Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

However, there was no sense of pain at all. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have noticed the abnormality so quickly.

The feeling in the fingers seemed to have been infected and occupied by this touch of frost, becoming dull - the frost seemed to be alive, freezing even the flesh and blood, and even the magic power.

Even Grace had never encountered such a strange thing before. She was the Witch of Ashes, her magic radiating like flames. How could her blood, the carrier of that magic, be so easily infected by a mere chill? But now… Grace immediately covered it with her other hand, her magic flowing slowly, but to no avail. The white frost seemed to be trying to invade her entire body from her fingers.

Then, she felt a pain in her chest and couldn't help coughing twice.

Grace clutched her chest, her breathing becoming labored, and she frowned—she sensed something was amiss. She remained crouched, looking up at her surroundings. The white mist obscured her vision, and only the rustling of the wind could be heard in front and behind her. Yet, she could sense the chill gradually encroaching from outside her magic shield. It wasn't an illusion; the temperature was dropping at an alarming rate. And, quite unusually, this chill seemed to be mingled with something else, filling Grace with a deep sense of dread and danger.

Just because of a small wound, these white frosts that came from nowhere were able to invade her body. So... when she breathed, did these white frosts enter her body?

I am the Ash Witch, and I can resist the fiery magic a little, but what about Aisha and Kalima?

We have to find them quickly.

Grace hurriedly tried to stand, but a sudden, sharp pain in her chest sent her limp and she collapsed. The icy ground was so close, and this time, she distinctly sensed something strange—from a distance, it looked like solid ice, but up close, it seemed to be alive, slowly wriggling, bit by bit, trying to climb upwards. The sight of those tiny shards of ice was terrifying.

"Ahem——!"

Grace coughed up blood due to a sharp pain in her chest, and the blood turned into ice crystals the moment it hit the ground.

Grace felt as if something had taken root in her chest, as if countless tiny needles were pricking her. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and she coughed uncontrollably, struggling to breathe, gasping as if filled with sand. She deftly pried open the bottle's cork with one hand, pinched her nose with the other, and then, pressing the bottle's mouth against her lips, tilted her head back, and poured the liquid down her throat.

The short-term treatment brought by the potion made Grace feel severe pain in her lungs - she could probably guess that her lungs had become riddled with holes at some point in time.

What the hell is this canyon?

She struggled to get up, and slammed the ground with her staff. The blazing flames and explosions filled the canyon, but the ice remained motionless. The flames only cleared the frost on the surface. Grace's eyes twitched, but then another mouthful of blood gushed out of her throat, staining her clothes red.

She no longer hesitated, grabbed the staff and flew in the direction she came from.

"Elsa—!"

Grace poured her voice into the magic and called out loudly.

It was the first time that she called Elsa's name so anxiously and formally. It was really embarrassing, Grace thought, but now she couldn't care about her face anymore. She had to tell Elsa that something was wrong here and let Elsa leave quickly.

His own life and that of the demihumans who had not yet been found were not even a ten-thousandth as important as Elsa's, because Elsa was the most likely hope to redeem the witch, and he absolutely could not die here.

Grace understood.

Even though that guy is really hard to like, no accidents can happen. Only in this matter can Grace put aside her personal grudges.

The sound echoed in the empty canyon - she was far away, so it might not be easy to get a response, she thought. She lowered her head and saw that her injured right hand had turned frosty white from the fingers to the palm. She pursed her lips, gripped the staff and increased her flying height. She was ready to try again, call again. She had to find Elsa immediately and get Elsa away from this dangerous place.

Just then, the thick fog broke.

It took only a moment for Elsa to appear and land. Grace could not see anything except the afterimage of her blonde hair, but she knew it was Elsa coming - boom, explosions rang out in the canyon, and spider-web-like cracks spread from the landing point of the figure, shattering all the ice and rocks within the sight in an instant. The white frost turned into dust, and was pushed away like a wave by the explosion and shock wave that followed a step later.

The scenery was quite spectacular, and Grace's eyes twitched.

"Ai——"

Grace wanted to warn anxiously, but was immediately interrupted by a light voice close to her ear.

"Hold your breath. Don't breathe in the air here."

Grace found that her eyes could not follow at all. She could not catch up with Elsa's figure. When she realized it, Elsa had already hugged her from behind - leaning against the warm and full chest from behind, Grace could feel the soft touch coming through her clothes.

