68 The New King

Frost marched into the Northern Territories' capital of Norborough, with Yui following close behind after hours of walking.

The people watched them quietly from their homes, shutting their windows and doors.

Yui looked around. "Why is everyone hiding from us? Is something wrong?"

Frost paid no mind. "They're scared of us."

A mob of guards ran down the street and circled them on all sides. "Don't move!! If you take one step, we'll shoot!! These bullets can pierce solid steel!!"

Frost breathed out.

The guards pointed their weapons. "Hey!! What are you doing?!!"

Frost was perfectly still. "Relax. I'm just breathing." He lowered his voice. "Yui, can I trust you?"

She slowly nodded.

The guard yelled. "Hey!!"

Frost spun around, freezing all of the guards in ice.

Yui activated her forcefield, protecting them from the bullets.

Frost raised his hands and then lowered them slowly, pushing the ice into the ground to level it out. "People of Norborough!"

The frightened citizens watched from their closed windows and cracked open doors.

Frost got their attention. "I am not here to hurt any of you! You don't have to believe me, but it's the truth! I'm sure all of you are sick of this country's laws, unfair rules, and regulations! We've been oppressed for far too long! I was born into one of the many asylums that occupied the stronghold of North City! We were treated as if we were less than human, and even as children all of us were to be stored in barren rooms that never rose above freezing temperatures!! I watched many people die there. Most of them fell victim to the cold. But I refused to die such a death! The cold became victim to me! I'm claiming this country as my own. I am the new king!! And if anyone has a problem with that, they can step up now!!"

A man walked into sight from between the houses to the right. "That's an awfully bold claim."

He was tall, fair-skinned, with long straight light pale blue hair. He had two knights in armor behind him.

Frost's expression turned into shock. "Cain?!"

The man called Cain had his arms crossed while he smirked. "So you remember me? I'm touched."

"What are you doing here, you died, I saw it!!"

Yui was looking back and forth between Frost and Cain. The two men looked physically similar, even the hair and eye color was the same.

Cain replied to Frost. "No, you thought I died. You chose to believe that."

Yui tugged at Frost's waistband. "Master, who is that man? He looks like you."

Frost grit his teeth. "Cain was a friend of mine when I was a kid. My only friend. In North City we shared a room. One day he went to sleep and didn't wake up the next day. I assumed he died and broke out of the asylum the same day."

Yui looked at them. "But why do you two look so similar?"

Cain chuckled. "Allow me to answer your question miss. Frost and I were lab grown infants. There's little difference in our DNA code."

Frost's eyes widened. "Lab grown? You mean..."

Cain tilted his head back just a little. "Yes. We are artificial humans. Wondrous, is it not? The power of science and technology. There are reasons why you and I can do what we do. Yet, you still left me alone. To die. But I lived. I struggled and preservered until I was able to attain this entire country."

Frost's hair glowed. "Cain... you're not..."

Cain smiled. "The king? Yes. I am."

Frost was enraged. "Why?! This entire country is completely messed up!! How could you just overlook everything that's going on?!"

"Where did I mess up? I see order. And you're throwing my order out of whack."

Frost prepared himself for a fight. "There's no such thing as order when the people don't even have freedom!!"

Frost charged at Cain.

Cain pushed his bodyguards away from him with a gust of wind. He then exchanged blows with Frost. They hit each other several times before Frost jumped back and swung his arm upwards, creating a spiked iceberg.

Cain braced himself and hit the rock of ice with his palm. It shattered. He then spun around with a low sweeping kick to raise a snow cloud in the air. "Cold Explosion."

boom!!

The cloud of ice and snow exploded with a cold wind force strong enough to destroy a house by itself. Yui was blown away.

Frost slid back out of the explosion cloud.

Cain raised his right arm halfway. "Snowstorm."

A large cloud of snow was sent Frost's way.

Yui coated herself in her forcefield energy.

Frost blocked his face with his arms.

When the snowstorm passed over, Cain flicked his wrist back. "Oh, by the way, there's another one. Icestorm!"

The snowstorm turned into a cloud made of tiny sharp ice needles.

It came fast.

Yui covered the both of them with a forcefield. "They both even have the same powers." she thought.

The ice turned into water and splashed on the ground when it neared Cain.

"Tch, what is that, some kind of shield?"

Yui had her arms up, keeping up her defense. She looked down at Frost, who was struggling to get off his knees. "Master, are you okay?"

Frost finally stood up. He was hunched over, breathing hard. "My body is still overheated from what I did earlier. I can't keep my energy up at all. This is bad."

