Chapter 102: The Plane Crashed

The freezing magic came at Vivian through the cracks.

Countless thick ice spikes shot up from beneath her feet, like a forest made of ice.

Vivian didn’t dodge.

She clenched her right fist and slammed it into the ground.

A ring-shaped shockwave spread outward, shattering the ice spikes into fragments that scattered through the air as a blur of white ice dust.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Vivian shook the ice chips off her hand, taunting.

Talia said nothing, her expression grave.

She raised her staff and pointed it distantly toward the upstream of the frozen river.

The incantation was uttered, and mana had already gathered on the staff.

Her casting speed was astonishing;

There wasn’t even time to see her finish chanting the spell.

“Glacier Summon!”

With her low shout, a sky-shrouding iceberg drifted down from upstream, spanning the river outside Ma’en City.

The ice surface groaned under the sudden weight, and river water gushed through cracks, freezing into new ice on both banks.

“Animate!”

The enormous iceberg actually grew legs, transforming into a colossal ice giant that slowly stood up, its head touching the sky.

Its massive body seemed to prop up a corner of the sky.

The snow-laden clouds broke open in a large hole, and pure white moonlight streamed through, shining on the ice giant with dazzling cold light.

Even the thieves lurking far within the city could see it as soon as they looked up.

The ice giant extended its palm and grasped Talia in its hand.

Then it raised its foot and stomped down at Vivian, like a human crushing a cockroach.

The ice giant’s sole blotted out the moon, and the shadow swallowed Vivian whole.

“This is definitely the biggest ice I’ve ever seen.”

Vivian stepped back half a pace with her right foot, bent her knee, and pulled her right fist far back.

Purple aura exploded around her, and surging power gathered along her meridians onto her fist.

The muscles in her arm tensed like a drawn bowstring.

Boom!

Vivian turned into a purple flash and punched out.

The air burst with a dull roar like rolling thunder.

The moment her small fist contacted the ice giant’s sole, ice chips exploded into the sky.

Cracks spread from the sole all the way up until they covered the giant’s entire body.

With a few crisp cracks, massive chunks of ice broke off the giant.

In the blink of an eye, the ice giant collapsed into a heap of glacial rubble.

Talia slipped from its palm, tumbled several times in the air, and was then grabbed by the head by Vivian, her face still frozen in disbelief.

Her lips parted slightly, her voice a bit hoarse.

“How… did you do that…”

“Just clench your fist.”

Vivian’s expression was blank, her tone flat.

“So, can you die in peace now?”

As she spoke, she tightened her fingers, and power suddenly appeared, crushing inward from all sides.

Under the immense intracranial pressure, Talia’s eyes bulged, and pink cerebrospinal fluid leaked from her ears and nose.

She began to struggle desperately, flailing her limbs in the air, but it was no use.

She could only watch as her brain was slowly squeezed into a pulpy mess.

Nine seconds later.

Her struggles grew weaker, the whites of her eyes rolling up, and the staff in her hand slowly slipped.

Talia’s face was flushed red from suffocation, and a powerful survival instinct surged from the depths of her heart.

“Are you kidding me… Who wants to die!”

She mustered her last breath, grabbed the slipping end of her staff, and with all her remaining strength, swung it fiercely.

“What?!”

The staff smacked Vivian square in the face with a crack, sending her flying backward.

Thud!

Vivian’s figure fell from the sky and crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of fine ice mist.

An orc watching from below rubbed his eyes, wide-eyed, staring at the ice mist on the ground.

“Did… we win?”

“Of course we won! Archduke Talia already used that move—there’s no way we’d lose!”

Another orc, holding a fishing rod and mimicking Talia’s recent staff swing, said excitedly:

“This is the royal secret technique of our Iron Tail Kingdom—the Killing Staff!”

“Even the demon lords of hell would be done in by this blow, let alone some nameless little vampire.”

“Then I’m relieved.”

The orcs took out their fishing gear again and cheered, preparing to celebrate their victory by fishing.

Talia hovered in the air, holding her head, panting heavily, her gaze locked on the ice mist below.

Unlike her subordinates who were popping the champagne early, she didn’t dare let her guard down until she saw the enemy’s corpse.

She observed for a while.

There was no movement from within the ice mist.

“Should be taken care of. Time to fish.”

She raised a hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead and calmed her emotions for a moment.

She turned around, intending to descend to the ground.

Just then, a dazzling purple light burst from the center of the ice mist.

“Just can’t shake you off!”

Talia started to turn, but the purple light was already in front of her in an instant.

It was twice as fast as before!

She had no time to think, let alone cast a spell.

In haste, she could only raise her staff to guard her chest.

In an instant.

Blood splattered, dripping onto Vivian’s cold face.

The staff snapped in two, and a bowl-sized hole opened in her chest.

Then Talia crashed.

Splat.

Her body fell from the sky and landed in the middle of the group.

Under the orcs’ stunned expressions, Talia lay motionless on the ground.

“Um, Lady Talia, are you okay?”

An orc tremblingly approached her and poked her body with his fishing rod.

“Honestly, not great.”

“Feels a bit tight in the chest.”

Talia let out a mouthful of bloody foam, her eyes rolling upward uncontrollably.

“Lady, your chest… it’s gone.”

Hearing this, she struggled to lift her head and look at her own chest.

Through the large hole in her chest, she saw the frozen ground beneath her.

“It’s fine, don’t worry. I’ll go ahead to the underworld and check if there are any fish in the River Styx…”

With that, Talia closed her eyes peacefully, waiting for death to take her.

“Hmph, still so talkative at death’s door.”

Vivian snorted coldly, landed beside her, and looked down at Talia lying on the ground.

“I don’t know what grudge we have, but since I can’t beat you, take my life.”

She closed her eyes, a smile curling at her lips.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Smiling because I’m dying without knowing why.”

Vivian said nothing more, just watched Talia’s face gradually turn from rosy to deathly pale.

She didn’t even struggle, seeming to accept death with resignation.

“Vivian!”

A familiar voice called out.

It was Nolan’s voice.

Vivian spun around and saw Nolan, wearing pajamas, rushing out of the darkness.

He opened his arms and embraced Vivian, whispering softly:

“I know you’ve been wronged, but don’t kill her yet.”

“I’ll explain everything when we get home, okay?”

His voice came from above, mixed with heavy breaths from physical exertion.

“Mm, okay.”

Vivian buried her face in his chest and took a deep breath.