Ethan barely managed to activate Repulsor Shield in time before the ice knight's colossal sword slammed into the Dauntless's deck. A geyser of splinters exploded around him, the sheer impact sending Tara and Klax staggering back. Fauna clung to a broken mast, ears flattened, while Lamphrey hissed from behind the cover of an overturned barrel.

[System Notification!] Enemy Identified: '??? (Frostbound Knight)' HP: ??? Weakness: Unknown Resistances: Physical, Piercing, Slashing, Elemental ???

A low, crackling roar issued from the knight's ice-encased helmet. Up close, Ethan could see the thick crust of rime clinging to every plate of armor—practically grown from the unnatural cold. It clenched its fists, and that glacier-like sword re-formed in its grip.

"Sys – how is it that you can't read this guy?"

If I had to guess, it's because it's a recently crafted creature. This thing you see before you is no naturally occurring monster born from Kaedmon's breast. It is a creation of –

"Haylock," Ethan spat. "That's all I need to know."

"Spread out!" he then barked, staggering upright. His eyes flicked down at Greybane—the Onixia blade's serrated edge glowed with familiar embers, but those embers felt…dim. The usual hum of synergy flickered uncertainly, as if the weapon sensed it might be out of its depth.

Come on…he urged. Don't fail me now…

The knight lunged again, sword whistling. Ethan clashed with Greybane, but the collision produced a shrieking note that resonated through his arms, jarring them numb. The blade refused to cut into the ice.

[System Notification!] Onixia Blade effect… No Damage inflicted. Warning: Target's armor is immune to Onixia's current properties!

"Impossible!" Ethan snarled. He twisted away, panting, eyes darting toward his allies.

How could he be immune to Onixia? Unless…maybe the immunity isn't permanent…

"Guys? Nothing's getting through this thing!"

"It's like everything bounces off it!" Tara yelled from the forecastle, twin daggers flashing in her hands. She launched a flurry of throwing knives at the knight's back. Each blade pinged off the glossy ice plating, dropping harmlessly to the deck. "See?! Useless!"

Klax bellowed from the mainmast, ripping a chunk of timber free and bringing it down in a mighty overhead smash—only for the knight to pivot and swat him aside with a frigid backhand. The Lycae slammed into the rail, splinters biting his fur, but forced himself to remain upright.

"Lamphrey!" Fauna shouted, rising to her feet. "Try—"

She never finished. The knight flicked its wrist mid-lunge, and a lance of pale-blue ice erupted from its free palm. Fauna's eyes went wide, and she tried to summon a Barrier—but she was too slow. A snarling column of frost slammed into her feet, racing upward in a surge of freezing vapor that locked her legs and arms in place. She gasped in shock, her staff clattering onto the deck as the cold bit into her flesh.

"Fire!" she yelped. "Hit it with fi-"

The creeping ice stopped her mouth.

"Fauna!" Ethan roared. He raced forward, only to watch in horror as the knight repeated the gesture. This time, a jagged wall of ice smashed across the deck in a curved arc, slicing Ethan off from the rest of the ship. It caught Lamphrey as she darted aside; she hissed in outrage before becoming encased behind the same unyielding barrier, her staff's glow stuttering out in helpless sparks.

[System Notification!] Fauna: Status - Immobilized (Ice Bind) Lamphrey: Status - Incapacitated (Ice Prison)

A bestial rumble rolled from the knight's throat as it slowly advanced, its frozen blade thrumming with alien power. Ethan and Tara found themselves cornered near the collapsed aft staircase, panting.

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"This is insane," Tara hissed, tail thrashing. "We can't scratch it. Fauna says we need flames—didn't she say that?"

Ethan's heart pounded. He recalled Fauna's desperate words: We need fire. He looked around, mind racing. Their magical gear? Ineffective. Their weapons? Bouncing off the ice. Their prime casters? Frozen.

My kingdom for a fire skill – you'd think I'd have come across a flame-based creature to possess by this point…

Then it hit him. They did have one environmental advantage he hadn't considered: the ship's hidden, explosive might below decks.

The cannons. Packed with gunpowder.

Each of them ready to blow…

"Tara, I've got an idea." He growled, beckoning her close. The knight stomped forward, methodical, unstoppable. "Cover me. I'm going to lure it below—to the cannon room."

Tara's eyes flashed with feral excitement. "You want to blow the ship up with us on it?"

"It's that or freeze to death," Ethan snapped back. "I'll manage the big fireworks. You free Fauna and Lamphrey if you can—or get topside and brace yourself."

