340 Chapter 340: Frost Serpents

Lie Ren tried to retreat, but it was clear that he wouldn't be able to escape the Frost Serpents in time. They were darting toward him like azure bullets, their hideous jaws wide open to clamp down upon him. Presumably to swallow him whole.

"Sagittarius."

Without thinking, I had summoned my Constellation bow and was unleashing several flaming arrows in the Frost Serpents' direction. The fiery arrows detonated against the hissing monstrosities, cloaking them in ember and smoke and halting them momentarily. Lie Ren seized the opportunity to withdraw, putting as much distance between himself and his pursuers as possible.

"Thanks!" he told me, pausing to catch his breath. I nodded and readjusted my aim. The Frost Serpents emerged from the slowly dissipating smoke, and I was stunned to see that they were still unscathed despite taking the brunt of my flaming arrows.

Yeah, I didn't use Alnasl, but the arrows I unleashed with Sagittarius were still of the fire element. Fire was supposed to be super-effective against ice-type monsters or spells. Give the extremely short amount of time that I spent to summon Sagittarius and fire off arrows at the Frost Serpents, I could only cast basic fire spells at most. Furthermore, I only knew basic fire spells. I didn't know any intermediate or advanced fire spells. I could buff them by boosting their firepower with more mana (which was an incredibly inefficient way of enhancing their power, compared to learning intermediate or advanced spells) – that was basically Alnasl, an arrow and basic fire spell that I pumped tremendous amounts of mana into in order to amplify its firepower.

But even artificially enhancing a basic spell with lots of mana required a good amount of time. You simply did not just boost a spell with lots of mana in one second, no matter how basic it was. Which was why intermediate and advanced spells were more efficient, but thanks to me trying to learn five different elements at once, I never got to the intermediate stage for anything other than wood magic. Currently I was trying to learn intermediate ice magic as a specialized branch for water magic (to improve Cetus's attacks), but I had yet to do anything significant with it.

In any event, it was only natural that my basic fire spells did nothing to the rank C Frost Serpents despite the supposed elemental advantage.

"!!"

Anastasia spun around and deflected another Frost Serpent with her daggers. All around us, more Frost Serpents emerged from hiding, lunging at the mercenaries ferociously. Evidently Ana didn't need any help, but I still fell back to her position and drew my swords. Dismissing my bow, I parried a strike from a Frost Serpent that was aiming for Anastasia's blind spot. At the same time, Ana threw a poisoned dagger to obliterate a Frost Serpent that was sneaking up on me from behind. The both of us spun around in flawless coordination, almost transforming into a whirlwind of paired weapons that lashed out and formed a curtain of bladed defenses that kept the attacking Elementals out.

"Form up!" Brent ordered, rallying his men. "Fire mages, to the fore!"

"Yes, sir!"

Brandishing their weapons, the first line of mercenaries physically drove the Frost Serpents back while the backline of fire mages used that precious time to cast their spells. Fireballs and flaming torrents bombarded and engulfed the gigantic serpents, almost melting them.

However, the Frost Serpents were not without teeth of their own. One of them twisted around, its maw yawning, and it unleashed an azure beam of ice. One of the mercenaries wasn't able to dodge in time and he found himself entombed completely in ice, his body frozen solid.

"Watch out!" Redfield shouted, twirling his spear to deflect another Ice Beam.

"Damn it! This Frost Serpent is dangerous!" one of the mercenaries moaned.

"How can we defeat it?!" Another cried.

"By using fire magic and stabbing it with your weapons instead of whining!" Brent roared, driving his retreating soldiers back toward the battlefield. Apparently they seemed more afraid of their captain than the rank C Elementals, and they renewed their attacks. Protected by the spearmen, swordsmen and other melee combatants at the front, the ranged mages launched more fireballs from the back, raining down fiery death upon the swarm of Frost Serpents.

"Richard, your spell is done yet?" Anastasia asked, her voice devoid of her usual levity, as she knocked aside one of the striking Frost Serpents. I slashed at another, cutting across its icy scales and discouraging it from attacking again.

"Yeah…cover me!"

