69: Chapter 69 Combining Special Properties! Annihilation?! Count Farrell's Unease!

White Cliff Castle, the training grounds.

After Rowan became familiar with the powerful resonance effect of combining [Blazing] and [Blood Rage],

He began to ponder combining them with another feature.

[Frost]!

This was his original Douqi feature, originating from his family's ancestral Frost Breathing Technique.

His initial attempt was a simple duet.

With the first arrow, [Frost] left the string, the arrowhead condensing a grim coldness that carved a trail of Frost in the air.

Immediately after, the second arrow followed, enveloped in [Blazing], like a crimson meteor chasing a cold moon.

“Pshhh—Boom!!!”

The two arrows hit the designated iron shield one after another.

Extreme cold and extreme heat met violently on the surface of the iron shield.

Immediately, the conflicting energies were suddenly released!

The fine iron shield shattered like glass struck by a giant hammer, disintegrating into a flurry of shards and iron filings.

Steam and dust mixed into a gray-white cloud, rising into the air.

“Effective, but too slow,” Rowan muttered to himself, frowning.

The gap for Douqi conversion between the two shots was much longer than the time required for [Frost Bridge Rapid Fire].

It added the step of Douqi conversion.

It was enough for a keen opponent to react and avoid the same point.

He summarized in a low voice, looking at the scene of destruction with some dissatisfaction.

Suddenly, a bolder idea occurred to him.

Why not contain these opposing forces within a single strike?

This would require more delicate control than ever before.

So, he drew his bow once again.

Within the furnace of his body, two Douqi of entirely different natures were injected into the same arrow.

[Blazing] was manic, igniting a dark red at the arrow's tip.

[Frost] was serene, covering the shaft in an eerie blue.

The two forces converged at the arrow's tip, one on the surface and one inside, refusing to merge.

But they were barely held in check by the sliver of delicate balance found through [Insight].

The arrow trembled slightly, the light on its surface flickering strangely between crimson and eerie blue.

The surrounding air produced distorted shadows and faint crackling sounds due to the rapid alternation of heat and cold.

Veins bulged on Rowan's forehead; this was not just a drain on Douqi, but also a massive burden on his mental strength.

He felt as if he were simultaneously taming a Flame Wolf and an Ice Python; one slip and the backlash would injure him before the arrow even left the bow.

“Now!”

Holding his breath, he released the string.

The arrow shot forth.

With a faint spiral caused by the conflict of ice and fire energy, it accurately struck a half-man-high piece of granite.

At the moment of impact, all was silent.

The expected earth-shattering explosion did not occur.

The arrow sank deep into the rock, leaving only a slightly quivering fletching.

But immediately, a spot of eerie blue spread silently from the point of impact, and the rock's surface was instantly covered in a thick ice shell, with bone-chilling cold bursting from the cracks.

The next moment.

A Blazing red light suddenly shone through the interior of the ice!

“Hiss—Bang!!!”

The forces of ice and fire engaged in the most intense annihilation inside the rock.

The entire piece of hard granite did not shatter into chunks.

Instead, starting from the core, it turned into a patch of pale stone powder that was unnervingly fine.

A chaotic stream of energy, smelling of sulfur and snow, rose slowly, carrying the dust with it.

Rowan stepped forward and reached out to touch the gray-white area.

His fingertips felt a simultaneous burning pain and icy cold, as if he were touching the residual temperature of destruction itself.

“Not an explosion, but annihilation?!” he murmured to himself, reflecting slightly...

...

Meanwhile.

Gino City, Golden Flame Earl Manor.

A secret room located deep beneath the castle.

It was isolated from all external light and sound.

The walls were built of heavy black bricks mixed with anti-magic metal, carved with complex soundproofing and anti-detection runes.

Count Farrell, dressed in deep black casual clothes, sat on a large obsidian chair.

The dim light outlined his sharp profile; those eyes, which were always calm, now flickered with a trace of imperceptible anxiety.

Opposite him, a figure almost completely merged into the shadows sat leaning back in another stone chair in an extremely relaxed posture.

