Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 178 - 178 177 Fierce Battle

Chapter 178: Chapter 177: Fierce Battle Chapter 178: Chapter 177: Fierce Battle The night was like a washed jewel, the light of gemstone lamps illuminated the area around the Heavenly Well, where two squads of knights were assembling.

One was led by Knight Commander Karis, and the other by Lord Stephen.

The roar of the Snow Demon came from the south.

Gradually, the figures of the Snow Demons emerged from the darkness. There were two massive creatures, one tall and one short, both humanoid in appearance, with no overly conspicuous features. The tall Snow Demon wielded an ice crystal battle axe, while the short one held two ice crystal long swords.

“Karis, I’ll lead the charge against the tall Snow Demon, you lead the charge against the short one!” the voice of Lord Stephen came coldly.

Knight Commander Karis immediately responded, “No problem.”

“Then charge!” Lord Stephen raised his Knight Commander spear high, his mount, the Nightmare Specter Horse, let out a neigh and charged out boldly.

The dozen or so knights from his squad resonated their Battle Qi, closely following Lord Stephen’s charge.

Knight Commander Karis did likewise, quickly leading his team in a charge toward the short Snow Demon.

Russell stood at the edge of the Heavenly Well, on a watchtower built from ice and snow, watching the two charges solemnly.

The charges were neither grand nor new, and there was no hesitation.

In clearing the merchants’ roads, Russell himself had participated in many charges, and the Knight Regiment had often battled with Snow Demons.

On the Heavenly Well Watchtower, there were also several knights dressed as merchants; some were stewards of merchant caravans, others were small business owners. Those who often traveled the merchant roads had mostly nurtured a Qi Seed, and some had even unleashed their Battle Qi.

However, not everyone could open all the meridians and cultivate Battle Qi smoothly.

Most knights were eliminated during the training process, and only those who had hope of advancing to Great Knight were continued to be nurtured by the Lord.

Those eliminated knights either specialized as local security guards, or ran small businesses, traveling the merchant roads.

Tonight, snowflakes began to fall, quickly covering Russell’s cloak.

Meanwhile, up ahead in the dark, the two squads of knights had already engaged in battle with the Snow Demons. The knights’ resonance ensured they operated as a single entity, swiftly maneuvering around the Snow Demons, charging, advancing, and then throwing their Knight Commander spears.

There were also Phantom Beast Knights using their Beast Fusion Shadow skill, and even casting magic, taking on the Snow Demons’ attacks head-on to create opportunities for the squads to charge.

The battle was not spectacular, but it was extremely intense.

As for the Snow Demons.

They did not possess magic or Battle Qi-like powers, but the power of the Ice Soul within their bodies flowed, giving them bodies hard as iron, with immense strength. Wielding their sharp and unparalleled ice crystal weapons, they were true humanoid killing machines.

On one side was raw, explosive power, and on the other, well-coordinated group tactics.

In the snowy night, the battle raged like a wildfire.

“Charge!”

Even from a distance, Russell could hear Lord Stephen’s icy shout.

His voice lacked much variation in emotion, like a drill instructor’s cold command during a routine drill.

But Russell couldn’t help but grip the hilt of his Green Ceramic Sword tightly, feeling an uncontrollable surge of eagerness to join the fray, resounding with the knights’ Battle Qi and fighting side by side, hunting down the four- or five-meter-tall beast.

The Red-eyed Rat King seemed to pick up on his emotions, baring its teeth in anticipation.

“Lord Russell, you don’t need to be nervous,” a small merchant boss beside him said, mistaking Russell’s stance for nervousness.

He couldn’t help but comfort him, “This kind of thing is common on the Snowfield, not just two blue-skinned ones, I’ve even seen ones on horses, and I’m still alive and well… Lords Stephen and Knight Commander Karis will protect us.”

Curious, Russell asked, “Survived encounters with horse-riding blue-skins?”

“Of course,” the small boss laughed, “Though horse-riding blue-skins are strong, Phantom Beast Knights are no weaker. We just need to draw the horse-riding blue-skins away, and our merchant caravan can quickly move. Then the Phantom Beast Knights can circle back.”

“Phantom Beast Knights can stand against horse-riding blue-skins?”

“They can’t, but Phantom Beast Knights can fly. Oh, sorry, it seems like today’s Phantom Beast Knights cannot fly,” the small boss joked.

Russell quickly grasped the implication.

High-ranking Mythical Beast Knights of level two or above could master the ability of Dou-Qi Flight, but it was a different story for regular level one Phantom Beast Knights.

