The Castle of Black Ice
Hello everyone and happy early New Year's! First off, mild apology for not getting this out closer to Christmas, but hopefully just in time for New Year's will do. But new year or no, I'll still give the usual shout outs to LoneTaker, Noble Eight and groche9655 for their input in this story. Now then, since we appear to have no guest reviews, let the wait finally be over as we dive into the latest chapter!
Lighthouse Along the Wakkanai Coast:
"It is truly a relief to see the two of you are relatively unharmed," said Gyomei as the group sat around a large table, using what chairs they were able to find. Isosange was busy checking the bandages on the Stone Hashira's body while Yae kept stealing glances at the bandage on her ward's upper right leg. Apparently, neither of them escaped completely unscatched from the shrapnel of Subaru's grenade, with a few shards hitting Gyomei's left side on his arm, waist, and leg while the little Ainu had taken a piece in her leg that, despite not going deep, was still plenty bloody. The main cause for why they were of much concern at all, however, was the fact that neither of them tended to their wounds immediately.
The reason being was that Gyomei fled with Isosange towards the lighthouse, knowing full well that his large size would likely make him a tempting target and that the shots had come from the ocean, where his and Isosange's weapons would be useless. Under different circumstances, the Stone Hashira would've set the Ainu girl somewhere safe and dove into the water himself, but the frigid temperatures of the ocean likely would've frozen him before he could find the demon in the water. So he ventured forth to the lighthouse where Isosange proposed the idea of using the light to potentially illuminate some of the surrounding area to better locate the demon. It wound up taking a lot of time as the Ainu girl had only been shown the process of lighting the rotating lenses a couple of times and the old folks who maintained the property were nowhere to be found.
They got nervous when the shooting stalled for a fair bit, but once it resumed they lit the beacon on the lighthouse. According to Yae, it turned out to be more effective than they ever thought it could be as a pack of sea lions were attracted to the coast by it and ravenously tore apart the sniping demon. Isosange was understandably overjoyed at the safe arrival of the two Matagi as the group got a fire going in the fireplace and tended to each other's wounds.
"The sniper was a good shot," said Subaru, "a couple of her misses were sheer luck on our part. Thankfully, despite her aim she was inexperienced when it came the art of hunting. It's too bad we couldn't have found her before she was turned into a demon, she might've made a good slayer or at least a good hunter."
"Still a bit weird that she hesitated to shoot me," said Yae, "I guess she thought she was the only gun-toting girl around these parts."
"I thought you were the only gun-toting girl around these parts," said Subaru, "that demon might've had a rifle but she definitely wasn't a Matagi. If she had been, well-."
"But she wasn't," said Gyomei, "and luck or not, you two managed to triumph over her. So the best thing to do now is use this experience as an indicator on what areas you should improve on before the next battle. An attitude of constant improvement has seen me through many difficult struggles in the past."
"As you've mentioned before," said Yae, "but I can't say I've got any plans on becoming a slayer just yet. All I want is for these demons to be gone so that we don't all starve up here or risk freezing to death whenever we go outside to use the bathroom."
"I've nearly done both at one point," said Isosange as she hugged herself to stop from shuddering at the memory, "It was only thanks to Yae that I didn't freeze to death alone in the snow."
"Forgive me if I am stepping into sensitive territory," said Gyomei, "but how was it that Yae was able to find you in the first place, young Isosange?"
"I just happened to be out scouting some possible hunting spots at the time," answered Yae, quickly noting the look of discomfort on the Ainu girl's face, "I asked around about her parents while she was recovering, but no one seemed to know where they'd gotten off too."
"Disappearances like that aren't necessarily unheard of in these parts," said Subaru, "were you out looking for them when you collapsed?"
"Well I-," Isosange replied as she put a hand to her head, "I can't really remember it very clearly. All I know is, whenever I start thinking about it, I feel afraid or even terrified. I don't know why it's so scary for me to think about that time." And it was plain as day that the memory scared her given the way she was starting to shake. But Yae was quick to wrap the young Ainu girl in a hug while whispering some calming words to her.
"I think that'll be enough for now," said Yae, "it's getting late and we're probably gonna set out early tomorrow. So let's get you to bed." Her ward didn't give any protests as she was led to the other room. They'd been avoiding it up to this point as she and Gyomei had found the couple caring for the place frozen to death in their bed before burying them and changing the sheets.
