One-way traffic

Before she could even finish being happy...

Because of the excessive speed, the little girl named Cirno crashed directly into Accelerator.

Then, due to the reflection, she flew back the way she came, just like a baseball.

Thump—a faint sound of something landing could be heard from afar.

"Whoa! Cirno-sama! Are you alright?"

"It hurts so much!!! Why, why did it have to turn out like this?!"

Accelerator froze in mid-air, staring at the little girl in front of him who was crouching on the ground in pain after bumping into him.

"...What kind of bullshit joke is this? Another brat?"

Chapter 427 Things Forgotten by Winter

That's the gist of the situation.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Accelerator. The person claimed to be the one who was here to intercept him and immediately displayed a high level of aura and action.

And just like that, the seemingly imposing attacker was completely blasted away by his reflective attack.

Before they could even unleash their most basic moves, their opponent was already defeated.

What's even more surprising is that when Accelerator went to check, he discovered that the guy lying on the ground was someone with a very conspicuous identity.

She wore a blue and white dress, her blue hair was tied up with a huge blue bow, and three pairs of wings made of ice appeared behind her, seemingly extending outwards.

Judging from her appearance, she is probably only a teenager.

That is to say-

The first attacker to appear was a guy whose behavior was no different from that of a brat.

Not only that.

Surrounding the blue-haired girl were several small figures with wings on their backs.

"Whoa—! Cirno! You have a huge bump on your head!"

"It's not a bump! It's just something I let grow on my own, not a wound from an attack!"

"Waaah—! Stop being so stubborn! I... I think we should run away quickly!"

"That's right! Look at that person just now, he defeated you completely in one move. No matter how you look at it, he's not someone we can afford to mess with, right...?"

The girls around her all shared this idea; in their view, such a dangerous person should be kept as far away as possible.

"Shut up, shut up—!! You guys are such cowards! Do you really want to be deserters who just keep backing down?!"

She completely ignored the girls' advice and suggestions.

"Those guys just use some invisible and intangible tricks, that's right! Just like those annoying magicians!"

"But, however..."

"No buts! My power is so great that it can be called a natural disaster. Do you think I would be afraid of some weak human who just appeared out of nowhere? You can tell at a glance that not only is his strength not great, but his body is also as thin as a bean sprout!"

"Alas—!!"

The girls in front of them suddenly made such a terrifying sound, as if they had seen something frightening.

However, the blue-haired girl who called herself Cirno did not notice this.

"I bet that kind of guy isn't even as good as the big frogs you often see near the Lake of Mist! Hmph~! I was a bit careless last time, but this time I'll let him see the power that belongs to me, Cirno, as the strongest!"

"Oh, is it so."

A chilling voice came from behind him.

The blue-haired girl paused as soon as she uttered those words, her head turning slowly backward like a stiff piece of wood.

All that met the eye was an overwhelming expanse of white.

It blended perfectly with the surrounding wind and snow, looking as if it had emerged from a scorching hell.

He gently raised his head and stared at himself without any emotion.

He used those scarlet eyes that were even more terrifying than those of a jackal.

“Wa ...

In just a moment, the blue-haired girl in front of him was so frightened that she screamed loudly.

She screamed and looked back, only to find that all the other girls who had been standing in front of her had run away.

She was the only one who didn't notice anything. She was completely unaware that the other person had approached her, and she also failed to notice the drastic change in the atmosphere around her.

In a sense, being so oblivious to the atmosphere is a kind of happiness.

"You...you human...do you think I'm afraid of you?!"

"...Your hands and feet are trembling terribly."

"Stop babbling! I'm not trembling. I, I have strength even greater than yours. You're the one who should be trembling!"

From Accelerator's perspective, this girl was always in a state of extreme fear of herself, but in her own mind, it seemed that this was not the case at all.

That wasn't what you call feigning composure.

She seems genuinely unaware of the vast difference between herself and the other person.

The fairy girl named Cirno is completely immersed in the world she has created.

From this perspective, regardless of her race, it's certain that everything about her falls under the category of "little devils."

It's not just about appearance, but also about state of mind.

"There's a weakness, and it's here now—!!"

"Hey!!"

While Accelerator was pondering these trivial questions, several fairy girls suddenly darted out from nearby.