Anastasia nodded and placed a hand on my shoulder before propelling herself upward to kick an offending Frost Serpent. As the stunned monster jolted backward, Ana spun around and slashed at another serpent with her poisoned dagger, but the blade didn't penetrate the icy scales, which were as hard as…well, ice. Even so, the physical force was enough to knock it several inches backward.

While my comrade was repelling the Frost Serpents from my position, I summoned Sagittarius again and conjured Alnasl. Having avoided casting any other spells within that moment, I was able to complete the casting for that ultimate arrow.

"Alnasl."

Lifting the fiery arrow to my bow, I pulled it back before launching it into the center of the swarm.

"Everyone, retreat!" Redfield yelled. Unnecessarily. By now, most of the mercenaries knew me well enough to recognize when I was going to nuke something. We had all worked together during the tomb expedition less than a month ago. They were already scattering when they sensed the tremendous amount of mana I was emanating.

"Hurry! Get away!"

"Move!"

My teammates automatically dispersed, leaving a swarm of very confused and very angry Frost Serpents behind. The hissing rank C monsters were about to pursue, but my arrow chose that moment to strike the largest Frost Serpent – which was most likely their leader – and explode. The entire clearing was engulfed in fire, a ravenous inferno that expanded rapidly to consume the rest of the shocked Frost Serpents.

Unlike normal monsters, the Frost Serpents didn't exactly bleed. I watched, bemused, as they shattered into countless fragments of frost and ice, the tiny remnants of their corpses bouncing and breaking across the scorched earth. Lowering my bow, I checked the clearing for any survivors, but they were being mopped up by Redfield and the others. The red-haired spearman led the charge on the stunned survivors, his long weapon blazing in crimson flames. The Frost Serpent he pierced didn't survive for more than a second.

Under the concerted attack of the mercenaries, the swarm was completely eradicated.

"Good job, everybody." Brent smiled and nodded approvingly. The medic was already rushing toward the poor mercenary who was frozen solid, and was casting restorative magic to thaw him out and heal his frostbite or hypothermia or whatever cold injury he suffered when entombed within the ice. Other than him, we didn't have much casualties. Maybe a few scratches and scrapes here and there, but nothing major.

"I'll get back to searching for clues," Lie Ren spoke up, returning to the scene. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that the entire place had been razed.

"Uh, sorry." I scratched my head sheepishly. Evidently my Alnasl had obliterated the entire place, erasing any clues that had lingered along with the Frost Serpents.

"It's fine." Lie Ren sighed and glanced around. "You guys take a break. I'll look around the surroundings to see if I can find anything."

"All right." Brent nodded in agreement. He turned to the rest of the mercenaries and held up a hand. "Take five, everyone. Drink up, rest up, and do whatever you need to. Once Lie Ren returns, we'll move out immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

The mercenaries responded without any hesitation. We knew we couldn't stick around in this place for too long. Our fight would have attracted other monsters…especially dragons. Even though we hadn't seen any dragons yet…that didn't mean they wouldn't show up soon. We made quite the ruckus during the battle against the Frost Serpents.

Surely a dragon would show up to check out what was happening in their own Den.

For now, I had my Corvus keep an eye out for any approaching monster, while waiting for Lie Ren to return.

*

As it turned out, the clues led to traces of the poor kid's death. From the tracks Lie Ren found, we realized that the poor guy had been seized by a dragon. The only fortune he had was that he died quickly, given the amount of blood that had splashed against a nearby tree. It took only one attack to end his life.

There was no corpse left behind, inevitably. The dragon had taken his body away, probably to feed him to its young, or more likely, it had devoured the poor kid right on the spot. There were traces of battle, tiny, lingering mana signatures that indicated that he had at least gotten off one or two spells before he was maimed, but other than that, it was clear that he died quickly…and hopefully painlessly.

Disappointed, the mercenaries carried on, hopefully to look for the next batch. Night fell quickly, and we found ourselves shrouded in darkness once more.

"This is the next place," Brent announced as we drew up next to a mountain. I honestly couldn't tell the mountains apart, but if the mercenary captain said this was the mountain, then it was. I had no reason to doubt him.

"It's the whole team from Lie Huo Academy this time, right?" Redfield asked. Brent nodded.

