Chapter 126

When people saw him again, he was on the back of a frost behemoth—behind a bandit from the Ice Plains.

"The target of my prank was you." Chen Ce, who had broken his stealth after teleporting, revealed a bright smile.

The next moment, the giant scythe in his hand flashed by—accompanied by a blinding red light.

Blood splattered high, contrasting sharply with Rhaast's crimson single eye.

Puff...!

Poof.

The sound of the head hitting the snow was muffled and soft, like landing on a ball of cotton.

But the gushing blood was so glaring, like a pool of warm jam spilled on white sugar.

"...?" There was another bandit on the back of the ice behemoth, but he was clearly terrified.

Before he could utter a sound, the bloodthirsty giant scythe slashed across his neck.

Another head fell onto the snow.

Chen Ce would show no mercy to these villains whom everyone condemns.

"Damn it! He's a sorcerer!!" a bandit on the back of a giant ice beast exclaimed in alarm.

And these were his last words.

Chen Ce leaped onto the back of the giant ice beast and landed lightly there—along with the giant scythe in his hand.

Swish!

With this scythe strike, not only was the bandit cleaved in two, but the giant ice beast beneath him was also instantly split in two by the terrifying force.

The giant beast crashed to the ground, the snow it kicked up obscuring everyone's view.

Only a blurry and eerie figure moved back and forth among the crowd.

Every second takes away several lives.

Young Ashe had never seen anything like it before and was momentarily stunned—but her muscle memory continued to help her keep shooting arrows.

With Chen Ce leading the way, she could shoot arrows without any hindrance, and the frequency and smoothness of her ice crystal arrow attacks were significantly higher.

In no time, the group of vicious bandits had been almost entirely wiped out.

Of course, using magic to summon ice crystal arrows at such a high intensity also left Ashe exhausted—she had been hungry and traveling for several days, and her condition was extremely poor at this point.

She was gradually losing the ability to lift her hands, but several Icefield bandits and their Warmother were still fleeing into the distance—from the direction from which they had come.

If they escape, the Hearthblood who are "ambushing" the warehouse will inevitably run into them... and there will definitely be heavy casualties!

"This is bad..." Ashe struggled to raise the Frost Crystal Longbow, but her trembling hands were no longer enough to aim at the enemy—let alone summon ice crystal arrows again.

Fortunately, she had a "temporary comrade-in-arms".

"Don't worry, I don't intend to let them get away with this." Chen Ce gently pressed down on the girl's Frost Crystal Longbow, indicating that she didn't need to intervene. "I'll handle it."

"But..." Ashe looked cautiously at the young man in front of her, then at the scythe in his hand.

At this distance... are you supposed to just throw the scythe over there and kill them?

This is way too difficult...?

The girl was puzzled.

Until she saw Chen Ce pull a strange "iron hook" out of his clothes and strike a bizarre pose.

"This is called a 'Hextech Revolver'."

As Chen Ce spoke, he made some minor adjustments to the [equipment] that he had never used before.

Then, he closed one eye and aimed at the Icefield Child Warmother, who was desperately trying to escape.

Bang--!

The revolver made a very loud noise.

And it is even more powerful.

In an instant, a bloody hole was punched through the back of the Icefield Child Warmother, and the powerful killing force and impact caused her to inevitably fall off the beast's back.

"Perfect shot." Chen Ce moved the muzzle slightly and aimed at another person—with the passive skill [Firearms Mastery], his marksmanship was already comparable to the Piltover shooting champion.

Bang bang bang--!

Several more shots were fired in quick succession, and the remaining Icefield Bandits were all killed with a single shot.

Leave no survivors.

Yes, that's what Irelia's grandmother said.

"This..." Ashe stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the "iron hook" smoking from the hole.

This thing...

It's much more effective than a bow and arrow...

"Alright, all taken care of." Chen Ce blew away the green smoke from the muzzle of the gun and put the Hextech Revolver back into his coat—it would keep him warm.

"Hmm..." Ashe nodded cautiously, then quietly took half a step back. "Thank you for your help... Chen... Chen..."

"Chen Ce." Chen Ce smiled and repeated his name.

"Thank you... Chen Ce..." Ashe seemed quite reserved.

Because she was indeed a little afraid of the man in front of her.

Judging from that terrifying display just now... killing her at a distance of less than five meters would be incredibly easy for the opponent...

Although the other person seemed to have helped her just now, it was hard to say whether they had other motives... She wasn't even sure if the other person was on the Lissandra's side...

Just like what the Iceborne Child Warmother said before, "Are you also here to steal the successor of Avarosa?"

Overall, Ashe felt uncertain and somewhat worried and uneasy.

Chen Ce also noticed this.

"Don't worry, I'm not one of the Lissandra —I'm not even from Freljord." Chen Ce confessed honestly as he extended his hand to the girl. "I'm from Ionia —you know Ionia? It's that continent to the east."

