Chapter 208: [208] Playing In The Snow

A deep, guttural roar came out of the forest, causing everyone to turn in the direction of the sound.

Another growl followed, this one deeper, more chilling, and several times more primal than anything the other bears had produced thus far.

Ark hovered in the air, focusing on his eyes as his vision cleaved through the forest. And then he saw it, just as it burst out from the trees, its eyes filled with fury as it stared at the sea of red before it.

The bodies of its kin...

[Threat detected! Frost Bear Chief, Level 32 x 1!]

The chief was a mighty beast, one that was more than large enough to plant fear in the heart of anyone who came across it.

Just by brushing past the frozen trees, it bent them by the stems, causing their frozen layers to splinter as he brushed them aside like weeds.

Not only was it tall enough to body a tree, it was robust enough to crush a grown man to mush, and intelligent enough to analyze the situation before it.

The frost bear’s blue eyes gave off a soft glow, and then it opened its mouth.

Ark had expected it to growl at them like the monsters loved to do, but nothing happened for a few seconds... and then some sort of sound wave spread through the air, tingling their ears.

[Frost Bear Chief had used Heart of Winter!]

[All Frost Bears now have a thirty percent boost in all stats!]

’Thirty percent??’ Ark could not believe his eyes, and it seemed the others were equally as shocked.

Thirty percent was not the type of buff that could be tossed around casually!

All around them, more frost bears began to appear, slowly stalking towards their group, as though they had been waiting for this exact moment.

Each one had a certain madness in its eyes. They were similar to the bears they had fought earlier, but at the same time different, violent...

It was an ambush.

Every single one of them was coated in a small, transparent hum of dark energy that not just fueled their strength, but gave them just the right level of madness to transform every one of them into lethal killers.

And now, that collective bloodlust was all being channeled towards their group.

"Get ready, this is not going to be like the last battle!" Ark’s voice boomed over his party, causing them to brace themselves.

They had been able to defeat the earlier frost bears so easily because they had lured them into a trap. But now, they were out of traps, but more than abundant in enemies.

[Threat detected! Frost Bears, Level 30 x 35!]

The frost bear stood erect, its massive body raising it to a height that dwarfed a nearby tree. It stood still, watching them, likely using whatever intelligence it had between those eyes to construct its next move.

And then, with an ear-piercing screech, it sent its army barreling forward. A force of white was coming from all directions, surging forward like an avalanche of living flesh.

Ragnar hissed as his eyes darted from place to place.

He realized how big of a problem they had gotten into. If they were to make one mistake, a single mistake... there was a chance they would lose far too many people.

"I’ll handle the chief, you guys do what you can to keep those bears at—"

"Go and support the others," Ark said, cutting him off as he landed softly on the spot next to him, his azure blue armour gleaming in the morning light.

Ark stared at the monster whose body was now coated with thick, viscous mana.

"I’ll handle the big guy."

"What?" Ragnar sneered.

"I don’t think we have time to repeat answers, Ragnar..." Ark replied without taking his eyes off his foe.

"Let’s be reasonable! That is a monster leader, it is on an entirely different level!" He glanced at their team. "We need to disable its spell, we can’t waste time in killing it. We need our strongest member to—"

"More reasons why I should go." Ark glanced at him, his fiery orbs boring into his intense orange eyes.

"What?"

Ark did not need a prophet to know that Ragnar had been offended by his statement. He had basically said he was stronger than him, when Ragnar had not just ascended, but was at level forty.

But Ark had no time to nurse his wounded pride.

He raised his hand, and the hero’s blade appeared in the form of an ornate glaive with a crimson blade.

"Your attention is required here, Ragnar. Do a good job of protecting the others." He took one last glance at the weretiger, expecting him to be boiling with fury, but strangely, the man seemed calm.

He nodded, and then Ark suddenly lunged forward, leaping into the air and taking flight.

He kissed the cold atmosphere above their heads, the wind rushing sharply through his eye sockets and out of his neck, just before coming down like a meteor, two feet extended forward... right towards the bear.

BANG!

