Ronin pointed his sword at the slime, his deep voice resonating across the battlefield.
—Kira, take Jotaro with you.
Kira nodded without hesitation, lifted his wounded companion, and carried him to where Aiko was.
The slime took a step forward. Ronin warned firmly:
—Don't move another step. If you do, I'll cut you in two.
The monster stopped for a moment, its gaze defiant. Ronin met its eyes with equal intensity. Finally, the slime ignored the threat and advanced.
In the blink of an eye, Ronin shot forward, his blade ready for a horizontal slash meant to split the creature in half. But the slime's arm crystallized into ice, stopping the attack with a metallic crash.
—Well, well… so you were able to block my strike.
The slime leapt back with agile grace, barely touching the ground before dashing forward again at blinding speed, almost like light itself. Its crystallized arm unleashed a barrage of sharp, piercing thrusts.
Ronin dodged one, two, three, until he finally blocked with his sword, unleashing a shower of sparks. The monster's strength pushed him backward, the ground cracking beneath his feet.
With a roar, Ronin counterattacked, forcing the slime to retreat. In that instant, he gathered strength in his legs and launched himself forward, disappearing in a flash. His sword descended with fury, aiming for the enemy's head.
The slime leapt skyward, narrowly avoiding the slash. Ronin followed, twisting midair before leaping again, striking once more. The impact sent the slime crashing into a tree, which collapsed in a cloud of dust.
Suddenly, sharp shards of ice burst from the haze. Ronin dashed forward, weaving between them, but a glimmer above alerted him: the slime loomed overhead, wielding a massive shard.
The projectile shot down like lightning. Ronin barely dodged it… failing to notice the enemy had appeared behind him. A crushing blow struck his back, sending him tumbling across the ground like a rag doll, dust rising in his wake.
He jammed his sword into the earth to stop himself and looked up—another shard of ice was racing toward him. Gripping his blade tightly, he vanished in a dark streak and whispered:
—Shadow Slash.
The ice shattered into a thousand fragments, and Ronin reappeared before the slime, his sword vibrating with black energy. He unleashed another horizontal slash aimed at the monster's head, but the slime froze the ground, raising massive pillars of ice that pushed him back.
From atop those pillars, the slime summoned even larger shards, firing them with a flick of its finger. Ronin evaded with swift leaps, using one shard as a platform to propel himself upward. The slime, seeing him advance, hurled more ice. Ronin twisted in the air, rebounded off a fragment, and charged.
The slime dodged at the last second, but Ronin left behind a black streak that pulsed in the air.
—Shadow Trail.
The shadow of his slash transformed into a second strike that swept toward the slime, just as it landed on the ground.
Meanwhile, Aiko and Kira struggled to heal Jotaro with magic. The young man slowly opened his eyes, blinking.
—Aiko, look! Jotaro is waking up! —Kira exclaimed, his eyes shining with relief, his voice trembling with emotion.
—Kira… Aiko? What are you doing? —Jotaro asked weakly.
—We're healing you. The slime left you badly wounded —Aiko replied.
Kira hugged him tightly, tears threatening to spill.
—I thought you were going to die for a moment! Don't you dare die before me, idiot.
—Yeah, yeah… whatever you say —Jotaro smiled faintly.
A thunderous crash interrupted them: Ronin fell from above but managed to twist in the air, landing on one knee and raising a cloud of dust.
—Isn't that… Ronin? —Jotaro whispered.
The slime descended upon him, its arm turned to ice. Ronin blocked, and the two clashed brutally. Ronin slashed at the neck, the abdomen, the legs, but the slime countered with both crystallized arms.
Each clash unleashed shockwaves that fractured the ground. One final impact made the entire terrain tremble: the earth split into a massive crater, and trees were torn from their roots.
Kira, Aiko, and Jotaro clung to the ground to avoid being blown away.
Ronin and the slime leapt back, then launched forward again, their speed so absurd their strikes could no longer be followed by the eye. Only the shockwaves revealed where they collided.
—Barrier! —Jotaro shouted.
A magical dome enveloped them, shielding them from the chaos outside.
Ronin braced against a tree, channeled energy into his legs, and shot forward. Darkness ran along the edge of his blade as he roared:
—Twilight Slash!
The horizontal strike ripped through the air, leaving behind a black line that threatened to cut everything in two.
The slime dodged with a leap, and from the sky it summoned fireballs that rained down in a cascade. Ronin sprinted toward the ice pillars, weaving between the projectiles.
The slime snapped its fingers. The pillars began to shake, crack… until enormous hands of ice emerged from them. With a deafening crash, the entire structure collapsed, and from the debris a colossal figure rose.
A massive ice golem emerged from the cloud of rubble.
Ronin stood still, staring as the titanic creature locked its gaze directly on his.