Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Half an hour later, Mira and Yanira stood around a bloody, acidic pile of worm flesh. In terms of regenerative power, toughness, and overall being a pain in the ass to deal with, the worm was by far one of the most troublesome enemies Mira had ever faced.

Every time she cut a section away, it started to regrow, creating a second smaller worm. There was no 'true brain' inside its body, making it able to duplicate almost endlessly. It was highly resistant to physical attacks, lived in a place where its weakness was accounted for, and was seemingly immortal.

It wasn't all that strong, except for its acidic poison, but its durability was maxed out.

Mira was only able to truly kill by cutting it into countless little pieces and draining all its blood. However, she wasn't left unscathed.

Bathing in the highly concentrated poison within its stomach took a toll on her, even with her own regeneration. She could still feel it burning holes through her body right now, attempting to reduce her to a pile of blood and flesh.

"I call half!" Yanira suddenly exclaimed, nearly drooling at the sight.

Mira scowled. "What half? You hardly did anything."

"Bullshit! If it weren't for my flames, who knows how many of these bastards we'd be facing right now!"

"But did you have to bathe in poison?"

"..."

"I didn't think so."

"That's just 'cause you're too stupid to come up with another plan! We could've taken it down without you doing that! Just because you made your life unnecessarily harder doesn't mean you deserve more credit."

"Then, would you like to still be fighting that thing?"

"...W-Well…"

"Because if I recall, its only weakness was inside its stomach."

"...Tch! Fine! I'll take 30%! I won't settle for anything less!"

Mira wanted to protest, but she could see Yanira was ready to brawl it out with her if she bargained any more than this. The guts of some disgusting worm weren't worth wasting her time like that, not to mention she was still recovering, so she reluctantly nodded.

"Very well." She waved her hand and scooped up 70% of its corpse, storing it. Yanira did the same for the rest.

Soon, the place was clean, without even a drop of blood.

Mira was about to walk away, not wanting to deal with this troublesome 'junior' anymore. She'd had her fun, now she just wanted to loot. Unfortunately-

BOOM!

Mira barely dodged out of the way, only to find Yanira's fist embedded in the ice behind her.

"Do you think I'll let you go so easily?!" Yanira yanked out her hand and turned to Mira with a malicious grin. "Don't think I don't know you're injured right now."

She launched another attack. Mira cursed under her breath, and roundhouse kicked Yanira to the side, only to narrow her eyes. Yanira had blocked her attack.

"Hahaha! Looks like I was right! You're much slower than before." She laughed and charged after Mira like a raging bull. Mira tried to deflect the incoming attack, but Yanira's fist had already smashed into her stomach, sending her flying.

Mira somersaulted, landing on her feet, her expression ice cold. However, there was blood dripping down her lips, and a few ribs had clearly broken.

"Don't give me that look." Yanira teased. "How about this? In consideration of us working together, I'll let you go as long as you hand over all your things. It's nothing personal, just… everything here is mine. How can I let some kid steal right under my nose?"

A thousand thoughts passed through Mira's mind. What should she do? How should she get out of this? How dare this bitch attack her like that? Should she sacrifice her lifespan to kill this woman? Was it even worth it?

She was already in a weakened state. Sacrificing her lifespan, while she might be able to use the excess Qi and vitality gained to heal some of her wounds, would still leave her in a worse state than she was in now.

Considering that there were still multiple other Divine Sea Realm masters in the area, her chances of survival would drastically decrease.

What if another worm or multiple worms showed up? Would she have to kill them while protecting Hana?

'If anything, this woman is worth more alive than dead. For both our sakes.' Mira thought, dodging another attack. Yanira didn't want to give her any time to recover.

Thus, as much as she hated it, Mira sighed and spoke up, "...What if we team up?"

"Oh?" Yanira raised an eyebrow, intrigued, stopping her next punch. "How would that benefit me over just killing you and that kid?"

