Kirana VS Gyo

Cracks continued to spread in the ice prison created by Kirana. 

Black smoke billowed out. Soldiers from Heijo, positioned about a dozen meters away from the ice prison, accidentally inhaled the black smoke.

Kirana sensed a bad omen. She leaped high to avoid the smoke, then manipulated the ice rocks around her into an ice bird. 

Kirana landed on it, watching Gyo about to emerge at any moment.

However, before Gyo could fully emerge, the soldiers who had inhaled the black smoke began to fall one by one.

They seemed to struggle to breathe, their skin turning black with patterns resembling dried tree roots. 

Over time, Kirana could see their lives slipping away one by one. All the soldiers stopped moving.

Their bodies now darkened, with eyes revealing only the whites.

Crack! Crack!

Before long, the cracks in the ice prison grew larger, and it crumbled, melting and soaking the ground beneath.

Kirana observed Gyo emerging from the ice prison. But this time, she noticed a change in his body. 

His entire skin was dark like that of a demon's. His eyes glowed red, radiating a strong intent to kill Kirana.

Black smoke enveloped the man's body, creating a terrifying aura around him. 

However, what caught Kirana's attention was the transformation of Gyo's legs, which had now turned into a pair of goat's legs. His hands, too, had increased to four.

It didn't stop there, Kirana thought the transformation had ended. 

But when she looked more closely, there were actually another pair of faces on Gyo's back. Faces of demon-like beings with eyes filled with anger.

"Ugh, Father said he's a mutated human. But... this is more like a monster."

Kirana attempted to send an ice arrow to attack Gyo below. However, with just a swing of his hand, the ice arrow shattered into pieces.

"Hoo, his power has multiplied several times over," Kirana thought, then clasped both her hands together while chanting an incantation. 

A large magic circle appeared on the surface of the earth. 

Then all the ice chunks there transformed into large sharp needles, launching towards Gyo. 

The number of these needles was countless, blocking any escape route for Gyo.

"[Awake]," muttered Gyo, and suddenly all the dead and blackened soldiers awoke with sluggish movements. 

But the moment they all stood, Gyo immediately commanded the undead soldiers to be his shield.

Kirana's magic failed. Only a few needles managed to pierce through the undead shield, stabbing into the mutant man's abdomen.

Unfortunately, even so, Gyo remained unfazed. He pulled out the embedded ice needles, and the wounds healed in an instant. It looked as if nothing had happened.

'Amazing. His regeneration is incredibly fast... this is getting more troublesome.' grumbled Kirana. 

Then, from the scattered ice on the battlefield, she manipulated it into water, which she then turned into mist.

The thick white mist now enveloped the battlefield behind the Heijo army's front lines. 

The soldiers who were previously in a panic became even more frantic, running to escape the encroaching fog.

Meanwhile, Gyo resumed controlling the undead to block the enemy's movements around him.

Seeing the white mist, Gyo was reminded of his battle against the mysterious figure with the coffin in Farnodt. 

The way the mist was created seemed similar, originating from a gathering of water, not directly from a magical incantation.

'It seems my hunch is correct. That mysterious person must be connected to Arcadia. But looking at Kirana's technique, I believe that person is Cien Millard. He's the one who managed to thwart the Demon God.' Gyo thought.

Reflecting on that event made Gyo somewhat annoyed. 

If indeed the mysterious person with the coffin was Cien Millard, Gyo should have done everything to stop him. 

If that had happened, perhaps there wouldn't be anyone to stop the Demon God, and there wouldn't be conflicts with Huntara as there were now. 

It might have prevented the establishment of a new kingdom in Death Valley.

Gyo truly regretted letting Cien go at that time. He didn't expect that the actions of one person could make the situation in Kastia even more complicated. But now, questions arose in his mind.

Back then, Cien Millard came from the direction of Westya. 

What did that mean? Did he do something in Westya? Could it be that Kirana's current presence is also part of the plan of the Arcadian King?

Gyo was confused. He didn't know Cien Millard well. However, for now, he had to set aside these thoughts because Princess Arcadia had begun her attack.

Tang!

Kirana emerged from behind Gyo to behead him. 

Unfortunately, there were now pairs of eyes constantly watching his back. Not to mention the additional hands ready to deflect any surprise attacks from behind.

"I've seen this trick. Don't think I don't know what someone like you is thinking!"

The dark smoke surrounding Gyo instantly spread widely and thickly, poised to engulf Kirana. 

However, Kirana immediately used [Frozen Counter] when the smoke was just inches away from her body.

