Frost of Judgement

Vesper glanced at the void-like entity looming over them. Holy shit…the fuck is that?

He peeked some glances at the beautiful girl who stood a couple of steps beside him. She now thinks that I'm a selfish manipulator who only cares for himself. Those who you could only find in books. Well…I can't blame her. I wanted her to believe it too.

From the beginning, Vesper's plan was getting closer to Lunette and make her one of his allies. Though she now thinks of him as a selfish person, that's temporary.

The pressure of the void increased. The void-like entity before them was ready to attack at any moment.

"Can you block its attacks?" Vesper asked, focused.

"Hardly," Lunette answered, not looking at him. "I still don't know how strong its attacks are, but I suppose I can block anything as long as it's within the 4th Cycle."

Vesper nodded, pulling out the pure white long sword from the scabbard. "Since I'm not good at defending, you will defend and I will attack. And I'd be grateful if you could attack too."

Finally, Lunette turned her head and looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. "...is that your strategy?"

Vesper blinked. "Yes. Do you have any problem with that?"

Lunette hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "... Nevermind."

Suddenly, the void-like entity moved.

Countless hands, made of pure void and darkness, surged toward them at unimaginable speed.

Vesper reacted instantly. He thrust his left hand down to the ground.

A wall of pure silver ice erupted upward, blocking the hands.

But it wasn't enough.

The void-hands slammed into the wall and shattered it without hesitation, reducing the structure to dust. The fragments hadn't even touched the ground before the hands lunged again.

Lunette stepped forward without a word.

Silvery-gray lightning coiled violently around her spear, crackling like a living being. With a single, horizontal sweep, she unleashed a devastating arc of lightning.

The lightning shrieked as it tore through the darkness, cleaving dozens of hands apart. The impact made a shockwave that rippled through the void, distorting space itself.

A shrill screech echoed from the entity. The hands recoiled as they disintegrated into smoke.

Vesper blinked, stunned.

Damn… she's strong. Too strong.

He swallowed hard, a chill crawling down his spine. I didn't think Lunette would be on this level. The gap between us... it's too wide.

He exhaled slowly, gripping his sword tighter.

White, chiling flames began to dance along the length of his blade. Slow at first, then roaring to life with an otherworldly brilliance.

Vesper closed his eyes.

The flames surged outward, spreading. They froze everything on their way.

Then, he moved.

In a blink, he was gone from Lunette's side, appearing above the advancing void-hands in a whirl of white fire.

With a single, precise strike, he descended.

The blade met darkness, and for the first time, the hands didn't simply regenerate. They froze, then shattered.

Vesper landed in a crouch, the ground beneath him fracturing into a frozen crater.

But the void entity wasn't finished.

A pulse rippled through the space, and from the darkness emerged a new form. A colossal, multi-eyed beast of shadow and void.

The beast opened its massive mouth, and from it, a black hole began to form.

Lunette stepped beside Vesper, her spear ready.

He didn't look at her, but his voice was calm. "Think we can take it?"

She smirked. "Who knows?"

And together, they charged.

But then—

It roared.

The sound was so loud that it shook everything.

Vesper and Lunette were thrown off their feet, tumbling across the shattered void terrain as black lightning crashed down from above.

Vesper barely raised his blade in time. His flames flared, and shattered. The force of the blow sent him flying, crashing through walls of ice, blood gushing out from his mouth.

"Vesper!" Lunette shouted. She surged forward, lightning exploding from her body.

She leapt and hurled her spear straight at the creature's core.

The entity screeched and staggered... but didn't fall. Instead, it grabbed the spear mid-chest, claws closing around it. The lightning dimmed.

Lunette's eyes widened. "No—!"

The entity lashed out and surged with black lightning. She was launched across the air, slamming hard into the void ground, skidding until she finally lay still, bleeding.

The void began to consume the surroundings. The stars overhead, the ice on the ground, even the air itself.

Vesper forced himself to his feet, trembling. His body ached. His knees buckled.

He looked at Lunette who was standing up too and then at the monster looming above them both.

The void beast roared, shaking the very fabric of the realm.

It lunged but this time, Vesper and Lunette moved in unison.

Vesper darted left, circling wide, shards of silver ice blooming in his wake to slow the creature's steps. Lunette surged forward, lightning dancing around her figure, her spear flashing as she slashed upward at one of the beast's limbs.

Sparks exploded. The beast stepped back, hissing.

It struck again, faster than before.

Vesper barely ducked. He retaliated with a crescent slash of ice. In return, the entity send black fireball from its mouth.

He twisted to the side, but not fast enough.

The flames grazed his shoulder, making him stumble in sheer pain. "..Agh."

Snow-white frost covered the wound to seal it.

The void beast was adapting.