"If you want I can give you my energy, but I can't use my forcefield at the same time."

Frost looked back at her. "How long can you keep giving me energy?"

"At max strength about five minutes."

Frost smirked. "That's more than enough time. Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Yui nodded. "I believe in you Master."

Frost built up his Negative Fire in both hands.

Negative Fire is a technique unique only to Frost where he creates flames that burn at extreme cold temperatures instead of hot. His body glowed with a cyan and white aura.

Ice started covering Frost's body from the feet up, enclosing the aura inside it.

As the ice covered Frost's face he turned back to Yui once more. "Oh, and Yui."

She jumped. "Um, yes Master?"

"You can stop calling me that."

Frost's ice armor left the top of his head uncovered. Cyan negative flames flared out of the hole.

Yui let down her forcefield and extended her hands towards Frost. Her eyes glowed green.

Frost looked at his ice-covered hand and flexed it. "Ahh, so as I use my own energy it's constantly replenished. This way I won't pass out from exhaustion."

Frost skated through the snow quickly towards Cain.

Cain dodged all of Frost's punches, then tried to block another hit, but Frost's ice-armored fist broke through his guard.

Frost heard a crack as Cain was pushed back. He could see him wince in pain. "It looks like I fractured a bone in your arm. You've learned element control but not energy control huh?"

Cain extended both of his arms. Two ice swords appeared. "It doesn't matter what I've learned, I must protect my country!!"

Frost simply extended his armor with sharp tips and edges on his arms. "There is no country for you to protect! You've already failed to do that!"

Frost skated towards Cain again.

The two clashed together, exchanging blows back and forth.

Frost jumped back. "Give it up Cain! You've lost!"

Cain growled. "It isn't over until I'm dead!!" He ran towards Frost, swinging his swords.

Frost avoided a direct hit from them and gave Cain a solid punch to the gut. Negative Flame aura emitted on each hit.

After the first punch Frost kneed Cain in the face to lift him off the ground. Then he quickly got underneath him on all fours and kicked him in the body. He continuously hit Cain in midair until they lost momentum, then he slammed him back to the ground.

Cain caught himself on his landing, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. He exhaled cold air. Then he suddenly appeared in front of Frost. He hit Frost in the stomach with his palm. A shockwave of wind burst from the impact.

All of Frost's ice armor shattered.

Cain hit him again with his other hand. Another shockwave. Then he brought his right hand up again. "Third Strike: Frostbite!"

On the third hit, an even stronger shockwave of wind blew, and Frost's body became completely frozen solid. He fell to the ground and landed in the snow.

"Master!" Yui exclaimed.

Cain started walking towards him.

Yui ran in front of Frost and made a forcefield. "Don't come closer!"

Cain stopped at the shield dome and knocked on it. "Hm. Indestructible? Awfully convenient. It must be pretty cold in there right?"

Cain was exhaling mist every time he took a breath.

Yui felt the temperature plummet. She immediately felt her body shutting down. Her vision became blurry, and she couldn't think straight. The only thing on her mind was Frost. "Master..." she said as she began to fall face first to the ground.

Frost promptly caught her.

Yui slowly opened her eyes. She felt a comforting warmth. Light returned to her vision.

Frost was glowing orange. "I thought I told you to stop calling me that."

She started panicking. "Master! No, you can't overheat again, you'll kill yourself!!"

Frost stood up holding Yui. He smiled. "If I have you then that shouldn't be a problem right?"

Yui looked at Cain. "But..."

Frost stared at him.

Cain was scowling from the other side of the dome. He thought to himself. "He's generating heat? But Frost isn't a fire user... no, he isn't using fire, he's manipulating his body temperature!"

Frost looked at Yui. "You can trust me. I won't die before I get to become king."

Yui reluctantly nodded. She began to glow with a green aura. The shield disappeared.

Cain smirked. "You made a fatal mistake. You can't fight me while holding the girl. Once you let her go I'll kill her."

Frost smiled back. "Idiot. I'm not letting her go. I'll beat you without my arms."

Cain frowned. He got into a stance. Cold mist emitted from his right hand. "First Strike: Bear Claw!"

Frost dodged easily. He moved to Cain's side and kicked him in one fluid motion. Cain rolled on the ground and got back up. He ran at Frost again, trying to hit him, but Frost was moving like flowing water. He ebbed and flowed, moving as if he knew his enemy's every move before it happened. He kept enough distance to where Cain couldn't touch Yui.

Frost spun around and dodged Cain's kick. Then he jumped. He did a sideways flip and landed on the ground with his knees bent.

