A vast, snow-laden expanse stretched as far as the eye could see. A furious blizzard raged across the white mountains, howling through the jagged cliffs and the endless plains. In that desolate, frozen plain, a lone figure was desperately running for his life.
He looked human in shape, but his skin was pure, icy white, blending perfectly with the snow—except for the two curved black horns sprouting from his head. Two crimson eyes glowed in stark contrast to his pale skin, and his mouth was lined with rows of sharp teeth. He looked no older than a man in his twenties.
He wore primitive, Stone Age-style garments, though they were sewn from modern fabric. Their color was a dull brown, and they clung to him as he stumbled forward, voice cracking with fear.
"My lord, please, I swear I don't know where that church is! Please, have mercy!"
His frantic cries were swallowed by the blizzard, and suddenly, the winds twisted around him, swirling into a howling tornado. The vortex encircled him like a cage, lifting him high off the ground.
He flailed in agony, trapped in the tornado's heart as the pressure closed around him.
"My lord—please—aghhhh—spare my lif—"
A calm, chilling voice answered from beyond the storm.
"Then tell us the location of the church."
"I—I don't kn—"
The tornado constricted tighter, bones cracking under the invisible force.
"I will tell—aghh— I will tell you! Now, please—just stop!"
Another voice spoke, composed and unbothered.
"Release your spell, Airu."
"Sure."
Airu—known to some as Julius—lowered his staff. He wore a long coat that shifted from black to brown in a smooth gradient, with a black shirt beneath, black trousers, a belt, polished shoes, and a pointed wizard's hat.
In his right hand, he held an elegant staff of polished brown wood, perfectly smooth, crowned by a green orb rotating continuously—an artifact forged for wind magic.
"Rui, I'm tired. Question him yourself," Julius sighed.
Zhou Rui, the man who'd given the command to release the spell, stepped forward.
"I know that."
Rui raised a boot and kicked the creature's face, smashing it to the snow. He leaned down, voice low.
"Speak. Where is the church?"
He wore a long coat the color of fresh snow, beneath which was a tight black shirt that showed his sculpted muscles. Like Julius, he was dressed in black trousers, boots, and gloves.
The creature's cracked voice whimpered out, tears spilling down his frostbitten cheeks.
"Go... aghh... go straight north. You'll find a town—Snowblue Town. There's a witch there. She... aghh... she knows about the church. That's all I know. Please, I beg you—let me live."
Rui's gaze was cold as the blizzard itself.
"You see, this information doesn't mean much to me. So I don't see why I should let you live."
But before he could act, Julius called out calmly.
"Rui. Leave him be."
"Huh?" Rui turned, incredulous.
The creature crawled forward, pressing his palms together, sobbing.
"Yes—please—thank you—thank you!"
Rui straightened, stepping back without another word. The creature staggered upright and began running away to Julius's left, weeping in relief.
Julius and Rui turned north and resumed walking.
The creature had barely made it fifty meters when, without warning, his body split neatly into four pieces. The severed remains fell into the snow, preserved instantly by the cold.
Rui let out a sharp breath.
"You told me not to kill him, but you did it yourself."
Julius chuckled softly.
"Hehe. I get experience for it."
Rui sighed.
"Whatever. Now we'll have to track down this witch in Snowblue Town."
Julius frowned.
"Wait. Did you ask him the distance?"
Rui stopped mid-step, slowly turning to look at Julius.
"...No. Wait, he couldn't have gotten too far—I'll go check—"
Julius shouted, exasperated.
"WHAT'S THE POINT!? I ALREADY KILLED HIM!"
"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT SO QUICKLY!" Rui yelled back.
Julius sighed again, brushing snow from his coat.
"Nothing we can do now. Let's just keep moving."
They continued north for about seven hundred meters. Eventually, Rui glanced around warily.
"Airu, you do know where we are, right?"
"Yeah. We're in the Mountain Tyrant's territory."
They fell into silence, boots crunching over the snow. Somewhere in the distance, a deep snoring echoed across the frozen wasteland, though the blizzard made it impossible to pinpoint.
Then, suddenly, the storm's fury intensified.
Rui's expression darkened.
"Ah, shit. It smelled us."
"Its sense of smell is ridiculous," Julius muttered, raising an arm to shield his face. "Who in the world smells their prey and then makes the blizzard worse?"
