Sparks gleamed with enthusiasm. The battle had reached a point where nothing else mattered; Strax had entered an absolute state ofbat.


    He had entered what some call the "Zone," aplete state of focus. Strax wasn''t an ordinary individual, and this was evident even before the System came into y. Though the System had helped him in its own way, he had always been a genius.


    His adaptive capability, his relentless drive to keep moving forward even when faced with insurmountable challenges...


    "Swords... guide me," Strax murmured in his mind. He wanted to continue, to advance, but the challenge was immense. It wasn''t just about a cultivation realm—it was about advancing to apletely different level.


    The gap in cultivation was enormous. The early realms were easy to achieve, but beyond the Master level, things changed drastically. Now, this fight boiled down to nothing but raw power.


    At this moment, Strax wasgging in every aspect: strength, speed, reaction time, resilience, and mana—he waspletely inferior. The only thing keeping him alive was his swords. He was nothingpared to Darius, who had reached a level nearly on par with Xenovia, a Peak Grandmaster.


    Though Darius had just advanced and wasn''t fully ustomed to his new body, it was inevitable to think that defeat could happen.


    SLASH!


    The sh grazed his arm, but with Tiamat''s help, he dodged and countered with Ouroboros. Again, the swords shed, and sparks flickered amid the dust.


    Darius''s strikes grew increasingly precise, his reaction speed sharper—it was aplicated battle.


    The aura around Darius''s sword darkened further, pulsating with a malevolent power that seemed to defy reality itself. Strax could only defend as another attack came from above.


    "Aaargh!" he roared in pain from the overhead impact. He was under immense pressure, and it was exhausting him more and more. This fight should have ended by now, it should have been over.


    Strax prepared himself after deflecting the blow, his eyes narrowing as he calcted every movement, every necessary dodge to counter Darius''s assault. Darius''s power was impressive, but Strax''s focus was so intense that his reaction speed began to increase, surpassing Darius''s limit. His attack speed adapted to his Dragon Eyes.


    "I won''t lose to you!" Darius shouted, charging with a devastating attack, his sword slicing the air with the power he had gained from this evolution.


    Strax began releasing ice from his hands... The air in the arena started to freeze... "Ice is my domain... the strongest ice there is..." Strax murmured, "Think of a form where ice could never be destroyed... think of a way for ice to be strong enough..." he muttered to himself.


    Darius paused, feeling Strax''s aura filling the entire environment.


    "How amusing, Master." Strax heard a voice intruding on his thoughts as the image of the ck-haired Milf appeared behind his mental representation, embracing him... "The ice that surpasses everything... I think I understand what you want, Master." She said, hugging him even tighter. Strax''s body was immobile, his concentration so deep that even his spirit had entered a paralyzed state...


    "I''ll lend you my power, my sweet master," Ouroboros said, kissing Strax on the cheek.


    [ Ouroboros has epted youpletely, Spiritual assimtion granted > ]


    [ Ouroboros, your Ice Maniption (5*) skill evolved into ck Ice Maniption (7*) temporarily > ]


    "Devour him with my power, my sweet master," Ouroboros whispered in a seductive and highly sensual tone in his ear, and Strax''s eyes snapped wide open.


    The ice began to change, ayer of darkness infused within it. It was still ice, the chill evident, but... but now there was something more to Strax''s ice. The darkness within the ice seemed to vibrate with an unnatural energy, as if it were alive and aware, obeying a silent and unbreakablemand. The temperature around the arena plummeted drastically, a biting cold that made the spectators shiver.


    Darius felt the change instantly.


    The air around him seemed to freeze his movements, and he began to realize the true power behind it all—the ck Sword in Strax''s hands.


    The ck ice was not just a defense; it was an offensive force, a manifestation of Strax''s very spirit, amplified by his connection with Ouroboros.


    "This is... impossible!" Darius shouted, his eyes wide as he saw the ck ice spreading across the ground, rising like serpents around his feet, threatening to entangle him.


