aircannonsinc Chapter 567 The Guardians of the Icefield
Chapter 567 The Guardians of the Icefield
Zhao Hao also saw the system notification, and his face paled.
"Three...are they all elites?" His voice was slightly unsteady.
Lin Tian did not answer.
He turned and glanced at Zhao Hao.
"Retreat to a safe distance."
Without saying a word, Zhao Hao turned and ran.
He ran faster than ever before, his bare foot slipping several times on the ice, but he gritted his teeth and steadied himself, jogging all the way to hide behind a huge ice rock two hundred meters away.
He poked half his head out, revealing only his eyes, and stared nervously in the direction of the altar.
Lin Tian withdrew his gaze and looked at the three Icefield Guardians still wandering around the altar.
He flexed his wrists.
The joints made a slight cracking sound, which could be heard clearly on the empty ice field.
Little White descended from the sky and hovered at the height of Lin Tian's shoulder. The dragon's body was slightly curled up, and the ice-blue luster on its scales was brighter than usual, which was its instinctive reaction before entering battle mode.
Celia emerged fully from the shadows and walked lightly to Lin Tian's side.
Her black robe trailed across the ice without making a sound. The shadowy energy of the robe intensified, swirling around her like a black mist.
Her hand emerged from her robe sleeve, her slender fingers slightly bent, with a few almost invisible dark wisps gathered at her fingertips.
The three Icefield Guardians stopped at the same time.
They had no eyes, but the crystal core embedded in the diamond-shaped groove rotated slightly, as if it were "looking" in the direction of Lin Tian.
They sensed the intruders.
Lin Tian strode toward the altar.
The boots made rhythmic sounds as they stepped on the ice, echoing through the quiet hollow of the ice field.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Every step was steady.
The three Icefield Guardians turned around at the same time.
Their steps were remarkably synchronized, as if they had received the same command at the same time.
A faint blue light shone from their chests, emanating from the cracks in their rocky bodies like a lit lamp.
The battle is about to begin.
Zhao Hao hid behind the ice rock, holding his breath.
His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his throat, and his fingers were digging into the edge of the ice rock so hard that his knuckles were white.
He didn't know why he was so nervous.
It wasn't him who was hitting it.
But he just couldn't help it.
Those eyes were fixed on Lin Tian's back, not daring to look away for even a second.
......
Central altar.
Lin Tian stepped into the warning area of the altar.
The instant his toes crossed an invisible boundary, the three Icefield Guardians moved simultaneously.
They moved with incredible speed, completely at odds with their bulky, rocky bodies. The ice crystals on their limbs collided with the ground as they moved, making a crisp, crackling sound, each step like stepping on piano keys made of bone.
The first one charged straight at him, its arms made of ice crystals stretching forward, the tips of its ten fingers forming sharp ice spikes, like ten daggers stabbing towards Lin Tian's chest.
The second one flanked from the left, its body slightly tilted to the side as it ran, its rocky body with its center of gravity low, like a cheetah poised to pounce.
The third one circled around from the right, moving faster than the first two, and had already gone beyond Lin Tian's direct line of sight, attempting to cut into his side and rear.
The movements of the three guardians formed a perfect angle, simultaneously blocking all of Lin Tian's escape routes from three directions.
This is not an instinctive attack from a monster.
This is a coordinated operation with tactical cooperation.
Lin Tian did not back down.
He didn't even move.
Just as the three guardians were less than ten meters away from him—
A dark shadow exploded beside him.
Celia made her move.
Shadow Weaves Thorns
Shadow thorns burst forth from beneath the ice, exploding simultaneously beneath the feet of the three guardians. The dark thorns coiled around their legs like snakes, their sharp spikes piercing the cracks in the ice crystals and rocks. Shadow energy exploded at the point of contact, creating an instantaneous energy corrosion.
A 30% speed reduction debuff appeared simultaneously on the status bars of all three guardians.
Their speed suddenly dropped, and their originally fierce sprint turned into a clumsy stumble.
The guardian in front of it lost its balance due to the sudden change in speed, leaning forward and almost falling to the ground. But it used its icy arms to brace itself against the ice, managing to regain its footing.
Xiao Bai's attack followed immediately.
The dragon's body swooped down from the sky, so fast that it left an icy blue afterimage in the air.
[Ice Dragon's Breath]
A column of frigid energy shot out from its mouth, striking the guardian who was trying to regain its footing head-on.
The energy column was now thicker than before, and its color had changed from ice blue to an almost white, frigid blue, a sign of even lower temperatures. Wherever the energy column passed, water vapor in the air instantly condensed into tiny ice crystals, like a river made of broken diamonds.
The rocky surface on the chest of the guardian that was hit quickly froze, and the ice spread from the center outwards, covering most of the torso in the blink of an eye.
Damage numbers floated up above its head.
It emitted a low hum—not a roar, but the sound of the crystal core vibrating, like the low murmur of some ancient instrument.
The other two guardians' cores lit up simultaneously.
[Energy Link] Triggered.
The two guardians' attack power increased by 20%, and a light blue halo appeared on their bodies, as if they were enveloped by some kind of energy field.
Lin Tian raised his right hand.
Instead of using wide-area clearing skills, he opted for precise single-target attacks.
Stellar rays
An extremely condensed beam of starlight burst forth from his fingertips. The beam was not much thicker than a hair, but it was extremely bright, leaving a dazzling streak of light against the gray-white sky.
The beam pierced through the chest of the guardian in front.
It wasn't a random shot, but a precise hit to the crystal core in its chest.
The sound of the crystal core shattering was sharp and short, like glass being smashed by a hammer.
The guardian froze in place, its blue light flashing wildly twice before extinguishing completely. Its rocky body began to crack from its chest, the cracks spreading to its limbs, until finally the entire body exploded, turning into rubble and ice shards scattered across the ground.
The shattered crystal fragments bounced a few times on the ice surface, making a tinkling sound.
[System Notification: You have defeated 1 Icefield Guardian, gaining 787,000 experience points and 3 Ice Crystal Core Fragments.]
The second guardian pounced from the left.
It did not falter because of the death of its companions—in fact, these guardians had no concept of "fear." They were the protectors of the barrier, their sole command being to eliminate intruders until they themselves were completely destroyed.
Its right arm transformed into a long ice crystal spear, the tip of which pierced straight into Lin Tian's throat.