And it was getting faster.

Another hand darted toward Lunette. She spun away, slashing it, but another came in from the side and slammed on her.

She gasped as the impact knocked her from the air and sent her flying across the shattered ground.

Still, she stood again.

Her breathing was heavier now.

Vesper sprinted to cover her. He summoned a storm of icy blades from the void ground, sending them toward the beast's core, trying to draw its attention. But the beast barely acknowledged them.

Lunette joined him, panting, sweat and blood trailing down her face. "It's… faster now."

He nodded. "And smarter."

Lunette's spear crackled weakly now. Her lightning had dulled. Vesper's sword arm was trembling, the white flames along the blade thinner with each breath. His shoulder burned with every movement.

Their rhythm faltered.

And the beast noticed.

In a blink, it struck again, six hands lunging at once.

Vesper darted left, ice exploding around him. Lunette leapt right, spinning her spear in a desperate arc that deflected one strike but left her wide open for another.

A claw clipped her side. Blood sprayed. She staggered.

Lunette stood shakily, her chest heaving, blood trailing down her side. The void beast reared above them, its form wounded, but far from defeated.

Vesper took a half-step forward to shield her, but she raised a hand.

"Don't. I'm not finished."

Her voice shifted, calm and resolute.

She raised her left hand toward the dim, starless sky.

A pale silver light pierced through the darkness, illuminating a phantom moon above the battlefield. Its surface shimmered with runes.

The gravity of the area doubled.

"Eternal Dusk," Lunette whispered.

The spectral moon glowed blindingly bright.

A pulse of silver light rippled outward.

The entity roared, the moonlight burned. Its wings began to slow. The flickering blackness around its claws faltered.

Even space around it seemed to resist its movements, like the battlefield itself was pressing against it.

Lunette fell to her knees, sweat pouring from her brow. "Now..."

Vesper didn't hesitate. He lunged forward with a renewed charge of white flames, slashing across one of the beast's legs to distract it.

Meanwhile, Lunette gritted her teeth, flipped her grip on her spear, and pushed herself back to her feet.

She pointed the spear toward the entity.

And drew a crescent shape in the air.

"Crescent Flow, Falling Stars."

She vanished, then reappeared directly beneath one of the beast's wings.

The spear danced.

A dozen cuts, precise and elegant. Each slash traced silver arcs, tearing into joints, nerves, and weak spots.

The void beast screamed and lashed out wildly.

Its claws swiped the earth, breaking through the seal of the moon's pressure. The spectral moon cracked, and shattered in the sky like glass.

A burst of energy exploded outward.

Lunette was flung like a doll. She groaned, sitting up.

The void beast stood now, injured.

It began to charge.

Lunette coughed as she pulled herself together, wincing with every breath. Her hand gripped her spear, now cracked and flickering with residual moonlight.

"Lunette," Vesper said calmly.

She looked up. "What?"

He didn't look at her, his gaze remained fixed on the advancing monster.

"Can you cover me?"

She blinked. "Huh?—"

"Cover me."

She gritted her teeth and forced herself up, dragging her body into a stance. Sparks of silver lightning danced across her fingertips. "Fine."

The void beast lunged forward, tearing up the broken ground as it moved. Lunette raised her spear, channeling what was left of her power.

But Vesper didn't charge.

Instead, he exhaled softly.

His blade glowed cosmic white. A solemn elegance.

And then, he moved.

A single step forward.

And single slashed calmly.

A clean, straight, sweeping line drawn through the air and across the ground between them and the void beast.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Lunette blinked. He missed…?

Even the void beast hesitated. It didn't recognize the slash as an attack. It continued forward.

One step.

Two.

Then—

The third claw passed over the line.

And the world changed.

The world behind that silver slash crystallized, a pulse of ancient and orderly frost came into existence. Everything beyond the line, stone, air, void, froze instantly.

A violent eruption of silver frost spikes surged upward, jagged and radiant. They pierced through the battlefield, each spike bursting with radiant cold.

The void beast roared, caught mid-step. Its limbs locked as glacial chains of crystal encased them. Its head, already wounded, was consumed entirely by a silver bloom of frost.

It staggered, shrieking, trying to pull itself free.

The law Vesper had placed was not one of ice alone.

"Lex Caelestis," he said softly, his blade still outstretched.

"Frost of Judgement."

The void beast reeled back—

And then it cracked.

Fractures tore through its body. The frost bloomed further, spreading from limb to core.

It let out a distorted and fading scream—

And shattered.

Into frozen fragments of crystal, its body ruptured into pieces by the overwhelming force of Vesper's law. Total, absolute stillness.

Then—

The world itself began to change.

The ground bent. Darkness faded away. Entire chunks of space dissolved into nothing.

Everything went white.