The billowing black smoke instantly froze, spreading to all the smoke surrounding Gyo, even touching the man's body.

"!"

Gyo was surprised; he jumped away, leaving his now frozen smoke as a decoration in the middle of the battlefield.

Seeing her prey move away, Kirana instructed the ice bird to attack Gyo.

However, with ease, Gyo produced new black smoke from the pores of his skin, and the black smoke became like a sword, slicing the ice bird's body in half.

Kirana lunged at Gyo, who had just finished attacking the ice bird. 

However, the faces on his back and the two additional hands responded by throwing dozens of black knives towards Kirana. 

Although easily defensible, when Kirana looked back at her prey, Gyo's figure had disappeared.

Kirana immediately prepared herself as she sensed a presence behind her. From a wisp of smoke, a hand attacked her with a black scythe.

Realizing the distance was too close to evade, Kirana chose to move her body slightly, offering her left hand to be cut by the scythe.

Slash!

After being severed, Kirana's right hand, holding Moonice, also cut Gyo's hand holding the scythe.

Slash!

"Ugh!"

Gyo groaned in pain. The cloud of smoke moved away and reshaped Gyo's body, although this time he had lost one of his hands.

Gyo looked at Kirana, who had also lost a hand. 

Strangely, he didn't see any expression of pain or anger on her face. He felt puzzled until he realized that no blood was flowing from the severed hand.

'Don't tell me...!'

Yup, what Gyo thought happened. Kirana's hand grew back as if ice was continuously spreading, forming a new hand.

[Ice Body], a skill that allowed Kirana to turn her body into ice. 

Not only that, this skill could also heal any wounds Kirana suffered. Making her somewhat immortal on the battlefield.

Gyo had never seen this technique from Kirana during her time in Ethyria. 

That meant either Kirana had been hiding her power, or she had gained new strength from Arcadia.

Gyo didn't know which was true. But one thing was certain—Kirana had transformed into a formidable enemy. 

Just like individuals with regenerative abilities, they were the most challenging to defeat.

'This is going to be a battle of stamina.' 

Gyo thought, estimating that the winner in the fight between him and Kirana would depend on how much mana each had. 

Regeneration relied on mana, and if the mana was depleted, whether it was Kirana or Gyo, they wouldn't be able to regenerate, ultimately making them vulnerable to defeat.

Unfortunately, Gyo's estimation was somewhat off. 

Although his thought was correct, that the result of the battle would appear if one of the two couldn't regenerate anymore. But never in his mind that situation will happen right now.

Why? Because when Gyo tried to regrow his recently severed hand, he was stunned because he couldn't do it. Or more precisely, something was obstructing the frozen part of his hand.

When Gyo glanced, he found that the severed part had now frozen.

"This...?"

Gyo began to panic; he tried to melt the ice with his black smoke, but it failed. 

He then saw Kirana starting to attack him. Gyo tried to defend himself by blocking every attack while thinking about dealing with his frozen hand.

Unfortunately, while he was busy facing Kirana, the ice that froze his hand began to spread to his arm and now his shoulder.

"Damn!"

Gyo tried to slam Kirana with his power, but his effort failed when he saw the ice wall blocking him.

"!"

From the ice wall in front of him, a hole appeared, and the tip of a rapier emerged, stabbing Gyo's shoulder.

"Ugh... fu*k!"

Gyo retreated. He could feel the shoulder that had just been stabbed starting to freeze as well. 

He tried to heal it, but couldn't. At this moment, he realized it. It wasn't the ice from Kirana that was dangerous; it was her sword that had to be avoided.

Starting to think clearly, Gyo finally thought to just cut off the frozen part. Unfortunately, that thought came too late.

From behind the ice wall in front of him, a large red magical circle instantly appeared. Gyo could feel an extraordinary threat from the size of the magical circle.

He wanted to move away, but his legs were instantly entangled by ice serpents. Coiling around his hips and freezing, rendering him unable to move for a few seconds.

Make enough time for Kirana to use [Fire Slash] with the strength of a Rank 10 attack.

The fiery slash flew, cutting through the ice wall. 

It advanced towards Gyo, who had just freed himself from the ice serpents on his legs. He tried to dodge while creating a wall of his black smoke.

However, before the smoke wall was complete, he suddenly saw a sword hilt flying ahead of the fiery slash behind it.

Touching the black smoke, the sword hilt instantly froze it. Spreading rapidly, it also froze a portion of Gyo's body.

"SON OF A B*TCH!"

Only that curse could be heard before the massive fiery slash swept through Gyo's body.