"That's right. This was where they sent their distress signal. They got caught up by the blizzard, and were blown over to here. The mercenary supervising their team reported that this was the last place he saw them, before he was forced to retreat when he encountered a dragon. The distress beacon was also transmitted from this place."

I was surprised that they managed to get reception in a place like this, but stranger things had happened.

"Now…the problem is…where exactly did they go?"

Brent was musing to himself. For a moment, I was puzzled at his question. I glanced at the mountain and wondered just how many places they could hide.

Then I saw the reason for his consternation.

The mountain we were currently approaching had caves. Many caves, in fact. There were at least a dozen that I could see from here alone, and while I was sure that several of them were interconnected in some sort of subterranean network, there was no way of knowing for sure until we actually explored the caves.

As if he was thinking the exact same thing, Redfield turned toward his captain inquisitively.

"How many students were on the Lie Huo Academy team? The ones we have to look for, I mean."

"Ten." Brent was grim even as he anticipated Redfield's next question. "And I don't know if they are all together, or if they had split up. From their supervisor's report, the last time he saw them they were scattering into different directions to avoid the dragon – the dragon that forced their supervisor to retreat – and force it to choose. Beyond that, I have no idea. They could still be split up and divided, lost in those caves, or they could have reunited somewhere inside those caves and are awaiting rescue. Whatever the case, we'll only find out if we go in."

"What about the distress beacon?" I asked, hoping for some good news. Brent shook his head.

"The last distress beacon was sent eighteen hours ago. Right after their supervisor broke contact with them. We have not heard anything from the Lie Huo Academy team since."

"Fortunately, the dragon that chased them no longer seems to be here. Looks like it has flown off somewhere." Lie Ren provided the single spark of optimism. "At least for the time being, we should be able to conduct our search undisturbed."

"Excellent." Brent nodded as he studied the multiple caves on the mountain. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to us. "We'll split up into teams and investigate each cave."

"Yes, sir!"

"You're with me," Anastasia told me as she seized my arm and dragged me off toward one of the caves.

"Okay." I had no objections. Among the mercenaries, I had worked with Anastasia the most and knew her the best. We could more easily coordinate our movements and strategies than if I were in another team. Besides, there was no one else I would rather have watching my back.

Taking a deep breath, I gazed into the darkness that was the interior of the cave, and reached up to toggle the nightvision on my glasses on. Praying that the students from Lie Huo Academy were still alive, I followed the confident Anastasia into the cave and toward its shadowy bowels.

"!!"

Something moved at the corner of my eye. I reacted, almost on instinct, and knocked Anastasia aside as something lunged at her. Drawing my swords, I beheaded the thing in a single swift stroke.

…or tried to, but my sword only smashed fragments of ice into the air.

"A Frost Serpent!"

Damn, but these things were everywhere. Flipping myself up, I avoided getting swallowed whole by the persistent Elemental. Landing on its back, I drove both Hei Yue and Bai Ri into its neck.

That didn't do much other than anger it. The Frost Serpent thrashed about furiously, trying to throw me off, but to no avail. I clung on grimly, anchored to the Frost Serpent by my two swords. Fortunately, I wasn't idly hanging on all this while. As the Frost Serpent smashed itself against the walls in an effort to fling me away, I prepared a summoning spell.

"HISS!"

Snarling ferociously, the Frost Serpent attempted to batter me against the wall, twisting its body in mid-lunge so that it could bash its neck – the place where I was currently residing – against solid rock. Realizing the danger, I yanked both of my swords out of its neck and dropped to the ground. Rolling, I completed my summoning spell.

"Taurus! Aldebaran!"

The gigantic bull materialized and struck the writhing Frost Serpent with his horns, knocking it against the wall. Trampling on it, he then lowered his head and opened his maw. A torrent of flames washed over the struggling Frost Serpent and melted it into a puddle of boiling steam.

"Phew…" Sheathing my swords, I allowed Anastasia to pull me up to my feet. Staring at the dead Frost Serpent, I shook my head and sighed. "That doesn't bode well for the Lie Huo Academy students. If they have really gone this way…"

"…they might have already been eaten by these giant Frost Serpents," Ana finished ominously.