Icy watched as the shiny axe blade slid through Korridan’s arm, slowing down immensely but still slicing through. And right below, if allowed to cut all the way through, was his head… He had barely 5 seconds of acceleration left, and stopping the attack was impossible.
He’d survive it cutting through his shoulder, right?
Icy had no time to think further. A powerful force with his spirit sent him hurtling upwards, where he immediately stopped himself in mid-air and knocked himself right into the massive axe, its enormous momentum made him realise just how minor and insignificant his size was.
But that didn’t allow him to stop, as his body repeatedly jumped off any air nearby and did its best to pull Korrdain’s head, slowly shifting the axe’s direction and his friend’s body millimetres with every second.
Just a tiny bit more… Just one more push!
The acceleration ended.
At the very same time, a fist already smashed into his side and knocked him away, but his goal had already been met. The greataxe smashed into Korridan’s shoulder, cutting through it, but coming to a complete stop. The demon tried to lift out the weapon, but he found it lodged inside, and no amount of strength could pry it free.
“What? How are you alive with that body!?” He sounded shocked, and obviously had to be as Icy stood up with a shit-eating grin as not a single scale had been cracked from that punch.
“How disappointing. To think I allowed a demon to slip through the cracks. Waking me up was within reason, I suppose.” The voice of a young man sounded out throughout the whole subspace, one unexpected from such an ancient pillar. It was almost that of a teen going through puberty, and it simply sighed several times. As the pillar lit up brightly, it then said, “Unfortunately, I am not equipped to execute anyone, so you’ll have to kill him yourself.”
A ball of light formed above Icy, and indescribable power coursed through every inch of ice cream. It was as though he gained the power of a true flesh and blood body, and it cracked the earth beneath his feet even when stepping without the spirit’s power.
“So this is his power? Am I that weak…?” He naturally believed so, but it still hurt to realise just how wide the gap between his body strength and merely the Gold ranks in his party was. Let alone the Mithril rank they barely fought together.
“All of you may work together. Demons have no rights here.” The pillar’s voice went silent, and immediately, Icy pulled out the axe which cut deep into Korridan’s chest, raising it from his body in a single motion as Darak and Mala immediately moved to treat him.
The man was barely alive with such wounds, although reattaching the limb was still annoying.
Jaren, Rebecca, and Raccelline received no such enhancements like Icy, but there was one trick the pillar used. It did not take into account his Auric spirit’s enhancements when providing a qualitative enhancement, and as such…
With an activation of the pocket watch for 5 seconds of ten-fold acceleration, Icy leapt off the air three times, appearing behind his opponent in so little time that the Mithril rank couldn’t even turn his head to keep up. And his claws, even though made of soft ice cream, cut through skin, muscle, fat, and bone like butter.
One aura enhanced swipe, that was all he needed. As before the 5 seconds ran out, that demon’s head already fell off its body and hit the ground with a soft thud.
[Killed level 62 Battlescourge Demonized elf! Received 8900% EXP]
The hell? Unintelligent mithril tiers are level 56 at a minimum for reference, the highest being level 80, yet this demon was so low-levelled compared to his power? That was already one thing to annoy Icy.
The enhancement dispersed and that almost unbeatable power vanished, although Icy knew it was merely a trick of suddenly gaining so much strength in an instant. His senses realised that the magical ability directly raised his body’s strength and speed to that of a peak mithril tier dragon, enough to kill a Battlescourge demon with ease.
And then his spirit just barely exceeded that, granting him power akin to a weaker master tier. It was ridiculous to use so much strength against a demon who dropped to 20% MP or so, and they couldn’t even defend themselves in that instant.
He looked towards the agonised demonised dragon, more than understanding that she had to be captured or killed. But Icy knew it to be a waste to kill her so quickly, surely the pair hadn’t used up all the resources taken from other pillars.
So he asked her, kindly to start off, “Where did you store the resources from those subspaces? I know you wouldn’t waste months in random cities for no reason.”
Of course, she just laughed at him while groaning further, her mana still completely unusable as the ridiculous bloodline ate away at her body. She’d rather die than tell Icy where the stuff was, for a simple reason, actually.
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Since it annoyed him more… Except she overlooked a little problem.
“Raccelline. Come here and feed her more of your blood. Just a few drops at a time.” He called out for her in Baranot, and indeed she came over and casually nicked her finger to drip blood into that evil girl’s mouth. It wildly differed from the girl who was unwilling to cut herself just over a year ago. While the dragon attempted to squirm and spit it out, Icy didn’t particularly care what form or age she was and forced down every last drop. Strangely, Raccelline or the group didn’t particularly care about his torture of this ‘fellow’ species either. Maybe because the two technically had just tried to kill them.
It only took a few minutes for the pair to get this female dragon, called Stildrakkar, to talk at length. To talk of bad names, hers meant ‘Drake slayer’ when literally translated. More relevantly, besides the dimensional storage tools on that demon, who went by the elven name Frellsae, they had a stronghold all the way up in the empire.
