A few layers of ice around the girl gradually dissolved.
Uzuki lowered himself.
The sword was held horizontally, its tip angled slightly downward, forming a defensive stance.
His gaze locked firmly onto the girl.
No wavering. Alertness pushed to its maximum.
On the opposite side, the girl's hand trembled slightly from fury.
"All of you..."
Each line of resentment rang out, forced from deep within her chest.
"Just because of... that unnecessary thing..."
Like a judgment... a sin she had carved deep into her own being, unforgivable.
Uzuki returned to his normal expression without responding.
Each step retreated backward.
His eyes never left his opponent, yet he gradually withdrew toward a large tree behind him.
The girl continued advancing.
"Useless..."
One step forward.
"...Worthless."
The sword in her hand lowered slightly, but the pressure grew heavier.
Without hesitation.
The moment Uzuki's back drew near the tree trunk!
His left arm suddenly swung powerfully backward.
*WHOOOOSH!!!*
His entire palm slammed directly into the tree trunk with terrifying force.
The bark split open with a *CRACK! CRACK!* that pierced the ears as the wood fibers inside were pulverized into fragments.
In the girl's unforeseen shock.
The entire tree trunk, nearly four meters tall, was torn from the ground, roots ripped clean, earth and snow exploding outward in all directions.
Uzuki turned his body.
The entire tree was hurled straight at her.
For a moment, the girl couldn't react at all. It wasn't until the canopy was about to interact with her default avatar that she finally responded.
The sword, which had been near the ground, was instantly drawn upward at a speed so fast it seemed like the frame itself was freezing.
*Shing.*
The blade had immediately completed its proper slash, drawing along a phantom line of snow.
The tree trunk was rapidly split in two, accompanied by a *crack* like shattering ice, completely different from Uzuki's approach.
But speaking of Uzuki, he had already remembered.
Where had he gone?
◇
On the other side, Uzuki was charging through the tree canopies at a speed so fast that even eyes straining to their limit couldn't keep up.
The sound of *whoosh* echoed steadily yet was hard to follow in the air without leaving any excess noise.
He stopped on a large canopy, a position quite advantageous for both observing and easily maneuvering. This place was very far from the original location. It seemed he truly hated having to watch things unfold like a visual novel.
Uzuki glanced back at the flower still in his sword hand as if doubting it.
But immediately shoved it straight into his pocket.
The air here wasn't cold enough to make someone like him overly concerned, so Uzuki could relax somewhat...
But wait.
Why wasn't it that cold here?
He lowered his face, suddenly realizing beneath his feet was a thin layer of water, spreading endlessly as if it had no stopping point.
Uzuki turned his head, examining his surroundings, left -> right, front -> back, looking up, then back down.
His gaze swept across the entire surrounding space, not missing any detail whatsoever.
…There was nothing.
Had he escaped from there?
But?
The sky was still pitch black...
No clouds. No moon. Not a single ray of light.
Just emptiness, with neither beginning nor end...
Uzuki couldn't answer any of this.
He could only observe silently.
A strangely cold sensation spread through the air, it was cold... it was extremely cold!
A wave of coldness poured out.
Coldness that... didn't belong to nature.
It appeared at precisely one moment.
Right now!
The temperature plummeted to an irrational level.
So cold that it felt like everything was being forcibly stopped.
His pupils contracted.
Uzuki realized something was truly wrong!
*...*
But it was too late...
The thin layer of water beneath his feet immediately surged forward with horrifying speed, wrapping straight around his body.
*CRACK.*
*CRACK CRACK!!!*
The entire water surface froze solid in an instant.
So fast that Uzuki couldn't react in time.
It immediately climbed up, wrapping tightly around his body.
Layer by layer, like an invisible creature devouring his form.
Like magnetic slime blocks attempting to consume an unresistible magnetic core.
Uzuki was trapped.
The surrounding space had completely transformed into a perfect trap.
He wrenched his body forcefully.
But couldn't budge.
The ice dug deep inside, piercing through the metal layer, seeping into every crevice, striking straight into bare skin.
A sharp, piercing sensation spread down his spine, radiating through every limb, like thousands of small ice needles being driven directly into his nervous system.
Uzuki clenched his jaw.
His breathing grew labored.
Cold air poured in, carrying tiny snowflakes that formed right before his lips.
Then...
The master of these things returned rapidly.
The ice water in front trembled slightly.
Snow that had begun to scatter started gathering again as white snow columns began reforming and quickly dissipated.
The knight girl stepped out from within that snow.
Her footsteps were light.
Her composure had returned.
She glanced up at the tree, directly at Uzuki's position, then... began to speak.
"You seem rather stubborn?"
She tilted her head very slightly.
A question that needed no answer.
"Running away…"
One step forward.
"…what meaning does it hold?"
Space once again sank into silence.
Only Uzuki's gradually chilling breath remained.
◇
Somewhere else...
In a massive room submerged in darkness that seemed to be absolute darkness, potentially consuming all perception of space.
Small glimmers of light leaked from countless virtual screens stretching to infinity, arranged in layers upon layers, suspended in midair.
Characters, diagrams, energy waves... everything was operating.
Yet it emitted no sound whatsoever.
A silence so profound...
At the center…
A silhouette.
Small.
Solitary.
Standing amidst an ocean of colossal data.
Their entire body was covered by a layer of dark-colored armor, minimalist in design yet so intricate it was impossible to determine whether it was technology… or something far beyond.
A metal helmet sealed their face completely.
No eyes.
No gaps.
Just… a smooth, flat surface.
…Identical to those TUG agents.
Yet not entirely the same.
They stood there.
Motionless.
Silently observing their surroundings.
Then...
They lowered their head slightly... raising their arm.
A hand descended...
Onto a surface.
One that seemed not to exist at all...
The space beneath their hand rippled like water being touched, waves of azure blue spreading outward like a calm lake struck by an object.
*…soft sound*
A very faint noise.
Immediately.
A thin line of light blazed to life beside the metal helmet's edge.
Deep blue...
A light containing depth... as if infinite data was being compressed within it.
The surrounding screens all changed simultaneously.
Charts began converging toward a single point.
A small dot materialized amidst countless layers of virtual terrain, formed directly on the screen.
Beside the dot displayed clearly a table of data consisting of:
- Identification:
+ ID Code: G04283
+ Level: B
+ Role: In-field(IN)
+ Zone Code: Action(AT)
Along with a status and health panel:
+ Health Bar: 80%
+ Heart Rate: 50 BPM
+ Physical Stamina: 998/1,000 SP
+ Status: Normal
+ Temperature: 37.6°C
Everything appeared normal... however, everything displayed as completely static, as if...
It was being disconnected.
They simply stared with nearly maximal concentration.
Then...
They quickly moved their hand back toward the control surface from earlier, presumably to file a report.
The hand drew closer and closer, closer still.
Just as they were about to make contact...
They suddenly raised their head high, looking back at what was being displayed...
It was...
...Moving.
The dot had begun departing from its position.
The status parameters began operating stably again, as if nothing had ever occurred.
They never took their eyes off the screen, their gaze piercing through the metal layer and locking directly onto that dot without wavering...
Suddenly...
They abruptly hunched over!
"Haizzz"
An unexpected sigh rang out, clearly revealing exhaustion in the breath.
"Perhaps it's due to fluctuation..."
"Need to file a report for zone inspection."
A deep voice carried a sense of relief upon discovering the dot representing the agent was still moving, as if nothing had truly happened.
They looked for a moment longer, then waved their hand toward the left.
All the virtual screens immediately slid straight to the side, while simultaneously pulling other screens into view before the agent to continue subsequent tasks.