FL - Chapter 47: Hunting the Ice-Armored Bear Pack

Louis stood atop the peak, gazing down at the Ice-Armored Bear pack below.

Sunlight struck their gray-white ice armor, and their hexagonal crystal scales threw back blinding shards of light.

Their forepaws were tipped with talons as sharp as Frost Iron. When the ice plates along their backs shifted with their movements, bursts of blue flame occasionally flickered through the seams.

These Ice-Armored Bears were massive. Every low growl that rumbled from their throats was like thunder shaking the earth.

Whatever their appearance, these colossal creatures possessed not an ounce of charm. They were ferocious predators, pure and simple.

They wove through the snow, searching for prey to fill their bellies.

Two children stood at Louis's side: Lilia and Weir.

They were the only two among the eight knight candidates who had already awakened their bloodlines and become Apprentice Knights.

Today, Louis had decided to bring them along to witness this hunt with their own eyes.

It was a break from the monotony of their daily drills. A reward for their hard work.

Lilia's eyes sparkled with excitement. She gripped a longsword nearly taller than herself, mimicking the postures of the grown knights.

Weir wasn't about to be outdone. He adjusted his gear, straightened his back on horseback, and did his best to look like a true knight.

"You two will stay by my side and protect me," Louis said in a low voice.

In truth, he was terrified that these two little turnips would get overexcited and charge down there to duel the Ice-Armored Bears to the death.

*Protect the Lord! Such an important mission!*

Lilia and Weir both straightened their backs a few more notches and nodded, nervous and thrilled in equal measure.

When all preparations were in place, Louis raised a hand. "Ready. Begin the bear-hunting operation."

At his signal, the distant commander swung a great banner, and knights and hunters began moving into position from their ambush points.

The hunters crept silently into the Ice-Armored Bears' active zone and carefully scattered the urine of a female bear in heat.

This scent could rapidly attract Ice-Armored Bears, especially the males, which were extremely sensitive to it.

As the scent spread, the pack began to coalesce. Nine Ice-Armored Bears gathered and lumbered toward the canyon.

Another group of hunters, concealed on a distant ridge, triggered a cascade of rocks tumbling down the slope, successfully steering the pack into the predetermined canyon.

"They've entered the canyon! All units, proceed as planned." The signal officer swept his banner down.

In the low-lying sections of the canyon, rows of sharpened wooden stakes had been carefully buried in the earth.

Under the hunters' guidance, when the Ice-Armored Bears entered the canyon, the stakes, like vipers lying in wait, punched deep into the paw pads of the lead bears, where no armor protected them.

Agony seared through their bodies. The Ice-Armored Bears bellowed and tried to pull free from the stakes embedded in their flesh.

But their colossal bulk and clumsy strength made it impossible to extract themselves in an instant.

The remaining bears soon found themselves snared in the same trap. The entire pack descended into chaos.

Next, the hunters ignited the pine resin and fire oil they'd accumulated along the cliff walls. Flames devoured the rock face in an instant.

With a thunderous roar, fireballs tumbled from the cliff edge and landed with precision in the center of the bear pack.

The explosion and flames spread together, instantly swallowing the bears pinned by the stakes.

The searing heat set the Ice-Armored Bears' fur ablaze, but their thick ice armor didn't crumble immediately under the flames.

The fire left only scorch marks across their dense scales. A painful sting, but hardly a fatal blow.

The searing pain from the flames only drove the pack into deeper frenzy and chaos.

The Ice-Armored Bears crowded together, crashing and clawing at one another.

At this point, their weak points, their eyes, their necks, were exposed. But the dense ice armor still shielded them, and ordinary arrows had little hope of piercing that shell.

The archers positioned along the canyon rim switched to fire arrows and began loosing them at the pack.

The attacks did negligible damage. But these arrows weren't meant to penetrate. They were meant to drain the bears' stamina and endurance.

Fire arrows rained onto the Ice-Armored Bears' bodies, flames creeping along their thick shells.

They couldn't tear through the ice armor, but the sustained heat steadily sapped the beasts' strength. The pack's movements visibly slowed.

They were still powerful. But their heavy ice armor was now riddled with cracks. In places, the intense heat had even melted it away, exposing the tough hide beneath. Still resilient, but no longer invulnerable.

That was the moment for the knights hidden on all sides to surge into action.

"Now!" The signal officer's banner plunged down.

The knights raised their longswords and lances high, Battle Aura blazing to life along every blade in a searing crimson glow.

The red Battle Aura bled down their weapons, the air around them warping faintly with each pulse.

"Charge!"

The warhorses launched forward. Their targets were clear. The Ice-Armored Bears' joints, their lower jaws, their throats, their eyes. Every vulnerability the armor couldn't fully cover.

The archers had already weakened the defense in those areas. Now it was the knights' task to end those lives.

An Elite Knight leveled his lance, Battle Aura condensing to a blinding point at the spearhead.

He aimed at a slightly smaller Ice-Armored Bear whose throat had been opened by a hairline crack from the archers' fire.

The knight's eyes were hawk-keen. His warhorse thundered through the howling wind.

Battle Aura blazed at the lance tip. He drove it deep into that fissure.

*Shlunk.*

The lance punched straight through the crack in the bear's armor. Blood and crimson Battle Aura mingled and surged into the wound like molten magma, scorching through flesh and sinew.

The Ice-Armored Bear let out an earth-shaking roar. Its titanic body convulsed in agony, teetering on the edge of collapse.

Watching from above, Weir's eyes lit up with fierce excitement. He practically jumped into the air. "They took one down! The knights are amazing!"

"Don't celebrate too soon, Weir." Louis's voice was calm. "This is only the first phase."

Weir blinked, confused. Wasn't that bear about to drop?

Just then, the staggering Ice-Armored Bear threw its head back and roared.

Cracks tore violently across its armored shell. Blades of ice-flame erupted from its back, unfurling like demonic wings, and a bone-piercing cold spread rapidly through the air.

The ice-flame made contact with the atmosphere and detonated in a violent cryogenic blast.

"Fall back!" The commander frantically swung his banner.

The wave of freezing force swept through the area. Several knights who couldn't react in time were swallowed by the ice-flame.

Fortunately, their Battle Aura shielded them from losing all mobility, and they retreated at speed.

But the Ice-Armored Bear's assault didn't stop there.

As its berserk state fully activated, three enormous crystalline spikes jutted from its back.

The spikes pulsed with ultra-high-energy shockwaves. Heat blasts and concussive explosions intertwined, battering the surrounding knights and nearly stripping them of their combat capability.

The very air seemed to turn heavy. Every violent tremor made it hard to breathe.