Chapter 137: Noah VS. Ultear
"Here I come!" Ultear shouted.
Keeping her right fist pressed into her left palm, she pushed forward. A magic circle appeared in front of her, and countless ice creations burst from the ground around her.
"Ice-Make: Crown of Roses!"
Countless thorny branches adorned with roses shot up from the ground, rushing straight for Noah.
Noah calmly watched the incoming attack, clapped his hands together, and a magic circle appeared in front of him. A giant head made of ice emerged from the ground, followed by a torso. The ice giant then pushed itself up with its hands and leaped to its feet. The twenty-to-thirty-meter-tall giant now stood in front of Noah, completely blocking the incoming ice branches. After taking the full brunt of the attack, the giant showed not a single scratch.
"The integrity of your ice is too high! My attacks can't even damage it," Ultear said, surprised.
"Of course. My ice is colder, so naturally, it's harder."
Because of their two Ice-Make spells, the surrounding temperature plummeted. A thin mist was already swirling around Noah's ice giant, and ice flowers began to appear on the ground.
Without another word, Noah sent the giant charging forward. The moment it began to move, Ultear felt the ground tremble, and the oppressive presence of the massive object washed over her. She didn't stay in its path, leaping to the side the moment it moved.
At the same time, she struck her right fist into her left palm, and another magic circle flashed. "Ice-Make: Trip Wire!"
Several thick, thorny rose branches shot up from the ground beneath her, rapidly extending towards the giant's feet. They wrapped around its ankles and tightened.
The giant, which had been striding forward, was brought to a sudden halt. Although it snapped the branches, its upper body was already carried forward by its own momentum. The entire ice giant pitched forward and crashed to the ground with a massive, earth-shaking boom.
Noah, who was standing on the ground, was shaken by the impact. Ultear seized the opportunity to attack.
"Ice-Make: Ice Thorns!"
Countless thorns of ice shot up from the ground, heading straight for Noah.
Noah shook his head. It was too late to get the ice giant back up to block. Besides, he was holding back. Forcing the giant to recover so quickly would have been too much. Time for a different magic.
Noah waved his right hand, and a magic circle appeared on the ground in front of him as he leaped backward. The moment the ice thorns reached the magic circle, a blast of scorching hot lava erupted from it, instantly vaporizing all the ice creations.
"Lava's Breath!"
Ultear, who had been charging in right behind her thorns, was forced to stop and retreat several steps, simultaneously casting a spell to cool the air.
Seeing her stop, Noah simply raised his hand, and a fire ball quickly formed in his palm before shooting towards her. Ultear saw it coming, quickly struck her fist to her palm, and a solid wall of ice instantly appeared in front of her. The fire ball slammed into it and exploded. The high temperature evaporated the ice, creating a thick cloud of steam that blocked both their views.
Before Ultear could make a move, several more fire balls burst through the steam and slammed into the ice wall, completely shattering it.
She scrambled to the side. The moment she landed, a magic circle appeared beneath her feet, already spinning and about to activate. With a powerful leap, she jumped clear just as the magic circle erupted. A giant pillar of fire shot into the sky, rapidly raising the temperature that had just been lowered by her ice wall.
Ultear had jumped with so much force that she had to roll on the ground to bleed off the momentum. She quickly got back to her feet, only to see five more fire balls floating behind Noah. With a wave of his hand, they shot towards her in sequence.
Ultear assumed her Ice-Make stance, and several thorny rose branches instantly shot up from the ground, intercepting and destroying each of the fire balls. A series of explosions occurred in the air, sending alternating blasts of hot and cold wind in all directions. The constant temperature shifts made one break out in a sweat.
By now, under the immense pressure from Noah and from her own expenditure of magic, beads of sweat were visible on Ultear's forehead. Her breathing had become ragged.
In contrast, aside from having moved a little, Noah showed no outward signs of having cast so many spells. He was still as calm and composed as ever.
"Do you really have that much magic power? I'm the one who was born with so much magic that my body couldn't even handle it!"
"I guess you could call it talent. I'm just a little bit stronger."
Although Ultear had known for a long time that Noah's magic reserves were not normal, he usually held back so much during their spars that she didn't feel it to this extent. But this was an exam. To put pressure on her, Noah had released a portion of his restrictions and was displaying more of his power. As a result, Ultear felt an immense pressure, which undoubtedly accelerated her own consumption. At the same time, Noah's continuous assault had forced her to expend a large amount of magic to defend herself. She had used so much, yet the person in front of her seemed completely unaffected. She couldn't believe they were the same age. It seemed that in their usual spars, he had always been holding back. She didn't even know how much he was still hiding.
"Alright, snap out of it. I'm coming," Noah said.
Ultear quickly focused. To be defeated because she had been distracted would be too embarrassing; Sorano would laugh at her for a year.
Seeing that she was ready, Noah didn't waste any more words. He waved his right hand, and a huge magic circle appeared beneath her. Ultear was instantly filled with an immense sense of danger that made her whole body tense. With just a glance at the magic circle on the ground, she knew she couldn't dodge this spell. It covered a radius of over ten meters and was about to activate. All she could do now was defend with all her might.
Without even a moment to curse at Noah, she slammed her right fist into her left palm, her magic power surging as she unleashed her full strength.
"Ice-Make: Crown of Roses!"
Countless thorny branches adorned with roses erupted from the ground around her, wrapping her in layer after layer until she was completely encased in a dense, impenetrable sphere.
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