They say Hyokoku was once warm.
Before the snow buried the heavens… before the winds howled like restless gods. Before the Frostfall, the north was green. But nine hundred years ago, one man changed everything — the Winter Shogun, a warlord of unimaginable power, who awakened the forbidden art of Soul Resonance and froze the entire northern realm in an instant.
Then He vanished without a trace. left with legend .
Now, Hyokoku is a land of silence and storm. Snow falls without end for 900 years.
which shows how terrifying his winter shogun , then still rumor about him ,
Was he sealed under the earth? or Sealed himself. And some say it's divine punishment for his sins. Others whisper that beneath the ice sleeps something darker — and the snow is not to bury it but to keep it trapped.
The scene shifts to a remote valley village — there was a humanoid mecha, , unidentified , buried under grey skies and heavy silence.
Two figures approached, trudging through waist-deep snow, their breaths fogging in the freezing air.
"There it is," muttered the taller one, pointing with a gloved hand.
The object jutted from the snow like a buried beast — a rusted metallic torso, humanoid in shape, partially torn open at the chest. Unlike the regular Yoroi Golem mechs sanctioned by the Daimyo, this one was crude. Ancient. Marked with strange runes that pulsed dimly, like a heartbeat on the verge of death.
"Definitely not Shogunate tech," the shorter man said, knocking on its chest. "What do you think?"
"Not ours. Not theirs either," replied the taller one. "Old. Maybe even pre-Frostfall."
"You were a mech pilot once, right?"
"Retired," he muttered, brushing off snow to find a jagged emblem carved into its plating. "This isn't in any experience; first time I've seen…"
They spent an hour trying to dig it out, pushing, prying, and even attempting to override it with a power core. Nothing worked. The thing was sealed to the mountain like a grave marker.
"Let's bring more men tomorrow," said the shorter one, dusting off his coat. "We can haul it to the outpost and report it."
As they turned to leave, a sound echoed—snap. A twig, not far.
One of them froze mid-step. "Did you hear that?"
He turned his head.
A shadow blurred past his vision.
He blinked — and his companion was gone. In his place: blood in the snow. Still warm. Still steaming.
He backed up, breath panicked, heart a war drum.
Then it came.
From the trees emerged a creature that defied the human form. Towering. Bestial. Its body was metal, but it moved like a living thing — not piloted, not controlled. Its face was a shattered mask, and from within glowed demonic energy, pulsing red like a cursed heart.
He screamed.
The Oni-Frame did not wait.
In less than a second, the snow drank his body, and all that remained was silence… again.
Hyokoku Capital—Yukihara City
The next day
The city bustled, as always.
Despite the eternal winter, life thrived. Merchants hawked snow-resistant fabrics, smiths worked within fire-shielded domes, and steam mechs clunked down the cobbled roads like armored giants. Snow spiraled lazily through the air, but no one looked up. In Hyokoku, it always snowed.
Among the crowd darted a girl, moving quickly through alleyways and streets.
She was small, nimble, wrapped in a black scarf and long winter kimono, avoiding soldiers and yokai detectors with practiced ease. Her name was Yukiko — a name that meant "snow child," and fittingly, she moved like a gust of it.
She reached a crumbling hilltop shrine at the city's edge. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she knelt before it, whispered an old chant, and tapped the wood three times.
A soft click.
Behind the shrine, a stone slid away, revealing a hidden passage. She slipped in.
Torches along the walls lit themselves as she moved. Downward. Deep. Until the air grew colder, but the flames still burned.
At the end: a vast, circular chamber carved into the mountain — filled with crates, scrolls, and humming devices salvaged from forbidden zones. Five young figures stood within, all her age or slightly older. Engineers. Outcasts. Researchers of things the Daimyo forbade.
When they saw her, they stood.
"She's back!" One of them cried. "Yukiko's here!"
But her face told a different story.
"Did you get it?" asked a boy in glasses, stepping forward with anxious energy.
"The relic? Was it secured?"
Yukiko's voice was low. "I almost had it. If… it hadn't appeared, I'd have succeeded."
The room fell silent.
"What appeared?" asked Ren, the tall boy with silver-streaked hair — the leader of the group.
"I got past the castle guards," she explained. "Broke through the inner sanctum. Found the relic chamber. The artifact was there — a containment shard filled with pure yokai energy. I grabbed it."
She paused. Her fingers trembled.
"But as I was leaving… my hand froze. Then my legs. My whole body — locked in ice. And then… it came."
"What came?"
"A mech," she said. "But not piloted. It moved… like it was alive. No cockpit. No operator. It looked at me. Not scanned — looked. It spoke. Told me I was
'worthy to be spared.' Took the relic… and vanished."
The group was stunned.
"That's impossible," said one. "Yoroi (mecha) don't move without pilots."
"I'm telling the truth."
Ren looked at her with a hard gaze, then softened. "I believe you."
Yukiko whipped her head toward him. "You said it was a simple snatch mission,
Ren. That there'd be guards at most — not a self-conscious mecha."
"I didn't know," Ren said, pacing. "This… changes things. If Fuyugami's relics are guarded by autonomous mechs, it means he's unlocking tech lost since the Shogun's time. We're not just stealing power anymore —we're trying to outpace history itself."
He turned to the others.
"As leader, I planned this operation. And I failed. We're researchers, not warriors. Yukiko's the only one with combat training, and even she couldn't stop it.
We need a capable person to do hard missions."
"We lack combat strength. We are aiming to uncover the secret of mechs; it is impossible if we can't fight. Fuyugami House , which was ruled and controlled by Daimyo Lord Yukinari Fuyugami .
Silence fell again.
Then Yukiko, in a calm voice, sipping hot soup, said, "I know someone. Stronger than me." He was worthy for our group.
All eyes turned.
"A senior from my army days. Skilled beyond belief. If anyone can help us, it's him."
Ren narrowed his eyes. "Who?"
She hesitated, then said the name: "Shiro Kenzen."
Every face in the room went pale. Goosebumps rose.
"Impossible," muttered one. "He's a ghost. A forgotten hero."
"No one's seen him in years," another whispered. "He vanished after the front-line collapse."
Ren crossed his arms. "If he's real and still alive… then yes.
He's our only hope."
Yukiko stepped forward. Her voice was quiet but unwavering.
"I know a way." We can find Him