The vast battlefield before the city had been completely carved apart.
Both the Imperial Army and the rebels had been forced to halt, suppressed by sheer force. Neither side dared step forward. Those who had retreated too slowly—whether Rebel or Imperial—had been turned into pillars of ice by Esdeath's indiscriminate power, then shattered into fragments by the debris Lancer sent flying. The drifting frost that now hung over the field was all that remained of those unlucky souls.
"Not enough! Not enough!! Still not enough!!! Lancer! Is that all the strength your attacks have?!"
Amid Esdeath's wild laughter, gauntlets and greaves forged of solid ice clashed again and again against the lance in Lancer's hands. Each collision sent sprays of frozen shards into the air—only for Esdeath to seize control of them and hurl them back at him.
His limbs were beginning to go numb.
He'd considered drinking a [Hot Drink]—but in the chaos of close combat, he didn't even have the chance to take one out.
This was the difference between a human and a "dragon."
And it forced Lancer to change tactics.
[NIGHT'S PHANTOM: ALUCARD]
As the Teigu activated, blood drained from his body. Reflected in the frostlight, his face turned deathly pale—but from his shoulders, fresh blood flowed back in.
Yes. The seemingly simple ability of [Alucard]—drawing and transfusing blood—was far from meaningless. Lancer had tested it before: when poisoned, if he drained his blood and replenished it, the toxin would gradually dilute and vanish.
Now, the chilled blood was extracted, and warmer blood surged back into his veins. The disadvantage imposed by the freezing battlefield lessened slightly.
But even so, he remained suppressed.
In terms of raw strength, he was not inferior to Esdeath's ice-forged fists. The problem was his weapon.
He could already hear it wailing.
Her weapons could be repaired endlessly. His could not. If this stalemate continued, defeat was inevitable.
Then suddenly, Esdeath swung her arm.
Lancer dodged easily—frowning.
A mistake?
"Ahhh!!"
A scream erupted behind him.
An enormous spike of ice had burst from the Imperial Army's front lines. Several soldiers were frozen within it, their faces locked forever in terror and disbelief.
"Esdeath!!!"
"Yes! That's it!! That expression!! Anger—more! Rage harder! Then fight me with everything you have!!"
"You… you lunatic!!"
"Heh. And?"
As her mocking voice rang out, Lancer noticed something wrong.
Marks—like creeping veins—were spreading upward from Esdeath's neck.
BANG!!!
"Where are you looking? You dare lose focus against me?"
Something was off. Deeply off.
She didn't display the ability to completely freeze time as she had in the original timeline—but her freezing power seemed even more overwhelming. Back then, Esdeath had been at her physical peak.
Now?
Her body hadn't even fully matured. She might not be capable of bearing the full might of her Teigu. If she had truly consumed all of it as before—
When Lancer had called her "crazy," it had been instinctive.
Now, it no longer felt like exaggeration.
But even knowing that changed nothing.
He still had to win.
[WEAPON OVERLOAD]
In the beginning, he had needed to shout to trigger the skill—self-hypnosis to smooth its flow. Now, a silent invocation was enough. The bone lance in his grip seemed to awaken.
He raised both hands—and hurled it.
Whooo—!!
The jagged bone shaft tore through the air with a shriek like a demon's roar. Esdeath slammed her palm against the ground, raising a wall of ice over a meter thick before her.
Even that proved fragile.
The lance blasted through, shearing it in two after bleeding off part of its momentum. Esdeath caught the incoming weapon with both ice-clad fists—
BANG!!!
Overloaded beyond its limits, the lance disintegrated into bone powder in her grasp.
But that was enough.
Two more lances were already flying in from afar, slamming down beside Lancer.
Crack—! Crack—!
Twin fractures split the frozen ground at his feet.
He seized both weapons, one in each hand, and swung them wide—
Whoosh!
The air split.
He settled into stance once more.
"Let's begin. Round two."
"Round two?" Esdeath smiled faintly. "Fine. You were hiding something after all. Let me peel you apart slowly and see what else you're concealing."
[WEAPON OVERLOAD]
The same skill—yet different.
A crimson sheen bled across the flames flickering along the [Gatling Lance]. And if that change was subtle, the [Knight's Lance] told no lies—the metallic sheen along its length was swallowed by a rising red aura.
Killing Intent.
To this day, Lancer didn't fully understand what it was. Only that it accumulated whenever he bled—or fought.
Whether layered onto his weapons or infused into his skills, it dramatically enhanced their power. And as it burned, it fed strength back into him.
A lance was already a heavy weapon. Dual-wielding made his movements wilder, more feral.
He adapted accordingly.
Heavy frontal blows he deflected with the shafts of his lances. Lighter strikes he simply endured. His cloak guarded his back.
In the short span of a charge, several shards of ice sliced into his body.
Then—
BANG!!
His [Gatling Lance] crashed down. Esdeath crossed her arms to block; the fire-attribute enhanced strike melted part of her ice armor. His [Knight Lance] thrust forward—aiming straight for her heart.
But she would not fall so easily.
The ice beneath her feet surged upward.
BANG!!
A pillar as tall as a man shattered apart. Esdeath leapt into the air, clapping her hands together. The scattered ice fragments converged instantly, reforming into a massive frozen greatsword that cleaved downward.
Crack—!
Lancer dropped to one knee, barely raising his [Knight Lance] in time. The impact drove him down; the shaft trembled violently as it struggled to hold.
This battle would not end quickly.
---
bonus chaps
100 stones → 1 bonus chap
200 stones → 2 bonus chaps
300 stones → 3 bonus chaps
and so on :3
100+ new chaps every week across all my TLs on the P website :)
hehe every 100 followers on either instagram or twitter = 5 bonus chaps...?
(for all ongoing tls)
website: wisetl.com
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl
instagram: hanbaowise
twitter: WiseKingOfUruk_