Sezel didn't just feel cold; he was petrified. The blood in his veins seemed to crystallize, not from the biting frost, but from the man's casual, damning words. His heart rammed against his ribs.

No, no It can't be.

"What roach?" the queen asked, her expression a mask of genuine bafflement. She was utterly oblivious to his pathetic presence. but the man he had somehow managed to find him.

In truth, Sezel wasn't even hiding properly. His hiding spot behind a jagged upthrust of ice was laughably inadequate, something a moderately curious squirrel would have discovered in seconds.

But...But i was not even in his line of sight.

"And What are you, The Lord of Crossroads even doing here?"

Lord of what? - His thoughts were cut short by the sound of steps.

Before Sezel could move or even think, the man moved. He just casually walked with a bored expression on his face.

But to Sezel's surprise the man didn't move towards him.

He sauntered toward the exhausted queen with an expression of profound, almost cosmic boredom, as if her life-or-death struggle was a mildly diverting piece of street theater he'd seen a thousand times before.

Behind him the chains carried the two other girls bound and floating in air like literal decorative dolls.

Am I safe? The thought was a flare of idiotic hope in the darkness of his terror.

_Shut up, you idiot. You know the universe personally listens whenever you think things like that, just so it can prove you wrong in the most spectacular way possible. Do not think. Do not breathe

Sezel tried to be hidden, not even letting a breath out. He was not even interested in information now, he just wanted to run away.

There was this bad feeling in his heart ever since he laid eyes on the charming young man.

Young man my ass, he is a damn old timer.

The Lord of Crossroads invaded her personal space without a hint of hesitation, his face mere inches from hers.

He gently gripped her chin with his leather-gloved fingers, tilting her head from side to side as if inspecting a piece of porcelain for flaws. The smile of his lips, never wavered.

"Such a waste of beauty out here in this Realm," he chuckled, his voice a low, melodic murmur that sent shivers. "I'll make you an offer. Join my harem, and you can stay back on Earth. A cold beauty like you will blossom there."

Sezel was shocked beyond words and thoughts. So was the queen. Her eyes were wide with a mixture of disbelief and something else. A faint blush crept up her cheeks, a bizarre and vibrant irony painted on her frozen features.

This bastard, Sezel gritted his teeth. Where does he think he is? This isn't a recruitment drive for his personal collection of pretty women!

To be so utterly calm, so brazenly arrogant in the face of another Rank-5… it made his skin crawl. How powerful did you have to be to pull a stunt like this.

I need to get away now, at any cost and hope i never meet him again. He wished it with all the pathetic might he could muster, but a cold, traitorous certainty settled in the pit of his stomach.

Oh, he was going to fight this monster one day.

The man, apparently uninterested in receiving a reply to his generous offer, released her chin and simply walked past, that ghost of a smile still haunting his lips.

As he moved, the chains holding the other two women dissolved into shimmering motes of light, and they crumpled to the ice. The queen remained utterly still in the grip of a fear so profound it seemed to have turned her to stone.

Sezel's fear morphed into a new, more urgent panic. The Lord of Crossroads was heading directly for the factory gates—where his puppet was hidden.

If he saw it, there wasn't a sliver of doubt that his precious, painstakingly crafted creation would be obliterated before he could even flinch.

He clicked his tongue in a spasm of fury. Why is everyone so hell-bent on making my life as difficult as humanly possible?

His own treacherous mind supplied the answer. This was his fault. If he'd just run away with Shiki and Vesta when he had the chance, he'd be long gone by now.

No, wait. It's not my fault. This all started with that half-corpse bastard. Yes. Definitely his fault. My conscience is clear.

A furious CLANK shattered the fragile silence, echoing across the ice. Sezel's eyes widened.

Are they fighting again? He risked another peek, his breath catching in his throat, and saw something that made his blood run cold.

The queen stood rigid, her hand outstretched, facing the man's back. A needle of pure ice, sharp enough to pierce anything, was embedded there, right between his shoulder blades.

What the hell was that sound then. Clearly not Flesh.

The man didn't even move, he stood still, his back pierced by the ice shard.

You foolish, foolish woman! Sezel scowled, a fresh wave of despair washing over him. He was leaving! You just had to poke the bear, didn't you?

The queen seemed to realize her catastrophic error in the same instant. Her strength failed her completely, and she fell to her knees, her face a portrait of horror.

The next moment, a sudden, crushing weight slammed down on the entire area, forcing Sezel's face into kissing the cold ice.

The pressure was immense, a physical manifestation of absolute authority that squeezed the air from his lungs.

He realized soon enough, he had sensed something familiar earlier too.

It was the dragon...that two headed dragon we saw that day.

Cracks appeared on several places on the icy surface, slowly spreading in all directions. The source of the ice, the lady was barely supporting herself with her hands.

Bad, this is bad. The Ice will break soon. He bit his tounge. I need to get out of here.

Sezel tried to push his body upright, so that he could use this moment of tension to run away through the thick fog.

As if to add the final, perfect flourish to his disastrous day, Sezel saw her.

Through his puppet's eyes, he saw Vesta standing just outside the gate, her face etched with worry as she searched for him.

He gritted his teeth so hard he thought they might crack. Can this possibly get any messier?

Sezel was fairly certain the universe had heard him and was already preparing an enthusiastic "yes."