With a wave of Merlin's hand, Wizard Ernie and Wizard Watson understood immediately and retreated behind Merlin.

"All of you step back. Let me find out just how formidable is this Dark Fire Incarnate who recently appeared in Subzero Snowfield."

The Frost Lord also gestured the snow sprites to retreat to safety. At this moment, its voice changed faintly and became more androgynous-sounding.

"Boom!"

Merlin slowly rose into the air, and blazing flames began to rage all over his body. Then, a huge fire burst forth and transformed into a pack of flaming dragons, making it appear as if the entire sky was lit with fire.

Under the scorching hot temperatures, the palace complex, which was situated on a snow-capped mountain, began to quiver dangerously. Large quantities of snow and ice melted into streams of water that gushed down the mountains.

Merlin's flame was Fiery Collapse, which was already inherently powerful but here, it was the natural opposing force to the snow sprites. Therefore, once his flames were released, the countless number of snow sprites were unable to withstand and scattered into the palace.

Inside the vicinity of the palace, there seemed to be specific Runic Magic Circles that protected them. Therefore, once the snow sprites were inside the palace, the flames were no longer a threat to them.

Merlin was now standing in the midst of the flames like a holy statue of fire, regarding the Frost Lord with an unnerving stare.

The Frost Lord took a deep breath, and the originally slender body began to transform rapidly. Its body expanded swiftly like a balloon that was being inflated.

"Thud."

The Frost Lord's expanded body was about four to five meters high, almost the size of a small giant. Two pairs of wings sprouted on its back, and well-toned muscles covered its entire body. Even its face was frightful, a far cry from the delicate beauty it displayed earlier.

"This is Frost Lord's true form!"

Merlin's eyes narrowed into slits as he flicked a finger.

"Flick."

An animated fire tongue spewed out in an instant and split into thousands of tiny little fire tongues that soared through the air toward the Frost Lord. These flames did not contain a single trace of black smoke so it looked unusually clean. However, the power they contained would make any person shudder in fear.

Every tiny little fire tongue was capable of exploding with unparalleled force, sufficient to severely injure a Seventh-level Spell Caster. Once Merlin's Fiery Collapse had been fully merged with his Incinerating Fire – a derived spell plus a Pandora Demon Ability – its resulting power was almost equivalent to the ultimate limit of a Seventh-level spell.

"Ice Freeze!"

A low growl sounded. In an instant, the Frost Lord's voice became a very powerful and intimidating male-sounding voice. Compared to the matchless beauty it had displayed earlier, even Merlin could not help the slight upturn in his lips. It seemed that the genderless Frost Lord did not comprehend that such a drastic change in demeanor would be stomach-churning for most people.

The Frost Lord's current form was that of a giant with wings. With a slight motion of its finger, the surrounding air temperature began to plunge immediately. At the same time, a watery mist began to appear and turned into ice crystals, subsequently multiplying in the direction of the thousands of tiny little fire tongues.

"Crackle crackle."

The sound of fire and ice crackled against one another as their forces continued to intertwine with one another. Merlin's Fiery Collapse and the Frost Lord's Icy Chill turned out to be surprisingly equally matched, and neither one was able to subdue the other.

This was far beyond Merlin's expectations as well as the expectations of the Frost Lord's.

Originally, the power of Merlin's flames had already achieved the ultimate limit of a Seventh-level spell. Anyone below the level of an Eighth-level Spell Caster was no longer an opponent to him. However, right now, the Frost Lord was able to compete with him as an equal.

Once a snow sprite broke through its Seventh-level shackles, its abilities would be greatly improved. Furthermore, its control over Ice Elements would be frightening, so it would simply be a walk in the park to achieve the ultimate limit of the Seventh-level. Similarly, if the fire sprite managed to break through to the Seventh-level, its control over Fire Elements would also be fearsome.

This was the advantage held by the sprites. At this moment, the two competing forces were wrangling over one another, and the Fire-type Spell Model in Merlin's body was providing massive amounts of Magic Power to sustain Fiery Collapse. Colossal columns of fire blazed powerfully, tinting the entire sky a fiery hue of orange and red.

The small giant which had been transformed from the Frost Lord flapped its wings almost imperceptibly, and many long icicles began to form in mid-air. Following that, the Frost Lord lifted a gigantic icicle in his hands and slammed it violently in Merlin's direction.

"Whoosh."

Merlin transformed into a light breeze and instantly retreated to safety. With Flash Wind under his belt, his speed was impressive enough that very few were able to keep up with him.

Nevertheless, looking at the Frost Lord before him, Merlin felt a slight pang of worry in his chest. His face, too, revealed a peculiar expression. He had not expected that the Frost Lord's transformation would end up in this manner.

The current Frost Lord was quite violent and barbaric, and his abilities were not the least bit dismissible. All the surrounding Ice Elements seemed to be under his control, and Merlin struggled to even cast Ice-type spells. It was as if he was being suppressed.

