"Formation!" Hatashi barked.
Kaitara moved first, fists glowing with Takuda light as she shattered skeletons with bone-breaking strikes. Tiatsuri's power flared in arcs of blue lightning, tearing through the icy horde. Hatashi blurred across the battlefield, illusions multiplying until the air itself seemed filled with copies of him.
"Dragon Technique: Inferno!" Hatashi roared. Flames swept across the skeleton army, melting them into puddles.
The River King rose from his throne, unimpressed. "You think fire can melt a river?"
He raised his arms. Ice vines shot from the ground, stabbing and whipping at impossible speed. One vine pierced straight through Hatashi's chest. Blood spattered the frozen floor.
"Hatashi!" Kaitara cried.