Chapter 424: The Howling Blizzard
The freezing wind howled across the land. Despite it being the height of summer, an icy gale swept through the surroundings.
"This is bad. We’ve walked into an ambush..." Elin slowly turned around.
A gigantic black wolf stood proudly in the distance like an emperor surveying its domain. A white blizzard swirled within dozens of meters around its body as though a god had descended upon the world. Thick black scales covered its frame like layer upon layer of heavy armor.
"Hahaha, you two were so easy to fool." Ashina looked at them with amused eyes.
Her lord had used nothing more than a simple trick to lure them out of the city.
"A demi-human!" Elin’s eyes widened. She had never expected to find a demi-human Divine Chosen here.
"Just a demi-human mercenary. That’s perfectly normal."
"So, little girls from Night Owl, what exactly are you doing in my territory?" Phield strolled out from the shadows with a cheerful smile and casually glanced at them. "Judging by those weapons, I assume you’re here to assassinate a noble."
"We don’t care whether you’re a noble or not. As long as you’re evil, we’ll strike."
Knowing that battle was unavoidable, Hwaily suppressed her unease and answered without fear or submission.
"Phield, you should never have oppressed your own people."
"You’ve been here for over half a month. When exactly did I oppress any of you? Besides, the so called sacrifice was nothing more than a trick to lure you out."
Phield shrugged.
"Convicting someone based solely on your own imagination and then trying to kill them is nothing but absurd. I heard you want to build a happy nation, but with methods as disgraceful as yours, I don’t see that happening."
"T... that’s not true!"
Hwaily was furious. Her full chest rose and fell rapidly as anger filled her voice.
"We will save everyone."
"From your indiscriminate assassinations to your plan of relying on massive foreign armies, I can already conclude that your so called salvation is nothing more than jumping from one hell into another."
Phield snorted with disdain. The Empress of the Sacred Griffin Empire was indeed terrible, but allowing foreign armies to flood into the empire would bring nothing short of catastrophe.
"You can go inspect the cave yourselves. The sacrifice was merely bait. I would never betray my own people."
"You’re just good at pretending. You’re a demon wearing human skin."
Elin raised her heavy crossbow warily, ready to fire at any moment.
"The hearts of Night Owl are unshakable."
"Fine, then let’s settle this with strength."
Phield lowered his gaze before turning his head.
"Gherlos, do you know them?"
The Slaughter Divine Chosen, Gherlos, who had been watching from the sidelines, studied the two girls carefully for quite some time before shaking his head.
"No. The ones who killed my family belonged to Hero King’s army. These two had nothing to do with it."
"Good."
"Ashina, capture them. I’m going to make them experience a proper defeat scene."
"Leave it to me. Anyone who dares speak ill of my lord will not be forgiven."
Ashina raised her hand high.
A three meter long spiral heavy cavalry lance materialized in midair.
The snow white lance, engraved with icy blue patterns, barely resembled an ordinary cavalry weapon. It looked more like a colossal triangular siege ram, its streamlined armor piercing form wrapped in spiral grooves that radiated overwhelming dominance. The terrifying pressure spreading from it exuded the majesty of a king.
"Isn’t that... a heavy cavalry lance?"
For a brief moment, Phield wondered whether he had chosen the wrong class back then.
"It’s an additional function of her artifact, just like my chains," Rosalia said from the shadows.
Just as Rosalia had predicted, Ashina activated it with a single thought.
The massive outer shell separated, revealing the slender cavalry lance concealed within. The giant sword shaped components broke apart into six elegant streaks of blue light that floated behind Ashina like flying swords.
Every one of those blue streaks embodied Ashina’s original first Divine Skill.
Divine Skill: Aegis Spear of Frostpierce (Active/Passive)
Description: Automatically absorbs surrounding divine power while continuously charging six Frostpierce Spears within the artifact’s components at an extremely low cost. Ashina can also independently charge an enhanced Spear of Frostpierce, creating a devastating single target Divine Skill.
"What... what is that? Demi-human artifacts are supposed to be simple in design."
Elin instinctively took a step backward. The pressure emanating from Ashina was so overwhelming that it became difficult to breathe.
"I’m coming."
"If you have any support Divine Skills, activate them now. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll kill you in a single strike."
Ashina casually thrust her lance, creating a breathtaking blossom of spear light.
"Stop looking down on us!"
Elin flared with anger. Despite her petite, almost childlike figure, she confidently planted one hand on her hip like a grown woman.
"One shot from my crossbow might be enough to kill you."
"We shouldn’t underestimate her."
Elin, we’re assassins. We’re not very good at fighting head on, especially against cavalry."
Hwaily bit her lip, worry overflowing across her face.
"Third Tier Divine Skill, Soaring Wind."
A feather filled breeze swept across the battlefield, dramatically increasing both of their speeds.
"Be careful. If anything feels wrong, retreat immediately. We can fly, so we have the advantage."
Elin smiled confidently.
"Don’t worry. My artifact has a special trait. The worse my condition becomes, the stronger my crossbow grows. As long as I survive the first assault, victory is guaranteed."
"Here I come."
Ashina squeezed the wolf’s sides.
The draconic black wolf exploded forward like a cannonball, wrapped in dark blue light.
Before the two girls could even process the deafening sonic boom, a spear had already thrust straight toward them. The overwhelming pressure of a cavalry charge crashed down upon them like a tidal wave.
Hwaily couldn’t even make out Ashina’s appearance.
All she saw was a silver streak descending like a comet.
"Don’t just stand there!"
Seeing her companion fail to make even the slightest move to defend herself, Elin’s heart lurched.
She pulled the trigger of her heavy crossbow toward Ashina while simultaneously raising the weapon before her chest, then leaped forward to shield Hwaily.
As a living artifact, the Drakewolf possessed extraordinary combat instincts.
With nothing more than a nimble shift of its body, it effortlessly avoided the incoming bolt.
Clang!
Ashina’s lance slammed into the heavy crossbow.
The weapon shattered instantly, and the overwhelming force launched Elin into the air.
Like an elegant pink rag doll, Elin didn’t even have time to cry out before the combined impact of the cavalry lance and the draconic wolf hurled her far into the distance, where she crashed heavily onto the ground.
Even an ordinary cavalry charge could utterly crush an opponent.
With the blessing of two artifacts, Ashina’s full speed assault was every bit as devastating as a Divine Skill.
"You shouldn’t die from just one hit!"
Without giving Elin a chance to stand, Ashina activated another attack with a single thought.
One streak of blue light shot out from behind her, carving a brilliant arc across the sky before detonating beside Elin.
Boom!
The Spear of Frostpierce exploded violently.
A freezing wave of divine power spread outward, transforming the surrounding area into a frozen domain within moments.
Ashina had already shown tremendous restraint.
Even so, Elin let out a muffled groan before losing consciousness.
"Now it’s your turn."
"I hope you can at least make this interesting."
Ashina raised an eyebrow, her expression filled with disappointment.