The Eternal Frost Thorns released by Ryoma, after clearing out the horde of corpses, showed no signs of weakening.
Crack... Crack...
The pale white cold air, like a living venomous snake, spread rapidly across the ground, instantly coiling around the corpse that was still continuously firing bullets.
The next second, it was impaled and lifted high by countless ice thorns that shot up from the ground.
Then—
Bang!
In mid-air, its frozen body, along with the accumulated magic power within, exploded, turning into a sky full of ice shards and gray dust.
Rades' crazed smile completely froze on his face.
His army of the dead was swept clean by two types of magic, one fire and one ice, in a single encounter.
Especially the user of the ice magic, his attack was unbelievably fast and astonishingly ruthless.
Alarm bells rang in Rades' heart, and an unprecedented sense of crisis enveloped him. He dared not hold back any longer.
"Come out! My masterpieces!"
He waved both hands sharply, and two gray magic circles unfolded in front of him out of thin air.
Accompanied by a bone-grinding sound, two distinct corpses slowly rose from them.
One corpse was entwined with crackling cyan electric arcs, clearly a powerful lightning Mage in life.
The other was bloated and drenched, emitting a fishy smell of earth, with a puddle of murky mud spreading at its feet, seemingly a magic that fused earth and water elements.
The magical fluctuations emanating from these two corpses were far beyond what the cannon fodder soldiers from before could compare to.
Ryoma watched this scene, his eyes extremely still, muttering to himself, "Does he only hide behind the corpses he summons?"
This light remark, like a sharp needle, fiercely pricked Rades' sensitive and fragile nerves.
"Ha? What did you say?!"
Rades instantly bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, letting out a neurotic, high-pitched laugh, pointing at Ryoma with a twisted expression.
"I only need to manipulate corpses, watch from the sidelines, and I'll win. This is my combat style. This is the smartest, most efficient combat style. What do you, a fool who only knows how to fight with brute force, understand?!"
"Go! Let him witness what true despair is!"
At his command, the two powerful corpses immediately moved.
Sizzle!
The lightning corpse (Alfred) unleashed thick bolts of lightning with a piercing whistle, tearing through the air towards Ryoma's body.
Splash!
On the other side, the muddy corpse (David) slammed its hands onto the ground, and a large expanse of foul mud swamp mixed with cursed power surged towards Ryoma's feet, attempting to restrict his movement.
Thunder spears from above, cursed mud swamp from below, a perfectly coordinated attack.
However, facing this seemingly fatal pincer attack, Ryoma didn't even move his feet an inch. He merely raised his right hand, splayed his fingers, and a massive ice wall rose from the ground, crystal clear like a mirror.
Boom!
The lightning spears violently crashed against the ice wall, erupting in blinding electric light, yet failing to leave even a single crack.
The surging mud swamp below, upon contact with the cold air emanating from the ice wall, instantly solidified, turning into a dirty frozen ground.
"What?!"
Rades' eyes nearly popped out.
However, it wasn't over yet.
"Too noisy."
Ryoma softly uttered two words, then slightly rotated his palm.
Ice Blossom Storm!
Buzz!
The massive ice wall instantly disintegrated, transforming into countless ice crystals sharper than blades.
Under his magical control, these ice crystals formed a terrifying storm, sweeping overwhelmingly towards the two corpses.
Wherever the storm passed, the air was torn apart, emitting a sharp howl.
The lightning corpse tried to gather lightning again to resist, but its speed of gathering magic simply couldn't keep up with the speed of the sweeping storm.
The muddy corpse tried to burrow underground, but the ground had already been frozen harder than steel by the cold air.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
The next moment, dense cutting sounds were incessant.
The two so-called masterpieces in Rades' words, along with the magic contained within their bodies, were torn, cut, and shredded by countless ice crystals the moment they were caught in the Ice Blossom Storm. They couldn't even last a second.
When the storm dissipated, only countless fine ice shards remained, no longer showing any trace of their original form.
Again... instantly pulverized.
"This... how is this possible..."
Rades stared blankly at this scene, his mouth unconsciously agape.
Those two corpses, both formidable Mages in life, were instantly killed just like that?
"Do you have any other tricks?"
Ryoma's figure slowly emerged from the falling ice shards, his expression indifferent as if he had merely casually swatted two flies. He calmly questioned Radis, as if giving him one last chance to show off.
But even so, in the depths of Rades' eyes, there was no genuine fear. He still had his last and strongest trump card.
"You... you are indeed very strong..."
"Haha..."
Radis suddenly let out a low laugh, filled with irrepressible smugness and confidence.
"But this is where it ends!"
"Come out! My most perfect collection! NO.1! Carl!"
He roared hysterically, and a tall figure draped in a large robe emerged behind him.
At Rades' command, Carl's body erupted with powerful mana, and a translucent magical barrier instantly unfolded, tightly enveloping both Rades and himself.
Almost at the same time the barrier formed, the lingering shockwaves of the sweeping Ice Blossom Storm violently crashed into it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Countless ice crystals struck the barrier, emitting dull thuds, then shattered one after another. The magical barrier didn't even ripple, standing as firm as a mountain.
It successfully blocked it!
"Hahahaha! See! It's useless!"
Rades let out a wild laugh of relief from behind the barrier.
"You absolutely cannot break it! This guy was a master of magical defense in life! Coupled with my magic, the barrier is even more unbreakable."
On the other side of the battlefield, Asta looked at the sturdy barrier and saw Ryoma's attack blocked, a surge of hot blood rushing to his head.
"Damn it! Now is not the time to back down!"
He roared, struggled to get up from the ground, and gripped the demon-slayer sword and demon-dweller sword in his hands.
"I can still fight!"
Saying this, he was about to drag his wounded body towards Rades.
"No."
A steady, powerful voice sounded above his head, followed by a hand tapping his head.
Thump!
"Ow, that hurts!"
Asta yelped in pain, squatting down, clutching his head and grimacing.
Fuegoleon withdrew his hand, looking down at him with a serious tone. "As a warrior, one of the most important things is to always grasp your own condition, to clearly know whether you can continue fighting."
His gaze swept over the wounds of varying depths on Asta's body.
"You've reached your limit now, it will be difficult to continue fighting."
"But..." Asta still wanted to argue.
Fuegoleon no longer paid attention to his unwillingness. His gaze passed over Asta and fell upon the figure confronting Rades.
His voice was calm and powerful. "Asta, from now on, just leave it to him."