The moment Jiro questioned him—
BOOM—!!!
The entire building trembled violently with a thunderous roar.
A terrifying blast of frost surged up from the first-floor entrance like a raging blizzard. In an instant, the walls, floor, and ceiling of the hallway were encased in a thick sheath of ice.
"E-Eek...?!"
Jiro scrambled backward. The ice surged down the hallway like a living beast, while the frigid air seeping through the door gaps almost painted the room white in a heartbeat.
Clang!
The door froze solid and slammed shut. With the temperature plummeting, a white mist billowed from Jiro’s lips.
"W-What... What is this?!"
She tried to open the door with trembling hands, but it was so rigid with ice that it wouldn’t budge an inch.
"I told you."
Tori lay there, completely at ease. Even as delicate ice crystals formed around him, he remained unfazed.
"Todoroki can freeze an entire building. Now, if Shoji shows up to take us down or if he touches the nuke, it’s over. Exactly as I predicted—less than five minutes."
He chuckled as he drew a card from his deck and held it aloft. It was the Queen of Hearts.
"You... Aren't even a bit frustrated?!"
Jiro cried out, her eyes brimming with tears—a mixture of exasperation at the colossal power gap and anger at her partner’s disconcerting lethargy.
"Frustration is for those who actually put in the effort."
Tori sat up, and for a moment his expression turned serious... or so it seemed.
"Ah, it’s cold. Colder than I expected. I’m gonna catch a cold at this rate."
Feigning discomfort, he made a show of reaching for his tuxedo jacket.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Since it’s freezing, shouldn’t we share a little body heat? Partners stick together, right?"
"You psycho! Not on your life!"
Jiro adamantly refused, retreating into a corner.
Then, suddenly—
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed from beyond the ice-locked hallway, accompanied by the unmistakable crunch of footsteps on frozen ground.
"...Are they inside?"
A calm, low voice answered. It was Todoroki Shoto.
He didn’t even need to break or pry the door open. The ice had already half-crumbled the frame; if Todoroki wished it open, it might as well have been.
Following him in was the hulking figure of Shoji Mezo.
"Surrender. In your current state, you won’t be able to move," Todoroki declared icily. With half his body cloaked in frost, he exuded the dominating aura of one who commands the chill that now reigned over the room.
Jiro bit her lip, reaching for her earphone plug as if it might be her lifeline, but her hand fumbled uselessly—rendered stiff by the biting cold. It was a total defeat.
"..."
Just as she was about to succumb in surrender—
"Oh, look—the guests have already arrived."
Tori nonchalantly gave a little flick as if dusting off remnants from his backside, then flashed a mischievous grin at Todoroki and Shoji.
"Man, impressive. I never thought you'd actually freeze the entire building. Looks like we won’t even need an air conditioner, huh?"
"Marumine... step aside. I don’t want you getting hurt," came the admonition.
"Hold up, hold up."
Tori interposed himself.
"It’d be too anticlimactic to simply end things here, wouldn’t it? After all, we’ve come this far."
He revealed a card held in his hand to Todoroki.
The Queen of Diamonds.
"How about watching a magic trick before you go? Admission’s on the house."
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