BOOM!
With a thunderous roar, two ten-meter-high compacted snow walls slammed into each other. The ground shook as snow exploded like molten steel.
A small figure tumbled out of the white mist, hitting the ground and charging toward the Avalanche Devil.
'Oh? So you know you're in trouble now?'
The waves of snow stopped.
The Avalanche Devil, resembling a small snow pile, couldn't afford to divide its attention, focusing entirely on Hoshino, who was fighting alone.
Hoshino accelerated again, clutching a full-length mirror that had been split in two.
The mirror Kobayashi Naoto had placed before assembling, originally meant for a sneak attack from behind.
Four square walls, each over thirty meters wide, closed in on Hoshino like magnets.
The speed was incredible, the range vast—no way to dodge.
Hoshino slammed his left foot down, spiderweb cracks instantly spreading across the snow surface.
He bent his knees, lowered his waist, twisted his body, and swung his arm in one fluid motion. The mirror traced a perfect arc, narrowly missing the approaching snow wall.
BOOM.
The four walls collided, like an avalanche from the sky, everything turning white.
The spinning mirror scraped horizontally across the snow surface, finally embedding itself in the snow at a sharp angle. Even so, it was covered in cracks.
Hoshino poked his head out, a devilish grin spreading across his face. He stealthily crawled out and kicked the completely unsuspecting "small snow pile."
Avalanche Devil: !!!
@#％&#$@#％Õ#％Š†§#...
After a brutal beating, the Avalanche Devil was barely clinging to life.
"Say it: lend me ninety percent of your Authority's usage, in exchange for me wishing myself happiness every day."
"..."
[Avalanche (C): 90%]
'Just C? Must have a lot of restrictions.'
"Hmph! Useless devil, die!" Hoshino raised his fist, ready to finish the job.
The sound of something cutting through the air suddenly rang out. Hoshino dodged without hesitation, a sharp snow blade narrowly missing him.
Thwack!
The snow blade plunged deep into the snow.
A white shadow flashed past, and the Avalanche Devil was dragged away from its spot.
Hoshino retreated about ten steps, his mind racing.
'That fast?'
'Is Kobeni-san okay?'
Stopping at a relatively safe distance, he didn't make any rash moves, carefully observing the Blizzard Fiend's condition.
The white robe and inner lining were gone.
The Fiend was bare-chested, with well-defined muscles and no visible injuries. A shimmering blue pendant hung from its pale neck.
Seeing that the Avalanche Devil was only unconscious, the Fiend turned its attention to Hoshino, two snow blades materializing in its hands.
'Why take off the clothes?'
Hoshino found it strange. The Fiend had initially been dressed in white from head to toe, looking quite proper.
People like that usually cared about their appearance and wouldn't have a habit of casual exposure.
'Whatever, doesn't matter!'
Hoshino refocused.
Meanwhile, the Fiend seemed to want a quick resolution, its ice-blue pupils beginning to flash violently.
A fierce wind suddenly picked up, the leaden sky swallowing the moon. A thick curtain of snow descended, everything in sight turning gray and white.
Hoshino raised an eyebrow, his own eyes glowing blue.
To the Fiend's north, south, east, and west, four massive thirty-meter snow walls rose up.
"Close."
Snow flew everywhere as the giant walls roared toward the Fiend.
The Fiend stood motionless, crossing its blades and slashing out a cross.
As it did, the snowflakes along the blade's path acted like tiny magnets, all sticking together.
The two blades, originally just dozens of centimeters long, instantly transformed into massive blades over three hundred meters long.
The giant walls from the front, left, and right instantly disintegrated.
A pale, solid giant cross cut through the fierce wind, heading straight for Hoshino.
Hoshino, right in the center, raised his right hand.
"Left arm muscle."
As the cross entered the five-meter range, it let out a piercing shriek.
"Bang!"
The cross shattered.
The remaining snow blades dug into the snow, carving deep "八"-shaped trenches in front of Hoshino.
The Blizzard Fiend leaped into the air, stomping down on the giant wall behind it.
The wall shattered, and it shot toward Hoshino like an arrow, the two crystal-white snow blades held in reverse grip.
Hoshino clenched his fists as gray armor coated his arms. Two giant gray arms erupted from his back, charging toward the Fiend.
A snow stake suddenly appeared in the Fiend's path.
The Fiend stomped down hard on the stake, flipping 180 degrees to face away from Hoshino, now holding the blades in a forward grip.
In an absurd position—upside down with crossed blades aimed at Hoshino's head—it slashed down.
"!!!"
This move exceeded Hoshino's imagination. Dodging was definitely out of the question.
Thinking fast, he threw himself backward while fully activating his Aging Authority with his right hand, reaching for the center of the cross.
