"H-He came! He wants to kill me!"
The injured man screamed, his eyes wide with terror, as he staggered toward the old woman's house.
He had barely taken a few steps when the air around him shifted—an unnatural chill swept through the place. The first snowflakes drifted down from the gray sky, heralding the arrival of something not human.
"What? Snow? But it's the middle of summer..." Baran muttered in disbelief, his eyes shifting toward the entrance of the garden.
Before he could finish his words, the stillness shattered at the sight of a stranger — a sharp-featured boy stepping into the garden, each of his steps as cold as ice.
He wore a blue robe adorned with faintly glowing snowflake symbols, and his short, sky-colored hair shimmered with a chill that did not belong to this world.
At his waist hung a sword wrapped in a frosty aura — the air itself seemed to freeze with every step he took.
As the boy stepped inside, he lifted his cold eyes and spoke in a low, chilling voice filled with malice:
"A man entered this place... he must die."
He hadn't even finished his sentence before vanishing completely.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Baran without making the slightest sound.
"What? This boy... he's so fast! I couldn't even see his movement!" Baran gasped, spinning around as cold sweat trickled down his neck.
The air itself seemed to change — as if the snow bowed in reverence to the boy.
He stood silently behind Baran, his gaze void of life or death... holding only an unfathomable, deadly coldness.
"Hmm... I didn't expect to find a man like you in a place like this."
The boy with sky-colored hair spoke in an icy tone, taking a single step that brought him beside the old man — as if the distance between them had been nothing more than an illusion.
The old man slowly lifted his gaze toward him, a faint smile curling on his wrinkled lips.
"And that," he replied in a calm voice that carried the weight of countless hidden years, "is something I didn't expect either.
The Heavenly Youth ignored the old man's words entirely.
Instead, he extended his hand toward the old man's chest, his cold eyes showing clear intent—to end a life in a single motion.
But before his hand could even make contact, Baran caught it with lightning speed!
He didn't hesitate; instinct took over. Using the youth's own momentum, Baran stepped forward and launched a powerful kick.
The kick struck nothing but air—yet the force behind it was enough to make the Heavenly Youth stagger back two meters, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
"Hmm… not bad speed," the Heavenly Youth muttered, brushing the dust off his robe as though nothing had happened.
The sky-haired boy fixed the old man with a piercing, icy gaze.
The old man remained indifferent, standing calmly, his eyes silently saying, "I don't know this boy… and I don't intend to."
The boy seemed to understand, a faint, knowing smile curling on his lips.
In an instant, he vanished from sight!
Before Baran could even react, the boy reappeared beside him. His hand glowed with a chilling aura as he launched a direct punch toward Baran's chest.
But Baran's right hand shot up with astonishing speed, blocking the strike with such force that the air around them trembled.
The collision rang out like thunder, shaking the trees and sending leaves cascading to the ground.
They stared at each other — Baran's eyes ablaze with determination, and the icy boy's gaze cold and unyielding, holding nothing but a deadly calm.
The blue-haired boy didn't hesitate for a moment, launching a second punch toward Baran's face, as if the wind itself was carrying his movement.
But Baran, relying on his experience and sharp instincts, dodged at the very last moment. Without hesitation, he struck back with a single, powerful punch that landed directly on the blue-haired boy's face.
The boy staggered back, blood appearing at the corner of his lips. He paused briefly, wiped it away, then smiled — a cold, mysterious grin spreading across his face.
"So… do you want to play now?"
As he spoke, the snowfall abruptly ceased, as if nature itself had paused to witness the clash of these mysterious forces that had just begun.
The heavenly boy's hair began to slowly part, as if each strand were moved by a mysterious, unseen energy.
Snow swirled around him, floating in the air like cold arms wrapping him, leaving Baran bewildered at the scene before him.
Then, without warning, ice erupted from every corner of the grove, forming chaotically yet terrifyingly, as if the earth itself had awakened.
Shards of ice shot toward Baran with insane speed, each carrying deadly force. The air around him trembled with every rush, and the cold pressed painfully against his body.
Baran raised his hand, prepared to face the strange assault, his eyes ablaze with determination. There was no longer any room for hesitation.
A colossal explosion erupted as the ice collided with Baran, the reverberations shaking the grove as if the very sky itself trembled.
As the shards of ice and mist gradually dispersed, a menacing black lightning bolt surged from the impact point, glowing with ferocious intensity, with Baran at its epicenter.
Half of the lightning coiled around his body, crawling over his skin like a dark serpent, while the other half shot out into the surroundings, leaving a terrifying trail of dark energy in every corner of the grove.
The tree leaves quivered violently, the air thickened with raw power, and Baran stood firm, his eyes blazing with determination. Everyone present could feel the ferocity of the energy surrounding him, as if an invincible force had awoken in this place.
"Hmmmm… lightning? Do you think this lightning can defeat me?!" the heavenly boy muttered defiantly, his eyes gleaming with both anger and icy resolve.
Baran smiled confidently, slowly raising his hand as if commanding an unseen force. "Yes… it is capable of far more than that."
The moment his hand lifted, the black lightning coiled around him surged forward like an enraged beast, the air trembling with the sheer force of its energy.
But the boy didn't even flinch. A calm smile spread across his face, and with the mere lift of a finger, ice erupted from every corner of the grove, striking the lightning with chaotic precision.
The collisions unleashed a series of explosive bursts. Heat and cold clashed violently, turning the grove into a terrifying spectacle of raw, mysterious power, as if nature itself had paused in silent awe to witness the battle.