V3 Chapter 51

Killing intent emitted from all around

Julian’s flames and Oriel’s Ice, every time they clashed the entire place was covered by misty smoke.

A moment hot as summer, another moment as cold as winter.

Flying in the wind, Oriel desperately tried to make a wide distance between her and that accursed traitorous demon while shooting ice magic to the chasing minotaur who seemed to be running in the air.

[The Axe of the Firelord]

A unique-tier weapon that can be clad in flames, and increase firepower. It’s one of the few magical items in the world that is almost comparable to a legendary weapon such as Lucifalion’s Heaven Breaking halberd.

[Boots of Icarus]

A Unique-Tier Magical Item that enables one to walk and run in the air in a short amount of time. Though it cannot fully enable the user to fly for a long period of time since one must touch the ground from time to time or else when the usage time runs out, you will then fall to the ground and might cause the user’s death. However, if used properly and skillfully, just like how Julian was using it, it’s an incredible and powerful magical item that can make one invincible.

Among the flying-type magical items known to the world, it's one of the few magical items that can enable the user to run in the air as if he/she was running on the ground. The speed of the user was also not affected, and with the Boots passive double agility and speed of the wearer effect, it becomes a rocket-like increase in flying speed.

[Melting Snow]

Another unique-tier magical item that has the ability to weaken the power of ice magic while increasing the power of fire.

[Sinner’s Chain]

A translucent chain that can extend and shorten at will. Once bound by this chain, your energy and magic power will be restricted.

[Bracelet of Steel]

A magical item that can temporarily grant the ability to make one’s skin into metallic steel, granting a boost in both physical and magical defense.

…these magical items are just among the few that Julian was wearing.

One can even be said that he was clad to brim with magical items making him almost invincible.

Not only that, though not as many like him, Oriel also noticed that the others were wearing two or more unique-tier magical items. And among them, one or two are related to suppressing the power of Ice Magic.

Just how are they able to gather these many precious magical items?

As she grimaced, Oriel suddenly sensed danger, and hurriedly somersaulted in the air.

A black sphere shot out from in front of her.

She stops and glared at the attacker.

Demon Sorieta.

The infamous Temptress of Pain.

And also an accursed traitor who had allied herself with barbaric beasts.

“Give up, your highness. You know you can never escape from us!”

Sorieta said with a seductive smile. Though, her gaze let out a mocking expression.

Oriel smirked. “How can you be so sure? Do you really think you all can defeat me even if you gang up on me?! Do you really think that I, Oriel, the Winter Princess, is so fragile to be beaten by dogs the likes of you?! Know your place, you traitorous whore! Bale Frost!!”

With her enrage cry, the Demon Princess conjured her power.

Immediately after, the pale white mist started to cover the entire surrounding. Seeing this, Sorieta’s expression changed, and she hurriedly flew away, fearing of even touching the white mist. However, she was a bit too close, that despite running immediately, her toes still touched the end of the mist, and her leg was frozen in ice an instant.

"Aaaaah!!"

Sorieta let out a loud, painful cry, falling. However, before she could reach the ground, suddenly, a baleful miasma burst out from her body. The ice that clad her legs melted rapidly.

“Damn bitch!”

Sorieta gritted her teeth, and her beautiful face distorted in pain and anger.

The pendant she was wearing was glowing before it slowly dies down.

Raising her head, she let out an angry-filled scream before once again shooting into the sky.

There, Julian could be seen swimming in the white mist. But the crimson flames that covered his body seemed to be a great deterrent on the white mist that it would not dare come closer, making him unimpeded.

"Aaaaaahhh!!"

Julian cried out, his voice full of fury and war intent. His pair of red eyes blazed in flames. Though he planned to capture the Demon Princess without hurting her, however, it seems that is already impossible.

Truthfully, he had never expected the Demon Princess to be this powerful.

Julian had confidence in his power, that even well-known Demon Generals would not be his match. With his blazing flames of inferno, he can burn everything into ashes. Even if he is against the infamous Demon Princess, he can still stand his ground single-handedly.

Beastmen like him had always absolute confidence in their strength. In pure physical power, the Beastmen triumph most races, including the Demon Race. Their fierceness and combat prowess were among the best. The Minotaurs being one of the best.