Rui tried to cover his mouth and nose.
"It enjoys it. The hunt—the torture."
The earth trembled under massive, pounding footsteps—something was charging straight toward them.
"Two seconds," Julius said grimly. "And it'll be right on top of us."
"I don't even know what it looks like," Rui muttered.
And then they saw it—a monstrous white fist, larger than either of them, larger than a two-story house, slamming down through the snow at breakneck speed.
They both dashed in opposite directions, narrowly dodging the blow.
Towering before them was the Mountain Tyrant—or rather, the Mountain King.
Its blind eyes were two gaping scars, slashed through long ago. The beast stood as tall as a nine-story building, covered head to toe in shaggy white fur, matted with old blood. Huge, jagged teeth jutted from its jaws, two of them curling down like a vampire's.
It sniffed the air, locking on to their scent.
"It looks exactly like those old folklore drawings," Julius said, eyes wide as he steadied his staff.
"I never believed those ridiculous legends," Rui muttered, "the ones that claimed when a Mountain Tyrant is born, its mother slashes its eyes so its sense of smell evolves to perfection... but maybe they were true."
"If that's true," Julius added, "then the part about only one Mountain Tyrant existing per region must be true too."
His gaze hardened.
"It won't let us leave. We have no choice but to fight."
"Yeah." Rui nodded, raising his right hand.
The Mountain Tyrant swung its massive fist at Julius.
Julius raised his staff, voice resonant.
"Da... Le... Wind Shield!"
A colossal barrier of swirling wind materialized, the size of the creature's fist. The impact shook the ground, but the shield held.
"I can make maybe three more shields this size before my mana runs dry," Julius warned.
"Don't worry. I won't let it come to that," Rui said.
Green sparks flickered around Rui's palm, and in a flash, a blade formed—a shimmering emerald weapon.
"Come forth, Guardian Blade."
The blade gleamed brilliantly—its body a vivid lime green, the hilt a deep forest shade.
"It's going to break through!" Julius yelled.
The Tyrant was pressing down on the shield with all its might.
Rui shot forward like an arrow.
The monster caught his scent and swung a massive vertical strike. But Rui's speed exploded, and he slashed its arm open, spraying dark blood onto the snow.
"You're finished, TYRANT!" Julius roared.
His wind shield brightened with an unearthly glow, and the beast staggered backward from the backlash, barely catching itself with a massive leg.
Then, it opened its jaws and inhaled with a deep, thunderous growl.
"HOLD YOUR GROUND, AIRU!" Rui shouted in panic.
Rui stood exposed—so Julius sprinted in front of him, staff raised.
"Wind Shield!"
"After this, only one more—I'll be out of mana!"
The Mountain Tyrant exhaled, a devastating gust tearing across the ice. The shield cracked but held.
Then the creature lifted its arm again. Solid ice began forming along its hand, growing into a colossal spear.
"It's all on you, Airu!" Rui shouted.
Julius whispered something under his breath—and a dark figure shot through the wind, slicing the Tyrant's entire arm clean off.
The figure landed behind the beast and slowly turned its head, glaring with a single crimson eye.
"You are now in my territory, Tyrant," Julius intoned, voice low. "Welcome to my domain!"
He raised his staff.
"Wind Turbo!"
A cyclone erupted around them, clearing the blizzard in a massive radius. Visibility returned in an instant.
High above, a new voice called out:
"Element of Destruction—Demolishing Arrow."
A brown-golden arrow plunged into the Tyrant's skull, bursting it apart in an explosion of bone and gore.
Rui leapt forward, rising high into the air.
"You're finished!"
He swung the Guardian Blade, sending a razor-sharp wind slash that cleaved the monster's heart in two.
Landing beside the dark figure, he watched as the giant collapsed, first to its knees, then toppling onto its side.
With a final THUMP, it lay still, and the last remnants of the blizzard vanished as though they had never been.
Rui let out a slow breath.
"I knew it. The storm was all because of this thing."
"Yeah," Julius agreed, smiling faintly. "And by the way—thanks for the help, Saya. Serena."
Just moments before, while the Tyrant formed its ice spear, Julius had summoned them. Saya had severed the arm, Serena had destroyed the creature's face.
The two women bowed their heads slightly, their smiles warm and loyal.
"It was our duty to protect you, Master. There is no need to thank us."