Chapter 36: The Frozen Battlefield (2)

Every time the Ice Dragon released its freezing breath, it headed straight towards Philip. However, Philip calmly used his Rift Distortion to redirect the freezing breath somewhere else.

Philip slowly drew his dagger before reaching into his other pocket to take something out.

Aelin noticed that Philip was holding a matchbox.

"What are you planning to do?" Aelin asked.

"Just watch."

The dragon continued unleashing its freezing breath towards Philip. He then struck a match and began heating the sharp blade of his dagger until it turned reddish.

Philip used only three matches, as he did not want to waste them. He also wanted to save some in case the dragon was still alive afterwards.

In an instant, Philip used Rift Step. Before he even realized it, he was already near the dragon’s leg. Without hesitation, he struck its right leg with his heated dagger.

The dragon’s leg began to melt, and Aelin quickly used her roots to pull it until it was completely severed.

"You seem rather weak when you’re just sitting there, Teacher," Aelin remarked.

Philip merely smiled before swiftly moving towards the dragon’s other leg. The dragon attempted to stomp on him, but having lost its right leg, it could no longer maintain its balance. Slowly, its massive body began falling towards Vaelcryst, who was still fighting Lukas.

Both Lukas and Vaelcryst immediately retreated to avoid being crushed by the falling dragon.

"Heh, looks like your pet is finally showing signs of defeat," Lukas mocked.

Vaelcryst was growing increasingly frustrated. He felt as though he had been cornered. As his Ice Dragon collapsed, the sound of cracking could be heard coming from its body.

"Huh? Already defeated? You’ve got to be kidding me," Philip remarked.

Vaelcryst bit his lip, unable to accept being cornered by them. He forced his dragon to stand up again, even though it had lost one of its legs.

Slowly, the dragon managed to rise using both of its arms. It attempted to fly, but since it was merely a creature formed from ice, it was unable to do so.

In the end, the dragon could only rely on its two arms, or more accurately, its wings, which were completely useless for flight.

"Huh?! It has wings, but it can’t even use them? What kind of dragon is this?! Haha!" Philip laughed, openly mocking Vaelcryst.

"Huff... Enough playing around. I’ll be taking this dragon’s head off," Philip said sarcastically, his gaze completely empty.

Philip opened his matchbox once again and began heating the blade of his dagger, one match after another. However, this time, he did not settle for two or three matches.

He used every single match in the box, causing his dagger to glow red once again.

But he had something else hidden in his pocket: a small bottle of flammable oil.

Vaelcryst shifted his gaze towards Philip, who seemed to be preparing something that could kill his dragon.

"Oi! What the hell are you planning to do, idiot?!" Vaelcryst shouted anxiously.

Vaelcryst then abandoned his fight against Lukas and rushed towards Philip. However, Lukas quickly appeared in front of him and kicked him away, sending him crashing into a wall.

Philip then poured the oil over the blade of his dagger. Flames immediately burst forth from it, and he prepared to strike the dragon.

"Here I go~"

Philip activated Rift Step. A rift appeared right behind the dragon’s neck, and Philip emerged from it, descending towards the creature.

Aelin immediately used her roots to restrain the dragon, preventing it from moving. She also sealed its mouth to stop it from releasing its freezing breath.

Without hesitation, Philip slashed at the dragon’s neck with his sharp, flaming dagger.

Its head was severed, and its body slowly began to crack before eventually crumbling into pieces.

"NO!!!" Vaelcryst screamed.

Vaelcryst then retreated from his fight against Lukas. A strange smile spread across his face as saliva dripped from his mouth, making him look like someone who had completely lost his mind.

He was now alone, surrounded by Philip, Lukas, and Aelin.

Vaelcryst could no longer summon another Ice Dragon. Doing so would leave him completely exhausted.

Meanwhile, Haruki and Magnus were still fighting Azrath alongside the iron soldiers he had created. Azrath had even summoned several more soldiers, making things extremely difficult for both Haruki and Magnus.

"Damn it, Haruki! Are you okay?"

"What do you think?"

"Argh, this is so troublesome."

Because of the pill Azrath had consumed, Haruki and Magnus were unable to use their magic. Even when Haruki activated his Mist skill, Azrath could still detect him because he was capable of sensing Haruki’s aura.

*BOOM!!!*

A tremendous explosion echoed throughout the academy.

Haruki and Magnus immediately turned pale upon hearing the deafening blast.

"Ah, looks like Vaelcryst has finally gone berserk."

Azrath then disappeared from Haruki’s sight, seemingly intending to chase after something. However, Haruki was blocked by the iron soldiers.

"Haruki, my magic has returned!"

