Aria unleashed a devastating explosion of ice, releasing an overwhelming surge of mana.
The shockwave of frost spread like a raging blizzard, engulfing everything in its path within a white web of rime. One by one, the surrounding walls burst apart, while a biting cold crept through every corner, seeping into the deepest cracks of the palace.
As the smoke began to clear, it revealed a transformation both savage and awe-inspiring.
Aria now stood in her Beast Fury form, her once-sleek white fur bristling like armor, radiating raw, unrestrained power. Her eyes burned with a fierce, primal light.
Every muscle in her body quivered with untamed energy, ready to be released in an explosion of motion. Her teeth once ordinary had become sharp, predatory fangs capable of tearing through steel.
Yet, she was not the only figure standing amidst the chaos. From within the smoke, Vengus and his men emerged unscathed, a flaming barrier having shielded them its embers fading slowly into the air.
As his gaze settled on Aria her mask now shattered and gone, revealing her true face consumed by fury Vengus quickly understood. He recognized the rare features of her tribe, one he himself had profited greatly from.
"Oh, I see now," he said with a wicked grin. "You came to reclaim what's left of your tribe."
"I'll also be taking your life tonight!" Aria roared, hurling herself at him.
"I'd like to see you try, little girl!" he laughed, genuine amusement in his voice.
Aria leapt forward with feral grace, her icy claws gleaming in the firelight as she aimed to tear him apart.
But with effortless composure, Vengus drew two daggers, their blades flashing as he met her attack head-on.
The clash erupted into a furious duel.
Their movements became a deadly dance a flurry of strikes, parries, and counterblows.
Each swipe of Aria's frozen claws was met with the precise deflection of Vengus's blades. Sparks flared from every clash, illuminating the battlefield, while trails of icy mist followed Aria's every movement.
He moved with unnerving fluidity, his daggers an extension of his own hands. Each parry carried unshakable confidence; every counterattack struck with surgical precision.
Logan, caught off guard by Aria's sudden outburst, rushed in to assist but three figures stepped into his path.
They were Vengus's closest lieutenants the same men who had raided countless villages at his side. These were no ordinary thugs or hired adventurers. They were killers, veterans forged in cruelty.
"Where do you think you're going?" one of them sneered.
Logan, his mask glinting under the flickering firelight, turned toward them in silence.
His red eyes gleamed beneath the hood of his dark robe, radiating a cold, merciless presence—
as the flames devoured the palace around them.
"Move!" shouted Logan, trying to reach Aria.
Several stone blades suddenly erupted around him, shooting forward like a deadly rain of projectiles. It was a fine attack, but the confidence of the three men did not waver. Their movements were smooth and perfectly coordinated, their reflexes as sharp as their blades.
In a flawlessly executed choreography, they deflected the stone blades with unnerving precision. The sound of metal striking rock echoed through the air a melody of steel that spoke of their mastery in combat. Without losing a second, the three men lunged forward.
However, Logan was not a man to be overwhelmed by pressure. In the narrow window of opportunity he had, he unleashed a burst of stones toward his opponents. Yet one of the men reacted with calm assurance. With a fluid motion, he raised a wall of water, which rose before them, absorbing the impact effortlessly.
One of them managed to close in on Logan, swinging his sword at point-blank range, aiming for his chest with deadly precision. The blade whistled through the air, ready to pierce flesh but the attack failed to exceed Logan's calculation power. The blade, which should have driven into his chest, was suddenly deflected. The man froze in shock, disbelief flickering in his widened eyes.
Seizing the moment of confusion, Logan countered. A violent kick burst forth an explosion of focused power that struck the man with devastating force. The impact lifted him off the ground and sent him flying several meters back. Unfortunately, the man recovered easily, blocking most of the damage without visible effort, before letting out a laugh.
"Well, looks like we've got someone decent here, huh, boys?"
"Indeed. Guess we'll have to get serious too."
Several ice projectiles flew toward them, but like before, another water wall appeared only for it to freeze instantly. Aria's mother had joined the fight, now bearing the same feral traits as her daughter her body fully in Beast Fury mode.
"Need a hand?" asked Elie.
"No. Go help your daughter. I'll handle them," replied Logan firmly.
"You sure?"
"Completely."
"Very well."
Logan moved toward Aria's fight with Vengus, but the three men tried to block his path. Instantly, a thick stone wall rose before them, cutting them off.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Bastard!" one of the men cursed.
"Come on, then!"
"You'll regret that!"
They rushed him again, while the battle between Vengus and Aria raged on.
The blows kept flying without pause. Yet, though Aria was the aggressor, her opponent parried every strike effortlessly, watching her with an amused smirk.
"You're slow, little one just like the rest of your pathetic tribe."
