"Good. Very good."
A cold smile, like death itself, curved at the corner of Cloud's lips.
"NESTS..."
"It seems the lesson I gave you last time wasn't enough."
"You're forcing me to give you an early physical exorcism."
He stood up and smiled at the two beautiful sisters beside him, who were watching him with worried eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
...
Three days later.
Based on intelligence provided by Heidern's military, along with tracking from Cloud's own global surveillance system (upgraded and modified using NESTS technology) that rivaled "Skynet."
Cloud pinpointed the ground control hub for the "Zero Cannon" deep within the Amazon rainforest of South America.
There, disguised as a "meteorological observation station," was a secret NESTS base.
When Cloud appeared silently above that base like a deity descending to the mortal realm.
He saw NESTS' secret weapon.
It was a beautiful girl like a fairy. She floated quietly at the top of the base's tower, wearing a blue-and-white form-fitting combat suit full of futuristic technology, perfectly outlining her slender yet curvaceous youthful figure.
Her long, strawberry ice cream-colored pale blue hair danced gently in the wind. Her eyes were clear and pure, yet hollow and vacant.
Her skin was white to the point of near transparency, as if she were a work of art sculpted from the purest ice and snow.
Behind her followed two guardians with solemn expressions—Foxy and Diana.
She was NESTS' "ultimate weapon." Created specifically to counter K's flames.
She was Kula Diamond.
"Target... confirmed."
The instant Kula saw Cloud.
Her hollow ruby-like eyes flickered slightly.
A cold voice, devoid of any emotion, softly emerged from her lips.
"Cloud..."
"Per directive, eliminate."
The instant her words fell!
A powerful, bone-chilling cold aura exploded outward with her at the center!
The entire Amazon rainforest, at this moment, seemed to jump straight from midsummer into deep winter!
Countless ancient towering trees were instantly frozen solid!
Rushing rivers were instantly frozen!
"Oh? Ultimate Power 60%?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Cloud's eyes.
He hadn't expected NESTS to actually use "technological" means to create something comparable to a "divine descendant"!
This girl, who appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, had power on par with Leona during her rampage!
"Interesting."
A smile of "hunter seeing prey" appeared on Cloud's face.
"Critical Freeze!"
Kula didn't hesitate at all, launching her attack directly!
She extended her small hand and gripped the air toward Cloud!
The air around Cloud was instantly drained and frozen!
A crystalline, translucent ice coffin appeared out of thin air, sealing Cloud firmly within!
"Got him."
The guardians behind Kula, Foxy and Diana, showed expressions of relief on their faces.
They knew how terrifying Kula's technique was.
Even a god, sealed within it, couldn't hope to escape!
However...
"Crack."
A crisp sound like glass shattering came from inside the ice coffin.
The smiles on Foxy and Diana's faces instantly froze.
"Crack... crack crack..."
Fractures spread rapidly across the crystalline ice coffin like a spider web!
"—BOOM!!!"
A massive explosion!
That "ice coffin" capable of freezing everything instantly shattered into a sky full of ice crystals!
Cloud walked out from the center of the ice crystals, completely unharmed.
Not even a trace of cold clung to his body.
"Nice refrigerator." He brushed ice shards off himself and commented like a food critic. "Great cooling effect. Should be pretty good for chilling watermelons in summer."
Confusion flashed in Kula's hollow eyes.
It... failed?
"Again."
She seemed unwilling to accept it.
"Diamond Breath!"
She opened her small mouth and gently blew out a breath.
That breath, the instant it left her lips, transformed into a torrent of terrifying white cold!
Wherever the cold wave passed, all things withered, everything was covered in the frost of death!
Yet facing this world-destroying attack.
Cloud smiled lightly.
"Little girl, your ice skills are pretty good, but you've... picked the wrong opponent."
He extended his right hand, and in his palm ignited a small golden flame.
That flame looked so weak, as if a single gust of wind could blow it out.
But the instant that golden flame appeared!
The rules of heaven and earth themselves seemed to be rewritten!
Kula's "Diamond Breath," capable of freezing an entire rainforest, the instant it contacted that golden flame, was cleanly melted away.
All the cold, all the frost, within three feet of that golden flame, automatically dissipated into nothing.
As if that flame was the source of all "heat" in this world!
"This... how is this possible?!"
Foxy and Diana were completely stunned!
They looked at the small, dancing golden flame in Cloud's hand and felt their entire worldview had been massively impacted!
This no longer conforms to the "laws of physics"!
This is basically cheating!
"Your ice, in essence, is deprivation." Cloud looked at Kula and, like a teacher, began "on-site instruction." "You forcibly lower the molecular motion of matter to achieve freezing effects. This is a technological approach."
"But my fire, in essence, is bestowal."
"I can directly, from the level of rules, grant this space the concept of heat."
"So..."
A "friendly" smile appeared on Cloud's face.
"—In my BGM, no one can defeat me with ice."
...
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