The Sword of the Scales

Fortunately, he didn't have to hesitate for long before Lord Abigai's order arrived. He summoned his staff, immediately flew out, and headed towards the location of the White Bone Train as instructed by the lord.

****

A flash of cold silver light suddenly appeared!

Ruogejin instinctively retreated, his staff barely managing to block the fatal blow. A figure wearing a silver mask appeared before him, a dagger gleaming coldly in his hand.

"Master Rank assassin!" Ruogejin quickly assessed the opponent's strength. He retreated while gathering Magic Power on his staff, but Silver Mask charged forward again like a ghost!

"Aiwanbei'er!" Ruogejin suddenly shouted.

Suddenly, the snow cracked open, and the massive body of the Bearfolk Clan Aiwanbei'er burst forth. His thick hind legs left deep footprints in the snow, and this four-meter-tall behemoth charged straight at Silver Mask with astonishing speed.

Silver Mask frowned. As an assassin, what he hated most was this kind of thick-skinned opponent—even if the opponent stood still and let him slash, his broken steel dagger might not be able to cause much damage after piercing that thick skin!

Just then, a dazzling beam of Dou Qi aura exploded from the side, and the paladin Ge'enda'er fearlessly faced the Bearfolk Clan. His fists were clenched, and solidified holy light energy condensed on his knuckles, colliding violently with Aiwanbei'er's giant hand, which was capable of shattering boulders.

"Boom!"

A dull thud echoed through the valley. Ge'enda'er was forced back several steps by the Bearfolk Clan's palm strike, but Aiwanbei'er was also stopped, the recoil causing him to take another step back.

A pure white, healing light, like Stars, showered down upon Ge'enda'er. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stretched his shoulder blades, and made a cracking sound.

Jielusi, dressed in a cream-colored snow-white long dress, descended from the sky. A large Butterfly was tied at the back of her dress, and the delicate fur trim on the heavy skirt swayed gently with her movements.

She didn't want to dress like this, but it was the only suitable robe for combat among the luggage that Katharine had prepared.

No wonder Yise's first reaction upon hearing that his mother was also coming to the Northern Lands was to run away!

Aiwanbei'er didn't understand human aesthetics; he simply felt a sense of disgust towards the flower-like pink-haired girl.

With this healer present, these skinny little people could easily spend an entire day dawdling around with him!

****

At the mountaintop, a cold wind howled past, carrying fine snowflakes.

Su Ming calmly raised his arm, his fingertips gathering dark Magic Power. With a slight flick of his wrist, four gleaming white Bone Spear instantly formed and shot out with a sharp whooshing sound.

"Bone Spear - Armor-Piercing!"

Dark runes flowed across the surface of the Bone Spear as it pierced straight through the bear-man's thick fur and muscles, reaching his bones and blasting out a large amount of flesh and blood. Four gruesome holes immediately appeared on the bear-man's arm and shoulder, and he staggered back with a muffled groan. Dark red blood gushed out, leaving mottled marks on the snow.

But it clearly failed to kill it! On the contrary, the intense pain completely ignited the bear-man's ferocity. Its scarlet eyes widened even more, heavy white breath billowed from its nostrils, and it charged again.

"Roar--!" Another deafening roar came from overhead.

Su Ming retreated rapidly. He saw the bear-man swooping down from mid-air, its massive paw slamming heavily onto the spot where he had just been standing, accompanied by a powerful gust of wind.

"Boom!"

With a deafening roar, the ground trembled violently, and the snow was whipped up several meters high by the violent shockwave, forming a white, misty barrier. This was a tactic commonly used by the bear-men—using shockwave attacks to create blind spots in their field of vision, while simultaneously disrupting the enemy's sense of balance and directional judgment.

But Su Ming was prepared and quickly cast a spell.

"Nether Shield!"

"Penetrating Vision!"

A semi-transparent, dark blue light enveloped his body, and his eyes gleamed faintly. The interference of the snow mist instantly became ineffective, and the battlefield situation became clearly visible to him.

He dodged the wounded bear-man's charge, raised his hand again, and four more Bone Spear shot out.

"Swish swish swish--"

The third bear-man that charged forward sensed the magical fluctuations and immediately assumed a defensive stance. Its thick fur stood on end, its muscles taut like iron, and a layer of earthen-yellow energy shield appeared on its body.

Although the Bone Spear pierced the bear-man's body, blasting four bloody holes, it still failed to cause fatal damage. Su Ming frowned slightly, beginning to understand the crux of the problem.

These otherworldly creatures possess an almost instinctive defense mechanism against magical attacks. They can predict attack trajectories through elemental fluctuations and prepare countermeasures before damage is inflicted.

Conversely, modern firearms have no elemental fluctuations, no spellcasting delay, and almost no delay from pulling the trigger to the bullet hitting the target. More importantly, the sustained firepower and accuracy of firearms surpass those of typical magical attack systems.

Faced with this attack method that was beyond their comprehension, the native creatures of the other world were clearly at a loss.

Therefore, even though four Bone Spear are far more lethal than a box of bullets, their actual combat effectiveness is far less.