What a strange feeling.

At least for Grace, she had never been hugged like this from behind. She had always been alone and strong. As a witch, there was no chance for her to be hugged by anyone.

But before Grace could feel much, she felt her waist tighten, and strong arms locked her body tightly. At the same time, pure vitality and warm holy light poured into her body, alleviating her internal injuries. The next moment, the weight of her whole body seemed to be suddenly concentrated on her heart. The feeling of overweight was so strong that Grace recalled the bad experience of being carried by Elsa to fly for the first time.

She almost fainted.

At the same time, they also saw the sinking thick fog and the long-lost warm sunshine - they left the canyon.

Her field of vision slowed down rapidly, then sank, and the feeling of being grounded returned once again. Grace clearly felt the soft squeezing sensation on her back rolling against her spine, but she couldn't think about it anymore. She only felt that all the bones in her body seemed to have softened, and her stomach was churning.

As for Kalima, who was being carried by Aisha, her eyes had already rolled back and she was unconscious.

"You're okay—"

Grace threw the staff aside, covered her mouth and turned around, then met Elsa's gaze, which didn't look like she was in trouble at all, but was instead full of worry for her. She swallowed the words "Are you okay" that were on the tip of her tongue.

"Ahem—it seems you've also noticed something's wrong down there?"

Grace coughed and looked away.

Elsa looked at the blood oozing from Grace's fingertips, then glanced at Grace's other hand which was covered with white frost, and then glanced at Kalima beside her.

"It's not really my discovery." After all, Aisha didn't feel anything at all. It was Kalima and her own panel that made her realize that something was wrong. Aisha continued, "Something is wrong down there. Something is targeting us—what happened to your hand?"

"I've been targeted, what else can I do?"

Elsa cast healing magic on Grace again, and Grace told Elsa what she had seen and experienced.

"It's very strange. I've never seen anything like it. It might be an ancient curse."

"It's not a curse."

"no?"

"If it were just a curse, it would be easier to deal with."

"??"

Grace obviously didn't understand why Elsa was so sure. She grinned and simply turned her head away.

The air became quiet, Aisha continued to treat Grace and Kalima, and both she and Grace were thinking about something.

"I'm just asking, not caring about you. Can't those things hurt you?"

"No, it can still hurt a little bit."

After all, it's already [-1].

However... this also reminded Elsa of something. After a brief hesitation, she raised her hand and bit her finger -

However, these words sounded different to Grace.

"Huh?" Grace turned her head and frowned, "You..."

Grace had just finished her words, turned her head, and was about to speak when Elsa's fingers ruthlessly stuffed into her mouth - the slender fingers easily pried open her teeth.

"suck."

Aisha said.

Grace's eyes suddenly widened.

The familiar, unpleasant memories of the time in the basement suddenly came flooding back.

“No… W-what are you doing!? In a place like this!?”

Grace's face flushed red in an instant, and her speech became unclear. She instinctively took a step back, and Elsa took a step forward. She tried to bite Elsa's finger hard, but it was useless. Elsa didn't feel any pain at all - Grace resisted hard anyway, and just refused to swallow that little bit of blood.

"That white frost doesn't seem to have any effect on me, but it's not a pure product of magic, otherwise what you have would have been gone long ago—so why not try this? Tricia said my blood should be more effective than any medicine."

As she explained, Elsa pulled Grace, who was trying to escape, back and gently bit her lip.

"If you don't believe it, try it and you'll know."

Elsa grabbed Grace's frost-covered hand and without saying anything, she gently pressed her bloody lips against it, and Grace's heart almost stopped.

“Wait, wait, wait…I just…ah!?”

Elsa's lips were soft and warm, and the skin covered with the bloody mark immediately lost its white frost. It was indeed very effective, but Grace froze there, her ears were red, and although she was still biting Elsa's fingers, she didn't move.

"You see, it works."

Aisha said, and when she looked up, she saw Grace's face that was almost smoking, and immediately pulled the corner of her mouth in annoyance.

This guy is usually as cold as the snowy mountains of Alba, but is he such an easily shy type?

……

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490. Under the White Frost (5K2)

Grace stretched out her tongue and quickly scraped it across Elsa's finger. The taste of blood spread from the root of her tongue to the depths of her throat. This was the greatest concession she could make. She was unwilling to swallow even a little more.

She was afraid of falling into the embarrassing situation of being unable to control herself again.

