Rachel once again retreated, this time her expression was that of a frown.
The first hit had been a great factor in deciding this,Rachel wouldn't have expected Wilhelm to have gone insane and burn himself for a chance for that ring.
Rachel although had better control over Muspelheim to the point it wouldn't burn her outright, it obviously didn't make her invincible.
She had a limit just like everyone else did.
She wasn't a God after all was she?
And Wilhelm would draw out the limit and exhaust her.
That was his strategy.
But he also became wary.
Rachel was a battle freak.
The more she got hurt, the more excited she became and thus more reckless.
He knew she was slowly transforming into a rabid beast in front of him.
It wouldn't be wrong to say Wilhelm was the Matador to the bull that was Rachel.
"Come at me!" Wilhelm taunted.
"You bet!" Rachel grinned and rushed forward.
Yet when she came close to Wilhelm again, she slipped and almost fell.
"Should've watched where you walked." Wilhelm spoke as he threw his Frost Lance towards her.
"Hmph!" Rachel snorted and raised Muspelheim's flames, seeking to melt both the frozen floor and the lance.
A burst of flames stuck both, seemingly melting them as well under the heat.
Seeing this Wilhelm conjured another Frost Lance and thrust it towards Rachel.
"Burn!" Rachel roared as the lance instantly melted and in place another one was formed.
The lance was getting closer, it had entered a state of melting and formation by now.
"How long can you keep this up !" Rachel shouted, her voice becoming hoarse as Muspelheim's burden was wearing her out and such her flames as well.
But so was the case for Wilhelm with Niflheim, except he wasn't gettingweaker but losing control.
"Muspelheim is fire, it seeks fuel to keep it burning. Niflheim isn't like that, it is frost, as long as there is 'something' it will continue to freeze. Muspelheim at most will burn the body of the user but Niflheim shall freeze all physical objects if needed."
There was also the fact that Muspelheim that Rachel possessed was more like a spell than a separate power like Niflheim.
With Muspelheim Rachel would be losing mental clarity and stamina the further it was used exactly like a spell, but Niflheim didn't rely on such things and just kept freezing things. It was only thanks to The Frost Core that Wilhelm was able to use Niflheim to this state.
Currently Wilhelm felt his organs slowly freezing and his blood hardening.
Gritting his teeth, he summoned one last Frost Lance.
Roaring, Wilhelm used his entire body strength to thrust it forward.
The Frost Lance managed to breach past layers of Muspelheim's flames being mangled significantly as it did.
Rachel gritted her teeth as well in fear, she didn't know whether it would reach her and thus she exerted even more force to churn out more flames.
Wilhelm's right arm became completely charred but his grip remained, holding on the melting Frost Lance.
At this moment, Rachel reached out with her hands and grabbed the lance, it's sharpness causing her hands to bleed but she held it.
Now it was all dependent on who could last more,Rachel or Wilhelm.
"Come on!" Wilhelm willed.
"Come on!" Rachel thought, her feet pressed tightly onto the floor.
In that moment, Rachel, using all her strength did something unprecedented.
She began to push the lance back.
Wilhelm's right arm slowly was losing power both from his internal organs being frozen and hand being burnt while her was suffering from the evident weakening of her flames and her bloodied hand.
In terms of whose state was worse, it was no doubt Wilhelm's.
Seeing that she was able to push the lance back,Wilhelm's eyes widened in shock.
Seizing the moment,Rachel knew she had to utilize the chance presented.
"Flames! Condense!" She willed as all the flames were redirected towards her hands.
Blood trickled from her eyes as the mental strain increased significantly.
But she had to do it.
"Burst!" Rachel roared.
BOOM!
A loud explosion resounded across the field, knocking Rachel back.
Wilhelm stood there silently.
His right arm was mangled with the hand being blown to bits by the explosion.
But Wilhelm didn't scream in pain or terror.
He just quietly watched her.
Then he began walking.
Rachel, seeing this, scoffed.
"You are in no state to fight."
Wilhelm while slowly advancing, nodded.
"Indeed, you are correct." He reached out with his left hand.
SWOOSH!
Rachel's eyes widened in shock.
"What!"
It was quite logical for her to be surprised.
Why?
Because in Wilhelm's hand was a frost lance.
Rachel's mind immediately churned as she thought.
"Looking at his state, he should be in no condition to conjure another Frost Lance. His body is already experiencing frostbite so he won't be able to use Niflheim further if he wants to remain alive and with the pain in his hand.He shouldn't be mentally sound enough to conjure as well. So what's happening?"
Rachel was easily able to deduce this based on his grayish skin as well as through logical reasoning.
To cast a spell, a person mentally had to focus on it if they didn't then the spell wouldn't work.
Was Wilhelm suicidal?
That was inaccurate.
She knew how mad he was for the ring.
But to die for it?
No way.
Then she looked at the lance and it all clicked.
The lance's tip was slightly melted.
That was all it needed for her to realise Wilhelm's trick.
"Storage! He utilized the Siegfried System's Storage function to store the lance right after it was engulfed by the flames to make it seem like it was destroyed when it wasn't!"
That was indeed possible, Storage allowed a person to store anything of theirs and since Wilhelm used The Frost Core which was connected to Niflheim which was technically a part of him, so was the frost lance.
And she was correct.
"Man must make sacrifices if he is to win, a hesitant Man is a dead Man."
Wilhelm was always mad whether it was due to the meddling of Carto Harts or the recent events that had transpired, perhaps both.
But it didn't matter, his immense need for that ring was a major catalyst as well as his first human kill resulting in the madness ballooning to massive heights.
Now he didn't care if his entire body was burnt let alone a mangled hand.
He wanted that ring..
And to get it, he would have to win.
And thus Wilhelm with the lance in hand, stabbed it towards Rachel who was completely exhausted, unable to do anything.
The lance hit and pierced Rachel's skull.
She with the frost lance embedded in her skull dropped to the ground.
Rachel Ebengairi had died.
As he did so, Wilhelm fell as well.