As the Iceborne Dragon realized the humans' caution, it leaped back to create distance.
Ordinarily, cannonballs were blocked by ice walls, so the hunters using ballistas switched to firing cluster bombs with curved trajectories.
Boom~ Boom~ Boom~...
Multiple cluster bomb casings detonated in the air, scattering small, pellet-like projectiles that rained down.
Roar! Roar! Roar! ...
A barrage of explosions erupted, sending ice crystals flying. A plume of thick smoke rose from behind the ice wall.
Hiss~ Crackle~
Countless cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of the ice wall, which was built from stacked ice pillars, and it began to crumble.
The sight astonished the hunters present. How could an ice wall that even piercing rounds couldn't penetrate shatter without warning?
The smoke and dust, mingled with a white mist of cold air, quickly dissipated. The Iceborne Dragon flapped its wings, and a frost fog with a powerful chill surged forward.
As a potential battlefield, the snow on the ground had been continuously cleared.
But now, the snow depth was visibly increasing.
With snow reaching past their calves and the frigid temperature making their teeth chatter, the hunters chose to retreat, falling back towards the fortress.
Seeing this, Di Yan launched a second round of artillery fire.
The Iceborne Dragon, without evading, chose to break through by force.
Emerging from the concentrated fire and smoke, the Iceborne Dragon abruptly stopped, planting its four claws firmly and lowering its head.
Hoo~
A misty white breath erupted from its mouth, exuding a chilling aura.
Hiss~
A series of intense freezing sounds echoed. The hunters, who had intended to attack in conjunction with the artillery, were forced to flee.
Wherever its freezing breath passed, it encased everything it touched in a thick layer of ice.
As the Iceborne Dragon swung its head, its freezing breath began to sweep across the fortress's circular wall.
"Quick! Close the defense gate!"
At Di Yan's command, two hunters heaved on the control wheel.
Clang~~
Chains whirred as a metal gate, topped with a sharp spike, rose from the ground.
Seeing that even the freezing breath was blocked by the rising gate, the Iceborne Dragon let out two guttural roars and began to repeatedly strike and ram it with its foreclaws, launching an assault.
Crash~ Crash~ Crash~...
The sounds of impact echoed within the fortress, and clumps of snow and shards of ice rained down from the mountain heights.
Glancing at the cannons on the wall, half of which were frozen, Di Yan issued orders: "Once it breaches the defense gate, first use restraint rounds to lock its position, then immediately fire the Dragonator!"
"Report! The Dragonator is malfunctioning due to freezing!"
A member of the Moon辰 Guard reported anxiously.
"What... Clear the ice from its surface with all your might!"
Di Yan commanded.
"Report! The defense gate is about to give way!"
Another arriving guard member reported.
Di Yan looked towards the fortress entrance, at the already inwardly dented gate, and a sense of helplessness washed over him.
"We'll hold it off. Keep it up, Di Yan."
Hearing Li Fan's voice, Di Yan was momentarily stunned. When he turned back, the two hunters and one cat from the Chief Hunter Squad were already boarding the rail cart heading outside the fortress.
"Is this the Azure Star that guides the way..."
Di Yan murmured gratefully, then led the guards on the wall in beginning repairs on the frozen Dragonator.
"The tracks are blocked by snow, meow."
Dilu tried to pull the lever several times to start the rail cart, but it remained unresponsive.
"Yudora, use your Greatsword's booster spray."
Li Fan pondered for a moment and offered a solution.
"This... Won't it cause an accident?"
Yudora asked uncertainly, looking at the winding path buried under snow.
"I've attached the 'Heaven-Defying Charm' to the cart. It'll be fine."
Li Fan said, tying the charm to the handle.
"Wouldn't it be safer if you wore it?"
Yudora inquired.
"If I wore it, I might just jump off the cart, and my desire to face the Iceborne Dragon would fade. Besides, even if I continued riding, it would only protect the wearer, and you and Dilu might be in danger."
Li Fan explained.
"Alright, hold on tight."
Yudora unslung her Dragonfire Mechanized Greatsword, found a direction, gripped the hilt, and began charging the spray.
Hoo... Hoo~ Hoo!
As the spray intensified, the rail cart slowly began to move, and soon it was speeding along the winding mountain path.
Li Fan's fingers gripped the trigger of the cart's rapid-fire ballista. After a brief aim, he fired while moving at high speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang! ...
The rapidly ejected projectiles turned into light particles, concentrated on the Iceborne Dragon's neck and head.
With its upper body trembling, the Iceborne Dragon impatiently shifted its gaze, noticing the source of the attack was a strange, fast-moving object on the mountain.
Its eyes darted left and right, trying to lock onto the target.
