The Hunt For The Ice Queen, Part 3

Zenatori continued aimlessly walking through the forest.
"Where's another automorph?" Zenatori thought.

But as his thoughts finished, a loud crash rang through the area. The blast reverberated throughout the forest, shaking the ground from the sheer might.
"What on earth is going on?" He mumbled.

As the eruption hit, goosebumps ran down Zenatori's body. A cool wave of air hit his skin. Dust, sticks, and debris flew in the air, forcing him to lift his arms and defend his face.

Thereafter, a giant blade of ice materialized from the ground, scraping the skies. The summoning of the glacier caused the trees to sway. The force quickly lifted Zenatori off the ground and slung him through the trees.

Zenatori skidded across the dirt, scraping his body against the ground, before finally stopping. He got up, swiping the dust off his uniform.
"Who are you?" A feminine voice called out.

As Zenatori looked forward, he saw himself enamored with striking light red hair and beautiful blue eyes. He stepped back, unable to speak.

"Hello?" She said.

"My Name?"

"Let's just skip this, give me your automorphs," She said, taking a step forward. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's backtrack a bit. What's your name?"

"Why does that matter?"

"You're the one asking who I am."

"Hmph. Ise Nakase. What do you want?"

"Nothing really? I guess?"

"Well then, hand over the automorphs."

"I'm not kidding when I say this, I don't even know how to tame them."

"So you have none?"

"Not yet, heh." 

"How do you not even know how to tame an automorph? Are you stupid?"

"I'm just new to this school. I transferred about a week ago."

"What's your name?"

"Sakatoro Zenatori."

"Interesting. Well, you don't seem worth it," She said, quickly turning around to leave.

"Can you teach me?" Zenatori said, sallowing his pride.

"I really am under no obligation to do this. But, I will if you help me with something in return."

"Oh, what is it?"

"I'll tell you after we do this. Don't worry, it's nothing crazy," She said with a smirk.

"Okay then," He said. 

"Follow me, punk." Nakase raised her arm signaling Zenatori to follow her.

Throughout the forest and trees, the very source of the ice lay far on the other side. Naoko Akari had unleashed another shackle, which held her back. She stepped forward with absolute confidence, approaching the aggressor.

"Don't you just like to show off?" He said.

"I was hoping to scare you off. Who are you?"

"I'm hoping my brother did a number on that friend you had."

"Zenatori actually defeated your brother, Anzai Sadoko!"

"I'm quite surprised," He chuckled. "But he was always the inferior twin. You will face your defeat here, Naoko Akari."

Anzai instantly manipulated the pressure of the air, blasting the force at Akari. She jolted backward from the blow, crashing through a tree. He continued the assault, attempting to strike her, but Akari evaded the blow. 

She drove a swift elbow into his jaw, bucking him back. Following up, she chucked her other arm at him, causing him to tumble backward.
"Seems that I underestimated you," He said, spitting out a spec of blood.

He ran to her, attempting to catch her off guard, but she flawlessly evaded the blow. He lunged to strike, but she intercepted the blow and countered, striking Anzai in his face. He jumped back and reached his arms out freely.

"Kaigen Series: Constriction."

The instant pressure fell on her, shattering the ground beneath her, but her isotonic force reinforcement and durability left her relatively unscathed.

She dashed toward him, leaving him no time to react, and struck him with a powerful right cross. He reeled back, attempting to stabilize himself, but Akari tossed him in the air, caught him by his ankles, and threw him across the forest.

He slammed through several trees and tumbled like a weed. He slid through the dirt, trying to catch himself. Akari stood still, awaiting a response. Suddenly, another person weaved through the air and struck Akari.

Before she could even catch a glimpse, a shattering explosion blew upward, shifting the clouds. The smoldering ash left a trail of smoke lingering.
"Junzo!" Anzai called out.

"Relax, I held back a bit. It won't kill her, but she's probably crippled now," Junzo said.

"Why'd you jump in?!"

"You looked like you were losing-"

"I said only to jump in if I was losing! I had that under control!"

 "Sure, what's next, pigs fly-" 

The two froze. What came from the smoke was the Ice Queen, who had yet to give it her all. She slowly approached the two, with only minor scratches and no visible wounds. 

"What the-"

Akari's sheer speed cut Junzo off mid-sentence, and her strike drove deep into his stomach. He reactively spat out blood and flew against the ground. 

"Kaigen Series: Impact Force!" Anzai yelled.

The force caused Akari to dip backward, but she dug her feet in the ground, resisting the attack. Unlike his brother, Anzai can maintain his impact force for much longer, being able to sling his opponents for hundreds of yards. That fact would hold true if his opponent weren't Naoko Akari.

