Gepard Led the Charge-Then Hit Limitless and Froze
The synchronized clang of metal boots shattered the sound of wind and snow across the icefield.
Gepard strode out of formation.
A thick layer of frost coated his blond hair.
He held a heavy shield shaped like a giant instrument case in one hand, then flexed his powerful arm.
Thud!
The spike beneath the shield slammed into knee-deep snow.
It punched straight through the hard ice below.
Ice shards and powdery snow flew everywhere, rattling against a dead tree trunk nearby.
A dull tremor spread through the frozen ground.
It reached the soles of the Astral Express Crew's feet, leaving them tingling.
Sampo shuddered.
The searing pain in his right leg had yet to fade when his left leg buckled too.
He fell face-first into the snow again.
Scrambling sideways, he clawed at the snow with both hands, wishing he could bury himself in it like an ostrich.
His teeth chattered, and he dared not say another word.
Gepard ignored the notorious fugitive from the Underworld.
His gaze passed over Sampo and swept coldly across the Astral Express Crew.
The snowstorm raged, and his brows drew tight.
They were a strange group.
Several outsiders wore heavy polar gear, wariness in their eyes.
And at the very front stood a little white-haired girl without even a coat.
The icy wind howled past.
Snowflakes sliced at exposed skin like knives.
Yet not a single flake landed near the little girl.
Every flake of snow and ice slid aside when it came within a centimeter of her body.
Gepard slowly rested his heavy iron gauntlet on the edge of his shield.
Metal scraped against metal with a low, dull sound.
"Unauthorized personnel are forbidden from entering Belobog's borderlands."
His voice was as cold and hard as ice, without a trace of warmth.
"Who are you?"
Gepard fixed the adults with a piercing stare.
"Why are you at the Fragmentum front line?"
March 7th shivered uncontrollably.
Through her fogged goggles, she stared at the rows of fully armed soldiers ahead.
The cold gleam of their spearpoints hurt her eyes.
Her stomach knotted.
"Um... we're from the Astral Express..."
March 7th stammered, trying to explain.
The wind was too strong.
The moment she opened her mouth, a gust full of icy grit rushed down her throat.
Her tongue went numb, and the rest of her sentence stuck in her throat, turning into a violent coughing fit.
Su Chen had no intention of answering the blond Defender.
His legs were getting a little sore from standing.
He slowly took a fresh lollipop from his tiny uniform pocket.
The wrapper crackled as he peeled it off.
The sound was jarringly clear on the snowfield, where both sides stood on the brink of a fight.
He popped the candy into his mouth.
His cheeks puffed in and out as his tongue rolled the strawberry-flavored candy around.
His blue eyes wandered toward the gray-white sky in the distance.
He treated the Silvermane Guards opposite him as if they weren't there.
Gepard's expression darkened completely.
He had never heard of any Astral Express.
All he knew was that Fragmentum monsters came in countless forms and could even disguise themselves as humans.
Something was off about this group, especially the little girl who seemed immune to the cold.
Her indifference only added to the insult against the Silvermane Guards.
"Refuse to answer, and you'll be treated as Fragmentum invaders."
Gepard did not hesitate.
As a Defender, he had a duty to keep every potential threat beyond Belobog's walls.
He gripped the shield's handle and wrenched it upward.
He pulled it free of the snow.
Then he raised it high.
The hard metal reflected a cold gleam beneath the dim sky.
"Silvermane Guards!"
Gepard roared. His voice cut through the storm, shaking snow loose nearby.
"Charge!"
"Take them!"
"Hah!"
Dozens of Iron Guards roared as one.
Their voices merged and rang across the open icefield.
Heavy metal visors snapped down, hiding the soldiers' faces.
Only their eyes remained, grim and deadly.
The steel tide began to move.
Heavy armored boots pressed into the frozen ground with a grating crunch.
Dozens of soldiers stepped forward at once.
Tremors traveled through the snow toward the crew.
Dozens of spears leveled.
Their points formed a pale wall of death amid the storm.
Like an unfeeling meat grinder, they bore down on the Astral Express Crew.
The air seemed to freeze.
The iron-scented threat of violence made breathing difficult.
