Ken blocked another strike.
Then another.
But unlike the ice element, this was far harder to predict.
The attack patterns shifted continuously.
Some strikes curved.
Some accelerated mid-flight.
Others vanished into surrounding air currents before reappearing from impossible angles.
Ken realized immediately what had happened.
She hadn't merely changed elements.
She had changed the rhythm of the battle itself.
And worse—
He was now the one adapting again.
A razor-thin blade of compressed wind suddenly cut across his shoulder before he fully avoided it.
Blood sprayed lightly into the air.
The spectators below gasped.
The two observing celestials stiffened immediately.
Ken glanced briefly at the shallow cut across his shoulder.
Then slowly looked back up at her.
The Ice Belle hovered amidst spiraling storms of ice and wind combined now, her silver hair whipping violently around her while the sky itself churned unnaturally above Rus.