Snow blasted up into the air. The bear chief had blocked both with its hands, but the force was too much for either of them to handle.

They both crashed into the snow, tumbling several times until they crashed into the trees, sending ice shards flying into the air.

Ark got up and shook off the snow from his body, while the bear grumbled with rage as it got on all fours and charged.

Swish!

The bear was much faster than its large body suggested. One moment, Ark saw it coming, and in the next, it was already upon him.

The bear swiped at Ark’s face, but he could see everything in the most minute detail, and hear the sounds of the strike before it even came.

He took a step back, moving just an inch away as the claw cut past him, tilted his head down as another claw swipe came, then jumped into the air as the monster brought both paws down.

Bang!

The snow was blasted into Ark’s face, the floor caving open like the site of an earthquake. He hadn’t even landed when the bear’s head tore through the veil of snow, its large maw wide open to take his head, fangs dripping putrid saliva.

Ark immediately grabbed both its ears, using them to push himself back as the monster snapped its jaws, and then he swung himself towards it, driving his knee right into its jaw.

Saliva spewed out of the monster’s mouth, and its face distorted as it was catapulted back from the impact.

Its back crashed into a tree, bringing it down, and then, using it as leverage, the bear snarled and rushed forward.

"You don’t tire, do you, big guy?" Ark chuckled. He hurtled forward as well, both of them meeting in the middle.

Swish!

Ark slid through the snow to slip past a blow, and then he pushed himself back up to his feet, lashing out with his glaive and carving crimson patterns on the monster’s back.

Each strike took effort. The monster was not just using its mana to boost its strength, the veil acted as a protective layer as well!

Ark and the monster exchanged a flurry of blows, the two of them shifting through the thick snow as they tore into each other, each one wishing to vanquish the other.

The bear was strong, much stronger than Ark would have expected, but the worst part of it had to be the damn snow!

The floor was slick, meaning it was hard for him to get proper footing. The bear, on the other hand, had thick claws adapted specifically for the cold.

Ark raised his glaive, holding the shaft with both hands as the monster struck.

Booom!

A shockwave travelled down his arms and through his feet, just before he slipped on the muddy ground, a small gasp escaping his throat as the ground below him caved in.

"What the—"

Of course, the bear chieftain was more than happy to take advantage of the situation.

It lunged for Ark’s neck, maw wide open to tear off his spine during his moment of weakness.

That was its mistake...

Just as the bear came, Ark conjured a ball of [Destructive Flames] and sent it down its throat, shattering those teeth it loved to show off so much.

The monster snarled, hitting its head in panic as its maw simmered and burned. Ark righted himself in seconds, conjuring up another ball of fire, only that this time it was pitch black.

A delivery, straight from the abyss.

Swoosh—BANG!

The fire covered the monster’s entire body, engulfing it in mere seconds. But even that was not enough to bring it down. Its mana flared, locked in a tug of war with the black fire.

The bear chief must have known what would win, because it did not wait any longer. It charged right at Ark, its body still burning, its wails filling the air, and its eyes filled with rage.

Ark drew a foot back. He focused his senses, every single atom in his body aimed towards the task in front of him...

The elephant-sized flaming bear desperate to pull him along with it to hell.

Lightning pulsed around Ark’s body, caressing his glaive and causing it to tremble in his hands.

The moment the bear got within a meter of him, it was over...

There was a flash of steel. Ark stepped past the monster, and it stumbled forward a few steps with a growl.

But once it turned around to regard him, a crimson line appeared, coming down from the very top of its head to its midsection.

Splash!

Hot blood spewed into the air, accompanied by a burst of lightning, melting snow as the two parts collapsed with a wet thump.

Ark looked up to see Ragnar staring at him from the distance, his face impassive and cold.

[You have slain a level 32 Frost Bear Chief! +30 EXP]

They had wrapped things up at their end as well. Good. Ark noticed that apart from Ragnar, everyone else had been injured and was now receiving treatment. Thankfully, no one was dead.

"Round up the bears and strip them of their hide..." Ark said as he walked away, his eyes locked on Ragnar, fresh blood still dripping from his glaive...