Free Web NovelHeavy snow fell, as if the entire Northern Territory had been frozen into a silent coffin.
However, the slumbering Frost Halberd City had awakened.
“Boom—!!”
With a muffled thud like a heartbeat, the Frostflame Reactor at the city's heart operated at maximum efficiency, spewing out a pillar of energy light like ice-blue lightning.
It pulled the temperature down to an extreme, and ice-vein patterns emerged from the reactor core, spreading throughout the city like blood vessels.
Seventeen Magic Regulation Towers were then activated in turn, igniting the Magic Crystal patterns in the earth veins, and ice-blue runes soaring into the sky intertwined into rings, weaving a multi-layered ice mist barrier that blocked the invasion of Worm-Eaten Household spores.
Frost Halberd City's defensive array also launched its attack.
“Catapults—load Chillcrystal Magic Burst Roundss! Coordinates: Mother Nest Group Two!”
“Fire!!!”
Roaring sounds followed one after another, as more than ten Magic Crystal Giant Catapults trembled and exerted force in the snow. Those “Magic Bombs” carrying cold energy drew arcs of white-blue blazing light, falling like meteors onto the battlefield, smashing into the dense, tide-like Worm-Eaten Household lines and Mother Nests.
“Screech!!!”
Several unformed ordinary Mother Nests were blown apart, their insect eggs and young insects instantly freezing in the extreme cold, turning into a blooming expanse of ice-blue petals, as if it were the judgment of death.
And those densely packed insect corpses also collapsed with a roar in the shockwave, like a wheat field swept by a scythe, layer upon layer.
Victory seemed to draw a little closer at this moment.
But only for a moment.
“What’s that—?”
On the snowfield in the distance, the air began to distort, and the Magic Crystal screen fluctuated violently.
As if a twisted curtain of space-time was torn open, a colossal creature slowly stepped out of the snow mist.
The Doomsday Mother Nest appeared.
It was a twisted existence, like a sacred mother statue, entirely composed of writhing insect flesh and human-like bodies sewn together. Its arms were raised high, as if bestowing grace, but in reality, it was unleashing death.
With every step it took, the earth was tainted a putrid color, and with every wriggle, tentacles spewed out from its body like milky white insect mist poison gas, spreading towards the sky.
“Ugh—what is that smell—
“Quickly put on your helmets! The entire army, put on sealed Magic Silver masks!”
The Knight Order members pulled down their helmet visors one after another, but still felt a disturbance in their minds.
After all, the Doomsday Mother Nest was not releasing simple poison gas, but corrosive spores with mental 誘導 fluctuations.
The battlefield was in chaos, yet the insect corpses were still continuously approaching.
Some emerged from beneath the snow, some charged from within the mist, and even more, like a tide, surged from beneath the Doomsday Mother Nest, like sacrifices gushing from an evil god’s altar.
On the outer battlefield, on the ice plain not yet completely swallowed by the insect mist, heavy snow swirled, and a heavy armored legion slowly advanced like a mountain range, clearing threats from the surroundings.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
These were the footsteps of the Cold Iron Legion.
Heavy, uniform, as if they could forcibly stamp the rhythm of the entire battlefield into their iron discipline.
They were known as the “Strongest Shield of the Northern Territory,” with every member at least a top Elite Knight, clad in blue-silver heavy armor, their steps as steady as ice rocks, and the epaulets on their shoulders representing their unshakeable elite status in the Empire’s military hierarchy.
Shallow blue battle aura flowed through the armor seams, like a slow-moving undercurrent beneath a winter glacier, steady, deadly, and unshakeable.
Just below a frozen hillside, hundreds of insect corpses were swarming, their screams rising and falling. The vanguard had even leaped to the top of the slope, preparing to charge down.
Not a single member of the Cold Iron Legion retreated.
“Front shield line, arc formation to meet the enemy.”
“Reserve team, all draw Magic Bomb spears, aim for the eye sockets!”
The commander’s voice was as calm as a bell cast from cold iron.
The knights silently obeyed. Their half-round shields, like protruding rock layers on an ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) ice plain, “clanked” together to form a wavy shield wall. At the same time, their heavy spears were raised uniformly, and a blue light flashed!
“Frostflame Penetration!”
Boom!!!
The entire row of thrown spears, activated by battle aura, transformed into a torrent of cold current that surged through the insect swarm. The front-row Worm-Eaten Household were instantly pierced, and the splashing blood froze into ice shards before it even hit the ground.
Three seconds later, the insect corpses on the hilltop were all cleared.
But this was just a warm-up.
