Strongest Incubus System-Chapter 244: Ice against Ice

The silence that fell between them lasted only a second.

A second of heavy breathing.

A second of assessment.

A second before the ascent.

Ester closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, there wasn’t just focus—there was absolute decision.

The ice that had begun to melt began to expand again.

Not in gentle waves.

But in a radial explosion.

The courtyard floor cracked violently, white fissures advancing in all directions. The mansion walls began to be swallowed by a thick crystalline layer, windows sealed by translucent plates that captured the morning light and distorted it into bluish hues.

The air grew heavy.

Freezing.

The moisture condensed and solidified into tiny particles that floated like diamond dust.

Damon felt the change.

Not just in temperature.

But in pressure.

She was releasing everything.

Without restraint.

Without fear of destroying the surrounding scenery.

He tilted his chin slightly.

Then he moved forward.

But it wasn’t a simple run.

Mid-movement, ice began to rise up his own legs.

First as a thin layer.

Then as plates.

Then as armor.

Crystals formed around his forearms, thick and opaque. The vapor that came from his mouth wasn’t just breath—it was energy condensing into raw cold.

If she was going to freeze the world...

He would step on the same ground.

The first impact wasn’t physical.

It was climatic.

Two waves of cold collided in the center of the courtyard.

The sound was like glass being crushed by a mountain.

A white explosion spread upward, a column of ice rising like a crystalline tree before fragmenting into thousands of shards that fell like cutting rain.

Ester threw her hands forward.

Spiraling columns, as thick as ancient tree trunks, rose from the ground, attempting to encircle him.

Damon leaped onto one of them just as it rose, using its own structure as momentum and piercing the space with a punch charged with concentrated ice.

Ester crossed her arms.

A massive shield appeared in front of her.

His fist collided.

The impact reverberated throughout the frozen structure of the mansion.

Cracks spread across the shield.

And across his arm.

He took only a half-step back.

She immediately counterattacked.

A horizontal blast of compressed ice, as dense as steel.

He spun his body, letting the blow rip through the air inches from his face, and responded with a kick that released an arcing ice blade.

The blade pierced three pillars behind her.

Ester raised her foot and slammed it hard into the ground.

The entire courtyard trembled. A ring of thorns appeared around her—hundreds of crystalline points projecting in all directions.

Damon didn’t back down.

He rushed straight into the field.

The thorns pierced the frozen armor encasing his arms and legs.

Shards flew.

Blood, too.

He broke through those in front of him with straight punches, ignoring superficial cuts.

When he reached close range, the battle ceased to be elemental at a distance.

It turned brutal.

Fist against fist.

Ice against ice.

Ester spun her body and struck his jaw with a blow enveloped in dense crystals.

He absorbed the impact and responded with an elbow strike that shattered the layer of ice on her shoulder.

She froze the air between them.

Literally.

The moisture became an instant wall.

He passed through it.

They grappled. The clash of freezing forces created a white zone around them, as if space itself were being solidified.

And then, simultaneously, they released.

The resulting explosion was colossal.

Part of the courtyard roof collapsed.

The upper structures of the mansion began to freeze from within, beams cracking under reverse thermal expansion.

The central fountain split in two.

The garden beyond the courtyard was swallowed by a layer of ice that transformed flowers and trees into lifeless sculptures.

But neither of them retreated.

Esther raised both hands.

The sky above darkened.

Not from natural clouds.

But from extreme condensation.

Hail began to fall.

Not ordinary hail.

Irregular blocks, heavy as stones.

Damon raised his arms and created a dome of dense ice around himself.

The blocks shattered against the protection. He held the structure for two seconds.

Three.

On the fourth, he blasted it out, turning defense into attack.

Fragments were launched like projectiles in all directions.

Ester was hit in the shoulder.

In the hip.

She slid backward, but froze the ground beneath her feet to maintain stability.

The ground was no longer ground.

It was an uneven field of giant crystals.

Sloping plates.

Peaks.

Frozen valleys.

Damon ran across a vertical wall of ice, using it as an attack ramp.

He jumped headfirst.

He descended with both fists charged.

Ester raised a colossal spear.

The two attacks collided in mid-air.

The impact created a shockwave that shattered what remained of the east wing windows.

Frozen glass exploded outward.