Not only they possess superhuman strength that is almost unrivaled, but their toughness and durability are almost without equal.

A Demon Princess who specialized in Magic, but had lost most of its advantage in the battle, should have been an easy opponent. However, to think, despite all the preparations they had done, she was still able to give them this difficult fight.

Pooooh!

Julian snorted smoke, and then suddenly, he opened his mouth, and a large column of fire was shot towards Oriel.

The Demon Princess hurriedly summoned an Ice Wall and jumped back. The Ice Wall only able to stop the flames for a moment, before a hole at the center melted, and run straight to the ground beneath Oriel's flying position.

Looking and feeling the incredible heat from the flames, Oriel’s face even more darkened. Though she didn’t want to admit it, indeed, this monster is very strong.

Julian the Fire Eater, one of the top commanders of the War of Beasts.

Even his name had reached the Demon Council and was said to have been offered a General position by them, acknowledging his horrifying strength. However, he has refused, displaying his loyalty to the War of Beasts.

Because the Demon Council didn’t want another enemy to attack them from behind, while they were busy dealing with the war against major races, they turned a blind eye to the existence of these mysterious organizations including the War of Beasts, despite their dangerous power.

I thought the rumors are just an exaggeration, but to think this man could be this strong…!

And for an organization to gather this amount of precious magical items... I fear their power had already surpassed that of everyone's imaginations!

Oriel twisted her narrow waist, and her beautiful body quickly spun. And then, her two arms wave forward. Another burst of chilling cold win blew like a storm, and as if two long blue serpents had congealed, rushed towards the raging Minotaur.

The cold blizzard reached everywhere… regardless of the distance.

A strong cold gale whistled around them as they turned into something similar to a white ocean, and shrouded Julian thoroughly. This is a spell that is much stronger than [Balefrost].

[Freezing Gale]

However, Julian’s crimson silhouette jutted out in-between that ocean of white like a block of reef. He stood motionless like a stone pillar amidst the turning waves. Then, a deep roar was heard.

The energy around him instantly surged like boiling lava.

Still, Oriel’s offensive had become more intense instead of coming to a stop.

"Freezing Blade!"

Oriel raised her sword and slashed in the air, and a blade of compressed ice sprang from her blade and at Julian, who seemed to charge straight ahead into the attack.

But almost immediately the blazing Minotaur responded to her attack by swinging down her blazing axe, casting [Fire Wave] that collided with Oriel’s [Freezing Blade] and triggered a ripple of energy.

Julian didn’t stop, however, and blitzed into motion once more, leaving a trail of flames behind him, looking like a meteor.

Baang! Bang! Boom! Bang!

Oriel was once again forced into a defensive position, being pushed back by the relentless attacks of the blazing minotaur. Sparks clashed, as the monster’s blazing axe, and the demon princess’ sword collided.

Letting out a thunderous roar, Julian raised his huge battle axe again and slashed down at Oriel’s crystal sword with a loud bang.

Booooom!

Another earth-shattering explosion rang out as the sword and axe clashed. The shockwave from the collision caused the entire atmosphere to seemly break, and the ground beneath them to hollow out.

Puff!

Oriel who bore the brunt of the Minotaur’s full attack was knocked back, crashing on the ground. Facing the terrifying huge force of the blazing Minotaur, Oriel was simply unable to resist at all. The crystal sword in her hands almost collapsed and flew out.

She coughed a mouthful of blood, her arm numb and in a very worst state, with wounds and covered with crimson blood, dripping on the ground.

The current her was actually unable to withstand the might of Julian’s axe.

It was truly terrifying!

The Minotaur’s physical strength was already strong, to begin with. And yet, being enhanced by precious artifacts made him a monster among all the monsters she had seen in the past.

"You coward! If not because of that, do you think you can even stand in my presence?!"

Oriel gritted her teeth, her expression full of anger and humiliation.

The reason why she’s being cornered right now is not only because of the enemy’s strength, or how well-equipped he is, rather, she felt her magic power weakening as time passed by. And even her health and magic recovery was slowly decreasing in speed. She was feeling weak the more she moves and fights. And the longer she fights, the weaker she becomes.

“Damn it! That Damn Hex!”

She gritted her teeth and cursed in frustration.

