Chapter 91 Cold And Fire
"I'm sorry…" Ethan muttered in regret averting his gaze guiltily as he heard Afriel speak of what had happened to the knight in real-time.
The connection that both of them shared was unusual and so they could instantaneously convey their thoughts to each other in a blink of an eye. So basically, it was like Ethan could see everything as it happened in real-time.
"Master… It's not your fault." Afriel said.
"Or is it?" Ethan said despondently as he sighed deeply.
"It's a pity that capable, loyal men will die for no good reason… I will not let this pass. There will be a reckoning." Ethan said resolutely as he narrowed his eyes exuding a faint sharp killing intent.
Afriel nodded inwardly and once again began narrating the real-time events that were happening beyond the ice walls.
From the chief of the assailants using the strong fire attribute spell to the knight sacrificing himself to reap more lives—only mere seconds had passed.
In this tense situation where countless explosive fire projectiles were about to hit, many assailants were shooting straight at Alier bravely to kill him, the remaining five knights on the defensive being pushed back as they grieved silently for their lost brother—Alier scoffed as he showed a smile full of disdain and contempt looking at the projectiles and foes approaching.
Alier blinked and in a blink of an eye, the energies channeled in his sword surged violently as a wave of frigid elements shot out from him to all sides like a heart beating.
White frost began forming on the ground making the blood that was scattered all around, frozen red. As the frigid frost crept onto the trees, ground, and skies—the fire that was slowly burning the serene forest distinguished creating beacons of rising steam.
"Elemental Essence Sword Arte - Cold Rush!"
Alier said as his pupils dilated and moved rapidly as if he was memorizing the position of every single fire projectile that was falling.
A chilly breeze blew making the flames on the projectiles flutter, Alier's hand suddenly moved quickly and coldly swung his sword rapidly like a berserk maniac.
*Shing!*
*Shing!*
The sound of cutting through air rang as Alier made multiple slashes in the air all around him. His movements were rapid and powerful, his hand moved so fast that only a vague flickering afterimage of his hand could be seen.
As he swung his sword, the bluish radiance around the blade created dazzling crescent arcs from which the Essence of his Ancestral Blessings shot out in a precise manner, heading straight towards all the small fries that were approaching him.
As the projectiles of his pure frigid essence shot forward, the air itself around it grew frozen and heavy creating a tail of snowflakes. This kind of cold was extremely terrifying. It could easily freeze the blood and bones within a human body instantly making a living breathing person into an ice sculpture.
The assailants, seeing the terrifying frigid projectiles rapidly getting closer to them, chickened out.
Three of them turned back right there and ran as if their life depended on it while the others stayed in hopes of somehow deflecting the shots.
The Elemental Essence chased the assailants like targeted missiles making the men shit their pants in fear as they could feel the terrifying frigid energies slowly seeping into their bones.
The men shrieked in desperation sensing the icy cold murderous feeling at their back.
All of a sudden, the men blanked out as the blood inside their bodies froze, the clothes they wore became icy hard with frost covered all over them, and the bones in their bodies shuddered as the cold had penetrated even their bones.
Everything became silent as the crackling of freezing ice sounded. The men died on the spot standing, frozen in place as only a shell of their bodies remained. Otherwise, one could only see three ugly, disfigured ice sculptures.
On the other hand, the fools that had dared to stop the essence by violently swinging their swords at the incoming projectiles didn't fare any well.
Even before the essence reached them, their steel swords froze and collapsed into pieces like a sand castle crumbling into oblivion. What followed was the same fate of turning into a hideous sculpture as the Frigid Essense passed through their bodies.
With just five simultaneously quick random slashes, Alier had claimed five lives in no less than five seconds. After slashing at those pests, Alier immediately turned his head and looked up. It was as if he had not killed humans but some random bugs that were nothing but annoying and inconsequential.
This kind of exhibition shocked everyone to the core. Fear and trepidation began taking root in the hearts of the attackers as they slowly began backing off, terrified by Alier's ruthlessness.
