145 Flames and Frost
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The deafening roar of burning flame pillars filled the air, accompanied by the piercing sound of something slicing through the void.
Though surrounded by erupting columns of fire, Roy's speed remained unimpeded. Cloaked in black flames intertwined with crackling lightning, he darted through the fiery inferno with remarkable agility.
Like a ghostly specter, he wove effortlessly through each pillar of flame conjured by Vlov Arhangel.
"Damn it…"
Vlov, having shattered several obstacles to halt his retreat, watched the figure dancing through the sea of fire with a wary glare.
Though his rationality was on the verge of collapse, his battle instincts remained intact.
The brief exchange had been enough to make one thing clear: Roy was no ordinary magus.
The black flames, no less powerful than his own, and the staggering speed that bordered on the impossible... coupled with that earlier crimson storm... painted a picture of a formidable adversary.
So, this was the ally of the princess that Roa had mentioned…
Even after meticulously executing Roa's plan to eliminate her allies, here stood this monstrous opponent, a wrench in his ambitions.
To claim the princess, this obstacle must be removed.
Kill him. Kill him! He must be killed!!!
And then, the princess would follow!
With a thunderous roar, Vlov summoned a massive white sword from the void, gripping it tightly in his hands.
"Die!"
With terrifying force, he swung the colossal blade at the black flames before him, his assault relentless and devastating.
This was the full might of Vlov Arhangel, one of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors... a fearsome power manifested in his cursed flames and the sword that embodied unparalleled destruction.
Compared to Nrvnqsr Chaos, Vlov's raw strength was leagues ahead.
However, unlike Nrvnqsr's troublesome immortality, Vlov lacked such an advantage. This saved Roy the need for cautious probing, allowing him to escalate the battle to its climax almost immediately.
Facing the incoming blade aimed squarely at his head, Roy raised his arm.
Bang!
In an instant, the clash rang out like the toll of metal striking metal. The colossal white sword was firmly blocked by Roy's arm, now encased in a blazing armor of black flames.
"Is this the best you can do?"
Black Flames!
The fire on his arm surged to life, intertwined with flashes of dark lightning, ephemeral yet deadly. Roy countered with a blindingly fast punch, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
As his fist neared Vlov's shoulder, the flames and lightning ignited in an explosive burst.
"What?!"
Vlov instinctively poured more magical energy into his sword, slashing through part of the incoming flames to deflect them.
Yet Roy pressed on, his flame-wreathed arm continuing its relentless assault.
Vlov's gaze narrowed in confusion.
What's going on?
Despite slicing through the flames, their intensity neither diminished nor exploded outright.
What exactly is this? His power stems from those black flames, so why does it feel so… unnatural?
Bang!
A close-range strike landed squarely on Vlov's chest. Roy's fist, wrapped in black fire and lightning, left a searing arc of darkness in its wake.
The sheer speed of Roy's attacks closed the gap between them in an instant, rendering the advantage of Vlov's massive sword null.
But Vlov was no fool.
Unlike Nrvnqsr Chaos, who crumbled against overwhelming strength, Vlov was a seasoned warrior with sharp instincts.
Utilizing his combat prowess, he dragged his sword across the ground, carving a deep gash as he pivoted. With a swift motion, he redirected the blade to block Roy's incoming strike.
Boom!
The moment fist met blade, an explosion of black flames mixed with electric light erupted along the surface of the sword.
Locked in a clash of sheer force, Roy sneered at the frenzied creature before him.
"A beast driven by instinct alone… how pitiful."
At such close range, their gazes locked once more. Roy saw his chance and seized it without hesitation.
Compress. Condense. Collapse.
Channeling his immense magical energy into the palm of his hand, Roy visualized it as a tightly packed bomb, primed for detonation.
And with a single spark, he unleashed it.
"What… is this?!!"
The clash of scorching magical energy erupted with an ear-splitting roar, sparks and lightning scattering wildly from the collision between steel-like skin and flame.
Vlov Arhangel's previously maniacal, excited gaze faltered for the briefest moment, revealing a flicker of primal fear as the close-range detonation of magical energy engulfed them both.
Then, fists flew once more, colliding with raw, unrelenting force.
BOOM!
The impact alone shattered the ground beneath them, forming a massive crater that tore through the street and sent both combatants plunging into the city's subterranean depths.
Yet, even as they fell through the air, their battle raged on.
Under the weight of external pressure and the ceaseless exchange of blows, the cursed, insatiable bloodlust buried deep within Vlov Arhangel fully awakened.
Cold. So cold. An endless, bone-chilling frost enveloped his world.
He yearned for warmth, craved comfort, and longed to escape the torment of his accursed existence.
He wanted to drink Roy's blood. He wanted to consume the princess's heart.
Caught in the throes of life and death, the Dead Apostle Ancestor, forever haunted by his unending curse, finally revealed the primal beast lurking within.
"If you're cold, then go to hell... it's warm enough there!"
With a swift motion, Roy unleashed the condensed magical energy in his palm. A crimson beam, capable of obliterating all in its path, tore through the air and collided with the flames surrounding Vlov.
At point-blank range, the two energies detonated in a blinding explosion.
But this was no mere magical outburst. The sheer force contained within the attack was enough to annihilate a Dead Apostle Ancestor outright.
In an instant, half of Vlov's body, caught within the crimson magical energy, was torn to shreds.
The beam continued its relentless barrage, and the consequences, should it persist, were all too clear.
To Vlov's horror, black flames lingered on the wounds where his body had been obliterated. These flames did not merely burn his flesh; they seared his very soul.
In mere seconds, he felt a torment entirely different from the cold... a deep, existential terror born from the agony of soul-bound fire.
"Damn it!!"
Faced with the prospect of utter annihilation, Vlov acted on instinct. He abandoned the remains of his body, narrowly escaping the flames that sought to consume him entirely.
But the damage had been done. The soul-scorching fire, coupled with his existing curse, left his already ravaged body in even worse condition.
Before Roy could close in, Vlov's state shifted dramatically.
He collapsed to the ground, clutching his head with trembling hands, clawing at his hair in an anguished frenzy.
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"
"Cold… so cold… This world is… unbearably cold…"
Incoherent mutterings escaped his lips, his fractured mind barely tethered to reality.
Then, a chilling, indescribable presence descended upon the vast underground cavern.
The temperature plummeted. Frost crept across the ground, and even the water from burst pipes crystallized into thick layers of ice.
The flames vanished entirely.
Vlov, his face a mask of despair, rose unsteadily from the frozen earth, raising his sole remaining arm.
His eyes, devoid of hope, were filled with suffocating desolation.
With a sweeping motion, he released an overwhelming surge of magical energy.
But this time, it was not the cursed fire that sought to consume the world.
It was ice... an entirely different power.
A glacial force capable of freezing the world itself.
"Die! Embrace the icy tomb of this frozen world!!"
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
A deafening symphony of shattering echoed through the cavern.
In an instant, a brilliant white light surged forth, carrying a bone-chilling frost. The freezing winds carved through the air, guiding an avalanche of ice that surged toward Roy with devastating speed.
The roaring flames that once consumed the city vanished, replaced by a sudden, unnatural snowfall in the pitch-black night sky.
Where once there was charred, smoldering ground, now lay an endless expanse of pristine white.
All fell silent.
A chilling stillness enveloped the world.
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