The hex magic that was cast on her by Sorieta on a sneak attack was slowly taking effect. If she had not let her guard down before, she would not have been easily hit by it.

But Sorieta’s level is not enough to cast such powerful hex magic. So Oriel was certain that she didn’t cast it personally, instead, it was a scroll or a cursed magical item’s effect.

But what kind of Hex Magic…?

If she couldn’t understand what kind of magic hit her, she would not be able to dispel it. She knows a bit of dark magic, so she knows Dispel magic as well. However, only if she knows what kind of hex magic it is. Or else, it wouldn’t work.

But what kind of magic was it?

Was it [Life Sapping Hex]?

Or [Defile Defense Hex]?

It has the same effect as the [Life Sapping Hex], but this burst of pain in my heart is like a [Heart Tearing Hex Magic]. Though, it could also be [Defile Defense Hex] since it weakens my strength and magic power, and it felt as if their attacks penetrated through my [Frost Armor].

No, it couldn’t be that simple…

Wounds and injuries can be cured with a healing potion, but curse magic can only be cured by Dispel Magic.

Oriel is not a Dark Mage, and though she knows dark magic, only a little. If she had known of this situation, she would have learned more about Dark Magic. But only high-level dark Mages can find out about Dark curses with one look. That is something even, she a genius cannot do.

Oriel’s thoughts were suddenly cut off as suddenly she noticed, like a falling meteorite, a blazing figure shoot towards her direction. And in a blink of an eye, it’s already in front of her, swinging that terrible burning axe at her.

Baaang!

She desperately blocks the monster’s attack despite feeling the excruciating pain on her arms, all while using the inertia and the impact of their clash to push herself away from the monster and gain distance. Her royal clothes fluttered as her soles slid on the ground, and were knocked back roughly fifteen meters away.

She jabbed her sword in the ground and leveraged it to support her body to avoid falling. She grunted in pain, and once again coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her pale face, becoming even more ghastly white as if blood has been sucked away on her body. However, still, she didn't retreat. Instead, she spat out blood on the ground with a sneering expression, before pushing magic power on her wings.

The butterfly-like crystal wings on her back quivered, and then, as if guided by a strong gust of wind, her figure shot toward Julian.

She was not the type to hide and run. She can die but never humiliated. Her pride was deeply engraved in her bones. And so, she will fight until the end!

The temperature of that area suddenly decreased. It felt as if a cold wind from mid-winter had started to screech about. Then, the crystal sword in her hand burst into a bright light of a silvery shower as it reached midway. It then transformed into a bright arc and exploded with a "Bang,"

It resembled white and azure-colored fireworks as it did so. Then, the brightly glittering sword started to revolve around Julian's body.

This trick of Oriel could be called a flashy trick. It would harass the enemy and dazzle them. Then, it would attack the enemy in a manner that couldn't be defended against.

This was a circling attack if things were to be explained in a simpler manner. So, each strike would fall from behind at Julian's body.

Despite her weakening powers, she was still able to display an incredible fighting ability that doesn’t seem to weaken at all.

Flowery and hexagonal snowflakes appeared in the sky. And, they shone brightly as they floated down in a dreamy manner. Then, they got filled with crazy sword-light in a split second. This attack seemed full of murderous intention as it frantically moved towards the blazing MInotaur.

However, Julian only snorted.

"Rage Breaking Mountain!!"

Julian's magic power suddenly surged.

Visible fire energy crazily poured into the battle-ax in his hand as though something was towing them, making the flames it was releasing even stronger as though what he was holding was a massive torch of fire.

With the uncontrolled pouring of energy, the intense heat that was emitted from the surface of the battle axe grew increasingly hotter. At the same time, the strange lines on the weapon also released a fiery red light.

After letting out a loud roar, the fire energy within Julian's body began to flow outwards like a rising tide.

From a distance, the air that the body of the blazing battle axe passed through appeared distorted as though something was steaming. Then, immediately after, with one swing of the axe, a five-foot-long crescent red light was unleashed like a flash of red lightning.

Accompanied by incredibly high temperatures, it ferociously clashed against the sword light that Oriel had unleashed.

Boooooom!!

A thunderous explosion once again reverberated throughout the entire area. The nearby monsters and demons were immediately blown away by the impact while tearing most of them into shreds.

Worst, Oriel's attack was completely crashed.