Isosange and Yae had been putting on a brave front up to that point, but it was clear the loss was nagging at them. No doubt they'd miss the long but wild tales spun by the two, and the reminder of her deceased parents was probably the last straw for the young Ainu girl. "Perhaps it would be best not to press the issue on this, Subaru," said Gyomei, "even if she's had time to come to terms with it, she's still a child in a number of ways."
"You were the one who brought it up," said Subaru as he leaned back against the wall,"I just kept it going because something was nagging at me about the story."
"Do you believe Isosange was being untruthful with us?" Questioned Gyomei with a raised eyebrow.
"Not so much untruthful, more like there's something that doesn't add up," said Subaru, "ordinarily, one parent stays behind to tend to the children in an Ainu family while the other parent goes out to hunt. If she doesn't have any siblings, then the only reason she'd be left alone is if one of the parents is already dead. But if that were the case, she'd have been left with one of her other relatives while her parent went out hunting."
"That is, of course, assuming she had any other relatives," Gyomei pointed out, "it's always possible something else unfortunate happened to them."
"Maybe it did and maybe it didn't," said Yae as she entered the room again, "I was never able to find out who the rest of her family was. Even if I had, there's not exactly a guarantee she would've been accepted back into her village."
"So she was an exile then," questioned Subaru as he crossed his arms.
"Her mother was exiled when she was pregnant with her, or at least that's the story," explained Yae, "I'd heard something about an Ainu woman murdering someone a few years back when I was little. Do you know what the punishment is for criminals in an Ainu community?"
"They cut off their ears and nose," said Subaru, "and if she was exiled on top of that, then her crime would've been no less than murder. Her people would not have accepted her back afterwards."
"An eternal marking to take to one's grave," said Gyomei, "a steep price, but an expected one if a person willingly becomes a, wen kamuy, as they call it."
"I don't really know all the details myself," said Yae, "but it's very possible she made some enemies at one point or another after Isosange was born. Now it's just the two of us in my village."
"Most certainly a sad state of affairs," said Gyomei, "but, at least she has people caring for her. For what it's worth, I believe you've raised her rather well."
"She sees me as her big sister, more or less," said Yae as she pulled out a little carved necklace resembling a bear's head, "I'm certain she always wanted one, though I doubt she imagined it going quite this way."
"Her real Mother lost the chance to raise her because of the terrible decisions she made," said Subaru, "you want my opinion, it's probably better that she doesn't remember her parents."
"Sounds like a pretty strong opinion," said Yae, "you not get along with your own mother?"
"I lost my mother and two other siblings the day I got this scar," replied Subaru, lifting his patch up for a moment, "the closest thing I had to one was Tanjiro's mother, Kie Kamado, after that along with his brother's and sisters. Then another bastard demon killed all of them and turned the eldest sister, Nezuko, into a demon. All that's left is me, my father, Tanjiro and her. So you'll have to forgive me for thinking poorly of someone that takes their family for granted."
"Believe me I get it," said Yae as she pulled her knees to her chest, "what I wouldn't give to have my Father and everyone else back."
"We'd each give all that we have and are to have our loved ones back," said Gyomei as tears flowed from his eyes, "but it is not to be. The best we can do is continue to live on for them, keeping their memory alive and pray that one day, we meet them again in the next life."
"May we all hear pleasant sounds in our next life," said Subaru as he held up a cup he'd been drinking from before finishing off the contents. "Now it's been a long day, so I think I'll be turning in for a bit."
"You go as well, Young Yae," said Gyomei, "you and Subaru have both earned a rest after trading shots with that demon. I will take first watch and awake one of you in due time."
"Hopefully it'll be a bit warmer by tomorrow morning," commented Yae as they headed off to whatever sleeping space they could find. And while they got the rest they wanted that night, the hoped for warmth never quite arrived.
The Lighthouse: The Next Day
The group ate what remained of the old couple's food as letting it go to waste would not only have been a shame, but also went against the Matagi and Ainu ideals of not wasting anything. Under normal circumstances, this attitude would only apply to the animals they hunted. But given the circumstances, there was no telling when someone else might come along after they got the word out about the lighthouse's current vacancy. They said one more prayer of thanks at the graves they'd dug for the old couple as not only did they have a hearty breakfast, but also had restocked provisions for the continuation of their journey. And they made much better time starting out now that there were no whiteouts to be concerned with.
