Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 241 The Sword of Balance
Fortunately, he didn't have to hesitate for long before Lord Abigail's order arrived. He summoned his staff and immediately flew out, heading towards the location of the bone train as instructed by the lord.

****
A flash of cold silver light suddenly appeared!
Rugojin instinctively retreated, his staff barely managing to block the fatal blow. A figure wearing a silver mask appeared before him, a dagger gleaming coldly in his hand.

"A master-level assassin!" Roggen quickly assessed the opponent's strength. He retreated while gathering magic on his staff, but Silver Mask charged forward again like a ghost!
“Evanbel!” Roggen suddenly shouted.

Suddenly, the snow cracked open, and the massive body of the bear-man chieftain Evanbel burst forth. His thick hind legs left deep footprints in the snow, and this four-meter-tall behemoth charged straight at Silverface with astonishing speed.

Silverface frowned deeply. As an assassin, he hated opponents with thick skin the most—even if the opponent stood still and let him slash, his broken steel dagger might not be able to cause much damage after piercing that thick skin!
Just then, a dazzling beam of battle aura exploded from the side, and the paladin Gendal fearlessly met the bear-man chieftain head-on. His fists were clenched, and solidified holy light energy gathered on his knuckles, colliding violently with Evanbel's massive hand, powerful enough to shatter boulders.

"boom!"

A dull thud echoed through the valley. Grendel was forced back by the bear chieftain's palm strike, but Evanbel was also stopped, the recoil causing him to take another step back.

A pure white, healing light, like stars, showered down upon Genndal. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, cracked his shoulder blades, and a series of snapping sounds emanated from them.

Gerus, dressed in a cream-colored snow-white dress, descended from the sky. A large bow adorned her back, and the delicate fur trim on the heavy skirt swayed gently with her movements.

She didn't want to dress like this, but it was the only robe suitable for combat among the luggage that Catherine had prepared.

No wonder when Iser heard that his mother was also coming to the North, his first reaction was to run away!
Evanbel didn't understand human aesthetics; he simply felt a sense of disgust towards the flower-like pink-haired girl.

With this healer present, these skinny little people could easily spend a whole day dawdling with him!
****
At the mountaintop, a cold wind howled past, carrying fine snowflakes.

Su Ming calmly raised his arm, his fingertips gathering dark magic. With a slight flick of his wrist, four gleaming white bone spears instantly materialized and shot out with a sharp whooshing sound.

'Bone Spear - Armor-Piercing!'

Dark runes flowed across the surface of the bone spear as it pierced straight through the bear-man's thick fur and muscles, reaching the bone and blasting out a large amount of flesh and blood. Four gruesome holes immediately appeared on the bear-man's arm and shoulder, and he staggered back with a muffled groan. Dark red blood gushed out, leaving mottled marks on the snow.

But it clearly failed to kill it! On the contrary, the intense pain completely ignited the bear-man's ferocity. Its scarlet eyes widened even more, heavy white breath billowed from its nostrils, and it charged again.

"Roar—!" Another deafening roar came from overhead.

Su Ming retreated rapidly. He saw the bear-man swooping down from mid-air, its massive paw slamming heavily onto the spot where he had just stood, accompanied by a powerful gust of wind.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the ground trembled violently, and the snow was whipped up several meters high by the violent shockwave, forming a white, misty barrier. This was a tactic commonly used by the bear-men—using shockwave attacks to create blind spots and disrupt the enemy's balance and sense of direction.

But Su Ming was prepared and quickly cast a spell.

"Netherworld Shield!"

"Piercing through vision!"

A semi-transparent, dark blue light enveloped his body, and his eyes gleamed faintly. The interference of the snow mist instantly became ineffective, and the battlefield situation became clearly visible to him.

He dodged the charge of the wounded bear-man, raised his hand again, and four more bone spears shot out.

"Swish swish swish——"

The third bear-man charging at us sensed the magical fluctuations and immediately assumed a defensive stance. Its thick fur stood on end, its muscles taut like iron, and a layer of earthen-yellow energy shield rose from its body.

Although the bone spear pierced the bear-man's body, blasting four bloody holes, it still failed to cause fatal damage. Su Ming frowned slightly, beginning to understand the crux of the problem.

These otherworldly creatures possess an almost instinctive defense mechanism against magical attacks. They can predict attack trajectories through elemental fluctuations and prepare countermeasures before damage is inflicted.

Conversely, modern firearms exhibit no elemental fluctuations, no spellcasting delay, and virtually no delay from trigger pull to bullet impact. More importantly, the sustained firepower and accuracy surpass those of typical magical attack systems.

Faced with this attack method that was beyond their comprehension, the native creatures of the other world were clearly at a loss.

Therefore, even though four bone spears are far more lethal than a box of bullets, their actual combat effectiveness is far inferior.

This combat data can guide Su Ming's subsequent weapon selection. It also means that as the otherworldly beings gain more information and analyze the patterns of firearms, they will develop countermeasures.