Aria's rage flared, driving her to strike faster, harder.
"That's better… but still not enough."
He caught her ice claws mid-swing and drove his knee into her stomach. She gasped, pain surging through her abdomen as she was thrown several meters away.
Struggling back to her feet, she charged again, launching ice spikes mid-run.
"You're tiring me, girl."
From his body burst a wave of heat, melting the ice projectiles, and he parried her claws once more. His daggers ignited their flames licking up the steel melting Aria's claws little by little, effortlessly. He struck her in the stomach again, and this time didn't stop. He kept hitting, again and again, blood beginning to trickle from her lips.
"Too impulsive. Drowning in anger. And above all weak. And you thought you could kill me? What a pathetic joke."
A vein bulged on his forehead, fury seething in his eyes.
"You destroyed my beast palace, took my girls do you have any idea how much time and money that'll cost me? You'll pay dearly for this!"
Aria gathered her mana, summoning another explosion of ice. It detonated, but Vengus immediately nullified it by releasing a wave of heat at the same time.
"That was your last attempt."
He pressed his dagger against her throat, locking eyes with her.
"I want to see the life drain from your pathetic body your eyes fade away, just like all the members of your tribe I killed."
He was about to slit her throat when a hand with ice claws stopped him cold.
"Oh? So you're family."
"Yes and I won't let you take my daughter the way you took my husband!" declared Elie fiercely.
She struck him with a powerful blow that triggered an explosion of ice, hurling him several meters away.
"Aria, snap out of it!" shouted her mother.
"I"
"Do you think your father would want to see you like this? A furious child too blinded by rage to fight properly?"
"No…"
"Then act like the daughter of the Lunaria chieftain the beastmen of the cold!"
"Yes!" she shouted, regaining her composure.
There was no turning back now. The battle had begun and retreat was no longer an option.
"I see… so you're the chief's daughter. I could've sold you for a fortune back then. No matter I'll send you both to join the man you loved!"
A violent blaze erupted around him, flames dancing and crackling with ferocious intensity. They moved in rhythm with his will a manifestation of the burning power coursing through him. Surrounded by fire, he shifted into a battle stance, daggers poised to strike.
Across from him, Aria stood tall, her eyes now steady with renewed determination. She had buried her anger deep, ready to fight alongside her mother two warriors united against the man who had destroyed their lives.
The battlefield became a clash of elemental forces fire roared around him, blazing with destructive might, while an icy gale emanated from Aria and Elie, embodying cold and mastery over frost.
The tension was palpable electric vibrating in the air as they stared at each other, their gazes like sharpened blades. For a single, suspended moment, time itself seemed to freeze.
It was Elie who broke the silence first. Her body darted forward with feline grace, Aria close behind. Their movements were fluid, synchronized a display of skill and experience that demanded respect.
Behind Vengus, several fireballs formed, lighting up the battlefield. They shot toward the two women with a sharp whistle. With extraordinary agility, they dodged them all each fireball exploding upon impact, scattering waves of blazing flames. The walls around them shook beneath the force of the blasts, flames licking at every surface, transforming the palace into an apocalyptic tableau. The flickering firelight danced across their focused faces, their silhouettes etched in brilliance against the burning background.
In a perfectly coordinated motion, Elie and Aria closed the distance, their razor-sharp ice claws swinging with deadly grace. He adjusted his blades fluidly, parrying their strikes with practiced precision.
The ensuing battle turned into a breathtaking display swift and violent, a dance of metal and ice unfolding at a blinding pace. Every movement, every block, was executed with surgical precision a macabre dance where a single mistake could mean death.
Each clash unleashed a shower of sparks that briefly lit up the battlefield. The rhythm of combat was relentless a storm of calculated attacks and instinctive reactions, moving faster than the eye could follow. The intense cold radiating from Aria and her mother slowly crept over Vengus, seeking to breach his defense. The biting chill gnawed at his strength, ice threatening to seize his every motion.
"Tchh!"
Without hesitation, he channeled his mana into his daggers. Instantly, flames surged around him, burning away the cold. His daggers blazed with a searing halo the fire licking their sharpened edges with furious hunger.
Restoring the balance of power in an instant, their movements were now charged with renewed intensity.
Ice claws and flaming daggers collided in a furious dance, each strike scattering showers of sparks and clouds of vapor the violent meeting of two opposing elements.
Even with both women fighting together in their Beast Fury forms, Vengus held his ground. Elie then unleashed the technique she had used earlier. This time, when one of Vengus's blades clashed with her ice claw, a violent detonation thundered through the air. Reality itself seemed to tear apart in an explosion of elemental and magical force. The shockwave hurled him backward like a broken puppet. He was launched into the air before crashing brutally to the ground. When he rose again, ice had spread across both of his arms.
