Chapter 2757: Night of Ice and Fire

The noblewoman in the red dress stood together with George Conde, "she" in her ear laughing softly, while Xia De looked at the firelight dissipating in the archway behind the noblewoman who still maintained the appearance of a red dress:

"So this was once the temple of the Old God 【Door of Flare】."

The familiar power reminded him of the story that happened under the giant tree in the Forest of Thousand Trees back then. He did not expect that after so long, he would come into contact with the traces of this god again:

"So, is the current Lady Shatala still in the city? Does the Lady Shatala who walked out of the door come from another time?"

The noblewoman narrowed her eyes, her long red dress already beginning to burn;

"The believer of the Winter God you found is indeed powerful. Even in the era when the Old Gods were still present, mortals with such talent rarely appeared. Now the battle has just begun. Although I will lose to her, at least she can't come to save you now."

Xia De had already used his spell to crush the red bead in his pocket, and George Conde added:

"You don't have to look forward to other helpers either. Since I am waiting for you here, I am naturally prepared. The power of the temple has been activated. Unless you defeat me, or you can forcibly shatter this doorway, there is no way for the outside world to enter this place."

He held the great flame sword in his right hand, while Lady Shatala pulled a long, fiery red whip from the remaining flames of the campfire with her empty left hand:

"It has been three hundred years since I was defeated by the 'Forest Rangers' of the Church. To humans, this is a very long time, but to me, it is but a blink of an eye. Over these three hundred years, I have accepted the power of that being and have also overcome my nature to integrate into humanity.

Conspiracies, power, wealth, betrayal, temptation—although I did not personally ignite the current war, at least a portion of the gunpowder in the powder keg was transported by me. Hunter, oh hunter, why did you find me at this time? Even if you defeat me now, you cannot change the situation of the world, and if you lose, you will only lose your soul for nothing."

As they spoke, two human bodies drifted out from their rapidly mutating bodies and fell into the forest behind them. It seemed that George Conde and Lady Shatala were not fictional characters created by demon transformation; they were "demon-possessed."

"The Conde family was tempted by the wealth of the Hoy family, working diligently to rally the nobles of the capital for me; the Delin-Or restorationists don't even know of my existence, but because of a few words of my instigation and that wealth, they believe they can reclaim the land where their so-called ancestors lived."

The male and female voices asked Xia De together, the echo making their voices incomparably terrifying:

"Hunter, do you think the conspiracy I wove is brilliant?"

Xia De raised the sword in his hand:

"Of course it's brilliant, and perhaps excessively brilliant. So, how about we treat tonight as the curtain call for this story?"

The two figures in front of the archway instantly turned into a torrent of flames and arrived before Xia De.

Amidst a deafening *Boom*, the two flames collided with the ice-colored shield that appeared around Xia De. With a *Crack*, the shield made by the doctor developed dense cracks, but the shield did not shatter, just as the doctor had said.

The collision of fire and frost was followed by a frost-colored chill that rushed toward the sky like a tornado. Amidst the rustling sound, even the earth was freezing, and the howling cold wind whistled through the forest. When the two balls of fire were temporarily forced back by the chill and returned to the appearance of George Conde and Lady Shatala, they both saw snowflakes beginning to fall in the night sky.

A sorrowful sigh from some girl reached his ears, and when the demon looked at Xia De again, he also walked out of that frost storm.

Ice-blue light lingered deep in the storm, and Xia De, who walked out of the light, was now over three meters tall. His right hand, the 【Blade of No Edge】, was frozen by ice crystals, forming an ice frost greatsword; his left hand grasped the pitch-black 【Staff of Yggdrasil】, and for some reason, that long staff had also adaptively increased in volume along with his height.

Behind him, a gentle ice-blue phantom hugged his neck, the girl resting her head on Xia De's shoulder, her closed eyes wearing a serene and peaceful expression. Her long silver hair drifted behind the phantom as the ice storm swirled, as if draping a silver cloak over Xia De.

Performing "Chloe's Ice Echo" in the state of "Body of Courage," the intense consumption also meant an extremely strong spell effect. Even the demon, at the moment he walked out of the light, mistakenly thought he was seeing some demigod:

"So, the clone I placed in the Hoy Manor was indeed defeated by you?"

Asked the "George Conde" whose head had already swollen into a fireball.

"To be able to borrow the primordial power of a demigod witch, is it time? How rare. Where exactly did you, this Witcher, come from? Are you really male?"

Asked Lady Shatala, who still held a feather fan to cover the lower half of her face in the firelight.

