Ice-Fire Lake!

At that moment, Carl could be said to have hit the jackpot.

As the saying went, if you wanted to win someone's heart, you first had to conquer their stomach.

Among the people present, aside from those whose hearts had been won over, the rest were practically "soft-handed after taking gifts, soft-mouthed after eating food," so none of them could speak very forcefully. And Charmy, that glutton, was the standout among them.

Asta merely roared at Carl, declaring his ambition.

The Sheep Head Chef behind Charmy immediately stood behind Asta. From the look of it, if Asta dared say another word, the Sheep Head Chef would smash him straight into the ground with one blow.

Seeing everyone getting along so happily, Yami immediately burst into loud laughter.

"All right, hurry up and drink. Leave it any longer and the beer foam will be gone. What, are you all raising fish in your cups?"

After saying that, Yami turned to Carl, who had already lifted an enormous beer mug beside him, and said:

"Of course, that doesn't include you. You're not human, so don't compete with us in drinking. I don't want to be stuck sitting on the toilet all day."

Hearing that, the members laughed even louder. Their captain, Yami, who was skilled at drinking, smoking, and gambling—everything except getting a perm—had actually chickened out so openly.

But after being "intimidated" one by one by Yami's huge beer mug, no one dared say anything else. After all, Carl was a god of alcohol. They were not.

The villages near the Clover Kingdom Capital had already become completely desolate.

In many places, even the rooftops were covered in icy crystals.

But that was not the most terrifying part.

Flames even rose from the ground and from the wells. Yet after a while, those flames seemed to freeze, while flames began to emerge once more from the icy crystals.

Vanessa sat elegantly atop a magic broom.

She wore a wine-red long dress, with a pointed wine-red witch's hat that made her look refined and graceful, her long hair draped over her shoulders.

It had to be said, Vanessa was well-endowed.

If Finral had been here, he probably would have wanted to become that magic broom himself, because the broom was simply too fortunate.

Beside her, Noelle held a magic wand she had somehow picked up from somewhere.

A fairly large gemstone was set into the wand, but no one knew how much help it would provide in controlling her magic power.

Carl walked at the rear, covering their backs.

But when the three of them saw the scene before them, they could not help being somewhat startled.

This place was far more terrifying than the intelligence had indicated, and the magical aura radiating from it was extremely frightening.

It was clear that this absolutely was not the aura of ice and fire that could arise under normal circumstances.

It continuously spilled out from the central area, interweaving as it spread.

Even with their strength, the three of them found it somewhat difficult to withstand these magical fluctuations.

Vanessa was naturally experienced and immediately saw through the situation:

"This village has almost turned into a half-domain.

"In other words, something with extremely powerful magic has turned this region into its territory. The corrosion from these dual ice-and-fire attributes seems difficult for both of us to resist."

Noelle, standing beside her, nodded in strong agreement.

The dual attributes of ice and fire magic continuously eroded their bodies. Without using magic power to resist it, there was no way to stop it.

It just so happened that both of them had developed their own problems because of losing control of their magic power.

Carl smiled and said:

"Then this is the trial for you two.

"Try to adapt, adjust, and refine the magic power within your bodies. Then you'll be able to solve your problems."

There was indeed nothing wrong with Carl's words.

Vanessa and Noelle began walking forward step by step, feeling the pressure around them.

However, as they advanced, they could initially pretend that nothing was wrong. But after taking only a few dozen steps, they began panting, and sweat even started to form on their foreheads.

Seeing their condition, Carl waited nearby as well.

Honestly, this kind of magical corrosion was completely useless against him.

Other people improved their abilities and skills by constantly accumulating magic power within their bodies and awakening their spiritual awareness.

But him? Sorry!

He had cheats.

Besides, once the Eight Gates were opened, they became like instinct. There was no such thing as poorly coordinated magic power.

Especially after opening the third gate, the Gate of Life, his recovery, balance, and endurance would all increase.

So Carl was completely at ease with the situation before him.

Just as Carl was thinking, Vanessa and Noelle suddenly called out "Carl" at the same time.

Carl immediately looked over nervously and saw that—

Though it seemed as though they were only one step apart, the instant they stepped forward, both of them had already suffered injuries to varying degrees.

Fine ice-blue crystals began breaking away from Vanessa's body;

while tiny flames began to ignite across Noelle's body.

The two of them were instantly struck as though by lightning.

Carl was somewhat stunned.

Hadn't they only been struggling a little before? How had things changed so drastically in just a moment?

The next moment, he rushed in front of them.

And the instant he arrived, he sensed the difference.

If the previous range of the dual ice-and-fire radiation had only been the outer area, then entering this place meant they had completely stepped into the domain.

The pressure had increased by more than tenfold almost instantly.

No wonder the two of them wore such expressions.

Frost continued to form.

Carl immediately waved his hand, intending to extinguish the ice-and-fire magic on their bodies.

But Vanessa, beside him, directly reached out and stopped Carl.

Though her expression was somewhat pained, Vanessa still said word by word:

"I can feel my Thread Magic resisting, as though it is under pressure.

"Though it isn't very obvious, it really has improved our current condition."

"Don't help me yet. I'll call for you when I truly can't hold on any longer."

Carl immediately withdrew his hand and turned to look at Noelle beside him.

Noelle's face was flushed dark red.

Though she also wanted Carl to help her, after hearing Vanessa's words, Noelle suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed.

That was right.

The feeling of being dead last was simply too painful.

Especially as the eldest daughter of the Silva family, being unable to control magic had always been her greatest weakness.

Because of that, she had suffered countless looks of contempt and ridicule from others.

If she could use this place to train herself and solve the problem of being unable to control her magic, what a wonderful thing that would be.

Even enduring some pain would be acceptable.

Seeing the two of them like this, Carl's sharp gaze swept across the surroundings.

After all, if there really was something like a "remnant soul of an elf" here, then he absolutely had to obtain the Imperial Arms Armor this time.

He wanted it too badly.

But seeing the two of them crawling forward as slowly as turtles, their faces flushed red, Carl could not bear to leave them behind.

If he left them here and something happened, he really would have a hard time explaining himself.

Still, staying here was not particularly boring.

Although the two of them advanced extremely slowly, whenever Carl encouraged them after a short while, they would give him quite a bit of favorability.

So Carl had not come here for nothing.

Crack—

When the two of them took another step forward, the ice-and-fire attributes on Noelle and Vanessa's bodies suddenly switched!

Noelle was almost instantly frozen solid, a thick layer of ice rapidly forming over her body and sealing her entirely within it;

while fine magical flames ignited all around Vanessa.

With a whoosh.

Her wine-red long dress was instantly burned away by half.

Her long, slender, delicate, excessively fair legs, paired with her high heels, left Carl beside her a little dazed.

As for Noelle, Carl did not dare hesitate. He immediately stretched out his palm.

The earth-attribute Dragon Claw instantly burst forth.

It immediately shattered the ice trapping Noelle.

However, Noelle's clothes had also suffered severe damage in the process.

Seeing the two of them in tattered clothes, Carl nearly burst out laughing.

But he forcibly held it in.

Because he knew that if he laughed, the two of them would truly break down.

The two looked at each other.

Carl then asked:

"Are you two sure you still want to keep moving forward?"