Chapter 155: Chapter 153 – The Colossal Storm

The living branches struck again and again...

They moved like whips.

But with the force of entire tree trunks.

The Ice Giant became helpless before them.

Its movement was completely restrained.

Little by little...

It began losing its form.

Parts of its body shattered.

Others melted inside the raging storm.

"His control over wind is extremely high."

the Lord of Ice whispered,

while dodging another wave of branches.

"In contrast... those branches are incredibly powerful."

he muttered.

"To possess this level of mastery over two completely different abilities and fuse them into a single fighting style..."

His eyes shifted toward his opponent.

"He truly is an astonishing lord."

In the stands—

The Fourth-Rank Lords’ expressions grew more focused.

Everyone understood the battle had reached its final stage.

"Which lord will win?"

one of the lords whispered.

"It seems the Wind Lord has complete control."

another muttered.

Suddenly—

BOOOOOOM...

The Ice Giant exploded beneath the force of hundreds of powerful branches.

Ice shards scattered everywhere.

As for the arena covered in frost—

It had fallen entirely under the Wind Lord’s control.

The Lord of Ice had lost the initiative.

"What will you do now?"

I whispered.

My eyes shifted toward the Wind Lord.

"Even I don’t possess that level of control over wind."

I muttered.

"And he also has those powerful branches."

"He possesses two paths... and his mastery over both is exceptional."

Inside the arena—

The Lord of Ice remained silent.

The wind roared violently around him.

And the branches...

Moved from every direction.

As if the entire arena itself...

Had become a living creature attacking him.

Meanwhile—

The Wind Lord calmly raised his hand.

Suddenly—

Every branch stopped.

Frozen in place.

Then—

Their sharpened tips pointed toward the Lord of Ice.

"Surrender."

the Wind Lord said calmly.

"It’s over."

Silence filled the arena for a moment.

Only the wind...

Continued screaming across the battlefield.

As for the Lord of Ice—

He merely looked around him.

At the wind.

At the branches.

At the arena that no longer belonged to him.

Then—

He smiled.

A very faint smile.

"Over?"

he whispered.

Slowly, he raised his hand.

And in the next instant—

The wind froze.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Even the Wind Lord himself...

Finally lost his composure.

"Hah?"

Suddenly—

Every snow particle scattered throughout the arena...

Began trembling.

Then—

BOOOOOOOOSH...

The cold exploded outward.

The air itself froze.

The frozen white branches...

Cracked apart instantly.

And the winds controlled by the Wind Lord—

Transformed into a blizzard completely outside his control.

In the stands—

I stood unconsciously.

"Impossible."

I whispered.

Only then—

Did the Unique Predictor ring inside my mind.

{ Combat Property Identified }

{ Heart of Winter }

{ An ability that allows the user to transform any cold environment into a domain of absolute control }

My eyes slowly widened.

Meanwhile—

The Lord of Ice raised his head toward his opponent.

His white eyes...

Glowed with terrifying intensity.

"You made a mistake."

he said calmly.

"When you allowed the snow to merge with your wind."

"It’s time to reveal my trump card."

the Lord of Ice whispered.

His eyes shifted toward me.

"I understand."

I whispered with a smile.

"So he’s finally going to use it."

Suddenly—

A snowy white light erupted around the Lord of Ice.

Snowflakes gathered around him.

A massive sphere of snow formed around his body, growing larger and larger.

Then—

It began shrinking.

And at that moment—

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

Meanwhile, I smiled.

"So he got one too."

I whispered.

"That bastard."

A white icy armor settled around the Lord of Ice’s body.

On the armor’s back—

Several pillars protruded outward.

Five pillars extending at sharp angles.

As for the gauntlets—

They were massive.

"Lord of Ice."

the Lord of Ice whispered.

"That is the name of my new armor."

He raised both hands.

Then the gauntlets began creaking loudly.

Suddenly—

The arena floor trembled.

Across from him—

The Wind Lord raised his hand.

Hundreds of branches surged forward once more.

Then—

Suddenly...

They stopped.

From afar, the Lord of Ice whispered:

"Property Number One."

"Absolute Control."

"The armor of the Lord of Ice will not permit any attack to approach its master."

The audience erupted in shock.

"Then how is anyone supposed to attack him?!"

one of the lords shouted.

Inside the arena—

More and more branches surged forward.

"Useless."

the Lord of Ice whispered.

And the branches halted halfway.

The Wind Lord raised his hand again.

The winds in the sky intensified violently.

Suddenly—

Dozens of tornadoes formed.

They rushed toward the Lord of Ice.

They did not stop.

BOOOOOOM...

They slammed directly into him.

The impact was violent and deafening.

"He hit him!"

someone in the audience shouted.

