"Freiheit...I get it now; you're fucking insane."

Half expecting the man to blow up, all Ryuji got in response was jovial laughter that seemed very out of place for the situation. The Kommandant's arm jiggled up and down lifelessly as he continued to belt.

"Bingo! Yes. I. Am. And that's why if I were you, I would stand down and give me what I want."

"What could I possibly have that you would want!?"

His temper flared, but the cultist seemed more interested in the sky as he recanted what he desired.

"A book I believe you picked up. There's no way Pride would let it be destroyed, and I heard that it was your plans that killed the sins. So I figured you would be the best guy to tell me. Now, where is the book?"

"I don't have it. Go fuck yourself."

"Ah, so you know where it is! Well, that's grand." The genuine smile dropped without provocation. What was left reminded Ryuji of a certain red-haired man. "Tell me."

"It was probably left behind in the desert."

"Nope. Checked every camp you guys had set up; no book."

"I swear to you that in about five seconds, I'm coming for your head."

His hand scratched the back of his scalp as the cultist sighed. "So you really don't know where that book is huh? Damn, guess I'll just find where I left that little one. I don't think I killed her. Ah, but in this storm, she probably just froze to death. Damn, I am stupid-"

A flash of steel soared past his cheek as he dodged out of the way midsentence. He looked to see a face of pure fury launch past him. The snow that seemed to blanket everything was diverted, revealing solid ground under Ryuji's feet.

"What did you do!?"

Ryuji's words were choked out, with tears beginning to involuntarily form. But even still, Katastrophe's smile didn't falter, and he now looked slightly confused even with the grin.

"What did I do? I found two of your buddies alone, so I blew one's head off and blasted the other one with magic cause they wouldn't stop crying, then I came here and found you."

"Y-You...you..."

"Are you upset? Well, I'll let you know that I'm even more upset! I possibly killed one of the only means of getting that book! Now I'll never see my future."

The lunatic continued to speak, but the words merely went in one ear and out the other. Ryuji was starting to feel sick. His head was foggy, and the anger that was boiling beneath that fog was making his head hurt worse. He had pledged to protect that kid, and he was starting to realize he had failed. He had already forgotten about the woman still breathing behind him along with the group of girls whose faces were beginning to blur.

"Can you die for me real fast?"

Magic-infused slashes that could separate traveled through the air in droves at the smiling devil. His response was a simple barrier made out of ice that was close to ten feet thick.

"I know that I sort of started all this, but aren't you supposed to be civilized and all? I mean, what sort of civilized guy just starts attacking without warning!?"

"One Dragon Shock!"

A single thrust that carried the momentum of a raging dragon pierced the enhanced ice effortlessly. In the resulting ice shower, Katastrophe went to put more distance between himself and Ryuji.

"Aw! Come on, it's no fun if we're both insane now, is it? If I wanted to fight someone deserving of being in an asylum, I would just fight literally any of the other bozo Kommandants. At least preach about being the good guy and fighting for justice or whatever!"

"Justice? Justice can go fuck itself! I just want your head on a platter!"

"Oh! You're getting warmer!"

Metal crashed against ice again and again. Every time Ryuji made any sort of advancement, he was quickly met by a wall of ice. And by the time Ryuji could gear up for his next attack, he was already preparing to launch another barrier.

"Fifth Step!"

A crack that sounded like thunder roared through the air as Ryuji launched himself with enough force to mangle his own legs. He cleared his mind and wiped away the anger that had been consuming him in exchange for complete emptiness. With his blade in hand, he readied the instrument of death for its ultimate purpose, but before he was within striking distance, his speed fell drastically. Unable to keep his momentum going, he sunk into the snow.

"Not too easy flying through the air like a damn faerie when the air is that heavy, huh? Now can you get out of this one? Endless bog."

The snow beneath his feet disappeared into a muck that desperately clung to his boots. Pulling him deeper and deeper down, the bog threatened to swallow him whole. All he could do was put everything he had into his already shattered legs.

"Glacial edge. Ah, ah, not so fast, you little shit!"

Pain racked his entire body, and his strength was failing fast. Deep inside his gut was an icicle sharp enough to glint through steel. But that strength seemed to return tenfold with every new drop of blood that intermingled with the mud. His blessing was going into full effect and the dopamine hitting his brain with the force of a thousand hammers was surely the reason he was smiling.

"You're fucking dead!"

"Try me shitstain!"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The ice lodged in her center mass finally melted away into nothing more than a red icicle that fell out and rolled along the floor.

