Solar Blood Masters (196)

Chapter 196 - White Snow

A sharp crack resonated as Yukiana’s icy grip tightened around Raphael's hand. She unleashed a wave of frost, attempting to shatter his bones. A smug grin stretched across her face, for how could a child’s puny form withstand the might of a peak Star Soul Layer Solar Blood Master?

“You…!”

To her surprise, Raphael’s hand remained intact. She glared at him incredulously, “How…?” Her question and attempt was interrupted by his brutal counter.

“Your Solar Essence Density… It’s too weak,” Raphael retorted, his blood-red eyes narrowed slightly. He could feel a pulse of pain shooting up his arm, yet, his expression remained stoic.

With a swift motion, he brought his knee up and slammed it into her face.

BOOM!

Yukiana’s nose exploded in a spray of blood. She staggered back, her vision blurred as those waves of agonizing pain made her Solar Essence go haywire.

Simultaneously, Labeach reacted. She slammed her palm onto the stage.

“Ice Prison!”

Sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground, aiming to impale Raphael. He was forced to release Yukiana’s hand and backflip away and landed a few meters away from the sisters.

“Yuki, your nose… It’s broken!” Labeach quickly helped her sister set it back into place, then glared at Raphael.

Yukiana wiped the blood from her face.

“I can still fight. He just caught me off guard,” she said, trying to maintain her composure but her voice trembled slightly. “Sister, we were wrong. His strength… It’s the real deal.”

“I can tell. We’ll have to work together to defeat him.”

A wave of cheers erupted from the courtyard.

“Go, Snow Maidens! Crush that golden-haired demon!”

“Show him no mercy!”

“Defeat him!”

‘Those bastard insects…’ Raphael was irritated by the crowd’s jeers and unleashed his Solar Pressure. “SILENCE!”

BOOM!

The earth trembled.

The very air itself seemed to crackle with power.

The crowd gasped as they were forced to their faces. Even the elite soldiers stationed around the arena buckled beneath the oppressive weight.

Xavier Snow was stunned. He felt a familiar energy resonating from Raphael, an ancient power he hadn’t sensed in centuries. ‘This pressure… It’s similar to… those Nightmare Calamities of Yama Yaguai!’ he thought incredulously.

“How… how can that brat be so powerful?!”

“Such overwhelming strength!”

Even Yukiana and Labeach struggled to breathe. Their combined Solar Pressure was nothing compared to Raphael’s might.

He folded his arms beneath his chest and glared down at them with his blood-red eyes that pierced their souls.

“Do you wish to continue this farce? Or do you… yield?”

“We’ll never yield to you!” Yukiana retorted.

“You shall face our combined might!” Labeach added.

They joined hands. Their Solar Essences began intertwining, merging into a blinding vortex of light and power. They whispered a chant that resonated through the courtyard like a symphony of ice and snow.

The light intensified.

And then… a new entity emerged.

White Snow.

She was a vision of ethereal beauty and power. Her skin was as white as snow, her long, flowing hair a blend of blue and white. She possessed four arms. A diaphanous white gown, adorned with sparkling snowflakes, flowed around her form and accentuated her voluptuousness and her beauty.

And hovering before her, a white sword materialized that had an hilt encircled by two miniature Soul Orbitals, each containing four white orbs that rotated graciously.

The Star Frost Sword.

The crowd gasped in awe. Whispers of reverence and fear spread through their ranks as they recognized the legendary weapon.

The Star Frost Sword… a relic passed down through the Snow Clan for millennia, forged from the heart of a glacier and imbued with the souls of a thousand Ice Maidens. Its power was legendary, capable of freezing even the hottest flames, shattering even the toughest defenses. It was said that only those with the purest of heart, those whose Solar Blood resonated with the very essence of ice and snow, could wield its power.

And now… it had appeared.

Xavier Snow smiled.

“They’ve activated their fusion ability. And… the Star Frost Sword… It appears… they’re taking this opponent seriously.” He watched Raphael intently, eager to see how he would react.

White Snow’s four arms began moving in perfect unison and started weaving a complex series of gestures. Her Solar Essence began to flow into the Star Frost Sword. Its blade produced a white glow that intensified, expanded, and threatened to engulf the entire courtyard.

