Page 310 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

I charge toward him, swinging my swords with calculated precision aimed for his neck. He raises his sword in defense, effortlessly blocking my strike without ever unsheathing his weapon.

My speed proves advantageous as I quickly teleport behind him and thrust my blades toward his unprotected back. But just before they make contact with his flesh, he vanishes into thin air and reappears behind me.

“Nice try,” he whispers in my ear just as he pushes the handle of his sword into my back. The blow is imbued with energy, and what would have been a light injury becomes a ravaging one as I’m thrown farther into the field, flying past the cut-down trees until I finally hit the trunk of a still standing one.

I struggle to control my harsh, ragged breathing as intense pain radiates from the spot where I was struck. My hand probes around my back, searching for the source of the injury, and my eyes widen in shock when I feel the unmistakable cracks in my armor. The damage is concentrated on my lower back, a large crack followed by hairline fractures that spiderweb across the surface. But it’s not just my back that’s affected. As I glance down at my torso, I see the fine lines etched into the once impenetrable ice armor, tracing their way around my stomach and chest. A shiver runs down my spine at the realization.

It can’t be possible…

This armor is crafted from the strongest ice in the universe. Yet here I am, already injured from a single strike that didn’t even use the sharp end of Cerenios’ sword. How could this be?

Cerenios materializes in front of me, his sword securely sheathed at his waist. His expression is one of boredom as he gazes at me with cold detachment.

With a disappointed shake of his head, he asks, “That is all?”

I grit my teeth and stand up, ignoring the sharp pain that courses through my body. Every movement seems to exacerbate the fractures in my back, causing me to hold back any cries of agony.

But then I feel it—a loud snap that echoes through the air. My hand flies to my back and I realize with horror that the crack has turned into a gaping hole, one that threatens to spread even further.

Fueled by determination and desperation, I grab my swords and let out a fierce battle cry before launching into attack mode.

I can’t go down without a fight. I won’t.

My strikes are wild and untargeted, driven solely by instinct and adrenaline. But as I continue to attack, I start to notice something—my speed is slightly faster than my opponent’s. It may only be by a nanosecond at first, but with each strike,it stretches into multiple ones while I keep his other senses distracted.

Finally, it all culminates in one powerful strike, using my swords to create an illusion of attack while simultaneously conjuring a dagger of eternal ice from my wrist and shielding it under one of the swords.

As I swing my swords toward him, he gracefully deflects them with a flick of his wrist. But in that moment of distraction, I seize the opportunity to send a shard of ice flying toward his chest. The sharp edge pierces through his skin just as he opens his palm to unleash a powerful wave of energy toward me.

The impact is deafening and my armor can barely withstand it. A loud snap echoes through the air and my protective gear shatters into pieces, falling to the ground in a heap. The spot where the energy blast hit me turns red and throbs with intense pain, causing me to double over and spit out a mouthful of blood.

But despite the agony coursing through my body, I can’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction. My eternal ice has made contact with his skin, sending thousands of particles throughout his body, ready to wreak havoc on his cells.

In response to the foreign substance invading his bloodstream, his armor quickly envelops his body, trying to contain and counteract the effects of the icy particles spreading inside him.

I focus on conjuring all my energy, pushing past the searing pain that radiates from my wounds. With every ounce of strength I possess, I will tiny particles of eternal ice to form within Cerenios’ heart, commanding them to freeze and create a barrier to stop the blood flow. His brows furrow in shock as his body stiffens, his black armor pulsing and dissipating in the areas where the eternal ice takes hold.

His expression morphs to one of anger as he turns his gaze toward me.

“Not so smug now, are you?” I smirk at him, my own pain temporarily forgotten.

“This…eternal ice.” He grunts, small patches of frost forming on his chest. If my pain is a nine out of ten, then his must be unimaginable. Eternal ice is known as one of the most excruciating substances in existence, coveted by many for its power. It’s no wonder Theron’s family sought an alliance with mine.

“Neat trick,” Cerenios mutters.

“Neat trick?” I raise an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’ll say the same when your heart freezes and bursts in your chest. Any moment now.”

He stares at me.

“Any moment?” He raises a brow skeptically. “Do let me know when that moment comes.”

I frown. Moments pass. Nothing happens. The ice at the surface of his skin recedes.

Summoning more of my energy, I attempt to make contact with the ice particles inside of him.

But no matter how hard I try, I cannot sense them.

They’re gone. They’re not inside his body, or anywhere else for that matter. It’s like they never existed.

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