The Wielder's Winter (The Manifests Series #1)

{[35]} Static, Poison, and A Little Bit Of Rage

April 19, 2023, 6:42 am, E-World Amusement Park, Daegu, South Korea.

[MAJOR EVENT: OPERATION SHIBA]

Cho Miyeon wasn't really ready for Operation Shiba, but she knows that she has to take part in saving Sana no matter the cost. Because Sana is her friend, after all, and she would do anything for a friend, regardless of any trouble or problem.

But the sight of the Koul'in subordinate Alstone really brings her fears back on the table. She knew how unbelievably ruthless and strong he was on their first encounter--- and how brutally he wiped out all her allies, except for Sana and a few others, who were all whisked away from her.

She knows it's gonna take more than all four of them combined to deal with him.

Yet she consistently hopes for some sort of miracle.

Alstone hears heavy footsteps that were rumbling in the area not too far from him.

"Seems like Zheri's magnum opus is unleashed. There are more enemies than we expected." Alstone thought.

"Soldiers! Gather round the remaining Koul'ins and try to help Zheri take out the trash, now." Alstone instructed in a booming voice. The soldiers quickly obliged as they ran off.

"And as for you humans... you're not allowed here, you know? Let me escort you out to your death. Come." Alstone said as he taunts the team to attack him.

Ryujin, having remembered that her strength is multiplied with her armor, runs toward the Koul'in subordinate and bravely attacks first, delivering a punch on Alstone's face which makes the Koul'in subordinate flinch and back away a few inches.

But Alstone remains stalwart. Still mostly unharmed by her attacks, he returns the favor by delivering a massive punch towards Ryujin. She blocks with her arms, but the blow was so strong that parts of her armor started to fall apart.

Seojun gathers most of his strength and runs towards Alstone. He then readies his glowing, glitchy fists, this time, with more power than usual.

Seojun unleashes wild but concentrated strikes of glitched light towards Alstone. Yet again, the Koul'in subordinate manages to withstand his attack, and with his insignias glowing again in glitched light, retaliates with a wild haymaker that narrowly misses Seojun.

While Alstone was busy with Seojun, Ryujin takes an opportunity to attack once more. She runs towards Alstone at breakneck speed.

"Come on, my boots, don't fail me now..."

As she closes in on the tattooed enemy, she presses a button on her pointer finger and the heels on both of her boots form small rocket thrusters, expelling concentrated mists of fire and heat that immediately lifts her off the ground.

She then jumps forward, using the propelling motion of her rocket boots to slam her knee towards Alstone. Alstone quickly grabs her feet as a response and swings her towards the defunct carousel nearby.

The ITZY member's adrenaline helped her became quickly aware of her predicament. As soon as she gets near the carousel, Ryujin grabs one of the horses, and with the rotating momentum of the amusement ride and her rocket boots, she flings herself back at Alstone to deliver a fierce, fiery dropkick on his face.

Ryujin notices Alstone's arm insignias fill up with a fiery red hue, mimicking those emitted by her rocket boots.

But Ryujin didn't want to waste time dilly-dallying over his chameleon-like markings.

She lands on the snowy ground next to Alstone and spins her body, doing a fiery rocket-powered kick on Alstone's face. She notices, for a brief moment, that Alstone sustained a slight burn injury on his cheek, something that she didn't expect to see.