Whoosh~ The rail cart leaped from a cliff face, arcing through the air and soaring over the Iceborne Dragon.
Dilu seized the opportunity to throw a small bomb barrel with a lit fuse downwards.
Clang~ Boom!
The small bomb exploded on a sharp horn formed of silver-white ice crystals. Aside from scattering a few ice fragments, it caused no substantial damage, but it greatly annoyed the Iceborne Dragon.
It immediately turned its head, facing the rail cart directly.
Hiss~
The rail cart landed, and a miraculous event occurred: its wheels perfectly fit into the snow-covered tracks.
With a shower of sparks, the rail cart swayed twice and continued to move forward smoothly and rapidly.
The team, ready to abandon the cart at any moment, was quite surprised by this.
However, with a ranged weapon like the rapid-fire ballista available, there was no reason to abandon it.
Bang! Bang! Bang! ...
"Come and get me, you idiot!"
As the Iceborne Dragon fell far behind, Li Fan, while firing, couldn't resist taunting.
Creak~~
The rail cart traced a U-shaped path on the snow, its direction of travel immediately reversing.
"Who laid these tracks! Are they insane!"
Li Fan's cheerful smile suddenly froze.
Yudora immediately stopped her Greatsword's spray, and the rail cart's speed significantly reduced.
The Iceborne Dragon didn't intend to miss this opportunity, unleashing its freezing breath and sweeping its head from side to side.
After the team jumped off, Li Fan and Yudora worked together to lift the rail cart off the tracks, set it upright, and smash it down onto the snow.
The two humans and the cat took shelter inside the upright cart.
Hoo~ Hoo~...
The surging white mist swirled past on both sides.
Watching the ice crystals form on the inner walls of the cart, the two humans and the cat huddled together, drawing warmth from the residual heat of the Dragonfire Mechanized Greatsword.
By the time the freezing breath ended, the rail cart had been frozen into a massive ice block.
The Iceborne Dragon walked over unhurmiably, head held high. As it approached, it suddenly heard the sound of flames igniting.
"Thank you, rail cart."
Li Fan sighed softly and retrieved the frost-covered Heaven-Defying Charm from the handle.
He exchanged a glance with Yudora, who was charging her sword, then drew his Thunderclap Divine Blade and slashed vertically at the rail cart.
Hiss~ Crackle~
A straight seam, like a black line, appeared. The cart, along with its icy exterior, was cleanly bisected by the练气 blade, falling to either side.
Before the Iceborne Dragon could comprehend what was happening, it heard a shout, and a red beam of light streaked towards it.
"Hiyah!"
In an instant, Yudora, swinging her Greatsword in mid-air, was before it.
Clang! Crash~
The Dragonfire Mechanized Greatsword struck its head with a direct blow. The ice crown shattered, and the Iceborne Dragon reeled backward.
Yudora landed with a roll, quickly ran, and stopped abruptly behind and to the side of the Iceborne Dragon's head.
Her legs sank into the snow, and she drew her sword again, preparing to swing.
The nozzle glowed red, catching the Iceborne Dragon's eye. It immediately increased its struggles, trying to get up quickly.
However, at this moment, a string of golden lightning suddenly flashed from the side.
Crack!
Li Fan thrust his blade straight forward, piercing the left wing membrane and creating a gaping wound.
Whoosh~ The slender tail swept across the ground. Li Fan rolled to evade.
Thinking he had dodged the attack, he hadn't expected the Iceborne Dragon's tail to suddenly curve and arch, its base, adorned with silver ice crystals, now aimed at the charging Yudora.
Clang~
The Iceborne Dragon turned its head to look back, intending to find the precise spot to strike. It saw the human who had harmed it standing motionless in front of another human who was striking it.
"You'll be... impaled..."
Yudora, who had poured all her strength into her charge, managed to warn.
"Dilu has loaded the disc. We'll be fine."
Li Fan, slightly bent in an iaido stance, replied softly.
With a hum, the world before his eyes distorted, leaving only the base of the tail suspended in mid-air in sharp focus.
Whoosh~ Clang!
The ice crystal spike, accompanied by a whistling sound, struck the 练气 Li Fan had swung horizontally.
Under the immense resistance, a few crystalline ice particles scattered, and the Iceborne Dragon's tail stab deflected.
Li Fan spun his blade and charged forward, a linear 练气 blade slash striking its back.
The Iceborne Dragon let out a pained groan. Sensing the rapid approach of a searing red light, it braced itself with one foreclaw, determined to rise.
"Hiyah!"
Clang! Boom!
Yudora's heavy blow to the head struck true again.
The Iceborne Dragon's ice crown completely disintegrated into ice dust. Before it could fully rise, it toppled back to the ground, facing a different direction.
