Not far away, the Ice Lord lay on the frozen ground. He slowly opened his eyes to find himself buried under a thick layer of snow, surrounded by a deafening, terrifying noise. When his vision cleared, he saw the giant Abyssal Dragon soaring above him, searching frantically for him everywhere, unleashing massive black flames that turned the ice into ash.
Hyuga rose calmly, brushed the snow off his cloak, and grasped the hilt of his sword. He looked around searching for his companion and said to himself: "Where are you, Sora? Wait... could it be that the eagle has died?"
Amidst his thoughts, the ice shook beneath his feet. The frozen surface cracked violently, and a massive creature emerged, spreading its tremendous wings... it was the giant ice eagle, Sora.
The Ice Lord looked at him with a sarcastic smile that hid his relief, and said: "Man, haven't you died yet? I was finally going to get rid of you, you womanizer, and I was going to save your expensive food money to buy something else. Well... it does not matter. Since you are still alive, can you fly or do I have to carry you?"
In response to his master, Sora spread his wings powerfully and launched like an ice arrow toward the dragon. When the Abyssal Dragon saw him, it roared with rage and attacked. The dragon chased the eagle in every direction, spewing hellfire, while Sora maneuvered with supreme skill to avoid it.
The chase continued in the sky until they reached an area over flat, open ground. Then, the eagle flew in a straight line forward, the dragon trailing and closing the distance every second, opening its jaws to swallow him.
Just as the dragon was about to snap its jaws shut, Hyuga's sword glowed with a deadly blue light. Standing on the eagle's back, he pointed it toward the dragon's neck. The Ice Lord said with lethal coldness: "Hey, you dragon. We have wasted a lot of time playing this game of tag... it is time for you to disappear."
An unbelievable amount of energy gathered in the sword. Hyuga uttered his spell: "Ice Power: Thin Ice."
A terrifying ice blade of colossal size formed from the sword, barely manageable for any human to carry. With a single motion, Hyuga struck the dragon's neck, severing it completely as if cutting through paper!
The massive body of the dragon and its severed head fell from the sky, crashing into the earth and shaking it violently.
Hyuga sheathed his sword and said seriously: "It was a truly annoying dragon. And it is highly likely that whoever sent it is in the village. So... we must hurry, Sora."
The Monster of Blood and Wind
Meanwhile, in the village, specifically with Andre, he stood stunned and helpless before the sight of Emily. There was nothing human left in her; she had transformed into a complete, deformed demon showing no human traits, her eyes radiating a pure desire to kill.
Emily let out a demonic shriek and attacked Andre fiercely. Unable to draw his sword in time, he blocked her with his arms, resulting in a deep gash. He pushed her back with difficulty and finally gripped his sword. He began to parry her consecutive attacks, only defending himself, unable to strike back at the girl he considered his sister.
Emily lunged at him again, but suddenly, with demonic intelligence, she gathered mana at her feet, altered her trajectory in mid-air, and shot like a bullet toward the defenseless mother holding her infant!
Andre's eyes widened in terror: "No!"
He tried to run after her, but he knew he would not reach her in time. At the very last moment, solid red chains made of blood shot out, wrapping tightly around Emily's body, binding her forcefully and throwing her to the ground.
It was Julian, who anxiously asked the mother: "Are you okay, madam?"
The mother said, trembling: "Yes... thank you."
Julian looked at the child in her arms, and was shocked and appalled to see that the child who possessed the power of healing had transformed into a demon! Despite his shock, Julian composed himself and said strictly: "Madam, the child is a danger to you right now. So, until we find a solution to return them to their natural state, we must take him and isolate him."
The mother pleaded tearfully: "No! Please do not take him from me!"
Andre interrupted him quickly, panting: "Vice-Commander Julian! The child recognized his mother and calmed down, he did not harm her. But we must focus on Emily now! Do not cause her any harm!"
Julian replied with extreme confusion: "Andre? The demon bound by my chains right now is..."
Andre answered with a torn voice: "It is Emily."
When Julian heard this, he was struck by the news. But what shocked him even more, freezing him in his tracks, was that the demon Emily grabbed the solid blood chains... and shattered them with her bare hands! Then, with terrifying power, she gathered the scattered blood from the chains and began using Julian's own magical blood power!
Julian said in shock: "Impossible!"
Emily attacked, unleashing a barrage of arrows made of blood. Julian and Andre parried the arrows with difficulty, advancing toward her amidst the onslaught. Julian got close and tried to deliver a blow with the hilt of his sword to knock her unconscious, but suddenly... she turned into a pool of blood and vanished!
Julian and Andre stopped, looking everywhere in bewilderment, searching for her. She appeared again out of nowhere and attacked them with explosive spheres of blood. They blocked them with their swords, but the blood splattered and covered their clothes.
Suddenly, the sticky blood on their clothes began to move as if it were alive! The blood intertwined and formed solid hands that choked Andre and Julian by their throats! With extreme difficulty, they managed to tear the blood away and free themselves, only to find Emily standing directly in front of them. She delivered a massive punch to each of them, a demonic force that sent them flying backward to smash through the hut behind them.
They could not even catch their breath, because blood mixed with water coiled around them, binding them like snakes, and hoisted them high into the air. Emily began to squeeze them tightly while laughing with a distorted, demonic voice.
From afar, Maurice watched and laughed hysterically with ecstasy: "Amazing! This is amazing in every way! Did that girl possess such a legendary ability? Cloning? Incredible! But... did she awaken it after her transformation into a demon? Or did that magical blood flow in her veins while she was human without her realizing it? Man... just thinking about this brings me indescribable joy!"
