Thirty Minutes Before Abigail's and Rahab's Final Clash
In the bustling visitor district, the air crackled with tension as Abigail and Rahab soared through the sky, locked in a fierce battle. Each blow they exchanged echoed like thunderclaps, sending shockwaves rippling through the entire slave city below. Bang! Abigail launched a powerful kick, colliding with Rahab's dark energy, igniting sparks that illuminated their faces with fierce intensity.
Whirling and spinning, they danced among the clouds, their figures blurring into a whirlwind of motion. Abigail's fiery spirit radiated determination as she dodged and weaved, using the momentum of her agile movements to counter Rahab's swift attacks. The dark energy around Rahab twisted ominously, crackling with malevolent intent as he retaliated, each strike sending ripples of raw power through the air.
Suddenly, the sky darkened ominously, and a swirling snowstorm erupted around them, chilling the heated air. Snowflakes swirled violently, catching the light as they spiraled into the chaos of their battle. Both fighters paused mid-clash, their breath visible in the frosty air, shocked at the sudden shift in the weather.
"What the—?" Abigail gasped, her senses tingling with the unmistakable aura of Alonso's mana. She felt a familiar warmth deep within her, contrasting the icy storm. The realization hit her like a jolt of electricity—Alonso was the source of this unnatural phenomenon.
Rahab's eyes widened in disbelief, his arrogance momentarily stripped away. He turned to Abigail, his voice laced with incredulity. "It seems you have a capable companion. But no matter how strong he is, he will not defeat Nightowl."
Abigail couldn't help but laugh, her voice cutting through the chaos. "Ha ha! Are you worried? If you ask me, Nightowl's days are numbered. Why don't you focus on our fight instead?"
With determination radiating from her, Abigail thrust both hands together, her fingers weaving through the air as she summoned her flames. A brilliant glow enveloped her palms, and she pointed toward Rahab, her voice booming with confidence. "ABSOLUTE BURNER!"
In an instant, a massive pillar of green flames erupted from her hands, roaring like a wild beast as it shot toward Rahab. The heat radiated outward, scorching the air around them and illuminating the storm with an emerald glow.
Rahab's expression shifted from surprise to a calculated calm. He raised his left hand, his fingers splayed, and shouted, "Black Hole!"
A miniature black hole emerged before him, swirling ominously as it opened its maw. The flames were drawn in, consumed entirely by the void, as if they were nothing more than wisps of smoke. The black hole pulsated for a moment, a terrifying presence in the storm, before collapsing into itself and disappearing without a trace.
Rahab smirked, his arrogance returning as he taunted Abigail. "Fool! You know nothing of Nightowl's history. Because of this ignorance, your companion is going to die a gruesome death."
The members' district was engulfed in a heavy snowstorm, white flakes swirling chaotically and blanketing the ground in an ever-thickening layer of snow. Visibility was reduced to mere shadows, but high above the turmoil, Alonso soared through the frigid air, his cybernetic eyes enhanced with a unique technology that pierced through the blizzard, allowing him to see clearly. In the distance, he spotted Nightowl, a dark silhouette against the backdrop of the storm, hovering ominously with blood-red mana swirling around him
Alonso's eyes blazed with determination as he concentrated, summoning the icy energy deep within him. His left hand trembled slightly as it began to glow with a bright, frigid blue light, frost crackling along his fingertips. The cold aura radiated outward, the air around him growing bitter and sharp. With a powerful shout, his voice cut through the tension like a blade, "Extreme Frost!"
In an instant, Alonso unleashed the concentrated ice mana with explosive force. The ground beneath him trembled as the icy blast shot toward Nightowl, carving through the air like a spear of winter. The mana swirled and twisted as it flew, transforming mid-flight into enormous spikes of ice. Each spike resembled a monstrous icicle, jagged and razor-sharp, towering like frozen obelisks—the size of small houses, glowing with a deadly chill. Their crystalline surfaces gleamed with lethal intent, the sheer mass of them enough to impale and obliterate anything in their path.
But Nightowl's phantasms reacted swiftly. The eerie, red wisps surrounding him surged to life, twisting and writhing as if they had minds of their own. Their movements were unnatural, almost serpentine, and they coiled around Nightowl like a living shield. With unnatural speed, the phantasms lunged at the incoming ice spikes, their forms rippling and expanding as they intercepted the attack.
The collision was cataclysmic. The spikes shattered upon contact, splintering into shards of glittering ice as the phantasms devoured them hungrily. The air was filled with the sound of cracking ice and the howling winds of magic being consumed. The phantasms shifted, growing larger and more grotesque, their shapes distorting and warping as they absorbed the raw power of Alonso's spell.
Alonso's heart raced as he watched the spikes vanish into the monstrous forms of the phantasms. His eyes narrowed, sweat beading on his brow despite the cold he had summoned. "They're feeding on the mana of the attack…" he muttered under his breath, his mind racing to come up with a new strategy. He could feel the energy slipping away, the strength of his spell rendered useless by Nightowl's relentless defense.
