Chapter 197: You dare attack my wives?

The heat was becoming unbearable.

The room that had been completely frozen was now engulfed in cold, transforming into a hot hell as Samira summoned all her fire power.

The icy floor melted completely, the wood of the walls began to crackle, as if the world around was about to succumb to its imminent destruction.

Samira, now ablaze, was emanating a power she didn't even believe she possessed; she had temporarily become a force of nature about to unleash the remnants of her life in a cataclysmic explosion...

She saw no solution to get out of there alive... And if it was necessary to save the others by doing this... then she accepted it with a bitter smile on her face.

However...

Kryssia remained motionless, her lips curved in a malevolent smile. The ice general was immune to the increasing intensity of Samira's flames...

On the contrary, she simply watched, like a predator toying with its prey, studying every movement of Samira, every drop of despair overflowing from her burning eyes.

"You're not thinking that this will be even remotely capable of facing me, are you?" Kryssia said with a cold calmness. The sound of her voice was like the crack of crushed ice under pressure, cruel and untamed. "You pity me."

Samira gritted her teeth, ignoring the pain spreading through her body as she channeled all her remaining mana into a single attack. "If I'm going down, you're coming with me, bitch!" she shouted, her voice hoarse and filled with fury.

In a swift motion, Samira raised the glowing sword, charging at Kryssia with the intent to obliterate the ice general with what remained of her power.

The ground behind her exploded in flames and ashes, leaving a trail of destruction. Her final attack was a luminous arc of pure fire, a strike that could obliterate anything in its path.

But Kryssia didn't even move.

With a simple wave of her hand, she raised a barrier of ice, so thick and solid that the impact of Samira's flames barely scratched it. The wave of heat collided with the ice, generating an explosion of steam and smoke, but Kryssia's barrier remained intact, unperturbed.

"Pathetic," Kryssia whispered.

Before Samira could react, Kryssia attacked. With brutal speed, she advanced, her ice sword slicing through the air with a deadly hiss. Samira barely had time to raise her sword in defense before Kryssia's blade crashed against hers, sending a wave of ice coursing through Samira's body, instantly extinguishing her flames.

The impact was so strong that Samira was thrown against the opposite wall, her body colliding with a thud that made the structure tremble.

"Ahrgt..." She fell to the ground with a groan, her sword slipping from her burned hands. The heat of her flames had vanished, and all that remained was the cold, painful sensation of defeat.

"I expected more from you," Kryssia mocked, slowly walking toward Samira, her footsteps reverberating on the ice floor. "Did you really think you could defeat me with fire? I am the General of the North; ice is eternal. Your flames are nothing but a spark before me."

"Ahh.... ah..." Samira gasped, each breath a struggle as the pain spread through her body. "You... know... nothing about me," she managed to whisper through clenched teeth. But even her words felt empty.

His eyes seemed to have vanished completely, replaced only by an unprecedented fury.

Kryssia quickly turned, her eyes widening as she saw the man. The same man she had encountered earlier in a shop.

"You?" she murmured, surprised and still processing his sudden appearance.

However, before she could say anything else, Monica and Beatrice, who were further away, immediately recognized the man. The shock etched on their faces was palpable, their eyes wide and mouths agape as they whispered in unison:

"Strax..."

As sparks of his fire magic began to dim slightly as confusion clouded his mind.

"My wives..." he murmured as his aura grew.

[Danger!!]

[Danger!!]

[Danger!!]

Strax, with his reptilian eyes shining under the cold light, was fully focused on Kryssia, momentarily ignoring the tension around him. Subtle scales covered parts of his skin, a sign of his true nature. He stepped forward, his body exuding an overwhelming energy that even Kryssia, who had previously controlled the situation, hesitated for a moment.

"You dare to attack my wives?" Strax said in a deep, threatening voice, never taking his eyes off Kryssia.

Kryssia raised her sword, her expression hardening. "Wives, is it? Interesting... It doesn't matter how many there are; they will all die if they cross my path."

Before any of the women could react, the temperature in the room plummeted. Kryssia swung her sword, and a wave of ice sliced through the air toward Strax.

"Watch out!" Samira shouted a warning, but there was no need.

With a simple motion of his hand, Strax dissipated the attack as if it were merely a breeze. The ice disintegrated into the air, vaporized by the aura radiating from him.

"You... are even weaker than I thought," Strax murmured with disdain.

Kryssia narrowed her eyes, feeling insulted by Strax's unwavering confidence. She charged forward with speed, her ice sword gleaming like a lethal extension of her will. The ground shattered beneath her feet as she lunged, but Strax remained firm, simply waiting.

Just as her sword was about to reach him, Strax vanished, moving with a speed that even Kryssia couldn't predict. Before she realized it, he was behind her, his hand around her neck. The ice around Kryssia began to melt instantly under the heat of his aura.

"You think you can play with them? They are mine," he whispered in her ear, tightening his grip around her neck just enough to show who was in control now.

[You have 1 minute until Double Assimilation ends...]