She finally resisted the main blowback and even started advancing through the force. Her isotonic force reinforcement even partially nullified the effect of Anzai's impact force. 

The ground fractured from each crushing footstep she took, and the horror on Anzai's face only grew. His isotonic force reserves were quickly running dry. Anzai knew he couldn't hold this form.  

Perfection. 

Her main reason for even living. Her mom already taught her that if you stop chasing perfection, you'll drown in failure.

Anzai finally stopped his impact force, and because he went through isotonic force so rapidly, he began to vomit blood. Akari rushed toward him, but Junzo quickly ran in front of him.

"Kaigen Series: Devastation!" He called out.

Suddenly,  A series of explosions traced her, but she flew in the air, dodging them as they came.
"I've never seen a syneji like this. An explosion syneji?"

Junzo leaped to Akari mid-air and hit her with a strong blow. She flinched it off and grabbed Junzo's arm and threw him to the ground. 

He caught himself before he slammed to the ground, doing a swift roll to save himself. She crashed to the ground, attempting to intercept him, but he was able to dodge the incoming blow.

He slid back to evade Akari's onslaught, but she feigned a punch at him, making him instinctively block. She followed up with a powerful kick in the side, and the recoil blasted him forward.

He hurdled through a tree and attempted to get back up, but Akari quickly struck him in the face again, drawing blood. She finally grabbed him by the collar.

"Where's your automorphs!" She growled.

"Okay, okay!" Anzai said. 

But strangely, a small smirk formed on his face. 

Akari sensed the atmosphere and turned back instantly. A volume of condensed water struck her, causing her to release her grip on Anzai and pull back. 

A girl with beautiful, silky white hair finally walked forward, and Akari saw her in her full might. She let out a quiet and cold aura, and wasted no energy in every movement. 

It was Sakura Nishikiri. 

"Who is she?" Akari thought.

With no hesitation, Nishikiri shot her hand forward.
"Kaigen Series: Aquatic Embrace!"

Gigantic bursts of water came from her back and shot toward Akari with lightning speed. She paced forward, dodging them all, and ran toward Nishikiri, but one clipped her arm. 

She staggered back, and Nishikiri blitzed to her and struck her in the face. 

"Looks like the exhaustion is catching up. Walking through his impact force drained me a bit."

Akari took the blow, tried a counter, but she was parried and struck with a stiff jab straight to her face.

"Kaigen Series: Marine Strafe."

A vastly pressurized jolt of water speared toward Akari. She finally activated her syneji, summoning a wall of ice to block the incoming blow.

Junzo spoke to Anzai.
"Let's get out of here."

"Wait, why?"

"Have you forgotten? We are supposed to defeat Akari, not help Akari get defeated. Besides, I've taken a lot, and you have too. I think we call it here-"

"I wouldn't be so fast; it seems that she's starting to slow down. Wait until after this fight, and if she's still too strong, we can dip."

Akari gets struck again, but dodges the next fast jab. She then grabs her arm and slams her into the ground. She bashes her fist at her, but Nishikiri manages to roll to the side, leaving Akari's createred fist in the ground.

Nishikiri then elbows her and lunges at her, pushing her into a tree. Akari attempts to strike her, but Nishikiri restrains her arm with a knee. Nishikiri then grabs Akari's jaw with her palm and attempts to waterboard her, but before she could commence, she was physically overpowered. 

She got swiftly hit with an overbearing right hook, forcing her to stumble back, leaving her wide open. Akari then chucked another blow at Nishikiri and finished with a powerful front kick. 

A string of blood trailed from Nishikiri's nose as she flew back. She then grabbed the ground, stopping herself.

"Kaigen Series: Aquatic Embrace!" She yelled out again.

The flurries of needle-tipped water bolted at Akari, but this time, she took the onslaught head-on.
"You're becoming predictable," She muttered.

Nishikiri dashed at Akari, but she had already anticipated this. Nishikiri is finally struck with a rapid backfist, and her punch fails to land. She finally recoils back as blood drips from the side of her face.

As Akari finally got ready to strike, it felt too easy. She could feel it. Something wasn't right.
"Kaigen Series, Absolute: Strain Coercion!" Anzai screeched. 

Amid her motion, Akari felt an insurmountable force crush on her, and felt her body compress on itself. The strength of it caused a crater to quickly form, dirt and debris flew through the air, with a massive cloud of dust following.

Anzai instantly vomited blood, falling to the ground, coughing.
"It doesn't matter how strong she is, not even a B-Division syneji artist would walk out unscathed."

As the dust filled the skies, Akari's fate lay uncertain.