### Chapter 160: Long Night, Dark Fire (Part 7)
The wind howled in my ears, my vision blurred for a moment as the man called Jester—cold and distant, his face adorned with fiery red patterns—appeared right before me.
Then, the wind and frost exploded against that face.
At that instant, time felt like it had suddenly slowed down. Frosty chill mixed with shimmering ice burst forth from within me, surging with overwhelming force toward the man. His face began to contort, his lips and soft flesh quivering like waves, his fiery red hair flying back, his tattered clothes flapping in the wind, only to be frozen into icy strands in the next moment. Sparks scattered in the wind, fizzled out—a scene right out of a slow-motion movie, unfolding before my eyes.
And then came an astonishing booming sound.
Boom—!!!
The raging wave of frost soared up the next second, centered around the ground where we stood, rippling out like a tsunami. The frozen earth cracked open, dust flying high as gigantic fissures spread out—it wasn’t the aftermath of an attack.
In fact, I hadn’t launched my attack yet. In a moment of fierce emotion, I couldn’t help but condense the Power of Order within me to its utmost limit. The terrifying pressure burst forth uncontrollably, devastating everything within a diameter of forty to fifty meters in the blink of an eye. Little trees collapsed, bushes flew away, and the man before me became encased in white ice, both feet lifting off the ground, his form unexpectedly retreating.
But in a heartbeat, I caught up with him again.
I had never pushed my speed to this extreme before.
With my footfalls cracking the ground beneath me, I suddenly flashed forward, closing in on the retreating Jester. My knee throbbed slightly from the overwhelming force, like the impact after jumping from a great height, and my neck ached a bit—a minor pain from the earlier encounter with the strong man. It was nothing to worry about.
Crack, crack, crack—
The sound of ice compressing erupted from my right palm, a sharp icy scythe quickly forming, pulling dense white mist along with it, shrieking through the wind as it swung towards Jester’s head.
The speed of this strike was beyond the n*ked eye to track.
Even as I concentrated intensely, everything around me still moved as if in slow motion; yet that slender right arm tightly gripping the icy scythe blurred into a phantom-like afterimage.
The flesh on the man’s face was still wobbling comically, his scarlet eyes barely open, but in the next instant, his hand shot up with unbelievable precision, incredibly fast reflexes allowing him to grasp my outstretched wrist!
A murderous glint flickered in my eyes.
With all my might, the Power of Order surged forth, and in an instant, the ferocious white mist connected with the left arm Jester had grabbed, instantly freezing it. With a loud shatter, it crumbled into pieces, but the icy scythe’s attack didn’t falter; it swung toward his head from the side. Yet that brief moment of interruption bought the Jester just enough time to tilt his head back, avoiding the scythe that grazed his nose, leaving a shallow cut.
The corners of his mouth seemed to twitch upwards.
But in the next moment, from the corner of my vision, I had already pulled out the Dragon Claw at my waist. As the icy scythe swung empty, I flipped the kn*fe handle with my left hand, crossed my arms, and lunged upward at him!
Thud!
A muffled sound echoed as my strike pierced through his jaw and into his skull, twisting forcefully and ripping apart the grotesque smile he hadn’t even fully formed yet.
The Dragon Claw’s ivory blade glowed with a faint cold light, as ice mist billowed from Jester’s mouth and nose. The sizzling sounds filled the air, violent yet unable to freeze his head—rather, the scarlet flames blazed hotter, almost enveloping his torn face. The Dragon Claw hadn’t even been pulled out fully, the bl**d hadn’t even spilled, and yet the wound was already healing!
“Ha!”
He let out a short, manic laugh, his fiery right arm grabbing my left hand. The next moment, in my widening pupils, that lunatic slammed his head into me—
Bang!
A muffled thud, and the scene before me blurred.
I staggered back, my head buzzing, stars dancing before my eyes, consciousness fading for just a moment. The icy scythe slipped from my grasp, but I still clung to the Dragon Claw. With fury boiling inside me, I twisted the dagger, tearing through Jester’s face, though he was trying to resist, his physical strength couldn’t match mine. He released his grip on my hand and aimed for my shoulder.
At the same time, I jabbed the Dragon Claw twice into his chest, sinking deep, feeling the grip on my left shoulder tighten. The scarlet flames erupted, scorching his clothing and exposing half of my shoulder and collarbone. But who really cared about that? With a roar, I raised the Dragon Claw high, swirling it with frost, angrily bringing it down—
Boom—!!!
The rampant cold exploded before me.
A cone of icy wind roared forward, the horrifying impact once again engulfing the frozen earth. The bloodied and mangled face before me disappeared in a blink, Jester’s body pierced by countless ice spikes, swept skyward by the surging gale!
