I stared at Yukie’s shattered expression before me. Her face was wet with tears, her body trembling, and for the first time, she looked genuinely human. Not the ice statue I had known all this time.

"Then, Yukie," I said, my voice calm but full of authority. "You can apologize to me properly this time."

I willed it. With my power as the master of stopped time, I freed her from her bonds. Time around us remained frozen, but she could move now.

Yukie felt her body suddenly free. Her hands, which had been raised, fell limply to her sides. Her stiff legs could suddenly bend.

And she dropped to her knees.

"I’m sorry."

Her voice trembled, cracked, but was clear.

"I’m sorry for everything. For everything I’ve done to you these past two years. For all the pain I inflicted on you. For all the humiliation. For all the torture."

She lowered her head, her short white hair falling to cover part of her face. Her hands rested on her thighs, trembling.

"I don’t deserve to be forgiven. I know that. But I... I’m truly sorry."

I stared at her in disbelief. I had prepared myself for the possibility that she might attack me once freed. I was ready for anything—punches, kicks, close-range ice attacks. But the opposite happened.

This was Yukie. Yukie Iceblood. The ice girl who never showed emotion. The girl who always looked at me with contempt. The girl who had tortured me mercilessly for two years was now kneeling before me with tears streaming down her face.

And regret. Genuine regret.

"And how will you pay for all of that?" I asked, still not believing what was happening.

Yukie raised her face. Her wet eyes looked at me. In her eyes, there was something that surprised me.

"I’ll surrender my body to you."

I gasped. My mouth opened slightly.

"What?"

"I’ll surrender my body to you," she repeated, her voice clearer now. "Do whatever you want with me. Use me as you wish. I won’t fight back. I won’t complain. I’ll pay for everything I’ve done with my body."

I was truly shocked and couldn’t wrap my head around it. Was it really that easy to tame Yukie? The girl who had been a source of terror for me? The girl who was always cold and undefeatable?

But as I looked closer at her face, something strange happened.

Blood.

Blood began flowing from her nose. Fresh red blood streamed from both nostrils, wetting her lips, dripping to her chin, falling to the floor.

And her eyes. Her pale white eyes were also bleeding. Not crying blood, but blood flowing from the corners of her eyes, like terrible red tears.

"Hey!" I shouted, panicked. "Hey, what’s happening?!"

Yukie smiled faintly, barely visible, more like a sneer. A sneer at herself.

"I told you, didn’t I?" Her voice began to weaken, but was still clear. "You won’t get my soul."

I froze.

"I also said I’d pay for everything I did to you with my body." Blood continued flowing from her nose and eyes, soaking her entire face. "So... do whatever you want with my body."

And she collapsed.

Her kneeling body fell to the side, lying on the dirty floor of that abandoned building. Blood continued flowing from her nose and eyes, forming a red puddle beneath her face.

I panicked. Truly panicked. I immediately activated my power, stopping time for Yukie. Her body froze in its fallen position, the blood on her face stopped flowing, suspended in the air like red crystals.

But my mind was in chaos.

What happened? Did Yukie just try to kill herself?

But how? I hadn’t seen her do anything suspicious at all. Her hands were just limp at her sides. No strange movements. No pills swallowed. No injections.

Then...

She had prepared this from the beginning.

From the moment she planned this ambush. From the moment she waited in this abandoned building, watching from behind the curtain. She had prepared poison or something—something she could activate invisibly, without suspicious movements. Perhaps poison was already inside her body from the start, which could be activated with concentration or will.

That must be why she could be so calm. Why did she never show fear. Why did she so easily surrender her body. Because she had a final escape.

Because she already had a backup plan. If her plan failed, if she was caught, she would die on her own terms. Without giving me any satisfaction.

"Damn it!" I shouted, my voice echoing in the empty room. My fist slammed into the wall beside me, creating a large hole.

"You think I’ll let that happen?!"