"I still can't believe the weather is like this," said Isosange as they trekked along the coast towards the next town, "two dead demons and it's still freezing."
"At least it's way more bearable without the wind, snow and ice," commented Yae, "but are you two really sure there might be another demon lurking around?"
"'Sure' is not exactly the word I'd use," said Subaru as he hefted his rifle a bit on his shoulder, "it's more like we suspect there could be another demon because the weather still isn't quite normal just yet." It was one of the more expected topics to come up at breakfast earlier that morning. Yae and Isosange had commented that it was still fairly cold outside, more than it usually was at that time of year, prompting a discussion on the possibility of a third ice demon lurking around. The eventual decision was that they'd investigate for just a little longer to see if that was indeed the case. So after a quick consulting of the map to get a better idea of the area, they'd decided they'd head towards Abashiri in the Northern most prefecture of Hokkaido.
Unlike last time, when they had wind coming in from the direction of the lighthouse, their decision to head further North was based mostly on the idea that they might be able to find some information in Abashiri itself. Given that it was one of the larger towns, or rather cities, near them it was better than no direction at all. And so they marched onwards, their guard still up but their demeanors more relaxed as they noted some of the local bird species that flocked near the coast were starting to fly again now that the snowstorms had stopped. Even Shika and Gyomei's crow were able to stop by, allowing them to relay a message to the Northern headquarters about the situation thus far, and the current vacancy of the lighthouse.
It made for a much lighter mood as the group stopped every once in a while to rest, ensure their directions were still right, and eat something. Isosange seemed to be cheering up some as she and Subaru discussed the different game animals from their parts of Japan as well as the kinds of food you could prepare from them. Gyomei had more than a couple objections whenever the Ainu girl mentioned eating the brains, which could apparently be done with quite a few mammalian species. As for Yae, she was just happy to have something to get her mind off of the last few days of fighting for their lives.
In fact, she found herself complaining less about the usual issues with long snowy treks now that she'd had two near death encounters in a span of less than a week, and that wasn't counting potentially freezing, or getting lost in a whiteout before starving to death. Perhaps it was also because this was the first big hunting trip she'd been on with more than just Isosange in ages, or at least the first big trip in a while where someone wasn't questioning her abilities just because she and Isosange were girls. 'Guess if nothing else I can respect these two for that much,' she thought before noticing something off. It was minor at first, but the further they walked the more obvious it became.
The temperature was dropping again, and it seemed to do so little by little the further they went. "Guys, is it me or did it just-?"
"You are not mistaken," said Gyomei as he actually released his praying pose and let his hands drift towards his weapon, "there is an ominous presence in the air, not dissimilar to the sniper demon you faced yesterday."
"How much further is it from this point before we reach Abashiri?" Questioned Subaru as he glanced at the Matagi and Ainu girl.
"It wasn't really far at all," replied Isosange as she pulled her deer skin cloak tighter around herself to better keep warm, "less than a mile if I recall correctly."
"Then we had best increase our pace," said Gyomei as he began to jog forward with his other three companions moving to catch up. They would maintain this pace for a few minutes, crossing over a few more hills until finally cresting a somewhat larger hill. It was there they stopped upon seeing their destination in sight, and it was an eerie one to behold. Subaru was quick to pull out his binoculars to get a closer look at the town of Abashiri itself, his eyes peeled for any sign of movement whatsoever.
"This is probably a bad sign," noted the Matagi boy as he scanned back and forth across the area in front of them, straining his eyes to catch even the smallest indication of life.
"What do you see down there?" Questioned Yae as she took up a position next to the hunter.
"Well, that's the issue," said Subaru as he continued to strain his vision, "I don't see a damn thing. No ships moving in or out at the docks, no one at the markets, no one manning the stalls, or shoppers walking the streets. I don't even see a stray cat down there."
"Here, let me take a look," offered Yae, prompting Subaru to hand the binoculars over to her. She might not have the slayer's eyes, but she was familiar with how a port city like Abashiri operated and where some of the more secretive places might be that drew crowds. But the more she peered through the binoculars, checking and double-checking area after area, the more she realized that the Rifleman's first observation had been correct. The typically busy, or at least semi-busy, port city of Abashiri, was a ghost town.
"Am I to assume it is not just our current distance from our destination that I am unable to hear anything from the city at this moment?" Questioned Gyomei, likely asking more for confirmation than anything.
