章 984: The Dawn of Ice
#### Author's Note ####
Hey everyone! Sorry for the late chapter. Had to do some stuff related to the moving and couldn't finish this one yesterday.
A small announcement. Moving is a headache and I won't be doing that on the 20 as I said. We are still not 100% sure of the date but it should happen soon.
Another thing. On the 24/25 we will not have any chapters. I'll be spending the holidays with my Gfs family and won't be able to write. And as you can tell, I'm struggiling to stay ahead of schedule. So we will have a break then. on the 26 we will have another chapter, even if it comes at a later time than usual.
Thanks for the understanding and Happy holidays!
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Frostbite created a shield to block the incoming attack, a shield made of pure deep blue ice. If the attack had come from anyone else, it would have worked. Fire would just melt the frozen water, giving enough time for her to move away, and any other type of element would be halted by the chilling ability of her skill. But she was fighting the Blade of Dawn, one of the few people in the upper echelons of the MAZE who used a source of heat that was not simply a flame.
The sword, imbued with radiance, heated up to a dangerous level and cut through the wall of ice. But that was not without effort. There was a lot of energy being wasted in the attack, and thanks to that, Frostbite was able to create another layer of protection around her. Instead of a full wall, it was simply a large ice shield. Even then, it was not enough to nullify the attack completely.
Frostbite was sent flying back, crossing a few meters. This served to prove that Blade was not powerful just because of her skills. She also had the strength to support her fame. The controller sent a few shards of ice flying midair at the fighter, but the spell was not able to overcome the searing heat coming from Blade.
That was another issue Frostbite was dealing with. Because of the constant and permanent high temperature coming from her opponent, any ice-based attack was considerably weakened, which also meant she had no way to apply a chill or frostbite effects. Both ailments that she needed to trigger some of her more powerful skills.
Blade did not have to put too much effort into evading the flying ice shards. Most of them melted before they reached her, and the parts that could do anything of substance were far enough away that she could simply twist sideways to evade the attack completely.
Not letting up, Blade rushed toward Frostbite with an overhead swing of her longsword. The tattooed woman sidestepped the attack and tried to punch the fighter, her fist covered in a skill called [Glacial Hammer]. Blade quickly twisted her wrist and spun her weapon to block the blow with the sword, using her free hand to pull the handle like a lever so the two of them would step away from each other.
Having gotten some distance between them, Blade took a thrusting stance and activated the skill [Sun Ray]. From the tip of her sword, a single beam of concentrated light shot out toward Frostbite. But before it could hit, a large chunk of ice appeared in the attack's path. The uneven pattern of the frozen crystal diffused the light enough that all the destructive power behind it was gone.
Blade continued her assault, moving right after her spell. This time, she went for a horizontal attack, going under the block of ice. But yet again, Frostbite saw the attack coming. She created another barrier to the side. Blade's longsword started cutting through the ice, but it was not enough to completely destroy it. Forcing the fighter to pull back and get her footing again. That was an issue as the grounds as constantly shifting between being frozen and having that water melt.
Frostbite was not the only one struggling in this matchup. A good part of Blade's power came from the fact that her attacks were imbued with extreme heat. That caused the ice to melt, and the power behind each blow weakened considerably instead of just cutting through. Her light-based spells and skills also got blocked by the ice. Every single frozen chunk was able to disperse the light, which required a high concentration to deal damage.
This time, Frostbite was the one who charged. She dashed with a shoulder charge, crashing through her own ice. The initial impact sent a spray of shards toward Blade. But once again, most of them melted before they could do any damage. Still, the tackle forced the fighter to step away. In response, Frostbite swung her arm in a backhand that slammed against Blade's face.
The impact hurt, but not because of the ice that appeared around the fist. It was just the raw power behind the punch. But Blade took advantage of that. She spun around, using the momentum to deliver a radiant slash at Frostbite's stomach. The attack hit, but once again, there was an ice barrier around the controller. However, this time it was not as strong as it should have been. The blade of radiant mana was slowed down, but not stopped, leaving a sizeable cut on its target.
Frostbite's feet were covered in a layer of snow as she triggered [Abominable Stomp] and went for a kick. But Blade twisted her body and the sword to intercept the attack, once again blocking with her weapon. This time, however, the strength behind the attack was too much. The fighter was sent flying back and slammed her back against a wall of ice that had appeared suddenly. The sharp spikes were unable to maintain their jagged shape, but were still strong enough to knock the air out of her lungs.
Blade glanced up, seeing how they had already destroyed most of the hallway. The area was covered in large chunks of ice, holes along the metal walls, melted pieces of steel created from her attacks, and even the ground was starting to slowly turn a shade of orange due to the intense heat her aura created.
But she barely had time to assess her surroundings before Frostbite jumped toward her, trying to hit the fighter with her knee. Instead of looking away, Blade pretended to be stunned and, at the very last second, used her sword to block the incoming attack, moving her head away from danger.
