Yuki-onna:

"Goodbye, Captain Tash..."

The Saniya infused to the rune grid's core coursed through her pathways again! She couldn't contain her energy as she usually did, as shown by the turquoise aura freely emanating from every pore in her skin, seeping through the cotton fabric of her yukata. Her rigid fingers cast a blinding fog - tiny particles of frozen water swirling in a mass of air, slowly coalescing in a blueish orb.

Her grin widened while she shot the final spell that would put her loathed enemy down once and for all. However, her expression neutralized once the captain... ducked the frigid blast...?

The pale maiden instinctively flew backward, avoiding the Wolf's pouncing counterattack. Still, the canine's speed was impressive, catching up to her, aiming a destructive, lightning-laced punch that she was forced to block by concentrating her excessive aura on her forearm. The potent shockwave that followed pushed both considerably far.

The Body Scramblement... failed? Impossible! Yuki-onna felt her power burying deep into the canine's nervous system, so how would she-

Wait. Could this measly Wolf decipher the randomized code the technique thrust onto her with such a short window? That should've taken DECADES to master!

Seemingly, Yuki's astonishment let her slip her emotions through her expression, judging by the bitch's smug grin.

"I can't believe it. I actually impressed you, didn't I?" Her lips twisted wider, her white fangs peeking through. "You lot live for thousands of years, but I'm now realizing there's a funny catch to it."

Yuki did not respond, her curiosity allowing the captain to proceed with her drivel.

Tash's muscles swelled as her once fiery aura became purely electrical, twisting her into a loud, crackling white figure with a piercing, hectic gaze and wild, bristled fur!

"The thing about smaller lifespans! The time pressure pushes us to strive for greater heights much faster!"

Fear echoed in sync with Yuki's beating heart when the Wolf vanished from sight, forcing her to erect a Saniya barrier. When the captain's Saniya reappeared behind her, her entire body spasmed when Tash's horizontal kick cracked the shield, sending electric currents from the tip of her toe claws through the tiny gaps and into her muscles! Using a sizeable portion of the grid's energy to eliminate her opponent's electricity coursing through her veins, the sorceress deactivated the shield and backflipped away to a safe distance.

To her luck, the canine had deactivated her electric aura. Tash's sunk stance and heaving chest were the most conspicuous signs of exhaustion Yuki saw from her.

"What is wrong, captain? Is that all?" Yuki-onna taunted, her face masking the agony within her foundation. "A fascinating display, I must admit. Yet, too short for my entertainment..." She glanced down at her other palm, marked with the same rune, a faint glow as the grid's powers fully returned, albeit not as potent thanks to her taxing electricity-dampening maneuver.

Tash straightened her previously slumped posture. "Nah. It ain't worth it right now."

Right... now? What was she-

The captain turned her gaze at someone else. "DON'T ATTACK HER!" She beckoned them with frantic arm motions. "WITH ME!"

The Silver Knight appeared beside her in a radiant bolt. "You have my gratitude for the distraction, dear captain!"

Then, the Wolf murmured something to her partner. Yuki-onna wouldn't accept such disrespect, aiming another icy blast at the insolent guards.

"You dare strategize so late in this battle?!" The frigid orb pulsated chaotically on her palm, emitting wave upon wave of petrifying currents. "I will turn you into ice statues, then mount your severed heads on my wall!"

The Human and the Wolf dodged the blast, then all the subsequent ones. No matter how many freezing gas spheres she conjured, the Knight's insurmountable speed carried him and his comrade out of reach every time.

"That is fine." Joining her palms together, microscopic particles of crystallized water and air slowly merged, coalescing into a larger crystal, still smaller than each of her nails. Finally, when she pointed her two index fingers at her opponents, the sparkly spell cracked, liberating a mighty blizzard toward them, roaring with cold vehemence! She quickly glimpsed a golden, spherical construct encompassing the duo - precisely what she expected from them.

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The Yūrei hastily flew atop them, her hand slowly forming her deadly scythe. With a twisted grin, she raised the curved, thin blade above her head, glowing with excess Saniya.

The energy released when she swung her weapon at her targets - a half-moon-shaped, vertical turquoise projectile!

"Coming... side... RUN!" Those words Yuki heard from Captain Tash while the blizzard kept booming and muffled any other sound before her spell severed the Knight's Saniya in two symmetrical halves. The sorceress couldn't see the shapes of her loathed enemies through her own wind and water spell, her eyes vigilantly darting to catch a suspicious movement around her.

"Why can not I pinpoint your Saniya? I should be capable of discerning every signature within the grid's influence..." she pondered, not vocalizing it to anyone else.

Her doubts were sated when a white glint was caught in the corner of her eye. Unfortunately, when she turned her body to investigate, she was met by none other than a shining fist connecting to her light complexion, sending her crashing to the ground and forming a crater so deep she could barely glimpse the path back to the surface!