Raphael observed this transformation with narrowed eyes.

‘This is new to me. Solar Blood Masters… fusing into a single entity? And their Solar Essence Density… It’s skyrocketed. That sword… It could be a Heavenly Grade weapon. I can’t afford to slack off. They’re as strong as a 5th Layer Calamity.’

He was about to get serious… when…

“Cough! Cough!”

He stumbled. A wave of nausea washed over him. He felt a searing pain in his stomach.

‘Huh? What’s… happening?’

He coughed again. Blood splattered the ground, forming a crimson stain against the white snow.

‘Why… are my Gourmet Roots acting up? They’re… sporadic… disrupting my energy flow.’

He glanced into the crowd and saw Enel Snow snickering and then he realized… ‘Could it be… he poisoned those grapes?’

He vomited more blood. This time it was black as night. A gruesome display that had the spectators gasping in shock.

‘What kind of attack did the Snow Maiden use?!’ they wondered. ‘It’s… terrifying!’

Others whispered wilder theories. ‘Is it some kind of… blood curse? A demonic possession? A plague?’

Xavier Snow watched with narrowed eyes. ‘Food poisoning? Could it be… he ate too much earlier?’ He pondered whether to intervene, to stop the duel. But… he wanted to see how Raphael would handle this situation.

White Snow continued channeling her Solar Essence into the Star Frost Sword. It sung with a power that could obliterate a mountain peak. She saw Raphael’s distress and smirked.

‘He’s weakened! Now… I’ll annihilate him… for his disrespect!’

WHOOSH!

With a swift, decisive motion, she fired the sword. It shot towards Raphael like a bullet of pure, concentrated ice energy.

Meanwhile, Raphael struggled to stabilize his internal flow.

‘Damn these Gourmet Roots! Why are they attacking me?!’

He squinted, his vision blurred, but he saw it. The Star Frost Sword tearing towards him.

As a last-ditch effort, he used his hair to thrust the Elixen Belkelium forward.

BOOM!

The Star Frost Sword struck the pillar.

A radial burst of energy erupted that scattered the crowd and vibrated the palace.

Both weapons clashed.

A high-pitched screeching sound, like metal grinding against metal could be heard from miles around.

Raphael gritted his teeth, desperately trying to maintain his grip on the pillar.

‘I… I’m losing! This Heavenly Grade Star Frost Sword… It’s stronger than my Divine Grade Gas Pillar! And this poison… It’s disrupting my concentration! I have to end this quickly! Before I lose consciousness!’

Thinking this, he willed himself and slammed his left palm onto the pillar’s base.

“Gold Press Shooter!”

BOOM!

The Elixen Belkelium, amplified by a force of 450,000 tons and the Gold Press power, blasted the Star Frost Sword away and rushed straight towards White Snow.

She conjured an ice barrier, but it shattered like glass.

Just as the pillar was about to crush her…

Xavier Snow vanished from his wheelchair. He reappeared before his daughters, and with a skillful maneuver, using both hands, deflected the pillar upwards.

WHOOSH!

It soared above the clouds until it vanished into the sky.

Xavier Snow coughed blood.

“Father!”

Yukiana and Labeach separated, returning to their individual forms. They rushed to his side in alarm.

“Why… Why did you intervene, Father?! We could have handled it!” Yukiana said angrily.

“If I hadn’t… you would have died,” Xavier Snow replied, wiping the blood from his lips. His gaze shifted towards Raphael, who had collapsed onto the stage.

The crowd stared at the scene in bewilderment.

Suddenly, someone pointed upwards.

“Look!”

The Elixen Belkelium, no longer the size of a small pillar, but now colossal, larger than a tower, was descending rapidly straight towards the palace.

“Oh, no!”

The crowd began to scatter while screaming in terror.

BOOM!

The pillar slammed into the palace, creating a massive crater and sending shockwaves rippling outwards that shook the entire Snow Empire. Buildings crumbled. Walls cracked. The very foundations of their frozen world trembled.

The aftermath was devastating.

After all, they were hit with the equivalent weight of 11,250 trucks!