Kayla was the first to step forward, shaking her thunder claws, with blue-white arcs crackling across her bronze skin. She grinned, revealing her stark white fangs, her eyes burning with the fury of being underestimated and a soaring battle spirit. "Stinking bat-bird people, you're looking down on us too much! Partners, tear these five bastard monsters apart!"
"Target locked: Five mutated biological units. Threat assessment: High. Tactical analysis initiated." Rex's armor emitted a steady hum, the ion cannon on his back glowing with a deep blue charging light. Hundreds of nano-drones covered in thin frost swarmed out from the seams of his armor like a beehive.
"Undead of the Eternal Frost, awaken and fight for me!" Salsa's mechanical cat shell's eyes shone brightly with ethereal light, her soul form emitting cold mental waves. She didn't leave her safe shell but instead infused her soul power into the ice layer beneath her feet! The snow and ice shards at the edge of the ice platform churned violently, accompanied by tooth-grinding bone friction and ice crystal condensation sounds. Several ice skeleton warriors, flickering with pale soul fire and clad in rudimentary ice armor, struggled to climb out! They wielded broken swords and shields condensed from ice crystals, their hollow eye sockets locking onto the enemies. At the same time, several shadow falcons composed of shadows and cold air screeched as they flew out from behind the mechanical cat shell, circling above the battlefield.
"Lin Ya, disrupt them!" Fa commanded in a low voice, her right eye's star pupil locking onto the leading "Shattered Bone" and "Heavy Hammer." The cold solitude essence and stellar power within her body circulated simultaneously, her short blade intertwined with earthy yellow heavy magic and pale white icy aura.
"Understood!" Lin Ya's deep voice carried the echo of the forest. His emerald body glowed brightly, and he thrust his arms fiercely into the ice layer below! Countless shimmering emerald mycelia spread underground like living creatures at astonishing speed, piercing through! These mycelia not only carried strong life-eroding power but also contained the extreme cold toxin that Lin Ya had absorbed and transformed in the Cold Solitude Ice Palace, capable of paralyzing nerves!
"Mycelium Bloom · Neural Freeze!"
Puff puff puff puff!
The ice surface under the charging five variant winged beings suddenly burst! Countless emerald mycelia tipped with ice crystal spikes erupted like venomous snakes, instantly wrapping around their ankles, legs, and bodies! The tips of the mycelia viciously pierced into the gaps in their shells or relatively soft skin!
"Hiss-gah—!" The five monsters let out pained and furious roars simultaneously. The mycelia's entanglement brought a strong sense of restraint and neural stinging, especially for relatively agile units like "Digger" and "Poison Gland," whose movements became instantly sluggish. More fatally, Lin Ya's mycelium toxin mixed with the cold of solitude crazily eroded their nervous systems, drastically reducing their muscle control, making their attack movements obviously deformed! "Shattered Bone's" charging momentum stalled, and "Sharp Claw's" high-frequency vibrating blade arms showed unstable tremors.
"Hawks, disrupt their senses! Ice skeleton warriors, charge forward!" Salsa's thoughts precisely controlled them. The circling shadow falcons immediately screeched and dove down, their sharp shadow claws not aimed at causing substantial damage but specifically attacking the variant winged beings' eyes, ear holes, and sensors! At the same time, several ice skeleton warriors fearlessly charged toward "Heavy Hammer" and "Shattered Bone," using ice crystal shields and broken swords for suicidal blocks. Though shattered in an instant, they successfully bought precious fractions of a second for Kayla and Tisk's attacks!
"Now's the time!" Yuyuer raised his dragon bone staff high, the crystal orb swirling with an ice crystal storm. "Illusory Tide · Thousand Mirrors Labyrinth!" He didn't create a large-scale illusion but highly compressed and precisely projected the powerful illusory power!
Buzz!
Centered on the five variant winged beings, the space within a dozen meters distorted violently! Countless mirrors condensed from cold ice and illusory light appeared out of thin air, spinning wildly around them, refracting! These mirrors not only twisted light but also interfered with spatial perception and energy fluctuations! The five monsters instantly lost their lock on real targets; their eyes filled with countless swaying afterimages of Fa, Kayla, and Rex, making their attacks chaotic and blind. "Sharp Claw's" blade arms slashed through a patch of illusory ice mirrors, "Heavy Hammer's" giant hammer smashed into empty space, ice shards flying.
