Winter spreads her arms wide, smiling like a fiend, no longer addressing the Lord. “So, what do you think; can this first condition be met?” The Adventurers remain silent and step away from the Noble, in silent consent, leaving the arrogant man to his fate. The Lord’s face twists into a mask of rage, fire energy gathering into his hands. “How dare you; I am the son of Duke Ferris, and you dare to treat me like a common peasant, thinking you can take my life on a whim.” The Noble launches a fire lance at Winter that streaks through the air, the searing heat distorting its surroundings, but Winter stands her ground, unmoving, not even taking measures to dodge. And with blinding speed, Winter backhands the flaming projectile out of the air as it draws near, a bored expression on her face, dispersing the magical energies into particles without taking a step from her position as though the attack is little more than a nuisance.
The Noble’s eyes widen in surprise and disbelief, causing him to instinctively step back out of fear, unable to fathom how this creature could counter his attack in such a simple manner. In a panic, the Noble throws his arms out in front of himself, outstretching his hand, and releases a jet of flames from the palms of his hands that expand, consuming the area in front of him in a large cone of scorching flames. The cone of searing flames wash over Winter, consuming her in a curtain of fire, but as the flames subside, she remains unharmed, the flames not even able to singe her clothes. Winter glares at the Noble, a hint of boredom in her voice as she addresses him. “Are you done, or do you wish to continue this pointless struggle?”
In defiance, a golden staff with a Rank A fire beast core as its focus appears in the Lord’s hands, pulled from his spacial ring. Razing the staff aloft, he uses the core’s power to reinforce his magic, creating a powerful barrier well beyond his capabilities in a desperate attempt to protect himself. Screaming, Lord Ferris commands the Adventurers in a panicky voice. “I order you in the name of Duke Ferris to kill this thing, or I will have everyone and everything you hold dear killed right before your very eyes!” He points at Winter, continuing his rant, his hands trembling. “You, you can’t kill me!” With Winter’s inaction, some of Lord Ferris’s confidence returns, continuing to scream like a madman. “My soul, my soul is bound to a soul lantern, and if you dare to kill me, my father will resurrect me in a new body, and I will bring an army to purge this land of you and your kind! I will not stop until every last one of your kind is dead!”
Winter’s face morphs into a vicious snarl, abject hatred burning in her eyes. “You humans already tried that, and you failed!” Despite the Lord’s hysterical rant, or because of it, the Adventurers remain silent, taking another step back, not wanting to get caught up in whatever is about to happen. Winter steps forward, her aura exploding in a fit of rage, the ground cracking under her feet, the pressure causing the Adventurers to stagger and sending the Noble down to his knees, bracing himself with his staff as a crutch to stop from collapsing face first into the ground. Winter bares her teeth in a sadistic grin, her voice cruel and wrathful as she addresses the Lord. “Since it appears there are no objections, at least none from anyone that matters, I will take what you owe me, little Noble.”
Lightning arks across Winter’s body, causing her to vanish from sight as she takes the next step, instantly reappearing behind Lord Ferris, her sword already in motion. The blade, glowing with blue energy, cuts through the Lord’s barrier, shattering it like fragile glass, the blade swinging over his head, bisecting the golden staff in a single swing, destroying it; with the barrier destroyed, Winter’s free arm strikes out like a snake, grabbing the Noble by the back of his neck, lifting his rotund form off the ground effortlessly. Lord Ferris screams in a panic, his feet flailing in the air like a fish out of water and his hands pulling at Winter’s vice-like grip in a futile attempt to free himself. “When I come back to life, I’ll kill you all; all of you disgusting monsters will die! I’ll bring an army and burn this forest to the ground; I swear to the goddess, I’ll kill all of you, even if it’s the last thing I ever do!”