"Hehe. Dark Fire Incarnate, is this all you can do? You're supposedly the Dark Fire Incarnate but you've yet to wield any Darkness-type spells. Come on, give me your best shot!"

The Frost Lord rumbled in a thunderous voice. The two pairs of wings supported the Frost Lord as it rose slowly into the air. Around him, ice-cold air swirled continuously, and numerous ice crystals formed in the air.

Merlin narrowed his eyes. The Frost Lord was truly difficult to defeat. This opponent was probably on par with him at the ultimate limit of the Seventh-level or perhaps even slightly more powerful than him. Since they were in Subzero Snowfield, and Ice Elements were aplenty, if it was a real battle, the Frost Lord would have the upper hand.

However, Merlin was bent on entering the Frost Pond. He took a deep breath and began to activate the Spell Model of Darkness Illusory Death.

Suddenly, the entire sky dimmed as darkness shrouded the entire palace. Pitch-black darkness descended except for the top of the palace where mysterious runes began to glow brightly, apparently resisting the darkness.

As Merlin released his Darkness Illusory Death, his indifferent eyes stared right ahead at the Frost Lord. As long as his opponent was distracted for a split second, it would immediately face Merlin's thunder-like attack.

In the dark, the Frost Lord howled loudly. Around him, layers upon layers of ice had formed a thick wall yet it failed to stop the darkness from descending.

The Frost Lord had had a very long lifespan. From the day of its birth until it achieved its current powerful Frost Lord form, more than a thousand years had passed. Elemental sprites had a very long lifespan so although their innate Mind Powers were not strong, over a long period of time, they would eventually strengthen to an impressive level.

Therefore, Merlin's Darkness Illusory Death did not pose any threat to the Frost Lord. Instead, it utterly infuriated him because the snow sprites which did not manage to go inside the palace were killed by Darkness Illusory Death without any resistance.

In Frost Lord's eyes, these snow sprites were like its own children.

"You've killed my children so you must die!"

The Frost Lord's deadly growl was even more terrifying than before, accompanied by its thickening chilling aura as if it was preparing to launch an earth-shattering blow.

The entire mountain-top seemed to be vibrating, and even the fluffy clouds in the air seemed to be frozen solid, forming a huge cage that surrounded Merlin and the others.

Wizards Ernie and Watson's faces paled greatly. Although they knew that the Frost Lord was powerful, they did not expect it to be so strong to the extent that they were completely helpless to resist.

Merlin knew that the Frost Lord was livid, so he had to fight for his life! The fact was, this entire area had been occupied by the Frost Lord for thousands of years, so it had long since been prepared as its personal battlefield. In this place, the Frost Lord's powers could be increased several folds.

Once the power of the entire area was activated, the Frost Lord's power would undoubtedly surpass the Seventh-level and reach the Eighth-level as well as the peak power of the Eighth-level!

"Frost Lord, you might want to reconsider. If we truly start engaging in a big battle, will the snow sprites in the palace be able to survive? If push comes to shove, I'll just break open the seal on the fourth form of Darkness Eye. For an accursed power like this, I'm sure you're well aware of the strength of its fourth form!"

Merlin saw that the Frost Lord was beginning to prepare for a large battle with an unpleasant expression on his face. He did not expect that his opponent would be so terrifying when it went berserk, so Merlin had to take a step backward and revealed Darkness Eye in his palm.

The blood-red, demonic-looking eye was constantly glowing crimson as if there was a strange power lurking within it.

"Darkness Eye…"

Although the Frost Lord only snarled softly, due to its gigantic size, its snarl was like a peal of thunder reverberating across the sky.

As for Darkness Eye, there were a few higher-order Spell Casters who did not know about it. Even in the remote Subzero Snowfield, many of the Spell Casters have heard of the legend of Darkness Eye.

It was an accursed power that contained unparalleled power as well as the embodiment of darkness.

The blood-red eye in Merlin's palm appeared to be very spirited. Even Merlin himself could sense the "excited" mood of Darkness Eye. Darkness Eye was longing for a battle, longing for a bloodbath, and longing for the flood of negative emotions.

Only negative emotions would be able to help it to grow stronger. More than anything, it longed for Merlin to uncover its seal and release the fourth form of Darkness Eye once again.

However, as long as it was not the last resort, Merlin would not do it.

"Crackle crackle."

A sinister-sounding laugh became faintly audible, and behind Merlin, a huge fuzzy ghostly face filled the sky, staring coldly at the Frost Lord.

Darkness Eye seemed to have arrived at its Armageddon's call. If the Frost Lord activated the power of the entire area, Merlin would have no choice but to break open the seal of the fourth form of Darkness Eye.

Following the loosening of the seal on Darkness Eye, the huge ghostly face behind Merlin began to become clearer. The ghostly faces continued to distort and change, and the darkness aura thickened discernibly!

The real battle was a mere hair's breadth away!