Chapter 181 - Ice and Lightning, Oh so Frightening

To say the impact caused by Voxea and Piercer clashing into each other was powerful would be an understatement.

On one side, a wintery hell scape of nightmares filled with ghostly soldiers made of ice and snow, Voxea leading the charge with a spear made of blizzards. I could quite literally feel the manic grin on her face as she went all in on the attack.

On the other, an armored giant made of lighting was stabbing towards Voxea and her ghost army with an equally massive spear, the Terrorcotta Lord - Piercer was acting like a heart to the massive lightning construct and making the exact same movements.

What made the sight even more terrifying was the fact that neither side had actually made contact with each other!

Voxea once told me that when truly masterful maji got into close quarters combat, there were cases that they aether they produced was so unusually dense that they would collide into each other like mountain rams. At that point, the winner wasn't decided by techniques or plans. The winner would be decided by sheer force of power.

As the two forces of magic collided with one another, powerful gusts of wind accompanied by snowflakes, thunder and lighting began to form and disperse at a rapid pace, the point of impact between their weapons being the eye of this storm of insanity.

{Hahahahaha! It's been ages since I managed to feel so alive!,} the Terrorcotta Lord roared in my mind, {Will today be the day I finally face death?!}

The Terrorcotta Lord Piercer had this insane smile on his face that immediately made me think of Voxea's.

Oh joy.

They were both battle nuts.

[I'd like to think I'm an adrenaline junkie to be honest,] Voxea suddenly commented back.

[How are you talking to me while in the middle of this life or death struggle?]

[I'm a great multi-tasker. Also, I think I might be losing,] Voxea said nonchalantly. Much to my chagrin.

[What do you mean losing?! I can quite literally see the absurd apocalyptically magical stalemate happening in front of me!]

[Yeah...about that, this moment is actually a war of attrition and this guy has way more aether than I had estimated. I might run out before he does,] Voxea explained, [And if I run out before he does...]

[Okay, got the point,] I said in exasperation, [What do you want me to do about it?]

[Have you honestly forgotten how were connected? I'm hurt,] Voxea teased.

[...oh. Right.]

[Wow you honestly forgot that you could do that.]

[Shut up. It's been a long day, you're technically human and I've only been doing this kind of thing for about three months!,] I said while forming a hand seal, [Now let's ice this clay doll and go home!]

[Right on.]

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He could almost taste the sweet wine of bloody victory on his tongue. It had been so long since he had fought so fiercely or slain any foes, but the thrill of battle still filled him with joy.

However, just as he was about to shatter the technique and pierce the mysterious dragon casting it, the ghostly ice soldiers suddenly doubled in number and pushed back against his spear.

{What?!}

The Terrorcotta Lord looked confused as he tried to figure out where this sudden burst of strength was coming from. It wasn't until he looked at a spot a little behind his opponent that he found the source.

Standing behind his opponent was a young woman dressed like a hunter performing a hand seal like the ones he had once seen his master use so many centuries. The only difference was that he could see that this young maji was not using her aether to cast a spell, but funnel it into the dragon before her.

{It cannot be...}

And with each passing second, the Terrorcotta Lord could feel that he was now the one being pushed back little by little.

One would expect such a realization would lead to despair, but instead, the Terrorcotta Lord looked invigorated.

{Very well then. You are not the only who can tap into the flow of aether. Come to me my soldiers!}