It's like that high-ranking warrior on Earth who can escape unscathed from a hail of 100 57mm aerial rockets.

****
With the information gathering phase over, Su Ming wasted no more time. He unfastened his gun, took a new magazine from his tactical vest, and loaded it, the crisp "click" sound particularly clear in the wind and snow.

Considering the intensity of the upcoming battle, he decided to stop using high-cost spells.

So, so be it if my shoulder is numb. The only uninjured bear-man let out a deafening roar and charged at him recklessly. Su Ming raised his gun to fire when a sky-blue figure suddenly appeared from behind the bear-man.

"Shh!"

A flash of silver light appeared as a large, anciently designed sword traced a perfect arc, precisely severing the bear-man's thick neck. Blood splattered as the bear-man's massive head crashed onto the snow, its headless body swaying a few times before collapsing with a thud.

Then Su Ming met a very unfriendly gaze. Iser's amber eyes were coldly fixed on him.

“It’s been a long time, Mr. Graves!” she said through gritted teeth.

The girl flicked her sword cleanly and swiftly, spilling the bloodstains from her greatsword onto the snow, leaving a glaring crimson stain.

Su Ming awkwardly took a step back. "Hello, Princess Iser!"

The two sized each other up.

This was the first time Iser had seen Su Ming without his disguise—black hair and black eyes, his hair slightly disheveled by the wind, his face handsome yet resolute, much younger than she had imagined. His upper garment was particularly strange, tightly bound to his body, covered with ribbons and buckles, seemingly to complement the weapon in his hand.

Iser remained unchanged, her long golden hair like a vibrant flame in winter. She was still wearing light armor, but through the gaps in the edges, it was clear that the girl was wearing a white and green thermal coat underneath.

Catherine's repeated reminders to keep warm were indeed helpful, Su Ming thought to herself.

****
The last two bear-men roared and charged forward. Su Ming raised his gun, aimed, and shot down one of them.

Issey turned around nimbly, her beautiful figure passing by another bear-man, her sharp blade slicing towards the bear-man's neck.

But the bear-man lived up to his reputation as a being that made many warriors tremble with fear. Such a swift sword strike failed to cut through, but unfortunately only cut halfway and got stuck in his cervical vertebrae.

Helpless, Iser could only let go and step back, allowing the wounded bear-man to charge forward a few more steps with her greatsword before finally collapsing on the snow amidst splattered blood.

Su Ming glanced at it; the weapon Iser was using was the Sword of Balance. It was the one Violet had captured in the Battle of the Agate Sea and had recently returned to Catherine.

For a high-quality sword, this performance is rather poor and not worth the attention of the mother and daughter.

"This sword of yours..." Su Ming tentatively began, "...doesn't seem to be intended for direct combat?"

As he spoke, he replaced the magazine in his QBA221, then collected the empty magazines on the ground and began loading bullets.

“Indeed,” Isser said without hiding anything, “Many times the enemy is deceived by its appearance.”

She turned and walked towards the dying bear-man, raising her right leg to kick the sword hilt. The jammed greatsword flew up with a thud, and Iser easily caught the weapon, flicking her wrist to cleanly finish off the enemy.

A new commotion arose, and Su Ming turned around to find another group of bear-men climbing up the hillside. There were eight of them, slightly more than before.

He sighed and continued loading magazines into the QBA221.

"Aren't these bear-men afraid of death?" Su Ming complained.

Iser continued to finish off the fallen bear-men, explaining, "My mother investigated, and they have been completely infiltrated by the Church of the Calamity Bell." There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "These bear-men believe that those who die heroically on the battlefield will be awaited by countless female bear-men in heaven."

"..." Su Ming was speechless.

He raised the QBA221, aimed it at the bear-man at the front, and sent it to see the mother bear-man.

****
If Gejin raised his hand to cast a spell, the ground within a radius of tens of meters centered on Geindal would suddenly collapse.

As the smoke cleared, hundreds of rock pillars could be seen bursting from the ground, completely covering the area where Gerndale stood, like the fangs of a giant beast.

Silverface seized the fleeting opportunity, his figure flashing like a ghost behind Rogkin, the silver blade in his hand drawing a deadly arc.

The bear-man Evanbel, now free, suddenly let out a deafening roar, the sound waves of which, though visible to the naked eye, seemed to materialize as they struck. Silvermask was caught off guard and hit head-on, flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the snow.

Just as Evanbel was about to rush in for the finishing blow, Grendel leaped high into the air from the center of the rock pillar area, his body shimmering with the dual light of shield and enhancement spells. He charged towards Evanbel like a cannonball, his thick arms gripping the bear-man's shoulder tightly, dragging him back to the center of the battlefield amidst the towering rock pillars.

"Hehe, it's the two of us who should have some fun!" Grendel laughed wildly, the holy light on his fist shining even brighter.

(End of this chapter)