Chapter 30: Ice's Edge
Chapter 30: Ice's Edge
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Uraume's sudden appearance turned the already fractured battlefield upside down, introducing a frigid tension that extended beyond the physical. The icy mist she unleashed covered everything in her path, freezing the ground and making the air crackle under her overwhelming presence. Despite being weakened and partially destroyed by Pikachu's final attack, Uraume returned unstoppable, her vengeance fueled by a devotion to Sukuna that surpassed even the limits of death.
The cursed ice poured from her body like an unstoppable tide, invading Kenjaku's domain. Every corner of the curse and shadow Kenjaku had created was quickly covered in frost, halting the advance of the reanimated corpses of Pikachu's friends, their figures trapped in layers of frozen crystal. Tsubaki Gojo, Jin Murasame, Angel, and Takako Uro, who had been manipulated like macabre puppets, now stood frozen, like cold, inert statues.
With a gaze that shone with suppressed fury, Uraume advanced, his androgynous face marked by a grimace of pure hatred. Each step he took echoed on the frozen ground, his aura dominating the space, dwarfing everything around him.
"I will not let you desecrate Sukuna-sama's legacy," Uraume uttered, his voice echoing like a chilling whisper. His determination was absolute, imbued in every word that left his lips. With a simple wave of his hand, he raised a wall of ice that cut off Kenjaku's shadows from advancing, trapping the stage in a crystal prison.
Kenjaku, standing on the other side of the field, showed no signs of fear. Instead, his smirk grew as he watched Uraume's display of power. He knew well that Uraume was a faithful follower of Sukuna, but to Kenjaku, that religious fervor only made her more predictable. His calculating gaze swept across the frozen field, measuring his opponent's every step.
"Interfere, Uraume? Really? Have you forgotten that it was thanks to me that your dear Sukuna was given a second chance?" Kenjaku sneered, his tone laced with venomous sarcasm.
But Uraume, far from backing down, showed a deeper anger. His gaze hardened, and his response was immediate.
"Shut up," he growled, his face twisted in contempt. "My loyalty is to Sukuna-sama, not to your pathetic promises. He is my god, and I will not let you use him for your selfish ambitions."
The air around him grew colder, to the point where the temperature dropped sharply, turning the battlefield into an arctic landscape. Uraume, arms outstretched, unleashed a technique that had only been seen in legends of his power:
—"Cursed Technique: White Dragon Frost Hell!"
From his palm emerged a colossal beast, a towering dragon made of pure ice. Its scales shone with a frigid light, and its breath froze everything in its path. It roared with such ferocity that space itself seemed to fracture under its power. The dragon advanced, its wings whipping through the air as it headed toward Kenjaku and his manipulated corpses.
The ground was covered in frost as the icy dragon soared into the sky, plunging everything into an atmosphere of frozen death. The corpses of Pikachu's friends were completely trapped in the ice. Tsubaki Gojo and the others, who had been used as puppets, now stood still, immobilized, like macabre monuments to the tragedy of the cursed war.
Tengen, trapped in her mental and physical prison, watched with a mix of horror and hope. Uraume's intervention was a double-edged sword, but her power had stopped, at least for the moment, Kenjaku's manipulations.
Meanwhile, Pikachu, barely conscious, felt his body refusing to move. The weight of the battle was crushing him, but in his mind, the spark of resistance still burned. He couldn't give up, not now, not while the legacy of his friends and the future he had vowed to protect was at stake.
Kenjaku, far from alarmed, spread his arms in a theatrical gesture, his laughter echoing in the frigid air. —"Do you really think this ice show can stop me? This is my domain, Uraume. Your emotions are useless here."
With a simple movement, Kenjaku unleashed a wave of dark cursed energy that collided with Uraume's ice. Its power spread like a wave of shadow, shattering the frozen ground and freeing the trapped corpses. The manipulated bodies began to move again, enveloped in an aura of dark energy.
—"My technique goes beyond ice, Uraume. This is my realm, and in my realm, there is no place for traitors."
The wave of dark energy grew, breaking more of the ice that covered the ground. The corpses of Jin Murasame and the others began to rise, moving like puppets in a macabre performance. Shadows wrapped around them, increasing their power. But Uraume, eyes shining with unwavering fury, was unwilling to give in. Her fingers twitched, and the ice dragon roared again, this time with even greater intensity. The cold it unleashed was so intense that even Kenjaku's cursed energy began to slow down, freezing as it spread across the battlefield.
"Sukuna's legacy will not be destroyed! I don't care how many times I have to drag you with me to hell, Kenjaku!" Uraume exclaimed in a firm voice, her body surrounded by sharp ice crystals.
The clash between the two cursed energies reached its peak, tearing the battlefield apart in a catastrophic collision. Kenjaku's shadows and Uraume's ice collided again and again, destroying everything in their path.
Pikachu, still caught in the storm of power, tried to move, but its body was too weak. He knew that if he didn't do something, everything they had fought to protect would be destroyed.