    Strax, with a cold and imcable gaze, began to advance slowly. Each step was apanied by a frosty echo, every movement calcted with lethal precision. He raised his swords, now enveloped in ck ice, the des pulsing with a strange, chilling power.


    "Isn''t this what you wanted, Darius?" Strax said, his voice a cold whisper that cut through the air. "Then let''s finish this..."


    With a fluid motion, Strax spun at high speed, the ck ice forming a deadly arc that sliced through the air toward Darius. The de passed by Darius, who tried to block it, but instead of a simple block, the ck ice began to infiltrate his sword, corroding the energy that Darius had channeled into it.


    Ouroboros, the Queen of the Abyss. A spirit that enjoyed consuming everything, and that included the target''s energy.


    Darius screamed in agony as his sword slowly disintegrated, the ck ice absorbing and neutralizing his energy. He tried to retreat, but the ck ice around his feet held him in ce, immobilizing him.


    Strax gave Darius no chance to recover. He advanced with impressive speed, his swords cutting through the air in a descending strike. Darius raised his arms in a desperate attempt to defend himself, but the ck ice had already corroded his defenses.


    The swords of Strax met Darius''s flesh with a dull thud, the ck ice spreading through his body, freezing him from the inside out. Darius kicked at Strax and fell to his knees, his face contorted in a mixture of pain and fury...


    "B-Bastard!" he screamed, trembling as he felt his armpletely frozen and useless. "This... this can''t be..."


    Strax looked down at him, once more with a superior gaze. "You should have brought your sword, idiot. Maybe its spirit would have helped you," Strax said, unaware... After all, Darius''s sword wasn''t even decent for him. At least it could have been used in this battle.


    Strax pointed his sword at him, as ifmanding, and the ice began to prate Darius.


    "W-Wait!" he shouted, terrified as he felt the ice creeping up his arm. The terror of Darius as he was consumed by the ck ice was palpable, a primal horror that transcended physical pain and delved into the very essence of his being. The process was slow, meticulous, as if the ck ice had a sadistic mind of its own, savoring every second of his agony.


    Well... the ice was still part of the Sadistic Serpent that lived within Strax... And it didn''t want to be kind to Darius at all.


    First, the insidious cold began to creep over his skin, freezing his flesh almost delicately.


    Darius felt every cell in his body shrink, vainly struggling against the inevitable advance of the cold, which soon turned into searing pain.


    "AAAHHH!! STOP!" he screamed in agony as his veins seemed to crystallize, the blood flowing slower until it stoppedpletely, transforming into awork of icy spikes extending throughout his body.


    "PLEASE STOP!" he shouted again. He tried to keep screaming, but his voice got stuck in his throat as the ck ice climbed up his neck, blocking any sound that might escape.


    His eyes, wide in silent terror, reflected the sinister glow of the ice as it ascended to his head, imprisoning him in a shell of darkness and cold.


    The muscle fibers of his body were paralyzed in eternal contraction, as if the ice itself were slowly chewing through his tissue, grinding his hopes with cruel pleasure. His eyes, fixed and frozen, grew cloudy, the expression of terror immortalized as a horrific mask.


    Finally, the cold reached his heart, a final blow that spread like a wave of darkness through his soul. Each beat became a distant echo, an agonizing pulse that gradually slowed until it stopped.


    The ck ice absorbed thest spark of warmth in his body, turning Darius into a macabre statue, his body petrified in a pose of eternal terror.


    Strax sheathed his swords, satisfied with the end, the ck ice retreating at hismand, leaving Darius''s body frozen as the climate returned to normal.


    He looked at the system, the notification confirming his victory:


    [ < Boss: Darius Vorah (Awakened) has been defeated > ]


    The ck ice statue stood there in the wind, as if sculpted by a renowned artisan, but it was merely the body of an insolent worm who had been annihted. The twisted forms of Darius were eternally etched in the ck ice that hadpletely engulfed him.


    "Thank you for the meal, my dear Master," Ouroboros said with a mischievous smile. Her voice was soft and tempting, bordering onplete sensuality.