The Silver Knight:

He... couldn't... breathe...

Lungs... too... heavy...

His body was... frozen from the neck down, leaving him no choice but to watch that criminal stab Lien's mother with a sword, leaving her to bleed until she, too, became an ice statue.

After finishing Tash, Yuki-onna turned in his direction. The blizzard cleared up slightly, only enough to determine what she was doing.

"You do not need to pretend to be sad," her ethereal voice said, taking up space in his mind. "The captain is fine." She lifted up a bony finger. "Correction, she will be. She must be facing terrible agony at the moment."

Damn her... What had she meant about "pretending"...?

"Your mental defenses are exceptional, I must admit." Yuki-onna stepped closer, her dead, cold eyes burning with a crawling anger. "But I do not need telepathy to identify you..." Her horrifying grin bent wider. "Human..."

His eyes widened, overwhelmed by fear. He attempted to speak anything to deny the Yūrei's claim, but something clogged his vocal cords. A cold layer of frost had sept into his mouth, spreading down his throat. He dreaded the possible death by asphyxiation or worse.

The pale woman waved at him dismissively. "Yes, yes, you do not need to strain yourself. I prefer to aggravate your agony more..." Tiny, sparkling snowflakes unite at the palm of her hand, slowly forming a sizeable hilt, almost like a staff. Before the hero could ask himself, a glimmering, curved blade on one end completed the ice scythe. "Directly."

Alas, all indicated that this would be the closing chapters of The Silver Knight's admittedly short run. What terrified him, really, was the implications of Stella's fate. That poor girl went through a rough life, and he did all he could to brighten her bleak situation with his shenanigans. Who would protect her now? Tash? Unlikely, although Lien had developed quite a bond with her.

...

......

It was odd. A few weeks ago, Asra was barely shaken at the thought of dying in the line of duty, but now...

"Damn it. Why now, of all moments?! I don't WANT to die just yet! Stella still needs me!"

A small heat radiated from his core, the last remnants of his Saniya. However, it was too little, too late. In hindsight, using an unrefined spell such as the Lightspeed: Mark Two was a poor judgment. It single-handedly tore his body from the inside out. He only became deadweight because of it.

The blade's tip hovered mere inches from his neck. The mystical cold that imbued it radiated through the fabric of his suit, sending him shivers that clattered his teeth until they almost broke into dust. The Yūrei's grin of sickening, twisted delight only complimented his crushing dread as a macabre canvas of the Grim Reaper herself.

"How much blood can your kind lose before unconsciousness?" The Monoke... giggled, uttering a sound from her larynx for the first time. "How much pain to keep you awake while I tear through your arteries?" Her eyes search his, darting with the morbid glee of a child dissecting a reptile for self-pleasure.

"Be a good plaything, and do not die on me so soon." Yuki-onna swung her scythe, its edges glimmering with the cold, nocturnal light. "Or else I must enact my long list of torture ideas on HER instead."

The Knight closed his eyes, imploring Namadi to ensure Stella and Sayama's fate would stay in her good graces long after his passing. However, a loud, booming voice broke his resigning prayer.

"GET YER BONY PAWS OUT OF THEM, WHORE!"

When Asra opened his eyes, he saw Yuki-onna shrieking under the force of a large stream of mud. Seconds later, a new heat source could be felt on his frozen back.

"I gotcha, Knight! You'll be okay!" Euraidd's voice brightened the dark atmosphere.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The mage's fire magic defrosted the hero's prison rapidly. A crushing weight was melted from his shoulders and throat.

Asra gasped, reveling in the fresh air he could breathe without constraints. "Thank you so much..."

The golden retriever flashed a thumbs-up. "We could've come sooner if not for those furry bastards."

The Human clutched his chest, feeling his pounding heart on the palm of his glove. "Who?"

On cue, three tiny white figures descended next to the Yūrei. How did they escape?! There were so many Basan guarding that playground!

...Hold up. The Kamaitachi were surprisingly beaten up, barely balancing themselves on their tiny feet. The pale, skinny Monoke stared at them profusely, probably engaging in a telepathic chat of their own.

Hufen approached her brother's side. "We don't know how they escaped, but we would have taken much longer if we didn't have assistance fending them off."

Namadi's Light, what happened while they were fighting the Yūrei? How many surprise guests would this night take?

Asra's jaw dropped when he saw a familiar, elongated shape running circles above the Tizohi's Chosen. There was no fucking way...

