The sound of a temple bell pulsed through the battlefield.
Gong.
Gong.
Each beat shook the air, rattling bones, and making the snow swirl unnaturally. The towering silhouette of Gorozai – The Ever-Turning Oni – loomed in the white haze. Bone armor plates covered his chest and shoulders, the jagged spike on his back glowing faintly with every heartbeat. His pale gold eyes burned through the storm, and black smoke drifted from his jaw like a whisper from hell.
Shinsei stepped forward, blade ready. His aura flared in steady waves.
"Blade of Heaven!"
In the blink of an eye, he closed the gap, cutting a silver arc toward the Oni's neck.
Clang!
The jagged spike on Gorozai's back intercepted it, sending a shockwave across the field that split the snow in a perfect line.
From behind Shinsei, a paper talisman zipped through the air and slapped onto Gorozai's chest.
"Bind!" Suno's voice was sharp and commanding.
Golden chains of script burst from the talisman, coiling around Gorozai's limbs and tightening with a sizzle of Flow.
"Lithos—now!"
Lithos slammed a glowing seal into the ground. "Seishin Sōsei — Spirit Bind!"
Spectral chains erupted upward, wrapping around the Oni's legs and throat, anchoring him to the frozen earth.
From the flank, Ranka raised her hand. "Ice Talisman — Fox Frost!"
Dozens of white foxes sculpted from froststorm snow bounded toward Gorozai, their bodies brimming with freezing Flow.
At the same time, Hime's voice broke through the roar of the storm — soft, but powerful.
"Blessing of Flow — Tenfold."
A rush of golden energy surged outward from her, washing over the battlefield. Suno's talismans flared brighter, Lithos's seals thickened, Ranka's foxes gained an unnatural sharpness to their aura.
Zenith stepped forward into that power, his katana's edge igniting into deep orange flame. "Akugami!"
The foxes struck first, detonating on impact in bursts of frost that cracked Gorozai's armor. Zenith leapt into the opening, swinging a blazing arc at the exposed gap.
The hit landed—
But the Oni's heart pulsed.
Gong.
The wound closed before Zenith even landed, bone knitting together, frost dissipating from its plates.
"Not enough," Shinsei muttered.
Ayame dashed low, her twin naginata slicing in a flurry aimed at the Oni's knees. Raijin became lightning itself, appearing above Gorozai in a blinding flash. "Fifth Flow — Thunder God Speed Overflow!"
Ishiguro gripped his blade and swung it with inhuman force "Fifth flow:World splitter" the impact caused a small quake on the surrounding area.
Their combined assault struck from all angles — frost, flame, lightning, steel ,strength— each strike enhanced by Hime's blessing. For a moment, the storm was nothing but a dazzling storm of colors and sound.
But with each strike, Gorozai's movements shifted. His parries grew sharper, his counters more precise. He began dodging Zenith's flames the way Shinsei had dodged his earlier attack. He redirected Raijin's lightning with a tilt of his blade. When Ayame's naginata came for his joints, his footwork mirrored her own, nullifying her reach.
"Wait—he's copying us?!" Zenith gritted his teeth, clashing against the Oni's bone blade.
Shinsei's voice was grim. "Not just copying. He's learning the logic behind every strike… and perfecting it."
Suno threw another talisman. "Seal — Sevenfold Barrier!"
Seven glowing shields layered between Gorozai and the team.
One swing from the Oni's blade — shhk! — all seven shattered at once.
Ranka hurled more fox talismans. Gorozai caught one mid-leap and crushed it in his palm, ice exploding outward but leaving him unharmed.
Lithos lunged in, palm striking Gorozai's chest with a sealing charm meant to drain Flow. The Oni's body shimmered faintly… then the seal burned away in an instant.
"That was—my seal…" Lithos whispered. "He—copied it."
The Oni's next movement was a blur.
One heartbeat — Ayame was thrown into a snowbank, her weapons split in two.
Two — Raijin was smashed into the ice by a bone-plated elbow, lightning fizzling from his blade.
Three — Zenith's Akugami flames flickered out as his katana was knocked from his grip, sent spinning into the snow.
Four — Ranka's barrier talisman shattered against her own body as the Oni's strike sent her tumbling backward, blood trailing in the snow.
Suno shouted, slamming a massive talisman into the ground. "Full Binding — Immovable Seal!"
A towering cage of gold script slammed down around the Oni. The symbols glowed so bright they painted the snowfield in light.
For the first time, Gorozai paused. The heartbeats slowed.
Gong…
Then the Oni stepped forward. The seal's light began to flicker. It was using Suno's own binding technique — modified, strengthened — to unravel the cage from the inside. In seconds, it shattered, golden fragments scattering into the wind.
Hime clenched her fists, her voice shaking but resolute. "Amplify… all of them… again!" Her golden aura surged a second time, flooding the battlefield with overwhelming Flow. The snow melted beneath their feet from the sheer output.
Shinsei took the front. "We hit him together!"
They came as one — Zenith's flames roared brighter than ever, Raijin's lightning cracked the air like thunder, Ranka's foxes dove in a freezing storm, Suno's talismans wrapped the strikes in sealing force, Lithos channeled spiritual chains from the ground, Ayame spun in a golden dance of steel , Ishiguro's might peaked — all under Hime's blessing.
The sky itself seemed to split from the combined force.
GONG.
And it was over.
The Oni exploded outward with a shockwave so strong it flattened the snowfield in every direction. Everyone was thrown. Talismans burned away. Flames extinguished. Chains shattered. Ice melted.
When the blizzard cleared, they were all down — Zenith coughing blood in the snow, Ayame clutching her ribs, Raijin barely standing with a broken blade, Ranka unconscious, Suno's hands shredded from talisman backlash, Lithos gasping for breath, Hime on her knees with her blessing fading.
Only Shinsei remained upright — barely.
He stepped forward once. Twice. Then dropped to one knee, the tip of his sword sinking into the snow. His breath was heavy. His eyes never left Gorozai's.
The Oni stood untouched in the center of the ruined field.
The heart pulsed again.
Gong.
Gong.
And the storm howled on.