Chapter Title: "Will of the Frozen Reckoning"
Theme: Ice. Blood. Horn. Treachery.
FWOOOOOOOOOOSH
Frost steam hissed from the ground like sighs of the dead. The battlefield was quiet eerily quiet until a low clicking echoed across the silence.
Tiny black ants crawled across the four-cornered ice cube that pressed down against the cracked earth. Their chitin glistened against the frozen mist, and then—
BOOM! CRACK!!CRRRRRRRRK
A chain of explosions burst from each insect as they detonated, fracturing the cube from every corner. CRRRRRK—CRA-CRACK—BOOM! The enormous block of ice shattered violently, releasing a blast of cold vapor as a figure stepped out, battered but smiling.
Jabo.
" Tch, If I hadn't slipped out my ant creation at the last second, I'd have been nothing but frozen dust," he muttered, clicking his tongue, and then brushing ice shards off his shoulder. "This ice… It's dangerous. It restricts the very flow of the body to function properly." Luckily those black ants are mechanics that work in case of restrictions like this one me they act to rescue.
His black eyes narrowed as he looked toward Madagascar.
"I've got high regard for you," Jabo said, his voice low and confident. "But it seems… my time here is up."
He smirked.
"But as a parting gift why don't you take a look at your friends' feet?"
Madagascar turned sharply—his eyes widening.
Tito and Chiro were struggling. Coiled tightly around their ankles were centipedes—thick, silent, unmoving.
Tito shouted, "When did this—!?"
"Ah," Jabo chuckled. "A secret technique of mine. Before the battle even started, I embedded my creations beneath the very surface you stand on. Deep. Silent. Waiting."
Chiro's eyes darted. "You used the ground itself…?"
"Yes. That's the trick." Jabo grinned. "These centipedes don't move unless commanded. No motion, no detection. They slither on you, wrap around, and you won't even know unless you see them, but how do you see something that has no motion?"
Madagascar's breath frosted as he lifted his arm. An icy trident appeared in his grasp—crystalline, jagged, and radiating divine chill.
"Now, now," Jabo warned, holding up a hand. "If I were you, I'd rethink that. One wrong move… and BOOM. Your friends are gone."
But Madagascar didn't pause.
He pulled his body back and hurled the trident with such force it cracked the earth beneath his feet.
WHOOSH—SSSSHHHH!!!
It tore through the air toward Jabo, who gasped, "You're unwise, boy—!"
THWIP!
He narrowly dodged the attack, leaping high onto a nearby rooftop.
"I'll be taking my leave now—" he smirked, forming a hand seal. "—along with the legs of your comrades!" He said..
But as he prepared to activate his explosive seal—
Madagascar's voice echoed coldly:
"Will of Ice: Will of Iced Trident."
WHOOOOOM!!!
The trident changed direction mid-flight, glowing with pale blue Shen. It spun through the air and—
SHLUNK!
—pierced Jabo clean through his back, exploding from his chest, freezing his heart on contact.
Jabo's eyes widened as he gasped, blood and mist mixing in his mouth. Then—
KABOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A chain explosion detonated below, ripping through the earth and sending stone, debris, and steel flying into the night sky. Flame and frost clashed as the very ground split apart.
Far off, standing on a ledge overlooking the chaos, Silas watched. Unimpressed.
"Cute," he muttered, uninterested, as he floated gently down with Cecelia's limp body suspended in blood threads behind him.
They landed at the heart of a heavily guarded American facility—one hidden beneath Washington DC.
Silas sneered. "So this is where they keep the piece, huh? Huey's intel is never wrong."
Using Cecelia's hand, he pressed her palm against the scanner.
BEEP. BZZZZZZZT. HSSSSSSSSSHHH—
The door slid open.
Over a hundred armed US soldiers stood waiting inside.
"DROP THE HOSTAGE!" one barked.
"COME QUIETLY OR WE'LL OPEN FIRE!"
Silas simply smiled, one hand still in his pocket. Cecelia floated above him, twitching like a marionette.
"Humans without Shen…" he chuckled. "You never learn."
The room lit up—RATATATATATA!—gunfire thundered as bullets rained.
But none of it touched him.
Instead—SLASH—CRACK—THUD!
One by one, the soldiers collapsed, blood spurting from their mouths and eyes.
They had shot themselves.
Controlled.
Manipulated by his blood bending.
Silas never lifted a finger.
He strolled past their twitching bodies, the blood on the floor parting like water as he reached a large glass cylinder. Inside hovered a silver box—glowing with ancient energy.
He extended his hand. Blood snaked up the glass, hardened—KRRRK!—then shattered it completely.
He reached in and took the box.
"The piece of Yggdrasil ," he whispered.
Turning to Cecelia, he whispered, "You've served your purpose, Cece love."
"Voremortis… Arise."
From behind him, the monstrous blood beast —its teeth grinding, eyes glowing with hunger.
CHOMP—CRUNCH—SQUELCH!!!
With a single bite, Voremortis devoured Cecelia whole. Her screams echoed only for a moment.
And then… silence. The beast purred.
Meanwhile, in Seoul…
"Extend… Chainsmile."
Sir Caelum Veyne's voice cut through the air like steel.
His chained sword unraveled, spinning through the sky like a whip of judgment.
CLANK—CLANK—CLINK—SWOOOSH!!!
It sliced clean through the air toward the hulking figure of Sparta—the mysterious Alpha draped in regal red and war-worn symbols.
Sparta raised his arm and said . "Elephant Horn."
BOOOOOM!!!
A titanic, gnarled horn materialized from nothing in front of him, slamming into Caelum's blade mid-flight tanking it sending a shockwave that shattered the rooftop.
KR-BOOOM!!
Sir Caelum's boots skidded back across the concrete. Dust danced around him.
Sparta touched the horn with one of his hands,It pulsed his arm melting into it—and then with a mighty roar, he lifted it upwards and SLAMMED it downward toward Caelum's position.
But Caelum reacted instantly.
"Chainsmile—Anchor!"
THUNK! The blade stabbed into the floor, yanking him away as the Elephant Horn CRUSHED the rooftop completely.
KRAAAAAASSSHH!!!
The entire building collapsed into rubble.
From mid-air, Caelum muttered, "Yare yare… that's bad."
In an undisclosed location…
Huey stood before a dark glowing portal. The crimson light flickered across his pale, stitched face.
He turned slightly.
"The portal is ready."
Behind him stood a man with a regal posture, dressed in black and gold military uniform. The very essence of conquest radiated from him.
Huey bowed slightly. "You should be leaving now… Napoleon Bonaparte."
End Chapter.
To be continued…