On impact, the surrounding ground immediately became visible. The snow had melted and turned into hot water. "Reverse Chill: Boiling Earth."

The ground started steaming.

Steam was everywhere.

It became unbearingly hot.

Cain was sweating. He exhaled his cold mist, but the temperature of the steam rising from the ground was so hot that it countered his temperature control instantly.

Cain looked at Frost. "How are you doing this? Can you see the future?"

Frost seemed to be chewing something. "No. I can just move better now that my body's warm. You don't need to know the details."

Frost opened his mouth to reveal a diamond ball two inches in diameter clenched between his teeth.

He spat the diamond at Cain.

"What's this?" Cain asked, cautious of the gem rolling along the ground. He stayed away from it.

The ground had become dry and crusty from its moisture leaving through the hot steam. All of the water in the ground was now in the air.

"Yui. Activate a forcefield around that diamond and Cain." Frost said.

Yui obeyed and targeted her energy at him.

A forcefield dome appeared.

Cain got nervous. He kicked the dome wall. It didn't budge.

Frost smirked. "Hey Cain. It must be really hot in there huh? Let me cool you off. Freezing Bomb."

poof!!

The diamond burst.

Immediately the entire dome was filled with what looked like white smoke.

"Yui. You can let it down now." Frost cooled himself off along with the surrounding temperature. He fell back on the ground in a sitting position to catch his breath.

Yui let the dome down.

Cain was caught in a solid white iceberg.

"Seriously," Frost said. "I overheated twice in the same day. I would've been dead if I didn't have all of that extra energy. Thanks, Yui."

Yui blushed out of embarrassment. "Oh don't thank me Master! I consider it my duty to honor your requests."

Frost closed his eyes and smiled. "Didn't I say stop calling me that?"

One of the doors to the houses opened up. A young boy peered out of it. "Is the king... dead?"

His mother covered his mouth and pulled him closer to her out of fear.

Frost looked at the mother. He gave her a gentle smile. "No. He's in a state of suspended animation."

Frost stood up. More and more people started walking out of their homes.

Frost slowly walked towards the ice dome with Yui supporting him so he wouldn't fall. With every step he took, the crowd around him grew larger and larger.

When he finally reached the ice, there were nearly a hundred people crowded around him.

Frost put his hand on the ice wall. Steam emitted from it as it melted down to pure water.

Cain started coughing and spitting out water and ice. He fell back and laid out on the ground. "Ah. I can't move my body. I've lost."

He looked around at all of the timid citizens staring at him. "What are you all looking at? I'm not your king anymore."

The people all looked at Frost.

The soldiers that were standing by watching the battle walked up to Frost and saluted. "Sir. Your orders?"

Frost raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected it to happen so fast. "Um, okay. Send word to every city and town in the country. All people who aren't B-Rank criminals or above are free. All of them."

They bowed slightly and marched off. "Right away!"

Cain closed his eyes. "Free them all? There won't be any order. People will run wild, hanging on to their own beliefs and ideals. Like wild animals."

Frost grinned, it was the first time he ever let himself show his full emotion. "Yeah, doesn't that sound fun?"

Cain let Frost's words sink in, then broke out in laughter. "Fun? I'm concerned for the state of this country for the next few years... well, whatever. Doesn't matter to me anymore."

Frost stood up. He put a hand on top of Yui's head. "I'm gonna make you a Royal Guard."

Yui looked away. "But I can't fight..."

Frost ruffled her hair. "Don't worry about that, I'll teach you."

Yui's face brightened up at the sound of that. She noticed how open and happy Frost was. He looked like a burden was lifted off his shoulders.

All of his anger and aggression disappeared.

Cain slowly sat up. "So. What'll it be? You going to lock me up? Don't worry, I won't resist."

Frost held out his hand. "Lock you up? I can't let an old friend rot away in some cell can I? You're going to atone for what you did. Starting off with community service. You'll be travelling a lot in the near future."

Cain had a half-shocked, half-confused expression on his face. "You're... sparing me?"

"Not exactly. It's gonna be hell for you for the next few months. But after that, I'll need someone to lead the Royal Guard right? Now are you gonna grab my hand or not?"

Cain looked down and started chuckling to himself. "Frost... you're still just as gullible as I remember." He grabbed his hand.

Frost pulled him to his feet.

The crowd of people around them started clapping and cheering.

Frost put Cain's arm around his shoulder and started walking him to a hospital while Yui supported Frost.

Cain looked at him. "Hey... Frost. Tell me. How did you get so strong?"

Frost looked up at the sky. "Ah, let's just say I made some really good friends a while back."

- End of Volume 4 -