Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Like a Divine Domain of angels descended from the Heavens, a bright golden light filled the area. Maria, the cause of this, sprouted massive golden wings out of her back and basked in the light.

Although a decent chunk of Qi was used to create this scene, the environment wasn't damaged in the slightest.

Only a singular entity within this 'domain' was attacked.

Tssss!

"Huh?" Mira jumped back, feeling her skin burn and bubble under the light. 'Just being in the mere presence of that light injured me? What the hell?'

"Confused?" Maria giggled. "It's too early for that. This is merely the first technique in the Battle Art my Master and I created specifically to deal with you. We call it the [Celestial Purge]."

Mira raised her hand under the light. A burning sensation concentrated on that spot, yet it was more than that. A strange energy passed through the rest of her body, even penetrating her mind and soul.

Under it, she felt her Killing Intent, connection to her scythe, and even her destruction element lessen. Walking a bit closer, that feeling intensified, igniting Mira's curiosity.

'Fascinating…' She muttered. "Purge, huh. A fitting name indeed. But how long can you use this?"

A smirk gradually hung on Mira's lips as she looked up at the angelic being she called her fiancee. She might not know much about emotions and complex feelings, but fighting? Now that was a language she could speak!

"You don't need to worry about that!"

In one of Maria's hands, a large golden lance formed, while in the other, a shield. Then, starting from her feet, she was quickly covered in a heavy set of black and golden armor made of both Corrupted Light and normal Light.

"You better get serious, Mira." Maria calmly said, pointing her lance at her. "Because I won't accept you dying too early on me." Her eyes flashed with killing intent. The muscles on her arm flexed, and with a sudden movement, she hurled the lance at Mira.

BOOM!

A massive crater formed where Mira once stood, but she was already a hundred meters away. 'Such a simple attack, surely…!'

Suddenly, she sensed danger behind her and flashed away, using her [Glacial Mirage Steps], but a searing pain came from one of her tails. Looking back, she saw Maria keeping up with her, this time holding a sword.

'[Translocation Step].'

Maria actually disappeared from her sight and Soul Sense, only to reappear in front of her, mid-swing.

SWOOSH!

Mira just barely ducked in time, but a flurry of slashes came afterward, each one more powerful than the last. Minor wounds marred her body as both Maria's light and sword scratched and pierced her skin.

'Tch! This damn light.' Mira clicked her tongue in annoyance, feeling her healing factor suppressed. Unknown to her, this was another one of her techniques, [Blade of Purity]. She tried to dash away, make some distance between them, but Maria always somehow managed to keep up as if she could teleport to her location.

The two shot across the landscape, moving from one area to another in seconds. With every step, they traveled several kilometers.

Mira dodged, blocked, and deflected countless attacks as Maria pursued with a relentless ferocity nobody had ever seen in her before. However, somehow, Maria was able to concentrate every ounce of strength onto a singular point, causing minimal damage to the surrounding area.

As the minor injuries started to pile up, Mira's expression became serious. 'I guess she wasn't joking. I can't treat this as a game.'

Suddenly, she stopped right where she was and took out her scythe, parrying Maria's attack and forcing her back.

"What? Done looking down on me?" Maria giggled and replaced her sword with another golden light lance. "I guess all that training wasn't for nothing."

Maria raised the lance in the air and prepared to throw it again, but Mira intervened this time.

"As if I'd fall for that twice!" Dashing in, she swept her scythe across.

However, Maria just smirked.

Dink!

Mira's scythe collided with Maria's armor, sending her sliding across the ground, but as soon as that happened, the blonde threw her lance at the sky.

"Heh~ My [Scorching Radiance Lance] isn't so easy to deal with!" With a wave of her hand, she healed all internal injuries that formed from the collision and backed off. The next second, a sword was back in her hand, and she dashed forward.

Above, the lance burst into an explosion of light, condensing on itself before shooting down scattered beams that burned their way through the Earth.

