As Serafall raised her right hand to the air, her blue eyes shone and an enormous amount of Demonic Power came rushing out. A split second later, a several-kilometer-wide magic circle, bearing the insignia of the Sitri Clan covered the entire forest.
"Celsius Cross Trigger~!" The surrounding temperature instantly dropped below freezing and Kisuke immediately felt his movements slowing down.
Kisuke could have stopped her Magic coming into fruition, but because of the thick and cold Demonic Power around Serafall, he'd sustain large amounts of damage if he were to even come close. He could overpower her if he released a burst of his power, but where's the fun in that? Besides, this was just a sparring match and there was nothing disadvantageous for him if Serafall were to reveal a few of her cards and how they worked.
A few seconds later, as far as eyes could see, the forest had become a kingdom of ice and frost, including Kisuke who was encased in ice.
Of course, Serafall knew that this wasn't enough to defeat someone like Kisuke so she brought down her raised right arm and pointed it towards Kisuke. The next instant, multiple magic circles appeared in front of her and from each of them, gigantic ice javelins emerged and were launched towards Kisuke, easily breaking the speed of sound.
At the moment of contact, large explosions of ice particles and dust ensued, and from it, Kisuke was thrown out with his blade in front of him. Some parts of his body were still covered in ice and there were signs of hypothermia on his skin. Even then, he still had a big smile on his face, "So this signature move of yours isn't just about freezing your enemies to death, but to convert the terrain to your advantage. In this world of ice, your Ice Magic will become exponentially boosted in terms of power, speed and versatility while your enemy would be slowed down and have to continuously use their stamina and aura to resist the extreme cold."
However, Serafall pouted her lips and started complaining again, "Mou~! You've seen through it already!? And here I thought you'd be distraught for at least a few minutes!"
Chuckling, Kisuke replied, "Well, I've already gone through battles where a single thing you neglected would get you killed. Analyzing the extent of your opponents' abilities was the most basic of basics."
Meanwhile, those from Loki Familia were already speechless and Riveria's cries of surprise were the last ones heard from them. They could only stare at the screen in disbelief and couldn't even process what's going on.
Loki, on the other hand, immediately understood what Yoruichi meant by some of them not taking any actions unless necessary, 'Of course, they shouldn't get involved! They are just going to destroy other people's hard work! This is one of the reasons why we Deities don't use our powers! Unconditional and unreasonable power within the Lower World will only make its inhabitants dependent and weak!'
'But to think they possess this kind of power that could rival the Gods,' Loki looked towards the similarly surprised Hestia and Artemis, 'Just where did they really come from?'
While she was in her contemplation, however, Ais suddenly called out to her, "...Loki..."
It was then that she noticed that she was making a crazed smile and immediately covered her mouth, "Ah, it's nothing."
Ais then nodded and focused back on the battle, trying to remember every single detail about it despite not understanding what's happening. Nevertheless, in the corner of her mind, a certain question was bugging her, 'If it's them, can they do it?' Yoruichi's reminder had already left her.
But the surprise didn't end there, as Kisuke suddenly put forward his blade and said, "Guess it's time to take this a little bit seriously, right, Benihime?"
The ice around him temporarily receded and the cold wind gathered around him as his sword slowly transformed itself into a sleek, medium-sized blade with a crimson tassel dangling on the base of its pommel. A strange yet familiar blade to Riveria, Ais, Tiona and Tione.
"T-that's...!" Tiona immediately reacted and looked towards Yoruichi. But before she could say anything, Yoruichi beat it to her, "We won't be answering any questions regarding that, so save it."
Tione patted Tiona's shoulder who was left hanging and shook her head to her.
On the other side, Serafall could feel the atmosphere around Kisuke instantly change and couldn't help but sweat a bit, 'That sudden power-up is really ridiculous. How is he doing that? And what system is he using? Now that I'm this close, I'm certain that it is neither Ki, Magic Power or Demonic Power...'
The next moment, Kisuke suddenly swung his blade towards her while muttering, "Nake(Sing), Benihime."
With a single gesture, a thundering blast of crimson aura came rushing towards Serafall. But with a swipe of her hand, several towers of ice sprouted from the ground, blocking the energy blast.
Although the towers of ice were destroyed, Serafall was able to dissipate Kisuke's attack. Nevertheless, it didn't end there as she heard Kisuke beyond the dust of icicles, "Tenran(Vigorous Tempest)."
In an instant, the light-bending cloud of dust suddenly became a sharp tornado, threatening to tear apart the Ice Queen. Although Serafall easily responded by freezing the swirling tornado. However, she suddenly felt Kisuke's presence from behind her and immediately turned towards that direction, only to meet another of his attacks, "Juugeki Byakurai(Heavy-Strike Pale Lightning)."
Serafall immediately conjured several magic barriers, yet the small red beam attack easily pierced through it and Serafall had no choice but to cross her arms as ice grew on it, meeting the piercing bullet.
The beam also pierced through the ice armor, but it had already lost most of its lethality and was only able to drill a small hole in Serafall's right forearm, "Dang it... I'm supposed to be the Mage here, yet I'm at the disadvantage in ranged confrontation."
Kisuke just smiled, "Let's face it, Sera-chan. You're more suitable against a group of enemies rather than one on one confrontation."
Serafall was finally annoyed, "Are you saying that I'm just a mob cleaner?"
Kisuke was surprised at her reaction, but thinking about it, his words indeed suggest that. But before he could correct himself, Serafall's Demonic Power had already spiked up, "I guess I just have to prove you wrong! White Castle, Dance!"
Immediately after, the ice kingdom became alive as numerous ice spikes came after Kisuke, prompting him to dodge and fly away. Even then, the spikes still came after him relentlessly and since he couldn't continuously use Flash Step as it'd open him for even more dangerous attacks, he had to blast away the ice spikes that he couldn't dodge.
After a few seconds, Kisuke decided to fly high up so that the spikes would have to travel longer and it would be easier to dodge. However, just as he was about to execute this plan, he felt something coming from above him and looked up, only to see an endless rain of ice javelins, "What a ruthless Devil King~!"
Kisuke had to put up an 'umbrella' above him to defend against the rain, but he still had to dodge the spikes. Due to the collision of ice, ice dust that was made out of Serafall's Demonic Power exploded everywhere, blocking not just Kisuke's vision and hearing, but also his presence detection, 'Was this her aim?'
Thanks to the scattered Demonic Power, although he could tell where Serafall is, her presence was hazy at best. But while he was thinking of a way to get out of this situation, Serafall's presence suddenly appeared on his immediate right, "!?"
Intercepting the spear made out of ice, Kisuke deflected Serafall's attack who had suddenly appeared beside him with a big grin without his notice, 'When did she...?'
Although Serafall had directly attacked, the spike and javelin attacks didn't let up and the space between him and her was immediately filled with ice. However, while Kisuke was keeping track of her position, her presence suddenly disappeared yet again, and before he knew it, Serafall had appeared behind him, brandishing her spear.
Kisuke immediately made space between them by using Flash Step, but the moment he 'stepped out' he immediately felt a threat on his left and lifted his blade to block the incoming spear without looking, "!?"
"Mou~! Your reaction speed is too monstrous!" Serafall casually commented.