Chapter 169: Collision of Ice and Fire

The Flame Demon Lord, Ogresa, stood atop the shattered rubble of Wyvern Peak. He clenched his fists and bowed his head, trembling with excitement.

"Lingering in the sunless depths, clinging to life! Finally, I see the light of day once more!"

Ogresa roared at the sky. Flames erupted from the thirty-meter-tall Flame Demon Lord in all directions. Terrifying heat distorted the air into a shimmering mirage, instantly vaporizing the snow remaining among the rubble.

A vast expanse of white steam blanketed the rubble of Wyvern Peak.

Up in the sky, the White Dragon Lord caught a glimpse of the rocks glowing red-hot through the steam. His heart tightened. Not daring to be careless, he quickly released the seal on his heart.

The black mark on his heart flashed with a crimson light. The black chains binding his heart suddenly came alive and rapidly sank into the mark.

The White Dragon Lord's partially crystallized heart roared to life like an ignited engine. It pumped frantically, driving blood laced with motes of ice-blue energy throughout the white dragon's entire body.

The White Dragon Lord's aura skyrocketed. A staggering chill swept outward in all directions, freezing the airborne steam into frost that drifted down like fine snow.

Down on the ground, a long whip forged of flame suddenly lashed out from the steam, snapping toward the White Dragon Lord in the sky.

The White Dragon Lord beat his wings and dodged the whip, flying higher into the sky. From his vantage point, he stared gravely at the sprawling blanket of steam below.

The blistering heat radiating from the Flame Demon Lord rapidly evaporated the mist. As the steam thinned, Ogresa's massive silhouette emerged within it.

Ogresa looked up at the white dragon, who was continuously casting buffing magic on himself, and sneered.

"Gahahaha! It's useless! Give up your struggling, white dragon. Sign a contract with me now and become Lord Ogresa's servant. I might just spare your life! Gahahaha!"

The White Dragon Lord didn't even bat an eye, continuing his chant. These chaotic evil demons from the Abyss were all arrogant to varying degrees and loved to taunt their opponents when they held the upper hand—or, to put it plainly, they were prone to grandstanding and courting death.

"Damn you!"

Seeing the White Dragon Lord ignore him, Ogresa flew into a rage. The flames erupting from his cracked skin flared even higher. He gripped the flaming whip in one hand and the blazing Decapitation Greatsword in the other.

Boom!

Raging flames ignited across the Flame Demon Lord's tattered, hole-riddled wings, billowing thick, ominous black smoke. He bent his reverse-jointed, goat-like demonic hooves, gathering strength.

Bang!

The Flame Demon Lord kicked off the ground and launched himself into the air. Flapping his burning wings, he shot toward the White Dragon Lord in the sky, leaving a trail of thick black smoke in his wake like a faulty exhaust pipe.

In the sky, the White Dragon Lord watched the rushing demon. He opened his massive jaws and sucked the surrounding air into his lungs, his chest violently expanding to nearly twice its normal size.

By then, the Flame Demon Lord was less than three hundred meters away.

Time seemed to stop in that instant. An ice-blue radiance surged from the White Dragon Lord's belly and traveled up his throat, finally erupting as a terrifying Dragon Breath that poured downward like floodwaters breaking a dam.

Sensing the horrific energy fluctuations within the Dragon Breath, Ogresa took the attack seriously. His flaming whip dissipated. The Flame Demon Lord gripped the Decapitation Greatsword with both hands and slashed fiercely upward.

The blazing Decapitation Greatsword cleaved the leading edge of the Ice-Blue Dragon Breath in half. Where the breath met the Greatsword, ice collided with fire, and blue clashed against red.

The Flame Demon Lord forcibly carved a path through the cone of the Ice-Blue Dragon Breath, surging straight against the current.

"Haaah!"

In the air, Ogresa pumped his wings furiously to power his way through the onslaught. He continued to ascend through the parted Dragon Breath, but his momentum grew steadily slower.

The White Dragon Lord threw Ogresa a mocking glare. He had no idea where Ogresa found the confidence to think he could shatter a Dragon Breath with brute force alone!

The Dragon Breath was cone-shaped; the higher up it went, the narrower the area and the higher the energy density became, increasing its sheer destructive power. If the Flame Demon Lord had relied on his mobility to dodge the Dragon Breath, he might have caused the White Dragon Lord some trouble. But taking it head-on like this? He was practically asking to die.

The White Dragon Lord intensified his exhaling force and simultaneously infused the Dragon Breath with Soul Energy.

Not good!

The Flame Demon Lord immediately felt the pressure double. The burning flames coating his body were suppressed by the freezing energy of the Dragon Breath, leaving nothing but a thin layer clinging to his skin.

Ogresa cursed inwardly. How could a mere Legendary Rank Level white dragon unleash such a devastating breath attack?!

