpless state.

He was forced to look forward, not even his eyes obeying him as he caught glimpses of his comrade fighting for her life, her claws doused in lightning while deflecting the Yūrei's arsenal, switching fluidly between weapons like the water she used to liquefy and solidify into her pair of kunai, katana, and scythe. It looked like fighting the Kamaitachi, only merged into a single, deadlier warrior.

"KNIGHT!" Tash's furry arms inflated as she held an ice scythe's hilt with both paws. "Think of your messed up body like a scrambled code! Try to move every muscle you have and decipher the code until you can move well enough to get outta here!"

Yuki-onna's reaping tool melted, freeing it from the captain's grasp, then resolidifying into two kunai. The canine's claws laced with lightning again, clashing against the fake steel and pushing them deeper into the mist where Asra couldn't see any longer.

"It's like a code..." The hero held to the faint hope from his comrade's advice so his mind wouldn't implode from misery. "I need to flex every muscle I can VERY carefully... I can do this..."

Ignoring the sounds of claws and ice colliding and the captain's whimpers of pain that occasionally echoed through the thick air, Asra started flexing every possible part of his body. And yes, that included... his "backdoor."

Why has he thought of clenching that so soon? That would be the last thing most people would think of as the key to deciphering his, so perhaps Yuki-onna went for that to throw him off.

Alas, that action only clenched his right foot's toes. Not very useful...

Still, the fearless defender of righteousness wasn't deterred! He carefully noted in his rewired brain every relevant alternate pathway where his neurons sent information to the muscles.

[abdomen - right arm]

[right foot - left arm]

[left hand - left foot]

[right knee - head]

After flexing so many different muscles, he still couldn't figure out how to move his legs! The pressuring frustration brought to his face the instinctive motion to scowl...

...

Both his legs moved. The clumsy, sudden jerking brought him to the ground. Rather than cursing this turn of events, hope shone brighter in his heart.

But what prompted his inferior members to respond? His eyebrows? His lips? His jaw?

His jaw! Yes, he cracked the code! Gradually, he tensed, relaxed, and rotated it to better grasp his legs' movements, as if he had regressed to a newborn.

Using what he had already deciphered about his arms and knees, The Silver Knight (not so) gracefully stood back to his feet, his heart hammering with anticipation.

"Finally!" He beamed as brightly as the midday Sun. A shame no one could see it. "Wait. Why is it so quiet now?"

Asra sprinted as fast as he could, totally blinded by the white fog. He fought the urge to cry for the captain since using his vocal cords could lead to unprecedented consequences.

"Captain, please..." His breath hitched with fear. "Please, be safe..."

Then, a reminder flashed within his mind. His Saniya flow remained unchanged, including his most trusted technique...

Mustering fortitude and stillness in his psyche, The Silver Knight's entire body reenergized with light magic! The hero's Lightspeed crossed all directions of the shifty mist, though turning was still tricky, which slowed down his progress.

His faith in Namadi was renewed when a turquoise glint caught his eye, prompting him to divert his direction smoothly and naturally, regardless of Yuki-onna's technique! However...

Stolen novel; please report.

The icy Yūrei held her katana above her head, soon to be swinging down on the fallen Wolf captain. A painfully familiar visage...

"No... NO!"

For the next second, he could not register... anything. Not his heart. Not his running, rewired legs. Much less anything happening beyond his tunneled vision.

The Knight didn't think. The Knight didn't plan.

The Knight acted.

...

His mind and body were only reattached by the undeniable strand of torture. His hands clutched a broken piece of the sorceress' blade, pierced right through his torso. The frostbite on his abdomen painfully contrasted with the red, liquid warmth gushing from it, tainting his gloves and running through the sharp block of ice.

All that said, the Human wouldn't change this outcome for the world...

Yuki-onna:

Her thin, pale arms faltered with shock.

The Human, who had the opportunity to escape and fight another day, put his life on the life for a Monoke? Her mind instantly scanned for any signs of illusion-type mind magic.

Nothing unusual was detected except for the very real turn of events.

"Impossible..."

The shaking, armored Human clutched the broken ice blade with shaky hands. "R-Run..." His ragged breath worsened as the red blotch in his gut expanded, crimson ichor dripping into a puddle, melting and besmirching the virgin snow. "Captain..."

Captain Tash's ears twitched, her expression wracked by confusion as the Yūrei's.

Then, as if shrugging the damage completely, the guard's posture straightened before an overwhelming light radiated from every inch of his body, his voice blaring with resounding determination!

"BLINDING HALO!!!"

Yuki was forced to cover her sizzling eyes with her hands. Desperation jolted through her neurons, pushing her to conjure her most durable Saniya barrier! She winced in anticipation of the guards' next strike.

...

......

.........

Yet, nothing did so much as graze her shield. Her eyes gradually adapted, retaking in the visage of the wounded Knight, who had not moved a muscle since then, except for the wound in his stomach slowly being closed by his golden aura, ditching the bloodied sword piece to the floor.

Yuki-onna closed her eyes, searching for his Wolf comrade's presence. However, something in her mind had changed. She couldn't lock to a single signature, perceiving the energy of every living being around her as a chaotic storm, too rapid to dwell on for more than a few seconds, lest her migraine aggravate.

Her sixth sense should still be heightened by her connection to the rune grid. Tash's body was too wounded to allow her to do anything more than a limp attempt to run, so she was still under her radar.

Could it be...? The Human?

"You. Your technique did something more than blind me, correct?"

