Ascension: Online

"Art of the Frozen Blade - Form Eight: Whirlwind."

The woman smiled and raised her left hand, before gently whispering a single word.

"Charm."

Guildmaster Feng's sword intent immediately disappeared as he ceased his movements, falling to the ground as his eyes widened in shock. Despite being the one to use an ice-oriented attack, he was instead the one now frozen to the ground, completely unable to move as he stared into the woman's bewitching eyes.

"Guildmaster Feng!" the female scout yelled, snapping him out of the woman's charm effect.

"B-Bwuh… that art…" he breathed heavily, sweat forming on his forehead as he seemed to be frustrated with himself for falling so easily to the woman's tricks.

The leader of the Phantoms sighed. "How unfortunate. I had been hoping for an intense fight. It turns out… the Guildmaster of Qilian City's Hunters' Guild doesn't amount to all that much after all, huh? Just the weakest, simplest art in my arsenal was enough to make you succumb."

"T-Tch… you witch…" Guildmaster Feng spat, gripping his sword tightly.

"Guildmaster, she's too powerful! Let's take her on together!" the female scout shouted as she blasted a horde of incoming Phantoms away with Pyromancy hidden arts.

"No! Stay out of this!" the Guildmaster shot back harshly, gritting his teeth.

"H-Huh?! But… why?!"

Met with the woman's taunting smile, Guildmaster Feng was angered even further.

"This is my fight! I have to finish it myself!"

"B-But-"

"No buts! Just keep holding those paranormal white creatures at bay! That is an order!"

"K-Keh… understood!" the girl replied after some hesitation and dissatisfaction, before returning to blasting the incoming wave of Phantoms along with everyone else.

"Oh, you have some guts… I'll give you that much," the woman murmured softly, just loud enough for Guildmaster Feng to hear.

"Fiend… I swear to cut you down by my blade today!"

Yelling this, the Guildmaster leaped up into the air, preparing another move.

Hina-nee and Ming Hong moved in to assist, but I stopped them.

"K-Kaze-kun?"

"… Give it a little more time."

"H-Huh? Sorry, brother, I do not understand…"

"The vow of a man cannot be taken lightly. If we go help him now, we'll only dishonor him," I explained. "If you do want to assist, just take out as many Phantoms as possible."

"Phantoms…? Ah, the white creatures… understood, Brother Kaze."

Saying this, he and his two younger siblings joined the fight against the Phantoms. Hina-nee didn't, however.

"That's not the real reason, is it?" she asked quietly.

I chuckled. "Yeah… you know me too well."

"So? What's the real reason why you don't want us to help the Guildmaster now?"

"… Kuku." I smirked. "Sometimes, intervening as late as possible is better than as early as possible."

Hina-nee's eyes widened. "I see… you want to save his life at the last moment, thus forcing him to owe you a favor…"

I didn't confirm nor deny this, and instead, merely smiled.

"Hehe, you always find a way to impress me, Kaze-kun~"

With those words, she left to join the fight against the Phantoms as well. Slaying them would be helpful to her, since Monsters provided a ton of XP. In fact, even right now, I was but a sliver away from Level 18 after killing those snowolves in the forest. Undoubtedly, if I had went for the Phantoms instead, I would've already leveled up by now.

Hina-nee, on the other hand, had managed to make it to Level 15, which she quickly spent on two skills: 'Way of the Mage' and 'Umbrostrike'. Gaining this hidden art enabled her to actually fight against the Phantoms, since they were immune to physical attacks. Luckily, I had told her not to choose her main class yet, so she was able to acquire these skills at the normal price. Otherwise, this would not have worked.

I shifted my eyes back to the ongoing duel between Guildmaster Feng and the mysterious woman. Quite sadly, she appeared to be simply toying with her prey while Guildmaster Feng was trying his hardest to cut her down. Every time he got close, she would just use Charm or some other art to defend against his attack with ease, then release him immediately after as if saying 'try again' tauntingly.

Speaking of which, I wonder… was Charm one of the soul arts Ming Hong had been talking about? If that was the case, I would make this woman cough up everything she had to know about them. I wasn't really keen to learn her… bewitching arts since they didn't exactly suit my style, but I would take information any day.