It wasn't that the Flame Demon Lord was being overly arrogant; he had simply judged the White Dragon Lord's strength based on his past experiences fighting the Chromatic Dragon Clan.

However, an Ancestral Dragon ranked near the very top among all legendary dragon species; its strength was not something an ordinary Chromatic Dragon could ever hope to match.

Thus, Ogresa's attempt to act tough had backfired completely.

When the Flame Demon Lord closed the distance to two hundred meters, he could advance no further.

At the same time, the White Dragon Lord ramped up the intensity of his breath attack once more, weaving even more Soul Energy into the blast.

Feeling that familiar soul power sweeping over him, Ogresa's scalp went numb. An unstoppable, crushing weight slammed down from above.

The Flame Demon Lord hastily turned the Greatsword horizontally. Gripping the hilt with one hand and supporting the broad blade with the other, he hoisted it over his head as a shield.

Caught in the massive thrust of the cascading Dragon Breath, the Flame Demon Lord used the momentum to accelerate his descent, attempting to break free of the attack.

But the White Dragon Lord was not going to let him off that easily.

Kick him while he's down!

Amos tucked his wings and accelerated downward headfirst. Maintaining the Dragon Breath, he chased after the plummeting Flame Demon Lord, utterly determined to freeze him into an ice sculpture.

Under the hyper-dense energy environment of the Dragon Breath, the Flame Demon Lord did not dare cast Greater Teleportation. He could only channel every ounce of energy within his body to resist the frost.

Plunging headfirst through the sky, the White Dragon Lord spewed a vertical pillar of Ice-Blue Dragon Breath. Below him, Ogresa held his Greatsword horizontally, projecting a violent tide of flames from the blade to clash against the Dragon Breath.

The situation was clear: the White Dragon Lord held the upper hand in the clash. The Dragon Breath suppressed the flames, crushing the fiery tide into a hemisphere. The dissipated Dragon Breath flowed smoothly over the surface of the fiery dome.

Ogresa was burning with anxiety. On the hand gripping the hilt, the fiery energy shielding him from the Dragon Breath was suppressed until it practically vanished. He could personally feel the world-freezing cold of the Dragon Breath.

Finally, the Dragon Breath broke through the fiery defenses and struck the Flame Demon Lord.

"Argh!"

The Flame Demon Lord let out a cry of pain. The instant his burning hand touched the Dragon Breath, it cooled rapidly like a red-hot iron plunged into ice. Frost crawled quickly from his wrist up his arm.

And that was merely the superficial damage. On the spiritual level, the hand of the Flame Demon Lord's soul—which had burned as brightly as a hundred-watt lightbulb—gradually dimmed into darkness.

If a creature's entire soul lost its luster completely, it would meet eternal death, losing even the right to enter the River Styx. Even if the God of Death intervened personally, a dissipated soul could never be restored.

The Flame Demon Lord roared, unleashing the power of his Magma Heart once more.

A terrifying surge of fiery energy erupted from the demon's chest, instantly reversing the tide of the battle. The flames rolled the Dragon Breath back, forcing the current to flow upward.

The White Dragon Lord hastily snapped his wings open to halt his dive and flew frantically toward the sky, having sensed a horrific energy reaction building at the collision point.

The collision of two diametrically opposed energies had triggered a complex energy reaction. It was going to explode!

Boom!

Accompanied by an earth-shattering boom, the entire ground trembled. A terrifying, black-and-red explosive cloud rapidly expanded in midair. The resulting shockwave swept away the clouds in the sky, blasting a chaotic storm of energy in all directions.

Caught in the massive thrust of the explosion, the Flame Demon Lord slammed into the ground like a cannonball, burying himself deep in the rubble of Wyvern Peak below.

In the distance, the spectating Dragon Brother and Dragon Sister watched the horrific black-and-red explosive cloud swell into the sky. Their hearts trembled, filled with deep anxiety over their elder brother's fate.

The terrifying energy shockwave rippled outward, naturally slamming into the White Dragon Lord as well. Amos immediately felt the energy of his defensive magic draining at an alarming rate.

Soon enough, the violent energy impact broke through the white dragon's defenses and slammed into the White Dragon Lord. Amos felt a sharp burst of pain as a hot surge of liquid crept up his throat.

Startled, Amos immediately clamped his jaws shut. He could not let anyone see his special dragon blood, and he forcefully swallowed the welling liquid back down.

Fortunately, the White Dragon Lord had retreated in time and was far enough from the epicenter. The energy impact that broke through his magical defenses was already at the end of its momentum, so the White Dragon Lord's injuries were not too severe.

The earth below had been pulverized by the erupted energy. Every blade of grass and tree within a two-kilometer radius was either encased in frost—transformed into beautiful yet terrifying crystal sculptures—or incinerated to ashes by the flames, erased without a trace.