Lord Ferris stops his pointless struggles, breaking out into maniacal laughter, gripping Winter’s hand to reduce the pressure on his neck; he screams at the Adventurers who were supposed to guard his life, his sanity now lost. “If I’m going to die here, I’ll see to it that every last one of you accompanies me to hell for this indignity, you traitorous vermin; everyone, die with me today!” Orange flame energy swirls around Lord Ferris like a burning vortex of power, causing Winter to chuckle in amusement as the power output of the Noble skyrockets. The explosive surge of power startles the Adventurers, causing them to retreat, taking up a defensive formation; Alex slams his shield into the ground, activating his [Guardian Shield] skill, while Sparks extends his arms to the side, creating a barrier over the group with his [Elemental barrier] skill, bracing for the impending explosion.
Winter chuckles in amusement, stabbing her sword into the ground, and extends the index finger of her now free hand, glowing with blue energy. “Well, this is quite entertaining, but do you think I will let you detonate your mana rings? You must pay for your sins, and this kind of death would be letting you off far too easy.” With a vicious grin, Winter stabs her finger into the Lord’s back, stopping just shy of piercing his heart, causing him to scream in pain. Releasing her mana into the Lord’s body, Winter lets it run rampant throughout his system, destabilizing and dispersing the mana buildup, causing his screams of pain to intensify as Winter’s cold energy surges through his mana pathways, damaging them along the way. “You don’t need your mana anymore since you are about to die.” With a twist of her finger, Winter places a seal on Lord Ferris’s heart, sealing off his ability to mobilize mana and cutting off his ability to cast spells, eliciting a blood-curdling scream from the man.
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Winter pulls her finger out of the Lord’s back, deliberately freezing the wound to prevent blood loss; she tightens her grip on the Lord’s neck, silencing his screams of pain to ensure he can hear her words. “Your death will not be that easy; I promise you will suffer for all of your sins.” Winter smiles, casting a spell on the Lord with a wave of her free hand, increasing his awareness, removing his fatigue, and preventing him from losing consciousness or falling asleep. “And worry not, I will ensure you are conscious for the entire process.” Winter loosens her grip, allowing the Lord to breathe; he gasps for air, whimpering and crying, tears streaming down his face, his throat raw from screaming. “Just stop; please just stop! Why are you doing this; why don’t you just kill him?” The Priest screams, cutting through the heavy tension in the air, her voice trembling.
Winter turns her attention to Nina and glares at the young woman down on her knees, clutching her holy symbol, tears streaming down her face. And with a cold, callous voice, Winter responds. “Because I want him to suffer; I want him to suffer for all the wrongs you humans have committed. I want him to suffer for all the deaths he has caused, and I want him to suffer because I hate you humans, and I want to make you all suffer and die.” Jax kneels next to the Priest, resting a hand on her shoulder, speaking quietly. “Be quiet, don’t get involved, and don’t go drawing that thing’s attention.” Winter laughs, interrupting the large man. “Your large friend is correct; you are a weak coward with no real combat power and should not get involved in things you cannot affect.”
Winter smiles with a sadistic grin. “Unless you wish to take his place, little girl?” Jax jumps up, standing in front of the Priest, gripping the hilt of his greatsword. “No! Do whatever you want to that trash, but leave her alone.” Nina’s face pails as she looks down at the ground, avoiding Winter’s gaze; her body trembles, tears streaming down her face, and the only response she can give is to shake her head in refusal. Winter looks at the large man with a smirk. “Did you forget what you just told that little girl?” Winter chuckles. “It does not matter; she is unwilling, so it is of little concern to me, but I recommend staying out of my way unless you wish to suffer.” Winter’s gaze turns cold and vicious, and her aura flares, putting pressure on Jax, forcing him to step back instinctively, releasing the grip on the hilt of his sword.
