Ice 3

Karah extended her fingers and dozens of razor-sharp ice shards manifested midair, they hovered for a second then launched towards me quickly like a storm of frozen knives.

I didn't dodge.

Instead, I slashed my Cultro, not at the shards but at the air.

And I cut the air itself, sending outwards a pulse of Sefor, disrupting the shards' trajectory.

Some of the shards froze midair, while some veered off course.

Still, after all that, a few of them drew lines of blood on my arms.

And she just stood there watching my reactions and testing my instincts.

Karah stomped the ground.

The ice beneath her rippled out like liquid, reshaping the battlefield into a jagged frozen maze.

Pillars rose up and fell, walls of frost blocked certain paths.

She disappeared behind one of the new structures, using the terrain to her advantage.

I sensed her presence shifting, echoing through the ice, she was using the landscape itself to hide her movements.

Karah reappeared above me, standing upside-down on an inverted platform of hers.

She dropped suddenly, launching herself at me with an ice-forged Cultro, faster than before.

I parried it just in time, but the moment our blades connected, she twisted her wrist causing her ice Cultro to fracture into smaller shards mid-attack, each one redirecting towards a different Cultro flared with Sefor, and I span, cutting the shards in a tight, controlled movement.

But Karah was already behind me, forming another weapon, a cursed scythe of ice.

And she swung it.

I ducked at the last second, but not to dodge.

I kicked off the ice beneath me, launching myself upward, flipping over her attack.

While midair, I released short bursts of Sefor from my feet, using them like controlled thrusters to change direction mid-dash.

And I faked a downward slash, forcing her to block, but at the last moment, I redirected the strike, feinting toward her side.

She raised a frozen shield from her hand but it was too slow. 

My blade cut right through it, sending a crack through her defenses.

Karah stumbled back.

The moment of weakness was there.

She slammed her palm into the ground, and the ice maze collapsed, merging into a single colossal structure.

A towering titan of ice stood in front of me, easily thirty feet tall, its eyes glowing blue.

Its arm swung towards me, an avalanche in motion,

I couldn't dodge, there is no space.

So I charged forward.

At the last second, I jumped, running up the titan's arm as it swung downwards.

While running, Karah appeared on the titan's shoulder, throwing a spear of ice directly at my heart,

I twisted, letting Sefor consume my left arm turning it into a flickering blur of light, and catching the spear before it pierced my heart, redirecting it straight back at her.

She barely dodged it.

This was my moment.

I pushed off the titan's shoulder, flipping over Karah.

My blade hummed.

Sefor coiled around me, forming not just a weapon, but an extension of myself.

A single perfect strike.

As I descended, my blade met her ice defenses and cut right through them like water.

A deep crack split the titan's in two.

Karah fell down, landing hard on the ice.

She gasped, stunned.

The titan shattered behind her, collapsing into shards.

I landed in front of her, my blade just inches away from her neck, her breath was heavy.

She looked up at me, eyes flickering between fear and respect

"You're stronger than I expected." she managed.

A thin smile crossed her lips before she exhaled, lowering her hands.

The fight was over.

I lay there, breathing hard, my body sinking into the frozen ground. Sefor still pulsed through my veins, but I had overused it. My muscles felt heavier than stone.

The girl stepped cautiously from behind the tree, her small hands clenched into fists. She had been hiding, just as I told her to.

Karah exhaled, still on the ground, her breath visible in the freezing air. Then, to my surprise, she smirked.

"You're stronger than I expected," she muttered. A thin smile crossed her lips before she exhaled, lowering her hands. The fight was over.

I fell onto my back, my lungs burning. "I guess I used too much Sefor."

The girl, still trying to be discreet, emerged from her hiding spot. She hesitated before walking up beside me, looking between us. Then, she turned to Karah.

"Are you going to hurt us anymore?" she asked.

Karah chuckled, shaking her head. "No, little one. You have my respect."

She slowly got up, brushing the frost from her clothes. That's when I noticed the emblem on her arm—an insignia woven into her coat, barely visible under the ice dust.

I knew that symbol.

A crest of a wolf's head, surrounded by a frozen crown.

It belonged to the White Fangs, the elite force of New Russia.

Karah noticed me staring and gave a knowing smile. "So, you recognize it?"

"You're… White Fang?" I asked, still catching my breath.

She tilted her head. "Not just a White Fang. I lead them."

I stiffened. The White Fangs weren't just soldiers—they were legends. The strongest warriors of the Kingdom of Ice. The backbone of New Russia's military.

And their leader just admitted defeat to me.

Karah stretched lazily, then glanced at the girl. "And what about you, little one? Do you have a name?"

The girl hesitated before speaking. "...Illya."

I blinked. It was the first time she had told me.

Karah nodded approvingly. "A strong name."

Then she turned back to me. "Come with me."

I tensed. "Why?"

Karah smirked. "Because after our fight, there's no way I'm letting you enter the city like a nobody. You beat me—and that means every soldier in New Russia is going to respect you, whether they like it or not."

I didn't know how to respond to that.

But Illya tugged on my sleeve. "Let's go," she whispered. "I don't want to be outside anymore."

I sighed. I didn't have the strength to argue.

Karah led the way toward the towering ice gates.

By the time we reached the entrance, the sky had turned dark. The ice walls loomed over us, glowing faintly under the moonlight.

A pair of guards, clad in heavy fur-lined armor, stood at the gate. Their weapons glowed with the same dull blue energy as the ice itself.

They stiffened when they saw Karah.

"Captain Karah!" one of them snapped to attention, fist over chest in salute. "We weren't expecting you!"

She waved a hand dismissively. "I wasn't expecting to be here either. But plans change."

The guards eyed me warily, but before they could speak, Karah continued.

"This one enters as my guest. No questions."

The guards stiffened again. They looked at each other, then at me.

Then, as if my very presence had suddenly changed, they stepped aside, their eyes filled with a newfound respect.

"Understood," one of them said. "Welcome… warrior."

I glanced at Karah. She just smirked.

Illya and I stepped forward, past the gates, into the city of ice.

For the first time in a long time…

I wasn't walking as a nobody.

I was walking as someone feared. Someone respected.

And I wasn't sure if I liked that.