Chapter 87: Shatter of Ice

But even then, did the door not even budge the slightest bit, the runic sorcery activating instantly shielding it from any incoming attacks.

But it was only the beginning, as the spirit released it; it had still been trapped after using such enormous power, and it only grew more aggressive.

As the wave of attacks suddenly stopped, instead every bit of ice changed direction directly towards Qwenz’s body, forming a cocoon of ice around him.

’’Fuck this guy; can’t anything follow my plan?’’ Steven whispered while already leaping towards the cocoon, igniting a flame in his hand.

Which color quickly turned blueish, ready to melt the ice back to steam, but just before he could arrive at the cocoon, it changed its shape.

Going from a simple sphere to a tree of ice, its branches starting to stretch across the whole room, trying to block Stevens’ way forward.

Activating his chain, his sword quickly grew into combat shape, as he used it to cut down a thick branch in his way, just for two more to grow before him.

It felt like a never-ending task due to the isolation of the room, making it unable for any water to escape the grasp of the powerful spirit.

Stepping a step backwards to avoid a sharp ice branch, another grew at his ankle, grabbing it fiercely as it continued to grow in size.

Quickly turning his upper body to cut the branch into pieces Steven missed another one holding his arm in place, trapping him.

As more and more branches grew around his body, escaping would seem impossible for anyone other than him.

But Steven was already prepared for a situation like this, as the flame in his other hand started growing in size; it started engulfing his own body too.

But the grace of hell shielded him against any flame in creation, as the fire began destroying the ice quicker than the spirit could restore it.

The room began to visibly bend under the quick temperature change and powerful forces crashing on the inside of it.

As the flame grew tall enough to even engulf the tree itself, the spirit was pushed back as it magically realized the form started crumbling on Qwenz’s body.

But with all the water being pushed towards the small domain remaining of the spirits’ ice, its resistance grew more fierce each second, not letting go of its host’s body.

But even then, Steven was not able to extend his flame even further to not burn the poor student with it.

As he allowed the ice to slowly push its way forward towards him again, Steven didn’t know what to do; killing the spirit could very well mean the death of Qwenz as well.

However, allowing it to run rampant would not only endanger more students but also gradually harm the body of the affected student.

"You’re really not making it easy for me, Qwenz. How about you wake up?" Steven yelled, hoping the giant might be able to regain control.

But his words were meaningless against the powerful snowstorm engulfing everything around them; Steven let his flame disappear.

He had to find a different way to beat this spirit before it would kill his host and every student on the boat.

But his thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang as the runic steel ceiling started opening up, revealing a gigantic crack that only grew.

He could hear multiple alarms going off above them, and it seemed that even Alem had realized something was wrong with the student he had left behind.

It wouldn’t take long for staff to arrive, so Steven just had to hold on for them to restrain him; surely a few of them would be able to release the spirit control in a group.

As with another bang, the ground also began to split open, followed by a stream of seawater trying to enter the ship.

"Fuck..." Steven whispered, jumping on a wall and sticking against it. If the water level starts rising even more, the whole ship might be destroyed.

As the flow slowly began to be covered with water, the spirits’ output grew enormously, as another branch pierced his barrier into his side.

The pain blinded his vision as he fell from the wall into the water, which quickly began to freeze into the water, which quickly started freezing around him.

But with a powerful swing of his fist, did he shatter it into pieces, allowing him to leap towards the ceiling again?

But to his luck did the ice slow down the rising of the water, stopping it from causing even more damage to the boat.

But instead of attacking him again, the barrage finally stopped, as Steven quickly turned his head towards the shrinking tree.

Steven could feel the fusion becoming more unstable each second; the water also started vibrating at the same frequency.

Until all of it stopped, the cold disappearing from the room into nothingness and the ice below them returning to its original shape of water.

At the same moment, did the gigantic steel door start to move, revealing multiple people standing behind it?

It was the boat staff combined with some teachers and guards, all of them combat-ready as they stared at the broken spirit fusion.

Steven quickly turned himself invisible again, not wanting to be seen by any of them if not necessary, as all of them stood in the silence of the moment.

Nobody dared to attack or even react, unsure what was going on, but sadly the spirit did not have any kind of hesitation.

As the giant’s arm started changing color, becoming more transparent, his body was slowly turning into ice itself.

Steven could only watch in shock as Qwenz’s arm simply fell off his body, shattering into a thousand pieces on the ground.

He jumped forward towards the student, but before he could even reach him, did he know it was already too late?

As he still stood a few dozen meters away, he had to stop.

Watching Qwenz’s body crumble into pieces.

His mana disappeared completely.

He was dead.