The blazing figure of the mighty tower of fire slammed itself towards the Witch of the Scarlet Snow, aiming to smash her frail body into oblivion. With the magical vines restaining her body, the Witch could watch as the Leaning Tower of Flame moved closer to her.
If her power did not drop from the peak-stage first-ranked sorcerer, she would have sufficient sorcery energy and mastery to force the tower to change its trajectory and successfully escaped her predicament. However, with only her upper-stage first-ranked sorcerer, her strength was no longer enough to resist the vines while the cross was trying to drill into her body, let alone distributing her energy into dealing with the Leaning Tower of Flame.
Forus and Ocelia decided to overwhelm her with their secret card to quickly finish her off without letting the former second-ranked sorcerer have any chance of using her tide-turning treasures. There was no way that two first-ranked sorcerers would be able to resist the trump card of a second-ranked sorcerer.
"In the end, I still cannot avoid it." The Witch of the Scarlet Snow raised her hand as she muttered in her soft, trembling voice, filling the air around her with profound emotions that even Forus and Ocelia could sense. With her last remaining strength, she touched her forehead with her pale finger.
Although the silvery mist had obstructed the vision of Ocelia and the Witch, as the owner of the array formation, Forus naturally had a way to bypass the limitation of the fog. By using his sorcery energy, he could observe the change that occurred within the centre of the encirclement.
The blazing temperature at the centre of the formation began decreasing like crazy as the snowstorm descended abruptly, sniffing away the flaming glow of the Leaning Tower of Flame. The freezing winds traversed the chamber, grazing the Tower of Succession with their cold embrace of death.
The flow of Elements came to a sudden halt everywhere the wind passed through, freezing in position without any exception. The air stagnated and suspended in place, not having even a tiny bit of warmth within the surrounding. The temperature of the chamber dropped below the imposing barrier of absolute zero, freezing even the blazing flare particles of the magical candles that hang onto the ceiling.
The silvery mist naturally could not resist the cold and turned solid, falling onto the ground as the vision around the centre of the encirclement became clear once again, allowing Ocelia to peer into the epicentre of the snowstorm that brought about the frost hell.
The bluish, long, and intertwining hair weaved along with the snowy breezes as the soundless song of the winter echoed the chamber. Although all other Elements except the Ice Element got frozen in place, the sparkling hair did not stop its dance with the wind, catching the attention of everyone presented.
The tattered robe of the Icy Scorpion Sect became as good as new as its grand disposition started to reveal in the Witch's every movement, no matter how little or big. The mystical runes engraved on her clothing reflected an azure light as they shone according to her actions.
Without any chance of resisting, all attention became captivated by the gleaming light that bounced from the crimson pupils, enchanting the icy and aloof beauty of the Witch, befitting the name of the Scarlet Snow. Even Ocelia could not contend in term of both appearance and power with this peak-stage second-ranked sorcerer.
Although Forus and Ocelia would try their best to bring out all of their cards to quickly stop the Witch from succeeding in her last-moment struggle, the snowstorm was too powerful for the two to resist. In the end, their body became putrefied within a thin layer of transparent ice, letting the Witch take her time freely and enjoying the feeling of power restoration.
Under the watchful eyes of Ocelia, the Witch of the Scarlet Snow extended her finger towards the materializing Leaning Tower of Flame, touching upon its heated surface with her refined finger.
The moment her tiny yet sharp nail touched the surface of the Tower, a ripple of Ice Element erupted at the point of impact and spread outwards rapidly, completely enveloping the tower with icicles. The reddish surface of the Leaning Tower of Flame became melancholy and cold, radiating the freezing and decaying aura.
The cracking sounds echoed the chamber as rifts continued to appear on the Tower, intensifying in their sizes as Fire Element began to leak out from the within, slowly approaching its demise and eventual destruction.
With one subtle impact, the floors of the Leaning Tower of Flame began crumbling at an alarming rate, turning from solid objects into dust and Fire Element, diffusing within the atmosphere and disappeared into the void.
Although the awakening of the Icy Scorpion Bloodline brought upon a mighty blow of freezing storm, the destruction of the Leaning Tower of Flame did not cause any ripple, silently disintegrating into nothingness as if nothing had ever happened. In the end, there was no trace of the Leaning Tower of Flame left.
With the sharp increase in Fire Element within the atmosphere, due to the scattering of the Leaning Tower, the systematic flow of Elements became distorted, creating a chaotic whirlwind of Elements that travelled outwards, trying to distribute the Fire Element evenly to regain its previous stable circulation.
With the power of a peak-stage second-ranked sorcerer, the Witch of the Scarlet Snow did not fear the chaotic winds as they were like a cool breeze to her. However, the crystalline ice that trapped Ocelia and Forus began to tear down under the constant corrosion of the Elements, indirectly helping the couple to break out of their imprisonment.
Ocelia coughed out blood as she collapsed onto the floor, clutching her chest tightly as she grasped for her breaths. Her pale face turned even more white as her blood pressure decreased to a dangerously low point. The destruction of the Leaning Tower of Flame had damaged her sorcery energy circulation due to having her connection with it severed forcefully.
