Chapter 41
Chapter 41: The Duke’s Guidance (Middle Part)
***
If I don’t do something, I’ll lose.
The huge ice hammer coming at me was just a matter of an instant, with no time to think, I could only muster all my strength to activate the power of Order.
In a flash, my entire body was surrounded by a faint blue glow.
Black hair danced, and even my pupils were tinged with azure.
The next moment, the power of Order was released like an overwhelming tide.
Crack crack crack——
Numerous thick ice pillars rapidly rose from the ground beneath my feet, colliding with those ice pillars the Duke used to trap me. The cracking sounds of ice hitting ice were endless, with ice shards hitting my face.
The incoming ice hammer was immediately blocked, and after smashing through two ice pillars, its offensive momentum sharply decreased.
I felt my body relax, then immediately raised my arm forward horizontally.
Palm open.
Inhale.
Boom——!!
Dense ice mist erupted from my palm and entire body like an explosive shockwave. The huge ice hammer right before my eyes didn’t even have the power to resist for a moment, instantly being blown away by the terrible impact.
The momentum of the ice mist didn’t diminish at all, completely freezing the fan-shaped area dozens of meters ahead, countless robust ice spikes half a person or even a person tall sprouted from the ground, like blooming ice crystal lotus flowers.
Rendering the scene extraordinarily beautiful.
Exhaling a breath of chilling white mist, the blue light in my eyes gradually faded.
Hearing the commotion from the hunters nearby, my heart skipped a beat.
Bad, I was too hasty and couldn’t hold back!
Is Duke Scalliger alright?
“Uncle Duke!”
“Really, what frightening talent……”
A voice came from mid-air.
Without time to think more, I immediately jumped backward, leaping nearly 10 meters high into the air. At the same time, the Duke’s figure descended from the sky.
Bang!
Smashing the place where I had been standing, sending ice crystals flying.
“But too wasteful, simply reckless. Did you take me for some fearsome large beast?”
After landing steadily, I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling slightly relieved in my heart.
He wasn’t hurt, that’s good.
“What?” After seeing my expression, the Duke said quite amusedly, “Don’t tell me you were worried about me? Thought you could force me into a helpless situation like this?”
He put away the hammer in his hand.
“Are you underestimating me?”
“……No.”
I watched him vigilantly, estimating the distance between us in my mind, constantly guarding against his mysterious rushing steps.
The Duke obviously saw through my thoughts, pacing back and forth in front, disrupting my judgment while continuously speaking words of instruction.
“Your use of Order power isn’t considered unfamiliar, it’s just somewhat lacking in method, purely relying on brute force to mess around. If you only encounter those second or third-rate enemies, that’s certainly not a problem, but once you meet first-rate ones, with your fighting style, your consumption will be at least 2 or 3 times faster than your opponent. This way, losing is just a matter of time.”
“Let me tell you something else. Originally in our family, the person with the highest affinity for Frost Order was neither me nor Lafayette, but my little daughter Peylo…… She belongs to the rare genius category, and you are obviously even above her.”
“Just from this aspect, I’m not even as good as Lafayette, at most can only be considered second-rate, but whether it’s Peylo or Lafayette, or even adding Parsifal, the three of them together are no match for me…… Miss Sylvia, do you know why this is?”
“……Experience?”
“That’s part of the reason, but more…… it’s technique.”
“Watch how I use second-rate affinity to defeat those first-rate ones.”
The Duke’s footsteps stopped.
He threw the hammer at his feet and raised his intact arm to grasp at empty air.
Crack, crack. Crunch.
Countless ice crystals appeared abruptly from the air, then as if pulled by some force, flew toward the Duke’s palm from slow to fast all at once.
Emitting a teeth-grinding compression sound.
Whoosh——
Cold chill leaked out from where the ice crystals converged, quickly enveloping the Duke’s entire arm.
Even the air seemed to freeze solid.
I could feel that suffocating coldness, a temperature even lower than my frost world.
Those ice crystals were continuously compressed and deformed in the Duke’s palm, finally forming a huge ice sword.
He gripped the giant sword tightly in his hand.
Completely different from the ice hammer earlier, this giant sword’s color was quite deep, like visible azure blue, clearly not the common color of ice. As the white mist coiling around the blade grew denser, its color continued to deepen, quickly presenting a dazzling deep blue.
The entire process took no more than 2 seconds.
Duke Scalliger exhaled a breath and smiled slightly at me.
“Moon Step.”
Whoosh——
That eerily light floating step appeared again, the Duke’s figure instantly glided over 10 meters, flying to my front.
The giant sword in his hand smoking intensely, raised high.
……Frontal strong attack without any preparation? Isn’t he underestimating me too much?
Crack crack crack.