The next moment, a deafening roar came from the eastern side of the battlefield. A giant second-tier Mother Nest forcibly broke through, its struggling insect legs shattering the ice shell. Its dorsal incubation sac swelled and pulsed, ready to release a new tide of young insects.
“Target confirmed, a second-tier Incubation Mother Nest!”
“Squads thirteen to fifteen, flank and pincer; Catapult Group Six, load ‘Magic Crystal Sac Breaker’!” Deputy Commander Lycus quickly ordered.
In just a few seconds, three squads, like sharp blades, slid open breaches on both sides of the Mother Nest. The shadows of their battle aura streaked across the snow like flowing light, accurately cutting down the guardian insect corpses around the Mother Nest.
And at the same time, the catapult group’s “Chillcrystal Magic Burst Rounds” had launched three white-blue spheres, precisely hitting the Mother Nest’s back. Boom!!!
The Mother Nest let out a piercing roar. Its incubation sac instantly froze and then exploded into countless unformed insect embryos.
And the next moment, the extraordinary knight Arltan, who had already leaped onto its spine, brought his sword down!
“Ice Ridge Shatter—!”
With one strike, even the Mother Nest’s central nervous system layer was completely shattered!
The Mother Nest collapsed, frost flames splattering, its body slowly falling like a crumbling altar.
The entire hunt, from identification to execution, took only fifty-seven seconds.
A young knight stared at the frozen remnants of the Mother Nest, taking a deep breath, but was kicked awake by an old veteran.
“Don’t get distracted! This is the sixth Mother Nest we’ve killed!”
“We are Cold Iron. We do not retreat.”
“Blood can freeze, bones can break, but unless the Duke orders it, we cannot retreat!”
Each resolute vow, like nails, firmly pinned this thousand-man legion to the ice plain.
They were utterly exhausted, their battle aura depleted, and their bodies already covered in wounds.
The snow fell heavier and heavier. The Cold Iron Legion, having just defeated the Mother Nest in the snowstorm, had not yet caught their breath when they heard a strange vibration from the right flank of the battle line.
Footsteps, heavy and eerie, like wandering souls moving across the snowfield.
“What is that?”
As a young knight just turned his head, a phantom suddenly leaped out of the snow mist!
“Enemy attack—!!”
Dozens of dark figures burst out of the snow, breaking through the frost blockade like flying locusts. These were Worm-Eaten Household, but not ordinary Worm-Eaten Household.
Their figures were taller, battle aura subtly surging within their decaying flesh, retaining their former combat techniques and fighting spirit. These were the former elites of the Snowsworn, the fiercest undead of the Northern Territory.
Charging at the very front was a battle corpse clad in cracked snow armor.
His eyes were hollow, with a sad smile on his face that almost shouldn't belong to an insect corpse. His giant axe dragged on the ground, its blade still stained with fresh blood.
“Shiro—” An old knight recognized that familiar yet eerie figure.
The leader of the Snowsworn, the nightmare of countless Northern Territory nobles!
But at this moment, he was no longer human.
His face still bore the sad smile from the moment before his death, as if mourning the catastrophe he brought upon the Snowsworn.
Yet that smile, under the hollow pupils of the insect corpse now, exuded a chilling aura of death.
The next moment, he swung his great axe horizontally and charged into the knight line!
“Stop him!!”
Three Elite Knights simultaneously met him, their shield wall like a mountain.
However, only a sound of: “Boom—!!”
One axe strike, and three heavy shields were split apart. The knights’ armor, along with the men, were smashed into the snow, blood splattering everywhere!
A fourth knight tried to counterattack from the flank but was swept away by Shiro’s backhand.
He flew high into the air, then was impaled by an Worm-Eaten Household knight with a broken sword onto a frozen stone pillar.
“They... they can still fight in formation!” Deputy Commander Lycus exclaimed in shock.
These insect corpses were not mere berserkers, but Snowsworn knight elites who retained all their combat techniques, coordination, and killing intent from when they were alive!
And not only that—
“They are devouring corpses.”
One of the insect corpses crouched down, sucking the blood of the knight who had just been killed into the “living sac” in its chest. The shallow blue insect membrane pulsed like a heart, releasing a strong battle aura fluctuation.
Bloodline Boiling · Insectification Version: By devouring “living flesh and blood,” they recover their battle aura state, and their combat power does not decrease but increases.
“This is simply an anti-knight demonic weapon!!”
“Retreat! Quick, retreat—!”
Lycus roared, but the high-tier insect corpses moved like ghosts through the knight ranks, their speed and strength far exceeding those of their peers. Screams echoed wherever they passed.
The snow-covered ground was stained dark with blood. In just ten breaths, the front line had been torn open by a huge gap.
