His soul energy gradually strengthened, eventually attaching to his eyes.

Gauss looked at the snowstorm engulfing the sky.

The originally white scene seemed somewhat different.

That was magic power flowing within it.

And the source of this magic power is?

He squinted slightly, tracing the source along the invisible flow of magic power.

A "silhouette" formed by condensed magic power slowly emerged.

Found you!

The snowstorm was just a manifestation; magic power was the essence.

However, he did not rush to act and remained as previously, helplessly enduring the onslaught of countless ice blades.

Cecilia, hiding within the snowstorm, saw the flustered Gauss through the snow.

Although the situation seemed favorable, a sense of urgency welled within her.

After all, the proximity to Flute Castle meant her current activities might have already been noticed by those in the city.

This was also why she was reluctant earlier to unfold her domain force field.

If unable to finish this quickly, the arrival of the city’s extraordinary professionals to investigate the situation would leave her trapped.

She looked down at the skeletal dragon intertwined in battle with the Red Dragon Beast.

Such tenacious life force.

Even she had to admit, the man before her had life force so resilient it seemed inhuman.

Even a squad of master-level professionals wasn’t as troublesome as him.

High mobility, the burst power to injure her, self-healing ability...

But, this would end now.

Even though she barely stepped into the threshold of the extraordinary, it was enough to clearly differentiate her from those below, a vast chasm lay between them.

Her torrential magic power was continuously channeling into her Magic Staff, preparing an immense spell.

She intended to settle this with one decisive blow!

At this moment, Gauss, detecting the massive fluctuation of magic power, finally moved.

He accurately pinpointed a direction within the snowstorm and then, with a flap of his wings, propelled himself like a cannonball.

"!!?"

Cecilia, just starting her casting ritual, was shocked.

She couldn’t understand how Gauss managed to pinpoint her hidden presence deep within the snowstorm domain.

But stopping her casting now would incur magic backlash too immense to endure.

She could only accelerate the flow of magic into her Magic Wand.

Time seemed to slow down, or even stop entirely at this moment.

Both Gauss and Cecilia could clearly grasp each other’s actions.

Gauss felt his blood beginning to burn, wisps of white mist exuding from his pores.

The threads of blood-red slowly appeared in the golden Dragon Eyes, then swiftly spread.

"Faster! Must be faster!"

The massive magic power gathered on Cecilia’s Magic Staff seemed extremely dangerous, but for this reason, even she dared not cease casting, wholly immersed as if tightly bound.

He must seize this rare moment of crisis.

The magic power in his body burned like a furnace, and under Gauss’s stimulation, the Flying Skill had reached its limit, with energy wings strenuously flapping behind him.

Flight instinct, Flying Skill, Ghost Form, Sturdy Scale Bloodline, Monster Strength Skill, and numerous racial talents were almost simultaneously activated.

There was nothing else in his view; all snow turned into streaks of light left behind.

The distance of hundreds of meters was merely a step for Gauss at such horrific speed, the figures quickly drawing near.

"Caught you!"

"Completed it!"

In the near point-blank exchange of gazes, both felt simultaneous joy in their hearts.

Gauss, appearing in front of Cecilia with blood-red-veined pupils, focused entirely on the Dragon Priestess before him.

Time seemed frozen again.

Snowflakes paused in mid-air.

Gauss’s right arm, holding the Holy Water Sword, swelled with muscles like stone under the influence of Monster Strength, Sturdy Scale Bloodline, and Ghost Form.

The terrifying power brewed within.

Simultaneously, the Water Sword, sensing the enemy ahead, erupted with intense holy radiance.

"Hua!!!"

In his rapid movement, Gauss drew the sword down in a slash with unmatched power, creating an almost perfect, brilliant semicircle.

This strike, enveloping all his strength, had nearly reached its limit.

However, Cecilia’s Magic Staff also emitted a terrifying beam; the energy was extremely cold, freezing even the air.

The beam lightly grazed Gauss.

They passed by each other.

Time resumed its flow.

The sharp Water Sword severed Cecilia’s left arm holding the Magic Staff, slicing off part of her shoulder as well.

Blood spewed forth.

Cecilia’s eyes rotated, looking at her arm now separated from her, her heart pounding fiercely, her face ashen pale.

The direction of the Water Sword’s strike missed her heart by merely three fingers’ distance.

Fortunately, her spell hit the enemy first, forcing the original trajectory of the attack slightly off.

Otherwise, her heart would have been halved along with an arm.

"Hiss—"

She inhaled sharply.

The holy power at the wound burned her, continuously assaulting her mind with pain.

More troublesome still was that reattaching the severed arm would henceforth become more difficult, leaving hard-to-heal aftereffects, and even resulting in diminished strength.

But luckily, victory ultimately belonged to her.

She sensed Gauss suspended in the air behind her, his movements gradually stiffening.

He had already fallen into unconsciousness; the various dragon-like transformations on his body had receded, reverting to a normal human form.