Conquering His Cold Heart

Chapter 461: Chapter 461: Knocked from the sky

Fully pumped from the success in overcoming the last hurdle to advanced mastery, Artemis wasted no time in activating his newfound skill [Sky descending squall].

Bright blue energy flooded Artemis's bow and quiver causing it hum and vibrate as he pulled back the string. An arrow made of energy soon appeared, flashing with power.

As the skill dictated in its name he aimed upward into the sky before letting the arrow loose.

The arrow screeched as it ascended into the sky before violently exploding into dozens no hundreds of energy arrows that swiftly descended upon on the battlefield, penetrating numerous monsters without mercy.

Frost and many others looked up in awe as the deluge of energy arrows continued to cover the surrounding area.

"Hoh seems Artemis crossed the threshold, I'm pretty sure that's the advanced level bow skill [Sky descending squall]." An observing major commented with pride.

"Yes, seems you're correct. Artemis has taken the next step in advancing his career. Not many high level officers in the frost wolf battalion are skilled with the bow, his master will be proud." Hamon spoke with a smile.

Artemis was one of the few core disciples of the famous former General Ullr, now captain of royal azure guard. An A-rank archer known to be the best in the entire Northrend empire and a particularly strict instructor.

Hamon remembered the message he received last year from General Ullr.

"That brat is even more skilled than I was at his age and will likely surpass me in the future but only if he reigns in that arrogance and learns true humility in his craft. Show him the world of war, let him experience the breadth of the battlefield and learn his place within it. I leave him to you Colonel Hamon as your reputation precedes you, show him no leniency.

Artemis can return under my tutelage when he achieves B-rank….if he wishes it." Though Ullr's voice was rough, and it was clear that he wished for Hamon to be particular strict with his young disciple it was also clear that he was rather fond of Artemis and held high hopes for his future.

As the deluge of arrows finally ended, Artemis felt his body being drained of all strength. He fell forward, collapsing upon Kiba's broad back, his fluffy fur rubbing against his cheek, tickling his nose.

'How soft'

"Chuff?" Kiba chuffed questioningly, wondering if Artemis was alright after collapsing.

"Heheheh I'm good Kiba thanks for…shit dodge!" Suddenly Artemis felt his skin tingle as a strong sense of foreboding rang through his body. His instincts were warning him of extreme danger.

Kiba was a little slower on the uptake but reacted well, immediately flapping his wings to move unfortunately he wasn't fast enough.

Without warning a purple beam pierced through the canopy of the Northrend forest, hounding directly for Kiba and Artemis.

The sky thundered and colour drained from the sky. Hamon, Frost and the other high ranking fighters all turned to face the sky, powerless to intervene in time.

Boooooommmm!

An earth shattering explosion appeared in the air following the contact between Kiba and the purple beam. This was followed by smoke and the plummeting of Kiba and Artemis from the sky.

"Kiba!" Frost roared in anguish as he kicked off the ground towards his falling friend, caring not for the monsters surrounding him nor the danger of revealing himself in the open like Artemis and Kiba.

A malicious grin appeared on the eldest rindar's face as he witnessed this happen.  And following that, two different energy generated attacks were fired from the treeline, both malicious in nature and aimed at the now wide open Frost.

A large dark violet fist approached him from one direction while a neon green barb far more corrosive than the earlier ones hounded from another leaving Frost no room to evade.

With clenched teeth and a cold sweat Frost felt his heart thump away and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He had fallen for their trap, hook line and sinker.

Time seemed to slow down for Frost as he turned his head away from the falling Kiba to see the devasting attacks heading his way.

'Fuck!' He loudly cursed internally while doing his best to reorientate himself into a more defensible position. A difficult task when one is in mid-air and without wings but a trick he had mastered thanks to Maya. Her fists would continue to hound after him even if he was falling to the ground head first let alone being mid jump.

Using his glaive as a fulcrum and his ice flames as pseudo thrust he managed to rotate himself to face both these attacks head-on but even, so it was going to hurt and then some.

With a steady grip his eyes locked onto the neon green barb, that was the most deadly attack in his eyes and the one he really couldn't allow to come in contact with his body. The violet fist could be endured but the barb could not.

The vibrant blue flames covered his glaive in excess and the wind engraving hummed to life. He lacked the time to activate a skill but pumping charka was fine, its main boon was speed after all.

"Ssssssssss boooooommm!" His glaive swung out like he was standing on solid ground swiftly making contact with the neon green barb with a decent amount of force.

The cold flames immediately got to work destroying the poison as though they were the perfect antithesis, but this was a dedicated attack by a B-rank monster. Frost's glaive trembled at the collision and the skin between his finger split open as his weapon was pushed towards his chest.

He lacked the support of the ground so Frost couldn't generate any additional strength. His glaive was thus pushed back and slammed into his chest causing him to groan in pain. However this was acceptable as long as he held a firm grip and kept his glaive between him and the barb he should be able to endure this assault.

Unfortunately it seemed as though the eldest rindar and this B-rank poison herald were done underestimating him. The dark violet fist was slower that the neon green barb and that was by design. It waited for the barb to place Frost on the back foot before swooping in for the kill.

The large fist appeared before Frost's eyes aiming for his chest or rather the back of poisonous barb. With the additional force behind it the barb would easily slip passed his glaive and pierce directly through his chest. Frost wasn't confident he'd be able to survive being afflicted with such devasting poison once it reached his organs. The situation just got a whole lot more dangerous.

His mind ran a mile a minute as time slowed even further as if dragging out his last moments. Fear creeped in, the instinctual reaction to one's impending death. He'd only been in this world for a few months, experienced so much, joy, friendship, family, love and even anger and hatred…..he didn't wish his journey to end here, he had too much to live for.

With bloodshot eyes and clenched teeth Frost did his best to push against the barb. He did have one option, but he really didn't want to use it so soon, he and Kiba had practically just got here after all but when his life was truly in jeopardy nothing else mattered, he needed to live.

"Arghhhhhhhhh!!!!" He roared out as his entire body tensed allowing him to slightly push back the barb that had started releasing corrosive gas thanks to his cold flames and attempt to reach for the teleporting talisman however in these short milliseconds Frost had forgot one important thing…..he was not alone.

Fwooosh!

An arrow suddenly appeared from the sky and struck against the large imposing fist. There was a large boom as they made contact and clearly the fist was stronger as the arrow lost its momentum and was flung backwards with visible cracks however, the fist had dimmed somewhat and reduced in speed.

"[Two sword style: red blossom]" following the arrow was a pair of swords coated in dense, sharp looking energy that struck against the violet fist, slicing it apart.

Frost's hand that was edging close to the teleportation talisman swiftly halted in place before closing into a tightened fist as he witnessed this go down. The dark violet fist had been taken care of leaving only the poisonous barb, something he could handle.

With a determined gaze Frost placed his other hand back on his glaive, let out another roar and pushed back with all his strength. His body was pushed through the air, but his glaive was no longer crushing his chest and once his feet touched the ground strength filled his body once more. With a fierce expression he swung out, shattering the barb that had been causing him so much issue.

The corrosive gas was gradually destroyed by his cold flames, but his ice armour had some clear holes caused by the corrosion, his face even had a minor burn near the chin. God knows how much damage would have been done if it touched him in its liquid state or entered his body. Poison was definitely something Frost would never appreciate, apologies to his young brother Wilsander.