"Is this what Fruit Awakening is supposed to be like?"
Shirogai stared fearlessly at the pair of cold, emotionless eyes looming high above him. A massive Ice Serpent slithered through the void of his inner world, its chilling presence oppressive.
"A giant Ice Serpent, huh?" he muttered with a faint smirk.
The serpent's colossal tongue flicked out with a rumble like cracking glaciers.
"Human, do not insult me with your shallow words."
"Oh? Then what should I call you?" Shirogai asked calmly, his tone laced with amusement.
"You are unworthy to speak my name," the serpent replied coldly, lowering its massive head. "What you must do now is surrender your body to me completely."
Its fanged maw opened wide, a blizzard swirling from its throat. Frost spread across the spiritual world, burying everything in ice.
"Only then can you leave this place. Refuse, and you'll remain trapped here forever."
The serpent's enormous fangs, like jagged icebergs, glistened as they swung dangerously close.
"Trust me, together we will become gods. The entire world will be frozen beneath us."
Shirogai's grin widened. "If I hand over control, I'll just become your puppet, won't I? You dress it up nicely, but that's all it is."
He yawned, clearly unimpressed.
"I expected something more from a Fruit Awakening. Some earth-shattering, god-level trial maybe. But taming an arrogant little snake? That's it?"
The serpent's eyes blazed with fury.
"You dare mock me? I'll kill you and seize your soul!"
It reared back, its massive body coiling through the frozen sky before lunging down, maw wide.
Shirogai didn't flinch. Instead, his voice cut like steel.
"Deity? If you're a deity, then I'm the god who tames deities."
A surge of energy erupted from him. Two distinct auras tore through the void—one chaotic black and white, the other a bone-gray mist.
"Heh. Looks like this works after all," Shirogai said, his smirk sharpening. "Come forth, Abyss Whisperer… Beast of Finality."
Behind him, two monstrous forms materialized.
The first, the Abyss Whisperer, was a humanoid figure cloaked in dripping black tar, its body melting and reforming endlessly. Its shifting, grotesque face whispered countless desires and sins, filling the world with maddening voices. The ground beneath it warped into a purgatory of human corruption.
The second, the Beast of Finality, loomed with horns of bone and eyes burning green with ghostly flame. Mist curled around its skeletal ox-like form, faces of the dead flashing across its skull before dissolving into the haze. The air became a Land of Finality, heavy with despair.
The serpent lunged.
With a guttural scream, the Beast of Finality surged upward, growing in size until it rivaled the serpent's colossal frame. Its massive horns clashed with the serpent's fangs.
Boom!
The impact shook the spiritual world. Frost and gray smoke collided, each devouring the other.
The serpent coiled instinctively, wrapping its glacial body around the Beast of Finality, constricting tighter and tighter.
The Beast of Finality roared, its mist birthing endless corpses. They clawed and gnawed at the serpent's flesh, whispering their final words as they tore chunks from its icy body.
The serpent hissed in pain but tightened its grip, desperate to crush the beast.
But it had forgotten the second monster.
The Abyss Whisperer crawled silently into its skull, its tarry whispers echoing in the serpent's mind. No blizzard could freeze it. Human malice was colder than any storm.
"Get out!" the serpent roared, thrashing violently. But the whispers only sank deeper.
Its voice cracked with panic.
"No! Stop! I yield—I submit! Spare me!"
Its once proud head lowered, trembling.
Shirogai stood with arms folded, his sharp gaze fixed on the defeated serpent. Finally, he stepped forward and placed a hand on its icy scales.
"Good. That's more like it."
The Ice Serpent dissolved into a torrent of frigid energy, merging into Shirogai's hand.
…
Far away, on a ship flying the Jolly Roger of a grinning mouth, the enormous ice cocoon that held Shirogai began to crack.
The shell melted layer by layer until, at last, Shirogai stepped out, cold mist swirling around him. His eyes opened slowly, sharp and calm.
"…Huh? Where am I?"
A faint smile tugged at his lips as he looked around, puzzled.
"Strange. Shouldn't I still be on the island?"
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