Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Chapter 935: White Hole

Mira swept her scythe upward, creating a barrier of snow and ice. The thousands of swords in the air rapidly fell from the sky, exploding all around her, but they failed to break through.

However, the psycho monk in the sky didn't relent. He kept yelling, raining down sword lights like he had an infinite supply of them.

'Heh~' Mira smirked. 'Is that the best you got?'

With a stomp, Mira's mind connected to dozens of kilometers of snow and ice resting on the ground. She enveloped it all in her Soul Sense and clenched her fist.

[Frozen Terrain Change].

The ground beneath her shook before the snow around her transformed into a giant hand behind the monk.

'Why don't we take that guy out of the sky?' She chuckled, and the massive snow hand swatted the monk like a fly, sending him crashing to the ground.

Then, before he could react, she used a technique that she hadn't used in a while, [Reaper].

Her body was cloaked in a black hooded robe, making her semi-transparent. Death and destruction emanated from her, corrupting the snow she stepped on, but she paid no mind.

Dashing forward, she phased through her barrier without any resistance and instantly appeared before the monk.

"Heretic! You dare?!" The monk burst out of the snow in a fiery explosion, destroying everything around him, only to find a ghostly fox woman right in front of him. His expression changed, and he gathered his energy, launching one sword attack after another as he backed away.

Crevasses formed in the snow behind Mira, but she dashed through the air without resistance, with even some attacks merely passing through her body.

"Die! Die, you demon! Hand over the Holy Relic, and I'll send you straight to-!"

Shing!

A line passed through the monk's neck. A moment later, his head fell to the ground, followed by a fountain of blood.

'"...Finally, it's quiet." She muttered, glancing at his body. She waved her hand and swept all the loot off his body, only to frown, feeling Qi surge toward his corpse.

When she saw it ballooning up, her frown deepened. She hurriedly punted the body as hard as she could, sending it into the sky before using her [Glacial Mirage Steps] to get as far away from there as she could.

BOOM!

Mira felt the shockwaves sweep past her, but she'd made it far enough away not to be affected. Turning around, she saw a massive crater in the snow and shook her head, confused.

"What the hell was that about?"

"How'd you piss that monk off, Mira?" Hana popped her head out and asked, but Mira just shrugged.

"How should I know? I guess I stole their Holey Relic? Not sure what he's talking about."

Hana squinted her eyes. "...I wouldn't be surprised if you really did inadvertently steal something from them."

"Well, that's not my problem."

Why should she care? Maybe they shouldn't lose it in the first place.

"...But don't you think that monk might've come from the cult we were looking for?" Hana asked, a bit concerned, but Mira denied it.

"I doubt it. How many Sects exist throughout the entire continent? How many of them remain hidden from the outside world? That guy wasn't particularly strong. He could've come from anywhere."

"...If you say so."

Suddenly, in the distance, they heard voices shouting, traveling in their direction.

"A brother died over here!"

"Hurry! We must avenge our brother's sacrifice! For the Lord!"

"For the Lord!"

"Brothers! I sense a woman standing on our Brother's corpse!"

"Blasphemy!"

"How dare she?! Death to the heretic!"

"For the Lord!"

Mira's head throbbed, listening to them, and for a second, she thought about just turning around and fleeing. There were already six people closing in on her, and she could sense at least a dozen more monks behind them, charging in her direction.

Hana gave Mira a pat on the shoulder, whispering, "Have fun." Then ducked back into her tails.

'Haaa… Whatever.' Mira sighed and lowered her stance. 'I've been wanting to test a few techniques out anyways.'

'Death Dominion!'

A black domain of death crept out of her being, spreading across the snow and absorbing its energy.

10 meters

20 meters

50 meters

100 meters

1 kilometer.

3 kilometers

Her domain stopped there, surprising Mira. 'Damn! How much have I improved since I last used this technique?'

That thought stopped when she saw the monks enter her domain, using all sorts of defensive techniques.

Just as they were gathering energy to attack, Mira sneered. 'Jumping straight into someone else's domain? How arrogant!'

A black, gooey substance leaked out of her scythe, dripping like it was bleeding. She smiled, enjoying the feeling of semi-omnipotence inside her domain. Then, without hesitation, she slashed in an extremely wide arc.

A black blade extended from the tip of her scythe to the edge of her domain, slicing, destroying, and absorbing anything in its way.

All the monks that neared her were instantly cut in half and exploded like fireworks. Some had managed to launch attacks before they died, and she didn't bother creating any defenses. Sword lights and elements rained down on her, but she merely brushed it off and kept swinging her scythe, killing anyone who dared to enter.

