But the next second, the Demon God felt a deep fear.
Annabell gently closed her eyes, and the radiance of mana blazed up around her once more, her fingertips continuously tracing through the void.
Then, under the guidance of the Codex of Winter, the three mutually incompatible yet convergent ultimate waters—the Winter Spring, the Glacial Holy Water, and the Abyssal Weak Water—began to fuse in an inconceivable manner.
They transformed into chaos.
The surrounding temperature plummeted below absolute zero at that moment; even the flow of time seemed frozen by this extreme cold power. The enormous fiery fist that the Demon God had swung came to an abrupt halt less than a meter away from Annabell.
The purple-black flames on the surface of the fist began to form eerie black frost, gradually being stripped of heat and mana.
“Th-This… What kind of power is this?!”
The Demon God let out a terrified roar. It desperately tried to retract its fist, only to find its body completely out of control.
That gray water droplet slowly revolved at Annabell’s fingertip, emanating an aura that was ancient, profound, and carried an absolute dominance that defied all laws.
Annabell raised her head, her heterochromatic red and blue eyes coldly fixed on the behemoth before her.
The hem of her robes flapped loudly in the freezing storm. At that moment, her figure seemed to merge with some even more ancient and greater existence.
Under the impact of this ultimate aura of the law of extreme cold, a scene from tens of millions of years ago suddenly flashed through the depths of the Demon God’s fragmented memories.
It was a human who also possessed heterochromatic eyes and silver-white hair.
At that time, it was this same extreme cold power that could freeze even gods, fighting alongside the proud Elven King, mercilessly burying the myriad gods beneath ice and snow.
Fear—an instinctive fear originating from the depths of its soul—instantly drowned out all the Demon God’s reason. Its massive flame body trembled violently. The two eyes formed from flames stared fixedly at Annabell, and it let out an incredulous roar:
“It’s you?!”
A dull and terrifying boom came from the other end of the ruins, and then the entire ancient Elven King’s inheritance hall began to shake violently. It was the terrifying aftershock of the collision between the purple-black sea of fire and the icy cold spring.
This aftershock even penetrated the spatial barriers of the ruins themselves, transmitting directly to this sacred inheritance ground tightly protected by the Elven King’s law.
“Oh my… What level of mana collision is this? What’s happening?”
In Charlotte’s consciousness, the ‘Old Lady’—the legendary alchemist who once dominated the scene—now looked at the void with a face full of shock. Through the resonance of souls, the Old Lady vaguely perceived what was happening outside the hall.
“That girl named Annabell…”
The Old Lady’s soul body trembled slightly, her eyes revealing unconcealable emotion.
“She was clearly already drained of mana, yet she still chose to stay behind alone to face an ancient demon of that level, just to buy time for Charlotte to receive the inheritance?!”
The Old Lady sighed. She had seen too much deceit in the magic world, too many faces that would easily betray close ones for profit.
But someone like Annabell, who would unhesitatingly sacrifice her life for another and face the Demon God directly, was extremely rare.
‘Enough, enough.’ The Old Lady made a silent resolve in her heart. ‘Since that girl has staked her life, even if I have to risk this remnant soul, I will definitely help Charlotte obtain this Elven King’s inheritance!’
In the center of the main hall, Charlotte was standing quietly before a massive bronze alchemy furnace. This was the final trial of the inheritance hall—”Soul Alchemy.”
According to the ancient Elvish script on the stone tablet, the trial taker must use their soul as a furnace and mana as fire to concoct a Miraculous Potion in order to gain the Elven King’s final approval.
“Charlotte, listen carefully. The upcoming trial is extremely dangerous. I will lend you my soul power…”
The Old Lady was about to impart the ancient alchemy secret technique to Charlotte.
However, the moment Charlotte’s finger touched the surface of the alchemy furnace, an overwhelmingly vast and irresistible wave of mana instantly swept through Charlotte’s entire body.
“Ah!”
The Old Lady let out a startled cry. She felt a repulsive force forcibly tearing her soul away from Charlotte’s spirit.
“What’s going on? The rules of this trial actually reject interference from external souls?!”
“Charlotte! This old woman can’t help you anymore! From here on, you have to walk the path alone!”
The Old Lady’s voice echoed anxiously in Charlotte’s mind before being completely cut off.
Charlotte snapped her eyes open. She found herself no longer in that grand hall. Around her was a vast starry sky, beneath her feet a void of clouds. There was nothing except this quietly floating Elven alchemy furnace before her.
Fighting alone.
“It’s fine.”
Charlotte took a deep breath. Her hands, which had been trembling slightly from fear, gradually clenched into fists. In her eyes, as clear as emeralds, burned an unprecedented light of determination.
“Anna is still waiting for me outside. She’s risking her life to buy me time… How can I fail here!”
Charlotte extended both hands and placed them on the sides of the alchemy furnace. A ball of vivid green flame surged up from Charlotte’s palms, instantly enveloping the entire furnace.
This was the Medicine God Soulfire awakened within her, the supreme flame for concocting all high-grade magic potions.
But fire alone wasn’t enough; alchemy required materials. However, in this void-like trial space, there were no physical materials at all.
‘Could it be… that what needs to be offered is something intangible?’
This thought flashed through Charlotte’s mind. According to legend, the most supreme alchemy does not require mundane herbs, but rather pays a ‘price’ to concoct a miracle that can overturn fate.
Thinking this, Charlotte hesitated no more. She closed her eyes, released the defense of her mental sea, and allowed the alchemy furnace to extract her soul power.
‘Then, let’s use this…’
A bittersweet yet gentle smile curled at the corner of Charlotte’s lips. She threw the most precious and unforgettable thing in her heart, without reservation, into the flames of the alchemy furnace. It was her feelings for Annabell.
Scenes flashed rapidly through her mind: when they first met, Annabell’s haughty and arrogant demeanor, yet clumsy in the details; when danger came, the silver-white back that always blocked her path without hesitation; in the ice storm, the tight embrace.
The despair and warmth that seemed to knead each other into their souls; and just now, when Annabell pushed her into the inheritance gate and turned to face the Demon God, that unspoken “Live on.”
“Ah—!!!”
Agonizing pain. Pain beyond words instantly tore through Charlotte’s consciousness. The sensation of her soul being slowly extracted and burned was ten thousand times more painful than being sliced alive.
This act of forcibly tearing out her deepest love and strongest bond from her soul to use as fuel was nothing short of self-destruction.
But Charlotte did not stop. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, her face pale as paper. Her once solid soul body grew increasingly translucent in this space, as if a gust of wind could scatter it.
Charlotte bit her lip until it bled, blood dripping down her chin.
“Anna… you’re so proud, so strong. I can’t always be the useless one hiding behind you, needing your protection…”
“I will obtain the inheritance! I will become strong enough! Strong enough… to protect you!”
“I will absolutely, absolutely not lose!”