Xia De, who had already activated the 【Chloe's Ice Echo】 state, had no time to waste on talking. His figure disappeared in the wind and frost, and then in the frost-white wind, his huge body appeared above George Conde, his right-hand frost greatsword slamming directly toward its forehead.

And the demon, as if knowing Xia De would do this, expanded the flame greatsword into a giant sword during the upward swing.

The two giant swords, one red and one blue, intertwined in the air, and George Conde retreated three steps due to the impact of the great force. Xia De wanted to use the long staff in his left hand to turn into a lightning spear to pierce its chest, but at the last moment, he had to sweep backward, using the long staff to disperse the whip that had been lashed out.

The laughing woman walked toward him and grew taller and taller, finally stopping at a height of three meters. She took the feather fan away from her mouth, and with a puff of her red lips, black flames sprayed toward Xia De.

Thus, Chloe on Xia De's shoulder opened her eyes, and the frost she exhaled intertwined with the flames.

Xia De then swung his greatsword at the swelling woman again, the silver moonlight stained with ice blue, but the moonlight was immediately shattered by George Conde. The man, whose entire head had turned into a fireball, flew in the air, wielding his sword with both hands to slash at Xia De's neck.

The long staff parried the greatsword, and Chloe's breath also completely suppressed Lady Shatara's spray.

The giantess did not retreat at all; with a wave of her feather fan, hundreds of fire butterflies lunged at Xia De, but then fifty-four Luo De cards stained with frost flew out from his pocket and intertwined with those fire butterflies.

The long staff and the ice greatsword crossed in front of Xia De, and his huge body then transformed into silver-blue intersecting moonlight, charging toward Lady Shatara. But he only broke through the residual flame phantom of the "noble lady," and when Xia De stood up in the moonlight, the crimson greatsword slashed down from the air again.

With a clang~, the two ten-meter-long greatswords collided again, and the wind pressure generated by the collision of flames and cold moonlight swept across the woods, the scattered sparks already igniting large areas of the forest around the ruins.

The two greatswords were deadlocked, but it was clear that the ice greatsword with "Witcher" and "Ice" attributes had the upper hand.

But then Lady Shatara ran through the air, stepping on the flame greatsword; every contact between her high heels and the greatsword sent sparks flying. She leaped and stepped on the intersection of the two greatswords, smashing them apart like a falling meteorite.

Thus, the moonlight wheel swung and thrown by the long staff tracked toward it, frost and cold air spreading with the rotation of the moonlight wheel to suppress the flames around it, but it was still shattered by the woman in the air with her feather fan.

As for George Conde, who had just landed, he kept his lower body still, raised his hands high, and twisted his waist and upper body, causing dozens of fireballs with diameters exceeding ten meters to emerge from the air and smash toward Xia De.

"Nightfall Seal!"

The ink-colored shield also manifested a chill in this state. Before the rumbling explosions ended, the fiery greatsword swept over, breaking the shield in one blow, but there was no sign of Xia De inside.

That huge figure appeared again from high above, and the greatsword slashing downward traced the exact same trajectory as before.

Thus, George Conde turned again to slash upward just as before, but this time, when the frost greatsword and the flame greatsword collided head-on, with the fluctuation of time power, two identical frost greatswords descended from the sky, simultaneously striking the flame greatsword from the left and right.

Amidst the rumbling sound, the demon's greatsword was completely shattered, and the three frost greatsword blades merged and simultaneously thrust into the ground.

"Hunter, your methods are truly formidable! But how long can your state last?"

The injured demon turned into flames and escaped under the three greatswords, and after landing, Xia De was immediately entangled by a flame whip around his right hand holding the sword.

The flames caused a stinging sensation on his wrist skin, but could not harm his body. Lady Shatara pulled hard, causing Xia De to stagger, and just as he braced himself on the ground to get up, another flame whip shot from another direction and entangled his left hand, leaving him truly unable to move.

"Even if your power completely counters us, it is not your power after all."

The hoarse male and female voices intertwined and echoed in the sea of fire in the woods. The erupting flames resisted the howling cold wind, igniting the surrounding forest even more fiercely amidst the falling snow.

In the sea of fire, George Conde and Lady Shatara completely shed their human forms. Two tall, five-meter-high humanoid flames each stood up holding flame whips, and then the fire swallowed the restrained Xia De.

Fireballs fell one after another from the night sky like meteorites, flame-shaped spears emerged from the void one by one and pierced Xia De in the fire, the resentment of animals once swallowed in the sea of fire turned into flame animals and crashed into him one by one from the ground, and finally, flame giants even walked out of the woods, opened their arms to embrace Xia De, and then took turns self-destructing.

The doctor said that the demon of fire, Disaster, is more like a brilliant mage than a warrior.