Return of the Frozen Player

Oni.

They kept an eye on the two strangers who appeared in their territory. One of the strangers was a woman who felt friendly despite being unfamiliar to them. Naturally, there wasn’t a single oni willing to help her.

"Kehehe."

"Kehehehe."

Rather, it was the opposite. They wanted her to lose because they wanted to be with her.

- Kehehe, kehehehe.

The eerie laughter of children echoed throughout the silent, dusky forest.

***

“…”

Shika remained vigilant of her surroundings. The human woman told her that the oni here wouldn’t help anyone, but there was no way she was going to trust a human’s words.

‘I shouldn't believe her words.’

Shika had to be wary and doubtful of everything in this strange place. Besides, didn't the woman say that she would assassinate her? Assassination in plain sight… Shika couldn't help but think that there was something in the forest.

"You're distracted."

"Hm, but I can still deal with someone like you."

Shika had returned to her human form at some point. If she died even once, everything would be over. In that case, there was no reason for her to maintain his slow demonic form.

Claaaang!

Her wrist, strengthened with demonic energy, blocked a dagger that was thrown at her.

"Eh? What’s this? It's slow."

“…”

Mio was neither flustered nor shaken. She stared at her opponent indifferently before manipulating the dagger in mid-air.

Swoosh!

The dagger flew toward one of Shika’s eyes.

"Pffft!” Shika burst into laughter rather than screaming in surprise. The tip of the dagger didn’t even manage to come close to her eyes. She tilted her head and sneered at Mio. "Just why were you so confident to fight me one-on-one? You even brought me into such a strange place."

Shika couldn't understand why the weak Mio wanted to fight her one-on-one. However, Shika eventually found her own conclusion, and she was furious at the conclusion she reached on his own. "It must be because of George and Voros! Did you think I was as weak as those bastards?!"

At the scream, Shika made her move and started pressuring Mio.

Mio’s eyes darted all over the place while her hands turned into a blur.

Claaang! Clang! Claang!

Mio did her best to defend herself against Shika’s flurry of attacks.

“There’s no way you can beat me unless you cooperate with those from the forest."

Shika furiously attacked Mio with her sharp nails. The consecutive, heavy attacks made it look like Mio’s delicate sword would snap into two at anytime soon.

Claaaang!

“…!” Mio staggered at the unexpectedly strong attack.

Shika didn't miss the opportunity and lashed out with her foot.

Crash!

She felt it. She felt her foot dig deep into Mio’s stomach.

"Haha! Die…!” Shika hurled a spear made of demonic energy at Mio's defenseless head while she was flying away after being kicked.

“…?!”

However, the spear didn’t strike true as it lodged itself into the ground.

Shika frowned and stared at the coughing Mio with bloodshot eyes.

"I knew this would happen, even though you said that they wouldn’t help anyone…”

"Ptoeeey!" Mio spat the blood in her mouth and replied in a sullen voice, "I did not receive any help."

"Bullshit!" Shika growled.

A lie had to be believable, at the very least. If she hadn’t received any help from them, then why was Shika’s vision swimming?

"Is it magic? A skill or a curse? It doesn’t matter. As soon as I get used to this dizziness…!”

Tap, tap.

Mio stood up after shaking the dirt off of her clothes. She took on a stance with her delicate sword.

"The oni hates humans who invade their territory."

"I am not an inferior human!"

"They must hate demons, too."

It was the reason—the reason why the oni cursed the two.

"They cursed both of us?" Not to mention getting used to the dizziness, Shika felt even worse. She started swaying like a drunkard.

‘Bullshit. She’s definitely lying…!’

Shika couldn’t believe it at all. If the oni were cursing the two of them, then why was Mio staring at her while standing bolt upright?

"An inferior human like you can actually withstand the same curse they placed on me? How can an inferior human…"

"I have the talent..."

"What nonsense is that, you bug?!"

Mio blinked and looked down at her hand.

‘I’m getting dizzy. Perhaps it is because it has been a while, but the curse feels stronger. I guess they are glad to see me.’

It had been a long time since the oni cast such a powerful curse on her. Perhaps they really wanted to ‘play’ with her this time. Of course, she didn't have any intentions of going along with their wishes.

"Everyone says it’s a talent of mine."

Mio had always been good at keeping herself in optimal condition. As such, she had never felt as if her level was incongruous with herself. The same was true with the kind of curse they placed on her.