Nightowl stood unfazed, a twisted smile playing on his lips as his phantasms swelled with power, the red glow in their eyes intensifying. The air crackled with dark energy as they writhed and pulsed around him, now more fearsome than before.
"It seems those phantasms can consume magic… what an annoying ability," Alonso thought, his mind racing to find a counter. But before he could act, Nightowl shot forward like a missile, his body propelled by a surge of mana.
In the blink of an eye, Nightowl closed the distance, the twin phantasms in his hands glowing ominously. With a bone-shattering kick, Nightowl's boot smashed into Alonso's face, the impact sounding like a thunderclap. The force sent Alonso spiraling through the air before he crashed into the ground with a violent thud. But before Alonso could even process the pain, Nightowl was already upon him.
The world blurred as Nightowl unleashed a barrage of punches, each strike landing with devastating precision. His fists, empowered by the crimson phantasms, moved faster than Alonso could track. Every blow felt like a sledgehammer against his body, hammering his face and torso relentlessly. Alonso's head snapped back with each hit, his vision flashing in and out as his body was battered like a ragdoll.
Not satisfied with the pummeling, Nightowl seized Alonso by his tail, his grip tight and unyielding. With a savage snarl, he swung Alonso through the air in a vicious arc, his body whipping around like a lifeless puppet. Nightowl released him with brutal force, flinging him like a missile into the distance.
Alonso's body crashed through multiple buildings in a trail of destruction, each structure crumbling upon impact. He felt every bone in his body rattle, each collision sending shockwaves of agony through him. The final building he slammed into disintegrated under the sheer force of the crash, its foundation obliterated as the entire structure collapsed on top of him. The ground shook violently, debris and dust clouding the air as if an earthquake had struck.
Beneath the rubble, Alonso lay still, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth. His body screamed in pain, his lungs heaving as he struggled for breath. He coughed violently, the taste of iron thick on his tongue. Slowly, he forced himself to his feet, pushing aside the debris that pinned him down. Dust filled the air, but through the chaos, his silhouette emerged—a figure battered, but not broken.
The relentless assault from the phantasms had drained him, sapping not just his physical strength but his very essence. He could feel it—the chilling sensation of his soul being siphoned away. His power, once formidable, was now reduced to a mere 30% of what it once was.
Alonso's body trembled with the effort of standing. Blood trickled down his forehead, running in rivulets and pooling at his feet. His muscles screamed in protest, but his mind remained sharp, refusing to give in.
With a slow, steady breath, Alonso closed his eyes. The pain, the exhaustion, the blood—none of it mattered now. His right hand rose, fingers outstretched, palm open. He stood amidst the ruin, dust swirling around him like a storm. Though battered, his resolve had not wavered. He wasn't done yet.
AQUATIC FREEZE!" Alonso whispered, invoking his final gambit. Instantly, the entire landscape seemed to respond to his call. The snow around him began to churn violently, as if the very essence of winter itself had been summoned. Snowflakes swirled in a powerful vortex, spiraling toward him with ferocious speed, while the thick drifts on the ground lifted, dissolving into raw energy. It surged toward his outstretched palm like a raging river, the cold mana crackling through the air.
Nightowl's eyes widened, momentarily startled. "What the hell?" he muttered, his confusion quickly morphing into alarm. "How is you still alive, absorbing all that cold? What is your body made off ?You should be dead! Dammit, why do you keep fighting when your death is inevitable?" Panic crept into his voice, a desperation he could no longer mask. He knew something was wrong. Alonso shouldn't have survived this long.
Sensing the imminent danger, Nightowl acted fast. He gritted his teeth and unleashed his full arsenal of phantasms. 10000 of them roared into existence, writhing around him like a swarm of sinister, snake-like creatures with skulls for heads. Each phantasm glimmered ominously in the dim light, their eyeless skulls grinning menacingly as they twisted and curled, creating a blood-red storm that filled the air with palpable dread. The ground beneath them trembled, unable to withstand the overwhelming pressure of their collective power.
"I'll crush you here and now!" Nightowl's instincts screamed at him to finish the fight—his victory was within reach, but Alonso's unnatural resilience terrified him. His breath quickened, and with a crazed gleam in his eyes, he released even more phantasms from the depths of his being. All the phantasms merge into something monstrous—a colossal phantasm, born from his desperation. The creature loomed over Nightowl, a grotesque behemoth of writhing worms, its body pulsing with blood red mana. At its helm, a massive, grinning skull leered down, radiating malevolence as if it had crawled from the depths of nightmares.
Nightowl's heart pounded as he felt the creature's power surge. "This is it," he thought, trying to reassure himself. With a savage shout, he hurled the behemoth toward Alonso, the phantasm's massive skull snapping open, revealing jagged teeth ready to tear apart anything in its path.