He still wore that pale mask without any ornamentation.

“Is everything ready?” Count Farrell broke the silence, getting straight to the point.

“Almost,” the Pale Knight's voice came through the mask, ethereal and unsteady.

“The altar, materials, ritual nodes, backup plans... everything that needs to be prepared is in place.”

“We only wait for the [New Moon Rift] to welcome the descent of my Lord's radiance and harvest this long-gestating fruit.”

His tone was flat, yet it carried an anticipation for the coming bloody feast.

Count Farrell's brow furrowed imperceptibly. “What happened at Red Maple Castle?”

“Anthony is dead, and those two brats from the Mesa family have disappeared.”

“I don't want any unexpected mishaps at this critical juncture.”

Hearing this, the Pale Knight shrugged slightly:

“That useless Anthony couldn't even keep an eye on two little ones. If he's dead, he's dead; it just saves us a portion of the Lord's gift.”

“As for those two young lords...” He paused, seemingly reminiscing. “They escaped, but at this stage, it's trivial, isn't it?!”

He smiled. “The core part of the plan, everything that needed to be done in Maple Flower Territory, has already been completed.”

“Everything that needed to be collected... has been collected. Red Maple Castle was just a temporary processing plant.”

“Now that the raw materials are ready and the plant is abandoned, failing to clean up the loose ends is indeed a small flaw, but it's insignificant. It won't affect the main feast in Mist Whisper Town.”

Count Farrell's eyes darkened, and he said nothing.

What he worried about was not just a flaw, but potential hidden dangers.

If the remnants of the Mesa family really ran to the Church of Dawn, especially before that keen-nosed Priestess Aliyah, it would be a bit of a nuisance after all.

Although, as the Pale Knight said, this issue wouldn't shake him in the short term.

But at such a sensitive time, any slight disturbance could lead to unpredictable consequences...

The Pale Knight seemed to see through his concerns and chuckled. “Is the Count worried about the Church?”

He paused intentionally before slowly continuing:

“With Duke Witton around, what does this little trouble amount to?”

“As long as the plan in Mist Whisper Town succeeds and you demonstrate enough value and loyalty, the Duke will naturally clear all obstacles for you.”

“After all, in the North, strength and results are what truly matter, aren't they?”

Count Farrell's lips thinned into a straight line.

The Pale Knight's words reminded him of another matter.

His son Ravenna, whose whereabouts are still unknown, and Kyle Wheaton, who disappeared with him.

Neither has been found yet.

The news sent back by the people sent to search the Mess Mountains was vague, finding only some signs of battle and remains gnawed by magical beasts, making identification impossible.

The Pale Knight keenly captured Count Farrell's momentary fluctuation in aura, and a barely audible chuckle seemed to come from beneath the smooth mask:

“I heard that your son, Young Master Ravenna, went out hunting with a friend and has not yet returned?”

“Do you need me... to help keep an eye out?”

“In the North, we have some special ways of finding people.”

These words carried a clear probe and a hint of amusement.

Count Farrell felt a chill in his heart; he immediately forced down his turbulent thoughts, regained his composure, and said in a deep voice:

“No need. For now, the main business is what matters. The plan for Mist Whisper Town must not fail.”

He did not want the people from the Crimson Knights to interfere too much in his family's internal affairs.

As for Ravenna and Kyle...

They do not affect the overall situation.

The Pale Knight did not press further and nodded. “Understood. Then, everything proceeds according to plan.”

Having said that, he prepared to stand up and leave.

But the unease that Count Farrell had forcibly suppressed began to surface again.

He thought of some recent unusual movements within the Church.

Scattered intelligence from informants placed inside the church showed that Bishop Cole, Chief Priestess Aria, and Temple Knight Commander Calvin had recently been holding frequent small-scale, high-level confidential meetings.

The specific content is currently unknown, but they are clearly plotting something.

Recalling the Pale Knight's disdain for the Church and the ritual he was about to participate in, he always felt that things were... a bit too smooth?

“Wait,” Count Farrell called out to the Pale Knight, who was about to merge into the shadows.

...