With the interruption resolved, Winter turns her attention back to the Lord, still dangling in her grip, and in a mocking tone, she addresses him. “Sorry to keep you waiting, little Noble.” With his mind clear, thanks to the spell Winter cast on him, the Lord chokes out a pained threat. “Once my father revives me, I will kill you and these traitors no matter the cost.” Winter chuckles in amusement. “Good, keep that defiant spirit to the end if you can; it will make this all the more entertaining.” Winter extends her free hand palm up, snow and ice swirling over her open palm, sending a frigid wind throughout the area. Winter’s magic forms ice crystals that slowly grow, forming a clear, palm-sized ice crystal gem that floats, suspended in the air over her hand. With morbid curiosity, the Adventurers watch Winter, wondering what she will do to their former employer.
With the gem complete, blue energy flows from Winter’s hand, creating small balls of energy that fly through the air around the gem, inscribing runes and intricate intersecting lines into a small formation with the gem serving as its heart. The balls of energy fly through the air in a dazzling display of speed and precision, completing the intricate formation inscriptions within seconds. The balls of energy fade as Winter retracts her hand, crossing her index and middle fingers, her thumb holding her pinkie and ring fingers down, forming a hand seal in front of her face, causing the formation to glow with brilliant blue energy, indicating its completion. “Little Noble, you have many sins; you invaded my lands with an army, and you killed and butchered my people for resources, treating them like cattle, but your greatest folly is being weak and trying to use the strength of others as your own. No matter how powerful your father is, you will die here for the sin of killing my people, paying with your life and soul, and there is nothing you or your father can do about it.”
The Lord chokes out a defiant retort. “Do your worst, monster; my soul’s bound to a soul lantern, and I will be back to kill you, your people, and these traitors, no matter what you do to me.” Winter ignores the Lord’s provocation, smirking in amusement, as she channels a magical spell in a quiet chant, speaking a language the humans cannot understand. Strands of colored energy flow out of the center of Lord Ferris’s chest; the strands of red, blue, yellow, and orange energies twist around each other in the air like a coiling rope that flows into the center of the formation, entering the gem and staining the clear ice crystal gem black. The Lord grits his teeth, the grimace on his face the only indication of pain, but as the number of energy strands increase, flowing from his body to the formation, it elicits a bone-chilling scream from the man.
The Lord screams in pain, tears of blood flowing from his eyes; he pulls and claws at Winter’s hand and arm in a futile attempt to escape her grasp, slicing open his hands on her hard scales and ripping his nails up from their beds, blood flows from his hands staining Winter’s white scales scarlet, slick with blood. The blood flowing from the Lord’s body flies into the air, evaporating off his skin like steam, turning into a red mist that twists in the air, flowing into the center of the formation like a miniature cyclone twisting around the strands of energy, that the now black gem greedily consumes. The portly Lord screams, twists, and writhes in agony, his rotund body withering as the formation rips more and more of the energy from him, devouring the man alive.
The Adventurers shudder in horror and disgust at the sight of the Lord’s body withering away before their eyes as more energy drains away by the second. The Lord’s chilling wails only stop when his arms fall limp to his sides, his body now more so resembling a desiccated corpse than a man, but the energy drain continues until cracks appear on the Lord’s extremities traveling up his arms and legs, pieces of his body breaking off and turning to dust before being swept away by the devouring formation. The cracks spread across the Lord’s body as it crumbles to dust, slipping through Winter’s clawed hands like sand, scattering on the cold wind, the devouring formation consuming the Lord’s life, soul, and the very essence of his being, leaving nothing but dust behind.
The formation collapses in a flash, drawn into the gem, forming a prominent rune on the surface that glows with dark red energy and falls from its floating poison in the air, the force keeping it aloft cut. Winter catches the falling gem, snatching it from the air with a deft movement; the gem emanates faint spectral wailing, which seems to permeate the battlefield irrespective of the distance, reaching the ears of all living creatures gripping their souls with dread. Winter admires her work, turning the gem over in her hand, and with a satisfied smile, the gem vanishes with a wave of her hand, silencing its chilling cries with its transference into Winter’s dimensional space.