Mars felt a twinge of surprise in his mind, but outwardly, he remained completely calm.
The only thing that concerned him was Yuuki's dual magic—and the fact that Yuuki already knew he himself possessed dual magic!
There was no way this guy was from the Diamond Kingdom.
Mars was certain.
He was the sole survivor of that experiment long ago, and it was that very experiment that granted him his dual magic.
"You seem to know a lot," Mars said, his face still ice-cold.
"Things I should know, things I shouldn't—I know a little of both," Yuuki replied in a calm tone. Because he was using ice magic, the air around him plummeted in temperature, and each word he spoke came out as a visible cloud of white breath.
"I'm not interested. Your fate has already been decided!" Mars didn't care about Yuuki's identity. As far as he was concerned, as long as the other was an enemy, killing him was all that mattered.
"A reminder—go all out," Yuuki said, raising a finger as if casually giving advice. To Mars, it sounded like a provocation.
In an instant, the air went still.
"Die!"
Mars's cold voice rang out sharply.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The ore greatsword, previously restrained by ice fangs, suddenly unleashed an even greater force, shattering every single spike.
Then, with even more ferocity, it slammed down toward Yuuki.
Bang!
An ice pillar erupted from beneath Yuuki, propelling him upward at incredible speed. In a blink, he soared seven or eight meters into the air.
Rumble!
The ore greatsword, brimming with unstoppable momentum, instantly cleaved through the ice pillar.
The pillar began to tilt.
Yuuki, however, remained calm. He manipulated the ice column to slam down toward Mars while simultaneously leaping backward into the air.
"Shatter," Mars said coldly, reaching out, flipping his wrist, and executing a downward strike.
Bathed in sunlight, the ore greatsword shimmered like a gem. Its aerial speed and dexterity allowed it to spin expertly, aiming directly at the falling ice pillar.
Boom!
The ice pillar exploded, sending shards of ice scattering in every direction, blanketing the sky.
Yuuki, suspended midair, smirked.
"Ice Magic: Crystalline Spikes!"
He shouted, and his mana surged. The fragmented ice from the shattered pillar rapidly condensed into sharp spikes, each one gleaming cold and deadly.
They rained down like a blizzard of death, striking toward Mars below.
One ore greatsword alone was clearly insufficient to block the torrent of ice spikes.
"Ore Magic—Nemean's Aegis!"
Mars's body was encased in a layer of ore armor. He raised his arms to shield his face, cold eyes scanning through the gaps toward Yuuki's position in the air.
Not there?
Mars's eyes flickered.
Whoosh!
A black spatial portal opened behind Mars. A hand, radiating icy chill, reached out toward his back.
At that moment, Mars spun aside as if anticipating it. The ore greatsword, which had been hovering in midair, now loomed directly above him.
As Mars turned, the sword fell sharply toward the newly appeared portal!
Mars reacted immediately, grabbing the icy hand to prevent Yuuki from escaping through the portal.
Yet!
A cold chill spread through him.
Only then did Mars realize that the "hand" he had grabbed was made entirely of ice.
The spatial portal vanished.
Mars was left holding only an icy arm—and at that moment, a burst of cold exploded from behind him!
"Ice Magic: Heavenly Ice Fang!"
Boom!
Thick, pointed ice pillars shot up from the ground, striking Mars in the back before he could even turn around.
Thanks to his ore armor, the ice didn't pierce him, but the impact force sent him flying into the air.
"Damn it!"
As Mars was launched skyward, his expression changed.
The ore greatsword was falling from above at the same moment. One was descending; one was flinging him upward—he had no time to adjust.
Bang!
Mars collided midair with the greatsword!
Rumble!
The crushing force drove Mars back to the ground with a tremendous roar.
Yuuki appeared a short distance away, watching the massive crater filled with swirling dust.
"I already told you—go all out," Yuuki said lightly, swinging an arm.
Ore magic was impressively resilient. Even with the impact of Heavenly Ice Fang, it hadn't been enough to break Mars's ore armor.
No wonder Yuno's wind magic had so little effect on him.
Yuuki's calculations may have injured Mars, but defeating him entirely? That was impossible.
As expected of an Eight Hues warrior—truly formidable.
Boom!
A surge of terrifying mana erupted from the crater. Pure magical force shattered the massive ore greatsword.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two massive ore arms, each composed entirely of individual stones, two to three meters thick and high, shot up from the dust at incredible speed.
The ore arms moved in a pincer formation, slamming down toward Yuuki from both sides!
"Ice Magic: Crystalline Ice Shield—Triple!"
Yuuki had anticipated that the opponent wouldn't be easy to defeat. He raised both arms, shouting sharply.
Snowflake-shaped ice shields instantly formed, expanding to three layers on each side.
Crack… Crack!
The first ice shield shattered the moment it struck the ore arms. The second held for half a second.
Yuuki had already expected that three layers of Crystalline Ice Shield would be insufficient to stop them.
The destructive power astonished him.
Crack!
As the third shield broke, Yuuki's lips parted:
"Water Magic: Flowing Body!"
(End of Chapter)
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