Yuki-onna's mind was overwhelmed with the agony that scorned her broken face, desperately pushing her to heal it immediately with the core rune's Saniya before it imploded. Quickly regaining her sense of self, she wiped the blood that reddened her vision while she propelled herself, covered in her aura like an ascending meteor, charging with unconditional rage and bloodlust!

She rose back from the pit, her eyes quickly witnessing the foolish Human and his pet. For the first time in ages, she allowed herself to make an ugly scowl, her burning resolve contrastingly fueling her freezing powers as her aura expanded and rippled. However, her right arm started convulsing uncontrollably as more and more energy coursed through every inch of her being. She couldn't allow herself to lose so much of her physical integrity against her first opponents already...

"How..." Her feet landed on the defrosted, charred grass while she relinquished the energy to the rune grid again. "How have you eluded me...?"

The Human did not retort with an eccentric remark, a clear sign of the toll self-inflicted on his body. That detail reminded Yuki of something Hibagon had reported weeks ago - the second stage of the guard's Lightspeed technique. The bard couldn't tell anything after being driven unconscious, of course. Still, she witnessed firsthand how badly the guard's body was almost torn apart in the aftermath. Still, he didn't use it long enough to remove him from the board...

"You did good, Knight!" the captain approved, coating her entire body in flames, then slowly resuming to evolve them into a deadly coat of electricity. "Just a little longer! Here's our chance!"

Ah, so they were aware of her weakness. She had to commend the captain for figuring it out so quickly. Alas, a hypocritical bitch like her had no place in a better world.

Watching the guards preparing to charge at her simultaneously, Yuki-onna converted her Saniya into water, seeping through the pores in her palm, shaping and freezing into a katana. As expected, the Human was the first to strike, demanding every drop of attention from her as her blade parried his Lightspeed strikes, much slower from his fatigue!

The Yūrei's sword counterattacked, barely missing the armored clown as he jumped back. However, not giving up on the momentum, she rotated her body 360°. Meanwhile, her katana melted back into water and remolded into a scythe, gaining more range as she continued her onslaught.

Her graceful and relentless flow was interrupted by Captain Tash, who caught the hilt with both lightning-laced paws. Their touch immediately sent electric currents through the ice construct, transferring to her fingers and sending a brief wave of numbing, searing pain that forced her to let go of her weapon.

The Wolf kept the rhythm of her advance, winding her leg for a devastating kick! Yuki-onna responded by conjuring a powerful gust to push back both assailants. The pale maiden used the quick respite to conjure a kunai on each hand, adopting a fighting pose to shield herself from what was to come.

A flurry of strikes clashed with the cold, flawlessly chiseled blades, each collision sending shockwaves and ice shrapnels throughout the battlefield! The Yūrei pushed her entire Saniya reserves to strengthen her meager muscles and reflexes to keep up with their exceptional speed, darting to countless corners of the glade!

After a few seconds of this intense push and pull, the Icy Sorceress found herself at the center of the arena, stepping on the core rune of the grid. Both kunai were worn and covered by cracks. WIth a moment's respite, only the handle didn't break into sparkly shards.

"CAPTAIN!!!" The Human guard flashed beside her, his fist shining with golden Saniya!

"ON IT!!!" Captain Tash pounced to the opposite side, her claws crackling with lightning!

Time was delayed for the Yūrei as she closed her eyes and pulled a wave of Saniya from the rune grid, willing it to concentrate on both her palms. Turquoise energy was imbued into her hands before she slammed them on the floor, conjuring twin, towering ice spikes thicker than a mammoth's tusks and only surpassed in height by the redwoods surrounding Sayama!

Both fists clashed against her constructs, going so far as to smash through a considerable chunk of solid sub-zero temperature water. However, they quickly lost their momentum, giving her ample time to compel the jagged pillars to burst into a mesmerizing misty storm of ice shards! A shame she saw her enemies flashing away from the explosion's radius thanks to the Human's admittedly intriguing light-based magic.

Both guards showed clear signs of fatigue in their posture and heavy breathing. Their armors were whitened with frost, the screen in the Knight's helmet had ceased functioning, and his golden cape had lost its fluidity.

Yuki-onna regretted not finishing them while her grasp on the grid's energy was at its best. Thankfully, she felt like her body could take another surge without consequence...

Still, it was best to remain cautious.

Saniya gurgled in Yuki's belly, undergoing an internal reaction. It claimed space around her lungs and inflated her chest to a painful degree, threatening to burst her wide open. Finally, she exhaled a thick fog, hastily claiming the entire clearing and far more as its area of influence.

While the fog took the two guards from her line of sight, the Yūrei's grin contorted wider.

It was the perfect opportunity to force them to play by HER rules...

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