Ice Vapor Goddess

Chapter 49 City in Peril
The golden spirit slowly returned to Logan's body, and a cross slowly appeared on his chest. Although his heart had not yet resumed beating, the breath of "life" brought by the spirit had already appeared.

The knights entrust their ideals, souls, and even a part of their lives to the bestower. As long as the bestower exists and does not betray their original ideals, the knight will exist almost eternally, and can continue as a heroic spirit even after the body's functions have completely failed and the body has been lost.

However, Logan's body was clearly still recovering. The dozens of holy healings had a significant effect; although they couldn't save his life, they at least restored his physical condition considerably.

“Take him to a spiritual dwelling place,” Siron said to Kyle. “Take the soldiers with him as well, and make sure they protect him.”

“Yes.” Kyle nodded, picked up Logan, and felt the twisted flesh and broken bones like putty, his heart trembling.

Siren glanced at the unconscious Mathilde and carried her on his back.

He carried Mathilde out of the broken outer wall of the Guardian Tower. The cold wind rushed into the city, and snowflakes flew everywhere, instantly covering his hair with frost.

Thousands of cooling pipes are laid underground, providing heat to the steel beneath our feet—a place that doesn't usually accumulate much snow.

But now, several centimeters of snow and ice cover it, and only a little heat still clings to the earth. The rumbling of the boiler has weakened, and a gale of more than level 10 is sweeping in, almost blowing away Xilun's thin body.

Fortunately, after the investiture, a portion of the knight's power was dedicated to the investiture recipient, slightly increasing Siron's stamina and physical strength, allowing him to barely hold on.

"Your Excellency, do you need help?!" Kyle's voice came from several meters away, but Siron could not see him.

"No!!" he shouted, then a mouthful of ice crystals and snowflakes was poured into his mouth.

It's only 700 meters from here to the spiritual dwelling. Just walk around the outer edge of the central chimney and you won't get lost.
-
Ryan Hoffman walked up the city wall, his left arm twisted strangely, his chest caved in, and blood flowing from his head, but plasma filled all the wounds, making him surge with even greater power, as if he would only grow stronger infinitely before he completely collapsed.

The wind and snow in front of him became extremely violent, and ice crystals struck his chest like knives, mingling with the plasma and making a "sizzling" sound.

"The wind is clear and the snow is pure." An aged voice came from behind.

The wind and snow in front of them were suddenly "squeezed" out by an invisible force, bursting into a towering snow curtain.

A vast array of icemen appeared in the distance. Although they were only about two meters tall, just a little taller than a normal person, and far smaller than the towering Speyside walls, their terrifying vitality left a deep impression.

“Master Samantha.” Renn turned his head and gave a slight greeting. “What brings you here?”

“It’s all in chaos outside, of course I had to come down and see,” she said with a smile, her eyes narrowed.

"Oh? Aren't you here to rescue that knight?" Renn asked.

Samantha chuckled twice: "I was just passing by and couldn't bear to see such a knight being fooled to death by you."

"Are you accusing me?" Renn said, dropping even the honorific.

“How could that be? You’ve been like this for so many years. I’m just stating the facts.” Samantha smiled. “General ‘Thunder Fist’ of the Third Legion.”

Renn was silent for a moment: "Let's not dwell on the past, but I still don't agree with the Empire's decision back then."

“So you’re in Speyside now, not Lundinie.” Samantha said expressionlessly.

“From the first time I joined the army, I understood one thing.” Renn leaped down from the city wall, followed by forty royal guards. “If a being chooses to be your enemy, then you must eliminate it at all costs!”

Samantha watched his figure disappear like lightning and sighed, "But he might not be an enemy..."

Below the city, dazzling lightning, like wildly dancing silver snakes, burst forth from between Renn's fingers, coiling around his arms and torso. The next second, he faced the slowly walking ice men and slammed his fist, filled with lightning, into the ground beneath his feet!
boom--! ! !
A thick pillar of lightning shot into the sky from his center, and violent arcs of electricity exploded in a ring, unleashing a deafening roar. A large number of ice figures instantly vaporized under the high temperature, forming a thick white fog.

Without the interference of the [Wings of Holy Blood], his lightning was almost invincible!
Ice crystal fragments were scattered everywhere, reflecting a cold luster in the sunlight before quickly gathering together.

