The sensation was unmistakable.
Especially after Kael handed the bow back to her, the feeling intensified.
What is this?
Fischl looked down at the weapon in her hands, her visible eye widening in bewilderment.
She could feel a power she had never encountered before pulsing through the grip. It was so potent that her fingertips trembled slightly against the bowstring. This energy far exceeded her comprehension.
She lifted her head, looking at Kael in confusion. "Your actions... what manner of forbidden power have you bestowed upon this Prinzessin?"
Oz cocked his head, peering at the bow with equal curiosity. "Mein Fräulein asks: What is this? Why does the bow feel different?"
"I'm not done yet."
Kael's gaze remained calm. He slowly unscrewed the cap of the reinforcement balm and began to smear the paste evenly along the bow's limbs.
Hiss!
The reaction was instant. The moment the Ice Reinforcement Salve touched the surface, a layer of crystalline blue frost erupted across the entire bow.
A biting chill flooded the clearing. The temperature plummeted.
Fischl felt the cold seep into her fingertips. It was a sharpness so intense it was almost painful. It wasn't just cold. It felt like a conceptual freeze that ignored the leather of her gloves.
"Ugh..."
Fischl instinctively shook her hand, trying to fling the sensation away. "This chill... why does it bite with such malice? It feels as though it seeks to congeal the very soul."
Oz translated dutifully. "Mein Fräulein says it is very cold."
Kael ignored her shock. He watched her with a faint, confident smile.
"In a moment," he instructed. "Condense your Electro power into an arrow and fire it from this bow."
Fischl blinked, caught off guard. "You... desire the coexistence of Thunder and Frost?"
Oz translated: "She says: Are you sure Lightning and Ice can be used together?"
"Yes."
Kael nodded.
"The blessing of the Destruction Path grants your bow raw attack power. The Ice Salve imbues it with a high-tier Cryo attribute. And your own Electro energy will trigger the reaction."
He paused, his voice carrying a calm certainty.
"With the combination of Thunder, Frost, and Destruction... it will be enough to obliterate these targets effortlessly."
To Fischl, his words sounded like pure fantasy.
Thunder and Ice? Simultaneously applied to a single arrow?
This defied the conventional logic of Elemental manipulation. Usually such opposing forces would destabilize the weapon immediately.
As for the "Destruction Path" he mentioned, she didn't understand the term, so she simply ignored it.
She looked down at her bow again.
Under the effect of the Ice Salve, the entire weapon was encased in a shell of jagged frost. Yet the Electro energy she naturally channeled hadn't dissipated. Instead it intertwined and resonated with the ice, forming a bizarre, stable fusion.
He's right, she realized. It's actually working.
It was as if he had unlocked a door to a completely new realm of combat.
Fischl tightened her grip on the longbow. Deep within her purple pupil, a spark of eagerness ignited.
She wanted to try this.
She needed to see what kind of earth-shattering ruin this enhanced weapon could unleash.
"Hmph."
The corner of her mouth lifted. She stroked the frozen limb of the bow, her tone shifting from confusion to anticipation.
"To think our enemies shall face such a calamitous fate. How delightfully tragic. I await the spectacle."
Oz nodded. "She means it looks like it might work. She wants to try."
Kael: "..."
Kael rubbed his temples. He decided to ignore the chuunibyou speech and turned his attention back to the distant Hilichurl encampment.
Next, it's time to test the true damage numbers.
"All right," Kael said, his voice dropping low. "Prepare to move."
Fischl's smile sharpened. The golden light in her eye flickered with intent.
She placed her slender fingers against the bowstring.
Violet lightning bloomed instantly.
Like agitated serpents, arcs of electricity danced across her palm, carrying an undeniable aura of destruction.
The next moment, Fischl channeled her Vision.
The air around her grew restless. Tiny static arcs jumped in the empty space, buzzing like a swarm of angry hornets.
Zzzzzzt!
With a thought, the elemental energy coalesced between her fingers, forming an arrow of pure, humming violet light.
As the Lightning Arrow took shape, the power of Destruction embedded in the bow began to bleed into it.
It felt like an invisible hand wrapping the arrow in a suffocating, heavy aura. It amplified the already violent lightning into something far more volatile.
But it didn't stop there.
The chill of the Ice Salve crawled from the bow limbs onto the string, and then onto the arrow itself.
Vmmm.
Ice-blue radiance clashed and mingled with the violet thunder. The biting frost intertwined with the roaring lightning.
Two completely different elements had now perfectly merged together.
This single arrow carried not only the terrifying force of Destruction but also the ultimate power of Frost.
Added to that was the thunderous impact of Electro.
Destruction. Freezing. Explosion.
Fischl's expression finally changed as she held the draw.
Even she had never imagined that a simple lightning arrow could be reinforced to such a horrifying degree.
Her hand trembled. Not from fear, but from disbelief.
She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath to suppress the shock rising in her chest.
Then, without hesitation, she drew the bow to its full limit. She aimed directly at the strongest monster in the camp. The Fire-Axe Mitachurl.
"The hour of judgment strikes. Accept the thunderous decree of the Immernachtreich!"
Oz sighed, translating out of habit. "She means she is firing."
"..."
Kael was too lazy to comment. He just signaled for her to loose the arrow.
Twang!
The next second, the arrow tore through the air. A streak of violet and blue, trailing frost and lightning, it sliced through the sky like a meteor heading straight for the Hilichurl camp.
The instant the arrow hit the ground—
BOOM!!!
It wasn't a piercing sound. It was an eruption.
A terrifying shockwave, like a detonation of pure frost, swept outward.
The entire Hilichurl encampment was instantly swallowed by the power of ice. Solid frost spread at supernatural speed. Centered on where the arrow hit, the ground for meters around was instantly flash-frozen into a glacial wasteland.
The Hilichurls in the camp didn't even have time to scream. The frost invaded their bodies, turning them into statues of frozen horror in a fraction of a second.
The Fire-Axe Mitachurl had been patrolling, its massive axe raised. When it saw the streak of light, it had instinctively moved to block.
But the next second, its entire body was encased in bone-chilling ice. Even its roar was frozen in its throat.
The archers on the nearby towers were not spared. The spreading aura froze them where they stood.
Everything. The monsters, the buildings, the very air.
Sealed in ice in that single moment.
But this wasn't the end!