On Kaelis' side—
"RRRAAAUGGH!!"
The Kabane colony, driven by pure instinct—or whatever twisted force animated it—swung its massive arm at him, intent on swatting him out of the air.
Kaelis didn't even consider dodging. Instead, he calmly raised his arm and met the strike head-on.
BAM!!
The impact shook the entire station, shockwaves tearing through the ground and walls.
"Rrrrggh?"
Despite the sheer force behind its attack—enough to level a city block—the monster realized its blow had been stopped cold, its arm pressing against something completely immovable.
"Quite powerful, I must say," Kaelis remarked, giving the monster's massive hand a quick glance.
Within seconds, his sharp eyes traced over every detail—and what he saw left him momentarily baffled.
This thing…
The hand wasn't a hand at all. It had arms, heads, torsos—the twisted forms of countless Kabane fused together. Not just a few—hundreds of them, writhing and twitching as one grotesque limb.
Disgusting. Creepy as hell.
With a faint sigh, Kaelis tightened his other hand into a fist.
Then he swung.
BOOM!
The impact was devastating.
The monster's arm wasn't just shattered—it was obliterated, torn completely from its body.
The fused Kabane that once made up the limb were ripped apart, scattering like broken dolls as they rained down from the sky.
Seeing its arm blown clean off, the colony let out a deafening roar that shook the air.
"Don't look at me like that," Kaelis said casually, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve. "You're the one who attacked first."
A flicker of movement caught his eye. He turned, watching as the dismembered Kabane he'd blasted away began crawling back toward the massive creature.
One by one, they scuttled up its body—like insects returning to a hive—and reattached themselves to its mangled shoulder, knitting the flesh and smoke together once more.
"So that's why there weren't any Kabane wandering around the station," Kaelis muttered with mild disgust. "You uglies were busy turning yourselves into one big family."
Not wanting to drag this out any longer, he raised a hand.
A brilliant, golden light flared above him—taking form, stretching, solidifying.
A colossal blade—radiant—manifested in the air above his head, nearly a hundred meters long.
Even from far away, anyone with functioning eyes could see every detail of it.
The blade glowed with an inner orange light, scattering tiny particles that drifted through the air. Its handle was black, leading to a hilt carved with sharp, angular flourishes.
For a moment, no one breathed. The entire station seemed to freeze.
Then the crowd erupted.
"Wow! What's that!?"
"I—it's a sword!! A huge one!!"
"Oh my god!! Is that coming from heaven!?"
"Is the world ending!?"
For the people of Yashiro Station, this was a first—a sight unlike anything they had ever imagined.
Some screamed. Some prayed. Some simply froze, staring.
A few brave—or foolish—souls tried to approach the glowing weapon, only to collapse under the sheer weight of its presence.
"See what I told you!? It's Kami-sama!"
Those who already knew Kaelis were somewhat accustomed to his displays, but even they couldn't help being unsettled by a sword of this scale.
But they quickly caught themselves and began telling the others what was happening.
"What!?" one gasped through sobs.
"It's Kami-sama! He's going to destroy the monster!!"
"Yes! I knew Kami-sama would take it down, hahahaaa!"
"Get him!"
Seeing truly is believing.
The new survivors, watching the god's power unfold before their eyes, finally understood what the train's earlier survivors had been trying to explain.
"So… sniff… you weren't going mad… sniff… back then?" one asked between tears.
"Huff. We told you before that Kami-sama was with us, but you didn't believe it. Now… behold!"
Above them, in the sky, the sword had finished materializing, radiating its awe-inspiring light.
"This should do the trick."
Kaelis admired the sword above him before glancing back at the monster.
"Nah. Let's add a little something more."
He imbued it with the elemental attribute [frost]. A chilly glow spread across the blade.
"Perfect."
With the sword now fully 'enchanted,' it was ready.
It began vibrating, then gravity claimed it, sending the massive blade plummeting toward the monster.
The colony roared, its kabane-throat bellowing, and raised its arms, trying to catch it…
But being made of fragile, individual creatures wasn't exactly an advantage.
As its arm made contact, the blade sliced straight through, shaving off the kabanes before stabbing into its chest and pinning it to the floor.
"RRRRRRAAAAUUGGGHHHHH!!"
DOOOOOM!!!
The impact of the giant sword hitting the ground was earth-shattering, sending shockwaves throughout the station and beyond it.
It was a genius move on the humans' part not to have rails directly on the ground, as they would have been useless further on.
Though the physical act of piercing the monster was minuscule—its body could be regenerated, if one could even call it that—the real magic began after the sword made contact.
Crkk—crkshhh—krrrchhh!
A series of sharp, cracking sounds began emanating from inside the monster's body.
In moments, a layer of icicles began forming over its form as the kabanes tried to repair the damage from the impact.
Yet, seconds later, they were frozen solid when the chilling mist emanating from the monster washed over them.
This was the effect of [Frost], totally different from [Ice].
The entire boiler area was now frozen in a pure, white shell.
The survivors watched, awestruck by the sight, frozen in place as if the mist had touched them, too.
Is this the power of a god? The thought echoed in their minds, paralyzing them as completely as if they were touched by the frosty mist.
"No matter how many times I see it, Sir Kaelis never ceases to amaze me," Ayame commented, her voice dazed with a hint of reverence.
The rest of the crew shared her sentiment, utterly captivated by the display of power.
They continued to watch as the sword began to disintegrate from the hilt down.
That took a whole 20% of my reserves, Kaelis noted, checking the status of his soul's energy.
He began to analyze his actions.
The reason he had created a giant sword instead of a normal one was to accelerate the frost effect.
A regular sword would have frozen the monster at a much slower rate, as the speed of the effect was proportional to the weapon's size.
This choice, however, consumed significantly more spirit, as it required strengthening the sword's attributes.
An average attribute sword typically took 10% of his reserves. By doubling the spirit cost, he had proportionally increased the effect.
Chapter 23 end.
Attribute: [Frost]
Type: temperature, manifestation
Nature: Freezing, slow
Opposite: Blaze
Description: Give a chilling aura effect to the sword it's imbued to.
Effect: Slows nearby enemy and freeze anything it has contact with. Slashing speeds the freezing.
Passive: gives the weilder [minor frost manipulation]