A hooded man stood at one end of the snowy battlefield. He slowly removed his hood.
Kenzo Shinigami.
In his hand was a vein-covered seed of flesh, pulsating like a heartbeat.
"Where else can ten years of research be tested if not this beautiful scenery," Kenzo said with a cold grin.
With a flick of his wrist, a deadly Octa Slash spiraled out from his blade, decapitating a group of nearby soldiers.
"It sure feels good to kill these things. The sound of blade cutting through their flesh never ceases to amaze me."
He scanned the field until his eyes found the unconscious body of Shogun Yorinaga. Without hesitation, he knelt and pressed the flesh seed into the man's chest.
"All conditions have been met then."
With a single breath, Kenzo vanished.
Moments later, Shinsei landed on the scene, his eyes narrowing as he felt the lingering trace of Kenzo's Flow.
"Dammit... I didn't get here in time."
His voice grew graver. "If the Veilborn are involved... this war won't end like any other."
A heartbeat.
Shinsei turned slowly as the corpse of Yorinaga began glowing a violent crimson. The body convulsed, bones snapping, flesh reforming—into something that should not exist.
Gorozai – The Ever-Turning Oni
Race: Mythic-Class Demon (War Oni)
A hulking, eight-foot demon with white bone armor covering his shoulders and chest. A glowing, carved spike protruded from his back, releasing bell-like pulses with every heartbeat. His pale gold eyes gleamed with malice. From his jaws spilled black smoke that whispered death.
Shinsei's grip on his blade tightened.
Only one word echoed in his mind.
Kill.
"Sixth Flow. Blade of Heaven."
A gentle motion—like a passing breeze.
Slash.
Gorozai was cleaved into countless pieces.
But his heart pulsed faster. Flesh knitted back. Bones fused.
Regeneration.
"Sixth Flow. Blade of Hell."
This time, Shinsei incinerated him in green flames.
Again—regeneration.
Gorozai leapt backward, keeping its distance.
Shinsei narrowed his eyes. "It's not smart, but its regeneration is absurd."
The heartbeat slowed.
"Its heart rate normalized... was it afraid before?"
A sudden roar.
Gorozai spewed a wall of green flames. Shinsei dodged, barely.
"That's my—"
A blade shot from the demon's wrist. It carved downward in a series of lightning-fast slashes—fourteen in total.
Shinsei blocked them all.
"My Blade of Heaven has seven slashes… This attack is its double…"
His eyes widened.
"This monster is adapting."
Far away, Kenzo Shinigami watched through a glowing crimson orb, seated on a snowy cliff.
"Gorozai doesn't just adapt. He absorbs the logic behind techniques and constructs counter Flow."
He grinned, voice steeped in reverence and madness.
"What a perfect matchup. Even you can't handle a beast revived from the Age of Myth... Shinsei."
Elsewhere, Kyohaku the Insane continued his brutal rampage with his sledgehammer.
As Team Lithos regrouped to counter, Kyohaku suddenly stopped.
Kenzo's voice echoed in his mind.
Stand down.
Kyohaku smirked, whipping up a screen of snow that blanketed the battlefield. His voice echoed as he disappeared.
"Later, fools."
When the snow cleared, he was gone.
Hime froze mid-breath, trembling.
"D...d...do you all feel it too? Something… that shouldn't exist… has spawned."
Team Ranka and Team Lithos sprinted across the snow-covered plains, Flow pulsing. They converged toward the monstrous aura.
Toward Gorozai.
Meanwhile, Shogun Akihiro—bloodied, broken, armor shattered—dragged himself through the icy winds.
He stepped into the heart of Yuki Ona's domain: the ice-flower barrier.
And found himself in her inner world.
A spirit realm.
Yuki Ona walked alone on a snow-covered path. Her eyes dim, her form faint. Every barefoot step she took left behind a crimson stain.
Her life force... was fading.
And still—
She marched onward.