Having been dispatched on a mission a few days prior to Seika's expedition regarding the disturbance, Yukiko had just recently returned to Synoria Outlook with news that had to be delivered to Yukito as soon as possible. Fortunately, the old man in charge of the town's cart rental service was kind enough to let her take the already prepared cart he was just bringing in, allowing her to leave town within minutes of arriving.

As Yukito's younger sister, Yukiko lacked the distinguishing magical expertise her brother did, with only their snow-based attribute mana as a similarity between the two. In almost all other regards, the two were exact opposites. With a knack for cold strategy and supervision, Yukiko quickly rose through the ranks of Synoria's Snow Guild to become Yukito's right hand as his secretary.

Just moments ago, Yukiko exited Synoria Outlook through the Northern gate. The path itself ran almost directly North with offshoots and intersections that connected to other roads that came from the East, yet due to the necessity of reducing the time to return, Yukiko decided to take the risk of cutting through the trees that bordered to the right.

The cart violently shook as it trampled over roots and branches, narrowly weaving between trunks while the steed in front accelerated. 

"Tch, faster, faster! We don't have time!"

She gripped tightly onto the reins. 

"At this point-"

A comet of red shot into the woods from the West, easily toppling rows of trees like toothpicks and plowing down a clearing ahead of Yukiko's path. A maniacal laughter burst from beyond the settling smoke.

"Gahahah! You really thought you could get away after all that?"

A muscular red arm emerged through the smoke, pulling it aside as if it were a curtain shielding a theatrical reveal. There, stepping out from the center of the crater, was a muscular humanoid figure about twice the height of an average human, its body covered in what appeared to be ancient tribal markings. With its right arm, it slung a large, bulky, wide-tipped greatsword over its shoulder, the length of which nearly rivalled the being's own height.

"You- how did you-"

The being gave a wicked grin in response.

"It's quite a shame... You're a bold one- bold enough to think you could get away with the Ezirok's secrets"

The massive sword swung down upon Yukiko.

***

Enhanced by his aura, Kaito's sped along the Northern road with reckless abandon. 

"I need to reach that cart before it gets too far... I put on a show for Seika but I honestly don't know how long I can last without Hayato's help"

An explosion rang out in the middle of the forest to the Northeast. Smoke and debris rose over the treetops while the sound of cracking bark rang out, causing nearby flocks of birds to scatter in every direction.

"What the hell was that?!"

Kaito continued running forwards, hoping to ignore the potential distraction and continue forwards to reach his goal. Yet, something along the side of the road caught his eye, forcing him to stop.

"These tracks... someone steered their cart into the forest, and fairly recently too- Wait, that means that explosion was-"

Kaito no longer needed to be held back by logic, channeling even greater surging mana into his legs to quickly follow the trail of broken branches and scattered soil deeper into the trees.

In the brief time he had been running with his aura, Kaito had realized something about the state of his new body. Before, when he was fighting Seraphim, the aether he received from Hayato was so overpowering that he wasn't given a chance to fully understand what his body was capable of alone. Essentially, with the shards being capable of steadily producing mana through aether over time, once these reserves were completely used up, the shard acted as a massive reservoir for mana. The difference this made to Kaito's aura was comparable to the difference between a trickling stream and a gushing river as mediums for the movement of water.

Seeing a clearing up ahead, Kaito launched himself past the trees and quickly took in his surroundings.

"An ogre-type corrupted beast, usually a rank 3 threat- the markings suggest there's more of its kind and that its of higher status, perhaps a rank 4 threat- that sword poses fatal danger to unarmored humans and holds the potential to break through armor and shields with enough force- most importantly, though-"

The same type of cart Kaito had been searching for could be seen toppled over in the clearing, the horse that once pulled it now running off out of sight. In front of the cart on the ground, a woman of short stature with shoulder-length black hair and oval glasses was the clear target of the ogre.

"Well then, let's see what I can do"

Kaito charged forth with a single leap, coalescing all his aura around his right arm to form a seeming gauntlet of azure energy and dealing a direct blow to the gut of the unsuspecting corrupted.

Unguarded, the corrupted was launched backwards with tremendous force into a cluster of trees, yet it quickly got up, seemingly uninjured.

"No damage?! How tough is this thing-"

The ogre gave a big toothy grin.

"Finally, a human worth fighting"

It swung its sword back in a stance ready to strike.

"Let's hope you're more entertaining than that joke over there"

Kaito froze.

"...it can talk..?"