They bore a resemblance to both men and apes, with arms disproportionately long! Towering in stature, they possessed inexhaustible strength, utterly brutal and bloodthirsty! Years of natural evolution had taught them to wield simple, crude weaponry. The wooden spears clutched in their hands, along with the massive axes hafted with stone heads, delivered terrifying lethality under the force of their immense power!
Compounding this danger, they roamed the snowfields in packs, making them one of the most perilous creatures on the Snowfield Continent! ————《The Origin—Tales of the Snowfield》
However, before we could even catch a breath of relief!
Suddenly, an overwhelming wave of killing intent surged around us, crashing down like a monstrous tidal wave! This was immediately followed by bursts of coarse, guttural roars!
Accompanying the roars was a violent tremor that shook the very earth, causing it to heave incessantly! It was as if an army of thousands had suddenly charged upon us!
Ah! Something was approaching at incredible speed! And it was closing in from all directions!
Mò Huī and I were struck dumb with shock!
Soon, a vast, tide-like expanse of grey shadows flooded the area! A dense, uncountable mass—at least a thousand of them!
Roar!
The Mammoth King let out a frantic bellow, sounding deeply anxious! Uneasy!
Ah!
What sort of monsters were these! Their speed was astonishing! Furthermore!
They towered a good half a head taller than the Giant Apes we had just faced!
Their sheer height reached an astonishing five meters! Their general shape was humanoid, but their massively long arms bore a striking resemblance to the Giant Apes!
Even more terrifying, they were wielding long, thick spears and crude weapons resembling axes bound with stone!
Almost the instant they appeared!
We heard the sharp swoosh… swoosh… as dozens of spears shot out like lightning bolts!
Ah! Such incredible speed!
I gasped in alarm!
The Mammoth King roared wildly, launching itself into a massive leap, swiftly evading the barrage!
The spent spears whistled as they buried themselves deep into the thick trunks of the surrounding snow pines!
They emitted a deep, resonant humming as they vibrated!
The shafts of the spears still shook violently!
Good heavens! What terrifying force! In that single exchange, I broke out in a cold sweat!
If I had been impaled by even one of those, I doubted even the defense of the Thunder Battle Armor could have withstood it!
Almost simultaneously with the failed spear throw! A dozen massive bodies charged forward like living cannonballs!
Amidst their frenzied roars! A dozen oversized stone axes, sounding like thunder, smashed down towards our heads!
"Get back!"
At this point, I could no longer afford to hold anything back!
The Dou Qi inside me erupted instantly. The Tyrant's Blade traced a path, unleashing a silver-bright crescent of sword energy that swept outward!
CRACK! BANG! THUD! A cascade of roaring impacts! The outward-sweeping crescent accurately intercepted the stone axes and long spears smashing down overhead! The violent shockwave from the Dou Qi explosion blasted them soaring far into the distance!
Seizing that brief window, the Mammoth King, carrying me, swiftly retreated!
I didn't have time to truly contemplate what manner of monsters these terrifying beings were!
But I could clearly see that these creatures possessed not only astonishing speed and terrifying strength but also highly refined combat skills!
Even more frightening was their masterful coordinated tactical fighting, fully leveraging their numerical advantage! While I was engaged!
They had completely surrounded the Mammoth King, Mò Huī, and me!
Mò Huī on the other side was faring disastrously! If he hadn't reacted quickly enough!
He would have been riddled with holes in that first exchange!
"Get up here quickly!" I knew that to break through their encirclement, we needed to utilize the sheer speed and impact force of the giant creature!
"Yes!"
Taking advantage of the momentary retreat of a dozen monsters I had forced back! Mò Huī vaulted onto the Mammoth King’s back, positioning himself right behind me!
"Charge through!" I roared!
Roar!
The Mammoth King responded with a thunderous bellow! Its majestic body exploded into motion, charging forward like lightning! I relied on the same tactic as before!
Condensing my profound Dou Qi into the Tyrant's Blade, transforming it into a massive, long sword of pure energy, I swept it out!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The dazzling white band of light looked like a frantic, dancing dragon!
It sliced through the layers of indistinct figures without obstruction!
BOOM! Every monster blocking the path was either shattered into fragments or blasted flying far away!
In the blink of an eye, I carved a massive gap in the front lines!
The Mammoth King's speed instantly surged to its maximum, rocketing towards the opening like a projectile!
Just as we were about to break free of the siege!
Shhh… A blur of movement flashed! A cold killing intent suddenly surged!
A spear, thrust from an unknown angle, appeared out of thin air directly in front of my chest!
Ah! Such blinding speed!
Not even slower than the Woma Demon Lord of Darkness!
I didn't even have time to react! I could only raise my blade instinctively to block!
CLANG! BOOM!
The instant the blade met the spear, an overwhelming force surged through me!
It nearly threw me clear off the Mammoth King’s back!
Fortunately, my reaction was sharp. I instinctively clenched my legs inward, gripping the Mammoth King’s body tightly, preventing myself from being tossed off!
Then, with a sudden burst of power! The Tyrant's Blade, locking onto the spear, abruptly wrenched upward! Forcing the sudden spear aside!
ROAR! ROAR! Amidst furious bellows, a massive figure was swept away like a kite!
Only then did I clearly see the assailant: the creature wore actual armor, and the spear it held was forged of iron!
It was clearly the leader of this monstrous contingent!
However, he had been blasted away by the sudden impact of my burst!
But the Mammoth King was also forced to halt momentarily by that terrifying impact!
Yet, in that single instant of hesitation!
The gap we had just blasted open was instantly sealed by the creatures again!
"Damn it, such rapid adaptation," I fretted. "Big guy, jump over them."