Frostbite did not notice the change in time, and her knee slammed directly into the edge of the sword. The woman let out a pained growl as Blade took advantage of it to get up and swipe two more times, aiming at the controller's chest.
The first attack struck true, lacerating part of Frostbite's armor and skin, but the second was not fast enough to do the same. Quickly stepping away, the controller activated a couple of her healing abilities over the sizzling flesh.
"You bitch!" Frostbite groaned.
Blade took the chance to steady her footing once more. "What is the matter? Can't take the heat?"
"Says the one who can barely stand after taking a single punch. I expected more of you," Frostbite scoffed as a layer of ice covered her knee. The wound was not deep, but it was not something she could fix with just her own healing abilities.
"Don't flatter yourself. If it wasn't for the Frozen Ground, I wouldn't even need to step away. But come on now, you better start using that legacy I gave you before you lose the chance to do that. Or are you so disgusted with the fact that you are part wendigo now that you cannot use it?"
Frostbite belched out some laughter. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I don't need to waste something like that with you." She did her best to pretend everything was fine, but the burning in her chest was worse than she was expecting. The radiant energy was eating away at her flesh even now, after the attack was over.
She instantly understood what was happening. Blade of Dawn was famous because of one specific attack, but the only reason for that was that her second most powerful skill was not as flashy. During the assault on the centaur village, she learned about the real danger that Blade posed. It was a skill called [Ever Light], and once triggered, the target would keep burning until they were gone or were able to escape Blade's range. The problem was, Frostbite had no idea what the actual range of the skill was.
"You are going to regret that decision," Blade prepared another attack, the same one that earned her her name.
"I doubt it. Especially since it is clear, you do not even know the first rule of fighting," Frostbite said.
"And what is that?" Blade asked, charging her skill so it would get even stronger.
"Be aware of your surroundings," Frostbite said with a smirk before dropping her fighting stance.
Blade had less than a second to be confused before two forms slammed against her. They continued pushing until they reached the broken door to the jail, only stopping after she crashed through the metal and landed close to where the rest of her team was fighting the Soldiers of Strength.
Back in the hallway, Frostbite was smiling while two Soldiers of Strength slowly walked in Blade's direction. These were the new versions of them: a man with light pink skin and a woman with a deeper red, almost like the color of a wine stain, pulling toward purple.
"Have fun, children. Mommy has work to do," Frostbite said before she dashed to the opposite side of the hallway. She had come here just to see who the invaders were, and hopefully deal with them. Now that they were proving to be more troublesome than expected, her job was to ask for backup and warn the rest of the facility about what was going on. More specifically, she had to go to the security room. After all, if no alarms were active despite people having invaded the prison, there had to be something wrong.
"Get back here!" Blade shouted and rushed forward, but she was blocked by the two Soldiers of Strength who moved to intercept her. One of them used a broadsword in an overhead slash, while the man tried to hit her with the thrust of his spear.
The version 2.0 Soldiers of Strength were more powerful than what Blade expected. She could not simply take the hits and go after Frostbite. She was forced to block the spear and dodge the sword.
The wine-colored soldier went in for another attack, as her sword glowed an ominous shade of red. At the same time, the pink one slammed the butt of his spear on the ground, letting red vines emerge and try to capture Blade and the other members of the Alliance.
Realizing that if she went after Frostbite, her team would be left alone with two Soldiers of Strength who were able to stop her, she had to let her target go, at least for now.
But the rest of the team did not agree with that.
Iris broke off from her fight and jumped at the pink Soldier of Strength, her daggers flashing wildly around him as small cuts started to appear on his skin, which slowly returned to a normal color.
Right after that, Flint tackled the wine-colored Soldier of Strength while still carrying his first opponent in a headlock.
"Go after her!" the dwarf shouted as the broadsword slammed against his back. Part of the damage was blocked by his power armor, but the energy rippled across his body, creating several cuts along his limbs. Cuts that were instantly healed by Neria who was providing support.
Blade thought about protesting for a second, but she remembered that getting rid of the legacy was the priority. If they were able to do that, all the Soldiers of Strength would be gone.
Clenching her fist, Blade ignited her armor, becoming a beacon of sunlight. She dashed into the hallway, crashing through the Soldiers of Strength now engaged with her team and the remains of the broken door. It took Frostbite a couple of seconds to reach the end of the hallway and make the turn, but for Blade, that took less than a second. Her turns were much slower, however, as she had to stop before changing directions.
She ignored the shouts and screams coming from behind her. Her team would have to deal with those soldiers themselves. She had to find Frostbite. She had to kill her to put an end to this once and for all.
On a different part of the facility, Hera moved through the corridors, unaware of the danger the Harmony Guardians were in. She had just sneaked past a couple of guards thanks to Shadow's help and was now looking inside an operation theater through a one-way mirror. Inside was a person strapped to a chair with various tubes connected to their limbs. It was a person she recognized. Someone she would never have imagined would be in a place like this—not even in her wildest dreams.
"Blue?!"
クリエイターの想い 
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