As the flaming projectiles were upon the heads, mere seconds away from crashing into the ground, Alier once again made his move.
His wrist moved bizarrely as his silhouette flickered in the darkness facing right for one moment and then facing some other direction at the next as he slashed repetitively in the air at the rate of ten slashes per second.
The moonlight reflecting from his blade created countless brilliant arcs of light creating a magnificent design around him as streaks of countless bluish-white flares shot out from his sword, the flares heading toward the fiery projectile.
This created a serene scenery of countless flaming protective descending as if the punishment from heaven and bluish-white streaks of lights shooting upwards challenging the will of the heavens, while a lonely silhouette of a man stood in the middle of a battlefield inside an articulate design of crescent arcs of lights as his blade danced in a cold fury shooting more streaks of flares. He looked like a battle angel.
The frigid streaks of lights filled with Alier's Elemental Essence clashed with the Fiery Projectiles that had the Fire Elemental Essence. The elements were contradictory and the winner of this bout would be decided by the comprehension of the caster and the purity of the Blessing. So to speak, the results couldn't be more predictable.
A large booming sound resounded as both energies clashed, and countless flaming projectiles met equally numbered lumps of pure Elemental Essence. The frigid streaks of bluish lights brought with them the blanket of extreme frost wherever it passed.
Like a magnificent show of fireworks, the explosive fiery projectiles exploded shooting out colorful flares all over the place, however, the icy cold essence immediately froze the flares on the spot.
The puff of black smoke, the moisture in the air, the colorful flares, the scorching flames, and the inferior Fire Essence itself froze upon contact with Alier's Elemental Essence.
This clash created a massive wave of confusion among the assailants as they watched wide-eyed. The atmosphere had become so cold that snow was falling inside the barrier, covering the trees and the ground. Who would have thought that Alier was so strong? And this is exactly why the assailants finally woke up from their delusion, shaking in their boots as they hesitantly began backing off.
Momentarily, no one made any movements as the tender snow fell upon the earth, the steam that was created from the clash of fire and ice rose in the sky creating more mist in the already hazy surroundings.
"He's proficient in both Sword Arts and Mystic Arts?" Ethan muttered in awe and astonishment as Afriel was done narrating the whole thing telepathically.
"Not to mention that his Essence is greatly damaged as of now. It's probably only 40% of his actual strength." Afriel said probingly.
Ethan simply smiled mysteriously, his eyes too forming a cunning glimmer, he simply stood there without speaking a word, greatly anticipating what would happen next.
At this moment, multiple screams sounded as the elite knights finally got the opportunity to take revenge for their fallen comrade. The knights, with their blood-soaked bodies, charged at the enemies taking advantage of the hesitation and cowardice of their foes.
"Thirty had entered the barrier, now just fifteen are left," Afriel reported stoically.
"The facade is about to be over. Those ambushers never had a chance in the first place. It's quite the good facade though I must admit." Ethan said with disappointment.
At this moment, a significantly loud clamor erupted as a small crack appeared on the barrier making the assailants more nervous and desperate.
"Shit! don't panic! Go for the knights! All at once! Kill those knights quickly and get that boy!" The leader of the pack yelled out in an authoritative tone trying to not appear anxious.
"Kill those knights and we still have a chance! Whoever kills one of those bastards will get 100 gold coins!" He yelled again, regaining some of his confidence seeing the pale complexion on Alier's face and the pitiable figures of the five remaining knights.
Although his little encouragement increased the morale of the attackers quite a bit, but he couldn't hide his regret for the catastrophic loss that they had suffered. On top of that, Alier was glaring at him as if he had killed his children and stolen his wife.
The chief gathered all his courage of a lifetime as he resolved himself to stall Alier so that the knights would get no assistance. Both of them immediately faced off with Alier going aggressive and the chief running away as he barely blocked Alier's strikes filled with frigid energies.
Seeing the terrifying Alier busy fighting their boss, the assailants gained back their courage as they once again engaged in combat with the knights.