The crew tensed at once.
Dan Heng's breathing faltered for a moment.
He stepped forward abruptly, placing himself in front of Himeko.
Cold sweat had already seeped across his right palm, slick against his skin.
The Cloud-Piercing Spear formed in his hand once more.
Frost had barely formed on the shaft before the heat of his palm melted it.
A few drops of water fell into the snow.
Dan Heng clenched his teeth, the veins on the back of his hand standing out.
His muscles tightened to their limit, ready to meet the impact of the front rank.
Xingbao scratched her head frantically in the snow.
She couldn't find her baseball bat.
As the Iron Guards charged closer, she gritted her teeth.
She bent down and scooped up two hard chunks of snow.
Her fingers were red with cold, her joints so stiff she could barely bend them.
She squeezed the snow tight.
Rough ice crystals scraped bloody lines across her palms.
Xingbao spread her feet, ready to fight the heavy infantry bare-handed.
A low growl rose from her throat.
March 7th drew the Six-Phased Ice Bow.
An ice arrow formed on the string, giving off wisps of cold.
The bowstring pressed against her fingers until they turned white.
A sharp, tearing pain shot through her fingertips.
She took a deep breath.
Cold air filled her lungs, sending a stab of pain through her chest.
She aimed hard at the Iron Guards leading the charge.
Her heart hammered inside her chest.
Its thud-thud nearly drowned out the storm.
A film of moisture clouded Welt's black-framed glasses.
He leaned on his cane.
The hem of his suit whipped in the icy wind.
His thumb was already pressed against the mechanism in the cane's head.
The moment they came close, the Star of Eden's gravity field would erupt.
Himeko gripped the edge of her cold-weather coat.
With no weapon in hand, she could only watch the row of spearpoints approach.
Her nails dug deep into her palms.
Her breathing stopped.
The wind left her eyes dry and aching, but she did not dare blink.
At the very front stood the little white-haired girl.
Su Chen stood ahead of the crew.
He shielded all the adults behind him.
The charging Silvermane Guards were less than five meters away.
Snow hissed against the Iron Guards' visors.
Their breathing echoed inside their metal helmets.
Harsh and warm, it carried the iron resolve of soldiers.
The red tassels on their spears thrashed in the wind.
Even the ground groaned beneath their pounding boots.
Thirty meters.
Ten meters.
The Iron Guards charged faster and faster.
Heavy armor collided with a deafening clang.
The shriek of grinding metal stabbed at their eardrums.
The force of their charge smashed through the swirling snow.
The dozen or so Iron Guards in the front rank had cold eyes.
They saw the little girl standing motionless before them.
They did not slow.
They did not hesitate.
On the battlefield, any mercy could bring down the defensive line.
They shouted as one.
A deep roar burst from their chests.
They drove forward from the waist, armored boots gouging deep furrows in the ice.
A dozen heavily armored soldiers hurled themselves onward, carried by the violent momentum of their charge.
Their arms thrust forward.
A dozen sharp Fine Steel spears tore through the blizzard.
They screamed through the air, aimed straight at the little girl's face.
Their gleaming points merged into a pale blur of death.
It seemed they would pierce countless holes through her tiny body in the next instant.
Su Chen did not dodge.
He did not even blink.
He was still leisurely licking the lollipop in his mouth.
His tongue savored its sweetness.
Little leather shoes stepped onto the snow, steady as Mount Tai.
The spears pierced the air.
The pressure kicked up by the spearheads sent the loose snow on the ground swirling.
It blew the white hair above Su Chen's forehead gently backward.
"Crack!"
A dense burst of sharp, teeth-grating snaps suddenly erupted across the empty snowfield.
The dozen or so Iron Guards at the very front felt a terrifying recoil surge through their hands.
The webs between their thumbs and forefingers split open instantly.
Blood sprayed through the gaps in their iron gauntlets, splattering onto the snow and blooming into glaring red plum blossoms.
All the fine steel spears, just 0.1 millimeters from Little Satoru Gojo's nose,
slammed into an invisible wall without warning.
Under the tremendous inertia, the spear shafts instantly bent into a heart-stopping arc.
Then, with a thunderous boom, they snapped.