The Silver Knight:

  If Asra gained a penny for fighting a horde of golems summoned by a powerful sorceress, he would have- Oh, you heard this joke a hundred times, didn't you?

  The point was that The Silver Knight valiantly fought for his life alongside his companions! Said companions, who he could only see one out of five, the one and only Captain Tash. Where were the rest? Were they in danger?! He wouldn't stand by it!

  After knocking down two ice clones with a single, powerful kick, Asra avoided an ice katana strike by using his Lightspeed, shattering the weapon and the wielder to pieces by only running through it. Countless ice golems were dismantled by the hero, who frantically searched his comrades as far as Captain Tash remained in his field of view.

  No one else was found.

  "Captain!" he shouted, using the space the clone massacre gave him to fight the upcoming batch of icy puppets more efficiently. "Can you sense your subordinates' Saniya?!" He tore a hole in a puppet's forehead, where its weak point resided, with his golden fist, not nearly powerful enough to be called a Rocket Crash, before glancing back at Tash.

  The Wolf leader weaved gracefully amidst the rain of ice blades thrown at her, coating her body in an extra layer of fire to weaken the army's blows if she ever made a fatal flaw. "No! I'm afraid Yuki-onna took them!"

  The Silver Knight yanked a clone's scythe with enough force to take its frigid hands, still grasping the hilt. Even if a tad disturbed, Asra swung the weapon at it and four more puppets, reaping their heads in a wide arch. Interestingly, disconnecting the heads from the bodies made the constructs cease, most likely because of the placement of their activation runes. He needed a thorough read on a rune magic book ASAP.

  "Are they dead?!" He asked, dropping the scythe, then uppercutting another clone's head clean off. The good news was that no more ice constructs weren't coming from his side. "Not the puppets! Our comrades!"

  "I hope not!" The Wolf was pushed further into his proximity as a swarm of katana-wielding puppets rushed at her. The possibility of this dramatic irony being intentional by the Yūrei herself was not a stretch in his eyes. "She's probably using the frozen guards and civilians as hostages!"

  "Why do you think that?!" He questions, pointing his Silver Blaster? at the sword clones, then piercing through the forehead runes of four with a precise Saniya shot, giving his companion breathing space.

  The captain did not acknowledge his effort. "She isn't stupid! Once she starts killing innocent Monoke, the queen will get herself involved! Yuki-onna would end up executed without ever getting her hands on Stella!"

  The hero ran to her side, readying his fighting stance against the raging storm of constructs. "What's the plan?!"

  Tash took on a combat posture as well. "We go through the horde! The real Yuki-onna's Saniya is in that direction! These clones are also her bodyguards!" Her fiery aura expanded as she growled with resolve. "Follow me!"

  The two guards clashed against the frozen troops! Fists collided with the thin edge of the katanas, claws sliced the scythes' hilts in two, flames and lightning bolts melted the relentless kunai, and wisps of light decimated tens of constructs in a few seconds! Asra's heart palpitated with each vibration that echoed through his knuckles, his body torn between dread and the rush of adrenaline coursing in his body, mind, and spirit! He could barely still his heart for a lengthy usage of Lightspeed. Alas, his biggest weakness as a warrior.

  His eyes widened in terror as a construct on his left side lunged at him, its sword mere inches from his ribs. However, Captain Tash, covered in fire and electricity, intercepted and diverted the strike, her jaw latching onto its hand, the pressure quickly shattering it into uneven ice blocks.

  "Pay attention, Knight!" She chastised him as the clone attempted to strike her with its remaining hand. Still, she dispatched it with a devastating horse kick on its jaw, followed by a sickening crunch as it lost the ability to bite if it ever could.

  "Y-Yes, Captain!" He shook off his awe, quickly shattering three golems simultaneously with his "Lightspeed Barrage!"

  And so, the Wolf decided to maintain closer proximity with him as they dismembered each piece from the swarm of wintry clones with rapid and potent blows. Though they were both guards, they were far from coordinated, only watching each other's backs regularly. Still, their individual fighting skills pushed them through this herculean labor.

  As soon as Asra figured out his opponents' attack patterns, his fears slowly faded to the harsh, cold winds as repetitiveness took hold of his movements. The fog in his mind cleared, and his heart stepped closer to be as tranquil as the Heavens. Light magic was finally within his grasp more constantly, allowing him to clear rows of ice golems in a moment with Lightspeed Barrages, each strike flawlessly landing on the puppet rune.

  After the abuse of his sacred techniques took a toll on his body, forcing him to his knees, Tash took the lead and molded the fiery Saniya that covered her body, concentrating it onto her paws. It was like the captain held a miniature sun on each palm, resolute before the multitude of frozen yet mobile statues left.

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  "Try not to stare too much, will you?" Her fists crackled with an outer layer of electricity, commingling with the flames, until her paws held two unstable orbs of wild plasma! His eyes pulsed with astonishment and recollection, reminded of Gryla's similar technique. "I may not have your powers, but this light show can be just as blinding." The sheer heat her technique radiated prompted Asra to turn off his winter mode.

  Her regular white aura erupted from her body as she jumped high in the air, carrying such mighty, concentrated energy like an angel of death. As such, she descended upon the sea of ice golems, creating a powerful explosion that threatened to engulf even Asra if he hadn't used another burst of Lightspeed to flicker out of danger. Still, the shockwave caught up to him, pushing him faster and faster until his body scraped through the thick layer of snow on the ground, cushioning his deadly landing.

