The moment the smoke vanished, only the unknown man was left standing on the iceberg. Amelia, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight. However, what was left of the explosion was a web of cracks underneath the man’s feet. Bits and pieces of crushed ice were also all over the place.

The man remained motionless. He kept his body hunched and his sight facing his feet.

He gritted his teeth. He then reached his hand towards the left side of his chest—where a red-hot piece of metal was buried halfway. As he grasped it with his bare hands, he muttered, “Damn…able!”

Veins became apparent on his limbs as he pulled away the piece of metal. In a swift motion, he threw the metal down and produced a hiss as the metal met the ice. He then pulled off another metal stuck on his left shoulder and redid the same actions.

The red-hot pieces of metal—which used to be a sword—left a cauterized wound on both his chest and shoulder. Despite that, the man dug his fingers into his wound and ripped off the burned pieces of his flesh.

“UAARGH! AAHHH!” He cried as blood outlined his teeth.

While trickles of blood splattered on the ice, the man raised his free hand and conjured a dome-shaped barrier latticed with hexagonal shapes. Soon enough, chips of metal struck the dome and were immediately repelled.

“I have… restrained myself. This time… I won’t…!” The man whisked his blood-soaked fingers. Then, as he covered his open wounds, he began a long chant. As he did, the barrier was peppered by various shots from Evelyn’s summable inventory.

 

Rocks and boulders impacted the dome. Swords of higher quality attempted to push through. Arrows blotted a portion of the dome.

That was close, the man thought.

He was an Ancient. However, he was still among the living. He was unlike the Divines which did not primarily relied on organs to function.

Evelyn’s barrage of random items kept on pounding on the barrier. Gradually, cracks formed on the barrier, but it stayed true to its purpose until the man finished his chant.

Avesta, Sacred Light.

A blinding light wrapped around the man. Moments after, the man assumed his usual pose and the light subsided. Along with the subsiding light was his wounds. It seemed that his previous grievous wound was simply a scratch.

Not resting for a minute, the man lifted his hands and made pillars of ice around him. Concurrently, the barrier broke and Evelyn’s barrage marred the pillars. The barrage of various items was mostly embedded on the ice.

“Enough with the charades.”

 

The man balled his fists. In response, the items stuck on the pillars was encroached and eaten by the pillars—eventually containing them within the pillar itself.

“Let us see if you can recover them yourself.”

“Ahh! How come?!” Evelyn howled from the previous wall the man erected.

The man had been observing Evelyn’s movements. Nearby objects could easily be stored into Evelyn’s inventory.

When the man and Evelyn were battling each other, whenever possible, Evelyn would try to pull out swords that pierced the ice. The moment she pulled them out, they reappeared in mid-air and restarted their acceleration. In this case, the sword stuck on the iceberg and the iceberg itself was considered as a single object. However, restrictions apply to Evelyn’s blessing. The first was the range. The second was the size.

“Let’s see if you can still hide!” The man stomped his hoof. He gathered a bluish substance from the surroundings within his palms and crushed them. Once he did, the iceberg trembled.

The iceberg shook with great force. Then all the pillars, walls, and bumps on the surface of the iceberg began to submerge. Eventually, the iceberg expanded, and the top became flat.

“No more tricks.” The man focused on Evelyn who was then in plain sight.

“… Where is that girl when you need her?” Evelyn heaved a sigh. Her arms limply hung on her sides as hope drained from her eyes. “Is this even doable? Is it really a dead end? But I don’t want to lose here… Not when I have achieved nothing yet…”

“Enough with the talk!”

 

The man bolted towards Evelyn at an unprecedented speed, leaving scratch marks on the are where he stood from.

However, a sudden flash caught his interest. When he glanced towards the source, he found an incoming fist towards his face. Unconsciously, the man curled his right arm and used his forearm to block.

“Guh?!” Pain coursed through his arm. A sudden burning sensation emanated from his skin and into his chest. Alarmed, the man jumped away only to find that the skin of his forearm was charred.

“I’ve told you it was a switch.”

“What?” The man’s eyes shot wide open.

Lightly hunched, Amelia released a constant steam. Concurrently, dressed in Celes’s gift, Amelia was wrapped by a pale white light.

“Unless you wanted to take us both on, then I believe your hearing is quite damaged.” Amelia expressed a grin.

“What the…” Frequent blue sparks danced around Amelia’s body. Coupled with her glowing hair and horns, as well as the constant light the heal emitted, Amelia was akin to deities from legends.

 

“I have no time to impress others.” Before she finished, Amelia dashed towards the man. As she closed in, lightning wrapped around her arms and roared like untamed beasts. “Let’s. Get. This. Over!”

In response, the man kept jumping in order to dodge. He took to the sky but was chased by Amelia using barriers.

“Tsk!” The man kept on dodging with wide margins. Despite that, a small amount of lightning gets attracted and trickles down his sanity.