"...Because I can break this ice rather quickly." Mira raised her hand and punched the wall, using her [Explosive Ice Gauntles]. A mini explosion went off inside it, cracking the surface. A few more punches and she'd be able to burst through the ice, reaching the nearest plant. "Combined with your fire and strength, our efficiency would multiply by several times.

Not only can we take everything we see with us, but we can do so while still reaching the end of these ice caves as fast as possible. Don't forget you still have competition other than me."

Yanira fell into contemplation, seriously considering her words. She had almost forgotten the fact that other Sect Masters were here.

"Also, what if you face off against another worm? Maybe two? What'll you do then, without me?" Mira added, causing Yanira's expression to fall.

Obviously, she didn't think she'd die to a measly worm, but she wasn't Mira. She couldn't walk through their stomachs and come out the other side in one piece. If another one appeared, that direction would essentially be cut off until she could find a way around it.

'...Tch. Dammit!' Yanira cursed.

She had gotten so excited, thinking she could finally get her revenge! But why?! Why did this cave have to suck so much?!

'If only I could use all my power! Fuck!' She really wanted to smash something right now.

She gritted her teeth and muttered, "...Fine, but-"

"50%." Mira interrupted, causing Yanira's expression to contort. "I won't go any lower."

Yanira looked deeply into Mira's eyes and couldn't help but be taken aback.

'This girl… Why is she ready to fight to the death over a mere percentage? Fucking psycho!'

"Dammit! Deal!" She yelled, wanting nothing more than to get it over with. Still, she couldn't help but dash toward Mira and slam her fist into the fox's abdomen, causing her to stumble. "But don't think you can escape from me after all this is done!"

Mira's eyes lit up with rage, but she bit her lip, using all her willpower to hold back. She was slowly becoming more and more okay with the idea of sacrificing her lifespan to devour this wretched woman.

"Get up! Let's get going!" Yanira shouted while walking off toward the nearest plant. "We're going to loot this place dry!"

Mira gritted her teeth but followed after her. '...I'll put up with you for now.'

The only person who was worried was Hana, who suddenly realized that perhaps wanting to travel with Mira was one of the worst decisions of her life.

'We haven't been gone long, but it feels like I've almost died a dozen times already!' She buried her face in Mira's tails. '...I don't want to be here anymore.'

Unfortunately, there was no one to hear her pleas. Even if there were, they wouldn't care. She could only suffer silently.

***

While Mira was having her own struggles, Maria and Celaine were facing their own problems.

"The Celestial Springs Resort, huh? Has Mira changed that much in the time I haven't seen her?" Maria wondered, reading the information she had received from the Crystal Spire. They didn't have much information about Mira, but fortunately for them, Mira's group was loud enough that tracking their movements wasn't difficult.

Maria didn't know it, but the Crystal Spire was also keeping an eye on Mira. Such a dangerous foreigner couldn't simply be left alone to her own devices.

The trio were currently in the air, traveling along the outskirts of the blizzard with Nova keeping the two of them warm. Although they had learned a bit about this particular storm from the Crystal Spire, they would only hand out specific information, with the rest being incredibly expensive.

Maria might've been rich, but she couldn't be so flippant with money that she could waste it on something she knew nothing about.

"...Maybe it's a good place to train? You know that's all Mira cares about." Celaine said hesitantly, also finding it weird that Mira stayed at a resort instead of some random cave.

"That's… probably correct." Maria chuckled. She wanted to see Mira as soon as possible, but this blizzard was really making things hard.

To travel without reduced speed and visibility, they had to remain on the outskirts, but that increased the distance by several-fold. Still, with their speed, it wouldn't be too long until they reached the resort.

Maria had to forcefully calm her beating heart. She still didn't know if she was ready to face Mira yet, but since she was here, she had to give it a try.

'Mira… I wonder how you'll react.' She thought, clutching her chest as the group traveled in silence.