"What's wrong? Not attacking?"
Ember tilted her head as a few seconds passed without any movement from Wan Li.
"I thought you said you only needed a minute to send me away?"
Ember's warm smile now looked like a sneer. Her domineering aura increased, making the men around the stage cheer loudly. Those guys... I'll remember their faces.
Wan Li clicked her tongue as she was deep in thought. Slimes are known to have a high immunity to physical damage, but they shouldn't be invulnerable to it. But rather than choosing to use physical attacks, it was much faster to just use elemental attacks instead.
"Xiao Bing, [Ice Vines]!"
When Wan Li shouted this, the space around Ember quickly surged and turned into hundreds of icy tentacles. Each tentacle reached more than a hundred meters and was about as thick as an arm. Getting hit by a single one of those would send Ember flying for sure.
Still, Ember's smile didn't fade. With a wave of her hand, she took out one clone and morphed it into a familiar shape. It was none other than my gun.
"Wait, really?!"
I stood up and raised my voice in surprise. I did tell Ember to improve her abilities, but to think she could replicate the gun now... I feel touched.
However, far from my expectations, the gun that Ember made wasn't as powerful as the original. It was sending a small piece of the clone as the bullet case, with Void Energy filling the gap. Despite that, the power of the shots wasn't even a tenth of what the gun could achieve.
But it was more than enough to mow the ice vines around her.
With a single sweep of the submachine gun, the incoming tendrils made of ice shattered into a million pieces. However, just beyond the falling shards, a blue fang was approaching rapidly.
Ember was surprised but didn't panic. With a slight twist of her wrist, the gun pointed toward the wolf and fired instantly. A bullet flew and landed on its forehead.
I imagined a gory scene unfolding right after, but I noticed that the bullet didn't have enough power to penetrate the wolf's skull. At most, it left a wound on the forehead and sent the poor beast flying.
"That's a minute already. And I'm still standing here."
Ember poked at Wan Li, who was busy preparing her next move. She noticed it a bit too late.
"I hope you'll honor your promise."
Wan Li said as she sent the entire ring flying into the air. Each individual block that formed the stage was lifted by thick ice vines and launched into the air. Wan Li frowned at the sight, thinking that winning through underhanded means isn't a pleasant experience.
As she turned around and was about to walk away, Ember's voice echoed from within the dust and smoke.
"Where are you going? Are you surrendering?"
Her voice was the same as before, still unperturbed and relaxed. The smile on her face was looking more and more demonlike in Wan Li's eyes.
Ember was still standing in her position. The four blocks that composed her platform were the only part of the stage that remained grounded. Wan Li couldn't even think of how she managed to do that.
"You still have 3 minutes; do your best."
Hearing this, Wan Li became enraged. She finally realized that Ember wasn't provoking her... She just didn't see them as a threat at all.
"You asked for this!"
In a fit of anger, Wan Li started gathering Ice Energy between her palms. Xiao Bing moved above her head and supported her in controlling the congregating Ice Energy.
"[Ice Age]!"
With a shout, Wan Li's surroundings became a world of frost. Large blocks of ice rose from the ground, leaving not a single place untouched. The temperature of the ice around the place was nearing absolute zero. The heat from all around quickly flowed towards the ice, decreasing the surrounding temperatures to negatives in an instant.
"[Diamond Dust]!"
Then, after the temperature fell, Wan Li used the Frost Wolf Alpha's skill and conjured a wave of icy powder. If one could inspect each speck of ice, one would notice that its shape wasn't spherical but ragged and spiky.
It was a combination skill that is only possible by contracting two ice-type monsters with complementing racial skills. Its power was several levels higher compared to using the two skills individually.
Seeing this, Ember's smile finally slacked. Her face turned serious for a moment, and her aura changed from easy-going to a queen's, earning another round of wild cheers from the degenerate front-row audience. I've already recorded their faces in my mind, so they wouldn't have anywhere to run to later.
Even for the current Ember, blocking this skill with Void Energy alone was impossible. Having no other choice, she took out two clones and quickly transformed them into a bubble, enclosing her and the small block left of the stage.
The wave of sparkly ice powder passed through. The temperature in the middle of it should be infinitesimally close to absolute zero. As proof, the unprotected walls of the venue crumbled like a sand castle to the wave after the ice powder passed by. It became so brittle that even the slightest wind was able to crush it to pieces.
Wan Li made the [Diamond Dust] circle ember again, and again, and again. She didn't want to take chances. If this didn't work, then she'd have no more energy left to fight. She was literally betting on her win in this attack alone.
A minute passed, and Wan Li slowly lost control of the skill. The [Diamond Dust] faded into nothing as she fell to the ground, panting. Sweat covered her face despite the extremely low temperature of the surroundings.
"D-Did we get her...?"
As she muttered and even prayed for it, she looked toward where Ember was. There, a large sphere of ice was seen. It wasn't moving a single bit, making Wan Li smile in anticipation.
However, suddenly, the surface cracked, and from inside, the still-untouched Ember appeared. Even the stone slabs below her were safe.
"That's four minutes. You still have one minute left."
Ember said it with a warm smile.
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