The day over Cascade Cradle was drawing to a close, the sun casting its final golden glow across the city as warmth slowly faded with the dusk.
Near the edge of the wall, May and Aurora stood while the villagers lingered nearby, keeping their distance. Yumiko lay encased in ice, unmoving for three long days—silent, still, and seemingly unreachable. Any sign of life now would be nothing short of a miracle.
"I'm getting more and more worried about her. What if she doesn't wake up?" Aurora's voice wavered with doubt, her confidence beginning to falter. Still, she clung to hope, unwilling to let go of her faith in Yumiko just yet.
"It's almost time… the Moon Knightess' evolution approaches," the elder announced, as more villagers gathered, drawn by the growing tension surrounding Yumiko's fate. All that remained now was the passage of time—and with it, the answer to whether she would awaken. Meanwhile, Obsidian quietly prepared his group for what was to come.
Elsewhere, Dareth was still struggling to find another route into the depths. Frustration laced his voice as he muttered, "This is absurd. My mechanism isn't picking up any trace of life beneath the surface. Should I really just give up?" He clenched his fists. "Damn it… if only I had that crafted key. The design is too complex to replicate on my own."
Turning his gaze to the sky, he muttered with urgency, "Time's running out. Obsidian's rise to leadership is near. I can't miss the gathering—if I do, I may never uncover the truth."
Faustina eyed the crew with amused curiosity before turning her attention to Elliott. She took a few slow steps toward him, a playful grin curling on her lips. "Ooh, I'm claiming this one," she said. "That fire in your eyes… it stirs something in me that really shouldn't be stirred."
Without hesitation, she raised her palm, and a spear of solid ice began to form in her grasp, glistening in the fading light. Elliott's expression shifted to surprise. "Ice, huh… brings back memories. I wonder what she's up to these days. Been a while since I've heard a word."
Though unarmed, Elliott squared his stance and stood tall. He knew firsthand that marine admirals weren't easy to deal with—but he wasn't backing down. Even without a weapon, he was ready to fight.
Behind them, the marine soldiers lined up in formation under Lucina's and Faustina's command. Rifles loaded, swords drawn—they were seconds from charging.
But just then, Joker stepped forward.
He spun a deck of cards between his fingers with precision, his eyes narrowing. With a swift flick of both wrists, he unleashed a storm of cards—a flurry so fast it became a blur. Each card struck with pinpoint accuracy, slicing through the air and landing across the ranks of marines. They pierced into limbs and armor—not fatal blows, but sharp enough to drop the soldiers to the ground, writhing in pain or knocked unconscious.
The line of marines collapsed in a wave, their charge halted before it ever began.
Joker cracked a grin. "Try not to blink next time."
As the marines hit the ground, groaning and stunned from Joker's piercing cards, Faustina's restraint snapped. With a fierce grin, she lunged forward, ice spear in hand. She swung it across her torso in a sharp arc, shattering it into dozens of jagged ice needles that rocketed ahead like a frozen storm.
Elliott didn't flinch. He brought his hands up, electricity crackling between his fingers. The heat from the concentrated sparks burst outward, intercepting the incoming needles and melting several mid-air. But the assault didn't stop—ice surged across the ground beneath him, rapidly forming vicious spikes aiming to impale from below.
Thinking fast, Elliott clenched his fist, flooding it with electricity. He slammed it into the ground, unleashing a surge of voltage that erupted outward, blasting apart the growing ice with a thunderous shockwave.
Without missing a beat, he launched himself forward, lightning trailing from his limbs. He zipped through the fragmented frost in a streak of speed, weaving between the falling shards. Then, with a shout, he leaped high, his leg extended—electricity coiling around it like a raging current—ready to strike down with all the force of a storm.
Elliott soared through the air like a streak of lightning, his leg fully extended, charged with raw electric fury. The moment his electrified foot collided with Faustina's torso, a deafening crack echoed through the area—like thunder tearing the sky apart.
The impact was brutal.
Faustina didn't even have time to react. Her body exploded into hundreds of crystalline ice cubes, blasted apart by the sheer force of the kick. The shattered fragments scattered in all directions—some skidding across the ground, others flung high into the air like frozen shrapnel. A cold mist swept through the area as the shockwave of the strike dissipated.