With a wave of my small hand, a thick ice wall two people tall rose from the ground between the giant sword and me.
At the same time, I lowered my body, stepping forward with my right foot, raising my right fist in a striking pose.
“Ha.” The Duke’s laugh made me suddenly startled.
The next moment, a huge sound of ice shattering rang by my ear.
Everything happened in just an instant, the previously sturdy ice wall now seemed like it was made of paper, instantly breaking apart at the touch of the giant sword.
I widened my eyes.
This…… what’s going on?!
“Don’t space out!”
The giant sword changed from chopping to swinging the moment it broke through the ice wall, coming at my face with a “hiss” like a snake’s tongue.
I only managed to raise my arm, but the block was too rushed, my arm couldn’t completely deflect the force, and the giant sword hit directly on my shoulder.
The huge force sent me flying.
My body instantly lost control, being directly knocked back about 7-8 meters, spinning several times in the air before barely landing.
“Ouch!”
After rolling several times, the small bun on my head came loose, black hair sliding down my cheeks, falling to the ground covered in dust.
My body became dirty.
Getting up dizzily, gently patting the dust off my clothes, then rubbing my aching left shoulder, showing a grimacing expression.
I could feel the Duke held back at the last moment, but this hit still knocked me for a loop.
“Never underestimate any of your enemy’s moves, not understanding means danger, now you’ve died once.”
Just as the Duke’s words fell, Madam Catherine’s angry roar came from afar.
“Scalliger! What are you doing!”
We both shuddered.
I was because of the cold. I inevitably came into contact with the white smoke coiling around the giant sword’s blade earlier, that temperature actually made me feel a hint of chill.
My heart was shocked beyond measure.
Just how low is this temperature……
Looking carefully, the ice sword in the Duke’s hand seemed to have become even bluer.
“This sword is ice at extremely low temperature, it’s more indestructible than steel. Ice blades of this strength will have unimaginable sharpness, your ice wall is far from enough to resist, be careful.”
While saying this, the Duke looked in Madam’s direction, waving his hand to indicate there was no need to worry.
But suddenly he charged over again with that mysterious step, using the giant sword in his hand like a hammer, swinging horizontally at me.
The air roared at this moment.
A sneak attack!
With the experience from last time, how could I dare to block with an ice wall again, I slightly bent my legs and jumped straight over his head.
The giant sword swept past below my feet, the white smoke brushing past my soles, the terrifying cold made me shiver involuntarily, but I didn’t dare pause my movement at all, kicking towards the Duke’s head.
The Duke easily dodged with a backward lean, switching the giant sword to his left hand, suddenly swinging upward.
The white mist blew my hair into disarray.
Bang!
The ice pillar rising from below pushed me higher into the air.
“Oh, ice created at a distance actually has such great pushing force, not bad.”
The Duke’s admiration came from below, I knew he was waiting for me to land, immediately built an ice platform on one side, my body flipping and kicking hard, falling towards the distance.
Then looking back towards the Duke’s direction.
“Interesting.”
The Duke exchanged a glance with me, actually charging directly towards where I was going to land.
How can I let you succeed!
Bang——Bang——Bang!
Changing direction three times continuously in the air, quickly deviating from the Duke’s charging direction, pulling quite far away from him.
Haha, you can’t catch me now!
Indeed, the Duke stopped his steps.
I smiled triumphantly.
This distance is safe now, next I need to counterattack…… I currently have no means of defense against that giant sword, can only think of other ways.
While pondering how to win against him, my body adjusted to a good position in mid-air, waiting for the impact of landing.
Suddenly, I seemed to see the Duke break into a smile.
The next moment, that mysterious step appeared again.
Whoosh——Whoosh——!
After two consecutive gliding jumps, the Duke’s figure appeared just before I landed.
“Wait! Don’t hit me!” I anxiously covered my head.
“Second time.”
Pop.
My forehead was flicked.
There wasn’t the imagined impact next, my petite body was caught in someone’s embrace.
“You can never let your guard down at any time, because you never know what your enemy is thinking, whether your thoughts might already be within their expectations, so relaxing means handing over your life to the enemy. This time, you lost in experience.”
The Duke’s voice was very magnetic, mysteriously able to make people feel at ease.
“Look, my talent is far inferior to yours, but so far you’ve been the one constantly consuming, while the Order power I needed to make this giant sword is probably not even one-tenth of what you used, I can make countless weapons like this, but what about you? How many more times can you use that area attack?”
I timidly looked up, finding him looking at me with a gentle expression.
Then he gently put me down.
“How about we stop here for today?”
“Mm……”
I shyly looked at him and nodded.
Then waved my small hand.
“Ha!”
Ice mist erupted again.
Hmph, you can never let your guard down at any time, you said so.