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Chapter 15: Frost-Crowned Resolve
(Kai's POV)
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Another day, another suicidal mission.
I sighed, feeling the weight of my new cloak — midnight blue with faint icy patterns etched into the fabric — flutter around me as the breeze brushed past the ruined landscape. My breath misted in the air, a clear sign of the natural cold aura I couldn't suppress anymore.
My steps crunched against the gravel as Azazel walked beside me, a smirk playing on his lips.
> "You're getting better, kid. Pretty soon, you won't even need me."
I grunted noncommittally, my thoughts drifting elsewhere.
The missions had been a relentless parade of monsters, rogue exorcists, fallen devils, and way too many things that wanted to shove something sharp into my ribcage.
Good training though.
Still, I wasn't satisfied.
No—I needed more.
Because every time I closed my eyes, I saw that damn anime scene.
Rias, standing proud yet desperate, dragged into a marriage she never wanted.
And somewhere deep inside me, the "otaku from Earth" part of me raged against that fate.
"Not happening. Not on my watch."
Azazel had arranged for yet another mission today. A rogue dragon had been sighted — one exiled from the underworld for slaughtering villages.
Perfect.
I cracked my knuckles, excitement bubbling under my skin.
Dragon hunting sounded fun.
Even more so when Vali — my new… complicated companion — floated down beside us, white hair shimmering under the dying sun.
Wearing tight black combat gear that hugged her athletic, curvy form like a second skin, she smirked at me.
> "Try not to die, Kai. I'm not in the mood to drag your frozen corpse back."
I chuckled.
God, even when she threatened me, she was sexy.
Her sharp, silver eyes glinted with excitement — the same excitement I felt.
A dangerous woman. My kind of woman.
My gaze, as always, strayed for a heartbeat.
A slight bounce to her chest as she landed.
An ass that filled out those combat pants so sinfully well that it should be illegal.
"Focus, man," I cursed myself.
"Save the thirsting for after you're not about to get roasted alive."
Azazel laughed.
> "Alright, kids. Try to not destroy the countryside too much. Dragons don't respawn."
With that, he spread his black wings and vanished into the skies, leaving us to hunt alone.
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— Hours Later —
Fighting a dragon wasn't what the anime made it look like.
It wasn't dramatic sword-clashing.
It wasn't pretty flying spells.
It was brutal, violent, and messy.
The damn thing — a mutated Wyvern — had scales harder than iron and breath that could melt mountains.
Vali and I fought side by side, moving with a synchronicity that surprised even me.
She was beautiful in battle — efficient, brutal, almost dance-like in how she weaved around death.
I, on the other hand, had finally started to tap into something deeper.
My Haki.
I felt the world slow around me sometimes.
I predicted the dragon's next move before it even twitched its wing.
And when I struck with Armament Haki-coated fists, I left deep cracks even through that supposedly invincible hide.
Still —
Despite our best efforts, the dragon wasn't dying.
It roared, shaking the heavens, before diving at me with such speed that for a moment — a flicker of panic seized me.
Too fast.
I moved to dodge —
—but not fast enough.
Pain exploded through my chest as I was flung through several rocky spires like a ragdoll.
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(???'s POV — deep inside Kai's mind)
A soft sigh echoed in the frozen abyss of Kai's soul.
> "So weak," a voice whispered, ancient and feminine, tinged with both amusement and affection.
A woman of ethereal beauty, hair like spun silver and eyes the color of the purest glacier waters, stepped forward inside the soulscape.
She was dressed in icy blue armor that seemed to breathe mist.
Glacieria.
The slumbering spirit of Kai's Sacred Gear.
> "Perhaps it is time… my King."
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(Back to Kai's POV)
I gasped, consciousness flickering.
Blood dripped from my mouth as I tried to rise.
And then I heard her.
> "Do you wish to win, my King?"
A voice — like winter winds whispering against a lonely mountaintop.
In the frozen wreckage of my mind, a gate cracked open.
My Sacred Gear…
My heartbeat slowed.
Power — cold, ancient, and regal — flooded my veins.
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The next thing I knew, I stood upright.
Frost crackled across my skin, but it didn't harm me. It empowered me.
In front of me, floating in the air, materialized a woman —
Tall, elegant, with flowing icy blue hair and armor forged from glacier crystals.
Her smile was serene, but her eyes were fierce.
> "I am Glacieria — the Empress of Eternal Frost, your loyal servant."
I staggered, blinking.
"...I'm hallucinating, aren't I?"
She chuckled, the sound like falling snow.
> "No, Kai. You have awakened me. Our contract is complete. Now… allow me to show you true might."
With a single graceful movement, she touched my forehead.
The world froze.
The raging dragon, mid-roar, was trapped in a solid block of ice so absolute that even time seemed frozen around it.
Vali stared at me from across the field, wide-eyed.
> "W-What the hell…?" she whispered.
I cracked my knuckles.
Power. Absolute power.
The Gate of Babylon within me rumbled, responding gleefully.
A hundred ancient weapons materialized around me, each blade gleaming under a faint frost mist.
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(Kai's Inner Monologue)
"This… is insane."
"This is the power Gilgamesh had... but it's even colder. Even more unstoppable."
"F**king hell… I'm actually overpowered now."
A slow grin spread across my face.
"Alright," I whispered, voice icy. "Let's turn this bastard into popsicles."
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(To Be Continued...)
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Chapter end