Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

As Mira navigated the crumbling corridors, the castle shook violently under the strain of the colossal forces clashing within its walls. The shouts resonating through the air sent a shiver down her spine, not out of fear but annoyance.

It was like fingernails on a chalkboard, except for her soul.

'Fanatic fuckers really are the worst.' She grumbled, safely making it out of the castle and creating more distance between them and her.

Back in the throne room, the battle reached its climax. The titan kept two of its arms raised, raining down attacks as if it were Heaven's wrath. Kaius, however, stood tall against the giant.

He sneered in disdain, 'Brat, you're thousands of years too young to dare think about touching my feet, much less killing me.'

As the elemental storm descended, Kaius's blade of pure will met the onslaught head-on. The resulting explosion was cataclysmic, sending shockwaves that obliterated what remained of the castle's structure, scattering debris in a wide radius. The force of the collision created a crater hundreds of kilometers wide, the very earth itself bearing witness to their power.

Everything that wasn't obliterated was thrown out like a ragdoll.

In the eye of the storm, Kaius and the titan were locked in a stalemate, their energies clashing in a blinding display of light and power. Kaius, though visibly strained, was determined not to falter, his soul's blade cutting through the elemental fury with a precision that didn't seem humanly possible.

Feeling the resistance, the titan roared in frustration. With a surge of energy, it redoubled its assault, sending wave after wave of elemental attacks towards Kaius.

"Die!"

"Die!"

"Die!"

Kaius vanished and reappeared, deflecting and dodging each attack while simultaneously removing limbs from the titan. Every swing created chasms deep in the ground, and every explosion only seemed to ignite his eagerness for a good fight.

Suddenly, as if predicting his movements, a giant Earth Hammer came crashing down on him, smashing him into the ground. The massive crater deepened as his body dug through the ground until a chain sound resounded, and he felt a pull on his legs.

He felt as if his legs were going to be ripped off, yet something prevented that from happening.

Kaius gritted his teeth, feeling blood come up his throat, but a wild smile slowly grew as he dug himself out.

"Heheh… Hahahaha!"

BOOM!

He leaped out of the ground, laughing maniacally. Rotating his shoulders, his joints popped as he straightened out his posture.

"Ahh~ My back was really killing me, slumped on that throne for so long." He flashed a grin. "Thanks for the massage~"

A golden sword from the Heavens descended onto his position, but he hardly regarded it.

"But I really must say, you're quite ignorant, huh?"

Just as the golden sword was about to touch the ground, he disappeared, only to reappear near its handle. Grasping it tightly, all the muscles on his arm bulged as he changed its trajectory, slicing off half the Titan's arms and sending the sword soaring into the distance.

"Ever thought about the fact that, even to this day, I am still sealed?"

Thump…! Thump…! Thump…!

A drum-like beat echoed on the battlefield, originating from Kaius. Red veins throbbed all over his skin as power pumped through his body. Attacks rained down on him, and though they ripped off chunks of flesh, he was healed in an instant.

The more damage he took, the further his power rose until a tangible red aura emanated from him.

With an audible grunt, Kaius's eyes went bloodshot as he dashed, dodging everything honing in on him. He gripped the Titan's leg and ripped it right off its body!

"AUUUGH!"

"Damn you!"

"Just die!"

"Hahaha!" Kaius roared with laughter. "I wasn't known as the Immortal Berserker for no reason!"

Condensing his will into a ball, he flicked it, obliterating the Titan's other leg. It bellowed in pain as its legs regenerated in an instant before it teleported out of the castle, creating some distance.

***

Yanira just arrived above the battlefield, only to see an area completely devoid of life; nothing but destruction.

An eyebrow raised, her interest piqued. "Oho? They're really quite powerful, huh?"

She couldn't exactly tell the strength of the handsome man, but the Titan was certainly several times stronger than her and the man was keeping up with it.

A head-on collision between the two would be certain death.

"However, I can't miss out on this opportunity! I'm sure they have some extraordinary treasures on them!"

The only question now was, who should she side with?

After pondering for a moment, she crossed her arms, bored of using her brain. "No need to think so much about it! I'll just attack both! They both need to die, anyways."

Raising her hands, a fiery Phoenix quickly formed from a massive amount of Qi.