[Explosive Ice Claw: With each contact, the claws release a burst of icy energy.]
"Go, Aria!" Elie shouted with conviction.
"Yes!"
They closed the distance once more, moving toward him with speed and precision. While he was melting the ice that covered his arms, the two launched their coordinated assault. Every strike from Elie carried explosive force, sending destabilizing shockwaves that briefly broke through Vengus's guard. Those openings gave Aria the chance to strike through the cracks in his defense.
The harmony between mother and daughter was palpable. Elie unleashed heavy, thunderous blows that shook the air, while Aria stayed sharp, ready to exploit every opening that appeared. Elie's attacks were like thunderclaps, creating icy shockwaves that rippled through the air. The breaches they caused allowed Aria to strike with surgical precision, targeting every vulnerable point in his stance. Aria managed to land a few glancing hits shallow, but enough to tear his skin and shred his clothing.
Each narrowly avoided strike left fresh marks on his body, ripping through fabric and flesh alike. The scars of battle were now visible vivid proof of the intensity of their struggle. The air was thick with the scent of blood and sweat, and elemental energy swirled violently around them in a destructive dance as the burning building groaned around them.
This time, he was undeniably pushed back. The combined onslaught of Elie and Aria had shattered his guard and wounded him.
"So, how does it feel to be pushed back, huh?" Aria taunted.
"Shut your damn mouth, brat!" Vengus roared.
He barely dodged another of Aria's strikes not realizing she had anticipated his movement. In one swift, precise motion, Aria summoned a thick sheet of ice beneath his feet that trapped his right leg, rooting him to the ground. Helpless and exposed, he was completely at her mercy. She lunged forward, pressing the advantage. He ducked, but not fast enough her claw slashed across his right flank, cutting deep and spilling hot blood down his side.
"Ahhh!" he groaned.
Reeling from the pain, he left another opening one Elie seized instantly. Her claw struck his face, followed by a violent explosion. The blast hurled him across the room and into a wall, shattering it in a thunderous impact that sent debris and dust into the air, obscuring everything in a gray haze.
Moments later, he emerged again his face now marked by a deep, jagged gash from Elie's claw, a permanent reminder of her fury. Blood streamed from his abdomen, and when he coughed, it came out crimson and wet proof of the internal damage the explosion had caused.
"You think you're strong, huh? Cowards!" he shouted hoarsely.
"You fought my husband with over twenty men at your side and you dare talk about cowardice?" Elie snapped back.
"That's true… but he was far stronger than either of you! I'll show you the difference between us between your kind and mine! Then I'll send you both to join him!"
A fierce aura of fire erupted around him, burning with the intensity of his rage. The daggers in his hands transformed, their fiery energy lengthening until they resembled twin swords. The blades danced, surrounded by a molten halo. As the blazing aura wrapped around him, the flames crept toward his wounds, cauterizing them and halting the bleeding.
This time, he was the one to take the offensive. He charged at them, launching dozens of fireballs in rapid succession. Desperate, the two women erected a massive ice wall the only thing that could protect them from the sheer number of projectiles. The wall trembled under the onslaught, each explosion turning to steam and obscuring the battlefield in a dense, suffocating fog.
He took advantage of it circling around and targeting Aria, quickly recognizing her as the weaker link. It was a plan he had formed in an instant.
His flaming blades met Aria's ice claws again, but this time, the clash was different. The heat difference was overwhelming an infernal fusion threatening to consume everything. Her claws began to melt under the searing flames, and a sharp, burning pain tore through her hands. She was forced to pull back before she lost them entirely.
But the unexpected happened as Elie rushed to help her daughter, she was suddenly blocked by blazing entities rising from the ground.
[Flame Clones: Creates fiery duplicates of yourself.]
The complexity of the battle surged to new heights as three flaming clones of Vengus appeared, each radiating his own fierce aura. Elie froze for only a moment, facing this new threat a multiplied foe that made the already tense situation far more dangerous. Determined, she dove into combat, only to realize that these clones were not to be underestimated.
Their movements were nearly as fast as the original's, their attacks perfectly synchronized, weaving together in a deadly dance. It was like facing an orchestra of fire, each motion executed with frightening precision. Every dodge and counter Elie attempted was met with a coordinated strike and before long, she found herself trapped.
"It's pretty mana-hungry," Vengus laughed, "but I'm glad I learned it. I heard the Flame Queen could summon over a hundred of these things like some kind of monster. I can already feel it draining my mana dry, but hey, worth it!"
While Elie was locked in battle with the clones, the real Vengus charged at Aria once more, unwavering in his fury. Flames danced wildly around him, his entire body engulfed in elemental might. Aria, defenseless and battered, could only rely on her agility to dodge his relentless blows.