"Zhamisi, Poison Gland is yours! Tisk, Heavy Hammer is yours! Kayla, Shattered Bone! Rex, drones to pin down Sharp Claw and Digger! Fa, Arya, support me in focusing fire on Poison Gland! Salsa, field control support!" Yuyuer's thoughts rapidly transmitted tactics through the team channel, while his staff pointed at that deadly scorpion tail—"Poison Gland"!
"Received! Little Yuyuer!" Zhamisi's snake pupils narrowed, flickering with excited and dangerous light. Her snake tail flicked fiercely on the ice, her whole body sliding at high speed like a venomous arrow released from a bow, aiming straight for the mycelium-entangled and mirror-confused "Poison Gland"! On her dual blades "Abyss Kiss" and "Annihilation Fang," the ink-green poison glow was as substantial as reality, with a layer of deep blue water light flowing on the poison surface—"Deep Flow Poison Bite · Dual Snake Strangle!"
Salsa immediately responded: "Frost Imprisonment!" She controlled the newly summoned ice skeleton warriors, no longer charging, but infusing soul power into their ice crystal weapons. Several pale white cold rays shot from the warriors' blade tips, precisely hitting "Poison Gland's" scorpion tail joints and lower limbs! Though unable to fully freeze, the intense cold made its movements even stiffer and slower, creating the perfect entry opportunity for Zhamisi!
Sss! Sss!
"Deep Flow Poison Bite" precisely cut open the relatively weak shell connections at the base of "Poison Gland's" scorpion tail! The fused water-powered deadly poison surged in madly! "Annihilation Fang" slashed across its right wrist that ejected poison needles, severing key tendons! "Poison Gland" let out an extremely shrill screech, its scorpion tail twitching violently, ink-green poison uncontrollably spurting from the wound, but no longer able to shoot precisely. Its right hand also hung limply.
"Arya!" Fa called lowly, her figure like lightning, short blade flowing with earthy yellow and pale white lights, stabbing straight at "Poison Gland's" neck side exposed due to agony! "Rock Flow Thrust · Frozen Path!" On the blade's thrusting trajectory, the ice layer instantly condensed a sturdy ice bridge, not only accelerating her charge but also restricting "Poison Gland's" evasion space!
Arya understood implicitly, instantly drawing her Storm Bow to full moon! Light and dark elements circulated at her fingertips, forcibly fusing! An arrow condensed into form, the shaft wrapped in spiraling airflow, the head flickering with a compressed-to-extreme light-dark energy orb! "Light-Dark Spiral · Heart-Piercing Arrow!"
Whoosh—!
The arrow left the string, emitting a piercing screech, arriving first despite being shot later! The spiraling airflow tore through the air, precisely passing through the attack path Fa created for her, viciously piercing "Poison Gland's" oral cavity opened wide in pain ahead of Fa's short blade!
Puff!
The light-dark energy orb exploded violently inside "Poison Gland's" cranial cavity! The destructive energy instantly annihilated its brain! "Poison Gland's" screech stopped abruptly, its massive body convulsing violently before crashing down, ink-green poison gurgling from its orifices.
"First one!" Zhamisi flicked her snake tail, splattering poisonous blood, announcing coldly.
The death of their companion didn't frighten the other variant winged beings; instead, it fully ignited the ferocity in their bones!
"Ao—!" "Shattered Bone" endured Kayla's thunder claw shocks, its massive body suddenly exerting force, temporarily knocking Kayla back half a step. The rhino horn on its head suddenly lit up with blinding red light, a violent energy fluctuation gathering! "Heavy Hammer" also swung its enormous metal heavy hammer, ignoring the injury to its left leg, smashing toward Tisk with a momentum to crush everything! "Sharp Claw's" blade arms' oscillation frequency suddenly rose to the limit, deep blue light shining brightly, instantly slashing through a dozen nearby drones, breaking through interference, turning into a death blade light straight for Yuyuer who was maintaining the illusion! "Digger" fiercely thrust its dual claws into the ice surface, its massive body sinking downward instantly, intending to burrow underground for a sneak attack!