They gathered what was a considerable amount of magic power for themselves, transforming it into countless colorful bullets that swept towards this direction like machine guns.

The pristine snow was whipped up by the series of attacks, creating a thick fog that obscured the surroundings.

Cirno eagerly raised her hands.

"Now! Spell Card! Snow Spell 'Diamond Blizzard'—!!"

Due to Cirno's power, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to be distorted to a moderate degree.

Countless icy spikes, sparkling like diamonds, formed directly around her body.

Cirno shouted, surrounding herself with these ice spike-like projectiles, which then shot forward at high speed.

The ice spikes have a large range, and their movement speed is also quite fast.

Although its destructive power may only be slightly greater than that of ordinary hail, its sharp tip means that it is no joke if it hits a human body directly.

Even someone as intelligent as Cirno is well aware of this.

"That's awesome! We beat him! What's so great about him? He's only this good after all. What's there to be so arrogant about?"

"Cirno, Cirno...!"

"Oh dear? What's wrong? Didn't I easily defeat those guys just now? Ah! Speaking of which, your help was really helpful. Without your help, even I would have had some trouble dealing with those troublesome humans!"

Looking at the fairy girls in front of her, Cirno once again revealed an excited and proud smile.

Snapped.

Footsteps came from behind.

In that instant, everyone, including Cirno and the fairies, fell silent.

Cirno turned her head again, stiffly.

then.

A finger was coming towards me.

To be precise, it was a finger flicked out after the other person had stacked two fingers together.

It's just such a simple action.

The moment that finger touched Cirno's body, the fairy girl was sent flying like a sandbag.

"Puwaa ...

"Lord Cirno——!!"

The fairies screamed in surprise at this sudden turn of events.

However, before they could take any further action, a terrifying and suffocating atmosphere completely pressed down on them.

The person, who was all in white, was staring at them with eyes like a demon.

Just being looked at like that made me feel like I was plunged into a realm colder than an ice cave.

"I...we'll fight again another day—!!!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the group of fairy girls ran away as fast as rockets.

"Hurry, Lady Cirno! Let's get out of here while we can!"

"That human hasn't caught up yet, so I think he wouldn't bother killing us. We still have a chance to escape!"

"No...don't take me away...I can still fight...I, I'm the strongest...!"

And so, the first one stood still, watching the series of fairy figures in mid-air leave this forest-like area.

He simply watched the other person leave without taking any action to stop them.

Because, in the end...

“These guys, who are no different from kindergarten kids, could not possibly be the ones behind it all.”

As he spoke, Accelerator slowly turned around.

"I think the real person should be someone else... You're right, aren't you?"

A blizzard, even larger than before, swept around them.

However, the first one was not affected by this. He calmly looked up at the sky—at the floating figure in mid-air.

The same blue and white dress.

The same icy hair color and demeanor.

However, that person's temperament and aura were completely different from Cirno's when she appeared in front of Accelerator.

Although they both have icy identities, they are completely different in terms of their roles and levels.

It's not simply a matter of the wind and snow intensifying, or the temperature of a specific object in a particular environment decreasing.

Instead, the temperature of the entire space itself dropped.

Even so, Accelerator still stared at his opponent with a calm gaze.

"You've finally slipped up. Even so, I don't believe you're the mastermind behind this... but you're probably involved in it too, aren't you?"

"Hmm... based on what you're saying, there really isn't a problem. If I had to say, I could indeed be considered part of the conspiracy."

The girl, as pure as ice and snow, spoke directly.

Even so, the aura surrounding her wasn't one that suggested danger.

It's a quality that, like a sudden change in temperature, slowly alters how people perceive themselves.

"However, although it's a behind-the-scenes operation, it's just an ordinary one."

"Ha, it doesn't matter. Those brats just now were on your orders to come over here, right?"

"Oh dear, this is a misunderstanding. Although I did intend to have the fairies stop you, I never thought of having an idiot like Cirno come along. As expected, everyone was instantly killed because of that girl."

"So you think you won't get instantly killed without that kind of guy?"

"Probably not."

The two of them pulled at each other, exchanging a few words here and there.

However, it was clear to everyone that the atmosphere and ambiance around them were becoming increasingly intense.

"Although it's a rather old-fashioned approach, I'll still ask you... what are your reasons for stopping me from moving forward?"