"Crazy bastard!"

Crawling and wobbling from the sidelines was a semi-injured Nyanjo. Her magic was slowly sealing up the wound in her torso as she went to a position that allowed her to witness the confrontation. When she had finally gotten to the mouth of the cave, her face twisted in anger.

"You're really dull, you know that?"

Katostrophe's arm was still out of commission, but no new wound had been inflicted. On the other hand, Ryuji was starting to have trouble standing. In particular, the cut opening his stomach was so deep Nyanjo feared something besides blood might fall out. The light in his eyes seemed to slowly die out, and his body went limp onto the ground.

"Aw, what happened to my head being on a platter? Just in case you couldn't tell, I retain both my head and my life! Both of which you made bold claims to take!" With a giant sigh, he posed dramatically as if waiting for a response. "But I see now that you're nothing more than a pansy, and on top of that, you couldn't even make it fun. I give you a point five out of ten."

Her rage was at its boiling point, most of it stemming from the hole in her stomach, but just a tiny bit was towards the complete wreck Ryuji had become.

"Emotion Entzunden."

His head whipped around and stared blankly at the woman who was being engulfed by red flames. "Who are you...?" His eyes squinted before popping open to their full size. "Oh yeah! The bitch! How are you completely fine? You secretly a priest or something? Oh, maybe you have a cool pocket skill! Wait, wasn't your hair pink?"

"For a deadman, you sure like asking questions, don't you?"

A hateful smile reflected the murder in his eyes while an immense number of icicles materialized behind him. "That's a lot of talk for someone who went down in a single hit."

She let the rage building inside her escape through her flames. Her crimson red anger became her strength. And upon her face was a smile that was anything but calm.

"Well, why don't you try it again?"

Running on all fours, she galloped toward the object of her aggression. An aura of pure heat melted the machine-like rapid-fire of icicles. Her sneer only grew with each passing step. Meanwhile, the cultist's fear became more and more apparent to Nyanjo. Her confidence was bolstered, and her murderous sprint increased its speed.

"This isn't very fair, you know! I can only do ice spells here, and fire is the direct counter to ice. So what I'm trying to say is, please fuck off!"

A storm surged forward, seemingly at the request of Katastrophe's palms. Nyanjo's sprint ground to a halt and became closer to that of a crawl. But even then, she still continued forward, burning her anger for fuel. Slowly she felt her emotions wear away. A large portion of her magic had gone to sealing her torso. Soon she wouldn't have enough energy to keep going. She needed to do something quickly. She shoved her hands forward as if they were a spear, and in them, the feeling of pure unadulterated fury sprang forth in the form of a heat ray.

"Rage Split!"

The gathering heat pierced through the white storm without mercy and without stopping, even as it passed through the chest of her target. All at once, the storm stopped as if nothing was happening in the first place. Without the constant wind pushing her back, Nyanjo fell face-first into the already freezing mud she had created.

"VIOLENT!"

Before her stood something that shouldn't be alive anymore. The very man whose lungs should be burned to a crisp stood looking at her with the same mild annoyance someone might have after being stung by a bee. To say Nyanjo was floored would be an understatement. With no sign of him healing himself, she could only stare at him bewildered.

"H-How are you still-"

"Breathing? Did you honestly think that completely busting up my lung would be enough to make me quit living? You've got to be joking! I'm beyond the need of something petty like a lung or a heart."

Under normal circumstances, what he said would be classified as the ravings of a madman, but she had seen the proof in the pudding and knew now that he wasn't bluffing. She bet that even if he did lose his heart or maybe even his head, he would keep moving as if nothing was wrong. In the face of something as overbearing and unnatural as that, she resigned to her own defeat with her head hung low.

"Ha...guess I'm dead then, huh?"

"Yes, yes you are."

His voice was flat as if he had all the fun he could here and would soon be moving on to something more interesting.

"Not so fast!"

"WHAT NOW!?"

From farther down the hill, a familiar annoying voice echoed. Nyanjo's ears perked up, and a small flame of hope burned. The madman, on the other hand, looked anything other than pleased. She could practically hear him grind his teeth even though they were some distance apart.

"HOW!? How resilient are you people? I put a hole in you, and then what do you do? You get up ten minutes later and act like everything's dandy! I literally put that asshole on death's door, and somehow he gets faster and almost decapitates me. Then there's that fucker down there who I literally opened up like a ripe fruit, yet there he is, completely intact, acting like nothing happened! I HATE IT HERE!"