Then, with a bang, he crashed against a solid ice wall that had unexpectedly formed in mid-air.
I stood beneath, sheathing the Dragon Claw back at my waist, my left hand raised toward the sky, palm glowing an eye-searing blue. Up above, the ice wall blocking the Jester’s flight shattered explosively, releasing a tremendous, ear-splitting sound. Countless shards of ice, large and small, hovered midair before rapidly converging on Jester!
“Ugh…”
I shook my head, feeling the intense dizziness beginning to subside. My dark eyes glowed with a shocking blue light as I fully activated the power of frost. Amidst the dense, explosive sounds of compressing ice, more cold surged from over ten meters above, with some being fist-sized chunks and others irregularly shaped pieces two to three meters wide, floating around Jester, enclosing him and bombarding him with icy blasts!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—
Like thunderous roars, the figure in mid-air was instantly buried under an uncountable amount of ice.
There wasn’t even a chance for him to land; countless ice shards enveloped Jester, swiftly forming a massive, irregular ice ball suspended more than ten meters high. The blazes at the center of the ice orb flickered like a boiling cauldron, the sounds of spluttering and crackling echoed like the lament of the icy depths, as the ice ball rapidly developed cracks, steam pouring out only to be blocked by more incoming ice chunks.
Crack, crack! Boom! Boom!
The ice continued to compress, the suspended ice ball seemed to act like a magnet, pulling in ice chunks from all directions, its size growing immense even while being crushed down. Icy flakes rained from the night sky, and after two seconds, the flame at the center dimmed.
But that still wasn’t enough…
“Ha ah ah ah ah—”
This time, I truly pushed my strength to the limit.
The Power of Order billowed inside me, a tidal wave crashing out, and in my eyes, in my ears, the world was left with nothing but the furious chill of the wind. Frost spread out, filling my vision with a dazzling white, the ice ball high above had risen further. With the force compressing, it began to glow the deep blue of the ocean, but still, it wasn’t enough—
With my left arm held high, I extended my right hand.
Fingers spread wide, then suddenly closed.
—Frost World.
In an instant, the storm of frost seemed to pause for a heartbeat.
It felt like less than half a second, yet it also felt like an eternity.
Then, in this white world, tiny dots of frost silver began to fall.
Brilliant silver blazed.
There was no frost mist, no chill wind, just the phenomenal drop in temperature that I could even feel. In the distance, outside the frost-bitten land, the infernal flames still burning among the bushes quietly extinguished, charred branches suffused with frost, which spread ever farther, until it reached the edge of the town, before finally stopping.
“…Hoo—”
I exhaled a breath of white mist.
I had been somewhat apprehensive… It had been ages since I last used it, and I wasn’t sure how much the range of Frost World had expanded with my boosting power, but I could control it.
That range, I could manage.
Though it was quite challenging…
At this moment, I was almost exerting myself to the utmost, skillfully controlling the Power of Order while compressing the ice ball, constraining the range of Frost World to just under three hundred meters, ensuring that the low temperature wouldn’t reach the innocent townsfolk. The blue light in my eyes shone brighter than ever, my hair lifted and stood on end. Above me, that orb of ice, backed by extreme low temperatures, grew even larger and deeper blue. Inside, the burning red flames started to wane rapidly.
Then they extinguished.
Still not enough…
The Power of Order kept surging.
The ice ball halted its ascent, yet the ice’s compression never ceased, accompanied by crackling sounds—its temperature and density rapidly decreased, its size shrinking, the color close to deep blue… One second, two seconds, ten seconds passed, and finally, I stopped the release of the Power of Order. The blue light in my eyes faded, my hand lowered, as I huffed for breath.
Was that enough…
The moment I lost control over the icy orb, it crashed down with a thundering sound, splattering countless frost shards… whoever was inside should’ve been mashed to a pulp by now, right?
But I didn’t lower my guard.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that the Jester wouldn’t go down so easily…
Crack.
Suddenly, a slit formed in the ice ball.
!!!
My heart raced; I raised my hand to exert force again. But the next moment, the ice ball exploded into shards, countless fragments swirling in the air as the red flames ignited once more. A bl**d-red hand erupted from the ice, smashing down towards the ground!
Bang—
The fierce flames melted the frost in an instant and spread out.
I was filled with both anger and alarm.
You’ve got to be kidding…
In front of my eyes, amidst the shattered ice, a grotesque, twisted mass—no longer resembling a human—crawled forth like writhing, repulsive maggots.
Above those maggot-like bodies, a giant hand devoid of skin, ablaze with infernal flames, came crashing down towards the ground, and in the distant night sky, bright and blazing red light ignited once again.
“Let… us…”
A hoarse, twisted voice emanated from that abominable form.
“Play… something… interesting…”