‘They can put many different curses with various effects as well.’

The oni could cast a curse that would explosively increase one’s strength, or they could also cast a curse that would make one’s movement as slow as a snail.

The oni had many different curses, and the curse they cast on them right now was just one of the curses in their repertoire.

"I am able to adapt." This particular talent of hers existed even before she became a Player. She pointed her delicate sword at Shika and said, "It seems that an inferior human like me is more talented than a great demon."

"What nonsense! A mere human actually dares to claim that she’s superior to me, Matryoshka, a noble Common demon?!" exclaimed the swaying Shika.

All of a sudden, a ray of silver flew toward him. Shika raised her hand in response amidst her swimming vision.

‘Another attack, but it's very slow...’

Crack!

However, Shika had to revise her thoughts as a sword was lodged in her right shoulder. Amidst the dizziness, Shika was sure that there was a sword lodged in her precious right shoulder.

"Ha!” Shika removed the sword and tightened the muscles of her right shoulder to stop the bleeding. Mio decisively abandoned her sword and stepped back.

"Haha, a swordswoman actually abandoned her sword.”

"I’m an assassin as well, not just a swordswoman."

Killing her target had always been her role.

'It had always been like that.’

In this place, Mio had assassinated countless enemies who dared to threaten her precious friends.

‘They all had one thing in common…’

The enemies she had to drag here to assassinate—all of them had one thing in common.

‘They were faster and stronger than me.’

However, Mio had always been the one who emerged victorious every time.

"And it will be the same this time."

Mio avoided the flying nails and quickly retrieved four daggers stored behind her knee before sending them flying toward Shika.

Thududud!

"…Do you really think that you can kill me with such toys?"

"They’re good enough to kill."

This was a battlefield where only the last man standing would be allowed to leave. The one who would make no mistake until the end would win, and the one who would persevere until the end would win. And the winner had always been Mio.

"It's going to get worse from now on."

Get worse? What was going to get worse? Shika didn’t dare ask out loud.

'Everything is inverted…?’

Another curse was added on top of the curse of dizziness. The left became right, and the right became left. The trees were suddenly hanging from the sky, and the sky became the floor. It was an inverted world.

‘Those small fries…!’ Shika was furious at the oni.

Meanwhile, Mio’s daggers lodged themselves in Shika’s heart and philtrum.

"How tough. Why are you still alive? People usually die when their heart and brainstem are pierced."

Shika saw that Mio seemed nonchalant about all these.

‘She managed to adapt to these curses…?

Perhaps she could endure the dizziness. However, how could she move normally and as usual in an inverted world? Shika couldn’t even begin to wrap her head around it, so it had to be something that couldn’t be done.

‘Does that mean…’

Didn’t that mean that Mio was superior to her? Shika's eyes quivered. Her pride as a demon was being brutally trampled on by Mio’s performance in this battle.

"D-don't make me laugh!" A formidable amount of demonic energy burst from the furious Shika. "I don't need to do anything else. Yes, if I can’t move, then I just have to blow everything up around me."

Shika gathered her demonic energy between her palms before letting it explode in all directions.

“…!”

Boom! Booooom!

The overwhelming power behind the explosion was so strong Mio flinched at the sight of it. She was once again reminded of the power gap between her and a demon.

‘I-I can't pierce through this...’

Mio didn’t dare to try and contest the destructive power in front of her. Mio’s years of experience with the way of the sword were telling her that there was no way she could pierce through all that firepower and reach her opponent with her swordsmanship alone.

‘Ramadat actually managed to beat them?’

All of a sudden, she recalled a particular scene in the past. While they were looking at the star-filled night skies, Gilberto told her this “Your talents shine brilliantly like those stars, and I'm afraid that you will fly away one day.”

'I think I understand it now.’

At the time, she thought that Gilbeto was just being worried for nothing. She replied to him and said that he should work hard and fly away with them.

‘I was ignorant.’

At last, Mio finally understood how she could keep walking on the same path as her cherished friends.

‘I have to become stronger.’

She retrieved a sword from her Inventory. She still hadn’t mastered the Bright Sky Purple Style, which was a sword style only the head of the Tenmei Family could learn.

'But I know another technique...’

Squeeze.

She clenched the handle of the sword. There was an ancient tradition in the Tenmei Family. The Red Sun Style would always be passed down to the sons, who would lead the family in the future, while the Blue Moon Style would be passed down to the daughters, who would be married off to other families in the future.

