"Soone tell anything, I’ll believe it."
"Is this really an Earth creature?"
At the mont Ronald witnessed the scene, this was the thought that flashed through his mind.
The creature that launched an attack on the two below possessed a crystalline and angular structural form. Its body, nearly a ter in length, was made entirely of pure, icicle-like material, whether it was the torso or limbs.
Even at the core of this thing’s torso, there was a red, core-like sphere.
Anyone who saw this creature for the first ti,
would realize that this wasn’t a being nurtured by nature, but rather more akin to a monster encountered in a fantasy ga.
And under everyone’s watchful eye,
the monster drove its sharp, icicle-like limbs forcefully into the center of a person below.
Snap—
The sound of impact echoed off the ice walls, accompanied by the spraying of bright red blood, as the expedition team mber, clad in much equipnt, was then struck with trendous force against the icy layer nearby.
Under this monster’s attack, swift and nearly silent,
the attacked person had no chance to react at all and was pinned motionless on the spot.
—Now looking back at the team above,
even Ared, the rcenary who was positioned at the front and quickest to respond, had only just drawn his firearm and hadn’t even aid his muzzle at the creature.
And seeing the position of the wound and the person’s reaction...
Common sense had already made the judgnt—this man was probably beyond saving.
At that mont, the situation beca increasingly pressing.
Above the ice, there was a blue beast pack that had been chasing them from the outside; looking below, there was a single, equally ruthless and dangerous, bizarre creature.
Danger lay both above and below.
They were trapped in an isolated spot with no support, and escaping unhard seed as difficult as scaling the heavens!
Bang bang bang—
At this ti, Airen, who had drawn his firearm, began shooting at the ice-like creature below.
The bullets reached their target in a blink of an eye from not too far away.
The bullets hit the creature, and the hard projectile instantly shattered its icy body, which then exploded into crystal-like fragnts.
Finally, carrying the human corpse it had pinned to the ice crystal, the remnants of both trailed a long sar of blood before plumting deeper into the icy depths.
"Anger..."
At the sa ti, a voice of reluctance and panic ca through the communication.
It was with this shout that Ronald confird that the mber of the expedition nad Anger had been fatally attacked by the ice creature, and the man who had managed to survive this critical situation was another nad Drat.
However, faced with the outco of his own shots,
Airen’s current mood had deteriorated to an extre point.
Whether it was his responsibility as a rcenary to protect these people or the promise he had made about safely leading the team away from the base, both had t with failure in front of the cold, uncaring truth.
Moreover...
Even if today he successfully led a few people to escape from this environnt alive,
Ared would not face a good outco dealing with either his own mother company or the company that had submitted the hiring request.
After all, as a contracted rcenary.
He had survived, but his charges had t with death.
"Tch..."
Airen couldn’t help but click his tongue.
Slightly adjusting his mindset, he began to adjust the pulley to continue descending, approaching the position of the last survivor, Drat.
Suddenly faced with this situation,
and moreover, having just witnessed a companion from his earlier activities die before his eyes,
Without much thought,
Airen was sure that Drat was probably now unable to operate the equipnt himself and co back up to their side.
```
However, it was this very action
that made Ared fully realize the situation was more troubleso than he had imagined.
As he descended, the ’crackle’ sound amplified by the pickup earphone appeared again. Airen turned his head, directing the light on top of his helt toward the lower parts of the ice cave.
Swipe—
The light shone down.
Airen saw the ice crystal creature that had just been shot down had sohow regenerated its body and was now climbing back up!
And this ti, it was different from the previous simple stealth hunting.
The creature, having been shot, moved even more violently, its speed climbing the ice walls greatly increased!
The scene below was also witnessed by the team mbers above.
As soone with unique information access, Ronald once again grasped the gravity of the situation.
—This was definitely a test of survival from the original trials!
If they didn’t find a way to survive now, being slaughtered by this thing later was almost a foregone conclusion.
Looking up slightly, Ronald’s gaze imdiately fell upon the circular ice path one level above.
This ice tunnel, built around the entire huge ice lake, was absolutely the only chance for survival at the mont—they had to seize the opportunity now!
"Go, escape upwards quickly!"
Ronald did not hesitate for even a second.
While calling out to his teammates, he also imdiately headed towards the direction of the ice ring.
With the help of the pre-installed rope pulleys, their ascent was not slow; they soon went around a bend and entered the interior structure of the ice ring.
—Apart from the lighting on Ronald and the others.
—There were other sources of light in the ice ring.
Previous explorers had not overlooked such an obvious place; therefore, at intervals, they had inserted specially made long-lasting glow lamps into the ice ring walls.
Although it wasn’t enough to make the place completely bright,
with the ice layer structure in mind, the lighting was not so poor that one couldn’t see the path clearly.
Pop—pop—
"No, don’t!"
At that mont, two gunshots were heard from the ice tunnel behind them, followed by Drat’s panicked shouts over the communication line.
"Ah—"
Almost in the blink of an eye,
Drat’s cries of desperate pain filled the communication channel.
In the cold silence of the communication, his was the only voice, further reflecting the despair of the situation.
A few seconds passed.
Panting, Airen’s voice once again ca through the communication:
"This thing can’t be killed with guns!"
"You guys go on, I’ll blow this up!"
Ronald and the others exchanged looks.
The current situation didn’t allow for further hesitation, so they had no choice but to turn and continue deeper into the icy ring.
Boom—
Not long after, a loud explosion erupted behind them.
Whatever explosive Airen had used, they could even feel the vibration of the ice blocks at their location!
"..."
As ti went on,
Airen caught up with the fleeing team, jogging.
The rcenary now couldn’t even maintain a facade of a decent expression, his face collapsed in utter despair as he said:
"No good, I simply couldn’t save him in ti."
"That thing, as soon as it touches the ice, seems able to use the ice chunks to repair its shattered body, regular guns are no use at all!"
```
User Comments
0 comments from readers