Sizzle!
Blood sprayed.
The cross shattered, his right hand unharmed, but the dislodged blade tip, carried by momentum, carved two deep, narrow cuts into his shoulder blade.
Between the two flying lines of blood, the Fiend gracefully flipped and landed on the ground.
"Right arm muscle!" Hoshino roared, his face cold.
His right hand rapidly withered, two sleeves flapping wildly in the wind.
At the same time, a different giant arm rose from his back.
Unlike the others, which ended in a simple fist, this one had five distinct fingers.
Now, the index and middle fingers snapped forward.
"Bang!"
Most of the Fiend's body disappeared, the arc-shaped cut leaving no blood, just a clean break like chipped porcelain.
Smack!
The remaining small portion of its body fell into the snow.
'Got it!'
Hoshino grinned.
As the amplification increased, the precision and strength of the Muscle Authority grew higher and higher.
Compared to the "barrel" formed by coiled muscle fibers, this "handgun"—with the hand emerging directly from his body and only needing to flick a finger—was much faster.
This kind of multi-Authority combination technique was incredibly insidious and hard to defend against.
Putting himself in the Fiend's shoes, this was also why Hoshino avoided direct confrontation unless absolutely necessary.
'Your Blizzard Authority is impressive, but now it's mine!'
He turned around.
But what greeted him wasn't a barely surviving fragment of a body, but the Blizzard Fiend, standing up again.
"..."
Hoshino's eyes widened. He backed away, hands behind his back, and happened to see the snow fill the white gap, forming the Fiend's right foot:
"You're immortal too?"
The Fiend didn't answer, its expression exceptionally grim.
Suddenly, its pupils dilated, and without hesitation, it chopped off its own right leg.
The leg standing in the snow quickly decayed, the cut visibly turning from blood red to withered yellow.
A hand withdrew into the snow.
The snow moved without wind, revealing a mirror beneath that slowly disappeared.
'So it's not immortal... if I catch it off guard, I can attack its true body...'
The test was successful, but the situation hadn't improved—it had gotten worse. This meant even a follow-up strike couldn't kill it.
For Hoshino, that was no different from being immortal.
As he pondered, the Fiend's leg regenerated completely.
Hoshino put the portable round mirror back in his pocket.
"Aging?" the Blizzard Fiend spoke. "No."
"..."
The Blizzard Fiend seemed to consider something:
"Interesting, interesting."
"How about this..." Hoshino proposed, "you let me and the other two go, and I won't tell anyone anything, okay?"
The Fiend noticed Hoshino's eyes flicker to the right for a moment. After a moment of thought, it asked: "Tell them what?"
"Tell them..." Hoshino paused thoughtfully.
"Now!" he suddenly commanded, simultaneously raising his hand in a gun gesture.
The Fiend was prepared, instantly jumping away from its spot while turning to look behind it to the right.
"..."
Nothing there.
When it looked forward again, Hoshino was already far away.
'Can't win! Retreat first!'
Hoshino's eyes glowed blue as he stomped down hard on a giant snow stake erupting behind him, using the force to propel himself far forward.
Just before landing, another snow stake would erupt, giving him another boost.
During one of his descents, he saw the shirt the Blizzard Fiend had discarded.
There was a large ring of dried blood on the chest.
...
"Hehe."
The Blizzard Fiend was laughing, but the twitching vein on its forehead revealed its true mood.
The surrounding wind suddenly intensified, exceeding 25 meters per second.
The Fiend's body gradually disintegrated, turning into snow powder and merging with the wind.
Hoshino was fast, but he couldn't outrun the gale.
After about a dozen breaths, the Fiend appeared directly in front of him, slashing down with its blade.
Hoshino tried the same trick, using both hands coated with his Aging Authority to block the blade.
But unlike last time, the blade dispersed into snow powder, bypassing his hands, and reformed ten centimeters from his face.
"???"
The crystal-white blade drew a thin, bright line in his pupils.
'This is exactly why I hate direct confrontation!!'
At this distance, it was too late to do anything.
—He was dead for sure.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
A black shadow flashed past.
A gleaming dagger plunged into the Fiend's heart.
The Fiend's snow-melting body leaned forward, trying to pass through the dagger and arm.
But the dagger didn't follow inertia to pierce the Fiend's heart. Instead, it was pulled back, keeping the blade inside the Fiend's melting heart.
Smack.
The snow blade hit Hoshino's face, exploding into powder. Some was blown away by the wind, some fell into his collar, making him shiver.
Missing its chance, the Blizzard Fiend didn't press the attack, retreating thirty meters to observe.
"..."
Hoshino stared blankly as he turned his head: "...Huh?"
"I-I-I-I'm here to back you up!" someone said, blushing.