"Phoenix Descent!"

The massive, hundred-meter-long Phoenix disappeared, shooting off into the distance.

"I'll just bother them from here. One of them will die as long as I annoy them enough, right?"

Although her logic was a bit warped and quite possibly foolish, she wasn't wrong. With a variable like her entering the battle, even if she was just an annoyance, her attacks weren't something they could simply ignore.

As long as she could trip one of them up, she could create an opening. In fact, if she played things right, she could create two openings and take them out at the same time. The only problem was the other Divine Sea Realm masters were surely on their way. Things might get a bit complicated once this area is surrounded.

***

BOOM!

A massive fire Phoenix crashed down onto their position, vaporizing the ground and turning it into a magma wasteland. Cracks formed in the Earth from the overwhelming heat as lava started to spew out, completely ruining the terrain.

"Tsk." Kaius clicked his tongue, jumping around the magma geysers and looking off in the distance. "It seems someone annoying decided to join."

"RAAAAA!" In an enraged state, the Titan stomped through the magma, completely ignoring it.

Even as more fiery attacks rained down on them from a distance, it completely ignored them and trudged toward Kaius.

It seemed to realize that it'd been fighting too long. Whether it wanted to end things soon simply because of Yanira's involvement or its technique was coming to an end, the time for games was over.

Bending its knees, the ground beneath the Titan shattered as it leaped into the sky. Elemental wings sprouted from its back, acting as a barrier from Yanira's attacks and a conduit to absorb as much Qi from the surroundings as possible.

"Uh-oh. That doesn't look good." Kaius looked up and chuckled, calmly deflecting Yanira's barrage. He understood that Jinlong had understood he was out of options. It was either he ends things now or has to deal with a bunch more flies swarming about, looking to take advantage of his desperation.

'...If I'm not careful… with how much Qi he's absorbing, I might actually die.' Although he thought that, he wasn't worried.

What sort of things hasn't he experienced? How many times throughout his life was he on the brink of death?

Even those old dudes who were about to ascend couldn't kill him! No need to speak about a suicide attack from someone weaker than them!

'Well, those old guys value their life too much to fight to the death with someone like me. I'm not rich, have almost no treasures, and am ready to die in every battle. They simply didn't have a reason to go all out.' He knew those guys only moved when something significant came up, like the destruction of the Central Continent… or when they found a chance to ascend.

Even then, for them, it was easier and safer to seal him than kill him.

As the Qi above him congregated on a singular point, Kaius smirked and decided to humor him.

He gathered all the remnants of his will, channeling them into his soul's blade, preparing for one last, decisive strike. The space around him shook and shattered purely from his will.

After a second, the titan finished gathering the necessary energy and cupped all of his palms together. In the center of it, an iridescent, undulating ball of elemental power built up, increasing in intensity

The orb grew until it reached several meters in diameter, its energy lighting up the blizzard. With a thunderous roar, it unleashed a tremendous beam of energy hundreds of meters wide at Kaius.

With a defiant battle cry, Kaius thrust his blade upward, piercing through the beam with sheer force of will.

The impact was like the birth of a new star, a blinding explosion that tore through the remnants of the castle and the surrounding landscape. Everything it touched was vaporized, reduced to nothing. The entire Continent shook, the energy waves even crossing the entire world.

Rampant earthquakes affected the Northern Continent, with volcanoes erupting, sinkholes forming, and natural disasters worsening.

However, nothing was worse than the point of impact, which looked as if a cosmic titan came in and scooped up a chunk of the land thousands of meters deep.

When the light subsided, a profound silence enveloped the area, the aftermath of their clash echoing through the now-still air. The blizzard had disappeared for kilometers, unable to withstand the force of the collision, and a massive crater had formed in its place.

In the center of the devastated land, Kaius stood, his form staggering as the last of his energy was spent. Above him, the titan was dissipating, its form breaking apart into wisps of elemental energy, the echoes of Jinlong's ancestor's wills fading into the void.

As the dust settled and the reality of his victory sank in, Kaius collapsed to his knees, exhausted but alive.

"Haaa… Haaa… Hehehe~ Like I said, you can't kill-

Splat!

"-Ugh!" Kaius grunted and looked down, only to find a blade sticking through his chest. 'What... What the hell?!'