158: Chapter 158 Armor Piercing and Heart Seizing

The Commander Statue was only twenty meters away from the two of them.

With every step it took, the ice field trembled.

It had no vocal cords.

The harsh grinding sound of its giant axe dragging across the ground was more oppressive than any roar.

Lin Ye raised the Dark Weaver bracer.

The bracer's outer shell was covered in cracks.

The edges of the firing slot had been scorched by lava and eroded by toxic mist, causing the metal to warp.

The high-frequency engine was continuously overloading, emitting intermittent, unstable tremors.

This piece of equipment wouldn't last much longer.

They didn't have a backup plan either.

Lin Ye activated his Left Eye instantly.

A giant icicle hung inverted from the dome.

A tiny green crack was visible at the base of the icicle.

A weight-bearing fracture point.

The bottom of the broken stone pillar on the left emitted a dark green glow; it could withstand one last pull.

On the edge of the high platform to the right, there was a remnant of a red-line mechanism, but the main stone base was stable.

Three points.

A cable path could be formed.

In True Vision, the Commander Statue's left knee joint was layered with ice shells and armor.

It wasn't a fatal weak point, but it was the sole node for power transmission.

As long as a high-carbon alloy arrow jammed that spot, both its leg-lifting and waist-turning movements would be half a beat slower.

Lin Ye closed his Left Eye.

The stinging pain in his eye turned into a dull numbness.

His fingers engaged the mechanism on his right arm.

"First anchor, dome."

The mechanism clicked softly.

A thin black shadow shot up from the ground, straight into the dome, piercing into the base of the giant icicle.

Ice shards rained down with a rustling sound.

"Second anchor, left pillar."

The second anchor flew diagonally, skimming the ice surface, and bit into the crack of the broken stone pillar.

Frost on the pillar's surface exploded outward, but the stone core remained intact.

"Third anchor, high platform."

The third anchor grazed past the Commander Statue's helmet and embedded itself into the stone layer of the high platform.

Three Nano-wires tightened abruptly in mid-air.

A massive "Y"-shaped leverage cable system was forcibly stretched across the sky above the Tomb of Soldiers.

The chat in the Great Xia Live Stream shifted immediately.

[3D tactics? Going airborne?]

[The Dark Weaver isn't broken yet?!]

[Flying up to kill a six-meter-tall gatekeeper monster? How is this even possible!]

The Commander Statue tilted its iron mask upward.

It had no eyeballs, yet it captured the high-frequency vibrations of the metal wires above.

The giant axe was ripped straight out of the ground.

The ice field, plowed open by the axe blade, curled outward as large chunks of ice shot into the air.

The broad, thick axe body swept upward against the momentum, sealing off all paths in mid-air.

Lin Ye's feet were nailed to the spot.

He watched the Commander Statue's center of gravity gradually shift upward.

Waiting for the giant axe to leave the ground.

Waiting for that massive left leg to bear the full pressure of the entire body's lateral movement.

"Mengmeng."

Zhao Mengmeng knelt on one knee.

The butt of her crossbow was pressed against the shoulder armor of a collapsed ice sculpture.

The alloy arrowhead was aimed directly at the ice crack on the Commander Statue's left knee.

The Commander Statue was massive, and its joints opened and closed continuously as it moved.

Its sluggish steps kicked up ice mist, severely obstructing her vision.

Zhao Mengmeng's eye sockets were reddened by the cold wind, and her eyelids were strained to the limit.

She couldn't blink.

"Closer." Lin Ye's voice was extremely steady.

The giant axe was raised higher and higher.

The shadow of the blade had already covered the cable system in mid-air.

"Shoot."

Twang!

The crossbow string exploded with sound.

The high-carbon alloy arrow sliced through the ice mist, piercing straight into the Commander Statue's left knee.

The giant creature heard the sound of the string, and its knee armor snapped shut inward.

It was too late.

Clang!

The alloy arrow chiseled deep into the ice crack.

The arrowhead failed to penetrate the ancient armor, but the sharp carbon steel jammed the pivot gap between the two knee plates.

The massive impact caused the Commander Statue's left leg to stiffen.

The axe-lifting motion deformed in mid-air.

It stalled for half a second.

Lin Ye pressed the retrieval button.

The high-frequency engine shrieked.

The three Nano-wires pulled back simultaneously, and Lin Ye was forcibly yanked into mid-air.

Zhao Mengmeng stared at the silhouette crashing into the ice mist, gritting her teeth as she spoke: "Don't die up there."

Lin Ye soared upward against the wind.

Ice shards scraped against his tactical mask, carving fine white scratches.

He rushed along the "Y"-shaped cable system until he was directly above the Commander Statue.

The giant axe swept across from the left.

The Commander Statue's stagnation ended extremely quickly, and the axe blade, as wide as a door panel, still locked down most of the mid-air space.

Lin Ye activated his Left Eye briefly.

His field of vision was filled with glaring red bands.

Below the red bands, between the gaps in the Commander Statue's forearm, a narrow green gap flashed, just wide enough for one person to pass through.

He released the left secondary line.

His body lost traction on one side in mid-air and swung to the right.

The giant axe brushed past the soles of his boots with bone-chilling cold.

The outer animal skin was sliced away by the axe's wind, exposing the thermal lining.

Using the remaining traction, Lin Ye collided with the Commander Statue's thick forearm.

The soles of his boots landed firmly on the ice-armored arm.

The impact surged back up through his leg bones, leaving his knee aching and numb.

The Commander Statue jerked its forearm upward, attempting to shake off the living creature on its body.

