Nikki treaded cautiously as she walked down the corridor with 2 of her City Guard. She had previously accompanied Keith and Shaw to set up the combat medical post, leaving behind almost all her men as they were largely injured.

Suddenly, to her horror, one of her men was decapitated right in front of her, his head neatly lopped off from his body. Nikki and her remaining guard hastily drew their swords as they watched anxiously for the enemy. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew towards them and Nikki instinctively positioned her rapier to protect her neck.

TWANG! The sounds of metal clashing could be heard repeatedly as Nikki continued to block the relentless strikes from her unseen opponent. Her fellow guard wasn't as fortunate however, as he was executed shortly after blocking just a few strikes from the assailant.

Nikki shouted, "Show yourself!" Her opponent was strong, so she was curious on the identity of her adversary. Her enemy laughed hysterically, "You're pretty good for a lass, blocking all my attacks so easily. Very well, I'll reveal myself."

In a blink of an eye, a woman with purple hair and an alluring figure stood in the centre of the hallway, her tongue licking the blood off from her blade. The woman performed a slight curtsy, her hand still gripping onto her blade, and announced, "My name's Ivy, also known as the Rose with Thorns. To be able to withstand my attacks, you are worthy of witnessing my weapon's true form."

Nikki enquired, "True form? Your weapon is a magic weapon?" Ivy declared, "Indeed! Danger within beauty, [Rosegarde]!"

Nikki ducked in the nick of time as a slash appeared on the wall where her head once was. Ivy didn't relent after her first attack, as Nikki instinctively fended off a few more attacks. Nikki realised that [Rosegarde] was a whip with thorns all over it.

From her own experience, whips weren't easy to use as careless use could lead to self-injury due to their flexibility. In return for that risk, whips are also the most unpredictable weapon, making it difficult to defend against. In fact, as Ivy piled up more attacks, Nikki actually suffered a few more gashes as the whip had practically bypassed her defence.

Unwilling to back down, Nikki increased her speed to avoid getting whipped on top of finding an opportunity to counterattack. Unfortunately, Ivy was able to match her movement speed despite Nikki's use of Wind magic, resulting in a few more gashes.

Since speed wasn't the solution, Nikki decided to retaliate using power instead as she cried while swinging her rapier, "[Wind Slash]!" A large, sharp blade of wind headed towards Ivy who barely dodged it, creating a large nick on the wall. However, this stopped Ivy from attacking momentarily, allowing Nikki to close the gap between them as she launched a stab at her opponent.

Ivy was grazed by Nikki's rapier as she couldn't dodge the blade fully. Nikki continued her flurry of assaults which Ivy couldn't guard against since her whip was poorly designed for defending, especially at close range. When Nikki finally concluded her attack, Ivy appeared just as wounded as Nikki since she couldn't avoid all of Nikki's attacks either.

Both panted in exhaustion but suddenly, Nikki fell onto one of her knees. She felt extremely light-headed as she didn't know what hit her. Ivy laughed maniacally and chuckled, "Looks like the poison had finally taken effect! I was initially worried that you were immune since you attacked with such fervour earlier but it turns out that the reaction was just delayed. I admit, you're the toughest bitch I've ever faced with that speed and rapier technique of yours, but it's all over now. You've indeed been a worthy opponent, but it's time for you to go!"

Ivy lashed her whip out towards Nikki's neck, intending to decapitate her like her men. However, to her astonishment, Nikki stopped her whip with her left hand, as she gathered enough mana on her hand to create a miniature wind wall to cushion the impact of Ivy's attack. Gripping onto [Rosegarde] tightly with her left hand which caused it to bleed, Nikki suddenly emanated an aura of death as her mana condensed around her, causing slight distortions in the air.

Subsequently, before Ivy could respond, she pulled Ivy towards her, causing Ivy to lose her balance as she flew towards Nikki. To Ivy's horror, Nikki's rapier was infused with a huge amount of mana. Nikki cried, "Don't underestimate my resolve, [Whirlwind Drill]!" as a tornado spun around her blade, converging at its tip.

Nikki then impaled right through Ivy's chest with her rapier, blowing a huge hole through her chest. Ivy's face gave a blank expression as she slumped to the ground. Nikki collapsed onto one knee after her attack, panting, "Sorry, I can't help any further…" as she succumbed to the effects of the poison, falling unconscious.

Frost entered the Main Hall of Zion Academy after a long 20 minute walk without getting contacted by the enemy. As he admired the banners that adorned the pillars of the hall, Frost was reminded of his own time in Zion Academy. He'll never forget that this was the place where he had met his best friend for the first time. That fateful encounter would result in a long lasting friendship that endured several tribulations, even till today. Yes, that friend was the Lightning Saint, Ray.

Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine as he instinctively jumped away. BOOM! A large crater was formed where he previously stood, as he saw a young man with an eye patch covering his left eye punch the spot where he once was. Before he had time to think, Frost ducked under a slash aimed for his neck. It was another young man who looked similar to his previous assailant, just that his eye patch was on his right eye on top of wielding a red-coloured sword.

His new opponent made calculated yet swift strikes at Frost, making it difficult for him to dodge or block these attacks with ice magic. Suddenly, the swordsman jumped up, only to reveal the other assailant charging straight towards Frost, ready to throw another punch.

This time, Frost could see clearly that the other assailant was armed with spiked gauntlets. Frost quickly performed a back-flip while kicking his assailant's hand away, stopping his charge. He then swiftly formed an ice wall between his 2 adversaries and himself, only for it to be smashed to pieces immediately by the opponent armed with gauntlets.

Now, Frost had some time to examine his opponents. They indeed looked identical, which means that they were probably twins. Frost said, "Ah, I know who you guys are now. The only twins I know in dark guild business are the Blood Twins, Crimson and Eisen, right? No wonder you two fight with such synergy, this could be annoying."

Eisen, the twin armed with gauntlets, taunted, "At least you know who's going to kill you, Snow Hunter Frost! We'll have the honour of sending you to your maker, hahaha!" Crimson added, "Brother, if we attack together, no foe is too strong for us. Let's commence with Plan A and finish this as soon as possible!"

Eisen nodded and jumped towards Frost, launching a barrage of punches. Frost dodged the attacks, but he could feel the power imbued in each punch. Eisen was not weak at close combat, and every punch he threw was meant to kill with ruthless efficiency. Occasionally, he nearly caught Frost off guard with a few kicks, which were blocked by Frost's [Ice Shield] spell that created solid ice around target areas of his body.

Meanwhile, Crimson circled around Frost, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush him. Once he was certain, holding onto his weapon, he cried, "Bind and execute, [Guillochain]!" [Guillochain] came in the form of twin swords connected by a chain attached to the base of their hilts. Crimson started twirling one of the swords using the chain before throwing the sword towards Frost.

Frost, sensing the incoming danger, pushed away a fist from Eisen with the Beginner tier spell [Frost Touch] which froze Eisen's fist before twisting away from the incoming sword. Eisen grimaced as he increased his mana output on his frozen hand to thaw it as he caught the sword with his other hand. He then swung the sword in an awkward fashion, as though he wanted to swing the chain towards Frost.

Frost was initially puzzled, but he suddenly realised that the chain, which had a high frequency of mana flowing through them, was sharper than the blade of the sword. Frost dived to the side in the nick of time, as the chain sliced through mid-air.

Crimson shouted, "Now, brother! Use the Circle of Death formation!" With the twins each holding one sword of [Guillochain], while Crimson remained stationary, Eisen ran in circles in a clockwise fashion, with Frost in the centre. Frost immediately knew what they were up to. If Eisen had kept moving in circles around him, they would successfully bind him with the chain and execute him shortly thereafter by pulling the chains while allowing their mana to flow through, cutting through his midsection.

Frost smiled at the naivety of the twins, as the chain continued to extend and wrap around him. The fact that their execution technique requires the chain to wrap around him first meant that Frost had some time before they let their mana flow through the chain, since any time before would only cut him straightaway, reducing the damage done.

Once the twins were done, they cried, "Hahaha, to think that the Snow Hunter has become the Hunted! We're going to be promoted!"

Before they could tug at their swords and let their mana flow through, suddenly, the air felt extremely cold. Frost smirked and said, "My best friend always told me to leave my trump card for last. Up till now, I've only been playing with you guys. I admit you've got good synergy, but your overconfidence would cost you your lives!"

Suddenly, the chains became frozen and the chill extended to the arms of both twins as they gasped in surprise and panic. Frost quickly broke free of the chains as they shattered into pretty sparkles before declaring, "This is how you use your magic weapon! Chill through bone, [Frostfang]!"

[Frostfang] materialised in Frost's right hand out of thin air as he readied himself to plunge the blade into the ground. In their panic, both twins jumped at Frost, wanting to finish him off before he could perform what he planned. Eisen shouted, "Die! [Heavy Impact]!" as he threw a punch coated with dense, dark-coloured mana armament with his non-frozen hand while Crimson cried, "[Tiger Claw]!" with his free hand shaped like a tiger paw.

Before the twins could reach him however, Frost had already thrust [Frostfang] into the ground and muttered, "[Ice Age]." The entire floor of the hall was frozen solid and so were the twins. With a swing of his sabre, Frost created enough force to shatter all the ice in the hall, including the bodies of the twins. Frost enjoyed the resultant sparkles for a moment before smiling, reminiscing on those good memories as he walked out of the hall, leaving no traces of the enemy behind.