Battle Against the Impossible
While Andre and Julian were bound in the air, choking, the blood bindings were suddenly severed by powerful blades of wind. They fell to the ground, coughing. Iris stood there.
Iris asked with concern: "Are you two okay?"
Andre replied, coughing: "Yes, Iris."
Iris looked at the demon and said angrily: "Is this the cause of the villagers turning into demons? I will cut her down!"
Andre shouted in pain: "No! It is Emily, Iris!"
Iris heard the news like a lightning bolt striking her head. She took a step back, but she composed herself as a knight and used her magic to trap Emily inside a spherical barrier of fierce winds.
But the surprise that silenced everyone... was that Emily touched the barrier and simply canceled it! She even used Iris's wind power, but with a much larger and more violent demonic energy!
Iris whispered in terror: "Impossible... Emily is using my power?"
With a single motion of Emily's hand, she summoned a massive hurricane-like wind, pinning Andre, Julian, and Iris to the wall with a force that prevented them from moving. Then, Emily slowly turned toward the defenseless lady trying to protect her child. Emily formed a sharp spear of wind and launched it to end her life.
Out of nowhere, Oliver (the teleportation knight) teleported and appeared in front of the lady, blocking the attack with his shield!
At that exact moment, Harold attacked Emily from behind with his flames. She dodged the attack fluidly and canceled the wind barrier holding the others against the wall, freeing Andre, Julian, and Iris.
Emily then used Oliver's teleportation power! She appeared directly in front of the lady to kill her, but Oliver teleported again and blocked her attack. Emily then teleported and appeared above Julian to stab him, but he parried her. She was smiling a twisted smile, as if she were enjoying playing with the Ice Knights!
No one knew what to do against a monster that cloned their powers just by seeing them.
Then, Andre shouted: "Listen to me! I have a plan!"
Andre explained his plan in seconds, and everyone rushed to execute it. Andre stepped forward and attacked Emily directly. She launched lethal wind cutters at him; he deflected some with his sword and dodged the others.
When he reached her, Emily used fire ability in her fist to strike him. Andre did the same, gathering some magical energy from the air and striking. The two fists collided, and because Andre's human strength was weaker, he was sent flying backward.
Emily took advantage of this and lunged to kill him. With a quick, calculated reaction, Andre shouted: "Now!"
Julian attacked with his blood sword to cut off her path. Emily teleported to another location to evade him... only to find Oliver standing right in front of her!
Emily erupted volcanic magma from underground to push Oliver away, but he teleported to kick her from behind. Emily backed away quickly, only to find Iris trapping her once again in a spiral wind barrier.
To everyone's astonishment, Emily turned into a pool of blood and vanished!
Julian shouted: "That was a blood clone! She is behind Andre!"
Emily was appearing exactly behind Andre. Harold launched a mass of fire to push her away from him, so Emily teleported to another location high above.
As everyone waited cautiously amidst the eerie silence... a giant sphere of volcanic magma and fire fell from the sky toward them!
Harold used his maximum power, launching a fire dragon that intercepted the sphere. The two forces collided, creating a massive explosion that obscured vision. Harold, exhausted from blocking the attack, fell to his knees panting.
From the smoke, Emily appeared right in front of him... and stabbed Harold deep in his shoulder! Then she disappeared amidst everyone's screams.
She tried to appear and stab Julian, but he was ready. Julian dove under a blood pool he had created himself, and when Emily landed, she found herself bound by Iris with compressing winds. At the exact same moment, thick ropes of blood emerged, binding her completely to the ground!
Everyone stood panting heavily before Emily, who was screaming and trying to break free, appearing to be in pain.
Julian said, wiping blood from his face: "You cannot get out. The blood binding you is the 'Sealing Blood Spears'... meaning you cannot use or clone any magical power while you are inside it."
Julian looked at Andre apologetically: "I am sorry, Andre... but it had to be done to stop her."
The Demonic Whisper and the Squad's Collapse
Andre stood in shock, thinking about how to return her to normal when he possessed no healing magic. In the darkness of his mind, the demon inside him spoke with a malicious and tempting voice:
"I can heal her and turn her back into a human."
Andre replied in his mind eagerly: "What? You?"
The demon answered: "Yes. But you must do two things to complete the deal."
Andre asked: "What are they?"
The demon said with a terrifying tone: "First... you must give me control of your body quickly. And second... you must watch out for the demons standing right behind you."
Andre was bewildered: "Demons behind me? But there are no demons behind me, it is my friend—"
Andre turned slowly to look at his comrades. What he saw made the blood freeze in his veins.
The human features had vanished from Julian, Iris, Oliver, and Harold! Horns had sprouted from their heads, their eyes had turned red, and they had all transformed into terrifying demons! The poison had seeped into their blood from the fighting and the contaminated water.
Because of their transformation, the sealing barrier on Emily broke, and she too stood free.
Andre became the only human, surrounded on all sides by the demonified Ice Eagles Squad!
In the midst of his shock and paralysis, he received a massive punch from Julian that sent him flying. Before he could get up, Oliver had teleported in front of him, pointing a lethal knife at his neck. Andre miraculously dodged the stab and rolled away.
But he raised his head to find Emily standing in front of him, having aimed a massive sword made of blood to sever his head!
Andre closed his eyes, awaiting death.
But suddenly... glowing blue snow fell from the sky! The temperature plummeted to freezing levels. Emily, Julian, Iris, Oliver, and Harold froze in their places like ice statues without being harmed.
The Ice Lord descended from the sky, his cloak fluttering. He looked at Andre with coldness and majesty, and said:
"Sorry I am late. Now... leave it to your commander."