Chapter 734: Melee

The biting wind was like sharp blades slicing across everyone’s face, piercing them with a bone-deep chill.

One after another, ice spikes glinting with cold light rained down from the sky, targeting the Dragon Scale cultivators.

"Watch out!"

"Phase shields, full power!" Iron Frenzy slapped the rhombus device on his chest plate. A pale blue energy screen instantly enveloped him. The impact from the ice spike hurled him four or five meters away.

As he tumbled through the snow, he glimpsed two teammates who hadn’t activated their shields in time. Ice spikes pierced their bodies, encasing them in thick frost. Even their blood froze solid, turning them into ice sculptures.

"Fuck..." Iron Frenzy’s expression changed as he pointed at the frost shaman riding the Abyssal dragon. "Focus fire on that giant caster!"

Hearing the command, the Dragon Scale cultivators swapped to explosive bolt rifles, loading armor-piercing rounds designed for large monsters, and opened fire on the looming figure in the snowstorm.

"Bang!"

The gunfire was lost in the howling wind. Muzzle sparks flashed as alloy-tipped rounds burst forth, streaking toward the shaman.

But ice formed midair into a thick wall. Shards flew, and the bullets embedded into the ice, becoming one with it.

Taking advantage of the cover fire, Iron Frenzy rushed to the frozen comrades and activated their armor’s emergency systems.

Instantly, searing energy surged through their bodies. The frost melted, blood flowed again, and their hearts and lungs resumed function. The Dragon Scale cultivators were revived.

This was the vitality of a Dragon Scale cultivator—after Imperial biotech enhancements, even a destroyed heart wouldn’t stop them from fighting.

Unless tossed into a meat grinder or chopped into tiny bits, they would soon rise again, nightmares to their enemies.

Amidst the snowstorm, the Frost Shaman seemed to notice these "insects." Even a glance from over a kilometer away sent chills down their spines.

"Ignorant mortals! You know nothing of Lord Kostchtchie’s might!" The shaman arrogantly raised his staff. Blizzards howled.

"Crush these insects!"

"For the glory of Lord Kostchtchie!"

The Tanarukk Frost Giants roared with fury, hammers and spears in hand. Their charge shook the ground.

Abyssally corrupted, they were even larger than normal frost giants, ten meters tall, like moving snow mountains.

"Die, worms!"

One giant raised his massive hammer and smashed it toward Iron Frenzy.

"Boom!"

The hammer hit the ground hard, scattering snow and ice. Iron Frenzy rolled aside nimbly.

Using the mist for cover, he leapt seven or eight meters into the air and slashed his vibrosword at the giant’s neck.

"Shraaaaak!"

The vibrating blade cut cleanly through the giant’s throat. Filthy black blood sprayed.

"A mere insect... how...?!"

The giant clutched its neck in disbelief before collapsing in a gush of blood.

"For the Emperor!"

Iron Frenzy stood atop the fallen behemoth, raising his sword triumphantly.

"Damn it! That insect killed Drek!"

"Get him! Smash him flat!"

Several giants charged in from all sides, eyes blazing with rage.

"Whoosh!"

A ten-meter spear flew through the air. Iron Frenzy rolled to dodge.

It stabbed deep into the snow, shaking loose clouds of dust and ice.

"Fucking ambush?!" Iron Frenzy cursed.

"Frenzy! We’re here!"

More Dragon Scale cultivators arrived, raising explosive rifles and aiming at the giants.

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang!"

Gunfire ripped through the storm. Armor-piercing rounds tore through thick skin, turning guts into mush. Blood sprayed from gaping holes in several giants.

"No—"

"Impossible!"

The giants howled and collapsed, kicking up snowy gusts.

"Take this!" Vice-captain Chen Yan leapt from the side, his shoulder-mounted plasma cannon blasting a glowing sphere.

"Boom!"

Half a giant’s body vaporized. The rest toppled into an icy fissure, triggering a hundred-meter lava geyser.

"Tried to ambush me, huh?"

Iron Frenzy calmly raised his rifle and fired at a distant giant.

"Bang!"

The round pierced its forehead from hundreds of meters away. Brain matter burst, skull fragments flying meters.

Iron Frenzy blew the smoke off his rifle. "Try sneaking up again, asshole."

With full cybernetic upgrades, these cultivators were nearly as strong as mini-bosses.

When the Vitas Dragon Scale cultivators worked in sync, they rivaled legendary warriors, standing among the Empire’s elite.

