The air cracked like breaking glass.
Daigo Yamamoto squinted through the blizzard, his breath forming clouds in the freezing wind. His eyes locked on the creature ahead, its pale body half-hidden by snow and shadows. He muttered under his breath, "So this is the Ice Shikiban…"
Behind him, Ishigo and Yeaga stood firm. Their weapons were drawn. Blood crusted their clothes, and the exhaustion in their eyes told stories of the battles they'd survived. But right now, none of that mattered. They were together—three warriors, one purpose.
The battlefield was a ruin of ice and fury. Snow churned beneath their feet, and scattered bodies of lesser beasts lay frozen in grotesque poses. The cold wasn't just biting—it was alive, pulsing through the air with malevolence.
A sound broke the silence. The Ice Shikiban laughed.
It wasn't a normal laugh. It was deep, echoing, as if the creature's voice was carried by the storm itself. Slowly, it stepped forward—tall, gaunt, elegant in the most terrifying way. Ice armor clung to its limbs like second skin. Its eyes were like glacier shards: empty and merciless.
"Do you think you can understand us?" it said, voice distant but clear. "You walk on cursed ground. Hope here... is a lie."
Daigo didn't flinch. "Hope might be a lie, but will isn't." He stepped forward, sword raised. "We don't need warmth to burn you down."
Without warning, the Shikiban thrust its hand forward. Spikes of ice exploded from the ground, racing toward the trio like a sea of spears.
"MOVE!" Daigo barked.
They split instantly. Daigo rolled to the left, slashing through the nearest spike with sheer power. Ishigo leaped back, barely avoiding a shard that grazed his leg. Yeaga ducked low, blade slicing through two spears with precise, clean cuts.
Ice shattered around them. The shockwave sent snow into the air like a bomb had gone off.
Daigo planted his foot into the ground and charged. "Now!"
Ishigo joined him, yelling as he brought his blade down in a furious arc. Yeaga flanked from the side, his movements silent and efficient. The three of them hit like a storm, weapons clashing against the Shikiban's icy claws.
The creature moved fast—unnaturally fast. It twisted around Daigo's strike, parried Ishigo's blade with one hand, and blocked Yeaga's attack with a flash of frozen armor.
Then it retaliated.
With a spin, it unleashed a shockwave of frost that knocked all three back. Daigo crashed into a boulder, coughing blood. Ishigo hit the ground hard, his arm twisted unnaturally. Yeaga slid backward but stayed upright, blood dripping from a cut across his face.
The Shikiban didn't stop. It raised both arms, and a pillar of ice erupted beneath Ishigo. The boy cried out as he was launched into the air—bleeding, spinning, falling.
"ISHIGO!" Daigo roared.
Yeaga leapt into the air, caught Ishigo mid-fall, and twisted midair to land on his feet. The moment they hit the ground, Yeaga shoved Ishigo behind cover and turned back to the fight.
"Thanks," Ishigo groaned, trying to stand.
"Stay down," Yeaga snapped. "He'll kill you in that state."
Daigo wiped the blood from his lip and stood up again. His sword pulsed in his hand. "We're not done."
Far across the ice field, Reika fought her own war.
She was alone, separated from the others by a wave of Shikiban spawn. Her clothes were torn, blood marked her skin, and her breaths came out in ragged bursts. But her eyes—green, furious—still burned with life.
Another enemy lunged at her from the fog. She sidestepped, slashed upward, and the creature's head hit the ground before its body. Her movements were shaky, but deadly.
"I won't be your pawn," she growled, voice low and hateful.
She could hear them—Daigo, Ishigo, Yeaga. Somewhere beyond this storm, they were still fighting. Still alive. She had to get to them.
Another enemy closed in. Reika ducked under its blade, drove her foot into its knee, and thrust her sword through its throat. Ice shattered. Blood spilled. She didn't stop moving.
Her body screamed in protest. Her wounds throbbed. Her lungs burned with every breath.
But she kept going.
Back at the frontline, the Shikiban unleashed another attack. With both arms extended, it summoned a wall of jagged ice that roared across the battlefield like a tsunami.
Daigo threw his body over Ishigo and Yeaga, shielding them with a massive block of fallen stone. The impact shook the entire field. The wall cracked the ground beneath them, cutting off escape routes and creating a canyon of death.
"Every time this thing moves, it changes the whole damn battlefield," Daigo muttered, gritting his teeth.
Ishigo coughed. "This thing… it's playing with us."
Yeaga said nothing. But his eyes were cold, calculating. Watching. Waiting.
The Shikiban stepped forward slowly, savoring the moment.
Daigo stood again. "Every enemy has a weakness."
"Then find it," Yeaga said sharply. "Before it kills us."
Daigo nodded once. Then he sprinted forward.
Steel clashed with ice. Daigo moved like a machine—strike after strike, never hesitating, never stopping. The Shikiban blocked and countered with monstrous strength, but Daigo didn't give it room to breathe.
"Ishigo!" Daigo shouted. "Flank from the left!"
"I can't—my arm—"
"Then use your other one! Move!"
Ishigo gritted his teeth and ran. His off-hand swung his blade in awkward but desperate arcs. The Shikiban turned its attention toward him for just a moment—and that was the opening.
Yeaga struck from behind. His blade pierced through the creature's back, cracking the ice armor in one swift, brutal motion.
The Shikiban screamed.
Daigo slammed his sword through its chest with a roar. Ice shattered everywhere. The impact created a burst of cold energy that sent shockwaves across the field.
The creature staggered, screeching in pain—but it wasn't dead.
"Reika—!" Daigo turned his head just in time to see her sprinting through the snow, blood trailing behind her. Her sword was already raised. "NOW!"
With a war cry that echoed across the wasteland, Reika lunged.
Her blade glowed faintly as she drove it into the Shikiban's throat.
The creature froze.
Literally.
Its entire body crystallized, frozen mid-scream. Cracks formed all over its frame as frost spread across its limbs, its face, its eyes. Then—
It shattered.
Silence fell.
Reika dropped to her knees. Daigo was already beside her, catching her before she collapsed.
"You made it," he said, breathless.
"I always do," she whispered.
Yeaga and Ishigo approached slowly. The battlefield was quiet now. Broken. Cold. But the storm had finally stopped.
The four of them stood among the ice and blood, surrounded by the shattered remains of a monster that had nearly broken them.
But it didn't.
They lived.
And the war wasn't over yet.