Chapter 206: [206] To Keep Warm (1)

A group of monsters were sitting in front of a large cave with ice spikes poking out of the ceiling.

The bear-like beasts had thick, white, furry coats layered with ice, and although everything else was frozen solid, these monsters were all very much alive and warm.

One of the monsters waddled up to a tree, and with a swipe of its claw split it in half, just before biting into its interior, the warmth of its maw thawing the ice and allowing the juicy, well preserved core of the tree to slide down its throat.

The monsters were going about their lives as usual, when a mop of messy hair suddenly peaked up from behind a frozen bush.

The hair began moving hurriedly, steadily approaching the monsters.

??

Having lived in a forest mostly devoid of life, the monsters were beyond shocked. The first one glanced at its neighbor, and the monster gave him the same shocked look.

Pop!

??!!

The head of an Ork popped out from behind the bush, his eyes sweeping the area.

"Where are they? Huh? Oh! There they are, the bird girl was right!" Dark laughed—

Then his eyes went wide, and his throat dry as he realised the monsters were giving him strange looks.

"..."

"..."

’How is this possible?!’ His cover had been flawless! There should have been no way for them to see him—

RAWR!!

The first monster roared, alerting the others, and barely two seconds later, Dark had more than fifty pairs of eyes locked on him.

Dark had always been large, but staring at monsters that were the size of tanks was humbling.

[Threat detected! Frost Bears, Level 30 x 53!]

"What was the damn plan again?!" He screamed out loud as he jumped to his feet, just as the first monster began to charge.

"Oh, yeah!" Dark finally remembered what Ark’s plan had been.

He turned around in the other direction, and then he ran!

"Damn it! These fuckers are faster than they look!" Dark swore to god that if he got eaten, he would make sure to come back to life just to haunt Ark!

The forest blew past him in blurry shades of icy blue, the snow chilled his feet, down to his bones.

And even with so much exertion, not even a drop of sweat slid down his face.

But not sweating did not mean all was going well. The air felt like needles in his lungs, and since his body was burning energy just to keep him from freezing, Dark found himself slowing down barely a minute later.

"Shit!"

The nearest monster lunged, its fingers inches away from grazing his back, and then suddenly, Dark dashed to the side, only to vanish behind a tree.

"Over here you overgrown possums! You want a meal? Come get it!" Ragnar roared, drawing the attention of every single one of the bears.

They snarled at him, and gave chase, Dark long forgotten as Ragnar ran in the opposite direction from them.

His footsteps were being cushioned by the soft snow, and yet each one thundered in his heart and ears.

’Will his plan work?’ Ragnar thought as he considered their options.

Fighting in the cold would have been the worst idea they could have conceived, so Ark had come up with a plan to lessen their burden...

But Raganar was unsure of the plan. If Ark was not the default leader, he would have firmly objected the moment he suggested it.

"Come on, move faster you beasts! I’ve seen gazelle with quicker feet!" Ragnar baited the monsters.

He zigzagged his way through the trees to confuse and demoralise his pursuers, but this only seemed to irk them further.

They finally caught up, but like last time, just as the monsters slashed their paws at the back of his neck, their maws wide open to sink into his flesh... he dashed to the side, and just like Dark, disappeared into the forest.

The bears tried to search for him, sniffing the air, but large wings suddenly fanned out at the other side of the forest.

Another strange person had appeared...

"Come on." Olivia said with a wicked smile on her lips. "Don’t tell me you are tired already...?"

It had just been a couple of minutes, there had been three different types of meat that day...

The monsters did not know if they were to celebrate or laud the development.

RAWRRRRR!!!

A bear’s maw vibrated as it screamed out in unfettered rage, spittle dripping down its lip and froth forming between its teeth.

’It looks like his plan is working,’ Olivia thought as she stared at the monsters, her mind going back to the conversation they had a few moments ago.

—

"The plan is simple." Ark stared at the forest, before turning his attention to them. "We need to find a way to fight the cold, and the only viable way is to get fur coats..."

"A fur coat?" Ragnar stroked his jaw, deep in contemplation. "You are right, but how are we supposed to get one? Anything that is able to survive in this wasteland is bound to be much stronger than a typical monster of its level."

"Can we really beat them while fighting the cold?"

Ark shook his head. "That, I do not know." He paused briefly before he continued. "But I guess it is a good thing we are not going to be confronting them for long... eh?"

Dark scratched his head, completely confused by what Ark had said. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"It’s simple. Listen up, you’re going to have to follow this plan to a T..."

—

Olivia suddenly unleashed a gust of wind that catapulted her into the air.

"We will start with their slowest person..."

Olivia recalled the plan in her head.

"Then we will alternate from player to player to conserve our energy..."

She cut through the trees like a bullet, snow flying past her face, the bears hot on her tail.

"And finally, the run would end with the fastest person in our group." Ark turned to glance at her. "That is you... Olivia."

The cutting wind caused her hair to violently billow in the wind, some of the frozen strands scattering around her face.

"This plan is not just to tire out the monsters. We need to lead them to a specific spot."

"There it is!" Olivia screamed out in relief, noticing a region of the floor marked with a simple branch.

She cut right past it, raised her wings like a parachute to land behind the cycle, and then planted her feet down, her alloy foot wear and talons digging a deep groove into the floor as she pulled to a stop.

VWOOOSH!!

Olivia turned around, only to see a large claw slicing towards her face. The snow was still pouring out of its thick fur, and the claw glinted in the sun like black silver.

The strike was more than enough to rip out her head...

But Olivia did not move an inch away from where she stood. She simply gave the bear a tired look, just as its claw came at her.

And then in the very last moment—

"Grand Barrier!" Cici appeared from behind a mound of snow, planting her staff into the floor.

Suddenly, a large, transparent brown shield appeared all around the bears, its surface swirling like wisps of gas.

Clash!

The bear’s claws bounced off it, creating sparks as they made contact with the wall, but doing little to no damage.

They had all been trapped.

"Perfect, how absolutely perfect."

Up above, watching the bears struggle to escape, Ark hung in the air as though it was the most natural thing in the world, his staff already pulsing with black lightning.

"No hard feelings, guys." Ark said with sarcasm in his voice.

"This will be a learning experience for you all. Strange women will lead you to your ruin."