"Now, let's dance!"

Tssss!

A few passed through Mira, lasering through her skin and tissue like it was nothing. Frustration welled up in her heart. 'Tch. She truly is focused on countering my strengths.'

With a thought, she created an [Elemental Barrier] around her, with ice as its base, but the beams burnt through it like butter, forcing her to dodge.

'So, she even took into account my ice affinity. Is that why she's so confident?' Mira thought, but she'd be a bit disappointed if that were all. After all, she could use many other elements aside from Ice.

Even then, she felt like she wouldn't need to resort to that; she could still win without the other elements, even if her ice element were useless.

"Hehe~ I know that look! Do you truly believe victory is easily within your grasp?" Maria chuckled, continuing her back and forth with Mira. "Although it's a bit early, I suppose it's about time to unveil one of my proudest creations to date!"

"Sundering Dawnstrike!"

Out of Maria's sword, a wall of light descended, splitting apart the Earth and chasing after Mira.

Knowing that her affinities were suppressed, she opted to deploy her own [Death Dominion], reinforcing it with destructive Qi. Manifesting her own Light Shield with her Creation Tail, she counterattacked.

A thin black line extended from her scythe, threatening to slice Maria in half as the light wall descended her, the blonde held out her shield. Part of her domain instantly shattered, and the gooey black line disintegrated, causing Mira to experience a backlash.

'Dam! She's really got all her bases covered!' Blood dripped out the side of her mouth, but she just licked her lips and retracted her [Death Dominion]. Just as she was about to continue dodging the light wall, Maria disappeared and reappeared to her side.

"[Radiant Bastion's Onslaught]!"

Bashing her shield in the air, the storied energy her shield absorbed from Mira's death and destructive forces shot back at her.

"...It seems you got me this time, Maria," Mira muttered with a slight smile. "Good job."

BOOOOOM!

A powerful force slammed into her side as the wall of light threatened to split her in half.

"Hmph!" Mira grunted and exploded with power, sending blasts of Yin Fire and Yin Lightning everywhere. As the antithesis of the mainstream elements, they were the best weapons in her arsenal to deal with these crazy light techniques. She spun her scythe, creating a vortex of darkness that swallowed and destroyed the incoming attacks, pushing her [Cyclone of the Frozen Moo] technique to the limits.

All the while, beams of light still rained down on her from the [Scorching Radiance Lance].

Meanwhile, Maria wasn't idle, planning for the next phase of the battle. She knew Mira wouldn't be taken down with just this. She wasn't that weak.

'Also, my information about what she gained after exiting the beast's secret realm is unknown. From that last attack, it seems she's gained some sort of destructive ability, but I don't know what it is. It seems to be a derivation of that death absorption/vitality-stealing ability she had, but a bit different.

Fortunately, it seems luck is on my side, and my techniques can neutralize it to a certain extent, but I don't believe Mira's used it to its fullest.'

Then, there was that white tail. That was a completely unknown factor, something she had to keep in mind and look out for. They'd need to go a few more rounds for her to get a good understanding of it, though she already had a few ideas.

Just as she was contemplating her next moves, the light cleared, and Mira's bloody figure was revealed. She was still standing straight, with no signs of weakness.

If anything, the large, bloody smile on her face made her look all the more terrifying.

"...Crazy." Although she had expected it, Maria still couldn't help but mutter. "...You know, even beasts with comparable physiques would've died ten times over from that attack, right?"

Mira cracked her neck and chuckled. "There's no beast comparable to me."

"I guess so…"

With a large gash going from one shoulder to her ankle and a massive bloody bruise along her rib cage, Mira brushed off the dirt from the remnants of her clothes and walked toward Maria with a steady gait.

"Well, I let you have your fun." Her form flickered until it completely vanished, as if she never existed.

Before Maria could react, Mira appeared behind her and slashed, creating a huge gash on her back, then kicking her and sending he flying. "Now, it's my turn."