Roar!
Though two decades had passed since we last met, the understanding between the giant beast and me remained perfectly synchronized!
The Mammoth King answered with a rough roar, and its surging body suddenly leaped, rising over ten meters into the air, shooting upwards like a cannonball!
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Yet, dozens of afterimages shot through the air from all directions the instant the Mammoth King launched itself!
This speed, this power, and this heart-stoppingly precise accuracy were comparable to rifle bullets! They were all aimed directly at the Mammoth King's vital areas!
"Block them!" I yelled! The massive Dou Qi sword condensed from the Tyrant's Blade swept furiously toward the spear shadows hurtling in from the front!
Mò Huī on my back simultaneously swept out a crescent, intercepting the incoming spear attacks from the rear!
THUMP… BANG…
In a series of dull impacts! The incoming spears were instantly pulverized by the Dou Qi!
The Mammoth King, like a falling star, soared over their heads!
THUD! Landing without hesitation, the Mammoth King immediately resumed its furious run!
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
Frantic, unwilling roars echoed behind us!
Those monsters were relentlessly pursuing us, and their speed was truly terrifying! Even the Mammoth King couldn't easily shake them off!
Moreover, even while running at top speed, they were still throwing spears!
A sky full of spear shadows seemed to possess eyes, relentlessly tracking the Mammoth King's movements!
Had it not been for the Mammoth King’s lightning-fast reactions, and had Mò Huī and I not been intercepting with all our strength! We would have surely been skewered like hedgehogs long ago!
With our interception allowing the Mammoth King to disregard the incoming spears, it bolted at full throttle, finally shaking off that terrifying pack of monsters!
Even so, we dared not slacken for an instant. We ran flat out for a full two hours before finally stopping!
"Damn it, we finally escaped."
"Those monsters were terrifying," Mò Huī said, still clearly shaken.
Roar! Roar! The Mammoth King also let out a few low rumbles, sounding somewhat weary!
Mò Huī and I quickly jumped down from its back!
Only now, having stopped, did we have a chance to truly see the condition of the Mammoth King!
Its entire body was drenched crimson with blood. Around it, shocking, gaping wounds were visible, interspersed with old, calloused scars!
Several pieces of tattered, ruined armor fragments hung loosely on the beast’s body!
In short, it looked utterly devastated! Extremely battered!
But I was stunned! I knew that the armor on the Mammoth King had been custom-made for it by Lu Tong; its durability was comparable to my own Heavenly Demon Battle Armor!
Yet, it was now shredded like this! And judging by the wounds on the beast, it had clearly endured countless previous pursuers, explaining the abundance of healed scars.
"Big guy, are you alright?" My heart ached with pain as I quickly pulled out healing medicine from my spatial pouch.
Roar! Roar!
The beast's roars sounded exhausted, but beneath that was an overwhelming sense of joy and excitement!
Even though twenty-five years had passed, I could sense the creature's mood now! There were even faint tears welling up in its bell-like eyes!
In all the time I had known it, this was the first time I had seen it cry!
It showed me exactly what it had endured during this time!
"It's alright, don't be afraid. From now on, I'll handle everything." I twisted open the healing potion bottle and poured the liquid into its mouth. Mò Huī also found styptic powder, bandages, tape, and water, helping to clean the beast's wounds!
Whimper! After letting out a few wronged roars, the great beast suddenly became anxious, staring intently at me, seemingly trying to convey something!
"Alright, what exactly happened?" I finally had the chance to ask the question burning in my mind!
Unfortunately, the creature couldn't speak, merely roaring anxiously.
"Is it Your Highness Xingye and the others who are in danger?" Mò Huī quickly inquired.
Whimper! The beast shook its head, then immediately nodded!
"..." I was confused about what the creature was trying to say, but I instinctively asked, "Do you know where they are?"
Woo~
The beast nodded again!
"Can you take us to them?" I forcefully suppressed the urgency in my chest. Seeing the creature's pathetic state, it was clear that Xingye Yanluo and the others must be in dire straits!
Roar! Roar!
The beast nodded repeatedly; it clearly felt the same way!
"That's wonderful." I felt a surge of relief. If the beast could lead us to them, the situation would become manageable! Still, I tried my best to remain calm.
"Can you still run?" I worried, given how badly injured the creature was.
Whimper! Whimper! The beast nodded firmly, then slowly crouched down, gesturing for us to mount it quickly!
"Then I'll have to trouble you one more time." I then turned back to Mò Huī. "You return immediately to Yin Shuang and Mo Cha."
"..." Mò Huī paused briefly, but quickly grasped my intent. "Yes, Marshal. Rest assured, I will protect them."
After the battle we just endured, we finally witnessed the true terror of the Snowfield creatures!
I also realized how foolish it had been to leave Yin Shuang and Mo Cha alone in that forest. If they encountered monsters as terrible as the ones we just fought, I couldn't begin to imagine the consequences.
While Mo Cha and Yin Shuang were certainly formidable experts in their own right, those monsters were truly overwhelming, and I couldn't be certain how many other terrifying, unseen beasts lurked on the Snowfield Continent.
One must remember that the Mammoth King was incredibly powerful!
Having not seen it for twenty-five years, I could clearly sense that the Mammoth King now was many times stronger than before. Over these years, it wasn't just Xingye Jidu who had entered the Forbidden Zone of Kings for cultivation; the Mammoth King itself had spent a full twenty years within that deadly environment. Having endured harsh training under those conditions, the Mammoth King was now vastly different from its past self.
Yet, even with its current formidable power, it had suffered such grievous injuries on the Snowfield Continent. This spoke volumes about how absolutely terrifying the creatures of this land truly were!!!