She gave a curt nod, then abruptly dashed across the deck, drawing the knight's attention for a fraction of a second—enough for Ethan to break into a sprint down the battered steps to the lower deck.

With a guttural roar, the ice knight followed. Its every step made the wooden hull groan, as creeping lines of frost spread across the railing and walls. Ethan risked a glance back. The knight was closing in. Perfect.

They crashed onto the lower gun deck. Splintered crates and battered cannonballs rolled underfoot from the earlier collisions. Rusted iron cannons lined the hull, each loaded with powder that glinted ominously in the gloom.

[System Notification!] Thorn Hail: Ready to Use. Warning: Confined space. Potential for Chain Explosion is HIGH!

Ethan steeled himself. "Exactly the point," he muttered.

Self-preservation never has been high on your list of priorities, has it?

In the moment, Ethan didn't care. If he was being overtaken by some bestial bloodlust recently, he'd channel it right now. He'd take this monster down – because that's all it was. Just another monster in his way. It would fall like all the rest. And he'd take its power for himself.

The ice knight came barreling down the corridor, blade angled to deliver a punishing thrust. At the last moment, Ethan flung himself aside.

"Thorn Hail—full power!" he shouted. A swirl of brambly vines and spines erupted from his wooden arm, coalescing into multiple swirling projectiles.

[System Notification!] Thorn Hail (Grade B) – Thorn Storm 50ft zone of effect

He unleashed them in a wild barrage, each thorn smashing through cannons, powder kegs, and crates of ammunition. The spark was instantaneous; barrels of gunpowder erupted in a chain reaction of thunderous booms. Flames roared across the chamber, igniting everything in sight. The ice knight vanished in a conflagration of swirling fire, battered by the concussive blasts echoing wall to wall.

Ethan felt a split second of raw heat, then a wave of force hammered him from behind and hurled him off his feet. The world vanished in fire.

…

The next sensation was cold air and a surging pain in his head. Smoke stung his eyes. Ethan coughed, forcing himself upright on unsteady legs. He was no longer below deck, because that entire section of the Dauntless had been obliterated. The ship—what remained of it—floated in pieces on a flaming sea of ice shards.

"Tara? Klax?" he rasped, black flecks dancing in his vision.

All around him, shards of the Dauntless's hull burned or listed precariously. Soot-covered cloth flapped from broken masts. A sputtering cough made him turn: Tara lay sprawled across a chunk of deck, sporting fresh gashes on her arms but alive. Nearby, Klax was helping Fauna out of the remains of her ice prison, gingerly chipping off frost from her limbs. Lamphrey, drenched in brine, stood with a snarl, pieces of ice still dangling off her robe.

"E-Ethan…" Fauna managed, voice quivering. "You…did you…?"

He wanted to give a reassuring response, but a sharp crack drew everyone's attention to starboard. Flames licked up the ice floes that had once pinned them, revealing a tall figure stepping across the wreckage—its entire form marred by fracture lines. The once-pristine ice armor was shattered, with great plates broken off, revealing a bruised, human-looking body beneath.

And a face. A furious, contorted face with fierce, noble features. It glared at them through hateful, bloodshot eyes, framed by slivers of half-shattered ice.

"Hybrids…all…must…die…"

The voice was cold, dead, and tinged with a metallic quality – as though it were coming from two different people fused into one grisly body.

Tara's breath caught in her throat. "Holy— That's Lysandus! The King Lysandus!"

As Ethan whipped his head around in disbelief, Sys confirmed what seemed like the impossible:

[System Notification!] Enemy Re-Identified: 'LYSANDUS the Frostbound King' HP: 450 / 1600 Armored sections: 60% destroyed.

Lysandus…

This…thing…is Westerweald's current king?

Lysandus—if that was truly him—emitted a tortured, half-robotic, half-human roar. Flames reflected off the remnants of his icy pauldrons. His eyes burned with bitter rage, and with one swift motion, he formed another sword of ice that glowed with crackling arcs of azure energy.

With horrifying strength, he lunged across the broken deck in a final mad rush, blade raised high, ready to cut the entire group down.

"Look out!" Tara shrieked.

Ethan braced himself, battered and exhausted, as the Frostbound King—armor cracked but still lethal—charged with unstoppable fury.

And as their vibrating blades locked, sparks flying into the chill air around the broken ship, Ethan looked into the hateful eyes of Westerweald's last monarch.

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