"The whole place is deserted from what I can tell," said Yae, "and all the buildings are frosted over to one degree or another. It's very possible the demon we're looking for is down there right now."
"Then keep your weapons at the ready and your guards up," said Gyomei as he drew his own, "we must investigate this phenomenon immediately." The rest of the group readied their own weapons in response to this before trekking down in a staggered line with the rifle bearers on the far right and left of the group while the bow user and chain-weapon wielder stayed in the middle. As they approached, the stillness of the city that was present from a distance became even more apparent. Each building they passed seemed like it'd been deserted for some time, though it was difficult to tell with the amount of snow and ice lingering around.
"Stick together," said Subaru, "depending on their blood art, a demon can ambush us here just as easily as they could out in the wilderness."
"I'd hate just to get lost in this maze of buildings," said Isosange as she swept the middle of the street with her bow at half-pull, "there aren't even any tracks to let us know which direction everyone fled too."
"Assuming anyone actually got the chance to flee," mumbled Yae as Gyomei held up a hand, signalling for them to stop in front of one of the larger buildings.
"Given that the enemy hasn't shown themselves yet," he said, "we should start checking random buildings that would normally house a larger number of people. One of them may contain a clue as to what happened here and where the demon might be."
"You bust the door and I'll cover you," said Subaru as he and Yae slung their rifles over their shoulders and pulled out their revolvers. The Stone Hashira nodded before kicking down the front entrance of the building they'd stopped in front of, letting Subaru go first before following after himself. Yae and Isosange brought up the rear as the Rifleman swept the area with his Webley. The building they'd entered must've been a two-story bathhouse when it was in business, given the number of towels and bathing supplies they saw in the various cubbies near the entrance. Their suspicions were confirmed when they found the baths themselves, all with ice in the tubs.
And if Subaru wasn't mistaken, he spotted dried blood in a few of the baths. "It looks like people here would've been pretty quick to notice if the temperature got colder all of a sudden," remarked Azakeru suddenly, "probably a good thing too. I imagine little Iso doesn't need naked dead bodies haunting her dreams on top of everything else right now."
"Well let's not count our chickens just yet," Subaru thought back to her as they continued to sweep the bottom floor before slowly making their way upstairs, "this is just the first building. There's still a whole city's worth to check out."
"You realize a search like that, even with the four of you splitting up, could take days even if this city isn't terribly big in comparison to some others," Azakeru pointed out, "especially when you don't even need to check every building in the first place."
"Would you happen to have any brilliant ideas on where we should be looking then?" Subaru questioned as he pushed aside the privacy screen of one of the baths to find nothing more than another tub frozen over.
"As a matter of fact, I just might," replied Azakeru, "look out the window on the far left." The Matagi boy did as instructed, wiping off some of the frost on the window so that he could get an actual look outside. "You see that building over there, the one that looks like it'd house a gambling den in the basement?" Subaru directed his gaze to a two-story building a little ways on the other side of the street behind the building they were in. "I'm getting that killer demon vibe coming from somewhere around there."
"It's worth a shot at least," Subaru thought back, "not like we won't be checking it sooner or later." He turned around towards the approaching Stone Hashira then and spoke up. "Hey, Gyomei, I think I might have something?"
"What is it young Subaru?" Asked the Hashira as he got near where the hunter was indicating, "Do you believe the demon is in this building?"
"Not quite," said Subaru as he pried the window he was at open and beckoned Yae over, "I just happened to spot something at that building across the way." His Nagant-toting companion looked at the building he was indicating, noting its likely purpose.
"That place was probably an uber fancy but also very seedy bar," surmised Yae as she noted the sign advertising alcoholic beverages while also taking into account how it just barely stuck out in the open, "it wouldn't be the most surprising place to find a demon."
"Guess we'd better not waste any time then," said Subaru as he opened up the window, his arms straining at first before the ice cracked and gave way. The Slayer then jumped out of the window and landed on the ground below. Gyomei was quick to follow, having to dive through and flip due to his large size before landing on his feet. "Alright, now you two," said Subaru as he waved to Isosange and Yae.
"Need I remind you that we're not slayers," Yae called down to them, "jumping out of the second floor of a building isn't something we can just casually do!"
"Oh, right," said Subaru as he rubbed his head sheepishly, "perhaps we were in too much of a hurry there."
