I set my feet, felt the land under the boots, and let the clearing shrink down to a small circle of focus.
The forty statues spread in the clearing like a bad harvest, people frozen in ice, heartbeats still deep in their chests. I tasted the plan in my mouth: clean strikes, no collateral, one heart at a time.
Billion watched from the edge of the ring. He had arranged them, obeying my order, and he kept a small distance. Everything else was empty: just me, the targets, and the thin air that held all my resolve.
I started with the first cluster.
Eight bodies, spaced and waiting.
I activated [Blade Rush].
My body blurred forward, steps snapping across the ground faster than I could track. The first ice statue loomed.
I gripped the right blade tighter and let [Two Step Edge] flow from my limbs. My right hand shot down, carving a tiny channel into the ice over the heart. My left hand followed instantly, aiming to pierce cleanly.