"Tch… you're just… playing with me…" Guildmaster Feng muttered in frustration, panting heavily. It seemed that after attacking and failing countless times, he was starting to run out of energy.

"Oh, what's this? Did you tire yourself out? Ah, that's no good…" the woman tilted her head and placed her hand over her mouth in a fake expression of concern. "Are you alright, Guildmaster Feng? Do you want me to… end the suffering?"

"You… bitch…" the Guildmaster looked up and roared. "DIE!"

The tips of the woman's lips curved upwards into a sinister grin as she, to my surprise, landed on the ground in the middle of her Phantom army. She then looked at Guildmaster Feng, and made a beckoning gesture with her hand.

He snapped.

"RAHHHHH!"

He dashed straight into the horde of Phantoms, ice sword in hand. My eyes widened. Somehow, he was expertly avoiding all of the Phantoms' spectral grasps, weaving in between them back and forth as he instantly closed the gap between himself and the woman, not giving a damn about the obstacles in the way.

As I looked at his figure, I couldn't help but be amazed.

Perhaps this was where the saying came from - the most dangerous man was the one with nothing left to lose. He already lost his face. He already lost his pride. All that was left was his own, stubborn fighting spirit.

His eyes held a wild and murderous glint as he prepare to make his final, ultimate slice of his sword.

"Art of the Frozen Blade…"

He jumped up into the air as an icy aura that brought chills to the entire battlefield surrounded him.

"Form Zero-"

He slashed down with all of his might, and for the first time in this entire fight, there was fear in the woman's eyes.

"-CRYOGENESIS!"

ZING!

Sudden silence, as the man landed solidly on the floor. Then-

BOOM!

The ground split from the sheer force of the attack as the battlefield was enveloped in a bright blue light that blinded everyone, both Phantoms and Hunters alike.

When we were finally able to see again, the arena had transformed into a domain of ice stretching for about a hundred meters in every direction. Some Phantoms and Hunters alike stood frozen, as still as a statue. The temperature had also clearly dropped by over twenty degrees Celsius, sending shivers through my body.

This man's attack had not only sundered the earth itself, but also altered the very environment in the blink of an eye.

But the question was…

"Heh… not bad… not bad at all!"

Guildmaster Feng's kneeling body flinched as he heard those words. Slowly, desperately, he lifted his head.

"You thought you killed me, huh?!"

The woman's face was contorted in rage as she kicked Guildmaster Feng straight in the face, sending him sprawling backwards. He was completely out of strength and could not fight back. Everyone else was far too busy recovering from the situation to be helping him, especially since he was in the middle of all the still-moving Phantoms who had not been turned to frozen statues.

"W-What… h-how…"

"Heh… hahahaha! Oh, I have to give you credit. If it wasn't for the Saint-Tier defensive artifact I have, I would be dead by now. That was your ultimate trump card, wasn't it?"

"G-Gah…." Guildmaster Feng attempted to get back to his feet with the help of his sword, but the woman ruthlessly stepped forward and kicked it out of his hands. "N-No…"

"The most shameful thing for a swordsman is to have his weapon kicked away, isn't that right?"

"A-Ah…"

"How sad… it seems, even after your most desperate efforts, you have failed to save your beloved city, and its people. It's painful, isn't it? Recognizing your own failure… hah. Don't worry… I will end the suffering soon."

Saying this, she raised her hand and pointed it towards Guildmaster Feng's defeated figure, preparing to finish him off.

"Meet your end, 'guildmaster'."

He closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate.

"Guildmaster Feng!" the scout from before called out - but there were countless Phantoms between her and him. There was no way for her to save her beloved Guildmaster.

However... that did not mean someone else couldn't.

'Vanishing Steps.'

Turning invisible and gaining an insurmountable boost of speed and agility, I immediately dashed into the battlefield below, weaving through the Phantoms just as easily as Guildmaster Feng had done earlier - though, of course, I had the help of Vanishing Steps.

Once I was within range and had a clear angle, I pointed my hand outwards and muttered as quietly as I could.

'Basic Aeromancy Art - Aeroblade.'

The woman fired her art.

So did I.