By forming a Beast Fusion Shadow with a contracted flying Fantasy Beast, one can acquire the beast’s ability to fly.

If one has contracted a terrestrial Fantasy Beast, then even with a Beast Fusion Shadow, they can only run like wild beasts and cannot fly.

Knight Commander Karis’s Fantasy Beast is an ice crystal white wolf, and Lord Stephen’s Fantasy Beast is the Nightmare Specter Horse, both of which are land-based beasts.

“Not being able to fly is no big deal,” said another small business owner of the caravan, chiming in. “Lord Stephen’s Nightmare Specter Horse is best at running. After he performs the Beast Fusion Shadow, the man and horse become one, and there’s no Snow Demon that can outrun Lord Stephen.”

“Who says!” A robust man retorted in a low voice, “I’ve seen a long-legged Snow Demon that runs as fast as flying. The Nightmare Specter Horse definitely can’t outrun it… That time, the caravan suffered heavy losses…”

The trade routes on the snowfields are always dangerous.

While the people on the watchtower were still discussing who could run faster, the Snow Demon or the Fantasy Beast, Russell had already noticed that the battle in the distance was about to end.

Lord Stephen leaped high into the air, then the Nightmare Specter Horse turned into a ray of light, wrapping around Lord Stephen like a black Armor. Then, a black glow burst from his body.

Like tendrils, it pierced into all the joints of the tall Snow Demon’s body.

In an instant, the tall Snow Demon stiffened its limbs, becoming immobile, and the huge ice crystal battle-axe it held aloft instantly froze in place.

“Fighting Spirit Armor, and magic!” Russell marveled inwardly, as Lord Stephen executed two mighty moves in a blink of an eye.

Taking advantage of the moment when magic had immobilized the tall Snow Demon, the knights behind him started to switch their formation to attack.

“Scattered Arrow Formation!”

The knight squad swiftly split into four smaller teams. Two teams held up their swords high to hack at the Snow Demon’s left and right arms; the other two teams bent down swinging their swords to chop at the Snow Demon’s legs.

If the first man failed to chop through, the second man would continue to chop at the same spot, and the third would do the same.

After three consecutive heavy chops, the Snow Demon’s limbs were finally severed.

And at the same time, Lord Stephen, clad in black Armor, also fell from a height, swinging his sword at the Snow Demon’s neck.

The sword light that burst forth reached ten meters, chopping off almost half of the Snow Demon’s neck, leaving only a strip of skin holding the head.

Boom!

The massive creature fell to the ground, and in the moment it landed, it broke apart into pieces, with its hands, feet, and head all separating from the torso.

Then Lord Stephen aimed his own sword at the still roaring head of the Snow Demon, drove it down fiercely, right between the eyebrows, sinking the entire blade into the ice beneath, firmly pinning it.

“Ha!” The knights following him also targeted the hands and feet, imitating Lord Stephen’s actions, and nailed the Snow Demon’s limbs onto the ice cap.

A strong and brutal Snow Demon thus fell under the butchering knives of the knight squad.

“Do you need help, Karis!” Lord Stephen turned to look towards another side, where Knight Commander Karis was still engaged in a tough battle with a shorter Snow Demon.

But seeing that Lord Stephen had already finished his adversary, Karis grew furious, “No need!” he roared.

With that, he bellowed, “White Wolf, cloak me in the ice crystal Armor, I’ll fight this damn Snow Demon to the death!”

“Howl!” The Fantasy Beast ice crystal white wolf swiftly rushed to Karis, transforming into a thick layer of glittering crystal-like radiant Armor.

This set of Armor made Karis grow more than a meter taller.

Now, he was almost as tall as the shorter Snow Demon, and a fierce and fleshly fight began.

“Showing off,” Lord Stephen snorted disdainfully upon seeing this.

He then turned to instruct the knights, “Hurry up and strip the beast of its Ice Soul Pearl, I’ll go help Karis, to prevent him from getting killed by the Snow Demon!”

…

Above the Heavenly Well Watchtower, as they watched Lord Stephen and Knight Commander Karis join forces and swiftly slay the shorter Snow Demon with the knight squad,

The small caravan business owner chatting with Russell couldn’t help but sigh, “This is the power of the Phantom Beast Knights, so strong and efficient. It’s because of their protection that we can travel unobstructed across the snowfields.”

Russell also felt moved, “The knight squad plays a big role too.”

“Yes, it’s the knights who together uphold our safety,” the business owner nodded vigorously, laughing heartily, “When they return, I’ll treat them to the strongest ice burn!”