Just as everyone was on the verge of collapsing, a heavy rumble echoed from within the city.
Iron boots stomped the ground, arrayed like a mountain.
Duke Edmund made his appearance!
He was clad in heavy armor, wielding a great hammer, his battle aura slowly surging, like a slumbering giant beast awakening.
A gravitational force erupted from his body!
"Bloodline Talent: War Gravity"
The Worm-Eaten Household, charging forward, instantly diverted their direction, rushing towards him regardless of everything, as if instinctively drawn, forced to focus all their hatred on this iron wall of the battlefield.
For the irrational Worm-Eaten Household, this was the most fatal provocation.
"Follow the Duke! Hold the line!"
Several Elite Knights immediately responded, sword shadows and battle aura intertwining, surrounding the Duke to assist in the assault.
The great battle instantly reignited, with blue flame-like battle aura and Worm-Eaten Household fluid intermingling in the cold wind.
The piercing sound of an axe blade cutting through the air.
That Shiro’s corpse stepped through the snow, his movements steady to the point of being almost elegant; as he swung his great axe, he still retained the precision and rhythm of his former life.
He no longer spoke, but his killing intent was like a tide, his axe strikes like snow waves surging in a storm, each blow forcing the heavy-armored knights back, sending flesh and blood flying.
Several Elite Knights gritted their teeth and met the challenge, their bloodline power and battle aura igniting simultaneously, like sparks in a cold night, directly clashing with Shiro and his companions’ brutal killing intent.
It was a brutal contest that ignited both reason and power.
The Duke remained silent, but his figure had already crashed into the battle like a mountain.
Every step he took crushed ice and caused tremors, his heavy armor clanged, and his great hammer swung down with terrifying oppressive force, like an avalanche. He did not defeat enemies with speed, but with overwhelming force.
"Take this hammer strike."
With a cold shout, the great hammer, imbued with heavy battle aura, slammed into Shiro’s left shoulder, sending him flying back several steps. A deep crater instantly exploded in the ground, and ice and snow splattered everywhere.
Shiro’s body was cracked by the impact but did not fall. His axe blade swung back down, precise to the point of instinct.
This axe strike was deadly, directly cleaving towards Edmund’s chest!
"Clang!!!"
The axe blade struck the thick armor, creating a loud clang and sparks. A mist of blood spewed from the gaps in the heavy armor, and Edmund grunted, kneeling back half a step, but immediately steadied himself.
He unleashed his full bloodline power, and War Gravity pulled the surrounding Worm-Eaten Household towards him like a magnet, gathering them around him, attempting to firmly intercept the core of the battlefield onto himself alone.
At the same time, the other high-ranking Worm-Eaten Household surrounding Shiro had their chests swell, and their bodies underwent violent insectoid contortions!
"Self-destruct! Duke, be careful!"
A sharp roar sounded, and that Worm-Eaten Household suddenly exploded, spraying foul-smelling blood everywhere, attempting to directly implant the live insect eggs carried within its organs onto the Duke!
"Seeking death."
Edmund roared in anger, his battle aura instantly covering his entire body like a steel wall, scorching and viscous, forcibly sealing off the breach and forcefully suppressing the parasitic impact outside his body.
Another Worm-Eaten Household seized the opportunity to pounce from behind, its mouthparts agape, attempting to tear open the Duke’s faceplate and forcibly inject parasites.
"Go to hell." freeweɓnovel.cøm
But Edmund’s battle aura erupted, and he swept his great hammer backhand, flattening the entire upper half of that Worm-Eaten Household with a resounding crash, splattering sticky insect flesh everywhere, leaving no bone fragments behind.
Yet another Worm-Eaten Household attacked, leaping into the air!
"Clang!"
He raised his arm to block, then slammed his hammer into the ground, the shockwave causing the underground ice veins to resonate. In an instant, the subterranean crystals shattered, and the explosive impact sent the Worm-Eaten Household flying back ten zhang, smashing it beneath the ice layer, unable to move.
"It’s time to end this."
He raised his great hammer again, locking onto Shiro’s body, which was preparing to charge.
Although the latter was unconscious, he was as persistent in battle as a blood-sacrificed remnant soul.
"Shiro, truly 丑陋."
Edmund gazed at the distorted face that still bore a "sad smile," and stomped his foot, causing the entire battlefield to tremble!
The ice shattered, snow mist swirled, and all remaining Worm-Eaten Household were forcibly dragged towards him!
And he leaped high, his Sky Hammer descending like a meteor. free𝑤ebnovel.com
"End it!"
Boom!!
