All movement stopped.
Silence reigned.
Tension hung heavily in the air.
The assassins struggled to breathe, each inhale shallow… forced.
Never in their lives had they felt an aura so suffocating.
Snow's gaze shifted.
Locked.
Target acquired.
The assassin who had just been blown back.
Without a word
Snow moved.
The mist responded instantly.
As if alive.
As if it understood him.
Wherever Snow stepped, frost followed. The ground beneath him froze over, spreading outward in jagged patterns of ice. The temperature plummeted with every passing second.
BOOM.
A violent impact echoed through the area.
A scream tore through the silence.
The assassin was launched out of the mist, his body spinning uncontrollably before crashing into the ground with brutal force.
Angelina and the remaining assassin flinched
Then moved instantly.
No hesitation.
They rushed to his side.
The damage…
Was clear.
His body trembled violently.
Frost had consumed his arm the one he had used to block. Ice spread from his left shoulder down across his chest, creeping toward his torso like a living curse.
It had been aimed at his heart.
That much was obvious.
"…He barely redirected it," Angelina muttered.
"If that had landed clean…"
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
The injured assassin clenched his teeth, forcing himself upright.
His instincts honed through years of killing had saved his life.
Barely.
Slowly…
They turned their gaze back toward the mist.
Watching.
Waiting.
Because now they understood something clearly.
They weren't hunting a child.
They were facing something else entirely.
"You realize…" Snow's voice echoed from within the mist.
"If I had used my sword… he would already be dead."
The mist parted.
Snow stepped forward.
As it dispersed, it transformed into gentle snowflakes, drifting silently through the air.
"It's time to end this."
Angelina bit her lip.
"…Ralf. We finish this now."
The magma assassin nodded and rushed forward without hesitation.
Behind him
Angelina dissolved into her own shadow.
Snow's eyes locked onto Ralf.
Advancing.
Predictable.
I've got you now.
Snow activated his second spiritual ability
Displacement.
Locking onto a snowflake behind Ralf
He vanished.
And reappeared.
Behind him exactly where the snowflake had been.
His blade was already in motion.
A clean arc toward the neck.
"I got you."
Too fast.
Too precise.
Ralf's body froze for a split second
Then...
His head separated cleanly from his body.
Angelina's shadow rippled too late.
She had tried to intervene.
But she hadn't expected that.
Ralf collapsed.
Lifeless.
Angelina retreated instantly, reappearing at a distance.
Shock flashed across her eyes
But only for a moment.
She steadied herself.
Focused.
Then
She went all out.
From her shadow, a massive panther emerged.
Its body was enormous nearly the size of a truck. Its fur was pitch black, absorbing light itself. Three curved horns extended backward from its head, and its eyes glowed like distant stars.
Snow's expression shifted slightly.
Interested.
Angelina placed her hand on the beast.
And fused with it.
Her form changed.
Her eyes darkened into a night-sky glow. Her ears sharpened into panther-like points. Her canines elongated as dark fur spread across parts of her body.
A perfect fusion.
A predator.
"Oh…" Snow muttered, a faint smile forming.
"You really are different from the others."
She moved.
Fast.
But
Snow disappeared.
He reappeared near the nimble assassin
His blade already descending.
Angelina's eyes widened.
I'm not the only target she realized
She dissolved into shadows
Pulling the assassin away just in time.
Snow's strike missed its mark
Severing the assassin's arm instead.
Snow clicked his tongue.
Annoyed.
His odachi shifted
Reforming into twin daggers.
They clashed.
Steel against claw.
Movement against movement.
Frost against shadow.
In seconds
Dozens of exchanges.
Angelina's claws began to freeze.
She pulled back, breathing steadily as she stared at him.
He looked at her.
Calm.
Curious.
"You could run," he said.
"You know you can't win."
Angelina's gaze hardened.
"What do you know?" she snapped.
"If I don't complete this mission, I don't get to live."
A pause.
"And it's not like I can escape anyway."
Her stance lowered.
"So I'll do my best and fight."
"Until I'm satisfied… even if I die."
Snow studied her.
Silently.
"…I see."
Then
"I'll give you a choice."
Her ears twitched slightly.
Interest.
Confusion followed.
Then
Warmth.
She looked down.
Blood.
The assassin she had just saved…
Was dead.
His head it was gone.
Devoured.
She hadn't even noticed.
Her body froze.
A presence could be be felt directly behind her.
Cold.
Ancient.
Unavoidable.
A dagger touched her neck.
"Pledge loyalty to me…"
Snow's voice was calm.
Right in front of her.
"Or die."
She tried to move
But couldn't.
Her instincts screamed.
If she moved…
She would die instantly.
"I'll feed you."
"I'll protect you."
"And I'll make you stronger."
Snow's voice remained steady.
"I'll give you a better path than the one you're following ."
Angelina looked into his eyes.
Deep blue.
Cold.
Yet
There was something else.
Hope.
Truth.
It can't be worse than death…
"…I, Angelina Flamesworth…"
Her voice was steady.
"Pledge my loyalty to you."
"If I ever break this oath… may I be crippled and die a horrendous death."
Snow nodded.
Satisfied.
In this era
Oaths were absolute.
To break one…
Was to invite destruction.
Snow stepped back.
"Welcome, Angela."
Snowflakes drifted between them.
"This is the beginning of your new life."