Avatar of the Frozen Behemoth: Volume 1

Chapter 35: Beneath the Ashes, A Sister's Voice

Yukio's injuries were severe, his body aching and battered from the earlier battle. Every step he took felt like an assault on his already strained muscles. But the sheer force of his desperation fueled him.

His breath came in ragged gasps, and the cold burned his lungs with each inhale. "Amara, where are you?" he muttered through clenched teeth, his voice choked with terror. "Please, Amara, answer me!"

He sprinted down a narrow street, ducking and weaving through the debris. The sounds of battle were a relentless assault on his senses-explosions shook the ground, sending tremors through his already battered frame.

Screams of terror and pain echoed through the air, mingling with the crackle of flames and the sharp bursts of chaos magic. Civilians ran in every direction, their faces etched with fear, pushing and shoving in a frantic attempt to escape. Some were consumed by the flames, their cries of agony swallowed by the inferno.

Yukio's eyes darted frantically, scanning the ruined streets for any sign of his sister. The sheer scale of the destruction was overwhelming, his mind struggling to process the horror before him.

"Amara! Where are you?!" he shouted, his voice raw and hoarse from fear and exertion. The desperation in his tone was palpable, a stark contrast to the cold, indifferent chaos around him. "Please, answer me!"

He pushed his way through the panicked throngs of civilians, his hands shoving people aside with a harsh urgency. The crowd was a writhing mass of fear and confusion, people stumbling over each other in their frantic attempts to escape the violence.

Yukio's heart ached as he saw families separated, mothers reaching for lost children amidst the annihilation. His own search felt like an endless, cruel joke, each moment dragging on with a relentless, oppressive weight.

He tried to avoid stepping on the fallen, but the blood-soaked ground made it nearly impossible. Each slip sent a jolt of dread through him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he muttered as he shoved his way through the crowd, his eyes scanning the chaos.

As he rounded a corner, a massive explosion erupted from a nearby building, sending a shower of debris raining down. Yukio barely managed to duck as the rubble crashed into the street, the impact sending shards of stone and wood flying. Dammit! Not now! he thought, his heart racing as he realized the collapsing building had created a barricade in his path.

Desperation lent him strength as he scrambled over the jagged pieces of stone and timber. His hands, already battered and bloody, gripped the debris with a grim determination. The cold, rough surface scraped his skin, but he barely felt it. He was driven by one singular thought:

finding Amara.

"Come on, come on!" he urged himself, his voice barely more than a whisper. "I need to get higher, see more... find her!"

He pulled himself up with shaking arms, each movement a struggle against the weight of his injuries and the cold, biting wind. He eventually eached the top of the rubble, the icy wind biting into his exposed skin. His breath came in short, ragged gasps as he looked around.

The rooftops were a dangerous maze of debris and falling projectiles. He crouched low, peering through the monstrous chaos. "Amara! Please, if you can hear me, respond!" His voice was hoarse, desperate. "I'm looking for you!"!

He leaped from one rooftop to another, each movement a precarious balance between life and death. The ground below was a chaotic frenzy-Spadian soldiers clashed with Janoan soldiers, their weapons flashing in the dim light. The screams of the wounded and the cries of the dying created a nightmarish symphony. Yukio's eyes darted, his heart racing with every second that passed without finding his sister.