"Is this the strength of the Chief Squad..."
On the wall, Di Yan, who had been observing the battle, was filled with disbelief.
Bright red blood flowed into the snow, immediately turning into red ice beads.
Feeling its consciousness dimming, the Iceborne Dragon suddenly heard a dragon's roar.
Roar~
"I really want to live for another five hundred years~..."
Crack! Crack...
At the same time, the sound of the earth's crust cracking, which had been swirling in its ears, grew louder.
The ability to perceive the shifting of the earth's crust was innate, used to locate magma veins.
But the incessant rumbling from underground had become the Iceborne Dragon's nightmare.
Roar~
"I really want to live for another five hundred years~... This part needs to be sung twice."
The dragon's roar sounded again, most inappropriately.
The Iceborne Dragon, its consciousness hazy, immediately widened its eyes.
Roar! With a roar that meant "All of you, shut up!"
Even while lying on the ground, the Iceborne Dragon's mouth began to accumulate freezing breath.
Seeing the cold air spreading outwards from the Iceborne Dragon, the team quickly retreated.
Hoo~ Hoo~...
The Iceborne Dragon stood up and took flight towards the Moon辰 Fortress, its freezing breath indiscriminately pouring down along the way, causing several ice walls to erupt from the ground.
Seeing that the wound on its wing membrane had been sealed by ice crystals, Li Fan realized that attacking the wing membrane was insufficient to restrict the Iceborne Dragon's flight capabilities.
"I'll take you there!"
Yudora extended her hand.
"It's safer to use Hui Hui at a time like this."
Li Fan said, taking out his handheld device.
The premise for him and Yudora to engage the Iceborne Dragon head-on was that it was willing to stay on the ground for the fight.
Without that premise, fighting became extremely difficult.
"Here it comes! Li Fan and Yudora have heavily wounded it! The Moon辰 Guard must not miss this opportunity!"
At Di Yan's shout, no one on the high-risk wall retreated.
Clang! Clatter!
The Iceborne Dragon plummeted diagonally, smashing through the already deformed defense gate.
Faced with the various humans and machines before it, the Iceborne Dragon concluded that they were likely sources of noise.
Thus, with a furious roar, it took to the air and unleashed its freezing breath.
It firmly believed that by freezing everything, it would eventually silence the source of the sound.
Boom! Boom! Boom! ~
"Concentrate your fire! Let's fight it!"
Di Yan shouted. Within the Moon辰 Fortress, a large number of hunters, disregarding the risk of friendly fire from the cannons, launched a coordinated attack on the Iceborne Dragon.
Under the pressure of multiple attacks, the Iceborne Dragon was forced to land.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~...
The moment its claws touched the ground, six restraint rounds with ropes were fired from different angles, successfully embedding themselves into its ice armor.
The Iceborne Dragon thrashed its body, trying to break free. Meanwhile, the massive cannon barrel in the center of the fortress wall, under the coordination of several hunters, began to slowly lower.
Glancing at the gaping maw of the enormous cannon pointed at it, the Iceborne Dragon, whose mind had been filled with the desire to freeze everything, quickly calmed down.
It realized a problem.
Could this ugly thing actually pose a threat to me?
"Dragonator aiming is ready!"
Upon hearing the guard's report, Di Yan, without hesitation, shouted, "Fire! Everyone, retreat!"
Boom! Bang!
A conical projectile, larger than the Iceborne Dragon's head, shot out from the cannon.
The Dragonator had an extremely short range. Its curved trajectory and the massive size of the projectile meant that restraint rounds were necessary to lock onto the monster before a hit was possible.
However, in terms of power, it not only had a terrifying amount of explosive charge but also a conical shell with a powerful piercing effect due to its weight upon impact.
Clang! Crack~
Feeling a heavy weight on its upper body, the Iceborne Dragon immediately stopped struggling and looked down at the massive projectile embedded in its chest armor.
Although it hadn't exploded yet, seeing all the humans on the wall retreating and the armor-piercing shells that had exploded on its face earlier, a sense of crisis surged within it.
Hoo~ Hoo~...
A misty freezing breath began to spray, and ice quickly spread over the projectile.
Seeing the freezing process nearing completion, a glimmer of hope appeared in the Iceborne Dragon's eyes.
BOOM!!!
Seeing a shockwave of an explosion approaching from the fortress, the team took cover behind an ice wall constructed from ice pillars.
"The Dragonator fired successfully... Perhaps Hui Hui won't be needed."
Li Fan surmised.
"Was the Iceborne Dragon defeated?"
Yudora asked with uncertainty.
"It's probably not that easy, but it's definitely been heavily wounded... Dilu, you brought the items, right?"
"Yes, meow."
"Good, it looks like it's time to try and capture it."