Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Hunting the Ice Armor Bear Horde
Louis stood atop the mountain, gazing down at the group of Ice Armor Bears.
Sunlight shone on their gray-white armor, the hexagonal ice crystal scales reflecting blinding light.
The claws on their front paws were as sharp as cold iron, and blue flames occasionally flickered as the armor on their backs moved.
These Ice Armor Bears were massive, each growl like a thunderous quake shaking the earth.
No matter how you looked at them, these giants were anything but cute; rather, they were extremely fierce beings.
They roamed the snowy ground, searching for prey to fill their bellies.
Beside Louis stood two children—Lilia and Weir.
They were the only two out of the eight candidate knights who had activated their bloodlines and become Apprentice Knights.
Today, Louis decided to bring them to witness this hunt firsthand.
To liberate them from the dullness of daily training, as a reward for their efforts.
Lilia’s eyes sparkled with excitement, gripping a longsword almost as tall as herself, mimicking the stance of an adult knight.
Not to be outdone, Weir adjusted his gear and straightened his back to make himself look like a real knight.
"You’ll stay by my side and protect me," Louis whispered.
He was actually worried that the two excited little ones might rush down to challenge the Ice Armor Bears in a life-or-death battle.
Protecting the Lord! Such an important task!
Lilia and Weir straightened their backs a little more, nodding nervously with excitement.
When all was ready, Louis waved his hand: "Prepare, the bear-hunting plan starts."
At his command, a distant commander waved a large flag, signaling the knights and hunters to stealthily move from their ambush spots.
Hunters quietly approached the activity zones of the Ice Armor Bears and discreetly sprinkled the urine of a bear in heat.
This peculiar odor could quickly attract Ice Armor Bears, especially as the male bears were extremely sensitive to it.
As the urine was spread, the bear group started slowly gathering, and nine Ice Armor Bears gradually assembled and headed towards the gorge.
Meanwhile, another group of hunters hid on distant ridges, creating sounds of falling stones to guide the bears into the pre-designated gorge.
"They’re entering the gorge, everyone act as planned," signaled the commander with a flag wave.
At the low-lying areas of the gorge, a row of sharp stakes were meticulously arranged in the ground.
Under the guidance of the hunters, when the Ice Armor Bears entered the gorge,
the stakes quickly pierced the paws of a few leading bears since their paws lacked thick armor.
Sharp pain spread rapidly, and the Ice Armor Bears growled deeply, trying to pull out the stakes embedded deep within.
However, their massive size and unwieldy strength kept them from breaking free immediately.
The other Ice Armor Bears faced similar dilemmas, leading to chaos within the group.
Soon, the hunters set alight the resin and petroleum accumulated on the cliff walls, and flames devoured the mountainside almost instantly.
With a roar, fireballs fell from the cliff, accurately landing in the center of the bear group.
The sound of explosions and spreading flames engulfed those Ice Armor Bears trapped by the stakes in an instant.
Though the high temperatures of the flames ignited the Ice Armor Bears’ fur, their thick ice armor didn’t collapse immediately under the heat.
The flames only left burn marks on their hard scales, without delivering a fatal blow.
The bear group grew more chaotic and furious from the searing flames, pressing and clashing against each other.
At this moment, the eyes, necks, and other weak spots of the Ice Armor Bears were exposed, but it was difficult for ordinary arrows to pierce through their thick armor.
The archers hidden above the gorge began using fire arrows, shooting at the Ice Armor Bears.
The arrows barely had any penetrating power, aimed instead to drain the bears of strength and endurance.
Fire arrows struck the bodies of the Ice Armor Bears, flames spreading along the heavy armor.
While unable to tear through the armor, the sustained burning gradually wore down the bears’ physical strength, slowing their movements significantly.
Despite their remaining strength, their thick armor was now riddled with cracks, some spots even melted by high temperatures, revealing the tough yet no longer impenetrable skin beneath.
At this instant, the knights ambushed all around made their move.
"Now!" the commander’s command flag sharply dropped.
The knights raised longswords and spears, channeling fighting energy as blazing red light ignited on their blades.
Crimson fighting energy flowed along the weapons, the slight tremor even distorting the air.
"Charge!"
The knights’ warhorses leaped forward sharply, their targets clear: the joints, jaw, throat, and eyes of the Ice Armor Bears—weak points.
The archers had greatly reduced the defenses in these areas, and the knights’ task was to end the bears’ lives.
An Elite Knight brandished a spear, fighting energy condensing into radiant glory at the spear tip.
He targeted a slightly smaller Ice Armor Bear, which had a fine crack in its throat from the arrows.
The knight’s gaze was like an eagle, battle horse galloping in the fierce wind.
Fighting energy burned on the spear’s tip, and he plunged it into that crack fiercely!
"Squelch——"
The spear thrust directly into the Ice Armor Bear’s crack, blood and crimson fighting energy intertwined, like fiery lava searing through the bear’s flesh.
The Ice Armor Bear unleashed a sky-shaking roar, its massive body quivering in agony, nearly collapsing.
Weir, watching, had a gleam of excitement in his eyes, jumping up: "We defeated one! The knights are so strong!"
"Don’t get too excited, Weir," Louis said calmly, "This is just the first stage."
Weir was briefly stunned, confused, as the Ice Armor Bear seemed about to fall.
Just then, the tottering Ice Armor Bear raised its head, roaring in anger.
Its hard shell began to crack intensely, ice flames spreading out like demon wings, chilling mists swiftly spreading in the air!
As the ice flames met the air, they erupted in a fierce frosty explosion.
"Retreat quickly!" the commander hastily waved the flag.
The cold force swept across, covering a few knights with ice flames before they could react.
Fortunately, the fighting energy shielding prevented total incapacitation, allowing them to retreat swiftly.
However, the Ice Armor Bear’s assault didn’t end there.
As the Ice Armor Bear entered full berserk mode, three giant crystal spikes rose from its back.
The crystal spikes continuously released high-energy shock waves, intertwining heatwaves and explosive sounds, shaking the surrounding knights nearly to impotence.
The air around seemed to grow heavy, each intense vibration making it hard to breathe.