Upon hearing that, Haruki immediately used his Gravity Magic to force the soldiers to the ground.

Since Azrath had left, the effects preventing them from using their magic had automatically disappeared.

Without wasting another second, they rushed towards Aelin’s location to see what was happening. They ran as fast as they could, worried about Teacher Aelin’s condition.

Meanwhile, Vila and the other academy students could only stare at the destruction surrounding the academy.

A gigantic ice monster had appeared, its terrifying appearance accompanied by an overwhelming wave of cold. Even Vila and the students who were far away from the academy could feel its freezing temperature.

"Haruki, look!"

Haruki raised his head and was utterly shocked by the sight before him.

A gigantic ice monster with horns stood within the academy grounds.

Not far from Haruki, he spotted Philip, Aelin, and Lukas standing together.

Haruki shouted, causing them to turn around.

They then ran out through the academy gates while Haruki asked Philip what had happened.

Philip explained that while he, Teacher Lukas, and Teacher Aelin had Vaelcryst surrounded, Vaelcryst had suddenly begun acting like a madman.

Without warning, his body became frozen before rapidly growing larger and larger until he transformed into the monstrous creature they were now witnessing.

Azrath observed everything from a distance.

’In the end, you’ll still die, Vaelcryst.’

His gaze then shifted towards Haruki.

’That person... For some reason, he interests me.’

Aside from possessing Iron Magic, Azrath was also capable of identifying the auras of both living and dead beings.

However, when it came to Haruki, Azrath noticed something unusual.

Haruki’s aura was completely black, indicating that he was already dead. Meanwhile, the auras of living beings took on colours corresponding to their respective magic attributes.

’Who exactly is this man named Haruki...?’

Philip suddenly stopped walking.

The other three stopped as well, confused by his unexpected action.

"What are you doing, Philip? Come on, let’s go," Magnus said.

Philip then explained that if they simply continued running away, innocent people would end up becoming victims of the destruction.

He turned around and slowly began walking towards Vaelcryst, who had transformed into the enormous ice monster.

"I have a way to settle this."

Haruki immediately understood what Philip was implying.

"Don’t tell me you’re planning to use that."

Philip glanced over his shoulder at Haruki before giving him a mischievous smile.

Throughout the city, students and civilians could only watch in fear. None of them dared to fight against something of that enormous size. Some desperately tried to escape, while others could only stare at the monster in resignation.

"If that gate starts pulling too strongly... Knock me unconscious."

Haruki stared at Philip with an expressionless face before letting out a quiet laugh.

Philip slowly continued walking towards the gigantic ice monster, also known as Vaelcryst.

Once he was close enough, Philip slowly raised his hand.

A small circular object began to appear before gradually growing larger.

"Rift Magic... Rift Gate."

’This is it. If the gate becomes uncontrollable, I’ll be joining you.’

The gate slowly floated upwards, beginning to forcibly pull Vaelcryst towards it.

Azrath, who was watching from afar, felt somewhat impressed by Philip’s ability to create such a powerful spell.

Standing dangerously close to the gate, Philip immediately drew his dagger and plunged it into the ground, using it to anchor himself against the tremendous pulling force.

Even Haruki, Magnus, Aelin, and Lukas were being dragged towards the gate.

Vaelcryst’s enormous body was also lifted into the air by its force.

The pulling force continued growing stronger until it began dragging in the people throughout the city as well.

"Ah... Why didn’t I think of that earlier?"

Haruki immediately used his Gravity Magic on the four of them, preventing them from being pulled into the gate.

However, when he tried to extend his magic towards Philip, he realized that the distance between them was too great for his Gravity Magic to reach him.

’Damn it.’

"Haruki, look up!" Magnus shouted.

All four of them looked upwards.

The civilians and students from Arcane Academy were beginning to get pulled into Philip’s gate.

Haruki immediately used his Gravity Magic to pull them back, preventing them from being sucked into the gate.

Every time someone passed above him, Haruki would pull them towards safety.

However, with so many people to support, he began feeling the overwhelming burden of holding them all at once.

Haruki then activated his Blade Recall skill to pull the monstrous Vaelcryst towards the gate, accelerating its movement.

The monster was getting closer and closer to the gate, and slowly, its enormous body began entering it.

Due to the enormous amount of magic and skills he had used, Haruki received a warning from his system.

[YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR LIMIT]

[YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR LIMIT]

[SKILLS AND MAGIC WILL BE FORCEFULLY DEACTIVATED]

"Please, not now... Ugh."

Haruki could no longer hold on.

In the end, he collapsed unconscious, and all of his magic and skills were forcibly deactivated.