A searing, black-and-red bolt of lava-like energy surged from the tip of Sebastian's wand, streaking straight toward Laufey with ferocious intent.
Laufey thrust his left hand forward, and the chilling power of ice authority coalesced into a glimmering frost shield, meeting Sebastian's blazing attack head-on. Simultaneously, a swirling mass of frigid air in Laufey's right hand solidified into a menacing, spike-encrusted ice hammer with a blunt, crushing head!
Boom!
The hammer crashed down, gouging a jagged pit into the frozen ground. The shadowy wings of black smoke behind Sebastian thrummed, whisking him away from Laufey's reach, and he flicked his wand again, aiming squarely at the Frost Giant king.
Crucio!
A sinister dark-green arc of light sliced through the air, homing in on Laufey, who sensed its peril with a jolt of alarm. He could faintly perceive the malevolent danger radiating from this cursed glow.
Refusing to hold back, Laufey's eyes blazed a piercing ice-blue, and the full might of his ice authority erupted. In an instant, the surrounding space seemed to solidify, halting the dark-green arc of Crucio just before it could strike him, frozen in place and unable to advance!
Since the cataclysmic war with Odin millennia ago, Laufey had been stripped of the Casket of Ancient Winters and gravely wounded. For thousands of years, he'd struggled to regain his former strength. This was why Laufey had endured Odin's dominion for so long, never daring to rebel. It was also why he burned with desperation to reclaim the Casket. With its vast reservoir of ice authority, Laufey was certain he could restore his power, topple the aging Odin, and claim lordship over the Nine Realms!
But things had taken an unexpected turn. Laufey had marched to Midgard brimming with confidence to seize the Casket, only to clash with a vexingly formidable human wizard. If he lingered any longer, the Supreme Sorcerer of Earth might arrive, and Laufey knew escaping would become a futile dream. He resolved to go all out, determined to crush Sebastian and force him to reveal the Casket's whereabouts! Freezing space was a tactic Laufey had wielded effortlessly in his prime, using the Casket to trap countless Asgardian warriors in suspended voids. He'd even frozen a fleeting moment of time, blinding one of Odin's eyes—a feat he still boasted of with pride.
But now, without the Casket and with his strength a mere shadow of its former glory, even freezing space, once a trivial trick, was a taxing feat. He could only muster it once at a pivotal moment to shift the tide of battle!
With space locked in his icy grip, Laufey swung his arms with relentless fury. Razor-sharp ice spears sprouted swiftly from the ground and the walls of nearby buildings, thrusting toward Sebastian with lethal precision.
Seeing this, Sebastian abandoned Crucio mid-cast, flapped the black-smoke wings behind him, and shot skyward to evade Laufey's onslaught.
But before he could soar far, massive icicles, like towering pillars of frost, erupted from the ground, barring his path. At the same time, the earth quaked, and buildings crumbled. A colossal iceberg visibly surged from the ground, crushing scores of structures in its rise. Laufey stood atop its jagged peak, rapidly closing in on Sebastian.
The Frost Ring on Sebastian's left hand flared with icy brilliance. He slammed a fist toward the iceberg beneath Laufey's feet. The iceberg's relentless growth halted abruptly, and sprawling cracks fractured its surface. The towering mass teetered on the brink of collapse!
Sebastian's bold move finally drew Laufey's gaze to the Frost Ring glinting on his hand. His face darkened with a scowl. To Laufey, the Casket and its ice authority were his birthright. In his eyes, Sebastian's use of the ring was akin to a thief flaunting stolen riches to taunt him. It fueled his rage, stoking his fury to a boiling point!
"Die!" Laufey roared, his voice a glacial tempest.
Heedless of the crumbling iceberg beneath him, Laufey channeled a surging ice-blue radiance into his hands, forging two orbs of blue-white flame that pulsed with a chilling, destructive aura, freezing all in their presence.
The black-smoke wings behind Sebastian beat fiercely, but he suddenly realized the space around him had solidified once more. Escape was impossible—he had no choice but to face Laufey's imminent strike.
His eyes narrowed with focus, Sebastian traced his wand in a precise arc before him, aiming directly at Laufey's advancing form.
At the same moment, Laufey thrust his hands forward, and the two orbs of blue-white flame fused into a searing beam of frigid light, hurtling toward Sebastian with a breath of icy devastation.
As the blue-white beam tore through the air, a massive, amber-hued energy shield materialized with Sebastian's sharp command. Etched with intricate magical runes, it shimmered between illusion and substance, intercepting the frigid beam head-on. The colossal shield rotated slowly, defying the beam's relentless force!
Seraphim Shield Armor!
Boom!
The ice-blue aurora slammed into the shield, erupting in a dazzling burst of blue ice-flames and crystalline snowflakes, yet the shield held firm, unyielding to the assault.
Bang!
The frigid beam dissipated, and the energy shield vanished without a trace.
Laufey panted heavily, frosty white mist billowing from his mouth. That attack had clearly drained him, but what stunned him was that his onslaught hadn't fazed Sebastian in the slightest!
For the first time, the notion of abandoning the Casket flickered in Laufey's mind, but Sebastian wasn't about to give him a moment to deliberate!
At that instant, Sebastian flicked his right hand, and his wand vanished from his grip. He wove rapid seals with both hands, and the black smoke cloaking his body rippled backward with a surge of magical energy, unfurling like an inky cloak behind him.
Sparks of fire and electricity crackled between Sebastian's hands. As he swept his arms forward, two blazing streams of deep-red and golden energy—one from each hand—arced unpredictably, zigzagging toward Laufey with explosive force!
Kamar-Taj's Thunder of Bossat!
Boom! Boom!
The twin golden-red lightning bolts detonated. Though Laufey managed to dodge, he stumbled to the ground in a disheveled heap under the blasts' shockwaves.
Just as Laufey scrambled to rise and retaliate, a ferocious hurricane roared to life beneath his feet, ensnaring him and hurling him skyward!
Kamar-Taj's Wind of Watum!
Struggling to stabilize himself in the raging vortex, Laufey was forced to invoke his space-freezing ability once more to break free from the tempest. He crashed back to the ground and swiftly retreated, widening the gap between himself and Sebastian.
At that moment, Sebastian touched down atop a shattered mound of collapsed ice, standing level with Laufey's towering height.
The wand reappeared in his right hand. Sebastian was poised to strike again when a deafening roar split the air. Glancing up, he saw a gleaming silver war hammer tracing a shimmering arc through the sky, plummeting toward the heart of Puente Antiguo!