129: Chapter 129 Covert Scheme

A bone blade pressed against his throat.

Lin Ye did not retreat.

He jerked his neck away, his right boot firmly planted against the ice pillar behind him.

Using the recoil, he slid half a foot to the side.

The blade grazed past the fur of his neck guard, shaving off a spray of ice chips.

Immediately, the Dark Weaver's right arm snapped.

A single Nano-wire whipped out, lashing straight at Hans's face.

Ferocity flared in Hans's eyes; he twisted the bone blade back half an inch, holding it horizontally to block before the bridge of his nose.

A thin black line struck the blade, producing a short, sharp screech.

Borrowing the momentum from this, Lin Ye forced the distance of death between the two of them to open up by another half-step.

Half a step was enough.

His right foot landed.

He pressed his knees down, sliding sideways with his back against the ice pillar.

His left hand swung the Fire Axe towards Hans's wrist.

Hans did not take the hit; he twisted his toes, shifting his body horizontally to the right.

The bone blade slashed diagonally from beneath the handle of Lin Ye's axe, the edge aiming straight for Lin Ye's ribs.

"Zhao Mengmeng!"

A low shout rolled from Lin Ye's throat.

High up on the black rock, Zhao Mengmeng had already steadied the crossbow.

She didn't make a sound, raising her hand to fire two bolts in quick succession.

The wooden bolts tore through the air, heading straight for the spearman's knee pit and shoulder socket.

The spearman's reaction was extremely fast.

With a flick and a press of his spear.

The first bolt was deflected.

The second bolt was knocked off course by the spear shaft, embedding itself diagonally into the nearby ice pillar.

Wood chips flew, and a circle of white marks vibrated onto the ice surface.

But his charging rhythm was forcibly interrupted.

Zhao Mengmeng gritted her teeth, the veins on the back of her hand bulging.

The muzzle of the crossbow was locked firmly onto the landing point of the opponent's third step.

If he dared to move even half a step forward, she would send a bolt straight into that face.

The Great Xia Live Stream was in an uproar.

[Holy crap, that was way too close for Brother Eye!]

[That foreigner is a real pro; anyone else would have had their throat slit by now!]

[Mengmeng has the flank covered, she's amazing!]

[The Germans are still shouting over there; shouting your mom, just see if your captain can even survive first!]

The Germanic livestream chat was frantically trying to make excuses.

[Hans won't lose!]

[That Great Xia person just got lucky!]

[The bone blade is already at his face, the next strike will end it!]

Hans could not see the chat.

He stared fixedly at Lin Ye's shoulder line and wrists.

The Great Xia man opposite him was calm; there wasn't a hint of panic in his movements.

Every step he took left enough room, and every collision was timed exactly at the most uncomfortable rhythm point.

Hans had killed over a dozen people on the Level 4 Floating Island, and he had only ever seen two people who could calculate their lives this precisely.

This person had to die.

Hans suddenly pressed forward.

Lifting his knee, he put force into his waist and abdomen.

His two-hundred-plus-pound body slammed directly into Lin Ye's chest.

It wasn't a test; it was a fight to the death.

Once he was stuck to him, the bone blade, elbow strikes, and knee strikes would come one after another.

Lin Ye did not retreat, taking the heavy knee strike squarely on his left shoulder.

Bang!

A dull thud echoed.

Lin Ye's entire body was knocked back half an inch, his shoulder bone went numb, and a metallic taste of blood rushed to his throat.

Ferocity flared even brighter in Hans's eyes.

The bone blade took advantage of the momentum to slash downwards, aiming straight for Lin Ye's chest.

Just as the blade tore through his clothes.

Lin Ye flipped his right hand rapidly.

The serrated notch of the damaged Fire Axe caught the bone blade perfectly.

The two forces were deadlocked.

Hans's expression changed, and he exerted force to pull the blade out.

Lin Ye pressed both hands tightly onto the axe handle, leaning most of his body into him, his forehead pressing close to Hans's nose bridge.

"You guys are quite practiced at hijacking paths."

Lin Ye's voice was extremely low.

Hans couldn't be bothered with small talk; he raised his left elbow high and smashed it hard towards Lin Ye's temple.

Lin Ye tilted his head.

His left shoulder took another heavy blow; the wound split open, and hot blood flowed down along the bear fur.

Lin Ye didn't even blink.

This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for.

His right thumb pressed heavily on the Dark Weaver's retrieval trigger!

An abandoned anchor point that had been shot into the snow during the previous skirmish suddenly tightened.

Ten meters behind Hans.

The Nano-wire that Lin Ye had intentionally driven into the bottom of the ice crevice suddenly snapped taut and burst out of the snow.

The thin thread cut through the cold wind, emitting a piercing screech.

Without any hesitation, it slashed straight into the outer side of Hans's sword-wielding right arm.

Pfft!

The sound of flesh being sliced open was ear-splitting.

The bone blade, along with half his shoulder, was severed cleanly, and a mist of hot blood sprayed onto half of Lin Ye's face.

Hans's eyes bulged.

His entire right arm detached from his torso, and the bone blade slipped from his hand, hitting the solid ice.

Lin Ye did not stop.

Using the Fire Axe's firm lock, he drove his right knee up, his left hand gripping tightly onto Hans's severed shoulder.

With both arms straining, he forcibly yanked the two-hundred-pound brute forward!

The main Nano-wire line followed through, strangling him.

The cut sliced all the way from the shoulder bone to the side of his chest.

