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Pyroblast invaded Winter's domain, crashing onto it like a falling meteor.

He wasn't surprised with how the cold permeated this area; this was Winter's domain, after all. By coming here, his goal was to destabilize the domain.

A bright molten core flared within his chest. Heat radiated from him to his surroundings, swiftly increasing the temperature around. This caused the blanket of snow and ice to visibly melt.

Pyroblast also released his domain in this area, overlapping it with Winter's. This made this zone essentially an area of struggle for the both of them in a closer proximity.

With the increasing temperature around, the white fog that hid Winter dissipated, turning into mist that then turned into raindrops shortly after.

Pyroblast finally saw Winter again. She wore the same look as ever, still regarding him as coldly and indifferently as before, as if she wasn't even the slightest bit bothered by what he did.

However, Cedric saw things differently. He could tell that Winter was greatly displeased by Pyroblast's intrusion. It's clear that she didn't want to be anywhere near this guy at all.

"Hi!" Pyroblast greeted upon seeing her, looking a bit smug and proud of what he did, completely oblivious of Winter's body language.

Winter's response to his greeting was a flick of her sleeves that increased the volume of water that had accumulated around them in a blink of an eye.

All the ice, snow, and frost that Pyroblast melted just now? All of them have turned into a raging river that swallowed him whole.

'Shit! I forgot about this! 'Pyroblast groaned inwardly as his vision swam while he was being assaulted by the raging waves.

He tried getting out of it. He tried igniting himself into flames, summoning fire, lava, and magma, but nothing worked. It's only here that he realized that these waters were different.

It snuffs out anything he throws at it. The waters could also interfere with his influence over origin energy and concept laws.

The longer it went, the greater the volume of the waters got. By now, he feels like he's under the sea instead of in a river. Winter was obviously nowhere to be seen again, especially not when Pyroblast sank deeper and deeper into the sea to the point where light couldn't even reach him.

He felt so stupid for forgetting that Winter also knows the Great Law of Water on top of Ice. This was the reason why she's always been better compared to him.

So, his idea of recklessly intruding on her space was a stupid idea to begin with.

Pyroblast struggled, of course. He didn't want to just give up and lose because of one careless mistake. He was thinking of ways to salvage this situation.

He tried swimming to the surface, but that didn't work. The currents were too strong for him to fight against. And even if he could somehow do it, resurfacing wouldn't be easy because Winter froze the surface of the water, essentially trapping him in there, and knowing her, she won't stay idle. She'd trap him under a massive glacier for all of eternity if need be.

This was one of her most famous killing combinations; it's called the 'Deep Sea Glacial Burial,' and he truly felt so stupid for falling for it this easily. Hell, he even helped her.

So, knowing all of this, instead of doing something reckless this time, Pyroblast stayed still.

Breathing underwater wasn't an issue to him. Sure, the feeling of sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss felt scary, but that's just an illusion caused by his recent experiences and his immediate surroundings. Winter's Domain might be powerful, but it too has limitations; she couldn't really summon a bottomless sea out of thin air even with his unsolicited help.

'Come on, Flames! 'Pyroblast hyped himself up. 'Come on! Come on! '

Pyroblast closed his eyes at one point and ignored the sinking feeling. He concentrated on summoning his flames, instead. Yes, it sounds like a stupid idea to do given that he's literally underwater, but it isn't so much the flames he's relying on; he wants the heat instead. Obviously, without his flames, he couldn't generate enough heat to do what he wanted to do; that's why he's calling for his flames.

He could feel the great influence of Winter interfering with this, but it was still manageable. Sparks flickered around him now and then; sometimes, a lick of flame would appear before being snuffed out by the deep waters, but he didn't mind it in the slightest. He kept at it until he gathered enough heat to work with.

After a while, he felt that he'd had enough. This is where he proceeded with the next step.

He gathered the heat and collected it close to his chest. He even curled up like a ball for this to work. He used his body to guard this heat, protecting it from being snuffed out by winter's influence.

Pyroblast then nurtured this heat, feeling it intensifying as time went on.

'Come on, heat! Let's boil this sea over.'

As if responding to his will, the heat raged from within his grasp, radiating a familiar comfort to him and greatly increasing the temperature of the waters around him.

With the sea warming up because of Pyroblast's heat, Winter's influence over the area became weaker, which made it more difficult for her to stop whatever he's doing.

Because of this, a noticeable change occurred.

Pyroblast felt that he landed on the bottom of the sea. This might not sound like much, or even normal, but it's a big deal because it's an indication that Winter's will had been eroded greatly here.

Had her influence remained strong, Pyroblast would've continued to sink deeper and deeper into the abyss. It's this never-ending sinking feeling as well as the soul-chilling cold that buried so many of her foes before.

Him hitting something solid should've never happened, which is why it was an indication that Winter's influence weakened considerably.

With his foot having made contact with the ground, Pyroblast felt more energized. He redirected some of the heat to the ground, letting it absorb the high temperature and spreading it all over the sea floor. He's treating the ground like a pot to boil the water.

And it's working. It's slow, but at least it's steady.

At some point, the earth had been heated well enough that the temperature of the water rose at an alarming rate. The hotter his surroundings became, the more energized and active Pyroblast was.

By now, even without his active call, flames were appearing around him. It's a unique sight because the water wasn't snuffing it out anymore; it's as if it were tolerating this contradiction to exist.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After some more time, the earth cracked and began spouting out magma. The hotter the sea floor became, the more influence he had over it, which caused the natural phenomena of his main affinity to appear as well.

Pyroblast could feel it. The sheet of ice sealing his underwater coffin was slowly melting. He wasn't suffocated anymore; the entire underwater section of this sea had become his domain.

He could swim to the surface with this, and he could do so with confidence too. But he didn't do that right away. Instead, he stuck to what he wanted to do, to boil this sea into nothingness.

The main reason being that he wanted to send a message to Winter.

Time went on some more, and before long, the water had dried up because of the intense temperature. Pyroblast could've long broken out of the surface, but he didn't; he stayed in there to finish what he started. It wasn't until the very last drop of moisture was gone from the deep sea that he flew to the surface to see what Winter had to say about this.

But once again, she slapped him with the reality that he will always be inferior.

Because as soon as he climbed out of his supposed burial chambers, he saw that the entire world around him had changed.

It has turned into a world blanketed by endless white snow. A soul-piercing chill was what greeted him first, actually.

Then, in front of him, he saw a massive palace made out of pure ice crystals floating above the clouds. There's even a long and gorgeous stairway unfolded right in front of him, seemingly inviting him to scale it.

The palace was surrounded by all sorts of creatures that thrived in cold environments. Every single one ignored his existence.

He then looked back and saw that this 'sea' he struggled with so much turned out to be just a mere pond.

It took him so long to break out of this pond that Winter had enough time not only to change the world according to her liking but also to make a temporary home for herself where she could wait for him to continue their 'fight.'

The staircase leading to where she was felt like a slap of humiliation to his face. So much so that Pyroblast's cheeks were burning in shame.

He bit his lips as complex emotions bubbled within him. In the end though, he sighed and took the initiative to forfeit the match.