Lin Ye held the Fire Axe with an underhand grip in his right hand.

The sharp corner of the axe head caught perfectly in the gap of the arm armor, and he leveraged his body weight downward.

Using the opposing forces of the upward jerk and his downward pressure, he vaulted a second time in the six-meter-high mid-air.

He went straight for the Commander Statue's chest.

[Double jump off the monster!]

[This micro-control is insane! That axe blade was less than five centimeters from his feet just now!]

The heart-protecting mirror was right before his eyes.

A rusted gap lay across the lower-left edge.

The green weak point flashed for only an instant.

The Commander Statue's hollow iron mask tilted downward.

A giant palm swept in from the side.

The ice shards and sharp iron fragments hanging from its knuckles whistled with the wind.

If this palm struck, a living person would be crushed directly into the bronze chest armor.

Lin Ye did not spare a glance for that hand.

He kept his eyes locked on the seam of the heart-protecting mirror.

Two meters.

One meter.

He violently twisted the Fire Axe in his right hand.

The axe tip faced downward.

All his strength converged at a single point in his right arm.

The curved tip of the Fire Axe, like an armor-piercing spike, chiseled into the rusted gap of the heart-protecting mirror.

Clang!

The collision of metal exploded with a deafening echo.

The recoil cracked the webbing between Lin Ye's thumb and index finger; blood seeped through his tactical glove and froze into dark red ice slush in mid-air.

The axe tip was stuck.

Not deep enough.

The Commander Statue's left palm was already at his face.

The gale flattened the wolf-fur lining on Lin Ye's back.

He pressed the mechanism, and the main line released.

Lin Ye's body dropped half a foot.

The giant palm swept through the air just above him, and the grizzly bear fur on his back armor was ripped apart by the iron fragments on the knuckles, sending black fur scattering everywhere.

Using the downward momentum, Lin Ye applied pressure a second time.

He bent his knee and slammed it upward with full force against the back of the Fire Axe.

His own body weight, the falling momentum, and the explosive knee strike.

Three forces slammed into the gap simultaneously.

"Open!"

A dull sound of metal cracking echoed throughout the Tomb of Soldiers.

The half-meter-wide bronze heart-protecting mirror was pried up from its base.

The heavy mirror flipped over and slammed into the ice field, directly shearing off the helmet of a common knight.

The sound of shattering spread rapidly, and a large number of slumbering knights were jolted awake.

The Commander Statue's chest cavity was exposed.

Inside the bronze rib armor, a dark golden core bead was revealed to the cold air.

[It's open!]

[I see the core! Stab it!]

[Stab my foot! He's still in mid-air with nowhere to leverage!]

The Commander Statue's left palm missed, but it didn't pause for even half a second, following up with a downward slam.

The angle sealed off all paths for lateral movement.

Lin Ye pressed the retrieval button.

The taut main line yanked him, pulling him laterally away from the Commander Statue's chest.

Air currents whipped past.

Lin Ye was sent spinning repeatedly in mid-air, hurtling toward the high platform on the right.

With the heart-protecting mirror destroyed and the core bead exposed, the Commander Statue's internal defense mechanism triggered.

The raised left palm didn't reach for Lin Ye again.

Instead, it retracted and slammed against its own exposed chest, attempting to forcibly plug the gap with its giant palm.

Lin Ye watched the hand from mid-air.

Its own strength was far more violent than a dulled axe.

A loud crash.

The Commander Statue's desperate strike slammed into its own bronze rib armor.

Twenty thousand jin of force poured in.

The rib armor shattered on the spot!

Bronze fragments sliced backward into the internal space.

The dark golden core bead's shell was cracked with several fine lines, and its red light dimmed abruptly.

But the bead remained embedded in the groove.

It hadn't shattered.

Lin Ye released the secondary lines, relying solely on the main line to leverage off the dome.

His body traced an arc and slammed hard into the ice wall on the side of the high platform.

A dull sound like a dislocating shoulder echoed from his scapula.

He gritted his teeth, using the Dark Weaver to suspend himself against the wall.

Below.

The Commander Statue turned around.

Its cracked chest cavity expanded limply to the sides.

The damaged core bead reignited with red light.

The iron mask rotated, locking back onto Zhao Mengmeng on the ice field.

The giant axe was raised once more.

Behind Zhao Mengmeng were a dozen fully awakened common ice sculpture knights.

In front was the six-meter-tall crippled giant beast.

All paths of retreat were sealed.

She did not retreat.

She looked up and glanced at Lin Ye on the side wall of the high platform.

Her gaze moved down, landing on the crack-riddled bead on the Commander Statue's chest.

Her hand reached into her quiver, pulled out the last three wooden arrows, and clamped them between her fingers.

The first arrow pinned to the ice shield behind the Commander Statue's left rear.

Clang!

Three common ice sculptures to the left rear jolted awake, dragging their heavy armor as they shifted toward the source of the sound.

The second arrow struck a broken spear on the right.

Ding!

Two living knights on the right turned their heads, cold light leaping from their eye sockets.

The third arrow.

Zhao Mengmeng lowered her crossbow.

She pulled the trigger, aiming at the ice surface three meters away at her feet.

Crack!

The crispest sound exploded beneath her feet.

All the surrounding awakened ice sculptures froze in their tracks instantly.

They all turned their heads in unison.

Their hollow helmets were all aimed in her direction, and also aimed at the Commander Statue blocking her path.

Zhao Mengmeng raised the empty crossbow frame.

She lowered her center of gravity and aimed the empty slot at the six-meter-tall shadow.

"Come."