The wind and snow rose from the ground, completely crossing Samantha's spell field. The dead ice man was reconstructed in the snow and ice, and a large number of ice crystals rushed towards Renn like knives!

Flakes of ice crystals imbued with eerie magic transformed into vortexes created solely for one person, swirling around Renn's side. No matter how much lightning struck, it could only shatter some of the ice crystals before turning them into even smaller icy mists.

Theoretically, a legendary knight's magic should create a "pressure," similar to a legendary mage's "domain," completely suppressing or repelling any magic weaker than his own within that range. However, the ice crystals seemed to completely ignore his pressure, simply swirling around him. The vortex was clearly magical; otherwise, it couldn't have broken through the legendary knight's physical defenses—Raine's muscles could even withstand the direct impact of a 12-pound cannon, yet they were constantly being cut by these ice crystals.

The Royal Guard Knights unleashed their unique abilities, conjuring flames or storms from their lances and swords, and with immense force, they repeatedly severed the heads of the Icemen or blasted them away.

The injured ice men were repaired time and time again, and the dead ice men were resurrected time and time again. Even the ice men that were blasted into pieces could be transformed into the people who killed them by the wind and snow, and even be reshaped little by little in the wind and snow.

In a daze, Renn realized that they seemed to be one with the wind and snow; they were the children of the wind and snow, and also its masters.

boom! ! ! !

He unleashed another barrage of lightning, shattering the approaching ice figures. The storm of ice blades around him grew increasingly dense, making him look like a bloodied man, with tiny wounds on every millimeter of his skin.

The icy fog even deprived him of air, and he gradually suffocated. The icy fog and ice crystals slowly invaded his body, and lightning and icy fog clashed violently within him, with his mouth and nose flashing with electricity.

The ice people roared, snarling in incomprehensible words.

No, that's not right.

It seemed like Ryan could understand.

The icy mist completely swallowed his senses and breath. He held endless lightning in his hands, raging and venting his pain and indignation.

"Blood feud... New world..." they roared.

“Blood feud…hunt…found…”

"Return...the pain...of war..."

Those sounds, seemingly coming through the icy mist, entered Renn's mind.

He felt anger, he felt pain, he felt a primal hatred that could never be forgiven, though he didn’t know what it meant.

"Get out of the way!!" he roared furiously, and the knights quickly formed ranks and retreated.

The next moment, the blue-white sun rose from the ground.
-
Siren lit the fireplace, Mathilde lay asleep on the bed beside her, and Kyle pushed open the door and came in.

"Everything is settled, sir." He wiped his sweat, picked up the teacup next to him and gulped it down, then jumped around on the ground, scalded by the heat.

"Hmm." Xilun nodded. "How's the situation in the city?"

“It’s terrible, really terrible.” He rubbed his hands anxiously. “One boiler exploded, and several others nearby were also damaged. The three steam turbines—the Industrial and Manufacturing Turbine, the Life Support Turbine, and the Differential Turbine—have all stopped working. The backup turbines are taking over the work of the Life Support Turbine, but it has already caused chaos. The 7th to 11th floors underground are severely damaged, and the fire is still raging.”

"The livestock area is in chaos, but the militia and walking mechs have already gone there, so things should be stabilized, but the losses will be enormous..."

Xilun's face darkened: "Where are our people?"

"Master Aldridge has driven his tractor to haul back the Steel Angels. Fafnir and the Knights of the Holy Light are trapped in the boiler room. Sam doesn't know, but the Evangelists have all run away. Joseph is receiving refugees in the church—more and more people are fleeing there, and the church is almost overflowing."

Siren clenched his fist and then relaxed it. He looked at Mathilde's sleeping face, stood up wearily, and handed her the staff as well: "The Royal Guard will stay here to take care of the wounded. Go find Aldridge and have him give you the Ring of Authority. Use my personal elevator to go to the eighth basement level to pick up Fafnir. If the boiler area needs rescue personnel, you can stay there and help out. The Ring of Authority and the staff are both in your hands. You will act on my will, evacuate the crowd, and organize the rescue."

"And what about you, Bishop?"

Xilun looked towards the city walls, where the sound of cannons was already deafening.

"I'm going to the front lines."

(End of this chapter)