"Hmm... I've heard a little about it..." After hesitating for a moment, Ashe shook hands with the other person.

Then she asked, "How did you end up out of the snowdrift... were you lost?"

"Lost... I guess so."

"You were caught in an avalanche?"

"Yes, right here—I accidentally knocked over a rock. It was too loose."

"The rocks...are loose..." Ashe immediately thought of the escape route she had planned a few days ago.

That rock...

Actually, it was she who put it there...

In order to bury the Rift and cut off the pursuers' path during their escape...

Ashe glanced at the young man again, stealing another look.

Then, she suddenly looked away, looking embarrassed.

This time it was Chen Ce's turn to be confused. "What's wrong?"

"Um... your... clothes..." Ashe coughed a few times, as if she had seen something embarrassing. "Your clothes are wet..."

"Hmm?" Chen Ce subconsciously looked down at the clothes he was wearing.

The avalanche washed away his outermost sweater, but his second outer coat was still there, and his inner shirt was a bit soaked... but it doesn't seem like a big deal, right?

It's not like he has a hole in his pants; Chen Ce's condition is perfectly normal.

Isn't it normal for a man to show his shirt?

Chen Ce was a little confused.

Until he suddenly remembered a crucial point—matriarchal clans.

In Freljord, the status of men is roughly equivalent to that of women in patriarchal clans.

In other words... what I'm like right now is equivalent to seeing a soaking wet girl walking down the street in Ionia or Noxus —with her breasts completely exposed.

Chen Ce quickly buttoned up his coat.

Seeing this, Ashe felt a little less embarrassed.

At the same time, she also thought of a good way to repay the kindness:

"Why don't you come back to my tribe with me and change your clothes... Outsiders in Freljord can easily freeze to death if they don't take care to keep warm..."

[Hero [Ashe, the Frost Archer] Gratitude +10, Current Interaction Level 10!]

Chapter Fourteen: Where there are female imps, there are male imps.

Without a doubt, the Avarosan Tribe won a great victory.

Most of the warriors of the Icefield Children Tribe had gone out to hunt down Ashe, leaving the camp with very little fighting force, not even a single Iceborn. Even the Hearthblood —if there were enough of them—could easily take them down.

But the Avarosan Tribe wasn't entirely at ease either.

Firstly, they were worried that Ashe might have met with some misfortune... After all, the Iceborne Bandits who chased after her were all top-notch warriors, and each of them was ruthless, cunning, and not so easy to deal with.

Especially that Warmother... even Grena, the mother of Ashe and the former Warmother of the Avarosan Tribe, had to avoid her attacks with her iron fists and battle axe.

Everyone was very worried about Ashe's safety.

Secondly... they were also worried that those terrible bandits might suddenly return—whether with Ashe or leaving empty-handed.

Once they return, the Avarosan Tribe will be wiped out in one fell swoop.

Ordinary Hearthblood are utterly powerless against the Iceborn; the difference in strength is like that between an adult and a newborn baby.

Ul anxiously gazed at the horizon.

The swirling snow severely obstructed her vision, but she still hoped that familiar figure would appear on the horizon—even just a blurry black silhouette would do.

As one of Ashe's earliest followers and now the logistics manager of the Avarosan Tribe, her loyalty to Ashe even surpasses her regard for her own life.

If anything were to happen to Ashe, she would risk her life to avenge Ashe.

Must...!

She kept thinking this, her gaze never leaving her.

Finally, after she had been "on guard" for more than half an hour, a blurry black figure appeared in the wind and snow.

She was overjoyed.

But as the dark figure drew closer, her joy turned into terror and anger.

Because... that dark shadow was enormous.

It was so enormous that it couldn't possibly be a single person.

That was definitely the shadow of a giant ice beast... the mount of those damned bandits.

In an instant, Ul felt utterly hopeless—the icefield bandits had leisurely returned, meaning Ashe had most likely met with misfortune as well...

Besides, the Hearthblood who were still "stealing" others' homes also didn't have time to retreat.

"Damn it... I'll risk it all...!"

With a determined heart, Ul went straight back to the warehouse and pulled out a brand-new broadsword—far superior to her previous rusty, chipped dagger.

Seeing this, the other tribesmen more or less guessed what was going on and immediately became cautious.

The elders of the tribe led the children and supplies to retreat first, while the other adults, regardless of gender or condition, all picked up weapons and prepared to fight those damned icefield bandits to the death.

This was both to avenge their great Warmother and to cover the retreat of the elderly and children.

"Brothers and sisters! The time has come for us to die a glorious death! This will be the most glorious moment of our lives!"

"We will be filled with glory! We will be covered in blood!"

"We are the people of Avarosa!"

Ul shouted as he charged ahead towards the giant ice beast in the blizzard.