Once the pressure could no longer be contained, the ice formation exploded, sending shards flying in every direction. Cryonis took cover behind a new pillar, well aware that he would have to move before the rd demon could attack.
When he checked, the monster behind the veil of mist was still glowing with the same orange color, like a piece of metal that had been heated to the melting point. It hadn’t moved much, remaining in the same spot as if waiting for something to happen.
Just when he considered launching another ice missile, Cryonis watched the demon raising its right arm, the beast at its end awakening with an ominous as bright embers ignited in the depths of its maw, giving a glimpse of the inferno it as about to launch.
Driven by instinct alone, the cold hero took off running a moment before his hiding spot was obliterated by a massive explosion, and although it he avoided being caught in the fire, the impact still robbed him of his balance, almost planting his face into the dirt.
More explosions followed, and Cryonis evaded each one by a hair’s breadth. By the third one he realized that the red demon wasn’t trying to incinerate him with the flame torrent from before but instead was throwing fire balls at him. Each one detonated upon impact, rattling the floor and sending a wave of fire through the surrounding, making it an area of effect attack.
Cryonis evaded when he could and blocked when he was forced to. Soon enough, he noticed that he was being pushed away from the forest. He had just given up on catching the thieves so there was no point in trying to reach it, but that was before his comms were destroyed and he became unable to contact operation command.
The headache that was bound to result from failing one of the operation’s objectives wasn’t something Cryonis wanted to deal with. Retrieving the relic was Silver Wind’s job, but since he was the closest to the thieves before they made their escape, most of the blame was bound to gall on him.
That said, what was he supposed to do about it? The enemy was his exact opposite, countering everything he threw at them with ease. Going all out risked implicating the raid force and the innocent guests in the hotel, so he was limited to the grass field surrounding the white mansion.
Usually, all he needed to do was encase his enemy in ice and that would do the trick, even if they are a pyromaniac. But the red demon with the dragon head for an arm easily resisted the cold, taking an instant death attack to the face and not only surviving it, but also continuing to fight after that.
Cryonis began to suspect that he was against a Level 4, or maybe even a Level 5, though that would be the threat of the power suit and not the individual operating it. Such technology surpassed anything the Radmir military had in its arsenal which was far from good news.
With all of that into consideration, Cryonis knew he couldn’t afford to lose. He needed to end the demon somehow and go after the thieves and retrieve the relic.
Another explosion slammed its force into his back, blasting him several meters. Managing to land on his feet, the cold hero put his weight on the right one and poised himself, frost forming under his sole. A pillar of ice erupted from the ground and tossed him high in the air. Spinning and flipping, he evaded several fireballs then activated his powers once more, surrounding himself with a half a dozen ice shards.
Putting all his focus into their creation caused the shards to turn blue in a much shorter time than before. Cryonis launched them with a silent command and the bombardment that followed made no sounds, only the quiet eruption of sharp icicles that could impale anything in their way.
Landing, the cold hero kept his posture low and froze the ground at his feet, creating another pillar that launched him forward. He didn’t check if his attack had affected the red demon and instead went around them, praying that he had bought enough time to reach the staff elevator before his enemy comes back to obstruct him.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get that far before the a wall of flames rose in his path. He didn’t even get to reach the forest line before being forced to retreat. Creating another ice pillar to push himself away, Cryonis felt his frustration rising, something that was quit difficult due to his ice powers.
He froze his immediate surrounding in n instant, preparing for another big attack. A lager of frost spread over the dirt floor, the grass that had covered it seconds ago now burned. It was just a side effect from using his abilities and he didn’t think much of it, but then he noticed a small section of the ice cave in as if pressed by something.
Instinct took over once more and Cryonis docked close to the ground. For a moment there it appeared like he was just mistaken, but his sense of danger didn’t let up. The instant his hand touched the ground, he channeled his powers through them an caused a wide eruption of spear like.
Though it appeared as if he struck nothing but air, a number of ice spears shattered as if having smashed into a hard surface. That was all the evidence he needed to realize a different enemy was targeting him, and that caused the alarms in his head to go off.
Knowing what kind of trouble had found its way to him, Cryonis let go of the limitation he placed on his abilities and released them on the his surroundings. In an instant, the empty field was coated into ice and the air itself froze, turning into white ice particles. One part in particular seemed stand out with the ice gathering, clinging to a surface and forming layers and layers until they took on a vaguely humanoid shape, except for the knife like horns on its head.
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