The howling storm of the ice blizzard surged closer and closer with every passing moment.
The many projectiles were closing in, both from above and below, leaving me little room to maneuver.
[Airwalk] was still active, granting me the ability to run across the air itself. I pushed myself to dodge, and I just barely managed to narrowly avoid the brunt of the icy blizzard.
My evasion wasn’t perfect, however; stray shards slashed across my arms and legs. The cuts were shallow but searing with cold. I had no choice but to keep moving. Stopping meant instant defeat.
Kael’s projectiles predicted my every move, he had amazing teamwork with Anivia.
The bird chased after me while he aimed where he thought I would be at. With my options being stolen from me, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and brace for impact as I called forth a defensive spell. “[Earth Armor]!”
Sturdy plates of rock erupted from my skin, encasing my body in a protective shell.
The first lance struck my Earth Armor with a deafening crack, sending a spiderweb of fractures rippling across the surface. A second lance followed immediately, then a third and a fourth, each one slamming into me like a battering ram and as a result, I was ragdolled high up in the air.
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The Earth Armor shattered apart with pieces of rock flying in all directions. Pain radiated through my body as the force of the blows slammed into me. My high Vitality worked overtime, keeping my skin unbroken despite the numerous ugly bruises blooming across my torso and limbs. The many impacts left me in a great amount of pain.
It was all the opening Anivia needed.
The crystalline bird descended on me like a hawk diving for its prey. Its icy talons clamped onto my shoulders with crushing force, so much so that the summon managed to pierce my armor, my skin, and tear deeply into my flesh.
Anivia spun violently mid-air and released me in a calculated toss. The world tilted as I was flung high into the air with my body twisting uncontrollably until I hit the transparent edge of the arena with an extremely painful thud. I was not permitted to leave its defensive veil, thus I found myself freefalling toward the ground.
I spread my arms apart despite the pain in my shoulders in order to control my descent to the best of my ability.
I glanced below me and saw the sight of Kael grinning at me victoriously while raising his staff in a slow, deliberate motion. “[Frozen Pillar]!”
From the ground in front of him, a blunt-edged spire of glacial ice erupted in my direction. It shot toward me like a giant staff that was climbing rapidly to meet me mid-air.
I had no options left – [Airwalk] was still on cooldown, and my fire-based abilities wouldn’t melt this girthy pillar even if given a minute to do so.
Ever since unlocking [Airwalk], I always enjoyed the advantage of being high in the air. That was my domain to which not many combatants had any solid answers. Simply using the spell tended to guarantee my victory.
Kael turned the tables on me as solid ground seemed like a distant dream in my head. I had to reach the ground because being in the air with my spell on cooldown put me at a complete disadvantage, but I wasn’t allowed to.
I braced myself for yet another collision.
I crossed my arms instinctively to absorb some of the impact, but the icy force was just too much. Pain flared through me as the sheer momentum broke both of my arms, making them useless.
The collision launched me into the air with even more velocity, and I found myself helplessly spiraling into the skies as I was ragdolled once again.
I hit my back and head against the upper edge of the arena again, after which came the descent.
I forced my bleary vision to focus and saw the crystalline menace that was Anivia racing toward me once again. Its talons gleamed with frost as it flapped its massive wings.
The bird reached me and its talons clamped onto me for a second time, digging deeper into my flesh and drawing more blood. A guttural screech rang in my ears as Anivia spun once again, using its momentum to fling me into the air like a discarded toy.
The world spun around me as I hurtled skyward. The pain in my body now dulled into a constant, heavy throb. My arms hung limply at my sides, they were totally broken and battered.
As I soared, I realized the cold, bitter truth: I was being toyed with.
Anivia could’ve summoned a spell instead of throwing me with its legs. Kael could’ve summoned a pillar with a sharp, spear-like edge, but he chose to make it blunt instead.
Their intention was to make a mockery of me.
I dominated the event thus far with my overwhelming might to which the young combatants couldn’t mount a proper response. If the large crowd of people saw that their favorite lost this miserably, it would make a strong statement.
Kael was silent – for once – but I couldn’t help but imagine that this theatric humiliation of me was him screaming from the top of his lungs; ‘I might’ve ruined my chances of becoming a Phenom, but so what?! They’re just young wannabes who may or may not end up being strong in the future, the real phenoms are us who are strong in the present!’
It didn’t take long for him to speak up verbally as well, Kael’s laughter reached me even through the distance and the harsh winds. “Is this the best an Elemental Sovereign can do?You know that you can surrender at any moment, or shall I extend your suffering for a bit longer?”
Anivia shrieked again, already ascending to meet me. It was clear now – Kael wasn’t aiming for a quick finish. He wanted to break me, humiliate me, and thus prove his one-sided superiority.
As much as I hated to admit it, he was succeeding.
I clenched my jaw, swallowing the bitter taste of helplessness. It would be a long time until my [Airwalk] became available again, until then I was at their mercy. I had no spell that would help me reach the ground.
I was about to suffer just enough injuries to be teleported away because my life would be in danger. I was bleeding profusely, my arms were utterly useless, my stomach and chest also suffered greatly from the collision with the staff-like pillar as my arms could not protect me from a second time. My ribs were most likely broken, and my internal organs didn’t feel right either.
However, just as I was about to get grabbed by the bird, a sudden surge of arrogance swelled in my heart.
No, this is not how things should be!
Why am I being so wimpy all of a sudden? I suffered so much worse, a broken bone or two doesn’t even matter.
I’m outclassed? So what! I chose this challenge for myself!
Am I ready to throw in the towel and say that I haughtily overestimated myself like a dumb child?
No!
I’m the Primordial Villain, the Primordial Subjugator! How can I accept defeat without even leaving a single injury on my adversary?
I refuse to go down in utter shame!
I can’t just accept things as they stand. I have to do something – anything.
My spells are useless, my arms refuse to obey my brain’s commands, what can I do? Think! I have to unlock the ice element, maybe then I can fight back! Fight fire with fire, ice with ice!
… But how do I do that?
Ice was my enemy here, a merciless force that stripped me of my strengths and rendered me powerless. Yet… it wasn’t all-powerful.
It cracked under pressure.
It was rigid, unforgiving, unable to bend. Despite Kael being an advanced practitioner of the ice element, he could not curve his projectiles. They only shot in a straight line. If he was a master of water instead, he likely could’ve changed their shapes even while in mid-air.
And therein lay its greatest flaw.
Rigidity.
It could be powerful and extremely sturdy, yes, but the moment its structure was compromised, it shattered like brittle glass.
A spark ignited in my mind. My eyes darted to Anivia’s crystalline wings as they refracted light into a thousand icy shards.
The bird was a perfect reflection of Kael’s strategy: sharp, precise, and devastatingly effective, but fragile beneath its surface.
What was the opposite of ice?
I immediately thought of fire, but I knew from experience that that wasn’t exactly right. Fire melted ice if given enough time and strength, yes, but melting slowly over time wasn’t enough – I needed to destroy it entirely.
I needed something stronger, something more devastating. My thoughts turned to the earth below me, to the fiery veins of magma that ran beneath the crust of the world.