Damon was thrown backward.

He spun in the air.

He landed on his feet.

The ice around him began to thicken.

Denser.

Less crystalline.

More solid.

He was refining.

Stopping the indiscriminate brute force.

Focusing.

Ester realized.

She narrowed her eyes.

The air began to vibrate around her.

She slowly raised her arms.

The entire courtyard—what remained of it—froze to the foundation.

The outer walls of the mansion turned completely white.

The grass beyond became a solid plain.

The decorative lake in the background became a massive block.

The temperature dropped to absurd levels.

The sound disappeared.

Even the wind seemed trapped.

And then they advanced again.

Now there was no more room for hesitation.

Damon created double blades on his forearms.

Ester formed a long, translucent, and gleaming halberd.

She attacked first.

A horizontal slash that split the air.

He blocked with his left blade.

The impact sent cracks down on both sides.

He spun inside her guard and tried to cut the side of her torso.

She spun the halberd’s handle and blocked with the shaft.

Kicks were exchanged.

Blade strikes scraping.

Crystals shattering.

Each collision produced a white explosion.

They leaped simultaneously.

They collided in mid-air.

They descended in opposite directions. The ground couldn’t take it anymore.

The courtyard foundation began to crack under extreme thermal pressure.

A deep rumble echoed as part of the structure gave way, revealing lower layers of the building now completely frozen.

But they didn’t stop.

Ester launched the halberd like a spinning projectile.

Damon intercepted it with both hands.

The ice burned his skin.

He spun his body and returned the blow with even more force.

She froze the air behind her to create a point of momentum and dodged by inches.

The weapon pierced the main wall of the mansion and exited on the other side, leaving a crystallized tunnel.

And then they came at close range again.

No weapons now.

Just fists.

Knees.

Shoulders.

Ice condensed into direct blows.

Damon struck her stomach.

She responded with a punch to the ribs.

He locked her arm.

She froze the point of contact.

He forcefully broke the layer. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

She kicked his knee.

He grabbed her leg and threw her.

She spun in the air and landed on her feet.

Both bleeding.

Both panting.

The world around them completely white.

No green.

No visible stone.

Only ice.

She lunged for the final clash.

He did too.

Fists collided in the center of the frozen field.

The final impact created an explosion that echoed throughout the property.

A wave of cold expanded outward, surpassing the mansion walls, freezing the outer road for dozens of meters.

And then—

Silence.

They both remained standing.

Fists pressed against each other.

The surrounding ice began to crack.

Cracks spread across the entire surface.

The energy released was beyond what the environment could sustain.

Heavy breathing.

Firm gazes.

Neither yielded.

But neither advanced either.

The battlefield was complete.

Totally frozen.

Ice against ice.

Force against force.

Not to destroy the other.

But to break what was inside.

And, slowly, the pressure began to lessen.

Not because they were weak.

But because they had already said enough through their blows.

Damon’s fist was still pressed against Ester’s when the ground beneath them finally gave way completely.

Not in collapse.

But in release.

The cracks that had spread across the frozen surface began to vibrate, thin luminous lines snaking beneath the crystalline layer like veins of white light. The accumulated thermal pressure, the brutal energy released repeatedly, had to get out somewhere.

And it did.

A vertical explosion ripped through the center of the courtyard.

A column of ice and steam shot into the sky like an inverted geyser, violently pushing them both back. Damon slid dozens of meters before digging his feet into the ice, creating deep furrows in the frozen surface. Ester was thrown in the opposite direction, spinning in the air and landing on her knees, her right hand pressed against the ground for balance.

The air around them began to swirl.

First subtly.

Then undeniably.

The cold was no longer just scattered.

It was circulating.

Every breath, every release of freezing energy, every shard scattered in the previous battle began to be pulled toward the center of the destroyed arena. Fragments of ice rose from the ground like leaves carried by the wind, orbiting slowly.

Ester stood up.

Damon did too.

Their eyes were different now.

It wasn’t just training anymore.

It wasn’t just catharsis.

It was instinct.

They advanced again.

And when their blows collided, the rotation of the air accelerated violently.

The impact generated a circular pulse.

The pulse fueled the spin.

The spin pulled in more ice.

More shards.

More frozen air.

And then the tornado was born.

Not as a simple column of wind.

