Chapter 137 A Window Of Opportunity

"SATOSHI WATCH OUT!"

At that moment, Satoshi watched in horror as the Ice Queen seemed to slip through the ice at high speeds, bringing down her scepter at Satoshi with a force that could crack the ground. All the life flashed before Satoshi's eyes. Even Emma, who's supposed to have the fastest eyes in the group since she specializes in interdimensional portals, was aghast upon seeing the terrifying movement of the Ice Queen. Despite her size, she was faster than sight.

By the time Satoshi realized that he should react, the scepter was already upon him, almost hitting his head. He knew that at such speeds, he would surely be cut in half.

At this rate, he'll surely die

'I don't have any choice,' Satoshi said to himself as he activated his Integration Skill once again. He didn't bother choosing which familiar he'd integrate with but the first thought that occurred to him was either Ghast or Sera. Either way, if he'll be able to successfully integrate with them before the scepter delivers its judgment, he'd be able to survive.

Nevertheless, upon activating that skill, he's only got a few minutes left before he collapses. If the Ice Queen wasn't defeated by then, then everything will be in vain.

But if he were to die now, then that would be an even greater loss!

There was no need to think about what the next move will be. If he didn't react on time, then everything will fall apart. Without further ado, Satoshi thought of integrating with his summon.

Anyone, just anyone integrate with him!

Once again, Satoshi felt an even greater power welling up inside him. His body increased in temperature as his blood flow and heart rate quickened. His breathing became ragged and he felt like his connection with his consciousness was getting farther and farther. Somehow, he felt this weird feeling of being conscious and unconscious at the same time but nevertheless, he didn't lose sight of why he integrated with his summon in the first place. At that instant, Satoshi tried to step away from the scepter that descended upon him like the scythe of death about to cut him in half.

Fwip~

In the blink of an eye, Satoshi disappeared and reappeared somewhere, as if he just teleported like it was normal. Even the Ice Queen, who was already moving faster than anyone in that clearing, stopped in disbelief as he saw the most powerless of the bunch become the most formidable one.

"What just happened," Confusion filled Satoshi as he stared at the palms of his hand. 'Did I just do that?' He asked himself in his mind.

Compared to Satoshi's first look as he successfully integrated with his familiar Sera, this time was rather different. Not only was his hair of two different colors, but his outfit and overall vibe were also halved. Figures, he just integrated with two of his familiars, after all, namely Ghast and Sera. While Satoshi's right portion of his body had the light yellow glow with his white outfit and intricate gold patterns (not to mention the white hair and three half golden rings floated above his head), the left portion had an eerie color with his stark black hair and jet black clothes straight out of an eighth-grader syndrome's wardrobe. His left hand had black bandages as well— as if those bandages were trying to suppress an even greater power in his left hand.

"Wait, I just look like a chuuni!" Satoshi exclaimed. (A chuuni, also called eighth-grader syndrome, is a syndrome wherein one pretends openly. Oftentimes, one pretends as if he has awakened some powers or is a member of an elite group, which are mostly untrue.)

In every sense of the word, Satoshi did look like someone who was suffering from eighth-grader syndrome but in the world of superheroes, it didn't even look that weird at all. He just looked like a superhero who dressed his part.

"Whoa~~~" Emma interjected. The panic that befell her was suddenly switched to wonder as she watched Satoshi teleport out of harm's way.

Wait, teleport?!

"You can use portals?! Like me?!" Emma's exclamation was even louder than Satoshi's. Upon meeting Satoshi, she already considered herself inferior to him, but now, she felt even more useless. If her only use is opening and closing up portals, and Satoshi could do it, then why was she even there in the first place?

"I'll explain later, for now, try to focus on fighting those Ice Bears. I'll take care of the Ice Empress myself." Satoshi said.

Even though he managed to dodge the Ice Empress's attack, it still grazed him on the shoulders. But Sera healed him right away. "I feel the steady drain on their energy as well as on mine, I have to make this quick." Satoshi said to himself, bracing himself as the Ice Empress stared at him, intently analyzing him from head to toe.

"An impressive human," The Ice Empress commented.

"You're quite impressive too, but it would've been better if you didn't attack us." Satoshi commented before charging at the Ice Empress. This time, his speed was on par with her.

Lloyd and his party watched as Satoshi went from being powerless to going head to head with the Ice Empress in combat. Based on her movements alone, they became aware that none of them could match up to the raw power of the Ice Empress just like what Vinny had predicted. And yet, a teenager, someone much younger than them, was engaging her in combat. "The next generation of superheroes are quite promising, huh." Lloyd snickered while receiving the full-frontal swipe of the Ice Bear. He blocked it with ease and delivered a blow to its stomach, making it stagger backward.

Seeing an opening, Caleb did a low kick to throw one of the Ice Bears off balance, all the while dodging the other Ice Bear's attack. He did it by leaning backward and straining his ankles so his center of balance would spin him counterclockwise, throwing him out of the way.

Rachel and Vinny, meanwhile, were supporting all the groups with their ranged attacks, getting help from Emma from time to time as she set up portals that caught the Ice Bears off guard. At first, Emma thought that she should support everyone including Satoshi. However, Satoshi already called dibs on the Ice Empress (that was misworded) and so she decided to leave their fight alone. That way she won't distract Satoshi as he set up a series of attacks in order to bring the Ice Empress to her knees.

Since summoning more familiars won't necessarily affect the energy that Satoshi expended, he decided to summon Lighter to assist him. While teleporting here and there, he started blasting spires of flames in every direction, causing the overall temperature of the space to rise up. Soon enough, Satoshi noticed that the Ice Empress's movements were beginning to dull. He could easily parry the volley of ice spikes she rained down on Satoshi and her scepter swings.

"H-how?!" The Ice Empress stammered. He couldn't believe that a mere human was overpowering her in raw power. She, the Ice Empress, who managed to maintain her kingdom's peace throughout her life, was losing out on a human teenager? She just couldn't believe it.

And yet, she couldn't land a single hit on Satoshi while Satoshi chipped away at her armor. Moreover, the flames that shot at her were unquenchable flames and she couldn't put it off no matter how hard she tried.

"Not yet," Satoshi muttered, summoning his Windfan and commanding it to blow hot air at the Ice Empress. By now, the Ice Empress were fighting against three entities and she couldn't target any of them. Why? Because Satoshi would simply move them away by teleporting them.

It was a very efficient boss fight, and quite frankly somehow anticlimactic.

Seeing their master getting pushed back, the two Ice Bears let out a roar before turning around, totally ignoring Lloyd and the others. Right now, all they wanted was to shield their master from Satoshi's attack so she could escape or restrategize, at least.

But that misstep was everything that Lloyd and the others needed. With their backs turned, the Ice Bears just put a huge target on their backs. Once again, Rachel activated her phoenix form and burned at the Ice Bear. It doesn't matter if she exhausts herself to the point where she falls into unconsciousness. Right now, there was a window of opportunity in front of her and she took it. Lloyd and the others took it as their chance as well, and they mercilessly bombarded the Ice Bears as if they were hunting down prey in the woods.

It didn't take long before their dying wails reached the Ice Empress and Satoshi's wails. They paused for a moment, anticipating the next move of the other party. Satoshi could tell that the Ice Empress was still holding back... and if the Ice Bears were to die now, she might go on a rampage. Satoshi also felt his consciousness dwindling, his energy was depleting. Fast.

"You leave me with no choice, human," The Ice Empress cooly said as a threatening blizzard emanated from her body.