Chapter 85: A Battle of Ice and Flame

Alvard rushes in, scimitar in hand, as he swings down, directly at Tillian.

Staying in the same spot, she calmly pinches the sharp blade between two of her fingers.

Tilting her head to the side, she asks,

"Are you really that mad about your pet? I told you already, it'll thaw out after a while, alright?"

Staying silent and gritting his teeth, Alvard pushes forward, breaking through Tillian's grip.

Tillian quickly steps to the side, avoiding Alvard's attack.

Fuming with rage, Alvard turns toward Tillian and starts waving his weapon towards her in a complete frenzy.

Inching backwards while dodging each swipe, Tillian says,

"Can you... Chill out... I don't... Really wanna... Fight you..."

She feels a shiver run up her spine as she knocks the top of her head and adds,

"Looks like boss has other plans, though..."

She hops back a good distance and throws her paws outwards, revealing her sharp, weathered, gray claws. She pushes her feet off the ground and pounces at Alvard.

She begins swiping at him as Alvard frantically sways from side to side. With Alvard's movements, Tillian only lands non-lethal taps with her paws.

Alvard taunts her shouting,

"That was some big talk for someone who can't even land a hit!"

Completely changing her cool persona, she shouts,

"What was that!?"

She glares at Alvard, revealing a dangerous look in her deep green pupils. She leaps at him, waving her claws wildly.

Alvard avoids the attacks like before, however, he suddenly feels his movements stiffen up and slow down. Looking for the cause, he scans his body and notices patches of ice spreading from various locations.

Surprised, he thinks,

"Did she hit me like that on purpose!? No! I definitely dodged her claws, but she still managed to do something with the hits she landed! I might have to use that if this goes on for too long... Let's just do this for now!"

He takes a large step back and holds his scimitar up while shouting,

"Soul Burner!"

The ice under him begins to melt as space around him rises in temperature. A bright scarlet light surrounds him, looking similar to a flame.

She watches him and mutters,

"Soul Burner... huh?"

She has an annoyed look on her face as she adds,

"I told you to chill out, didn't I!?"

Just as annoyed, Alvard rushes towards her as he shouts,

"Shut up already, beastwoman!"

At high speeds, he chants,

"Burning Attack!"

His scimitar is lit with a blazing flame, as he holds it to his side, preparing for a horizontal slash.

Meanwhile, Tillian gets on all fours, like a real animal, and roars viciously. She pounces forward and bears her carnivorous fangs.

Nearing one another, Alvard lets out a loud shout and hastily swings his weapon at Tillian.

In return, she sighs, looking quite disappointed.

As if time was slowed down at that very moment, Tillian lowers her body closer to the ground, dodging Alvard's attack.

In a matter of seconds, she targets his legs and creates deep wounds in his calves. Feeling the pain, Alvard turns his head downwards and thinks,

"She's... fast..!"

As Alvard loses his balance, Tillian weaves around him and touches his back while muttering,

"Absolute Zero."

Growing from his back, a layer of ice spreads throughout his body, just like Cerberus.

It reaches his hands as his weapon's flame burns out and it drops to the ground. He poses like a statue, frost covering his body and movements completely coming to a stop.

Tillian walks away, saying to herself,

"He let his emotions get the best of him... I guess I'm one to talk though..."

As she wanders, Tillian feels a sudden heat growing from behind her. Turning quickly, she sees the ice surrounding Alvard melting at a high rate.

Alvard's body is noticeably burning up, however, unlike [Soul Burner], the source of the heat cannot be seen.

Alvard's skin glows a bright red as sweat drips down his body and his breathing becomes heavy.

Tillian grins a bit as she stares at Alvard, breaking free from the ice.

As the frost turns to liquid, it instantly evaporates. His clothing begins to scorch up, burning down to ash and revealing his tones muscles, glistening with sweat.

From afar, Leonard, the Vice-Commander of the 1st Division, watches him with a worried look and thinks,

"He's going to use that!?"

While this was all taking place, in the outskirts of the 2nd District, a figure lands on the ground, spreading dust into the air.

Its silhouette can be barely made out as a generic and large knight.

Rigurd watches as he calls out,

"Identify yourself!"

A loud manly voice replies,

"Now, now! There's no need to be so aggressive, my good friend! Let's calm down a bit, shall we?"

Despite definitely sounding like speech, it doesn't seem to be coming from anywhere. It resembles the sound of echoes.

The figure marches out of the dust cloud revealing his body covered in heavy steel armor. It's colored a dark gray with a muddied, gold lining.

He exudes the presence of a noble knight and so does his exterior, with the exception of one glaring detail.

At the top of his body, where his head should be, it is empty and a black, smoke-like mist replaces his neck. His appearance looks similar to a [Dullahan].

Above his body, a red name reads,

[William Valiance the Immortal Guardian]

Without saying a word, Rigurd sends Asterion rushing towards William.

From the ground, an ethereal horse, made from the same material as William's neck, rises from the ground and blocks Asterion.

William has his head tilted towards the ground as he takes a step to the side while saying,

"Woah there! As I said, no need to be so aggre-"

He glances in front of him and sees Rigurd rushing at him, with his shield in one hand and axe in the other.