But as a crystalline monster.

A colossal spiral of ice and vapor rose dozens of meters above the mansion, spinning with absurd violence. Blocks of ice torn from the very ground were sucked into the formation, crushed, and incorporated into the rotating mass. The sound was deafening—a continuous roar of shattering glass, howling wind, and structures creaking under pressure.

Inside the spiral, Damon and Ester continued.

Blow against blow.

Blade against blade.

The wind tore pieces from their clothes.

Ice cut their exposed skin.

But neither retreated.

Ester created three gigantic spears and launched them in sequence.

Damon broke the first with a punch.

He dodged the second by centimeters.

The third grazed his shoulder, opening a deep cut that immediately began to freeze at the edges.

He responded by concentrating ice around his entire arm, transforming it into a massive battering ram, and charged at her with full force.

The impact launched them even higher into the tornado.

The mansion was no longer clearly visible from the outside—enveloped by a swirling white wall that grew larger every second. Nearby trees began to freeze instantly, branches snapping under excessive weight. The road beyond the walls was covered by a thick layer of frost that advanced like a silent tide. Inside the spiral, the cold reached impossible levels.

The air stung their lungs.

Their skin burned.

But their movement only accelerated.

Ester spun her entire body and released a circular wave of compressed ice.

Damon dove underneath, gliding through his own vortex as if swimming inside a solid storm. He emerged behind her and landed a direct blow to her back.

She was thrown forward, but froze the air in front of her to create a barrier that absorbed some of the impact. She spun, kicked him in the chest, and the two were separated again by the centrifugal force of the tornado.

The spiral grew larger.

Now it surpassed the height of the main wing of the mansion.

The sky was completely obscured.

Bluish lightning began to crackle within the swirling mass—thermal discharges generated by the continuous collision of freezing energy.

And then, in the center of the chaos, they both decided to go further.

Damon opened his arms.

The ice around him darkened slightly, becoming denser, almost metallic.

Ester raised both hands above her head.

The entire vortex responded.

The spiral narrowed.

The rotation accelerated.

The tornado’s core became a crushing funnel.

They charged at each other in the exact center of the formation.

Fists clenched.

Absolute determination.

The collision was catastrophic.

A white flash exploded within the spiral.

The released pressure caused the tornado to expand brutally outward, like an ice bomb detonating.

And it was at that exact moment—

That the red tore through the white.

A scarlet mist invaded the frozen field like a living entity.

It wasn’t blown by the wind.

It was against it.

The blood mist surged through the tornado as if it were mere smoke, cutting through the formation’s core with overwhelming authority. The ice that touched the red simply cracked, losing cohesion, fragmenting.

A figure rushed through the vortex.

Her feet barely touched the frozen ground before she lunged forward again.

White hair now stained scarlet at the tips.

Eyes gleaming with ancient fury.

Elizabeth.

She stepped through the swirling wall of ice and appeared between the two just as they prepared another attack.

The mist exploded outward from her in a circular wave.

The tornado was cut in half.

Literally.

The spiral instantly lost cohesion.

The swirling mass collapsed in a colossal rain of ice that fell around the mansion like apocalyptic hail.

Elizabeth extended both hands.

The mist condensed into scarlet tentacles that enveloped Damon and Ester simultaneously, pulling them to the ground with enough force to create craters in the frozen surface.

The impact echoed.

Silence followed.

The entire field was devastated.

The mansion partially frozen.

The courtyard unrecognizable.

Broken trees.

Ice everywhere.

Elizabeth stood between them, the mist still swirling around her body like a living entity.

Her eyes first scanned Damon.

Then Ester.

Then the scenery.

Her jaw clenched.

The aura emanating from her was not cold.

It was oppressive.

Dense.

The ice around them began to crack at her mere presence.

"What the hell," her voice came out low—but laden with power—"what do you two think you’re doing?"

Neither of them answered immediately.

Damon tried to stand.

The fog tightened.

Esther breathed heavily, ice still instinctively forming around her hands.

Elizabeth stepped forward.

The ice beneath her feet melted instantly, turning to vapor upon contact with the blood energy emanating from her.

"Have you lost your fucking minds?" she continued, her eyes gleaming with almost monstrous intensity. "Or have you decided that destroying what’s left of our home is the best way to deal with this?"