Kanoru stood on the bow of the ship, his sharp eyes sweeping over the battle raging across the ice. The warlocks clashed fiercely against the monstrous horde, spells lighting up the night with vibrant streaks of elemental power. Ice spears impaled fish monsters, stone spikes crushed their bodies, and flames reduced them to ash. The once-daunting horde was steadily thinning, their corrupted blood no longer able to empower the living.
Kanoru did not join the fight. He remained still, a commander watching his forces from a distance. Not every battle required his direct involvement. His role was to lead—to see the larger picture.
The turning point came with Asuna's sharp observation. Once the warlocks began infusing their spells with the true nature of their elements, the fish monsters fell without bursting into corrupted blood fog. Their numbers dwindled swiftly.
On the far edge of the ice, Asuna's mother unleashed her final spell. She raised her hands, and a coiling serpent of cloud-like mist formed above her. With a graceful gesture, she sent the 'Cloud Snake' spell slithering through the air.
It dove through the last remaining fish monster, its vaporous form passing cleanly through the creature's body. The fish monster's eyes widened in frozen horror as its flesh instantly turned to ice. The monster's frozen form stood still for only a breath before shattering into countless glimmering shards.
For a moment, the battlefield was silent.
Then, the warlocks, the ship's crew, and the families watching from the deck erupted into cheers. The haunting cries of the fish monsters were no more, and the ocean's surface stilled. Relief swept through the crowd, their faces brightening with hope.
But Kanoru did not celebrate. His gaze remained locked eastward.
The ship's captain approached him, his boots crunching softly on the icy surface. He stood beside Kanoru, glancing at the corpses of the slain monsters still floating in the crimson-stained sea. With admiration in his voice, he said, "Your team members are strong."
Kanoru didn't respond. His eyes were fixed on the distant horizon.
On the ice, Lou Chen and Asuna's mother also turned toward the east. Their faces, moments ago filled with triumph, were now drawn with grim realization.
The sun had fully sunk behind them, plunging the ocean into deeper darkness. The blood moon remained alone in the sky, painting the sea with its unrelenting crimson hue. The light made the water glimmer with an eerie sheen, turning the horizon into a bleeding scar.
Without a word, Kanoru leapt from the bow. His figure cut through the air as he crossed the entire expanse of ice in a single, graceful bound. He landed lightly on the water's surface, standing effortlessly upon it as though it were solid ground. His eyes remained fixed toward the east.
A heartbeat later, Lou Chen and Asuna's mother joined him. Their footsteps barely rippled the surface as they walked across the water to stand by his side.
Lou Chen exhaled heavily, his voice barely above a whisper. "We're screwed," he muttered. His eyes were locked on the distant sea, his fists clenched tightly.
Kanoru's expression remained steady, his voice calm but firm. "No need to lose hope," he said without looking at Lou Chen. His eyes remained unwavering on the distance. "We three are one step away from advancing to the Spirit Realm. And with the higher-ranked warlocks in our team, we have a fighting chance."
Lou Chen let out a low, shaky breath. He glanced at Kanoru and saw the resolve in his eyes, and his own wavering spirit steadied. Determination hardened his features.
"You're right," Lou Chen said, his voice stronger now. His eyes narrowed with fierce resolve, and his lips curled into a defiant grin. "I'll take the lead."
Without hesitation, his body erupted in a surge of power. Purple flames burst from his frame, swirling around him in wild, chaotic waves. The fire twisted and expanded, engulfing his entire form. In an instant, Lou Chen transformed into a towering five-meter fire elemental. His body took on the shape of a humanoid figure wreathed in flame, but his head had morphed into the ferocious visage of a lion. The beastly face roared soundlessly, its mane of fire crackling with feral intensity.
Just as Lou Chen stepped forward, the ocean before them split violently.
A massive column of water exploded upward, sending waves crashing outward in every direction. The three of them stood their ground, their eyes narrowed against the stinging spray.
Then, from the depths, a figure emerged.
The being burst from the sea, rising into the blood-soaked night. His pale, lifeless face was twisted into a monstrous grin. His hollow eyes, glowing with an unnatural purple light, locked onto them.
