Meanwhile, back at the other battle…

“No Alistor!”

Alistor makes the first strike at Frost Lips with his blade. Impaling through its soft snowy body as he stood fazed for a moment.

“Huh?”

One of the monster’s lips made a smile. The snow from the monster’s body attempts to pull him in as he struggled to pull his sword out. Auroa quickly shot a blast of wind from the crack of his whip in the nick of time. Alistor stumbled quickly back. Frost Lip’s head began to spin as copies of itself surround them. Vanishing and constantly reappearing as it obscured Alistor’s mind.

“What is this thing?”

“It seems we’re dealing with an Ice Apparition.” Auroa informed as he kept calm and focused.

“An Ice Apparition?” Alistor nervously repeated.

“Yes, remember our talk about awareness and perception? Power alone won’t be enough to stop this monster.”

Brenda still remained behind the frozen body of Bamboo watching.

“Then how will we beat this?” He asked.

“We’ll have to use our wits. It’s attempting to confuse us, but remember only one of them is the real target.”

The monster began firing its lips once more. Ice cold lips scatter through the air as Auroa shattered the oncoming ones with his whip. The lips began targeting a bunch of bystanders outside. Kissing the victims as one by one became encased in solid ice for the labyrinth. A horrifying sight for Alistor to witness.

“They’re frozen?” He gulped.

The crowd continues to panic as energy leaves in the air. The labyrinth above continues to overshadow the entire resort.

“We can’t let those lips touch us. So stay by my side Alistor.”

Shifting back to the battle with Maigashi and Shellshock. The Commander continues to fire his lasers at him. Raining down continuously as he was forced to take cover behind a wall of ice.

“Come on! This is getting old.” Maigashi shouted.

The commander stops his firing for a split second. Taking a dive down as he breaks through the ice Maigashi was taking cover behind.

“You were saying?”

“Me and my big mouth. Ugh!”

Maigashi takes a few steps back, regaining his ground as the commander took the air once again. He fires two rounds of lightning arrows at the general once more.

“Ha! Didn’t you learn from before?” Shellshock laughed. “Your attacks can’t penetrate my armor. You don’t have enough power.”

Maigashi remained quiet for a brief second as the general attempts to fire his energy shots once more.

“Huh? What! My Comet Shots!”

The general’s weapons were damaged.

“I was never aiming for you.” Maigashi snickered. “I knew I didn’t have the power to break through you, but your weapons are another story. With all that heavy gear, you’re pretty much a flying tank in midair.”

“Curses!”

“And what goes up must come down.”

The general removes a thick layer of armor. Disposing his guns as he revealed his true form. Armed with a twin claw and double-edged arm blades, he makes a dash at Maigashi.

“I’m not through yet!”

“So, you show your true form.”

Maigashi takes a jump back to gain some distance, but the commander took him by surprise. His body gets wrapped by his chest chains.

“My reach and grappling ability have improved and as you can see, I still got a few tricks to show.”

The general begins tossing him back and forth across the mounds of snow. Twirling him like a yo-yo before he had to use his dagger to break free. Maigashi suddenly took a barf at a corner as he took a moment to catch his breath.

“Cough! I think I’m going to be sick if this keeps up.”

The general continues on the offense as Maigashi used his dagger to clash. The two begin battle in close combat.

Returning back to the battle with Frostlips…

“Auroa, Come on! We’re sitting ducks.” Alistor complained.

Auroa continues to shatter the oncoming lips as the two kept close.

“Patience! You must keep your eye on the real enemy at hand.”

One of the copies begins to make the first slight move as Auroa quickly caught glimpse of it. Without hesitation, he used his whip at full force striking the monster. The monster gets sent back exploding out snow as the fake copies dispersed.

“How did you know?” Alistor wondered.

“Persistence and enough patience.” Auroa replied. “Don’t celebrate yet, our battle isn’t over.”

Frost Lips quickly reforms as the grounds begin to shift. Pillars of ice begin bursting out as ice cold stalagmites scatter. The two quickly dispersed avoiding the sharp ice.

The monster begins opening all its mouths as a blizzard quickly brew. Focusing all attention on Alistor as the cold air and snow mixed. He was barely able to hold his grounds.

“What do we do? I can’t hold on much longer.” Alistor shouted.

“It’s no good. The monster has the home field advantage. If only we had a source of heat somewhere.”

“Well, can’t you cast any fire?” He sarcastically asked.

Auroa stumbled for one brief moment.

“If I did I would have done that a long time ago.” He slapped. “I can’t channel fire, but for your sake, we must find one. But where…”

Auroa thinks intensely as the monster continues to harass Alistor. Icicles begin to rain down, poking at him.

“Auroa? Come on! Hurry up already!”

The monster then unleashed an oversized snowball forcing him to make a run.

“Of course!” Auroa snapped.

Auroa turns around and quickly shatters the oncoming snowball with one flick of his whip.

“So you got something?” Alistor asked.

“There is a fire pit back at the inn. Outside in fact. Where all the couples sit and enjoy their hot chocolate.”

“But that’s a mile away.”

“It’s all we got. Come on! Let’s move!”

The two begin making their leave to the inn as the monster gives chase. More bystanders are seen caught in Frost Lips path. Frozen and encased in ice as the labyrinth feeds.

“Such horror…”

Back with Maigashi, his clash comes to a close as he disarms the general breaking his twin claws. Shellshock takes a hard hit to the chest.

“Gah! Lucky shot.” The general grumbled.

An electrical surge cracks through the general’s chest.

“It seems I found your weak spot.” Maigashi pointed. “With that armor gone, you’re pretty much through.”

“Don’t count me out yet.”