"It is of little issue," said Gyomei before speaking up to Yae and Isosange, "we can catch the both of you, so jump without fear."
"Can we Yae?" Questioned Isosange with a look of slight wonderment, or was it excitement, in her eyes. The Matagi girl sometimes forgot that she was still just barely twelve years old given how mature she often acted. And her pleading eyes always got to her when Isosange really, really wanted something.
"Oh fine," she said, relenting under the Ainu girl's cute gaze, "it's not like it'd be the most dangerous thing we've done this week." Isosange gave out a cheer before leaping out the window and falling into Subaru's arms, laughing the whole time. Yae took a deep breath then and leapt out of the window where Gyomei easily caught her as if she weighed nothing before lightly setting her down on the ground.
"We should do that more often," said Isosange, still smiling despite the seriousness of the situation as they approached the former drinking establishment.
"We'd best not push it," said Yae, "I doubt we'll find people waiting outside of every building to catch us."
"Then we'll just learn how to land like demon slayers," Isosange suggested, not deterred at all by her guardian's concern. Yae simply shook her head, fighting the tug of a smile at her own mouth as the group entered the building. It became obvious immediately that something was different about this place. While the outside had been relatively intact, the inside was an absolute disaster area. Tables and chairs were thrown all over the place, some even sticking out of the bar or hanging from the rafters and the railing of the stairs to the next floor.
Shattered glass was everywhere, forcing the group to step carefully in a number of places. But the most striking piece of damage to the entire establishment, was the mass layer of frost and ice over everything, including the bodies in the back. "It appears our quarry is close," noted Gyomei as he continued to approach the back, paying no mind to the frozen and partially eaten corpses littering that area. Perhaps it was his blindness, or simply having been to numerous similar scenes, the Stone Hashira gave no pause as he stepped over the mix of Russian and Japanese patrons, his sole focus on his mission.
Subaru was much the same, though he did cast a number of sympathetic glances towards some of the more innocent looking members of the crowd, wondering how many of them had been honest, hardworking people. Yae and Isosange, did their best not to look at the frozen corpses as the group approached the back where an apparently hidden door had been ripped off of its hinges and led into a darker, back area of the bar. "Hey, I think I remember Kumon mentioning a place like this once," commented Azakeru as they approached what looked like a large pig pen, "didn't he say something about bigger bars having secret fighting rings or something in the back."
"I think the Russians called them, 'Stenka Na Stenkus', or 'Stenka' for short," Subaru said back before stopping at Gyomei's signal, his eyes widening upon seeing the reason why. In the center of the so-called arena, was another mass of bodies, and sitting atop them eating one of the corpses was a woman with long, cascading hair that resembled thin ice crystals, the demon. She must've sensed their entrance, as her head slowly turned towards them to reveal a monstrous face.
Unlike a lot of demons, this one's face seemed partially artificial. Her ears and nose were missing, replaced by icy replicas resembling a snout and pointed horns. She wore a large, flowing white robe with tribal symbols along the hem and sleeves, as well as what looked like stolen samurai armor on her top half. But the most striking feature of all, was the dragon-like mask made of ice that covered her mouth.
The group was quick to raise their weapons with Yae and Subaru opening fire with their revolvers and Isosange losing an arrow to add to the barrage. The demon raised her arms to protect her face as black ice crystals suddenly formed on them, deflecting the majority of the bullets while Iso's arrow bounced off the armor. "Breath of Stone First Form: Serpentine Bipolar!" Exclaimed Gyomei as he sent both his ax and flail spinning towards the demon, destroying her black ice crystals and flinging her into the back wall.
An inhuman howl sounded from the ice demon then as she practically leapt from her position on the ground and swiped at Gyomei. The Stone Hashira quickly reeled in his ax and blocked her hand, easily holding her back with his incredible strength. But this was not just a contest of strength as black ice started forming rapidly on Gyomei's weapon, threatening to freeze his hand to the grip. She was distracted, thankfully, by Subaru intervening with bayonet in hand as he stabbed at her face, forcing the woman to block with an ice-covered arm as Yae came in and stabbed her in the right armpit with her makiri knife.