Not only that, but without the Leaning Tower of Flame, Ocelia's sorcery mastery slightly regressed from the peak of the lower-stage first-ranked into an ordinary first-ranked. If she was just half a step before the middle-stage, then she had dropped from half a step to a full point. Fortunately, Ocelia had already cultivated the Leaning Tower of Frost, which helped as another piece of the foundation for her sorcery mastery. If not, Ocelia might be risking having her power reverted into a weak third-layered sorcerer apprentice.
With her internal injuries, Ocelia would continue to weaken under the wind of chaotic Elements. Fortunately, before any more danger could befall her, a silhouette of a man inside her heart manifested in front of her kneeling self, standing tall and imposing, facing the storm fearlessly. Although Ocelia wanted to speak, she had no idea what she should say and did not say anything in the end.
The warmness of his body subtly teased Ocelia, dispelling the chaotic wind of Elements around her while comforting both her heart and soul. Outside of her control, she felt her breathing becoming warmer and more frequent, having her body temperature raised, and her skin turned pinkish with blood rushing out of her restless heart.
After shielding Ocelia, Forus did not launch any counter-attack or move away from Ocelia. He kept standing still and waited for Ocelia to recover while eyeing for the possible assault from the elegant Witch of the Scarlet Snow. Her demeanour had changed from a depressing person whose life was at her end to an ancient and divine being that oversaw the lives of countless people.
However, despiting having overwhelming power to easily crush both Ocelia and Forus into smithereens within an instant, the Witch did not move from her place. Instead, she seemed to be waiting for Forus to approach her on his own.
"What do you want?" Enduring the intense silence for a while, Forus decided to break the growing tension and asked out loud. From what he could gather, the Witch did not release any killing intent anymore, and instead, she seemed to be waiting to show her sincere feeling for Forus and Ocelia.
If not, the Witch would have already tried her best to move forwards and kill the two without any hesitation. For her to not kill them, it was either that the price for such actions was unacceptable, which would be untrue as a peak-stage second-ranked sorcerer would easily crush two first-ranked sorcerers.
The other possibility was that the death of Ocelia and Forus would not benefit her objective and might even cause more harm than good for her in the long run.
"Young couple, let us make a deal that would benefit both of us." Her mouth moved slowly and unsteady as if she had magically deteriorated within the instant of igniting her Icy Scorpion Bloodline. Although her appearance was enchanting and full of vitality, her voice was hoarse with a hint of wariness and tiredness in it.
"I'm sorry, but our goal wasn't something that you would like to hear." Forus denied her deal without any hesitation. Without any power to uphold the other end of the agreement, he and Ocelia would be a fool to sign the contract blindly.
According to the rules of the Tower of Succession, they would need to kill the Witch of the Scarlet Snow to pass the test, which the Witch would not agree for someone to take her life. Not only that but because Ocelia and Forus were too weak, the Witch may even break the contract without any care for any retaliation.
"Don't be too fast to respond, young friends. I've already known about the rule of the Thought Domain and its legacy inheritances. In fact, after igniting my Icy Scorpion Bloodline, I had already forsaken my life in other to have this simple moment with you." The stiff and dry voice echoed out of her humanoid mouth as the Witch narrated a part of her story for Forus and Ocelia.
"Although I was preparing to die, I still have my Icy Scorpion Sect under my care, and you two wouldn't want to fight with me, would you? Then, let us make a deal. By extracting my heart, you could devour my Icy Scorpion Bloodline and the essence of my sorcery mastery, integrating the special characteristic of the Icy Scorpions into your soul, strengthening your control over Ice Element." After speaking for a great deal, the Witch coughed and spilt out more blackened blood than before, showing her weakened self to Forus and Ocelia. It was clear that she would not live long after igniting her bloodline.
"I also only wanted you to do only one thing, which is to continue passing down the legacy of the Icy Scorpion Sect. When you could find an existing Icy Scorpion Sect, you must at least help them to overcome one crisis." Knowing that she would not be alive to protect her sect any longer, the Witch decided to leave everything up to fate, which was the last thing she could do.
With her surprisingly simple and beneficial deal, Forus and Ocelia fell into deep contemplation. Although they seemed hesitated about choosing to accept the contract or not, Forus had already determined to take it, and with Ocelia's personality and trust in him, she would not object his decision either.
After all, there was unquestionably no malicious intention within the deal. The Witch had made this massive gamble, betting everything she had on the slim chance that might or might not happen. If Forus and Ocelia never met with the Icy Scorpion Sect, they would be benefitting from this without losing anything.
"One thing to consider is that my power, which came from a woman like me, would be best compatible with another female sorcerer who practised Ice Element." Seeing that Forus and Ocelia did not respond, the Witch urged them with a little more information and the effect of the essence of her sorcery mastery.
After a while, Forus moved his hand to pat the kneeling Ocelia as he smiled for her, appearing peaceful as he had decided that Ocelia would be taking this new-found power. The stronger Ocelia became, the more secure Forus would feel about their lovely future.
