Chapter 166: Ice and Fire
At that moment, a portal of flames suddenly appeared in the icy white domain.
"Such an interesting fluctuation..."
A young nobleman with black hair and golden eyes stepped through. In an instant, his body shimmered with magical brilliance and expanded into a massive red dragon nearly twenty meters long.
With the red dragon's emergence, the surrounding heat surged, and magma flowed from the snow-covered ground, halting the raging blizzard.
The frost on Dolo's body gradually melted into water, trickling down as he collapsed heavily to the ground, barely breathing.
[Dragon's Vital Breath]
Cassius lightly swung his claw, and beams of light descended from the sky, infused with the purest dragon vitality. They healed the frostbitten injuries in the draconic hobgoblin's body, saving his life.
"Master..."
"You... are here..."
Weakly lying on the ground, Dolo barely opened his eyes and spoke with difficulty, his heart filled with the despair of being easily defeated and nearly losing his life.
"Forgive... my incompetence..."
Seeing that Dolo was out of danger, the red dragon ignored him, turning instead to the hovering Duke Oliver and the swirling snowstorm around him, his gaze thoughtful.
"Such powerful frost energy."
"But the one wielding it is far too feeble."
In Cassius's eyes, the horn behind Duke Oliver was the only thing worthy of attention. The human with frost giant blood was merely an insignificant vessel.
Upon seeing the red dragon arrive, the frost giant bloodline's deep-seated hatred for dragons combined with Oliver's personal vendetta, flooding him with rage.
"Damn red dragon!"
"I'll show you the power of frost!"
He directed the snowstorm to assault the red dragon, with icy shards and chilling winds raging towards his target.
[Dragon's Vitality]
Cassius's wings shimmered with spatial energy, granting him terrifying speed. His entire body became a blur, effortlessly evading the incoming blizzard like a phantom.
"Swish—"
The red dragon sped across the ground and ascended directly above Duke Oliver but paused without attacking, seemingly in no rush.
Cassius gazed down at Duke Oliver with disdain.
"A decent spell."
"But... can you truly control this power?"
"Pathetic half-breed?"
Seeing the contempt in the red dragon's golden slitted eyes, Duke Oliver became utterly enraged.
"How dare you—"
Since childhood, he had been taught to obey the Bosk Duchy, to serve them obediently.
Though the northern nobles addressed him as "Your Grace" out of politeness, they secretly mocked him as the "Loyal Hound Duke" or "Savage Lord."
He had never wielded true power, always trembling under Bosk's shadow. This had shaped his twisted, prideful yet insecure personality, venting his anger on his subjects.
Now, possessing unimaginable power capable of controlling everything, he was still despised by this red dragon.
That condescending look was all too familiar—a scorn he had endured silently all his life!
Oliver's eyes radiated an endless frost, the runes on his body glowing. He roared:
"Wyrm, I will kill you!"
With his roar, ice spikes erupted from the ground, hurtling towards the red dragon in the air.
Cassius continued to watch him disdainfully, his chest glowing with fiery red light as energy built up in his throat, then burst forth.
[Maximized Flame Breath]
Concentrated fire elements, far more intense than frost energy, formed a blazing white pillar of fire that tore through the blizzard, shattered the ice spikes, and evaporated the surrounding snow and ice.
Yet, he refrained from further attacking Oliver with fire. Instead, he closed his mouth casually, even mocking him.
"Is that all?"
"Duke Oliver, to me, you're just a good dog tied to that horn."
Cassius spoke calmly.
He was provoking Duke Oliver, merely observing how far this frost giant hybrid could push the horn's power.
Oliver's use of the Eternal Frost's energy was crude, unable to focus elements effectively, wasting it like a rabid dog spraying its strength indiscriminately.
For Cassius, Oliver posed no threat. Instead, he saw an opportunity to test the horn's capabilities.
A chance to experiment with its power.
Coincidentally or intentionally, the red dragon's words struck a nerve, completely igniting Oliver's fury.
"You're courting death!"
"I will send you to eternal rest!"
Oliver roared recklessly.
He unstrapped the horn from his back and blew it. Extreme cold gushed from the horn's mouth, creating an endless roaring snowstorm in the air.
"Buzz—"
The horn's sound echoed to the heavens, summoning an even fiercer snowstorm. Its chill was so intense that even the red dragon felt the threat, his body shivering as if plunged into an icy abyss.
Cassius spewed roaring flames, erecting a wall of fire to fend off the frost. He observed Oliver blowing the horn and was suddenly intrigued.
"This power fluctuation has reached the legendary tier."
"An unexpected discovery. I didn't expect this horn to grant a mortal such legendary strength."
"But... his time is running out."
In Cassius's view, Oliver now resembled a bomb ready to explode, his body overwhelmed by uncontrollable power.
"Come, attack me!"
"Show me your power!"
The red dragon sneered, flapping his wings slowly amidst the storm. The flames around him danced with his movements.
Nearly losing his sanity, Oliver opened his palm, releasing torrents of icy cold energy like a rushing river.
"No, this isn't enough..."
"I need... more power!"
"Only then can I kill that red dragon!"
Oliver greedily absorbed more energy from the horn. The Eternal Frost's power resonated with his bloodline, and the icy blue runes on his body glowed even brighter.
The energy cascaded out as a freezing torrent.
"Boom—"
The tide of frost surged towards the red dragon, but the massive figure vanished, leaving the cold torrent to crash onto the ground, forming jagged ice pillars several meters high.
It had only been a flame avatar!
Oliver's magical skills were so rudimentary that he couldn't discern the simplest flame decoy, wasting all his power on it.
Meanwhile, the real red dragon had silently appeared behind him with terrifying speed granted by [Serpent-like Agility].
"Experiment complete. Your life ends here."
"Such a—pitiful creature."
Cassius casually swiped his claw.
He used the simplest dragon trick.
The reason was simple: Oliver, despite possessing legendary energy output, lacked protective measures or control skills.
If not for the snowstorm preventing close combat, even Dolo could have easily butchered Oliver.
[Raking Claws Spell]
A claw-shaped magical force field appeared behind Oliver, easily ripping through his fragile, untrained body.
As Cassius tore through Oliver's body, the Eternal Frost's power, barely stabilized by his bloodline, erupted uncontrollably!
"I hit him... but—"
"No—"
Cold light burst from Oliver's mouth, nose, and eyes.
His swollen body, inflated from absorbing the horn's power, exploded like a balloon. Sharp ice spikes burst from his wounds, enveloped in rolling white mist.
In the end, his entire body crystallized into irregular, frigid ice, resembling a glacier buried underground for millennia.
The horn fell to the ground, lying silently. Its runes dimmed, and the snowstorm gradually subsided.
"Tch, a fool drunk on power. A diluted hybrid frost giant bloodline..."
"Thinking a tribal relic could let him take on a dragon? Truly reckless."
Cassius gazed at the ice crystal, sighing in mock pity.