The flying Monoke cackled. "WHAT'S WRONG, YOU COLD BITCH!? DON'T YOU LIKE WHEN SOMEONE INTERFERES IN YOUR BUSINESS?!"

A powerful tremor shook the ground as a red, hulking Oni appeared in the tired hero's line of sight. This was happening...

"Your cute little pets were a welcome distraction..." The towering Monoke cracked her knuckles, huffing a faint fire on each nostril. "But I have some unfinished business with you..."

The Amikiri, Tarb, and Locci protected all surrounded The Silver Knight, forming an unbreakable wall against the Ice Sorceress. Asra took a peek between the mages to see what would happen next.

He saw one of the Kamaitachi, the eyepatch one, carry the Daien's unconscious body. Damn it! They were back at square one!

Yuki-onna's eyes twitched to a concerning degree, latching her sights directly on the Human's. He could feel the sheer hatred radiating from her cold exterior, similar to Grýla, only he was a direct target. This made him understand what Stella went through in the Ogre's lair - the feeling of powerlessness, the crushing anger thrust upon someone. He would apologize when he returned to Pantsti's embrace. If Namadi was merciful, that was.

"Listen, you wretched fiends." Yuki-onna snarled in everyone's minds. "You let us go in peace..." She points at Captain Tash's frozen, impaled body. "Or else I command my ice to freeze your captain to her core."

The Lycan Squad, the Amikiri, and the Oni all traded concerned glances with one another. Was the Yūrei actually capable of this? Taking her weighty reputation and the reaction of the Monoke around him into consideration, the answer couldn't be more evident.

The red brute took slow steps away from Yuki-onna. The guards and the Amikiri all stood frozen, watching the Ice Sorcess intently with apprehension and anticipation.

"Good." The pale, cold maiden levitated away, circled by her fuzzy accomplices, carrying the bard and her fellow Yūrei. "Your advantage in numbers will not protect you from our wrath for much longer..."

The Weasels conjure a powerful tornado, propelling the Tizohi's Chosen beyond any Wolf's nose radius. Asra's world flickered out as the Lycan Squad went to rescue their captain from her icy chrysalis. Suddenly, thundering footsteps approached him.

"Hey." The Oni stared at him with her black, beady windows for the soul. "How's the kid doing?"

As much as it shamed him, answering her question took about half a minute. He had to pull out his hero voice, which, after having the ice age reenacted inside his throat, was a little challenging to tap into again. "Stella?" He puffed his chest, which still stung a fair bit. "She's currently training her Saniya under the safety of Pantsti and Hōkō's protection! She will finish it stronger than ever!"

The Oni smirked. "That so?" She clenched her fist, flexing the bulging muscles on her tree trunks for arms. "So that punk might give me a challenge, after all!"

The Amikiri barged in. "So, should we start running right now, or..."

Right... He had almost forgotten...

The hero sighed. "I can talk to the captain once she's conscious again." He scanned his surroundings. "Where's your friend?"

The bear-sized Monoke shrugged. "If lucky, he called for backup, using your Human friend as the messenger."

The Knight tilted his head in confusion. The suit's diagnostics claimed the emoting visor was still working, so it should be producing two interrogation marks to them.

"He crossed Pantsti's border to be close enough to enter Stella's dreams to convince her of Yuki-onna's threat. No one else would believe us since..." He snapped his claws shyly. "You know, wanted criminals..."

That made sense, for the most part. But another question popped in.

"How did you know about Yuki-onna before us?"

The Oni huffed, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "That bitch found us first, salty about us scaring the Daien off." She frowned, gritting her teeth. "She froze Gentō and Kreef, then left ME to pick up the pieces!" She clenched her fist, boiling with rage. "I want to pound that skinny wench's dainty face to the ground..."

Asra glimpsed the Wolf captain, finally defrosting completely alongside the ice katana. He gathered enough strength to finally stand up, thanks to the Yūrei's frost soothing his aching muscles, ironically enough.

"Thank you for your assistance!" The Silver Knight puffed his chest, straightened his posture, and proudly lifted his index finger. "For your righteous change of right, you can be assured I'll convince the captain to not let you rot in a cell!"

The Oni huffed. "Are you REALLY sure you got it?" The Amikiri circled her, clicking his pincers anxiously.

The hero quickly broke out of his confident facade and shyly tapped two fingers together. "I... don't know, really..."

Kreef's eyes widened, freezing in the air before passing out, and gravity claimed him. The Oni only facepalmed in response.

"Of course..."