What's more, Elsa was standing in front of her, staring at her closely and attentively.

After waiting for a while, Elsa confirmed that there was nothing wrong with Grace's body, and both her heartbeat and breathing had returned to normal.

"not bad."

Her blood really has many uses, Elsa sighed in her heart.

Elsa withdrew her hand. The wound on her finger that she had bitten had already healed on its own, but now she had to bite it again - Elsa took out the water bag, bit her finger again, squeezed a drop of blood into the water bag and shook it evenly. She helped the unconscious Kalima up, pinched Kalima's mouth open, and used magic to draw the water in the water bag into the water bag little by little.

This guy could clearly be gentle, but he was very rude to her - Grace, who was watching Elsa's actions, secretly complained in her heart.

Although she complained in her heart, Grace had almost gotten used to Elsa's style. Moreover, as far as the current situation was concerned, she owed Elsa a life, and in Grace's mind, this life had already been accounted for by Kalima.

Grace's heart sank when she saw Kalima. She walked behind Aisha and watched as Aisha, stopping and starting, continuously put small amounts of water into Kalima's mouth.

Grace didn't care what Elsa was going to do.

But as Kalima's breathing became heavier and then he coughed, and she showed signs of waking up from her drowsiness, Grace became more depressed the more she thought about it, and she couldn't help but speak:

"You still want to save her from this kind of guy?"

Kalima's hands were stained with countless demihuman blood, and his collaboration with slave traders might have stained human blood as well. Lacey's sister and the other demihumans in her group were surely killed in this fall—even if they were lucky enough to survive, the strange white frost would surely "eat" them.

If even Grace couldn't handle it, those weak demihumans would definitely not be able to find a way out - the fact was, she and Aisha went down there and found nothing.

A guy like Kalima deserves no death.

Why save?

"Keep her, I have to go down again."

"Huh?" Grace frowned and wiped the corner of her mouth. "You still want to go down? Why?"

"At least we have to find the bodies of those demihumans," Elsa said calmly. "Besides, this place is too strange. I don't think I can just leave it alone like this. Someone will always come here in the future, and leaving it alone is not a good idea. I have to at least figure out what that white frost is, or get rid of it all - don't worry, this white frost can't hurt me."

There was no other reason - at least she had to confirm the bodies of the demihumans. Moreover, since there were dangers lurking in this canyon that even Grace, a witch, could not handle, it was impossible for Elsa to turn a blind eye to it.

Elsa needs to investigate.

Grace's expression changed.

"How can you be so sure? What if?"

Aisha glanced at her own panel and remained motionless: "I'm sure they can't pose a threat to me."

"I know you're strong, but don't be careless, Elsa. That's how the first witches died—sometimes, unrevealed dangers are easier to overlook."

Elsa turned her head and glanced at Grace in surprise. She saw a complicated light in Grace's eyes, and then Grace looked away.

"Don't worry, I know what's going on."

In that case, Grace didn't say anything more. She pursed her lips, flipped her wrist, and released a familiar to fly into the canyon, but soon, the familiar lost contact - the last thing she saw was a piece of white frost covering the familiar's vision.

Grace sighed.

"I can't help you, just be careful."

……

Kalima finally woke up and recovered a little, but before he could catch his breath, Aisha brought him down to the canyon again - this time, Aisha did not go directly to the bottom, but stayed for a while in the thick white fog.

There was no [-1], which proves that the area above the canyon should be safe. This also explains why this strange place has not been "discovered" by the city of Kroros, or in other words, the person who discovered that there was something wrong here must have died long ago.

There must be a lot of people coming and going here every year. If there was anything strange here, it would have been blocked off long ago or even destroyed and buried with forbidden spells, and would not have survived until today.

Aisha used basic wind magic to isolate Kalima from the surrounding air and continued to descend.

Until she stepped on solid ground again, she looked at her feet and saw that the ice was still cracking rapidly.

Elsa sniffed and the air was filled with that smell.

At this time, [-1] slowly floated up, followed by a series of [-1].

However, it still stays at [99999] in the end.

At the same time, Elsa clearly felt that the magic surrounding Kalima was being corroded and swallowed by something. Fortunately, Elsa's magic power was very sufficient, and she was still able to maintain the magic and it did not disintegrate.

Aisha was not panicked at all, but next to Aisha, the frightened Kalima was almost going crazy.