The crisis escalated in an instant!
"Yuyuer, careful!" Arya exclaimed in alarm, her Storm Bow lighting up again, but it was already too late to intercept that extremely fast blade light!
"Hmph! Don't even think about it!" Fa's right eye star pupil burst with ethereal light! "Time Stasis!" This time, she compressed the ability to the limit, only affecting "Sharp Claw's" arm slashing toward Yuyuer and a small space in front!
Buzz!
"Sharp Claw's" blade arm, fast enough to tear air, its trajectory instantly became incredibly clear and slow, as if trapped in viscous amber! Though only for less than half a second, it was enough!
"Ice Abyss Seal!" Yuyuer reacted extremely quickly, abandoning the illusion maintenance the instant Time Stasis took effect, pointing his dragon bone staff fully at "Sharp Claw's" feet right in front! Pale white cold air surged out, instantly freezing "Sharp Claw's" lower body along with several meters of surrounding ice into solid profound ice! "Sharp Claw's" charge halted abruptly, frozen solidly in place, only its upper body and wildly vibrating blade arms struggling futilely.
"Take it down!" Fa shouted sharply, her short blade defending back, vigilant against "Shattered Bone's" rhino horn impact and "Digger's" possible ambush.
"Leave it to me!" Tisk, facing "Heavy Hammer's" falling giant hammer, didn't retreat but advanced! His stout body erupted with astonishing strength, the Lava Hammer swinging from below to above, carrying his full rotational force, viciously striking the side of the giant hammer! "Furnace Collapse Mountain · Spiral Fire Break!"
Clang—!
A deafening metal collision rang out! Dark red lava power clashed and exploded with deep blue cold air at the impact point! "Heavy Hammer's" momentum-heavy strike was actually deflected by Tisk's clever upward swing, the enormous metal heavy hammer grazing Tisk's shoulder, smashing heavily into the nearby ice, blasting a deep pit! Tisk was also numbed in his arms by the recoil, his palms cracking, but he successfully neutralized this fatal blow!
"Kayla!" Fa reminded again.
"Shattered Bone's" rhino horn, gathering red light on its head like a fired cannonball, charged fiercely at Kayla who had just been knocked back and hadn't steadied her footing! This strike contained power enough to pierce mountains!
"Come on!" Kayla's eyes flashed with mad battle intent, not dodging but instead taking a deep breath! Her left arm's thunder storm giant claw's light instantly converged, condensing to the extreme; her right arm's ice crystal arm armor reversely disintegrated, turning into countless floating sharp ice crystals, rotating at high speed around her body! A more primal, violent aura awakened from within her! "Annihilation Form · Initial Release—Thunder Fang Ice Prison!"
Roar!
As if an ancient ferocious beast's bellow! Kayla's figure instantly grew slightly taller, muscles bulging, veins under her bronze skin protruding like thunder patterns, flickering! Her dual claws fully mutated—left hand becoming a massive beast claw composed of pure violent thunder, flashing blinding blue-white electric light; right hand composed of countless high-speed rotating, razor-sharp diamond ice crystals, constantly emitting cutting screeches as an ice crystal giant claw! She crossed her claws, fearlessly meeting "Shattered Bone's" rhino horn charge!
Boom-crack—!!!
The destructive storm of thunder and ice crystals fiercely clashed with "Shattered Bone's" savage charge gathering all its power! Blinding energy flashes instantly engulfed their figures! Terrifying shockwaves exploded in a ring, upheaving and shattering the ice layer within dozens of meters! Several nearby ice pillars collapsed with a boom!
As the light dissipated, Kayla maintained her dual claws forward push posture, plowing two deep furrows under her feet, a trace of blood spilling from her mouth corners, the light on her thunder fang and ice claw dimmed, obviously heavily consumed. And "Shattered Bone"... its proud, metal-glinting ram horn, along with half its head, had vanished! Only a mangled, charred and frozen massive wound remained! Its massive body swayed, then crashed down.