Everyone else continued staring intensely.

The wind dispersed.

"Hah..."

I whispered.

A powerful laugh burst from the center of the arena.

The icy armor shone brighter—

And the Lord of Ice emerged completely unharmed.

"It would not be an armor,"

the Lord of Ice whispered while laughing,

"if it lacked defensive power."

Then his eyes narrowed.

"You are strong."

"Truly strong, Wind Lord."

"But now..."

"It is time to end this match."

Suddenly—

The sharp structures protruding from the armor’s back began extending outward.

They stretched like giant tendrils.

Rising into the sky.

Then forming a massive circle.

A gigantic magical formation slowly appeared within it.

The air became increasingly unstable.

Then the formation began pulling the air toward itself.

The Wind Lord raised his hand.

He resisted the pull.

The suction stopped.

For only a moment.

Then—

The winds began getting dragged again.

Sweat poured down the Wind Lord’s forehead.

He extended both hands.

Trying with everything he had to stop the pull.

But the magical circle continued drawing everything inward.

Then—

A colossal blizzard began forming in the sky.

Black.

Violent.

"What the hell is happening?!"

someone in the audience screamed in terror.

Cries of fear erupted everywhere.

The storm was many times larger than the arena itself.

And despite that...

It had only just begun.

"Surrender."

The voice boomed loudly across the arena.

The Wind Lord acknowledged defeat.

Suddenly—

The storm stopped.

The tendrils returned to their normal size.

"What kind of terrifying attack was that?"

I shouted inwardly in alarm.

"How the hell... does he possess something like that?"

Inside the arena—

The Wind Lord slowly exhaled.

Then lowered his hands.

He looked toward the vanished storm.

Then toward the Lord of Ice.

And after several moments of silence—

He laughed softly.

"Damn."

he whispered.

"You truly were hiding something terrifying."

Meanwhile—

The Lord of Ice slowly dismissed his armor.

Snow began drifting around him calmly once more.

But I...

Wasn’t looking at him.

I was looking at the sky.

At the remnants of those black clouds.

At the feeling that attack had left behind.

"That..."

I whispered inwardly.

"...wasn’t just an attack."

"It was... an entire natural disaster."

After that match—

The remaining battles felt less exciting.

They weren’t weak or boring.

But...

I felt that the Lord of Ice’s final attack...

Had made everyone in the arena ask themselves the same question.

How could anyone possibly stop an attack like that?

I returned to the cave.

Lying on my bed.

Thinking.

"I have the accelerated training dimension."

I whispered.

"It allows me to train, test my armors, and master them."

"But what about the Lord of Ice?"

"How can he possess an armor of that quality... and that level of power?"

"He looked completely familiar with all its properties... and had mastered them too."

"Is there something I don’t know about armor creation?"

"Some element... or another hidden factor?"

I stopped thinking.

And decided to take a short nap.

After waking—

A message from the Lord of Ice had already arrived.

"Do you have more Dolphin Belly Fat?"

he asked.

I didn’t answer.

I had already stopped creating more armors.

After the dolphin died...

There was no room for wasteful experimentation.

If I could not win with ten armors—

Then that simply meant I was weak.

The armors had nothing to do with it...

Even if I forged a hundred more.

I sighed.

Then raised my hand.

Seven small cubes appeared before me.

Each one...

Contained a different armor.

"Strong as Mountains."

I whispered.

I picked up the first cube.

Then placed it aside.

"Threads That Do Not Break."

I set the second beside it.

Then the third.

Then the fourth.

Different armors.

Different abilities.

But only one thing...

Was shared between all of them.

"All of them..."

I whispered.

"...are merely tools."

Silence lingered for a moment.

Then I closed my eyes.

The image of the black storm...

Returned to my mind once more.

The image of the Lord of Ice...

Stopping the wind itself.

"The difference..."

I whispered.

"...isn’t in the armor."

My eyes slowly widened.

"It’s in the lord himself."

I immediately sat upright.

My thoughts accelerated rapidly.

The Lord of Ice...

Was not powerful because the armor was terrifying.

Rather—

The armor had been created specifically to match his path completely.

Absolute Control.

The black storm.

The wind absorption.

All of it...

Was merely an extension of his original combat style.

And me?

I slowly sighed.

"I’m creating armors..."

I whispered.

"...then trying to use them afterward."

I laughed lightly.

"No wonder it all feels wrong."

At that moment—

The system rang.

{ Hidden Side Mission }

{ The True Path of Equipment }

{ Objective: Create a unified combat style between weapon, armor, and attribute }

{ Reward: ??? }

My eyes froze for a moment.

Then—

I began laughing.

"Damn."

I whispered.

"So even the system thinks I fight like an idiot."