The second wave of monks neared but stopped just outside her domain.

"Don't near that devil, Brothers! She's using some strange devil magic to slaughter our brethren!"

"A heretic who dares to oppose the Lord!"

"Prepare to use [White Hole]!"

"White Hole!"

"Get in position!"

Their crazy voices echoed across the empty snow plains as they backed off, surrounding Mira. They all raised their hands into the sky and began chanting and praying.

A clear barrier enveloped their bodies as Qi began to swirl around them and Mira. They even influenced the blizzard as it flowed in an opposite direction, as it revolved around them instead of following its natural route.

Mira's expression slowly became serious, sensing something weird happening. 'What the hell are these psychos doing now?' She wondered, but wasn't all that interested to find out.

She shot forward, enough to where her domain enveloped a few monks, and swung her scythe. A hardened black blade appeared and sliced-

Ding!

The barrier blocked it!

The monk she attacked coughed up blood, and both of his arms exploded in a blood mist, but he lived.

Her expression fell, feeling a barrier quickly envelop her, trapping her inside their formation. She swung a few more times at the monk, doing everything she could to kill him, but the same thing happened. More body parts exploded, but he remained alive, continuing to channel energy into whatever technique they were preparing.

'…in the heart of the storm, we find our might,

Gathered as one, in the blizzard's white.

From the celestial void, our spirits call,

To the Lord of Snow, the ruler of all.

Energies converge, a swirling light,

Forming a beacon in the darkest night.

We invoke thee, our divine core,

Unleash the power of the White Hole's roar.

Through swirling winds and icy veil,

Let our combined will prevail.

As disciples of the frostbitten sky,

We summon the force that never shall die…'

A small, white ball of energy appeared above the chanting monks, growing larger and brighter with every verse they recited. Mira's eyes narrowed as she assessed the situation, realizing the gravity of the technique they were about to unleash. She had to act fast.

"Damn it!" Mira cursed under her breath, her scythe slashing through the air in futile attempts to break the barrier. Each strike only served to reinforce the monks' resolve, their chants growing louder and more synchronized.

Mira's gaze darted around the battlefield, her mind racing for a strategy. She couldn't allow the White Hole technique to complete. She was sick and tired of being caught up in explosions!

Mira, realizing brute force wouldn't suffice, shifted her tactics. Her scythe glimmered with a dark energy, and she channeled her Qi into a more subtle, insidious form. "[Shadow Bind]," she whispered, extending her hand towards the nearest monk.

Shadows crept along the ground, climbing up the monk's legs and ensnaring him in a grip tighter than iron. His chants faltered as he felt his energy and lifeforce draining, but the barrier held strong, powered by the collective will of his brethren.

"Her tricks are useless! Continue the chant!" another monk rallied, their voices merging into a powerful, resonant force that fueled the growing White Hole.

Mira gritted her teeth, realizing time was running out. She glanced at the white ball of energy, now pounding with power. She needed a breakthrough, and she needed it now.

In a desperate bid, Mira unleashed her [Death Dominion] once more, expanding it with all her might, pushing against the barrier's confines. The domain of death met the monks' sacred shield, and for a moment, an eerie silence fell over the battlefield as the two forces clashed.

But the barrier held.

"The Lord guides us! The heretic's power cannot overcome the divine!" the monks chanted.

Mira's eyes flashed with a fierce determination. If subtlety wouldn't work, she'd resort to raw power. Gathering her Qi, she channeled it into her scythe, infusing the blade with a terrifying essence of obliteration.

"[Reaper's Descent]," she intoned, raising her scythe high and trying to combine several techniques. The blade blazed with a black flame, and she brought it down with all her might, aiming to cleave the barrier and disrupt the technique.

The impact sent shockwaves through the area, and for a moment, the barrier shimmered, showing signs of strain. But it held, the monks' collective will proving stronger than Mira had anticipated.

Inside the barrier, the monks' eyes widened as they saw their technique nearing completion. The White Hole descended, its energy crackling with an intensity that threatened to consume everything in its vicinity.

Mira unleashed a flurry of attacks, each more ferocious than the last. Her scythe moved in arcs of death, slamming into the barrier and monks, destroying all their body parts, except for their brains and core, as their energy continued to leak into the technique.

In the end, that was all she could do before their chants finished.

The White Hole touched the ground, its energy exploding outward in a blinding burst of light.