In minutes, their twelve-man squad had killed over thirty giants. Corpses piled like snow-covered hills.

"For Lord Kostchtchie! Kill them at all costs!" the giants howled.

Countless lesser demons from the Iron Glacier roared and charged, forming an avalanche of chaos.

"Captain, there’s too many! Should we fall back?" Chen Yan asked anxiously.

"Alright." Iron Frenzy nodded solemnly. "Vulcan, activate the teleport array."

Their power armor had one-use dimensional gates that allowed instant retreat.

Watching the endless wave, Iron Frenzy grinned. "We’ve already made our gains. Let’s bounce!"

But his smile froze. It didn’t work.

They were surrounded, the portal unresponsive. Demons closed in like a flood.

"Boom!"

Iron Frenzy blasted a Quasit apart. "Yo, where’s the portal?!"

Vulcan crushed a fear demon’s head. "Abyssal interference. We can’t cast. We have to break out."

"Why the fuck didn’t you say so earlier?!"

Iron Frenzy jumped, stabbing a frost spider demon through the head. Toxic goo exploded.

More demons swarmed, including towering frost giants. Even the cultivators were starting to buckle.

One man couldn’t fight ten thousand—and they were outnumbered a thousandfold.

"Fuck! I can’t hold out!" Chen Yan cut down three Quasits, then skewered a Vrock without turning.

His armor was cracked, his chainsword blood-soaked and dull.

"Just hold on! At least get our money’s worth!" Iron Frenzy blasted a hole in another giant.

But he winced.

As Vitas Dragon Scale cultivators, dying meant losing EXP and spending tons of gold to reconstruct their bodies.

"Worm! You defy Lord Kostchtchie’s will!"

"Avernus will be ours! For the Abyss!"

The swarm intensified. Iron Frenzy struggled as three giants charged, hammers raised.

He tried to dodge, but a dozen demons grabbed him.

"Motherf—"

He broke free, but the hammer smashed his chest.

"BOOM!"

He flew thirty meters, blood spraying. His chest plate shattered.

He crashed into a boulder, forming a crater, bloodied and battered.

"Eat him!"

The demons snarled and leapt, drooling.

"Hahaha! Tear him apart!"

The three giants charged too, shaking the earth.

"Frenzy!"

"Shit! I’m surrounded!"

The others tried to help, but were overwhelmed.

Iron Frenzy lay in the rock pit, barely conscious, full of unwillingness.

Was this his first death as a Dragon Scale cultivator?

And to be mobbed by trash mobs?

He rose, shaking off rubble, gripping his sword. Ready to fight to the end.

Then came a shriek from above—like Death’s call.

"What the..."

Iron Frenzy looked up.

Dozens of crimson silhouettes streaked across the sky, trailing flames—the Crimson Scaled Conquerors!

Their wyverns dived, dropping bomb after bomb.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM! BOOM!"

Hundreds of demons vaporized. Nothing remained.

Even the arrogant frost giants turned to ash.

"Yo, isn’t that the famous Iron Frenzy?"

Singo mocked from above.

Then came Mantou’s smug voice: "Getting your ass kicked by low-tier demons? Armor in pieces?"

Iron Frenzy snapped, "You know nothing! I was soloing three giants!

Lu Bu vs. Three Heroes! Get it?!"

But the conquerors flew off, prepping another dive. No one heard him.

Iron Frenzy stomped the ground angrily.

A Quasit pounced.

"You want more?!"

He smashed it, then pounded it into pulp.

The demon was reduced to a bloody mess.

Suddenly, heat surged behind him, clashing with the frost shaman’s storm. Clouds rolled in, moisture thick.

He turned to see Misha leading twelve Dragon Pact Warlock onto the battlefield.

Clad in crimson-gold robes, they hovered mid-air, golden eyes burning.

"Wings of flame, scales of wrath, molten gaze, roar of fire!"

They chanted ancient Draconic incantations, unleashing golden energy—a power granted by the Emperor himself.

Scorching winds swept the land. Ice melted. Half the sky turned fiery orange.

"Frost Shaman?" Misha sneered at the distant giant. "Before our master’s might, you’ll burn to ash."

Farther out, the Dragon Pact Warlock marched like a moving fortress, their will ascending. Behind them, massive red dragon phantoms appeared.

<< Note: I will change Dragon Pact Sorcerer to Dragon Pact Warlock because the source of the class’s power is a contract with the hero. I apologize for the mistake previously. I did not know the difference between the two classes.>>