Further out, the vegetation was either dusted with a layer of frost or scorched brown by the sheer heat. A light breeze blew past, knocking the charred leaves off the branches and leaving behind bare trunks.

Hovering in the sky, the White Dragon Lord kept a close eye on the movement in the rubble below. Although the energy impact had been terrifying, it was still far from enough to claim the Flame Demon's life.

A massive, bloody hand reached out from the debris, swatting the overhead rocks aside. The Flame Demon Lord sat up from the rubble, glaring at the White Dragon Lord in the sky with a dragon-killing intent.

Ogresa planted his hands on the ground and stood up. The Flame Demon Lord had lost all the arrogant vigor he displayed when he first broke free. One of the demonic horns on his head had been snapped off in the violent explosion, and one of the wings on his back was folded at an irregular angle.

The Flame Demon Lord was covered in tiny lacerations. Scalding blood oozed from wounds large and small, dripping down his body to the ground. The corrosive blood hissed as it melted the scattered gravel.

These superficial injuries were manageable; a period of rest would heal them. But the damage inflicted on his soul sent Ogresa into a towering rage.

"Argh!!!"

Ogresa roared at the sky. The sonic force rippled outward, stirring up a circular wave of dust. Furious flames of hatred blazed in the Flame Demon's eyes. He wanted revenge!

The White Dragon Lord was not to be outdone. He rapidly chanted an incantation, repairing his shattered magical defenses.

Just as the battle was about to erupt once more, a violent surge of magical fluctuations rippled through the sky. The void rippled like a disturbed lake, as if something was about to drill out from the center of the waves.

Both combatants were highly familiar with this phenomenon. It was the prelude to the teleportation of a large-scale magical structure.

Barely a few minutes into the clash, the Council had swiftly responded. A Floating Tower was about to arrive on the battlefield.

The arrival of Nordhill's highest combat power was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing both of their fighting spirits.

The White Dragon Lord grew wary. He could not let the Council discover his current condition. If his identity as an Ancestral Dragon was exposed, it would bring endless trouble.

Amos hurriedly cast a spell, resealing his heart once more. As for the Flame Demon Lord, Amos believed the demon was even more panicked than he was.

The White Dragon Lord guessed correctly. Ogresa was absolutely terrified. The memories of ten thousand years ago were awakened at this moment, every detail playing out vividly in his mind.

Ten thousand years ago, Ogresa had followed the Abyssal army into Nordhill. He thought it would be just like the times before: the army would swiftly conquer the plane, and the demons would gleefully harvest blood and souls.

After squeezing every ounce of value from the plane, they would launch a sacrifice, offering the entire world to the great Will of the Abyss to obtain even more of its favor.

However, after experiencing an initial crushing defeat, the natives of this plane had reacted, united their forces, and unleashed a staggering level of combat power.

The previously invincible Abyssal army was actually stopped!

Of the four leading Abyssal Lords, two had died in battle, and he himself was sealed within this plane for ten whole millennia.

This was Nordhill!

A powerful plane that had broken multiple Abyssal Lords whose strength rivaled the gods!

In the sky, the base of the Floating Tower had already emerged.

Ignoring the white dragon in the sky, Ogresa rapidly chanted a string of incantations.

Finally, just as the Floating Tower fully arrived, a profound, purple-black Portal appeared. The Flame Demon Lord stepped inside, and the Portal gradually began to shrink.

At the exact same time, the White Dragon Lord completed his seal and immediately felt a wave of crushing exhaustion wash over him.

A split second before the Portal vanished completely, a streak of red light shot out from within. With the speed of lightning, it slammed directly into the White Dragon Lord and disappeared.

The White Dragon Lord was alarmed. He had seen such a trick once before. At the very end of his battle with the Sea Giant, the Winter Commander, Motznovi, had used the exact same method.

Simultaneously, the maniacal laughter of the Flame Demon Lord, Ogresa, reveling in his successful revenge, rang out inside the white dragon's mind.

"Gahahaha! White dragon! The next time we meet, it will be your doom!"

The White Dragon Lord hurriedly checked his body, only to find that the red-and-black energy had rapidly vanished within him.

Amos's face turned ashen. The mark left by the Flame Demon Lord was completely different in type from the Winter Commander's. The Winter Commander had given the white dragon a set of coordinates.

The Flame Demon Lord's mark, however, was equivalent to installing a tracker on the white dragon, ensuring the demon could exact his revenge in the future.

By then, the Floating Tower had finished its teleportation. Over a dozen legendary practitioners flew out from within the tower.

The High-Tier Legend leading them was a middle-aged female mage draped in snow-white robes. She found that the demon's aura had vanished, leaving behind nothing but a devastated battlefield.

The female mage shifted her gaze toward the white dragon in the sky.

"Councilor Amos, what exactly happened here?"