"I thought I told you not to come back here?"
Neri, holding a knife, aimed at Zypher, who was now on the ground.
"Good morning to you too."
Zypher said. Even though he dodged, the intensity of the attack almost tore his head off, so now, the tingling sensation is sending signals to his brain to run.
"It was good before meeting you."
Walking towards Zypher, she pulled her knife up, aiming the stab towards Zypher.
"Why are you so cold?"
He said as he took out the mana he filtered earlier.
"Mana Bullet!"
He fired, and the pure mana, formed a solid bullet, and released itself, rotating at high speeds.
BANG!
A mini explosion happened, sending Neri back a few steps, but Zypher is also harmed in the process.
Suddenly, a group appeared and pinned Zypher down to the ground.
"Neri, what is happening here?"
Suddenly, a huge pressure fell down on everyone, as they all started to kneel down.
Adelaide, the Ice Beast Queen, is floating down from the balcony of her mansion, down to her front yard.
"You again?"
Upon seeing Zypher, she cannot believe her eyes as she remembered what they talked about.
Walking towards Zypher, her fox ears are becoming so twitchy that her face expresses her disappointment.
"Speak, why are you here?"
Zypher was kneeling the whole time, quiet.
Upon asking, Adelaide waited, but there was no response.
Suddenly, energies erupted everywhere.
"You!"
Neri shouted as she ran towards Zypher, only to meet a hand that stopped her midway.
Seeing that Zypher is not in his best state, Adelaide stopped Neri from approaching.
"What did you do to your body?"
Adelaide asked. Zypher, raising his head, has now red eyes.
His body, convulsing upon the heat, is like being soaked in boiling oil, while the oil has a lot of spices in it.
His mind is being corroded, and his body is crumbling. Saliva is pouring out of his mouth, as his teeth are gritted upon each other.
[Debuff Applied - Chaos.]
[Debuff Applied - Berserk.]
[Debuff Applied - Contamination.]
Three debuffs fell unto him as Adelaide then took the first step.
"Frozen Throne!"
A wide, snowflake began to fall upon her land.
This slowed down everyone, except for Zypher and Adelaide.
As Zypher squirmed and tossed himself, Adelaide teleported beside him, striking his body in different parts.
Suddenly, the chaotic Zypher began to convulse more.
"Tsk."
Clicking her tongue, she summoned an ice bow and arrow and fired at Zypher three times.
These arrows hit his arms and his left shoulder, but it began to melt due to the heat Zypher is giving off.
"Tch."
Adelaide, then took off her robe.
"This bastard is making me work.
Her robe, which is a traditional Japanese Kimono, flew up to the sky. What's left is her slender, supple and fair body, and a bandage wrapped on her chest.
Stepping forward, she vanished with one step, and appeared before Zypher.
"Freezing Palm."
BOOM!
Her hand struck Zypher squarely at his chest, which made all the heat in his body become steam.
His body bounced up back from the floor, and Adelaide did not miss it.
"Frozen Seal!"
Her hand became shadows as she did a couple of maneuvers.
Five chains then arrived at Zypher as it chained something, before vanishing into the air.
Plop.
Zypher's body fell, as Adelaide's robe also dropped down to her body.
"Release."
The snowflake above the mansion suddenly vanished.
BOOM!
A loud explosion happened, as the excess energy went out.
Frozen Palace stops time, and every energy in there, is stuck in time, unless an outer energy is acted upon it.
So the fight happened, but there was too much stored energy that it all exploded.
The others were swept away and all that's left in the middle was Adelaide and Neri.
Neri saluted at Adelaide, expressing her admiration.
"Thank you, Ma'am."
She said, but she found Adelaide a bit empty and confused.
"Ma'am?"
Adelaide, stoned, and shaking, pointed at a certain spot.
There, Zypher was blown away, his body hanging, and his foot is the only thing that kept him from falling, for it was caught up on some trees.
His mouth is still bubbling up, and his arms are above his head.
"PFFT!"
Neri almost laughed out loud.
Well, that is one weakness of Adelaide.
She uses her power, but she is so conscious that her mind only registers her defeat, or the death of the opponent.
In other cases, where she doesn't kill, she suddenly acts as a compassionate person, trying to know what happened to the ones that received her power.
Neri then went towards her, and patted her head. Neri is just one head taller than Adelaide, and the pat made it look like a mom patting her daughter's head.
"It's okay Ma'am, you helped him."
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Adelaide was awakened, for she knew he helped Zypher.
"I-I-I know that."
She tapped Neri's hand away as she spun around, walking towards the now dangling Zypher.
Now, Neri is smiling while walking, while Adelaide is still embarrassed.
____________________________
On the other side of Ruintown.
A necklace can be seen floating above a pedestal.
These pedestals have different markings on them, but all of them are used for the same thing.
[00:00:10]
A timer can be seen on the necklace.
As the timer started to go down, people also are waiting.
Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop!
Sounds of boots hitting the floor come.
"Hey, isn't that--"
Suddenly, cheers erupted as a figure walked towards the necklace that is floating in one of the pedestals.
As the clamoring went up, the timer has gone down, and from the necklace, comes a man.
"Still as punctual as ever, Captain."
Derby, who was just revived, suddenly spoke up.
The man he was calling captain is a tall, slender man, with red hair combed to one side and a pair of glasses.
He was silent the whole time, and as he arrived, he took out his sword and aimed it at Derby's neck.
"Is what you reported true?"
The captain asked.
"Am I the type that lies?" Derby smiled.
"Yes." The captain then sliced off the air.
A handful of hair then flew with the wind.
"And if I proved you're lying, your hair isn't the only that falls."
He turned around, exiting as fast as he entered.
And in that moment, a bounty was announced to the world.