Despite everything, the Knight chuckled. "An astute observation, Yuki-onna." He seemed to try to move his body, shaking wildly, before giving up. "My special 'Blinding Halo' technique messed with two of your senses: your vision and your Saniya detection!" She could practically glimpse a grin under the black visor. "You're not catching our dear Captain Tash so easily..." His legs buckled, yet he kept his balance, unwilling to show more weakness. "But... it's not her you actually want, is she?"

Well well... The Human was finally out of the bag.

"Tired of deception, I see." She carefully hovered closer to him, her hands weaving to disperse the mist since she had lost its usefulness. "What plot are you initiating, Human? Do not expect me to buy into this 'noble' act."

He slowly shook his head. "There is no scheme, Yuki-onna. What you've seen is what you get. Whether you believe me or not, it is irrelevant."

Her eye twitched.

Raising her index and middle finger together, frozen, crystal-like particles coalesced between them. "You are as irritating as Grýla mentioned. How unfortunate for you that I am not an uneducated, loudmouthed simpleton like those Ogres. I still remember the disgusting golden glow your kind's Saniya emits." A circular, thin object armed with eight spikes formed from the crystals. "Oh, I crave the sensation of taking this helmet off when you have perished..." She allowed her grin to widen as much as it desired. "What will be the expression that will last be etched to your complexion before my ice swallows you whole? Will it be one of despair? Acceptance?" A chuckle escaped her teeth. "Do not disappoint me, 'hero'. That is the only contribution your kind can make for us..."

She swiftly cast the throwing star at the guard's arm, digging deep through the blue undersuit, a layer of frost spreading around the wound.

The Human weakly hissed, his remaining, quivering arm attempting to cover its sibling, but it gave up halfway through. "Use me to vent your frustrations to your heart's content..."

The sorceress rolled her eyes. "If you think you can ruin my enjoyment with your pathetic, saccharine act..." She invoked another throwing star. "Be aware you are only aggravating my anger."

His remaining arm was struck by her makeshift shuriken. Both limbs were now totally immobile.

"I don't know the exact history you have with Humanity. But I can tell your hatred for us is more than justified..."

She clenched her fist, a thick layer of ice encasing it while her disdain for the man boiled to dangerous levels.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!" She threw two more stars at the buffoon's legs, forcing him low to his knees. The crimson blood from each blow froze and ceased coursing before touching the ground.

Her frigid hand reached out to wrap and squeeze around the guard's neck, the frost spreading to his chin and down to his chest.

"Y-You're right..." He gagged on the ice forming inside his throat. "B-But... The child... Stella's just... a child..."

A memory flashed within the sorceress' mind - her darling Tae-fuyu, who barely reached her 500s, beheaded by her former lover's blade. Isamu, the one whose name would be forever burned into her recollections, was covered in her daughter's blood, the same warmth that dripped onto her cold fingers, staring at her with a blank expression before his cohorts lunged at her with a contrasting lust for death in their gaze.

"I had no choice," he claimed. "I regret everything, my love," he swore.

Thoughtless pleas. That bastard always had a choice. She foolishly let him lead her to believe Humans could see past her species' perceived "unsightliness" and coexist, let alone unite in matrimony.

Isamu's betrayal opened her eyes to an undeniable truth: Humans and Monoke cannot share the same plane under the heavens. Their exile in Sayama would eventually be shattered by their greed and will to exterminate any potential "threat."

This Knight was no different. His drivel was fueled by the will to survive. His "noble sacrifice" was clearly a ruse for the queendom to see his fellow Human in a better light, making her a perfect vessel for whatever twisted plot their masters designed.

Yes, it was all now so clear for her... Why was she ever confused?

"I do not negotiate with you demons," she asserted, summoning her ice katana. "Why care for the life of a Human child when your kind could not do the same for OUR offspring?!"

She swung her blade, aiming for his neck. The guard's blank canvas in his visor helped her to picture her former "lover's" face hidden behind it. A dosage of dramatic irony for a fitting demise, which she was too struck by grief to do with the real Isamu long ago...

However...

BOOM!

Behind her, an explosion rippled through the air, stealing her attention, even if she fought the urge not to look at it.

Nevertheless, the intensity of the blast wasn't the issue. It was its location...

"THE CORE RUNE!"

She soared as fast as she could, her body shaking and her heart racing as her strength rapidly left her.

Still, a thin connection lingered between them...

Yuki landed next to the scorched earth. She took enough precautions to erect a barrier surrounding the rune, so not only did the soil's structure remain, but a third of the core rune survived the blast, emitting a faint turquoise glow despite everything...

Coating her fingers with Saniya, the Yūrei diligently worked to fix the centerpiece of her entire plan, slowly drawing the rest of the sigil into the dirt. However, she couldn't help herself, her eyes shifting towards the Knight.

The so-called hero was being held over Captain Tash's shoulder - the one responsible for this surprise attack, most likely. If only her sixth sense had returned...

Yuki-onna couldn't follow the urge to strike them and tear them apart with her bare hands, not when there was the chance that other guards could've escaped her forces' grasp and be patiently waiting for another slip of hers, as far as she was aware. She had no choice but to tend to the core rune...

...

......

They had retreated to the deep woods. Once again, she lost the opportunity to snuff the light out of that Human male's eyes. And this time, no one was to blame but herself...

.........

It was fine. Those two were still stuck inside Yuki's wintery prison. Hundreds of hostages lay frozen under her metaphorical heel.

Sooner or later, they would meet again. And when they do...

She would go straight for their necks.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.