Of course, the Tenmei Family also taught their daughters the art of self-defense.

‘Of course, it should only be common in that era because it’s an ancient tradition.’

However, the Tenmei Family remained true to their traditions. They did not change their old and outdated rules under the name of tradition. Now, Tenmei Mio knew that it was about time for them to break the traditions.

‘I-I have to become stronger.’

All for the sake of keeping pace with her precious friends rather than becoming a piece of baggage that would hold them back.

The blade of Mio’s sword turned red as the surrounding air started to heat up.

"I will use the Red Sun Style, too."

Mio had never been taught the Red Sun Style, but she had seen it countless times. The memories she had of the Red Sun Style being performed by other people were enough for her to replicate the sword style.

"Where are you? Where are you hiding?!”

The curse of dizziness, the curse of an inverted world, and the curse of blindness. The oni had taken away Shika’s eyesight, and she furiously continued to wreak havoc on the surroundings while screaming.

‘Is she dead? No, I can still feel her life force.’

There was no way Mio was dead. As such, Shika had no choice but to increase the destructive power of her indiscriminate attacks a bit more. The amount of demonic energy between her palms gradually got bigger. Shika was channeling an attack that was so strong that a glancing blow from it would be fatal for any veteran Player.

‘There’s no way a human can survive this much destructive power…’

In addition, Shika had already noticed that Mio’s sword style was tailored more toward defense rather than offense. In that case, it would be impossible for Mio to pierce through this much demonic energy and reach her.

"Die…!"

Shika attacked indiscriminately without end amidst the darkness. All of a sudden, a ray of light slowly approached her. It was an intense, warm light that she could feel even with her eyes closed.

"Red Sun Style Third Move: Bowing Cloud.”

When the clear, crisp voice reached her ears, the curse of dizziness, the curse of an inverted world, and the curse of blindness were lifted.

“It’s gone! The curses have been lifted…!

Now, she was unstoppable. As soon as the thought came to her mind, the human in front of her placed her sword back into its sheath.

"Yes, because the fight is over."

"What...? Are you going to run away?"

Now that the curses had been lifted—was she afraid of facing Shika fair and square and was now trying to run away?

‘Hmph, she sure knows how to dream big.’

Shika’s killing intent burst forth, and she started walking toward Mio.

‘What?’

All of a sudden, the world in front of her started tilting.

Shika fell to the ground, and she belatedly realized that Mio had split her in two.

"T-there’s n-no way…!"

Shika’s indiscriminate attacks earlier were like rain—there was no way they could have been avoided. In that case, Mio had to have deflected each and every attack she had been sending in all directions. It was the only way Mio could have approached her.

"T-this isn’t real… Such talent, how come…" Shika muttered in disbelief.

How come a human possessed such talent?

Mio coldly stared at Shika on the ground.

"Human beings are much greater creatures than you think.”

"Bullshit..!" Shika stretched out her hand and picked her lower body up.

"Shut up and wait…! The fight is not over yet."

Demons had strong and persistent vitality. If Shika simply stuck her upper and lower body together like this, they would reattach soon enough. Once Shika was done fixing her body, she would then bring judgment on that arrogant human.

Shika was amazed by how fast she was recovering.

"Speaking of great creatures, they’re great as well," said Mio.

Shika turned her head.

Rustle, rustle.

The oni hiding in the dusky forest finally emerged one by one.

"The match ended the moment you were incapacitated."

"…What?"

"Pray that you will recover the use of your legs soon because…”

- Kehehe, kehehehe.

- Kehe, kehehe.

The giant oni cackled ominously. They were carrying bats and were wearing necklaces made of jars.

"The game of hide-and-seek has begun."

"What? What the hell are you talking—”

Shika didn’t manage to recover the use of her legs in time, and one of the oni ended up capturing her.

"Ah! Nooo…!"

Shika tried her best to resist as she desperately clawed at the muddy ground so that she wouldn’t get dragged away. Unfortunately, the other oni quickly caught up to her, and they easily dragged her into the dusky forest.

“It seems that on my next visit, one of them will be wearing another jar.”

The oni enjoyed carrying jars containing the heads of the losers in this forest.

"Ah…!"

A final miserable shriek reverberated throughout the dusky forest.

Click.

There was a clicking sound similar to a lock being unlocked, and the Unique Realm: Oni’s Forest disappeared without a trace.