Where the hammer fell, ice cracked for a hundred feet, and light engulfed everything.
Shiro’s corpse was completely shattered by this attack, his head pulverized, his axe handle broken, and his flesh and broken armor scattered into a sky full of ice crystals, as if the tragedy had completely ended here.
The other high-ranking Worm-Eaten Household, seeing their leader fall, charged again like trapped beasts, attempting to die with Edmund.
The Duke’s battle aura surged, standing like an unyielding cold mountain at the center of the battlefield.
"You shall not pass!" he roared, then swept his great hammer in a wide arc, smashing everything that dared to approach.
But this slaughter was far from over.
Shiro’s corpse was shattered, but the furious tide from the Mother Nest was still spreading.
The Worm-Eaten Household was endless!
Beyond the horizon, dense swarms of insects, like a mountain collapse and a snowstorm, pressed forward in layers, utterly fearless.
They had no emotions, no fear, only constant advance and constant devouring.
"They’re endless—" Edmund gasped for breath, his gaze still firm.
He smashed another high-ranking Worm-Eaten Household that charged at him; that thing might have been a Northern Knight in its former life.
Its movements were agile, and its battle techniques were strange, but under the crushing force of the hammer face and battle aura, it was instantly blown to pieces, its broken remains flying into the ice lake.
Another Worm-Eaten Household ambushed him from behind, but he backhanded it, smashing it in half.
Yet another descended from the sky, its mouthparts open, spitting out silk and corrosive venom.
"Shut up."
His battle aura surged, and he exploded with a hammer blow, responding to all distortions with violence.
However, Edmund knew full well that he, too, had a limit.
These Worm-Eaten Household were like a tide surging from hell; for every one killed, ten, a hundred more would continue to pounce.
And he was already feeling his arms ache and his breathing become erratic.
Though his battle aura could still be maintained, old injuries were throbbing, and the wound from the axe blade was burning and stinging, as if something was twisting inside him.
He couldn’t fight anymore.
He had to retreat.
Not for himself, but to allow the remaining knights to survive.
"Retreat to Frost Halberd City," he ordered in a deep voice.
"Duke—!"
"Silence, obey orders."
Several Elite Knights, enduring, cut down several Worm-Eaten Household, then retreated as commanded.
Edmund, meanwhile, swept his great hammer again, clearing a bloody path for the rear.
He was so exhausted from killing that he could barely stand. With one hand, he grabbed the neck of an attacking Worm-Eaten Household, ripped it off, and threw it into a snowdrift.
With the other hand, he held his hammer, standing like an iron tower, covering the rear.
Only when everyone had retreated into Frost Halberd City did he slowly fall back, covered in blood, battle aura surging, and at the last moment before the city gate closed, he turned and leaped into the shadow of the city wall.
Boom!
The heavy iron gate fell, isolating the roaring, pouncing Worm-Eaten Household outside.
However, a single city wall could not stop this apocalyptic tide.
The Worm-Eaten Household commanded by the Mother Nest showed no signs of retreat, still rushing towards Frost Halberd City in endless waves.
They understood no tactics, but they understood one thing: destruction.
"Activate the Cold Vein Fortress."
With a command, Frost Halberd City’s seventeen Magic Fortresses suddenly activated, the Frostflame Reactor roared to life, and an ice-blue energy net spread from the city center, extending to the fortress spires, instantly awakening the ancient veins buried underground.
Frost Crystal patterns flowed across the surface like ice snakes, activating the entire city’s magic system, responding to the surging Worm-Eaten Household with extreme cold!
"Fire!!"
The Frost Halberd catapults also activated, and Chillcrystal Magic Burst Roundss, carrying white-blue flames, cut across the sky with sharp whistles, trailing icy contrails, and slammed into the sea of insects!
Boom! Boom!! Boom boom boom!!!
Every impact on the ground was an explosion of an ice crystal storm.
Mother Nest limbs exploded, Worm-Eaten Household blood froze, and poisonous mist instantly solidified into frost—
The originally swift and unstoppable charge was forcibly broken in rhythm by the double assault of ice veins and Magic Bomb!
Several Mother Nests that had not yet completed incubation were blown apart in mid-air, their eggs scattered, turning into crystalline residue in the ice mist;
Low-ranking Worm-Eaten Household rolled like waves, batch after batch blown away, frozen, and shattered, piling up a thick layer of charred Worm-Eaten Household ice slag on the ground.
And the Doomsday Mother Nest, far away, quietly writhed, seemingly enraged by this fierce counterattack.
But beneath Frost Halberd’s ice veins, the Worm-Eaten Household was finally halted, still clinging to life.