But Alonso remained calm, his heart pounding in his chest as he finished absorbing the final surge of snow. His right hand glowed with intense, frigid light, the ice energy within him now at its peak. He glared at the monstrous phantasm hurtling toward him, feeling the cold energy coursing through every fiber of his being. With unshakable resolve, Alonso raised his hand, pointing it toward the abomination.
"Minus 1000!" he roared.
A colossal beam of pure ice energy erupted from his palm, its brilliance illuminating the dark sky. The beam raced forward with blinding speed, slamming into the core of the giant phantasm. The moment it struck, the creature let out a bloodcurdling wail as frost spread across its body, freezing it from the inside out. Dark tendrils snapped and shattered, encased in ice.
Nightowl's face twisted in shock, his eyes wide as he realized the extent of his miscalculation. His creation, his final hope, was being torn apart before his very eyes. He barely had time to react before the beam pierced through the phantasm entirely, leaving a gaping, frozen wound in its wake.
Before he could comprehend his impending doom, the beam struck him with brutal force. Ice exploded around him, encasing his body in a glacial prison. His voice faltered, and in that instant, Nightowl's desperation turned to sheer terror as the frost consumed him, freezing him solid in mid-air.
Time seemed to freeze for Nightowl as the icy grip of death closed in. His mind raced, fragments of his life flashing before his eyes. Regret pierced through him like a blade. "Elizabeth... my Twilight," he whispered, his voice trembling with sorrow. "I'm so sorry... I failed you."
His thoughts spiraled further, reaching back to the one he had betrayed. "Brother... I should have let you be king... I should have stood by your side. Forgive me for my betrayal." His chest tightened, a wave of guilt and remorse washing over him. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry!"
But the words fell away as the cold overtook him. The icy mana wrapped around his body, sealing him in a freezing vice. He could feel it—his mana, his very essence, slipping away. Every cell, every bone, and every ounce of his being was swallowed by the unrelenting frost.
In an instant, Nightowl's body froze, suspended in the air like a statue of ice, his lifeless form hovering in the sky—caught between regret and the merciless grip of death, frozen for eternity.
Alonso could feel the remnants of his soul returning, the strength that had been siphoned away flooding back into him like a surge of revitalizing energy.
With a thunderous crash, Nightowl's frozen form plummeted from the sky, landing beside Alonso with a resounding bang, the impact sending snow and ice flying in all directions. He remained intact, not even shattering, standing tall and frozen as if he were a sculpture crafted by an artist's hand.
Just then, a message chimed in Alonso's mind:
Ping!! Dragon Heart Discovered!
Surprised, Alonso hadn't anticipated acquiring a dragon heart so soon. His gaze fell upon Nightowl's lifeless body, spotting a glint of metal on his frozen finger—a ring, the only object that had evaded the icy fate.
Curiosity piqued, Alonso bent down and retrieved the ring from Nightowl's cold, unyielding corpse. He channeled his mana into it, feeling the rush of energy as the contents of the space ring opened up to him. His eyes widened as he discovered not only the dragon heart but a staggering ten and a half million gold coins, the entirety of Nightowl's riches.
A satisfied smile spread across Alonso's face. "Seems my luck hasn't run out yet," he chuckled, slipping the ring onto his finger. Remembering the bounty on Nightowl's head—a hefty half a million gold coins—he summoned an ice sword with his left hand, swiftly severing Nightowl's head from his frozen form. The head landed with a dull thud, and Alonso placed it into the space ring, securing his hard-won prize.
Alonso surveyed his surroundings, his gaze drifted to the swirling clouds above. A sense of confusion settled over him. "Looks like this snowstorm is never going to let up. This place could be suitable to set up camp?" he muttered to himself, his breath visible in the cold air. His thoughts shifted to Abigail, a flicker of concern crossing his mind. He could still sense the battle raging in the distance. "That guy she's facing... Might be stronger than. Nightowl. I should help"
With a deep breath, Alonso deactivated his Ice Titan form, but the instant the transformation faded, a wave of searing agony ripped through him. His body convulsed as if millions of needles were stabbing him from the inside out, each one sharper than the last. The cold that once empowered him now left him vulnerable. He gritted his teeth, trying to stand, but his legs buckled beneath the overwhelming pain.
He collapsed to the ground, his muscles seizing up as every inch of his body screamed in torment. Immobilized, Alonso gasped for breath, his vision blurring from the intensity of the pain. For a moment, he lay there, paralyzed by the aftermath of his power, his mind racing to recover while his body refused to move.
The toll of absorbing such a vast amount of snow and converting it into mana had ravaged his body, even with the enhancements of his cybernetic implants. His muscles felt shredded, as if they were tearing apart from the inside. The cold energy that had fueled him now left a crippling void in its wake, draining his strength.
Helpless, Alonso collapsed to the ground, unable to move as his body trembled under the strain. His breaths were shallow, each one a painful reminder of the immense power he had wielded. He could only wait, hoping for the manobots within him to kick in and begin repairing the damage. Until then, he lay there—battered, vulnerable, and fighting to stay conscious.