Shang was barely in a condition to dodge. Even more, the Ice King had become much more accurate with its claw attack.
So, Shang was forced to do the only thing that could give him some value out of this clash.
Shang pointed Sword right at the approaching claw.
CRACK!
The ice around Sword exploded everywhere while the ground beneath Shang turned into a crater due to the Ice King's sheer force.
Sword's handle was pushed back, breaking Shang's arms, hitting the black chest plate, punching a hole in the chest plate, and lastly, burying itself into Shang's gut.
Like he had been pierced by a thrown spear, Shang was thrown into the distance by Sword.
However, receiving this injury wasn't for nothing!
Sword had pierced through the Ice King's paw, coming out of the other side!
Icy blue liquid poured out of the paw, and the Ice King's eyes became even more infuriated.
Shang and Sword quickly used their power to get Sword's handle out of Shang's body as they flew into the distance.
SHING!
And then, Shang's armor vanished.
His armor had weakened the injury by a lot, but now, it was only a hindrance.
It had a huge hole in the middle, and the bent metal had buried itself into Shang's body.
The armor had transformed from protection into a hindrance, which was why Shang quickly put it into his Space Ring.
But just like before, the Ice King immediately reached Shang again with its incredible speed.
Its injured paw didn't even slow it down!
Shang had already healed his injuries, but he was starting to run low on Mana. He only had around 40% left.
Meanwhile, the Ice King kept releasing insane amounts of Ice Mana in wide attacks. It was almost like it had a bottomless well of Mana!
BANG!
As the next strike approached, Shang used several Ice Blasts to shoot over the claw. Due to the previous injury, the Ice King had stabbed its claws forward instead of slashing, giving Shang a chance to avoid the attack.
Shang flew over the attack and approached the Ice King's head.
But then, Shang's eyes widened as he looked into the opened maw of the Ice King.
A terrifying amount of Ice Mana had gathered in its mouth.
Shang felt death approaching.
And then, a terrifying beam of concentrated Ice Mana shot directly at Shang.
If he got hit by that, he would die immediately!
Out of reflex, Shang activated his Domain of Entropy once again.
It was the only thing he could do.
He couldn't evade nor block, leaving only his Domain.
It was a complete shot in the dark, but Shang had a suspicion.
As soon as the beam of Ice Mana entered Shang's Domain, it changed.
It changed from Ice Mana into Neutral Mana!
The Neutral Mana harmlessly washed over Shang.
'It works!' Shang thought. 'I can turn matter into Elemental Mana, but I can also turn Elemental Mana into Neutral Mana.'
'But I also have to use Mana to do that.'
Right now, Shang's Mana storage had bottomed out.
There was nothing left.
However, Shang was now directly in front of the Ice King's gigantic head.
Shang readied a slash.
BANG!
Suddenly, an explosion of thick Ice Mana appeared between the Ice King and Shang.
The Ice King was thrown into the distance while Shang was thrown to the ground.
They were now over 50 meters apart again.
Shang gritted his teeth as he landed on his legs.
But when he saw the Ice King's body sliding on its icy claws, Shang's right eye widened, and a fire appeared inside it.
This was the first time the Ice King didn't have the initiative!
The Ice King had always been the one initiating the attacks, and it hadn't given Shang any opportunity to unleash his own attacks!
But now, it was defending!
'I'm out of Mana! This is the only chance I will get!'
Shang held Sword tightly and prepared a slash.
Then, he spoke one word.
"Ishah!"
A streak of black fire.
One single slash, stretching over 50 meters.
Shang had vanished, leaving behind a streak of black fire, and appeared below the Ice King in a single instant.
Mana Step!
Sword had shrunken to its original form, the one it had assumed after it had become a sword for the first time.
The Ice King's torso above Shang had a deep cut going through it.
The icy armor had completely vanished, but so had Shang's entire skin.
Shang had sacrificed his skin to activate his Domain of Entropy.
Shang's Domain of Entropy had dealt with the icy armor, and Sword's Entropy had cut through the body.
For an instant, time seemingly stood still.
And then, a shower of blue blood rained onto Shang.
Shang's entire body began to freeze from the blue liquid, which made him realize that this was the source of the Ice King's endless Mana.
As soon as the blue blood hit Shang, his body absorbed it, filling up Shang's mana storage again.
Sadly, the Mana inside Shang's mind remained empty due to Mana Step.
BANG!
Shang immediately used an Ice Blast to jump out from under the Ice King as his skin regrew.
In comparison to the far more powerful Entropy Ability, the damage Shang received from his Domain of Entropy could be healed with Mana.
BOOOM!
A second later, an oceanic wave of icicles shot out of the Ice King's body.
Even though Shang had jumped to the side, the icicles still drowned him.
Shang activated his Domain of Entropy yet again, but blocking this attack consumed nearly all the Mana he had just regained.
This had been a fully powered explosion of the Ice King's Mana.
BANG!
Then, Shang immediately unleashed another Ice Blast to charge back at the Ice King.
At that moment, the heavy icy storm in the surroundings subsided for the first time since the beginning of the fight, signaling that the Ice King could no longer afford to waste any Mana.
The Ice King's face looked exhausted after unleashing such an insane explosion of icicles, and Shang saw his chance.
He reached the Ice King's head in an instant, which the Ice King hadn't expected.
It had just unleashed more Mana than ever before, and, in its mind, it was impossible for its opponent to immediately reach it.
Yet, Shang was here now.
The Ice King only noticed Shang when he was already in front of its left eye.
At that moment, Shang's skin turned into dust again, and the Ice Armor covering the left side of the Ice King's head turned into Ice Mana.
And then, Shang's bloodied figure stabbed Sword right into the Ice King's left eye.
Even though Sword was much thinner than before, it was still well over a meter long…
Enough to bury itself into the Ice King's brain.
SHING!
Silence.
The Ice King no longer moved, a skinless and bloody figure in front of its destroyed left eye.
An instant later, Shang put his left hand on the Ice King's head and used Darkness Absorb.
The Ice King's body fell to the ground, and Shang's ravaged body quickly regained its vitality.
Even though Shang had absorbed enough life energy to fully heal his body, the Ice King's corpse didn't look any worse than before.
It simply had that much life energy.
Shang landed beside it and took a deep breath.
And then, the cheering returned.