  The hero quickly turned his winter mode back on, slowly standing up to see the lengthy trail his body carved on the cold, white floor, enough to expose the typical grass and dark-brown soil underneath.

  "Captain..." He muttered to himself as he conjured more Saniya for one last Lightspeed. His body flickered through the unnatural winter until he returned to where he left. When he did, his mouth went agape, and his heart accelerated when he saw the crater his comrade created from the spell, enough to capture even Gryla and her husband. Seeing the bottom was virtually impossible, save for a few sparkly blue glints and the occasional lightning bolt. His captain still needed him.

  Steeling himself to plunge into the depths, Asra was about to jump until something, or someone, pulled him back by the cape.

  Tash:

  Three targets. An easily solvable predicament if not for the crippling exhaustion that hampered the captain's muscles.

  The clones stared at her with their usual cold eyes, emanating an ominous blue glow and a thin mist of freezing gas. Two carried a katana, while the remaining one, standing front and center, wielded a kunai in each hand.

  The silvery Wolf held up her paws, her claws unsheathed, even if she could barely feel them after pushing them to the brink with that one spell. Her tendons ached and threatened to rip apart, yet she couldn't allow herself to let Yuki-onna see her face contort in despair. If the only way to escape was as a block of ice, these freaks would have to EARN it.

  With a threatening growl, she darted at the closest construct, slashing at it with her weaponized nails. However, the speed of her barrage was hindered enough so the clone could successfully dodge it, even parrying her last strike with its forehand.

  Another golem lunged at her, aiming for a horizontal cut, which the captain dodged by jumping away. Still, a sense of dread coursed throughout her as the strike created a deep wound on the rocky ground.

  To her dismay, the three constructs lunged at her at once. As a silver lining, their offensive wasn't nearly as effective as their defense. It was uncoordinated enough for the fatigued guard to hold her own, dodging the four blades and occasionally countering with a kick or bite. Still, her blows lacked the necessary force for anything more than a crack or a gash on her opponents' smooth, reflective surfaces.

  It was only a matter of time until the clones got the upper hand. Tash's muzzle was struck by a katana's handle, prompting her to roll on the dirt by a few meters until her back hit the hole's wall. Although the pain was severe, she was glad they hadn't managed to land any hits before.

  The three golems slowly approached the captain. The quietness of the moment gave her enough time to assess the damage she gave the remaining constructs. The kunai-wielding one had its eye slashed, the scar spanning all the way to its opposing cheek. One sword-wielder had a significant crack on its left arm. The other had no visible injury, yet it showed more difficulty walking, indicating that it resided beneath the kimono.

  The golem closest to her gave up on one of its blades, its free hand now emitting an azure glow. The Wolf guard could feel the frost radiating from the light, begrudgingly accepting her repeated fate as she gave up pushing her demolished limbs to the brink. At least, the agony of her extreme soreness would momentarily end.

  Not to mention what would await her if she passed through these constructs. An overwhelming source of Saniya lay miles from here, the Icy Sorceress, powered by the core of the rune grid, whose energy brought a cold pang in her stomach the moment this winter started.

  Well. At least the captain would go with her pride intact...

  ...

  A loud crack called her attention. Behind the construct, one of its cohorts abruptly had its head disconnected from its neck, now jagged blocks of ice beneath its feet. After the clone looked behind it, its remaining sibling also fell by an imperceptible figure, which pierced a sizeable hole in its chest.

  Tash's eyes couldn't follow who or what was responsible for this miracle. It couldn't be the Knight since his Lightspeed was too flashy. Her best bet was a skilled wind magic user. Regardless, she didn't know anyone capable of pulling off such a maneuver except the Kamaitachi. It was hardly believable that those mercenaries would betray their employers, even for the sake of the greater good.

  Then, who the f-

  A piercing scream rang from above, alerting Tash and the last clone.

  "FEEL THE WRATH OF THE MIGHTY GENTō!"

  Beyond her wildest dreams, she witnessed the rotund Monoke crashing above the construct like a meteor, then pummeling its perfectly carved face with no breathing space in between.

  "YOU THINK YOU'RE SMART?! YOU'LL PAY FOR MAKING A FOOL OUT OF ME!!!" Each strike from his small yet destructive knuckles caused his pink and purple aura to flare with rising intensity. Tash wouldn't admit it, but the Baku planted fear inside her heart.

  CRACK!

  Gentō's onslaught ceased as his aura faded. He sat atop the fallen ice construct, breathing heavily. Tash rested her paw on her chest, closing her eyes with ease.

  "Wow. T-That was a little brutal..." Her eyelids opened when she heard none other than his Amikiri pal hovering next to him with his usual apprehensive tone. Wait, was he the one to eliminate the first two clones? That couldn't be...

  After regaining his breath, Gentō stood up on his victim. "Indeed!" His voice still trembled but regained some of its usual flair. "You can imagine what fate will befall the real one, my friend!"

  He jumped from the "carcass". His cocky smirk not quite reached his ears as he turned to the fallen captain. "Well, well, dear captain! I suppose we have some business to discuss!?"

  Tash frowned for a moment, then relented. Holding annoyance over the one who saved her life wasn't very flattering. "That's one way to put it."