Alex had asked Bayon to tell him about what had happened, but she was always evasive and had never explained it clearly. He speculated that Bayon's descent must have brought an enormous change to the Earth, and he knew he had to figure out what had happened back then in order to make sense of the present situation.
Willard was angry. They were mid-fight, and Alex was clearly distracted by other things and was lost in thought. Alex's lack of focus on their fight was humiliating, as if he didn't consider Willard to be a worthy adversary.
He decided to attack first and let Alex feel how angry he was.
Channeling his rage, he poured power into the snow in front of him, which started to fall like a waterfall, tumbling toward Alex.
He's made his move, Alex thought, reacting instantly. With a mere thought, the green barrier in front of him condensed into a green metal plate. He let the deluge hit it and slide harmlessly away.
Then he pushed his green barrier forward a little. The area they stood within was fairly small, and as the green barrier kept pushing forward, Willard came under a lot of pressure.
Even though Willard had used a powerful spell, he couldn't do anything to Alex's barrier, so it was clear which of them was the stronger.
But Willard wasn't anxious, nor was he discouraged. He simply attacked again.
His arm pointed forward, and an ice dragon's head appeared, looking incredibly lifelike. It opened its mouth wide and slammed into the green barrier. The tremendous force instantly shattered the barrier, and although the dragon's head dimmed a bit, it still reached Alex.
"Get lost!" Alex said, raising his hand and casually throwing a punch. The ice dragon howled, and then its head broke into several pieces of ice and fell crashing to the ground.
The dragon had been Willard's inner power solidified, and that level of skill was extraordinary. Most grand masters could, at most, injure with their inner power, but Willard could take it much further. The ice dragon had seemed so real, and that showed what he was capable of.
"Again!" Willard yelled. As his two previous attacks had failed, he decided to try something different. He waved his hands and made a very strange movement.
Moments later, a hurricane-force wind appeared in front of Alex.
"Nice move," Alex said, nodding appreciatively. "Where did you learn that?"
He looked at Willard with respect, as he hadn't expected the old man to know such a technique.
Willard responded, "I have been studying in the Arctic for decades, and I'm curious about everything in the natural world. Why can't people survive in the icy conditions? Penguins can, and they're not so different. All animals have spirits, after all, and that means humans can learn to do anything a penguin can."
He continued to wave his arm, and another fierce wind appeared, this time carrying a whirl of snowflakes.
"You're right," Alex said. "But why would you study penguins? What did you think they could teach you? If you're going to rely on the little spells you learned in the Arctic, then don't blame me for crushing you easily."
He raised his arm again, and then, with a simple gesture, he sent a wave of power at the dense forest nearby.
Many trees were knocked to the ground by the two airwaves he released, and hundreds more were cut in half, showing Alex's power as a grand master.
For the people watching at the foot of the mountain, it seemed like the two fighters above them were performing magic tricks. Lights flashed, winds blew, and now trees fell.
Willard was unimpressed. "What are you going to do with all those trees, Alex? My family has always focused on using spirit dragons. After I fused with them, they turned into ice dragons. Now you can try their power!"
With a loud roar, an ice dragon broke through the sky and hovered in the air, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. It opened its enormous mouth and roared again at Alex.
It really is a dragon soul, Alex thought. I wonder which unfortunate dragon's soul Willard has gotten hold of.
He was experienced and knowledgeable. Glancing at the dragon soul, he could tell that Willard had obtained it on the ice plains.
Looks like there are still many useful things in the mountains and rivers up there in the ice fields, he thought. Perhaps it would be worth my while to go there and check it out.
He looked at the dragon writhing above his head and brought his attention back to the fight in hand.
The ice dragon opened its mouth and exhaled two dragon breaths, one of which could freeze people to death. Alex raised his hand and sent his power to meet it.
The two strange forces collided. The dragon soul shook its head and sprayed out more dragon breath, but Alex's power instantly swallowed it.
The ice dragon continued to shake its head as they clashed again, and its body gradually became less cohesive.
Willard suddenly stomped on the ground in frustration. Then he jumped into the air and merged with the dragon.
Alex smiled and summoned a small golden sword, which circled in the air before rushing straight at the dragon's head.
Another loud roar echoed on the mountain. The colossal head of the ice dragon had been pierced through by the small golden sword. Willard had just merged with the dragon, so he did not have the time to show off his skills, and he was completely helpless when the sword sent him flying. With a sway of his body, he returned to his original position, but the sword strike seemed to have caused some damage to his mind.
"I am a dragon!" Willard shouted, and his entire body emitted a circle of green light. Scales appeared on his body, and his clothes started to fray and tear.
It seems like he got more than just the dragon soul on the ice fields, Alex thought. Then he spoke aloud. "If you don't make a move now, then don't blame me for ending the fight."
He looked at Willard curiously. By now, scales were appearing on Willard's face, and he looked terrifying.
Willard called out to Alex, "Try dealing with my spirit dragon one more time."
His body, which had been thin when he had been an old man, now expanded to the size of a well-muscled young man, leaving him feeling aggressive and strong. A layer of scales had also grown on his feet and ankles.
"Wow, Willard," Alex called back. "You really are going all out here! You actually fused your body with the dragon soul. So, are you now a dragon?"
But Willard was still human. Although the dragon soul had merged with his body, it did not touch his soul, but the dragon soul was straining to take over. It had been trying to invade Willard's body for many years, which was why Willard had spent so much time on the Arctic ice plains. He had needed to train his mental state, but he had also had to learn to suppress and control the dragon's soul.
It was his hope that, after reaching the divine level, the dragon soul would no longer have the strength to fight him, and he would be able to completely control it. After all, great fortune only came from great danger, so if he wanted to become a god, then he had to run a certain amount of risk.
If he wanted to break through to the divine level, then he had to use the power of this dragon soul.
The moment the giant ice dragon appeared, it lunged at Alex, full of ancient and wild power.
Willard punched out, harnessing the power of the dragon and sending its strength into his fist. But, no matter how close he was to the divine level, he was still only a grand master. When it came to dealing with Alex, Willard was inferior, and he knew it.
Alex held his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky, which was at the point of intense darkness which came just before dawn. He said, "I don't like darkness. I much prefer the light."
He slowly raised his left arm and unhurriedly punched out his fist. Everything around the mountain suddenly seemed to be half a beat slower. Even Willard's fists were slower as they moved through the air.
"What's going on? Why has everything slowed down?" Willard asked, frowning. "What have you done?"
Below Marauders Mountain, the onlookers also felt the effects of Alex's spell and were trying their best to work out what was going on. However, looking up, they could just about make out that Alex's fist was moving very slowly, inch by inch, toward Willard's chest.
Willard's fist was also moving very slowly.
According to most people's calculation, Willard's fist would win out.