Half of Hans's chest cavity split open on the spot, and hot blood mixed with organ fragments splattered all over the white snow.

Hans opened his mouth wide.

Not a single syllable could escape his throat, all blocked by thick, bloody foam.

He looked down at his exposed chest, his pupils dilating rapidly.

His massive body knelt heavily to the ground.

Lin Ye withdrew the Fire Axe and swung it with his backhand.

The back of the axe smashed hard against Hans's temple.

The head, which hadn't yet fallen, was smashed and tilted heavily.

The corpse toppled into a snow pit.

Thoroughly dead.

The ice pillar forest was filled with wind and snow.

High above, Zhao Mengmeng held the crossbow, the muzzle remaining steady and unlowered.

Watching Hans collapse, she gritted her molars, her finger on the trigger trembling uncontrollably.

"He's dead?"

Lin Ye wiped the blood droplets from his eyelashes, his voice raspy: "Thoroughly dead. Don't relax, there's another one on the right."

Dozens of meters away, the moment Hans's arm was severed, the spearman's expression changed.

He didn't look at his captain, nor did he step forward to save him.

He turned and kicked the hanging ice suspended beside him.

The ice shattered, and a large cloud of white mist and ice crystals blocked Zhao Mengmeng's line of sight.

Taking advantage of this half-second gap, the spearman scooped up his twitching, armless teammate with one hand and plunged into the depths of the ice pillar maze without looking back.

Sacrificing the pawn to save the king.

Clean and decisive.

The Great Xia Live Stream gold screen was going wild.

[He ran? He actually ran?]

[Now that's what you call a professional; he didn't even look back when his captain died.]

[Hans was shouting happily over there just a moment ago, now he's dead as paper.]

[Brother Eye just pulled off a decapitation strike!]

[Is anyone still alive on the German side? Come out and say something!]

The Germanic livestream chat was silent for a few seconds.

The screen full of question marks completely buried the previous clamor.

[How could Hans die?]

[What on earth did that Great Xia person use?]

[Retreat! Retreat quickly! Don't go near him!]

Zhao Mengmeng flipped down from the high ground; her knees went weak upon landing, and she forced herself to stand by leaning on the crossbow.

She stared at Hans's gruesome state of death, then looked at the bleeding hole in Lin Ye's right shoulder.

"Can you still hold on?"

"I won't die."

Lin Ye bent down and picked up the bone blade that Hans had dropped.

The blade was long and slender, with a hook on the edge.

"Nice blade, I can take it."

Zhao Mengmeng panted heavily: "You're still thinking about the blade?"

"Things from the dead should be left for the living to use; don't waste them."

Lin Ye tore off the bone blade and the animal tendon belt from Hans's body, along with a waterskin from his side, and shoved them all into the outer pocket of his backpack.

Zhao Mengmeng crouched down, gripped her dagger in a reverse hold, and delivered a finishing slash to Hans's throat.

She conveniently ripped off the opponent's cracked wrist guard.

"These guys have killed quite a few people."

Zhao Mengmeng opened the waterskin: "The bag is full of stolen dried meat, and there are two salt bricks."

Lin Ye kicked Hans's corpse away.

He pulled a bag of flattened frozen meat and half a flint from a hidden pocket.

"They weren't here just to steal this bit of dried meat."

Lin Ye looked up towards the center: "They were heading for the Giant Tower. Clearing out competitors on the road in advance so they won't feel crowded when it comes time to loot things."

Zhao Mengmeng spat out a glob of saliva mixed with ice shards: "Then they deserve to die."

Before she could finish speaking.

A low, hoarse beast roar came from deep within the ice crevice on the left.

Not just one.

The strong smell of blood spread with the wind, and the surrounding extreme cold predators were awakened.

Lin Ye's gaze shifted slightly, his left eye opening and closing rapidly.

Within his retina, four or five clusters of red light were rapidly moving along the outer edge of the ice pillars.

Hungry, manic.

The one in front had already closed in to within thirty meters of them.

"Let's go."

Lin Ye slotted the bone blade into the slot: "If we don't leave now, we'll stay here as meat steaks."

Zhao Mengmeng stared into the depths of the maze where the spearman had disappeared: "Are we chasing him?"

"No."

Lin Ye lifted his foot and crushed the blood clots on the ground.

"He ran off with his teammate even after losing an arm; that's called bait. If we chase in now, we'll walk straight into a trap."

Zhao Mengmeng said nothing.

She raised the crossbow and lowered her body to follow.

The two moved along the base of the ice pillars, avoiding the bloody area in the main wind path.

The beast roars rose and fell one after another behind them.

The outer layer of snow was plowed up in patches by sharp claws.

Lin Ye didn't look back, the Fire Axe gripped tightly in his palm.

Crossing the edge of the ice pillar maze.

The wind and snow weakened.

The central Giant Tower, hidden behind the white mist, finally pressed its dark, eerie silhouette into their view, little by little.

The moment they stepped out of the ice pillar forest.

From the stone forest behind, ear-piercing howls of exotic beasts tearing at their own kind rang out, mixed with the crisp sound of skulls being crushed.

Zhao Mengmeng stopped at the edge of the snowfield, exhaling a breath of white air mixed with ice shards.

"This damn place, it doesn't give you a moment to breathe."

Lin Ye steadied the backpack with one hand.

His sharp gaze crossed the sky full of snow dust, nailing directly onto the Giant Tower that pierced the clouds.

"No rest."

"There are still plenty more lining up to die ahead."

The two stepped deeply into the snow, continuing their advance towards the central Giant Tower.