Satre and I soared through the freezing skies atop Kyoko, the violent winds of the Death Tundra Raguel crashing against us like invisible blades. Below stretched an endless wasteland of snow and ice, a cursed region abandoned even by monsters. The land itself felt dead.
It had been one week since Satre awakened.
One week since Yura died.
One week since Shina vanished.
And one week since something inside me had started changing.
Every single day since then had been filled with training. Brutal, merciless training. Satre pushed her swordsmanship and future sight to their limits while I struggled to control the violent power boiling inside me. My newly awakened ability, Magic Creation, was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. The skill responded directly to imagination itself, allowing me to manifest weapons, constructs, spells, and even magical systems from raw mana.
But it came with consequences.
The more I used it, the darker my magic became.
And the voices...
The eight voices inside my head had only grown louder.
Sometimes they argued.
Sometimes they laughed.
Sometimes they whispered things I didn't understand.
But lately, they'd started saying the same thing over and over.
"It's beginning."
At first I thought I was losing my mind.
Now?
I wasn't so sure.
Beside me, Satre rested one hand against Kyoko's scales while the other gripped her sword tightly. Her pink hair danced wildly in the freezing wind, but her eyes remained focused ahead.
Ever since awakening, she'd changed too.
During one of our training spars, she'd suddenly declared:
"In this fight, my pride says I should possess the greatest magic power."
The moment those words left her mouth, half my mana vanished instantly and surged into her body.
It wasn't theft.
It was authority.
A terrifying ability born from the Sin of Pride itself.
The stronger her conviction became, the more reality bent to accommodate it.
Honestly...
It scared me a little.
But right now none of that mattered.
Because Shina was still missing.
And every second that passed made the pressure in my chest worse.
Sanguine emerged silently from Kyoko's shadow, his crimson eyes glowing faintly beneath the hood covering his skeletal face.
"My lord," he said quietly, "we are close."
I nodded.
The Death Tundra Raguel was infamous even among high-ranking adventurers. Entire armies vanished here without explanation. Spirits ruled the blizzards. Ancient monsters slept beneath the ice. Even dragons avoided flying above this place for long.
But what unsettled me most...
Was the silence.
No beasts.
No movement.
Nothing.
As we descended lower, my emotions started slipping again.
The ocean beneath the frozen cliffs suddenly began boiling.
Steam exploded upward violently.
The ice cracked for miles.
Dark purple magic leaked from my body uncontrollably, distorting the atmosphere around us.
I clenched my fists tighter.
Blood dripped slowly from my palms.
I couldn't stop thinking about Yura.
About Shina.
About how weak I was.
A soft warmth suddenly wrapped around me.
Satre.
Her arms circled my body gently from behind as pink magic flowed into me, stabilizing my emotions before the rampaging mana could spread further.
"Breathe," she whispered softly.
The ocean slowly calmed.
I exhaled shakily.
"Sorry."
"You apologize too much," Satre replied quietly.
Kyoko finally landed atop a massive frozen cliff overlooking what appeared to be an abandoned village buried beneath snow.
The architecture looked old. Ancient.
Almost northern.
Wooden buildings leaned sideways beneath thick layers of frost while shattered lanterns swung in the freezing winds.
No life remained here.
Only death.
Sanguine pointed toward a distant hill where strange magical engravings glowed faintly beneath the snow.
"I tracked traces of Shina's magic here," he explained.
Immediately my heartbeat accelerated.
Without wasting time, we descended toward the markings.
The deeper we traveled into the frozen valley, the heavier the atmosphere became.
Then—
RUMBLE.
The ground shook violently beneath us.
Twice.
I instantly reached for my daggers.
"Something's wrong—"
SPACE SPLIT OPEN.
A massive dimensional rift erupted beneath Satre, Kyoko, and Sanguine before I could react.
"SHIRO!"
Satre's eyes widened as chains of spatial magic wrapped around her body instantly.
Kyoko roared furiously.
Sanguine melted into shadows trying to escape.
Too late.
The dimension snapped shut.
They vanished.
Gone.
"No—!"
I lunged forward instinctively, slamming my fist against the lingering spatial barrier.
Nothing.
Then—
clap.
clap.
clap.
Slow applause echoed through the frozen canyon.
A disgusting magical pressure flooded the area instantly.
Every instinct inside me screamed danger.
A towering woman stepped from the shadows.
Her face resembled some grotesque fusion of pig and human, stretched into a smile so vile it made my stomach twist. Long black nails curved from her fingers like blades while abyss-like magic dripped from her body.
"You naive little child," she mocked softly.
My vision darkened.
I exploded forward instantly.
Supersonic speed shattered the ground beneath my feet as I rushed her.
She casually raised one hand.
BOOM.
Her palm struck my stomach.
Everything went black for half a second.
My body crashed through a wooden structure behind me, splintering it apart instantly.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
I coughed blood.
Then—
"Shiro…"
A weak voice.
My head snapped sideways.
Shina.
My body froze.
She was chained against the far wall of the cavern behind the woman, barely conscious. Bruised. Bloodied. Thin streams of blood ran down her arms while anti-magic chains pierced through her wrists.
But she was alive.
Relief flooded me so hard it physically hurt.
"Shina—!"
"Please..." she whispered weakly. "Don't... do this for me…"
The pig-faced woman chuckled.
"Oh? She's awake."
She slowly walked toward Shina while I forced myself back onto my feet.
"Perfect timing," she sneered. "You destruction-aligned children are always so emotional."
I felt my magic surging wildly already.
"Get away from her."
The woman ignored me.
Instead she placed one clawed hand against Shina's face.
"Tell me," she whispered mockingly, "does destruction always arrive too late?"
SNAP.
She snapped her fingers.
And Shina exploded.
Light.
Blood.
Silence.
For a moment my brain refused to process what I'd just seen.
Then the smell hit me.
And something inside me broke.
Completely.
"I'll kill you."
My voice didn't sound human anymore.
The whites of my eyes turned black.
Purple magic erupted from my body in violent waves, vaporizing the surrounding snow instantly.
"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"
The cavern shattered apart.
The woman still smiled.
Then she disappeared.
Teleportation.
Fast.
But I didn't care anymore.
My daggers appeared in my hands instantly through Magic Creation.
I attacked wildly.
The clash of steel and claws detonated through the frozen wasteland like artillery fire. Mountains cracked apart from the force of our blows while shockwaves erased entire sections of the tundra.
Ten minutes.
Ten straight minutes of violence.
And she still blocked everything effortlessly.
Because I wasn't fighting intelligently anymore.
I was drowning.
Rage consumed everything.
The beast inside me howled louder and louder.
Kill her.
Rip her apart.
Destroy everything.
I stumbled backward finally, breathing heavily.
My thoughts were unraveling.
And deep down...
I realized something terrifying.
I couldn't stop it anymore.
The power.
The hatred.
The thing waking up inside me.
So I let go.
Purple-black flames exploded around my body.
My spine arched violently.
Two enormous dragon wings burst from my back, shredding the air apart with their emergence. Horns formed from my skull while floating purple flames orbited above them like corrupted halos.
My hair darkened completely.
My aura became monstrous.
Ancient.
Overwhelming.
The woman finally stopped smiling.
For the first time—
she looked afraid.
I slowly raised my head.
And the only thought left in my mind was simple.
I'm going to rip you apart with my bare hands.