Novel Full Chapter 919: The Realm of Ice Elves (17)
Chapter 919: The Realm of Ice Elves (17)
The ground beneath them trembled as a deep, rumbling roar echoed through the icy canyon. Shards of frozen rock cascaded from the jagged cliffs above. The ice elves fell back in reverence, their once-murderous fury replaced by a reverent stillness. Then, the glacier itself cracked apart, and from the abyss rose the Ravine Leviathan—a creature of ancient terror, its serpentine form stretching endlessly into the frost-laden sky. Its body was a fortress of frozen scales, each one jagged and glistening like massive spears of ice. Massive spines lined its ridged back, mist curling from its nostrils as it exhaled an arctic storm.
The party barely had time to react before the leviathan struck. It moved with impossible speed for a creature of its size, its colossal tail whipping through the air like a battering ram.
Orion planted his feet, shifting his stance wide, just as the tail came crashing toward him. With a roar, he activated Blood Sacrifice, channeling the pain of the battlefield into sheer, unrelenting might. His muscles bulged with unnatural power as he raised his blade in a two-handed grip, bringing it down in a diagonal arc to meet the beast’s strike. The force of the impact split the ice beneath him, sending jagged cracks outward as he absorbed the shock, redirecting it through his Battlefield Mastery to keep his balance.
The leviathan reared back, its glowing blue eyes narrowing, and it unleashed a torrent of ice breath, freezing everything in its path. Orion twisted his body, shifting his center of gravity, and then slammed his foot down, sending a shockwave of crimson energy bursting outward, shattering the encroaching frost before it could fully encapsulate him. He followed up with a sweeping arc of his blade, slicing through the thick ice fog to carve a deep gash along the beast’s side.
Findir vanished into the storm of ice and shadow, his form flickering in and out of existence as he activated Presence Erasure. While Orion held the Leviathan’s focus, Findir capitalized on the opening, zigzagging through the blizzard of flying debris with supernatural speed. He kicked off a protruding ledge of ice, launching himself toward the beast’s underbelly.
As the leviathan’s claws came down, Findir anticipated the movement, rolling mid-air and contorting his body to slip through the gaps between the creature’s talons. The moment he landed, he drove his twin daggers into the softer tissue beneath its scales, activating Void Dagger Coating to send waves of corrosive shadow energy into the wound.
The leviathan bellowed in fury, thrashing violently. Findir reacted instantly, pushing off the beast’s underbelly just as it rolled its massive bulk, barely dodging a spine of frozen ice that erupted where he had been a moment before.
As the Leviathan shifted, its tail whipped through the air again, this time aiming for Bella and Luna. Without hesitation, Cy charged forward, Abyssal Shield raised. The sheer force of the impact sent shockwaves through his arms, but he dug his heels into the icy ground, using the momentum of the blow to slide backward rather than be knocked away. He gritted his teeth as the ice cracked beneath him, but he pushed forward against the force, redirecting the energy into a Wave of Darkness that coiled around the leviathan’s tail, momentarily locking it in place with writhing shadow tendrils.
Before the creature could break free, Cy launched forward, his Empowered Spear gleaming with abyssal energy. He drove it into the joint where the tail connected to the beast’s spine, aiming for a weak point. The spear sank deep, and Cy twisted the weapon sharply, rupturing layers of ice-coated muscle and bone. The Leviathan shrieked, its movements momentarily slowed as Cy wrenched his weapon free, flipping backward just as the beast retaliated with a massive claw.
Seeing an opening, Bella took two quick steps forward, her flaming robes swirling like a whirlwind of embers as she thrust her staff upward. Summoning the Will of Flames, she conjured a massive pillar of fire, aiming directly for the beast’s exposed injury. The inferno clashed against the ice, sending torrents of steam and boiling water bursting outward in violent explosions. The heat caused fractures to spread through the Leviathan’s hardened scales, creating weak spots for her allies to exploit.
The Leviathan retaliated with a massive swipe of its claw, but Bella twisted her body at the last moment, barely avoiding the strike. As she landed, she cast Summon: Greater Fire Spirits, calling forth two flaming beasts that immediately lunged for the Leviathan’s face, clawing and snapping at its icy flesh.