Specifically, a minor city called Sirrellomia, somewhere Icy actually took almost two minutes to find because it was really, really inconsequential when looking through cities on this continent.
Furthermore, she actually spilled everything. Revealing their plans, numbers, supporters, but most importantly, how they went so long without being discovered…
And finally, she revealed the final fact before detonating her heart. Icy couldn’t understand her reasoning for doing so, most likely to evade capture, but why wait until after telling him everything to kill yourself? Was it meant to be a last laugh as he received that final bit of information?
That this ‘organisation’ of demonified elves was being headed by a single Blossoming wizard in Sirrellomia. That he had a divine relic bestowed upon him by one of the demons’ gods to hide their demonified traits from anyone below the level of Great sages… Well, obviously she laughed at the final part.
That the relic could share its powers, to hide the appearance of other demon elves, but at the same time provided clear feedback on the situation when a servant died. For example, like the death of Frellsae in front of them.
Too bad she didn’t get to hear Icy’s comeback mentioning how almost all tracking magics failed to work on the group due to Raccelline…
Truly… Too bad.
“Oh well, It is a shame about her experience though.” He naturally felt aggrieved over the missed opportunity as she must have been around level 50 after following this demon for so many years.
The almost 9000% he earned from killing something so high-level made it slightly more acceptable though.
“With that over, I will need at least one of their bodies as proof for this matter and to call the high council. You can all leave after stabilising your… friend’s condition.” The pillar clearly took some time to analyse their relationship before making a statement, the tone was sincere and did not mock Icy’s choice.
“We still have to take the trial,” Icy didn’t forget their original reason for coming as well, making their purpose clear. But at the same time, the pillar glowed once more and threw out seven balls of light. When it collided with everyone, the number ‘4’ was written on the back of their hands. Or Icy’s front right leg, to be exact.
It replied, “Why bother, you fought off a Mithril rank demon, that alone exceeds the third tier’s difficulty. And, young priest, don’t bother with that arm, the scourge power must be expelled before it may be reattached. Fortunately, only a little entered his chest, which can be healed with a stronger healing spell. As for his arm, someone adept in blood and soul control will be required.” To then receive some advice from the pillar, it was a surprise that it automatically recognised the power used by this demon.
However, Icy already explained ‘Scourge’ power in advance. It was effectively a form of physical cursing, as it mixed bloodline energy with soul power to create a terribly invasive substance that broke down the body and forced it to reject itself.
A perfect substance for demons who were often experts in both domains.
“We’ll return to pick our rewards later then. But before I hand over a body, there’s something I need to do. I’d like to take one back to eat, I’m just unsure if the dragon or demon body would strengthen me more.” The pillar did not respond, and Icy did a quick test to find out how much blood it took to grant a single percentage of assimilation for both.
[Consumed Battlecourge demonized elf bloodline! Assimilation progress 1%]
Consumed Demonized bloodwalker dragon bloodline! Assimilation progress 1%]
Interestingly, it was a lot closer than he imagined. Roughly 60 ml of blood from either body achieved that much, and so Icy had to consider which was best to obtain. Surely the demon elf’s was better due to its higher rank… But he had a quest to assimilate both bloodlines.
Also, as expected, some minutes after death, her shapeshifting reverted to reveal her true form as a roughly four and a half metre long dragon. Black claws with a tinge of red, while its scales were instead black in the centre with edges of a bright, rosey red. Black eyes were pretty normal… But the white irises were clearly a demonified feature she hid by shapeshifting.
He took her body in the end, realising that the quest merely asked for her body and a ‘demonified elf’ like one of the others he killed already. Even if her heart was a pile of crystal fragments, they held amazing properties which could help raise the magical talents of the three warriors.
Lastly, he took the souls of the two, which had yet to disperse even after ten minutes or so. Clearly, they benefited greatly from the constant consumption of others, granting him a mithril tier soul from the dragon, and one nearing master tier from the demon elf.
Icy and the group eventually left after healing up Korridan’s chest. It took some soul control on his part to suppress the fragments of Scourge power in the man’s chest, but his arm was currently a lost cause. As the power on the detached arm slowly ate away at its bloodline energy, sucking the flesh dry, clearly Korridan was down a limb in the long term.
Yet, he only smiled from the outcome, thankful that the impulsive action saved Icy in those final moments and completed the request.
The group wondered how long they could stay in Fragheim without any dangers stopping them or from growing bored of the surroundings. There was always a lot more than merely the desert forest to keep them interested as well. Like, three other directions with their own interesting landscapes also existed, and more if you travelled a bit further out. But, to make a long story short. To avoid being overly detailed about their stay like on a certain uninhabited island.
They lived in Fragheim for 2 years. And it’s just amazing how so much, yet so little, can happen in that amount of time…