This combat data can guide Su Ming's subsequent weapon selection. It also means that as the otherworldly beings gain more information, they will analyze the patterns of firearms and develop countermeasures.

It's like that High Rank warrior on Earth who can escape unscathed from a hail of 100 57mm aerial rockets.

****

With the information gathering phase over, Su Ming wasted no more time. He took out his gun, retrieved a new magazine from his tactical vest, and loaded it with a crisp "click," the sound particularly clear in the wind and snow.

Considering the intensity of the upcoming battle, he decided to refrain from using high-cost spells.

So, I guess I'll just accept the numbness in my shoulder.

The only uninjured bear-man let out a deafening roar and charged at him recklessly. Su Ming raised his gun to fire when a sky-blue figure suddenly appeared from behind the bear-man.

"Whoosh!"

A flash of silver light appeared, and an ancient-looking greatsword drew a perfect arc, precisely slicing through the bear-man's thick neck. Blood splattered, and the bear-man's massive head crashed onto the snow. Its headless body swayed a few times before collapsing with a thud.

Then Su Ming met a very unfriendly gaze. Yise's amber eyes were coldly staring at him.

"It's been a long time, Mr. Graves!" she said through gritted teeth.

The girl flicked her sword cleanly and swiftly, splattering the bloodstains on the snow and leaving a glaring crimson mark.

Su Ming awkwardly took a step back. "Hello, Yise Iser!"

The two sized each other up.

This was the first time Yise had seen Su Ming without his disguise—black hair and black eyes, his hair slightly disheveled by the wind, his face handsome yet resolute, much younger than she had imagined. His upper garment was particularly strange, tightly bound to his body, covered with ribbons and buckles, seemingly to match the weapon in his hand.

Yise remained unchanged, her long golden hair like a vibrant flame in winter. She was still wearing light armor, but through the gaps in the edges, one could see that the girl was dutifully wearing a white and green thermal coat underneath.

Katharine's repeated reminders to keep warm were indeed helpful, Su Ming thought to herself.

****

The last two bear-men roared and charged forward. Su Ming raised his gun, aimed, and shot down one of them.

Yise turned around nimbly, her beautiful figure passing by another bear-man, her sharp blade slicing towards the bear-man's neck.

But the bear-man lived up to his reputation as a being that made many warriors tremble with fear. Such a swift sword strike failed to cut through, but unfortunately only cut halfway and got stuck in his cervical vertebrae.

Helpless, Yise could only let go and step back, allowing the wounded bear-man to charge forward a few more steps with her greatsword before finally collapsing on the snow amidst splattered blood.

Su Ming glanced at it; the weapon Yise was using was the Sword of the Scales. It was the Zijin had captured in the Battle of Agate Sea and had recently returned to Katharine.

For a high-quality sword, this performance is rather poor and not worth the attention of the mother and daughter.

"This sword of yours..." Su Ming tentatively asked, "... doesn't seem to be intended for direct combat?"

As he spoke, he replaced the magazine in his QBA221, then collected the empty magazines on the ground and began loading bullets.

"Indeed," Yise didn't hide anything, "Many times, enemies are deceived by its appearance."

She turned and walked towards the dying bear-man, raising her right leg to kick the sword hilt. The jammed greatsword flew up with a thud, Yise easily caught the weapon, flicking her wrist to cleanly finish off the enemy.

A new commotion arose, Su Ming turned around to find another group of bear-men climbing up the hillside. There were slightly more of them than before, eight in number.

He sighed and continued loading magazines into the QBA221.

"Aren't these bear-men afraid of death?" Su Ming complained.

Yise continued to finish off the fallen bear-men, explaining, "My mother investigated; they've been completely infiltrated by the Truth Cult of the Plundering Clock." A hint of sarcasm lingered in her voice. "These bear-men believe that those who bravely die on the battlefield will be awaited by countless female bear-men in heaven."

Su Ming remained silent.

He raised the QBA221, aimed it at the bear-man at the front, and sent it to the mother bear-man.

****

Ruogejin raised his hand to cast a spell, the ground within a radius of tens of meters centered on Ge'enda'er would suddenly collapse.

As the smoke cleared, hundreds of rock pillars could be seen bursting from the ground, completely covering the area where Ge'enda'er stood, like the fangs of a giant beast.

Silver Mask seized the fleeting opportunity, his figure flashing like a ghost behind Ruogejin, the silver blade in his hand drawing a deadly arc.

The bear-man Aiwanbei'er, who had suddenly appeared, let out a deafening roar. The visible sound waves crashed down as if they were tangible. Silver Mask was caught off guard and struck head-on. He was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the snow.

Just as Aiwanbei'er was about to rush over and finish him off, Ge'enda'er leaped high into the center of the rock pillar area, his body shimmering with the dual light of Shield Spell and Reinforcement Spell. He charged towards Aiwanbei'er like a cannonball, his thick arms gripping the bear-man's shoulder tightly, dragging him back to the center of the battlefield amidst the towering rock pillars.

"Hehe, it's the two of us who should have some fun!" Ge'enda'er laughed wildly, the holy light on his fist shining even brighter.