"Second one!" Kayla wiped the blood from her mouth, roaring while panting, her fierce light undiminished.
Just as everyone was drawn to Kayla and "Shattered Bone's" clash, another change occurred!
"Watch out underground!" Lin Ya's roots transmitted violent vibrations!
The ice surface under Fa's feet suddenly arched up and shattered without warning! A pair of enormous, chitin-shell-covered digging claws burst through the ice, clamping viciously at Fa's waist like a beast trap! It was "Digger"! It had been lurking under the ice, waiting for this fatal strike!
"Fa!" Arya's scream carried despair.
At the critical moment!
An ink-green figure crashed in like lightning from the side! It was Zhamisi! She unhesitatingly used her body to knock Fa away, but exposed herself fully under "Digger's" giant claws!
Crunch!
A tooth-grinding bone-cracking sound rang out! "Digger's" sharp digging claws viciously clamped Zhamisi's snake tail mid-section! Fresh blood instantly stained the ice red!
"Zhamisi!" Yuyuer's eyes split with rage, his crystal orb flashing madly!
"Courting death!" Rex's ion cannon finally finished charging, his cold electronic eyes locking onto "Digger's" upper body bursting through the ice! "Superconducting Freeze Bomb · Maximum Power!" He pulled the trigger without hesitation! A thick deep blue beam instantly hit the target!
Crack crack!
Terrifying absolute low temperature erupted instantly! "Digger" from chest to head, including that pair of fatal digging claws, was frozen into a deep blue ice sculpture in a flash! Even Zhamisi's clamped snake tail segment was affected, covered in thick ice, temporarily stopping the bleeding but also losing sensation.
"Uh..." Zhamisi groaned, her face deathly pale, the agony nearly making her faint.
"Finish it!" Fa steadied herself, eyes boiling with killing intent, her short blade carrying pale white cold air, viciously stabbing into the frozen "Digger's" head! The power of cold solitude erupted, thoroughly shattering its internals!
"Third one!" Rex's cold mechanical voice announced.
Only the lower-body-frozen "Sharp Claw" and the left-leg-heavily-injured, rage-ensnared "Heavy Hammer" remained on the battlefield.
"Heavy Hammer," seeing companions die one after another, let out a heaven-shaking roar, fully descending into madness. It swung its enormous metal heavy hammer, disregarding everything, smashing wildly at the nearest Tisk and injured Zhamisi! The assault like a storm.
"Your opponent is me!" Kayla mustered her energy, thunder fang ice prison shining again, meeting "Heavy Hammer's" mad attack, buying time for Tisk to help Zhamisi.
"Arya, Yuyuer, control Sharp Claw! Salsa, restrict Heavy Hammer!" Fa ordered again, herself pouncing at "Heavy Hammer," trying to share Kayla's pressure.
Arya's wind binding arrows precisely wrapped around "Sharp Claw's" remaining upper body, further restricting its struggles. Yuyuer fully maintained the lower body ice seal. "Sharp Claw" madly swung its blade arms, slashing through wind bindings and approaching ice crystals, but always unable to escape.
Salsa immediately shifted target to the berserk "Heavy Hammer": "Wailing Souls · Mental Impact!" The mechanical cat shell's amber electronic eyes locked onto "Heavy Hammer's" single eye filled with anger, an invisible sharp soul wail containing countless resentments from the Cold Solitude Ice Palace, piercing "Heavy Hammer's" consciousness like an ice pick! Though unable to heavily damage this physically robust monster, this sudden, soul-striking cold sting and chaotic whispers caused its berserk assault to stiffen and confuse for an instant! Kayla and Fa immediately seized this fleeting opportunity, a heavy strike blasting "Heavy Hammer's" bone shield, making it stagger unstably!
"Tisk! Chainsaw!" Fa roared amid the entanglement.
Tisk had just used ointment to simply treat Zhamisi's tail freeze and tear wound (Lin Ya's life glow also enveloped it), understanding immediately upon hearing. He drew a short-handled but high-speed rotating chainsaw blade from his waist tool belt, charging at the bound "Sharp Claw"!
