?1327 The Beauty and the Beast: Battle on Ice

Two days later, somewhere in the North Pole.

The whistling wind blew strong, generating howling sounds similar to those of an army of ferocious beasts warning any brave adventurer of the dangers their lives would be in should they continue moving further beyond. The mountains of snow and ice rose as if they wanted to touch the sky as the highest peak was enormous to the point where its summit transcended above the clouds to over thirty thousand feet.

It was not all ice and snow, though.

Some trees whose vitality was extremely fierce not only managed to survive here but flourished beautifully and rose to show their evolutive power at death's door.

Earth had only been evolving for a little over three years and yet, the temperatures at this extreme were such that even the most advanced war machines could freeze in a matter of seconds.

Although this place was clearly by no means optimal for human life, this did not mean that there were no living beings there. Many mutant animals of all kinds, even new species, could only inhabit extreme places like this because, unlike the frail human body, they could only adapt here either because their blood was as hot as lava or because their pelts were extremely thick to the point where they needed the freezing temperatures to survive.

This place was dangerous, but its beauty was just as unquestionable.

Suddenly, a fierce roar echoed in the middle of a valley formed by three huge mountains.

BOOM!

The claws of a huge yeti ferociously struck the ground in front of him. Several layers of ice immediately shattered and small fragments as sharp as knives flew everywhere under the cover of a huge wave of snow.

This nearly 5 meter tall beast was completely white except for the dozens of gray lines on his limbs. Its usually intelligent ice blue eyes at this moment were filled with murderous intent as he furiously slashed his claws in what was not unlike a death dance for his enemies.

Space was constantly crumpling under the claws of the beast, but the laws of Earth were no longer what they used to be so the space barrier did not come to break even under the claws of this Fourth Order monster.

In front of the enraged yeti, a small silhouette gracefully swayed.

Her lotus steps gave form to what was clearly an extremely profound movement skill as although her movements were not exaggerated she managed to perfectly dodge all of her opponent's attacks with the slightest margin of failure.

The lovely silhouette whose feet play was as exquisite as lotus flowers in full bloom did not limit herself only to dodging but also counterattacked whenever she was presented with an opportunity. The purple dagger in her right hand hissed amidst the gales caused by the beast, and the occasional lightning thunder resounded each time a new bloody wound was born on the creature's body. The seconds passed slowly as the battle became more and more fierce, and before either fighter realized it ten minutes had passed since they began their dance of death.

Most of the valley previously filled with icy beauty had been completely razed to the ground by these two. Half of the three mountains collapsed and half of the ground was covered by a large pool of icy water, as the countless layers of ice and snow on top could not withstand the power of hundreds of heavy attacks.

"Damned human!!!" Roared the Fourth Order yeti, clearly furious.

His formerly beautiful frame was covered in blood and his white fur was now a red coat dripping to the ground, dyeing the snow crimson constantly.

The small silhouette, however, had yet to take a scratch from her enemy. She, who was only wearing light leather armor under a tight black leotard, would probably end up severely wounded if a single blow from the yeti successfully hit her. However, she remained calm from start to finish.

This yeti's name was Amon. He was the lord and master of everything for thousands of miles around this valley since as a level 243 mutant beast he was practically unrivaled not only in the area but in the entire Earth. In fact, Amon saw himself as the ruler of this world and the only reason he didn't spread massacres in cities was because he liked silence and solitude.

Unfortunately for him, that peace was shattered by the human before him.

Seeing those razor-sharp eyes looking at him with the same indifference a person would look at an insignificant ant, Amon finally became completely furious.

"You forced me to do this!" The creature suddenly went berserk and howled skyward, "[Blood Sacrifice!!!]"

Immediately, his fur began to glow brightly and became even redder than it already was except this time it had nothing to do with the blood flowing from his wounds. An extremely heavy and horrifying aura burst out from his body, causing the winds around him to swirl in a blood-red whirlwind.

Even his eyes turned completely red and any trace of sanity or intelligence that might have been in them disappeared without a trace.

Roar!!!

The bestial roar shook the earth and the mountains of snow and ice finally collapsed after being hit by the shockwave. Amon, whose rationality had been completely eroded as a side effect of activating his Blood Sacrifice skill, charged towards his hated enemy while howling with a ghoul's voice: "DIE!!!"

BOOM!!!

The ice collapsed under such a stomp and a large section of ice over 400 meters in diameter flew straight up into the sky.

The silhouette whose face was covered by a black scarf with blue stripes, barely exposing her two eyes and small forehead, finally became serious and set out to end this battle. She gently extended her left hand forward in a seemingly slow but in reality extremely fast movement. Her leather gloved hand made a claw-like grasping gesture and as her fingers slowly closed her entire arm shook fiercely, proof of how much strength she was putting into this seemingly simple movement.

The air seemed to stagnate and time to slow down as all the chunks of ice flying in all directions and the snowflakes falling from the sky suddenly began to meet resistance. It was as if everything within 20 meters around that alluring silhouette scantily dressed for this kind of environment was turning into a quicksand swamp.

"Kuh...!"

When Amon was only 5 meters away, just as his large claw stretched forward to tear his enemy into a thousand pieces, his whole body suddenly stopped dead in its tracks.

It wasn't that he didn't want to move. In fact, every cell in his body trembled trying to release more power to continue moving forward.

But he couldn't!

A trace of rationality finally appeared in his eyes as the crimson glow that enveloped him began to fade. Although his skill was incredibly powerful as it allowed him to release twice as much power in exchange for losing his sanity, the effect only lasted for a few seconds and after that he would fall into a weakened state for five days.

"You... You... You..."

When Amon finally regained his sanity and realized what was happening, his eyes trembled as a sign of how horrified he was.

All Fourth Order soul evolvers would begin to learn about the law of space, though only a little. For as they entered this stage they would become close enough to slightly feel the door of said law, allowing them to eventually open it and use it to some extent.

However, even 100 years might not be enough time to achieve this. That was how difficult was to understand the laws of space even if it was only an insignificant part of it.

"Space lock? How is this possible... How can you control space to this point..." Amon muttered to himself as if he had lost his life.

The eyes of the small but lovely silhouette showed a hint of exhaustion at this point. She lowered her hand slowly and then her body swayed strangely, instantly appearing in front of her opponent.

Despite not being able to move his body, Amon still had control over his eyes and mouth which in itself was proof that his enemy's spatial lock wasn't exactly perfect. Under his trembling eyes, the lovely silhouette raised her dagger and as easily as cutting butter pierced his chest until it reached his heart.

The sound of lightning crackled noisily in the Fourth Order yeti's rib cage and thundered across the now destroyed ice valley.

Seconds later and with a thud as he fell onto the completely cracked ice, Amon collapsed now lifeless.

That lovely silhouette crawled up to the beast's head and easily put a hole in the head with her dagger. After a bit of digging, she finally pulled out what she had hoped to find, and as she looked at the small white stone in her hands her icy eyes finally showed a trace of joy.

Just as she was about to start working on the coat, flesh, and other parts of the mutant beast's body that might be of use to her later her movements suddenly stopped abruptly in their tracks.

"That was now a space lock? Even though it's not complete I'm afraid that in our entire faction perhaps only I can break it if I use all my strength.... As expected, even Bing Xue can't slack off against you."

Turning around slowly, she saw that about 250 meters away and standing under the only healthy tree for several miles around was a young man with hair as white as snow and eyes as red as blood looking at her softly.