The surrounding air had already distorted into ripples.
The mana vortex within Ragner’s body converged into a miniature sun that was about to fall.
Around them, the rocks of the dry riverbed began to melt, turning into flows of crimson magma.
“Perish, insects! Even if I die, I’ll take you with me!”
As the Flame Demon General finished his roar, the sphere of light, containing destructive high heat, slowly pressed downward.
The pliers in Uncle Barton’s hand had already turned red and softened, the tips of Boss Lady Lillian’s hair curled and scorched black, and Iris knelt on the ground, closing her eyes in despair as she waited to be vaporized.
In the center of this purgatory that was enough to melt steel, Celia gave a soft sigh.
‘It’s too hot.’
In Celia’s vision, she saw Ragner’s essence through the phenomenon. It was a core of fire burning with raging flames.
‘Since his true form is a flame core, can I reverse its attributes?’
Celia decided to give it a try. She then flipped open the Holy Codex in her arms, condensed the Saint Celery within her body, and pointed a slender finger toward the Flame Demon General from a distance.
The next second, Saint Celery surged from Celia and rushed toward Ragner.
A cold wave erupted from within Ragner’s body. The previously boiling pool of magma stopped flowing in an instant; the crimson color was frozen within transparent crystals before it even had a chance to fade.
The flames on the surface of the miniature sun that was about to destroy everything solidified, turning into a crimson glass ball.
Then, under the force of gravity, it crashed to the ground and turned into a sky full of glittering red dust.
“Wh — what…?”
Ragner remained in a posture with his hands raised high, his eyes — which burned with hellfire — now filled with horror. He couldn’t feel the heat anymore.
The Abyssal Magic Fire within him, the source power capable of burning souls, was currently being extinguished.
The Magma Heavy Armor he was so proud of was rapidly being covered by a thick layer of white frost.
“No! I am a Flame Demon! I am the master of fire! How could I possibly feel cold?”
Ragner tried to struggle, trying to reignite the flames. But no matter how he channeled his mana, there was no response.
The Flame Demon General’s roar came to an abrupt halt.
Black smoke no longer spewed from Ragner’s wide-open mouth; instead, he exhaled a breath of white, cold air.
His burning eyes dimmed rapidly, turning into two clusters of ghostly blue fire frozen in their sockets, followed by the sound of his body icing over.
The once-mighty Flame Demon Ragner had turned into a giant ice sculpture 3 meters tall.
Through the transparent, hard ice, the expression of horror, despair, and disbelief on Ragner’s face remained clearly visible and lifelike.
The river valley, which had previously been like a purgatory, was now filled with a lingering chill. The temperature was so low that people’s breath turned into white mist.
The softened pliers in Uncle Barton’s hand became hard again, and a section even snapped off due to the sudden cold.
Lillian shuddered. Iris stared blankly at the giant ice sculpture, her mouth hanging open wide enough to fit a fist.
‘Freezing a Flame Demon General into a block of ice? What kind of move is that? This is a blatant insult to the laws of elements!’
Exhale…
Celia let out a long breath, her figure swaying slightly.
Forcibly modifying the parameters within a Flame Demon’s body and extracting all its heat was still too heavy a burden for her current self.
Waves of needle-like pain throbbed in her mind, and her stomach was churning due to her mana depletion.
‘I’m so hungry… I want to eat something.’
Celia forced herself to stay upright and walked to the ice sculpture, lightly tapping on Ragner’s frozen calf. The sound was crisp and pleasant; the hardness was quite good.
‘The quality is decent.’
Celia nodded with satisfaction, then raised her foot and stomped on the ice sculpture.
The sculpture instantly disintegrated, shattering into a pile of ice blocks on the ground.
Amidst the pile of crushed ice, a crystal the size of a fist rolled out.
This was the Flame Demon Core with its attributes completely reversed. Now, it should be called the Eternal Ice Core.
“Iris.”
Celia called out without even turning her head.
“Yes! Lady Celia!” Iris scrambled over, kneeling on the ground, not even daring to lift her head.
“Pick this up,” Celia pointed at the blue crystal on the ground. “This thing has a good cooling effect. We won’t have to worry about running out of ice for Happy Water in the future.”
“Ye… yes!”
Iris picked up the core with trembling hands. It was bone-chillingly cold to the touch, and she could even feel a despairing soul sealed inside.
‘Using a Flame Demon General’s soul to chill drinks? The Lady Witch’s dark sense of humor is terrifying.’
……
After dealing with the spoils of war, Celia turned and walked toward the pile of rubble in the distance.
The always energetic Hero lay at the bottom of a crater, his body covered in a thin layer of white frost.
Elent still maintained that forward-charging posture, his hand tightly clutching the broken sword.
Even though he had lost consciousness, and even when facing certain-death flames, he hadn’t retreated a single step.
‘What a handful.’
Celia walked to Elent’s side. Ignoring the dirt and rubble on the ground, she sat down directly.
Then, she reached out and moved Elent’s head — covered in bloodstains and ice shards — onto her lap.
“Look at you, what a fool.”
Although Celia wasn’t in good shape herself, a soft Saint Celery still lit up in her palm, gently stroking the hideous wounds on the young man’s face.
Under the nourishment of the Saint Celery, the wounds began to heal, and his originally weak breathing gradually became steady and strong.
As if sensing a familiar warmth, Elent’s eyelids flickered a few times, and he struggled to open his eyes.
His vision went from blurry to clear. The first thing he saw was the young girl’s slightly pale face and her emerald-green eyes that looked like lake water.
“Priestess…”
Elent instinctively tried to get up, but he realized he was resting on the girl’s soft lap, and his body stiffened.
“Don’t move,” Celia said, pressing down on his forehead, her tone a bit annoyed. “I’m still putting you back together. If you move around and fall apart, don’t blame me.”
“What about… that Flame Demon?” Elent rolled his eyes, trying to find that terrifying figure.
“That thing?” Celia pointed to the blue crystal Iris was holding. “It’s become a refrigerator part.”
“A refrigerator… part?”
Elent didn’t quite understand, but he saw that the surroundings hadn’t been swallowed by flames.
Instead, they were covered in frost, and everyone seemed safe and sound. The young man grinned, revealing a silly smile.
“That’s great… It’s good that the Priestess is okay. As long as the Priestess is okay… I can… keep making dinner…”
“Be quiet.”
Celia’s finger flicked his forehead forcefully, making a crisp sound. “Look at how pathetic you look right now. You’re hideous. When we get back, if you don’t use those new parts to chill the bathwater and wash all this filth off…”
Celia’s finger slid down the scar that had just healed, poking his cheek fiercely. A hint of uneasy fluster flashed in her emerald eyes.
“I won’t let you into the kitchen!”