While the beast thrashed against the fire spirits, Aisa used Ghost Step, phasing through a falling shard of ice and reappearing above the Leviathan’s head. She flipped mid-air, her dagger flashing with ethereal energy as she aimed for its glowing blue eye.
Just as she descended toward the beast’s face, the Leviathan whipped its head to the side, anticipating her attack. But Aisa was faster—she twisted her body at the last second, instead sliding along the ridge of its skull, and plunging her dagger into the soft flesh beneath its eye socket. The beast let out a deafening roar, but Aisa was already gone, flipping off the creature and landing gracefully on a jagged pillar of ice.
Luna took advantage of the Leviathan’s disorientation, raising her staff high as her Illusory Magic spread across the battlefield. With a single arcane command, she created a shifting mirage—one where the beast saw hundreds of phantom warriors swarming toward it.
The Leviathan hesitated, its massive head jerking left and right, trying to track which threats were real. Luna pressed her advantage, using Nightmare Projection to manifest the Leviathan’s own fears. The beast let out a guttural screech, momentarily paralyzed by the horrors that only it could see.
Seizing the opportunity, Orion activated Blood Manipulation one last time, his body surging with crimson energy. He charged forward, his sword crackling with condensed blood magic, and slashed in a brutal, sweeping arc.
The Leviathan let out an ear-piercing shriek as Orion’s blade severed through one of its tendons, causing it to collapse onto the ice.
The Leviathan was wounded but not defeated. It coiled its massive body, preparing another devastating attack, as the ice elves began to rally once more. The party stood ready, breathing heavily, yet undeterred.
The fight was far from over.
The Ravine Leviathan, though weakened, was not slain. But as the party pressed forward, its injured body began to sink back into the ice, retreating into the abyss below. A tense silence fell over the battlefield—until the ravine walls trembled once more, this time with an eerie, pulsating rhythm.
The glacial cliffs fractured, revealing massive, crystalline nests embedded in the frozen rock. From within, chittering echoes filled the air as hundreds of glowing, insect-like creatures emerged—the Frostbound Hive had awakened. Their chitinous bodies shimmered with a layer of crystalline frost, their razor-sharp mandibles and frost-coated claws clicking hungrily.
Some of the creatures were small, darting across the battlefield like swarming locusts, while others were massive, armored brutes, their bodies encased in jagged ice plating. Above, winged drones with needle-like stingers flitted through the blizzard, preparing to rain down deadly bursts of freezing venom.
The party tightened formation, knowing that a swarm this large could overwhelm them if they lost control of the battlefield.
Orion planted his stance, his sword glinting with battle-worn steel. As the first wave of Frostbound Drones dove at him, their razor-sharp claws slashing for his throat, Orion twisted his body, shifting just out of reach before slamming his armored forearm into the nearest creature’s face, sending it crashing into the ice.
Before it could heal, he drove his blade down in a abrupt executioner’s strike, cleaving the drone in half.
Three more rushed toward him, but Orion wasn’t caught off guard. He dipped low, pivoting on his back foot, and whipped his sword around in a wide arc, cutting through their legs and sending them toppling. As they screeched, he followed up with a brutal knee strike to the head of one, caving in its skull.
More creatures poured from the hive, and Orion knew they had to control the choke points before the swarm became uncontrollable.
"Form up! Don’t let them split us apart!" he commanded, using his Battlefield Mastery to guide his team’s movements.
Findir vanished into the chaos, his Wind Manipulation carrying him through the battlefield like a whisper. He leapt off a jagged ice spire, using the height advantage to rain down a pair of Void-Coated Daggers. The blades struck true, embedding into the backs of two hive sentries, their bodies disintegrating into shadowed frost.
A Frostbound Brute charged at him, its towering bulk smashing through the ice, swinging massive, bladed arms coated in a layer of spiked chitin. Findir waited for the exact moment before impact, then twisted his body sideways, narrowly avoiding the razor-thin slice. As he landed, he spun low, slicing across the creature’s Achilles tendon before flipping backward onto a ledge.