I stared at Yukie’s prone form. Her body was frozen, but the blood on her face was still clearly visible. The frozen blood from her nose and eyes. A sign that the poison had already worked, already damaging her body from within.

But because time was stopped, the poison had also stopped working. Her body wasn’t deteriorating further. There was still hope to save her life.

I checked my remaining Time Stop duration.

[14:53...]

I had to take her to Charlotte. The woman I had thoroughly fucked just hours ago. She was the only SS-Rank healer I knew. She was my hope to save Yukie.

I summoned [The Pocket Companion’s Locket] , and the necklace appeared around my neck.

I quickly read its description.

[The Pocket Companion’s Locket]

-> A necklace with a pendant shaped like a small capsule. When activated by pressing a hidden button on its side, the capsule opens and draws in light, capturing and storing one chosen person into a stasis space within. Within this space, time for the person is completely halted. They require no food, air, or anything else, and exist in a state of peaceful, dreamless sleep.

With this item, I could store Yukie safely. Take her anywhere without risk of the poison spreading further. Then when time returned to normal, I could take her to Charlotte for treatment.

I activated the locket. The small capsule opened, drawing in light from around it. Golden light enveloped Yukie’s prone body, slowly lifting her from the floor.

Within seconds, her body vanished, sucked into the capsule. The locket closed again, returning to an ordinary piece of jewelry.

But I knew she was in there. Stored in a void of time. Alive, but frozen. Not dead, but not conscious either.

I stared at the locket, gripping it tightly.

"Yukie, you really scared me just now," I whispered, my voice trembling with a mix of anger and relief. "How could you think of ending your life like that without a moment’s hesitation?"

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

"After everything you’ve done, you want to run away from me? You selfish bitch."

I gritted my teeth.

"After getting an answer from you, you immediately want to escape? You think it’s that easy?"

My fists clenched.

"Don’t think you can escape me, Yukie. I won’t let you die, no matter what."

I looked at the locket in my hand.

"You’ll always be with me. In our mutual destruction."

I composed myself and left that abandoned building, quickly running down the stairs. Outside, the world was still frozen. The taxi driver was still frozen in his car. Leaves still hung motionless in the air.

I then ran toward the Aegis Grand Colosseum. Toward where Charlotte was. I still had enough time in this frozen world. Rather than deactivating the skill and taking a car, it was faster to run at full speed.

My feet slammed into the asphalt, leaving cracks wherever I stepped. The wind that should have been hitting my face was frozen in place, motionless. The world around me was like a giant painting, and I was the only one moving within it.

Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twelve minutes.

I kept running, passing empty streets, passing frozen vehicles, passing people fixed like statues. My eyes focused only forward. Toward the colosseum becoming visible in the distance.

[Time Stop Has Ended]

The world suddenly came alive.

Sounds returned—car horns, people talking, footsteps, the hum of engines. Wind slapped against my face, cold air flooding my lungs. People around me screamed in shock at my sudden appearance and frantic sprint.

But I didn’t care. I kept running. Cutting through crowds, running red lights, and leaping over vehicles blocking my path. Only one goal occupied my mind: Charlotte.

And in the middle of my sprint, suddenly I felt the ground beneath my feet tremble. Then, far ahead, I saw roots rising toward the sky. I glanced around me—those roots were encircling the entire city.

What was happening?

Then suddenly, everything stopped breathing.

Above Gatehaven’s sky, directly over everyone in the city, the sky tore open.

Diagonally. As if some giant sword had slashed through space itself. A black line so deep, so dark, so absolute, split the dark sky in two. From within that tear, red light blazed, radiating an aura so dense I could feel it from here. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Everyone stopped. Everyone stared upward. Mouths opened, but no sound came out.

And from within that tear, something began to descend.

.

.

.

Yukie opened her eyes and felt the cold that had been part of her since birth. But she couldn’t control it. She looked around and immediately recognized this place.

