"Hello, Lord’s son. I want to report a major safety incident to you."

Crisis, already upset by Anarce’s disdain, felt his anger soaring as he saw someone blocking his way.

He didn’t hesitate to lift his leg, aiming a kick at the person.

"Get out of my way!"

Thunk!

Crisis felt like his foot had kicked a solid metal shield, and then a chilling sensation spread throughout his body from the point of contact.

He saw that his leg had collided with an ice wall, which was dissipating into ice mist and merging with his foot.

He felt his body rapidly cooling, and a sense of fear surged from his heart to his soul.

He wanted to withdraw his leg, but found that it had lost all sensation.

"Let me go! My father is the Lord of Frost Town! What are you trying to do?!"

A disguised Hilia frowned slightly and scoffed, "Why do you people from Frost Town always get so aggressive? All you do is shove people."

"I don’t understand what you’re saying. Let me go quickly, or my father won’t let you off!" Crisis shouted indecisively.

"Are you underdeveloped or something? As I said, I’m here to report a major safety incident."

"You are..."

Feeling his body grow colder, Crisis couldn’t finish his sentence.

He could only shout in his heart, "You’re the one who’s underdeveloped."

Understanding that he was at a disadvantage, he reluctantly held back his frustration and anger and tried to speak calmly, "Sir, I’m not sure what you’re reporting, but could you let me go first?"

"That’s more like it." Hilia smiled as she let Crisis go.

Once he shakily put his leg down and showed an awkward, sour expression, Hilia slowly said, "Just now, I saw inside the Warm Tavern that they had lit a giant bonfire in the center of the building!"

Crisis’s smile froze.

"???

"In a place like a tavern, where so many customers gather, how can they do something so dangerous? And guess what happened? The whole tavern caught fire and is now spreading to nearby buildings. Lord’s son, you must punish the owner of the tavern heavily!"

Crisis’s face twisted.

Stopping me just to talk about this nonsense?

It’s not like I don’t know the Warm Tavern caught fire!

But what’s it got to do with me?

You must be in league with that girl!

Crisis thought the handsome "man" before him must be in cahoots with that girl.

But the opponent was strong, and he dared not voice it.

However, he had already secretly sent someone to notify the Lord.

As the Lord’s only son, Crisis trusted it wouldn’t be long before his father came to rescue him.

Now, he just needed to stall until Mr. Winter arrived.

Lord’s son?

Frost Town isn’t big, so this won’t take too long.

By that time, I’ll beat you so bad you’ll call me father!

Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and he suppressed his discomfort as he said, "These things do tend to catch fire easily, and they deserve their punishment. Sir, do you have any other clues you can share so I can record them?"

"I have quite a few clues. Let me tell you all about them."

Hilia seemed unaware of the imminent arrival of the Lord, as she continued discussing the so-called ’clues’ with Crisis.

Not long after, a powerful presence rushed in from outside.

"Who dares harm my son!"

Mr. Winter burst in fiercely, causing those still within the casino to turn and look.

Crisis appeared overjoyed, while Hilia was sizing up the top Mage of Frost Town.

Tier Three Sword Master, Winter, a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, wielding a large sword, looking exceptionally mighty.

A heavily armored magic puppet followed beside him, holding a sword even taller than a person.

Crisis seized the opportunity to limp toward him, "Father, it’s this person. He almost made my right leg useless! I can’t even stand properly now."

Seeing Crisis’s condition, and the cold magic power emanating from his right leg, Winter was furious and locked eyes with Hilia.

"Kill him."

The magic puppet obeyed the order and charged toward Hilia.

Just as Hilia prepared to summon a magic puppet, Rose’s voice came through: "Don’t use a magic puppet; this puppet’s combat power isn’t strong, and it’s perfect for you to practice the Tier Two Spell Combination Skill you’ve just learned."

The once relaxed Hilia became tense, "Huh? You really want me to fight it barehanded? Even though I’ve learned the Ice Shattering Skill, I can’t shatter the puppet’s armor, can I?"

"Metal becomes very brittle in low temperatures. If your Ice Shattering Skill can’t break it, it means you haven’t mastered it and need more practice."

Hilia still wanted to summon a magic puppet but suddenly found she couldn’t sense any connection with it.

"I’ve temporarily cut off your connection with the subspace. Don’t think about summoning a magic puppet."

"What???

Hilia was stunned.

Huh?

Find a way to sever the connection with the magic puppet?

Hilia once again felt the power of the gods.

"Go ahead. I’ll be here cheering for you."

Rose’s spiritual body appeared beside Hilia, even producing some seeds to munch on while cheering for her.

There was no time to say more; Winter’s magic puppet was already in front of her, and Hilia had no choice but to brace herself for the battle.

The Water of Stagnation was almost instantly cast, slowing the puppet down as she leaped back, an ice bow forming in her hand, and a crystal arrow appeared.

"Then let’s give it a try!"

The crystal arrow was released, and affected by the Water of Stagnation, the heavy magic puppet couldn’t dodge.

Winter sneered, "Tier Two magic? Tier Two magic won’t work on me."

The puppet brought its large sword up in defense.

Bang!

The crystal arrow shattered, turning into a mist of ice that enveloped the puppet.

On the invisible spiritual level, Hilia’s spiritual power, guided by the Mage’s Hand, turned into countless threads connected with all the fragments of the shattered ice arrow.

Those shattered ice mists weren’t water vapor but tiny ice particles!

Her spiritual power linked many fragments, like a tree trunk extending countless branches to connect each leaf.

"Not bad. Reaching this stage, your Mage’s Hand is almost at the advanced level. The next step is to use the Mage’s Hand to freely control all fragments and select the target area."

"That’s too difficult, I can’t do it..."

"At Tier One, did you think you could link several thousand ice fragments simultaneously?"

"..."

With her spiritual power connected to countless fragments, fine beads of sweat formed on Hilia’s forehead. To avoid excessive spiritual power consumption, she decisively used the Ice Shattering Skill once most fragments adhered to the puppet and the giant sword.

"Ice Shatter!"

Bang...

A slight sound of shattering echoed.

The giant sword and the puppet seemed to crack, but perhaps it was just an illusion.

"It’s still not working."

"Yes, at Tier Two, it’s hard to shatter a Tier Three object without someone assisting."

Rose smiled slightly.

Just as Hilia was puzzled, Winter sneered, "Such a trivial ice elemental magic."

The puppet and sword rapidly turned red, their temperature rising sharply.

"Okay, now rapidly cool the puppet and the sword three times in succession, even just to smash garlic with its sword will break it."