~~~~~Wastelands (Nighttime)
As the icy winds continued to blow fiercely, Neo tried to gather his strength to resist the frigid temperatures as Ice prepared for another assault.
'Great, now I can hardly move myself. Plus, I can't use my power to avoid an icy grave forever. I'll die soon if I don't make the first move.' At that, Neo prepared to strike, but he found that Ice was much faster to react as he saw her disappear before he was able to move. He managed to sense where she was coming from, but barely fended off her blow.
"Well, well." She replied. "It seems that you're not suffering from a lack of speed yet. However, I bet you're using most of your powers to prevent yourself from freezing solid." Neo couldn't deny it as he struggled to balance out his powers. Ice raised her blade and prepared to strike again.
"Now then, I think it's time to end this." She disappeared into the icy winds as Neo tried to sense her.
'Ok, where is she?' He felt a change in the wind as he sensed her momentarily, then he felt a slash on his back before Ice reappeared again.
"Are you surprised? Your reaction time is decreasing slowly but surely." She explained. "You won't be able to stand up to me for long. Soon your bones will be frozen and you'll die." Neo struggled to sustain his power, but felt it slipping because of the pain from the wound on his back.
'Damn, the pain from that last attack is making it harder to concentrate. I need to do something now!' Neo focused his spirit energy around him and created a sword of aura.
"So, you can make weapons out of your own energy as well I see." Ice took her battle stance. "It won't matter soon though." Neo rushed towards Ice and got close before she tried to counterattack him. However, he disappeared much to Ice's amazement.
'A copy? I'm surprised he can still utilize such a technique.'
Neo reappeared behind her ready to strike, but Ice was ready for him.
"Don't underestimate me!" She turned around swiftly and threw a dagger at him before he could reach her. To her surprise, that image of Neo was also a copy.
"Another one?!" Suddenly, she looked up and saw Neo descending fast with a surge of energy wrapped around his sword. She barely managed to dodge his attack before it hit.
"Not bad. I didn't expect you to last this long considering we're fighting on my terrain, let alone counterattack." At that moment, Ice's demeanor changed to a more serious tone. "However, don't think you can beat me! Remember that I'm still holding back half of my power."
"Maybe so, but don't forget I still have power to spare as well."
Ice smirked and laughed at his reply. "Alright then, no more games. It's time to show you the true depths of my powers." Ice surrounded herself with a blue aura as before, only it was more concentrated and powerful this time. Neo began to sense her spirit energy rising rapidly.
'Incredible! She's tapping into the depths of her power! Can I stand up to that?" Ice's spirit energy flared into a bright light so intense that Neo had to cover his eyes. After it was over, Neo stared at his opponent, now empowered with spirit energy that was more focused and powerful than before.
"Now, it's time I take this fight to the next level." Neo looked at her surprisingly.
"You don't mean?" Ice raised her hand.
"That's exactly what I mean!" Her spirit energy flared into the sky. "Now come, Mateus!" The sky grew dark and a blue glyph appeared around Ice. Then, a figure that looked like a fish with armor, a javelin, and a woman in his clutches appeared. Neo stood in awe looking at the bizarre creature.
'This isn't good, I can barely move as it is! How can I deal with that?'
"Scared yet? You should be. Now you'll get to witness its power for yourself! Neo, prepare to meet your end!"
~~~~~Legion's Headquarters
In the throne room, Eclipse was speaking to Blaze in his chambers.
"So, do you understand? Although you lost your esper, I still have need of your power to obtain the vision of the world we intend to recreate. Can we still trust you to help us?"
"Yes of course." Blaze replied. "However, can we trust that Ice will finish the job? After all, she can be quite…"
"Don't worry about it," Eclipse remarked in a chilling voice. "Even if she falls, he still has to contend with 11 more of us and if it comes down to it I'll deal with him myself. Although, I don't believe I'll need to get involved."
Blaze suddenly stood up and replied, "But, Superior, I must say that during the fight, he was able to tap into some unknown power before I could kill him. It was similar to yours in a way, but uncontrolled."
"Is that so?" Eclipse replied. "Very well, you may go." Blaze bowed quickly before leaving the room, leaving Eclipse to his thoughts.
'Hehehe, interesting indeed. I'll watch and wait to see how these developments go. It's just as he said, someone is trying to interfere with our plans. Now I need to find out who this person really is…'
~~~~~Wastelands (Nighttime)
Neo began to rack his brain to think of a way to face off against Ice and her esper, Mateus but the icy winds which seemed to grow stronger with the appearance of the esper impaired his concentration.
'Darn, I need to figure a way to defend against this thing or I'm finished!'
"Now, I hope you've said your prayers, since you're about to die right now!" Ice raised her hand and 7 giant icicles formed above her and the esper. "Let's see you dodge this!" She threw the icicles at Neo, but he was able to dodge three of them. However, the remaining four formed a cage around him.
"What is this?" Neo attempted to break out with his sword, but failed due to invisible walls around the icicles.
"Like it? It's my crystal prison technique. Don't bother, there's no escape once you're caught."
'Darn, is this how it ends?'
Ice drew a glyph with the tip of her finger and shouted "Now, seal!" The ground froze solid around Neo until he himself was sealed in ice, unable to move.
"Too easy… Don't worry, this'll be swift." Ice rushed towards Neo, but as she got close, a large orange glyph formed around the crystal prison and Ice jumped away as it did. Ice stared in shock as the glyph formed a shadow figure of a human-like beast with a spear.
"This can't be!" Suddenly, flames rose out of the glyph, melting the crystal prison in which Neo was contained. The giant figure now appeared in full form as an orange human-like man-beast with four hands and a giant spear. Belias had finally appeared with Neo right beside it.
"You should've just accepted your fate quietly; it would have been much easier. Now you're in for some real pain!" Ice assumed her stance and prepared for the ensuing fight.
Neo rematerialized his sword before taking his stance. "We'll see who's left standing after this!"
