Primordial Heir: Nine Stars

Khione stood before the frozen prison.

Then she slowly closed her hand.

The ice tightened.

A final wave of cold passed through the castle.

The Werewolf’s presence disappeared.

The battle was over.

Khione lowered her hand.

The enormous Desolate Ice Castle remained standing for a few seconds before gradually dissolving into countless ice particles.

The battlefield returned to normal.

Khione stood alone.

Her white hair settled against her back.

Her frosty blue eyes remained calm.

Another powerful monster had fallen.

And her score continued to rise.

She simply turned away.

Her lips curling upward, she had to hunt more, slaughter more. Well, even though she couldn’t surpass him at least she had to be the second, staying behind him.

’’I wonder how my Ner, is doing.’’ an uncharacteristically possessive words, not that she mind, it’s true after all, he is hers and she has no intention to let any vixen take him, he is hers and hers alone.

Khione continued deeper into the pocket world trying to chase after him.

°°°

The landscape had already changed several times.

Snow-covered plains became frozen forests. The forests became rocky valleys. Then even those valleys disappeared beneath an endless sheet of white.

Her footsteps were quiet.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

The sound barely carried through the frozen air.

Her white hair moved gently with the wind, her pale-blue eyes scanning the surroundings without the slightest change in expression.

Her score continued to rise.

Yet she showed no excitement.

No satisfaction.

Nothing.

Then—

BOOM!

The ground behind her exploded.

Khione stopped.

Four enormous figures emerged from the cloud of snow.

Werewolves.

Each one stood well over two meters tall.

Their bodies were covered in thick gray or black fur, their muscles reinforced by powerful prana. Their eyes burned with intelligence rather than instinct.

They weren’t ordinary monsters.

They were an elite hunting group.

Four Upper Rank A werewolves.

Each possessed a different mastery of the Wind Law.

One controlled cutting currents.

Another specialized in speed.

The third manipulated compressed air around its body, turning itself into a moving fortress.

And the fourth—

The largest among them—

stood silently in the center.

Its body was covered in dark-gray fur, and countless thin currents of wind revolved around its arms.

The moment Khione looked at them, she understood.

They had coordinated their approach.

One would restrict her movements.

One would attack from her blind spot.

One would destroy her defensive spells.

The leader would finish the fight.

They didn’t give her time to prepare.

All four disappeared.

BOOM!

The air erupted.

Khione’s eyes moved.

Nothing else did.

A blade of compressed wind appeared beside her neck.

She tilted her head.

The invisible attack passed through empty space.

At the same moment, the ground beneath her cracked as another werewolf emerged from below.

Khione stepped backward.

A thin layer of ice formed beneath her foot.

She slid.

The werewolf’s claws passed directly beneath her.

Then—

SHING!

An ice blade formed in Khione’s hand.

She swung once.

The werewolf raised both arms.

CLANG!

Ice collided with reinforced claws.

The monster was pushed backward several meters.

Khione didn’t pursue.

She simply opened her other hand.

A tiny snowflake appeared.

Then another.

Then hundreds.

The temperature dropped.

The four werewolves immediately noticed.

The leader’s eyes narrowed.

Too late.

The snowflakes weren’t ordinary.

They were extensions of Khione’s domain.

The instant they entered the air around the werewolves, they began absorbing heat and disrupting the flow of prana around their bodies.

Their movements slowed.

Only slightly.

But Khione noticed.

That was enough.

She raised one finger.

A wall of ice erupted beneath the feet of the fastest werewolf.

BOOM!

The monster leaped.

Three spears of ice followed.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

The werewolf twisted through the air, dodging all three.

Khione’s eyes remained fixed on it.

The instant it landed—

A fourth spear emerged behind it.

The monster twisted again.

The spear missed.

But that was exactly what Khione wanted.

The spear shattered against the ground.

Hundreds of smaller fragments scattered across the battlefield.

The werewolf didn’t understand.

It charged again.

Khione raised her hand.

The fragments moved.

Every shard of ice suddenly accelerated toward the same target.

The werewolf’s expression changed.

It generated a violent wind barrier.

BOOOOM!

The ice fragments collided with the barrier from every direction.

The monster roared and pushed forward.

The wind barrier expanded.

The fragments were scattered.

But Khione was already moving.

She appeared directly in front of it.

An ice blade formed in her hand.

The werewolf swung.

Khione ducked beneath the claws.

She stepped forward.

The blade struck its shoulder.

The impact sent the monster sliding across the frozen ground.

Before it could recover—

The second werewolf attacked.

A compressed sphere of wind exploded from its palm.

Khione raised her hand.

A massive ice shield appeared.

BOOM!

The sphere shattered against it.

Cracks spread across the shield.

Khione looked at the cracks.

Then she released it.

The shield collapsed into countless pieces.

Instead of falling—

They remained suspended in the air.

Khione moved her fingers.

The fragments transformed.

Hundreds of tiny ice blades appeared around her.

The werewolf stopped.

Khione flicked her hand.

The blades fired.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

The monster created a wind barrier.

But the ice blades didn’t attack the barrier directly.

They struck the ground.

The surrounding terrain froze.

The werewolf suddenly realized the trap.

Its feet were already encased in ice.

It tried to move.

The ice climbed higher.

The monster unleashed a burst of wind.

BOOM!

The ice shattered around its legs.

It broke free.

But Khione was already above it.

A gigantic block of ice descended from the sky.

The werewolf crossed its arms.

CRAAASH!

The impact buried it beneath the frozen earth.

The remaining two attacked simultaneously.

One became a blur.

The other released dozens of razor-thin wind blades.

Khione remained where she was.

She raised both hands.

Ice pillars erupted around her.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The wind blades struck the pillars.

One pillar shattered.

Then another.

The werewolf appeared behind her.

Its claws descended.