The demon howled in pain before generating more black ice that was intended to trap all of their hands against her body, but Gyomei had other ideas as he yanked the flail end of his weapon back towards them, hitting the demon in the back and shattering the black ice before kicking her back into the wall with extreme force. "Stick to mid-ranged combat if possible," instructed Gyomei, "so far this one doesn't appear able to wield ice at range, but she will freeze you if she gets a hold of you."
"Noted," said Subaru as he wrung out one of his currently freezing hands. The demon let out another howl then before charging them again.
"Breath of Stone Third Form: Stone Skin!" Annoucned Gyomei as he parried the demon's swipes this time, making sure his weapon had minimal contact with her skin as the trading of blows continued. Their fearsome exchange lasted for another moment before Gyomei was able to push her back with some well-placed counterstrikes. Subaru and Yae had finished reloading by this point and both dove to opposite sides of the demon shooting at and managing to wound her legs before Isosange popped out from behind Gyomei's shoulder and loosed an arrow straight for the demon's eye where it impacted.
But instead of the sound of arrowhead hitting flesh, they were instead rewarded with the sound of forming ice as the arrow itself ran into an icy eye patch, or ice patch before falling to the floor with the quickly dissipating black crystals. The enraged demon turned its attention on Isosange then before catching a glimpse of something and stopping. Unbeknownst to the slayers and hunters, the demon was looking at the Ainu girl's hunting knife, finding something strange about its pattern. Gyomei attempted to use this apparent opening to swing his ax towards the demon's head in hopes of decapitating her.
But it was just the slightest bit too slow as more black ice formed around her neck like a high collar, taking the brunt of the impact as she backed away and into the wall. The group attempted to move in and cut off her escape, but the demon roared in defiance before slamming both of her hands against the wooden wall and used her blood demon art at a much higher volume. Black ice began forming on and inbetween the cracks in the wood, quickly traveling up the to the ceiling which groaned in protest from the sudden added weight, cold and internal appearing ice. "Time to run the other way!" Exclaimed Yae as the ceiling began to collapse towards them.
Gyomei was quick to to sheath his weapons and scoop up Isosange under his arm before barreling back through the door and out the front entrance with Yae and Subaru close behind. Even once outside, they could still hear the demon howling as the entire building began to collapse in on itself, creating a cloud of frozen dust and ice. But Subaru and Gyomei had been doing this too long to think that something as simple as that would put a demon down, and kept their guards up, observing both the settling debris and the area around them. Yae and Isosange also took the cue that they weren't finished yet, keeping their eyes peeled for any movement among the buildings.
It came in the next instant as the back part of the debris exploded, with the demon leaping out and slamming her hands on the ground. "So, you are demon slayers," she finally spoke, her voice strangely muffled by the ice mask on her face, "know this, while I may retreat now, this is not the last you shall see of Asir Rera! Humanity will pay for its transgressions, and you shall be among them!" A mass of black ice formed in front of her then before suddenly exploding, showering the slayers and hunters as they moved to cover their faces against the debris.
It didn't last long, but when they were able to look back up, the now named Asir Rera, was gone. "We had best hurry," said Gyomei, "even as a demon, she can't have gotten far." The group nodded in affirmation before moving out to pick up the woman's trail. It took a couple of minutes longer than they would've liked as the demon had leapt on and between roof tops before finally touching down on the ground near the outskirts of the city, breaking into a fast sprint if the position of her footprints was anything to go by. Yae and Gyomei led the search while Subaru and Isosange brought up the rear, following the trail through twists and turns, up and down a few hills and even through some of the woods.
Amazingly, in the short time it'd taken them to determine which direction Asir had fled, she'd managed to put a fair bit of distance between her and them. Fortunately, after some consulting of the map Yae had, the purusing slayers and hunters were able to determine where her trail likely led too: Abashiri Prison. No one could really figure out why a demon woud want to take up residence in a prison, but it was at least a place to start looking. And so, they trekked over a few hills and through some woods until finally reaching their destination, where they were met with yet another surprise.
"So I'm not the most familiar with how prisons are supposed to look," said Subaru upon viewing the structure before them, "but somehow, I doubt that's it." The others shared his astonishment as they gazed at what was once a prison, now resembled a small castle. A small castle made entirely, of black ice.
And so, the final ice woman has been revealed! Please welcome the dreaded Asir Rera and her blood demon art of Frostbite! and if you're wondering how her powers are different from Svetlana's, well, you'll just have to see in the next chapter. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our slayers and hunters take on Asir Rera's full might! 'Til then.