Elliott landed hard, sliding back with sparks still dancing around him, eyes narrowed and chest heaving. He stood tall amidst the fading frost, eyes locked forward.
No trace of Faustina's main form remained.
The battlefield fell silent for a beat—awed by the sheer might of that strike.
Elliott skidded to a halt, breath sharp in his throat as the last shards of ice clinked and settled across the stone. He stared ahead, heart pounding, a tremble hidden behind his rigid posture.
"I… did I go too far?" he muttered, his eyes scanning the icy debris. "No way… I didn't mean to—"
A chill suddenly swept the air behind him.
Before he could even flinch, two cold yet deceptively gentle arms wrapped around his torso from behind. Elliott froze. Literally and figuratively.
"Missed me?" came a sultry whisper, icy breath brushing his ear. It sent a shiver all the way down his spine.
His eyes widened as he realized the soft pressure against his back—Faustina had fully reformed, her larger frame pressed against him, her chest gently resting into his back as she leaned in with unsettling intimacy.
"I must say," she whispered again, her voice laced with playful menace, "you're quite the spark… but I'm not so easy to break."
Elliott's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. "T-The hell—!?" He tried to wriggle out, his face slightly flushed, both from alarm and the awkwardness of the moment.
Faustina giggled, but the grip around him tightened slightly, enough to remind him she wasn't done playing yet.
Elliott struggled against her grip, sparks flickering from his fingertips as he tried to twist free, but Faustina's hold was like iron—cold, smooth, and unrelenting.
"H-Hey! Let go!" he shouted, but his feet refused to move.
A creeping chill spread from the ground beneath him. He looked down—ice was blooming around his boots, crystalizing with swift, elegant precision. It coiled around his ankles, climbed up his calves, then wrapped tightly around his thighs like a serpent. In seconds, he was frozen from the feet to the waist, stuck in place as if rooted to the ground.
"W-What the—!?" Elliott's voice pitched higher, panic rising.
Faustina leaned in closer, her lips almost brushing his ear, her tone dangerously playful. "What's wrong? You're the one who came at me with such fire. Now you're all tense… Are you scared, little thunderbolt?"
He tensed as the cold spread farther. Her arms around his torso were still snug, her body pressed just enough for him to feel the contrast between her warmth and the frost climbing his legs.
She tilted her head slightly, her long silver hair cascading across his shoulder as she whispered, "You're trembling, but I can't tell if it's from fear… or something else."
Elliott grit his teeth, cheeks burning, a mixture of embarrassment and frustration swirling within him. "Tch… You're twisted…"
Faustina smirked. "Oh, darling. You have no idea."
Shall Elliott find a way to retaliate, or will she keep the upper hand for now?
Before the freezing could spread too far, Tarot launched into the air with a swift, elegant leap, his staff raised high above him. As he descended, he brought it down with force, aiming to break Faustina's grip.
But Faustina sensed the threat before it landed. A sly smirk curved her lips as jagged ice spikes erupted from her upper back, shooting upward and impaling Tarot's body mid-air. His eyes widened in horror—until his form dispersed in a burst of clouds, nothing more than a clever illusion.
The real Tarot stood safely at a distance, eyes locked on Faustina, calculating.
To Elliott, however, Faustina felt like a frozen parasite, clinging to him with unnerving force. "D-Damn it," he growled, struggling as the frost crept higher. "It's getting way too cold in here!"
Electric sparks surged violently around Elliott as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "Alright, you frosty creep… time to let go!" With a shout, he unleashed a massive surge of voltage from his entire body, a burst of crackling lightning erupting in all directions.
The explosion shattered the ice gripping his legs and sent Faustina flying off him, the sheer force blasting apart the ground beneath. A hole opened at his feet from the pressure, and Elliott dropped—only for him to twist mid-fall, kicking backward with a surge of lightning spiraling around his leg.
Mid-kick, his body blinked from sight in a flash of electricity.
In an instant, he reappeared behind Faustina, delivering the full momentum of his spinning kick—only for her to duck gracefully at the last second. Her body splintered into a pile of glistening ice shards that scattered across the ground, a haunting smirk still frozen on one of the pieces.
To be continued...