A snow-covered mountain. Ice cliffs towering around her, reflecting dim light from the gray sky. Wind howled, carrying snowflakes sharp as broken glass. Far below, white valleys stretched endlessly.

She was six years old.

Her hands were small, tiny, fingers already numb from cold. Her slender body was wrapped in tattered cloth not thick enough to withstand sub-zero temperatures. On her thigh, a large gash gaped open, blood flowing profusely, soaking the fabric, freezing before it could fall into the snow.

And beside her, a massive bear lay dead.

Its white fur was drenched in blood. Its neck was torn—the imperfect mark of an ice scratch, the desperate attack of a starving child. Its body was three times Yukie’s size. She had dragged the carcass alone, leaving a trail of blood half a kilometer long from where she killed it to the mouth of this cave.

A small cave in the cliff face. Barely enough for three adults. But for Yukie, it was a palace. Shelter from the relentless blizzard.

She pulled the bear carcass deeper with immense effort. Her hands trembled from cold and exhaustion. Each pull stretched the wound on her thigh, releasing more blood. But she didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop.

Once the carcass was fully inside, Yukie collapsed beside it. Her breath came in gasps, forming white puffs in the cave’s cold air. She stared at the carcass for a moment, then with her remaining strength, she began skinning it.

Her small hands worked skillfully. She had already learned that on this mountain, only the strong survived. And the dead became food, or clothing, or both. She had no knife. But she had ice. With full concentration, she formed a sharp ice tip at her fingertip—still crude, still imperfect, but enough to tear through bear hide.

Slowly, with careful movements, she cut the carcass from neck to belly.

The smell of fresh blood filled the cave. Warm. Disgusting. But for Yukie, it was the smell of survival.

After the hide was fully removed, she spread it on the cave floor, fur side up. Then, with her body shivering violently, she wrapped herself in it.

Warm.

Before her was a pile of dry wood she’d gathered hours earlier. Small twigs, dead branches, and some dry leaves she’d found in rock crevices. All ready for a campfire.

Yukie reached out her hand. Concentrated. She tried to light a fire.

Nothing happened.

She tried again. Still nothing.

A third time. A fourth time. A fifth time.

Nothing.

Tears began to well in her eyes. But she held them back. She couldn’t cry. Crying would only waste energy. Crying would only make her weaker.

She had already learned that.

But then she felt something.

Pain.

Excruciating pain in her thigh.

Yukie looked down. The wound on her thigh was still wide open. Blood kept flowing, soaking the bear hide wrapped around her, making it slick with her own blood.

She had to stop it.

She placed her hand over the wound. Concentrated. Freeze.

Ice began forming at her fingertips. But because she wasn’t skilled yet, because her body was too tired, because her concentration shattered from the pain—the ice didn’t form perfectly.

The ice stabbed her.

Sharp ice tips pierced into her wound, widening the gash, creating new holes. Blood sprayed more violently.

Yukie screamed.

"Father! Father! Father! Father!"

The scream escaped uncontrollably. The voice of a terrified, wounded, desperate child.

"Father! Help! Father!"

Tears finally fell. Streaming down her cheeks, dirty with blood and snow. Her body trembled, not just from cold, but from fear. Fear of dying alone in this cave, consumed by cold, consumed by her own wounds.

"Father... Father... I’m scared... Father..."

Her screams grew weaker. Her voice grew hoarser. Her hand remained on her thigh, not daring to let go, even as the ice kept wounding her. Blood flowed freely, soaking the bear hide, soaking the cave floor, soaking the snow outside.

She was going to die.

She knew it.

And in the midst of that despair, she saw a silhouette at the cave’s mouth.

A tall, large man stood there, backlit by the dim light outside. His long white hair flowed in the wind, contrasting with the cave’s darkness. His eyes—two violet orbs glowing in the dark—stared at her with an expression Yukie had never seen before.

Worry.