"Are you hurt...?"
Hoshimi Miyabi stared at the blood staining her blade, disbelief flickering in her eyes. Since the day she could remember, this was the first time she had ever seen Zane wounded.
But after a moment's thought, she understood.
With the hollows separated from him, Zane's strength had already dropped drastically. He was in his human form now—and judging from his current state...
Zane was deliberately holding back his power.
Or rather, he was fighting against another unknown will—struggling for control over whether to fight at all.
Not far away, Zane straightened slowly, the wound on his abdomen healing at an astonishing speed.
He paid no mind to the injury at his waist. Raising his longsword, he swung it upward in one smooth motion.
In an instant, dense ice-elemental energy gathered along the blade, forming a massive wave of frost that surged toward Hoshimi Miyabi like a tidal surge of blades.
A biting chill filled the air. Miyabi twisted aside just in time—the edge of the ice wave brushed past her, slicing through several strands of her hair as they drifted weightlessly away.
The ice blade continued forward, unstoppable, until its energy finally dissipated in the distance.
Across the frozen surface, a deep gash split open the thick layer of ice—its jagged trail gleaming starkly against the smooth, glass-like ground.
High above, the strands of severed hair drifted down alongside the falling snow, swirling softly through the air.
Hoshimi Miyabi lifted her blade, her eyes flashing with resolve.
This battle wasn't a spar.
It was life or death.
With a sharp sound, Miyabi's figure burst forward—her movements fast enough to blur. In the blink of an eye, she was upon Zane.
Ice-elemental energy gathered at her blade as she slashed out!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Zane's reaction was equally swift. Within seconds, the two exchanged dozens of blows.
The clash of steel rang out across the frozen expanse, neither gaining the upper hand, neither giving ground.
Every strike met resistance; every movement was precise. Neither fighter exposed a single flaw.
A faint blue energy flickered along Miyabi's blade like ghostly flame, its chill radiating through the air. Gripping her sword in both hands, she stepped in low and swung horizontally.
Zane didn't dodge. He reversed his grip on his sword with one hand, catching her strike head-on. His crimson eyes flickered faintly—and in his other hand, lightning began to gather.
Miyabi's pupils contracted. She leapt backward instinctively.
Zane didn't pursue. Instead, he clenched his lightning-charged fist and slammed it into the ice beneath him.
A deafening boom erupted. The frozen ground shattered, exploding into glittering shards that rose and clouded around him. Webs of cracks spread outward in all directions as dense electric energy radiated from him in waves, expanding rapidly.
Miyabi had already sensed what Zane intended. The instant she retreated, she vaulted upward, narrowly avoiding the explosive surge.
But even as she rose, a single, pressing question crossed her mind—
How was she supposed to land?
Below, arcs of lightning danced wildly across the frozen surface, weaving a deadly web that stretched as far as her eyes could see.
If she fell directly into that field, she'd be finished.
Even suspending herself midair with ice constructs would leave her exposed—an easy target.
The sheer scale of Zane's energy manipulation dwarfed her own completely.
Then, in a flash of insight, she noticed something—the ice closest to Zane had fractured. The cracks had disrupted the arcs of lightning, scattering their paths and thinning their coverage.
All that power was dispersing outward, leaving the very center as the weakest zone.
In that instant, Hoshimi Miyabi made her decision. Ice formed beneath her feet, halting her midair momentum for a heartbeat before she shot downward again, blade gleaming.
She dove straight toward Zane, channeling all her gathered strength into a single, downward strike. Her blade flared brilliantly, its light cutting through the storm.
The spirit beast's glow intensified as well, wrapping Miyabi's body in a dense aura of frost.
Seeing her approach, Zane stopped his lightning assault, cutting off the current of energy—leaving only scattered arcs flickering faintly around him.
Exactly as Miyabi had intended.
Either he would be forced to interrupt his attack, or she would endure the shock and strike while he was vulnerable.
But what she hadn't expected—was the sudden appearance of etheric energy swirling behind Zane. Wisps of it drifted toward him, drawn greedily into the Ether Longsword in his grasp.
In the blink of an eye, a crushing pressure radiated outward from the weapon.
Zane had left all the hollows behind—
Yet now, he was standing inside one.