"Sharp Claw" sensed danger, blade arms wildly slashing back! Tisk agilely ducked low, his high-speed spinning chainsaw emitting a piercing screech, viciously and precisely cutting into the mechanical joint gap connecting "Sharp Claw's" mutated blade arm to its shoulder!
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!
Sparks from metal friction cutting burst wildly! The ear-piercing sound made scalps tingle! The sturdy alloy joint rapidly deformed and fractured under the high-strength chainsaw!
"Roar—!" "Sharp Claw" let out an extremely miserable howl, its entire ferocious mantis blade arm severed raw, flying out along with part of the shoulder blade! The stump sparked with electric flowers, machine oil and blue blood spurting. Its combat power instantly lost most.
"Fourth one!" Tisk tossed the scrapped chainsaw, spitting.
The last "Heavy Hammer," under Fa, Kayla, Arya's ranged harassment, Rex's drones' constant freezing disruptions, and Salsa's occasional mental impact interferences, was finally exploited by Kayla. She endured a heavy hammer smash on her ice crystal giant claw (most ice crystals shattering), her thunder fang giant claw carrying the last violent thunder, viciously piercing through "Heavy Hammer's" bone shield, directly gouging into its chest!
Violent thunder exploded inside "Heavy Hammer"! The colossal creature's movements instantly stiffened, the berserk light in its single eye extinguishing, its massive body collapsing like a toppled mountain, shaking the ice surface.
"Fifth one... done!" Kayla panted heavily, thunder fang ice prison form releasing, reverting to human shape, her body swaying slightly, obviously at her limit.
The mountaintop returned to dead silence, only the howling wind and snow and the stench from the five variant winged beings' broken corpses. The battle ended, Fa's group all injured, breaths weak, especially Zhamisi who took a direct hit, her snake tail mid-section clamp wound shocking, though frozen to stop bleeding, the agony and blood loss making her extremely weak. Salsa's mechanical cat shell's eyes' ethereal light also dimmed somewhat, continuous summoning of ice skeleton warriors, controlling shadow falcons, and mental impacts a not-small burden on her not-fully-recovered soul form. Lin Ya, Yuyuer, Arya all had massive magic consumption, faces pale. Tisk supported the injured Zhamisi, Kayla braced her knees panting, Fa pressed her faintly aching right eye.
"Salsa, scout the entrance!" Fa endured the sharp pain and dizziness in her right eye from overusing Time Stasis, commanding in a low voice.
Salsa's mechanical cat shell's eyes' ethereal light stabilized and flickered again, a more condensed soul fluctuation sweeping toward that massive ice rock. "Entrance stable... but internal energy fluctuations intense... there's combat... and... very powerful stellar power reaction! Doomsday Rebirth and the others are inside! We must hurry!"
Time waits for no one! But the team's condition was too poor, especially Zhamisi's injury needing urgent treatment.
"Lin Ya, prioritize treating Zhamisi! Others, simply treat wounds, on-site alert rest for five minutes!" Fa decided decisively. Lin Ya immediately focused all energy on Zhamisi, emerald life glow wrapping her injured snake tail like warm spring water, carefully melting the frozen ice layer, while strong life energy surged into the wound, stimulating tissue regeneration, alleviating sharp pain. Arya assisted nearby, using gentle life magic to soothe Zhamisi's pain. Tisk took out spare healing ointment and bandages, cooperating with Lin Ya for bandaging and fixation. Others seized time to treat their own injuries, downing stamina potions and magic recovery potions, vigilantly watching surroundings, especially that entrance ice rock and the scattered winged being corpses on the battlefield.
As Lin Ya focused on treating Zhamisi, his emerald brows suddenly furrowed slightly. His roots deeply underground, spreading like a neural network, at the battlefield edge near that sharp ice rock, captured an extremely faint, almost fused with frozen soil... life pulse! This pulse was so weak, like a candle in the wind, if not for Lin Ya being the forest child, extremely sensitive to life auras, plus the current battlefield dead silence, it would be nearly undetectable.
