CHAPTER 25: SOUL BURNING ICE
Tor said that in a calm voice, but the calm stopped there.
The mana in the entire village erupted into chaos, invisible currents tearing through the air like unseen storms. The earth trembled faintly beneath everyone's feet as though something vast had stirred awake. Loose stones rattled. Torches flickered violently. Even the lingering screams and cries of villagers seemed to choke and fall silent as the ambient energy bent toward a single point.
Toward Tor.
The convergence was so violent it felt as though the world itself was being dragged by the collar.
The elder named Ku opened his mouth, anger and disbelief colliding on his face.
Tor vanished.
There was no distortion, no warning. One moment he stood there, the next he was gone. Ku barely had time to react before Tor appeared at his right flank, already mid-motion. Training took over. Ku thrust his arm outward, angling his body to shield his ribs.
The impact was catastrophic.
The sound of bones shattering rang out sharply, loud enough to echo off the village walls. Ku's arm folded unnaturally as the force tore through him, and his body was launched away like an arrow loosed from a siege bow.
The ground cracked where he skipped once, twice, tearing a furrow through dirt and stone.
Before Ku could even finish being thrown, Tor moved again.
He reappeared above the flying elder and landed squarely on Ku's chest, Jin still cradled against him. The combined weight struck like a falling meteor. A thunderous boom exploded outward, flattening the ground beneath them and sending a shockwave through the nearby houses. Ku's body slid violently through the earth before ploughing headfirst into the village wall, stone splintering outward in a spiderweb of fractures.
Dust roared into the air.
"you hateful brat, how dare you sneak attack your elders. I will make sure to capture you so the senior elder can give you a slow and painful death as a sacrifice to the blood beast."
The second elder shouted in fury, veins bulging as he raised his hands. A barrier flared to life around him, translucent and trembling, and the temperature plummeted instantly. Frost crawled across the ground as violent winds spiralled outward, tearing at debris and cloaks alike.
"with just this little bit of power? Well even if you could capture me I'm afraid your Senior elder at the moment is just too dead to judge me."
Tor's voice carried easily through the howling wind as he began to walk forward, each step unhurried. His smile was small, almost amused, and that smile only twisted the elder's rage further.
"Hahaha little boy do you not fear that you would enrage me and I could mistakenly kill you because either way you would end up a blood sacrifice like the rest of the dead."
The elder charged.
The distance between them vanished in seconds. His body surged forward, frost trailing behind him as he unleashed Frozen Palms. Each strike was sharp, precise, aimed to kill. Several blows deliberately angled toward Jin's unconscious form, cold intent flashing in his eyes.
None of them connected.
Tor's movements were minimal, almost lazy. He shifted just enough. A half step here, a slight turn there. To any observer, it looked as though the elder's attacks were wildly uncoordinated, clumsy, his own aggression betraying him.
In reality, Tor was simply never where the strikes landed.
The elder overextended.
Tor's foot swept out.
The impact snapped the elder's balance completely. A sharp crack echoed as the bone in his leg fractured, and his body pitched forward awkwardly. Before pain could register, Tor vanished again, reappearing above him. His kick descended from the air.
The collision with the ground was deafening.
The elder slammed down hard, the force blasting dust and debris outward in a violent ring. The earth cratered beneath him, leaving his body sprawled and broken.
"A pair of useless trash. If you have any moves bring them out because I want to end this and attend to Jin."
Tor's voice was cold now, impatience bleeding through the calm. The fury was no longer hidden.
Holding Jin in his arms, Tor focused briefly inward. Her core was wrong. Cracks webbed across it like glass under pressure, as though something inside was forcing its way out. Mana leaked from her in unstable surges, sharp and erratic. He didn't understand what was happening, but one truth was undeniable.
Jin was in danger.
"Ah you little cocky bastard, now I'm pissed! Hey we are being looked down upon and you are trying to take a nap?!"
Elder Ku staggered upright, bones cracking audibly as his body forced itself together. His eyes were bloodshot, wild, the beginnings of madness burning behind them.
''Soul burning ice!' The other elder screamed as he stood, his expression matching Ku's in the next instant.
"Even if our souls will be extinguished after this move, we must drag you who has shat on our honour to the depths of hell with us, don't even think of leaving here with your life!"
Runes burst into existence around them, ancient symbols dancing violently in the air. The pressure skyrocketed, mana screaming as it was forcibly torn from their bodies.
Tor didn't move.
He simply watched them prepare.
"Who wants to go to hell with you two? I just came to hand you both your visas."
The disrespectful smirk on Tor's face pushed their rage past reason.
"Eat this brat!"
Thick blue ice erupted from Elder Ku, raw and unstable. His mana drained at a terrifying rate, his skin drying and cracking as his life force burned away. The attack slammed into the invisible barrier surrounding Tor, one that only manifested when his life was truly threatened.
The ice vanished.
Not shattered.
Swallowed.
Shock froze both elders in place.
"Help me brother I do not believe that with us both burning our life forces we can't kill this little twat."
"Fine but you will repay me when we reincarnate."
"That is no problem as long as this fool's soul never reincarnates!"
They poured everything they had left into the attack. Ice, mana, life force. The barrier rippled faintly, frost spreading across its surface before consuming the assault entirely.
Tor vanished.
He appeared behind Elder Ku.
"I believe you did it this way, soul crushing ice?"
Ku turned.
His worst nightmare filled his vision.
Tor stood there holding Jin, one leg raised, the sole facing him. Spatial ripples distorted the air violently. The same blue ice erupted outward.
In seconds, Elder Ku was frozen mid-terror. His core shattered with a sharp, final crack. His body disintegrated into countless ice crystals that scattered into the air.
Nothing remained.
The other elder collapsed to his knees, mana completely spent. Terror hollowed his eyes as he realized what awaited him.
Tor walked toward him.
The elder slammed his head into the ground repeatedly. "Please anything but that, please I beg of you do not extinguish my soul. I have eyes on the top of my head but failed to see Aso Rock, please young hero kill me in anyway but that."
Villagers gathered silently, staring at the destruction.
"old goon, earlier you were talking all big and saying how you were ready to die but now you beg for your soul like a kid being flogged for not doing homework? I am sorry but mercy has never been my favourite word. Sayonara."
Tor raised his foot. Space trembled.
"you said you'd give us a ticket to hell…"
The ice answered.
Flesh, bones, core, soul.
Gone.
"I lied."
Tor stood there holding the sleeping Jin as the sun rose. Cheers erupted from the surviving villagers.
Then a dozen cloaked and masked figures descended upon the village.