“You are getting annoying.” The man wrapped his arms with a thick membrane of ice. He then met Amelia’s rush with his own. “Fortunately, you lack knowledge.”

Amelia threw out punches. The man blocked with his frozen arm. The scenario repeated over a few seconds before a searing white ball of fire at the size of a head appeared behind the man.

“Not this time!” the man shouted.

Pillars of ice shot towards the Sun’s Seer. In the process, several of the pillars melted. Eventually, the Seer vanished without a trace.

“I’ve been waiting for this!” Evenly shouted in glee. The moment a puddle of water formed underneath the man, a sword manifested and shot towards the man’s feet. “Electrocution time!”

Once more, surprise blew up on the man’s face. He tried to jump out of the puddle, but the momentary glance he gave Evelyn was enough time for Amelia to slip underneath his arms and embrace him.

In a flash of a moment, the whites of the man’s eyes rolled up. His head faced the sky and his mouth was wide agape. As he suffered the brunt, bubbles frothed from his mouth. Steam rose from his skin. His fur was stood at its end and as the surge of lightning combed through it, it was eventually burned like weeds on the plains.

 

“Haaah…” Once Amelia released a breath, she released the man and took several steps backward. Her chest heaved. Her skin was flushed by several shades of red. The steam, especially, was at least twice as before.

“That’s… a shocking embrace, if I say so myself.” Amelia chuckled. Beads of sweat dribbled down her flushed skin. The air around her shimmered.

“Wow,” Evelyn muttered. “That’s hot. In a literal sense. I wonder if that guy’s heart skipped a beat. No. I’m pretty sure it did. And it probably stopped, too.”

Evelyn’s knees buckled. Short laughs came out her wide smile as a sense of relief washed over her body. “God, that was scary.”

On the other hand, Amelia’s sight blurred. Eventually, her left knee buckled, and she fell on her side.

“Aaaahhh…” Amelia gasped for air. Apparently, the layer of mana she acquired from Evelyn and Celes’s gift was not enough to mitigate the damage. Her continuous use of her body as a catalyst for the lightning incurred a great rise in her body temperature.

I was right… the mana converted the localized damage into its equivalent when spread throughout the body… But it’s… hot…

After mitigation, Evelyn’s defensive mana spreads the damage throughout the body. A prime example was how Amelia survived the man’s hit without losing her shoulder.

But at least… I can… rest… The curtains fell on Amelia’s sight and passed out.

 

In a similar manner, Evelyn passed out on the ice. On the other hand, the man that took the brunt of Amelia’s lightning remained still as a statue.

“Sa… cred… Li-ght…”

The man’s life was restored once more. And once his body returned to normal, he fell on his knees with a pained breath. [Curses…! Curse you!]

As he balled his fist, ice lances manifested overhead and pointed towards Amelia.

[To think I have been caught by a simple trick!] He rose to his feet with a gust. He approached the unconscious Amelia and grabbed her by the head.

[I loathe you!] He raised Amelia into the air. Her limbs dangled like a doll’s. [Rather, I should crush you!]

The man put pressure on Amelia’s head.

“Mmh…!” Amelia’s brows knitted in pain. Her lips warped into a frown.

[I would think otherwise if I were you.] The necklace glinted.

Upon recalling the voice, the man halted. He glared at the source of the voice—he glared at the necklace.

[You. You were watching?] The man’s face expressed vexation.

 

[Why would I not? You do realize she is my kin, no?]

The man gritted his teeth. He imagined how displeased Celestia was if she saw everything. [What are you planning in hiding her existence?]

[Nothing.]

[Such words from you? Hah! As if anyone would have believed those words. Such a blatant lie.]

[Listen to whatever you want to hear. I have nothing to tell you.]

The man grinned. [If put a little pressure here, maybe you’ll speak?]

[Then please do so. It is her own fault for relieving herself without thoroughly eliminating her enemy.]

[What?] The man’s eyes shot open. [She is your kin, is she not? You even go your way to watch over her.]

[I merely watch over her, that is all.]

The man could say nothing in response.

[That aside, has your mind calmed enough?]

The man clicked his tongue. [So that was your aim.]

[No. It is your aim, remember? You boasted too much of yourself and lost your calm after almost dying due to your self-imposed handicap. Quite laughable, if I say so.]

I can’t believe this woman. She would let me have it my way? Ridiculous. Is this the real Celestia or some imposter? Nevertheless, this works well for me.

 

[I’ll ask again. What is your plan?]

Celestia stifled a laugh. [Are you that worried about me leaking information about what you knew? That’s quite a tall impression. Rest assured, I have no interest with mere Ancients acting on their own. You can go about your merry way without my intervention.]

The man’s forehead creased. His nose flared. And for a moment, he once more put pressure on Amelia’s head before releasing her.

[I’ll crush that head next time. Preferably, I’ll rip that horn out of your head.]

The man turned and began his ascent, leaving both Amelia and Evelyn as they were. [I’ve achieved what I needed to. Time to prepare for the next step.]