Under growing pressure, with desperation clawing at her chest, Aria made a last-ditch decision to unleash a blast of ice in a desperate attempt to regain control. But he reacted faster than she could have imagined, countering with a wave of scorching heat that consumed her icy explosion. The two forces collided, creating a thick curtain of steam that momentarily blinded them both.
He burst through it, catching Aria off guard. Before she could react, his blade pierced her right side. Agonizing pain spread through her body, compounded by the burning heat of the flaming sword as it seared her from within. Acting on pure instinct, she called upon the element of water and released a powerful, watery burst to break free.
The explosion of water sent her flying backward, tearing her from his burning grasp. She landed hard injured, but free.
"Oh? So you can use the water element too," Vengus mocked. "But it looks like you've barely learned to control it. Not so bold now without your dear mommy, huh?"
"Ahhh!"
Aria unleashed a desperate volley of water bullets toward him, but he advanced without fear. His flaming blades spun gracefully, slicing through them as if they were nothing. The bullets burst into crystalline droplets on contact, transforming instantly into steam under the heat. He continued walking forward, the flames surrounding him flickering mockingly in the haze.
"Far too weak compared to your ice," he sneered, smiling broadly.
Aria was cornered her mana nearly depleted, her Beast Fury seconds from fading. On the brink of collapse, her mind flashed back to her training with Logan to his words:
"Once you're stronger, you'll be able to combine your attacks into something truly devastating."
Their training replayed vividly in her mind every dodge, every strike as her skills silently activated and her focus deepened.
[Will to Grow] – [Will to Survive]
The secondary effect of Will to Grow granted her heightened learning ability. Aria stood again, determination blazing in her eyes, and slammed her foot into the ground. Ice spikes erupted fiercely upward, forcing Vengus to leap aside but as he did, several massive water spheres shot toward him simultaneously.
They were faster, larger, and heavier than before and this time, he couldn't block them all. Some hit him squarely, staggering him. As if that weren't enough, more ice spikes came flying this time from the air, conjured directly by Aria's will. They rained down in tandem with the next wave of water spheres, forming a devastating dual-element barrage.
The sheer number of projectiles was overwhelming. He tried to block, but there were too many. Forced into the air, he relied on a flaming shield to intercept the final hits as he fell but Aria had already predicted his landing spot.
She was waiting. Her claws of ice gleamed, poised for the killing strike.
"Didn't you learn anything earlier?" he spat midair. "Your claws are useless against my flames!"
He hurled his burning blades at her but both were caught in Aria's left claw.
"What ?!" he gasped.
He finally saw why. Her claws were no longer made of pure ice a thin layer of water covered them, absorbing and neutralizing his flames. The strike was blocked completely, leaving him wide open. Aria lunged forward with her right claw.
She aimed for his heart a perfect, decisive blow. She had won. At that range, he couldn't escape. Her claws drove forward, carrying all her fury, all her grief, and the full weight of her vengeance. It was the culmination of her will the end of a battle that had scarred her soul beyond repair.
"VENGUS!" she screamed, blinded by rage and the certainty of victory.
"CRACK!"
Her claws shattered into a thousand shards before they could reach him. In that tragic instant, her Beast Fury faded. She had spent every drop of mana in her final, desperate assault.
"No…" she breathed.
"Looks like Providence favors me," Vengus said with a cruel grin.
Smiling victoriously, he kicked her hard in the face, sending her crashing several meters away. Aria lay on the ground, pain and despair flooding her as the realization of defeat sank in.
He walked toward her calmly, watching her struggle to stand in vain. Exhausted, wounded, and drained, her body failed her. Only moments ago, victory had been in her grasp.
He stopped above her, looking down with contempt.
"You've been just as much of a pain in the ass as your damn patriarch but this ends now."
He raised his flaming blade high, eyes gleaming with satisfaction as he looked into her helpless face. The sight of her despair delighted him.
"Yeah… that's it. Feel it the fear, the helplessness. That's exactly what your father felt. But don't worry, I'll end your suffering too."
He brought his blade down with a sick smile. Aria shut her eyes, bracing for death.
When she opened them again, she wished she hadn't. The horror before her froze her blood her worst nightmare realized. Her mother stood in front of her, impaled through the chest, shielding her from the fatal blow. Elie coughed, splattering blood across Aria's face as her daughter stared in trembling disbelief.
"M…Mom… Mom!"
Emotions crashed within her fear, sorrow, rage, despair a storm she could no longer contain. Fate had turned cruel, and Elie's life now hung by a single, fragile thread. The battle had reached a new and devastating peak, revealing the heart-wrenching cost of a fight that should never have happened.