"Fa..." Lin Ya's voice carried a trace of surprise and doubt, "Over there... near under that sharp ice rock... seems... there's still something alive! Very faint!"
Fa's heart jolted, immediately looking in the direction Lin Ya pointed—exactly where that angelic wing elder was swatted flying and fell! "Go check!"
Kayla and Rex immediately guarded alertly on both sides, Fa, Lin Ya, and Arya quickly walked over. They saw that angelic wing elder covered in a thin ice layer, chest barely rising, back wings lusterless, stained with blood and ice shards, lying under the ice rock, breath weak as if dead. His staff broken in two, scattered not far.
Lin Ya squatted, his emerald fingers gently pressing the elder's cold forehead, closing eyes to sense carefully. Moments later, he opened his eyes, tone with a trace of incredulity: "He's still alive! But... life fire extremely weak, soul seems eroded and imprisoned by a powerful dark force, in a... suspended animation state! If not for his life essence extremely strong, plus this extreme cold environment slowing life drain, he probably already..."
"Can he be saved?" Fa asked immediately.
Lin Ya's expression grave: "I can try. But that dark force is very eerie, entrenched in his mental core, like deliberately making him comatose. My life energy can temporarily nourish his body and consciousness, but to awaken him, must first dispel that dark force, or forcing stimulation might make him permanently comatose."
"It's that double-winged woman's method." Yuyuer walked over, looking at the almost invisible purple-black trace at the elder's brow, saying gravely, "Such insidious mental imprisonment, making people think he's dead."
"Take him!" Fa decided decisively, "The entrance to the Light Feather Dome is right ahead, he's key! Lin Ya, do your best to maintain his vitality! Salsa, any way to temporarily suppress that dark force?"
Salsa's mechanical cat approached, amber electronic eyes scanning the elder. "Can try... use cold solitude soul power to temporarily ice seal the core weaknesses of that dark force, slow consciousness erosion, buy time for Lin Ya. But this needs very precise operation, and can't last long."
"Do it now! Others, prepare to enter the entrance!" Fa ordered.
Salsa nodded, the mechanical cat shell's eyes' ethereal light condensing into an extremely thin thread, slowly probing into the purple-black trace at the elder's brow. A cold but pure soul power carefully infiltrated, contacting that entrenched dark force. The air seemed to ring with silent sharp friction. Seconds later, Salsa's eyes' ethereal light retracted: "Temporarily... sealed several key weaknesses. Erosion speed slowed by more than half, but my soul power consumption great, seal lasts at most one hour."
"Enough!" Fa breathed relief, "Lin Ya, carry him! We're going in!"
Lin Ya immediately controlled emerald vines, gently yet firmly wrapping and fixing the comatose angelic wing elder on his back, continuously infusing life energy to nourish him.
At this time, Zhamisi's wound also temporarily stabilized under Lin Ya and Arya's combined efforts, sharp pain reduced, though mobility limited, she gritted teeth saying she could endure. Others' conditions recovered about 30% stamina in potions and brief rest.
The group gathered again before that massive ice rock. The ice surface still smooth, reflecting the thunder light wandering in the storm clouds overhead.
Stepping into the Dome and the Awakening Guardians
"Ready?" Fa looked at her companions. Arya gripped her hand tightly, eyes firm. Kayla spat a mouthful of bloody saliva, regripping her fists. Tisk nodded heavily. Rex's armor hummed, completing self-check. Yuyuer's eyes focused. Lin Ya carried the winged elder, glow steadily shining. Salsa's mechanical cat shell stood straight, ready for scouting and combat. Zhamisi, though weak, her snake pupils burning with vengeful flames, supported by Yuyuer.
"Go!" Fa took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, extending her hand, pressing that cold rock surface.
Buzz—
The instant her palm touched the ice rock, a strange suction came. The ice rock surface rippled like water waves again, a soft yet irresistible force enveloping the group. The scene before them shattered like a broken mirror, bizarre colors and spatial distortion assaulting instantly.
Next second, the spinning sensation vanished.
The group found themselves in a massive natural cave composed of translucent ice crystals.