novelraw Chapter 455: The Horn of Winter (1)
Chapter 455: The Horn of Winter (1)
Northern Border.
Snowpeak Fortress Cluster.
Temporary rest point.
The blood scent that still lingered in the air carried a bone-freezing chill into the lungs.
Su Zhan had just finished a brief period of recuperation, sorting out the overwhelming energy brought by devouring the life essences of seven Calamity-level creatures, stabilizing himself at the peak of Calamity Fifth Stage, with only a hair’s breadth separating him from the Sixth Stage.
The encrypted communicator on his wrist vibrated urgently again.
"Mr. Su Zhan!"
Li Su's voice was grave, "Emergency military report! Frost Wolf Fortress on the Northern Border is under attack by an ultra-strong Mist Creature! Confirmed target: Calamity Seventh Stage! Codename: Horn of Winter!
The fortress’s defense systems are collapsing at an astonishing rate. General Han Bing, a stationed Ocean Realm Third Stage elite, is grievously wounded and in critical condition.
We request your immediate support! Coordinates have been sent!"Calamity Seventh Stage!
Su Zhan's closed eyes snapped open.
Late Calamity… this was already the highest grade he had encountered so far.
This opponent was fundamentally different from the ones before; it was a watershed of qualitative change.
Dangerous?
Extremely dangerous.
With his current Calamity Fifth Stage power, meeting a Calamity Seventh Stage head-on would leave him with negligible chances of victory.
Time Remolding was not omnipotent; if the enemy completely obliterated him with absolute force in an instant, he could still fall.
However…
Su Zhan inwardly surveyed the dual-root foundations inside his body that had been integrated.
Risk and reward coexisted.
The life essence of a single Calamity Seventh Stage creature, in quality and quantity, might rival the combined total of the previous seven!
This was undoubtedly a prime opportunity to push his strength into another leap!
More importantly, he craved battle with stronger foes!
Honing oneself at the edge of life and death was the fastest path to improvement. Stable cultivation mattered, but true breakthroughs often originated under extreme pressure.
"Received."
Su Zhan's reply was succinct.
He rose, his aura shedding any pretense of concealment.
Ocean Realm Fifth Stage spiritual energy and Calamity Fifth Stage mist energy erupted together, forming a chaotic, potent field that instantly cleared the surrounding snow and rubble.
The fleshy wings on his back unfurled.
He took one last look at the Snowpeak Fortress beneath his feet that had just undergone a bloodbath, his gaze devoid of any attachment.
The next moment.
"Boom—!"
A sonic explosion shattered in place, a ring of white shockwave spreading outward.
The dark-red streak he had become shot toward the battlefield steeped in even denser death.
Frost Wolf Fortress.
Target: Calamity Seventh Stage… Horn of Winter!
The hunt began again.
…
Northern Border, Frost Wolf Fortress.
Once a firm fang on the Northern defensive line, renowned for its stubborn defenses and valiant garrison.
But now that fang was being pried off by an absolute force of ice.
Only a single creature attacked the fortress.
It resembled an ice plain wolf magnified a hundredfold, but more elongated.
Its whole body was forged from crystalline millennia-old ice, with faintly blue sigils flowing across its surface like veins.
It merely stood silently before the fortress.
Like a rise in the ice plain itself.
It was the Horn of Winter.
Calamity Seventh Stage.
Occasionally it lifted that massive lupine head and, toward the fortress, blew gently.
A ripple imbued with extreme cold and the law of annihilation swept across the land soundlessly.
First wave, the fortress’s outermost composite spiritual energy shield, along with its pedestal and dozens of operators inside, instantly petrified into ice sculptures frozen mid-motion.
Then, in the next instant, they silently disintegrated into the finest ice-crystal dust.
Second wave, the thick alloy battlements became coated in an unmelting, faint-blue hard ice, their structure brittle.
Huge sections collapsed and shattered.
Frozen metal shards mingled with the remains of the garrison, strewing the snow beneath the walls.
Third wave struck directly at life.
Airborne units attempting interception, along with their mounts or vehicles, halted mid-motion the moment they touched the ripple, then fell like dumplings from the sky, smashing into the frozen ground and leaving patches of ice-blue imprints.
Ground troops launching desperate charges froze in place long before reaching within a kilometer of it, their life breaths instantly sealed.
They became sculptures layered in thick ice, their faces still contorted with the ferocity and despair of the charge.
This was not a battle; it was a one-sided massacre.
Inside the fortress’s central command keep, an oppressive silence reigned.
Stationed General Han Bing, an Ocean Realm Third Stage powerhouse, had half his body enveloped in indispersible faint-blue ice crystals, blood tinged with ice slush leaking from the corners of his mouth, his vitality withered to a dire state.
He had tried to block the first law-ripple; a single contact had nearly shattered his soul into fragments.
"Ge… General! The entire eastern sector… is annihilated!"
"The western wall… has fallen!"
"Energy core overloaded… about to collapse!"
"Ret—retreat, General! We can't hold!"
The adjutant's voice wavered into sobs.
Han Bing stared at the lupine godlike image on the screen, his eyes full of powerlessness and despair.
Retreat?
Under the shroud of this creature’s law domain, where could they possibly retreat to?
This gap could not be filled by manpower or courage.
The Horn of Winter seemed mildly bored with crushing ants.
It slowly lifted a forepaw, the tip condensing a point of absolute faint-blue cold; the power contained there could erase the whole command keep and everyone inside, from matter to soul, completely.
Han Bing shut his eyes, awaiting the final end.
At the horizon, a dark-red streak barreled into this domain ruled by absolute ice law with almost brutal force.
"Boom!!!"
The violent sonic boom shattered the silence of death.
The dark-red streak abruptly halted above the ice wolf.
A figure cloaked in black scales emerged, huge fleshy wings spread, dragon horns sprouting from its brow.
Su Zhan had descended.
The ice wolf slowly turned its head, looking indifferently at the figure in the sky whose vitality clashed starkly with the surrounding field. It appeared somewhat surprised that in a domain saturated by its cold law, life could be so active, and even… provocative.
The Horn of Winter raised its head and, toward Su Zhan, made a silent blowing motion.
A wave of annihilating cold surged across space, charging straight at Su Zhan.
Future Vision, activate!
Countless fragments of images from the next five seconds flooded his mind.
Su Zhan saw clearly that any form of evasion would be covered by this law-infused cold wave.
Taking it head-on was the only option, but with his current strength, openly receiving it would likely turn him into an ice sculpture and annihilate his soul.
Time Deceleration!
Without hesitation, Su Zhan poured all his effort into the ability against the invisible cold torrent.
But the power of a Calamity Seventh Stage far exceeded previous opponents, and the influence of the time law was greatly weakened.
The cold wave's speed slowed by less than ten percent; the bone-deep chill almost ignored the time hindrance and still locked onto him.