The figure's skin was corpse-like, deathly white, marred with crude, uneven stitches that ran across his neck, chest, and arms. His black robe clung wetly to his emaciated frame, and his long, gray hair floated in clumps around his face, slick with seawater. His mouth hung open unnaturally wide, revealing jagged, inhuman teeth and a snake-like tongue that flicked out hungrily.
The air grew heavy with suffocating malice.
Kanoru's eyes hardened as he stared at the figure.
From behind, he could feel the ship's crew and the warlocks on the ice falling silent. The victorious cheers died instantly. Their eyes widened with terror. Every heartbeat on the battlefield pounded loudly in their ears.
They knew what they were looking at.
The pale figure's twisted gaze swept across them, and a slow, chilling smile spread across his face.
The unmistakable aura of the Spirit Realm surrounded him like a suffocating storm.
The ocean was deathly silent except for the steady sound of waves lapping at the ice.
The blood moon's crimson light illuminated his twisted form as he floated above the water, staring down at them with soulless eyes.
Lou Chen's flames roared brighter, and his monstrous form braced itself for battle.
But in the eyes of every warlock and crew member, dread sank into their bones.
For they were now face to face with a Spirit Realm Invader.
Lou Chen's massive flaming form shot forward, a roaring inferno blazing across the water. His steps sent purple flames surging outward, boiling the ocean surface with each stride. His eyes, burning with unyielding determination, locked onto the figure.
Kanoru and Asuna's mother ran behind him, their feet gliding smoothly over the water. Kanoru's sharp eyes never left the enemy, watching intently for any reaction. Yet the figure remained still, unmoving, as though unbothered by the fire elemental charging at him.
Lou Chen's colossal fist, wreathed in violent purple flame, swung forward with crushing force. The air trembled from the sheer heat, the sea beneath them hissing as it evaporated.
But just as the flaming punch was about to make contact, the figure's hand snapped upward with blinding speed.
In the blink of an eye, he caught Lou Chen's fist.
The massive lion-headed elemental came to a sudden, jarring halt.
For a heartbeat, the two remained locked in place, Lou Chen's flaming power surging furiously against the figure's outstretched hand. The flames lashed violently against the figure's pale skin, but he didn't even flinch. The fire roared, but the figure's grip was iron, his expression vacant.
Then, without warning, the figure's leg whipped upward.
His foot sank into Lou Chen's stomach.
A sickening thud echoed across the sea.
In a single, effortless motion, Lou Chen's massive body was launched backward.
Kanoru barely had time to process what had happened. One moment, he saw Lou Chen's fiery fist connecting. The next, Lou Chen was soaring through the air like a broken comet.
The towering fire elemental shot backward, flying between Kanoru and Asuna's mother. His massive form, still ablaze, streaked past them before crashing violently onto the icy battlefield behind them. The impact sent a shockwave of flames and steam surging outward, and the ice splintered beneath him, cracking into jagged fragments.
Neither Kanoru nor Asuna's mother glanced back. Their focus remained locked on the enemy.
Kanoru's eyes narrowed. Without breaking stride, he unsheathed both of his swords. The twin blades gleamed under the blood moon's eerie light—one glimmering a brilliant crimson, the other a frigid, shimmering blue.
The moment his hands tightened around the hilts, elemental power surged through his veins. His aura spiked violently, the wind around him whipping into a wild storm. With a burst of speed, he closed the remaining distance.
The ocean splashed violently beneath his feet as he darted toward the figure.
With fluid precision, Kanoru swung both swords in a cross-slash. The reddish blade ignited with searing flames while the blue sword shimmered with crackling frost. The twin elemental forces carved through the air in a spiraling arc, blazing and freezing in unison.
At the same time, Asuna's mother came to a sudden stop. Her feet pressed lightly on the water, her form steady and calm despite the tension in the air.
She raised her hands, and a swirling mass of cloud-like mist spread around her. The cloud billowed outward, covering the water's surface in a low-lying fog.
Her eyes glimmered with sharp focus. She extended her hand downward, and with a slow, deliberate motion, she directed the cloud into the depths of the sea.
From beneath the ocean's surface, the mist coiled and condensed.
A massive serpent, formed entirely of dense cloud, slithered silently through the water. Its fluid body snaked through the waves, its hazy form rippling as it vanished into the ocean depths.