He turned his back to her and focused his attention on the megalomaniac edging closer to him with a sword drawn. Nyanjo took the opportunity to grab Ryuji's body. Her fingers touched his skin, and she instantly realized that he would die soon. His wounds were still open, and the sudden blizzard didn't help his already cold body. Her hands clutched him tight as she squeezed out her last drops of mana to heal him as much as she could.

"You have quite the nerve attacking me out of the blue and then leaving the second you had the upper hand. If you had chosen to fight me like a gentleman instead of a coward, there would be no possible way I could lose! Therefore I, Elio Abate, hereby swear that your life shall be forfeit."

The priest strode past the madman without paying him a glance and made his way to her side. His eyes were paying sole attention to Ryuji, whose breaths had started to slow down drastically. Both Nyanjo and Katastrophe looked at the noble confused.

"Yeah, how about no? I'm going to expend everything I have and seal you guys away in so much ice it won't matter how resilient you are! Ice Age!"

A streak of light streamed across the horizon. Without a single sound besides the cold breeze blowing, a quarter of his skull vanished. The commander fell backward silently, his magic never deploying. A woman that Nyanjo had met before moved forward. Her spare sword dripped with blood and pink fragments that she quickly whipped away. Her eyes were focused on the people surrounding Ryuji instead of the man she had taken out.

"Who are you?"

Rhea's cold tone surprised her, and she couldn't get the words she wanted to say to leave her throat. Abate, on the other hand, went about his business as if nothing was wrong.

"Ah, the Sword Saint, I presume? What spectacular technique you exhibited, although it wasn't the culmination of any effort you yourself gave, it was breathtaking all the same. Now then, I must save my employer, or else my family name will forever be sullied! Sacred High Heal."

Rheas brows were knit for a minute before she seemed to understand the situation. Then her skeptical glare was no longer aimed at Elio but Nyanjo instead. Nyanjo closed her eyes and began blabbering as quickly as she could.

"I-I'm Nyanjo! I was your waiter at the bar, and before that, I had known Ryuji from a little traveling we did together!"

She talked faster than ever before, and even she had a hard time understanding what she had said. She slowly opened her eyes, expecting to see Rhea confused but instead, she saw a goddess-like smile that could melt someone's heart.

"So you guys are Ryuji's friends? I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping and protecting him."

"Why you're welcome! I tried really, really hard, but that guy was trying his hardest to die against me."

The commander stood once again with his wounds in full view. His arm could have been mistaken for being lost in a factory accident. A hole in his chest was blackened and only recently had stopped burning. And his head looked as if someone had cropped part of it away. Yet he still stood, and yet he still talked.

"An authority!? There's no other way for you to still be alive after my blade struck you!"

"Sorry miss, but I hold no authority or whatever. That reminds me; since you're here, have you seen a black book? I really really want to find i-"

"Photon Razor."

His remains crumpled to the ground after being eviscerated by a blade faster than sound and hotter than fire. Rhea simply stared at the pile of meat, waiting for something to possibly happen. After a while of crushing silence, Rhea must have assumed that it was over and turned to face them again. This time instead of looking fierce or heavenly, she just looked plain tired.

"I wanted to keep questioning him, but an authority is not something even I can take lightly. I just hope I did the right thing there." Her hands rubbed her temple before she weakly smiled. "Is Ryuji going to alright?"

Elio stood with a smug expression that made Nyanjo roll her eyes. Brimming with pride, he pointed at his patient before declaring, "This man shall be just fine! I swear on the name of Abate that he has received the care he needs to survive. Now it'll probably take him a day or two to wake up, but that's perfectly natural. You can trust me. I would never allow any of my employers..." His eyes and voice trailed off before something akin to panic set into his face. "I have to go get something. Wait right here for me! I will be back shortly!" Without waiting for a response, he sprinted down the hill.

"Why are you alone?"

Hoping to have a chat instead of sitting in silence, Nyanjo asked an innocent question.

"The others will be here in a few minutes. I apologize in advance."

"Why?"

Rhea sighed deeply and began playing with her crimson hair as if to make her feel better about what's to come.

"They can be...emotional. I can see it happening right now."

"COMPADRE!"

"RYU!"

As if they were summoned by mentioning them, two banshee shrieks echoed throughout the tundra. Seemingly in response to the negative forces calling out to him, Ryuji shifted in his sleep while making small whining noises which only served to make Nyanjo feel bad for the man.

"They're here earlier than I thought."