The dragon dove, its tail dragging rivers of ice across the sky, and by the power of that single strike alone, killing an ordinary Gold Rank would have been effortless. When that level of force was compressed into such a small battlefield, the result was something else entirely. No one saw the answer, including Icelis herself.
"…Huh?"
Icelis did not react at first. A drop of water falling onto her nose snapped her back to awareness, and in the very next moment she raised her guard. Around her, how could liquid water at a normal temperature possibly exist?
As a spirit of ice, even as a fragment, her perception of temperature was extremely sharp. The instant she sensed an impossible surge of extreme heat rising from below, she created a shell of ice around herself without hesitation, completely enclosing her body. At the same time, she retreated backward at full speed.
In the next instant, a giant flaming hand burning with an ominous blood-red glow slammed into where she had been. The ice shell that was grazed melted and shattered into fragments almost instantly.
"…A bit of a shame. You still managed to dodge."
The strange flames writhed like tentacles and withdrew into the sleeve of the black-robed figure standing at the center of the icy crater. He seemed to lift his head, but beneath the hood there was only a mass of black smoke, and even the edges of his robe twitched as if alive. From his sleeves seeped that ominous fire, clearly not just a matter of high temperature, as something far more unnatural was obvious even to the eye.
Something had just been burned away. Icelis was absolutely certain of it.
Why had she blanked out just now? That should have been impossible, because in a battle of this level, a moment of dazed inaction that required an external trigger to wake up was no different from suicide. Something had affected her, whether that flame or some other hateful magic. And her finishing blow had been neutralized without her even realizing how.
No, not exactly. From the changes in the terrain below and the surrounding elemental density, that attack had definitely been released. It was just that those two had used some unknown method to avoid it.
"Ah… we searched for so long, and even gave up. Who would have thought it would come out on its own."
The man beneath the black robe clapped as he laughed, the sound growing more unrestrained by the second.
"Ah… ah… ah. Why did you burn it? That was my inspiration. Mine. Mine!"
A crack split open in the frost-covered ground, and from the dragon's remains surged black, sludge-like tentacles, as if a sewer had exploded. Crawling out was a man with half his body shattered by ice, frost hanging from his beard, looking utterly miserable.
That strike had indeed worked. Even though half his body had been blown away, Salva ignored his injuries, shivering violently yet still shouting in rage.
"Ahh… that move contained the essence of life art. I already… You!"
"Enough!"
"I was going to use you to make up for the missing sacrifice in the ritual, but since it's her, no wonder you were exposed."
"So that's it. So that's it."
The black-robed man trembled as he spoke, his excitement plain to see.
Icelis had no interest in getting tangled up any further. The enemy had numbers, and now someone stronger had joined them, so the sensible choice was to retreat. Her small face remained expressionless as she lifted herself with wind and snow and fled the battlefield.
The barriers she had set earlier had mostly collapsed from excessive power drain and the aftershock of her last attack. With a wave of her hand, the remaining strength stirred up snow and wind that blocked vision but carried no real power. As a spirit of ice, hiding her presence was meaningless, because she had no presence to hide, just like snow and ice had none.
The cost was high, but her recovery speed far surpassed that of humans. As long as she could buy a little time and get farther away, a brief rest would be enough.
"Boom!"
A blazing pillar of fire swept past Icelis's side, carving a visible path through the white snow as the blockbuster ice and frost melted away. She made an emergency dodge in midair, flames nearly licking the edge of her clothes. This was not the strange fire from before, but ordinary fire magic.
In her prime, Icelis could have scattered it with a single slap. More importantly, that attack had been aimed at her. That was no coincidence.
Several more thick beams of light streaked past her. Clearly, it was not accidental. This was trouble.
Icelis's expression turned sour. The power was one thing, but the real problem was that it meant she could be found. It was not arrogance, but how could mere humans locate her, like finding a grain of sand in the desert, especially in an environment so saturated with Ice Element?
"Don't let her get away. If you're not dead yet, hurry up and chase."
"Oh… I will definitely scold you later for burning my inspiration!"
Though invisible to the eye, through her indirect perception of the ice and snow she could tell that the two of them were charging straight toward her position. Changing direction, enhancing concealment, creating clones, or whipping up an even fiercer Blizzard could not slow them down at all. It was as if they had some method that ignored all interference and locked directly onto her.
"Huh? I can't move?!"
For an instant, Icelis seemed to lose control of her body. No, it felt more like her own subconscious was telling her to stop. Every bit of Ice Element that made up her body ceased moving and submitted to a higher authority, a sensation she knew all too well.
Because as a spirit of ice, that was how she usually treated others.
"Ugh…"
A flash of light passed through her eyes, and her strong will reasserted itself, reclaiming control of her body. What had just happened was no illusion, and her power had been weakened. After confirming it, the loss was real, as both control and output had dropped sharply.
At her current state, Icelis was no longer sure she could escape the two annoying pursuers behind her.
"Bang!"
An explosion erupted ahead, and once again that strange flame appeared. Stepping out of it was the hateful black-robed man, one hand gripping the half-dead Salva. Icelis slammed to a sudden stop, because in her perception, the two behind her had vanished abruptly, along with part of the surrounding Ice Element.
A raging wall of fire formed in front of her, tongues of flame snapping like claws toward the small girl in midair. In her weakened state, she no longer had the ability to extinguish it. The ice and snow she summoned melted into water, then evaporated into mist around her.
"Little thing, your free time is over. If you surrender obediently, I can make it more comfortable for you."
He was practically oozing malice, never hiding the obvious evil in his presence from the very start.
Icelis said flatly, "Do you have hotpot?"
"What is that?"
"If you don't, then get lost."
Icelis's mind was sharp, and during her short time living as a human, she had quickly learned their cultural treasures. She raised her fair little hand, one that could easily catch the eye of an ordinary office worker, and brought her thumb, index, ring, and little fingers together.
"Looks like you've made your choice."
The man chuckled, unsurprised. From his feet, surging flames rose from all directions, forming savage beast heads that rushed to swallow the bird trapped in the sky. Long tongues of fire lashed continuously at Icelis, and she maneuvered desperately through the air to dodge them.
Still, she had no way to deal with the overwhelming wall of fire closing in. The black-robed man was clearly confident of victory, calmly enjoying the little bird's final dance before locking her in a cage.
"Relax. You're still useful, and you won't die. Why not make things easier for yourself?" he said lightly.
Icelis still looked unhurried and even found time to curse, "Get lost!"
He was not angry, only laughing strangely, even seeming ready to applaud. "It's fine. There was a small deviation because of you, but it's not a big problem, as long as…"
"As long as what?"
"…!"
That strange flame appeared beneath his feet again, and in the next instant, his figure vanished as if erased completely. Another instant later, a fang-like blast of icy wind swept through his original position.
A frost wolf head lunged and bit at empty air, then turned back with surging killing intent, staring at the black-robed man now standing on a rooftop. Was that a wolf, or something else entirely?
"Bit of a shame. I missed."
From the dispersing ice mist, a tall male figure emerged and slowly looked at him. Spitting to the side, Vann straightened up and bared his sharp canine teeth in a grin.
"Oh right. What was it you just said? I'm pretty interested. Mind explaining it in detail?"
"...A rare guest, My Lord. You really should not be here."
"Why should you care?"