Fei'er Li was completely confused. The story never said Nefit had such a powerful form, and even an adult dragonized version should not be this strong. If this was really Nefit's own power, the whole plot would break apart. With this level of strength, she could wipe out every mad dragon and pursuer from back then.
"But we still cannot relax. That old man Elfido is not dead yet. He is deeply connected to the Abyss and can even borrow divine power for a short time. That attack will not kill him."
Sure enough, movement came again from the explosion site. Elfido stood up, no longer human in shape, collapsed into an angel-like form made of stitched bones and flesh, his body charred like a blockbuster and still burning.
Ignoring the decaying force raging through his body, he looked up at Nefit in shock. That presence, that unreasonable power, and the black mist around her made the identity obvious.
It was that Black Dragon, the one so strong it defied logic, the one he dared not face head-on. "How is this possible? Why are you here? Were you supposed to kill Augustus? No, this state, is it Clone? Or is that little girl actually your blessed one?"
Elfido began guessing. If the real body had come, he would already be dead. "Edward, Lyles Edward… how ridiculous. How did you end up connected like this? That man's descendant actually has ties with you?!"
He had planned to farm up a bit before, never expecting to get caught like this. The one who came did not have much power herself, but the one backing her was terrifying. "But this might not be a bad chance. She is using an ordinary mortal body, so the power she can use must be limited."
An idea formed. If he could completely kill Nefit here and capture a bit of Belial's consciousness, it might be very useful later. "Let us end this quickly. If this drags on, it will probably attract Augustus."
Below, Icelis could see the same issue. Nefit was strangely strong right now, but still not on Elfido's level. There was also something else that felt off.
"Why does Nefit's aura and power feel so familiar? Like I have seen it somewhere not long ago."
Her memories were fragmented after being split, so even if she had seen it before, she should not remember it. Yet the feeling remained. She frowned, thinking of ways to help, when Nefit suddenly rushed down and hovered in front of her.
Those dragon eyes, stained blood-red, stared straight at her. Icelis swallowed hard. That look was familiar, so familiar that as realization dawned, fear flooded her face.
"Do not come closer!"
Before she could finish speaking, a power stronger than her own Law of Ice invaded her body, along with a strange domain that took over every element that made her up. Her body no longer felt like it belonged to her, as her consciousness was pushed aside and the black mist reshaped everything according to its true the Lord's will.
"Roar!!!"
"What is that noise?"
Fei'er Li heard a thunderous roar and then saw the contract mark on the Pure White Book in her hand turn black. Her heart sank as she cautiously peeked out. The next moment, everything before her was swallowed by shadow.
"What is this… Icelis?"
A gigantic ice dragon slowly rose from the ground. Clear blue Ice Crystal shone with a strange light, covered in complex patterns like circuit boards. Black mist churned within, the Ice Crystal forming armor around it, freezing cold outside while red-black flames seemed to burn inside.
Four wing-blades like massive Greatsword extended from its wings, sharp ice spikes growing as the black mist condensed further. From within, an ominous blood-red glow tore outward with Rend. Two more icy outlines bulged from its shoulders, reshaping into two additional heads.
With a flap of its wings, icy fog spread and dyed the sky white, starting from its body and freezing everything in sight, stripping away all heat. The expanding domain seized any remaining warmth, turning it into power and sealing it within the dead ice and raging inner flames.
At its final form, the three-headed Ice Dragon raised their heads together and let out a roar carried by an ice storm.
"Roar!!!"
"Well? Old man, stunned? All of you die!"
"Why did I turn into this?!"
Belial occupied the middle head. The right head was a second unit, while the left one belonged to Icelis, stuffed in to give the original body owner some sense of involvement. This was his solution. Since his own setup was not enough, he borrowed his teammates' bodies, starting with Icelis, nesting control within control to simulate a Clone-like structure and form this Ice Dragon.
It greatly reduced his fine control, since this was three layers removed, but that did not matter. "Before, I needed precision because my stats were low. Now my size is up. If I still fight carefully, what was the point of upgrading?"
The shadow of a massive Great Dragon covered the sky. Below, Fei'er Li stared in shock, then wiped sweat from her face and muttered, "Does this look a bit too familiar?" "This Otherworld feels more chaotic by the minute. What is going on?"
"Hey, old man, what are you staring at. Get yourself excluded already."
"Absolute Zero Breath!!!" The three voices roared at the same time.
All three heads opened their mouths together, and the Ice Wings around the body spun into a massive ring-shaped accelerating Magic Array. A sky-covering Ice Storm poured out, mixed with three beams of breath so cold that they distorted the air as they surged forward.
If you asked Elfido, he had already been drenched in sweat for a while now. Even if he smashed his own skull open, he never would have imagined that the other side could actually pull off a fusion like this.
The fusion material had once been a top-tier great Elves standing at the peak of Ice Magic. It had even blocked a God of Flame who did not belong to Abyss outside a Rift. Even though it was weakened now, its intrinsic level was still absolutely top class within Ice Magic.
But directly suppressing the opponent and forcibly seizing control of the body for transformation, how was that even possible? Unless one possessed a level of Ice Law so high that it could overwhelm an Ice Spirit, this should have been nearly impossible.
This kind of result where one plus one exceeded two could only be achieved this way. No matter what the exact reason was, Elfido felt he wanted to take back what he had just said and run as fast as possible.
So, could they talk it out?
At a time like this, was that supposed to be a joke?
His body was swept by the Ice Storm, and a thick layer of white frost formed on the surface. Worse still, the hidden concept of decay within him blended smoothly with the cold and kept eating inward toward his core.
Three beams froze the two wings behind him into Shard, and only then did he barely banish them using Spatial Magic. Elfido hurriedly raised his Domain Law to defend while swinging his Magic Staff to connect with authority drawn from the Abyssal Gods.
That familiar red-black Abyss Rend opening appeared behind him. A huge blood-red Magic Array outline emerged above his head, and a trace of higher-level Authority was mixed into a red-black river that could only be called Abyssal Power, which then swept down in a single stroke.
"Damn it, this move again. My ice was melted like this before."
Icelis, who was fighting alongside, hurriedly shouted a warning. But Belial had no idea what this so-called third teammate was yelling about, and since the opponent had struck, the correct response was obviously to hit back with even greater output.
Completely different from before, the Elves body showed an absurd level of recovery toward elements and Magic. In Belial's hands, that ability was displayed on an even higher level.
All other Magic and elements in the world were assimilated by ice and snow once they entered the domain. Copying his own Energy Field from this distance was not feasible, but amplifying Ice Element by combining it with inherent traits was still possible.
The three merged beams of pale cold light slowly froze the filthy river from Abyss. To Elfido's utter disbelief, Belial then charged straight forward.
The wings erupted with intense white light, and the massive body dashed at an unbelievable speed. He slammed directly into the Abyssal Power barrier, shattering it into Shard, while four ice swords manifested behind him and forcibly anchored all basic particle motion in the area for an instant.
Then he swung his hand like a blade, his tail transforming into a massive icy greatsword. Carrying overwhelming momentum like a mountain of Lightning Magic, it cleaved downward.
"Void-Cleaving Frost Slash!!!"
"Gah!"
Elfido released multiple defensive spells in an instant, but there was nowhere to dodge. In that brief moment, icy cold flooded every gap in his body, freezing him completely in place.
The red-black light on his surface was sliced into Shard without hesitation, and his entire body was split cleanly in two.
"I can move. Damn it!"