Puff! Puff! Puff!...
A series of dense flame explosions sent waves of intense pain through Xueying.
"This is the Sakura Iron Wire Kunai Slash."
Li Fan exclaimed, sheathed his weapon, and then began to sprint away.
Just as Xueying was about to pursue, Eudora on the other side, with her hands pulled back, was drawing the insect wire hanging from mid-air.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!...
Hearing the constant tightening of the insect wire, Xueying, having already suffered once, was hesitant to advance. However, after a brief observation, Eudora was still holding the wire tightly.
Bang! The Wirebug, subjected to immense pulling force, suddenly crashed to the ground.
"Ugh... forgot to draw my sword. Yuyu, sorry."
Eudora quickly picked up the Wirebug, wiped off the clinging ice crystals, and stored it in the bug case on her arm.
Whoosh! Sensing something approaching from behind, Xueying swiftly shifted its body to the side.
Li Fan, releasing the Sakura Iron Wire Kunai Slash again, flew in.
Xueying dodged the incoming slash, but the blade continued to spin forward with great range, ultimately grazing its wing bone.
Puff! Puff! Puff!...
Another burst of fireballs erupted.
"Don't be surprised, this version of the hunter is a bit too advanced for you."
Li Fan said, slightly raising his arm. Zhao Si, who had flown out earlier, returned to the bug case.
Xueying, bracing itself on its front claws, let out a roar, scattering a small amount of snow from the surrounding ice.
Holding its Dragon Greatsword horizontally to withstand the roar, Eudora released her second Wirebug, Duoduo, preparing for another leaping slash.
Hearing the tightening of the insect wire, Xueying glanced back.
Its amber eyes narrowed, and it exhaled a puff of cold air from its nostrils, displaying an air of disdain.
It was as if to say, "You think I'm stupid? Trying to trick me twice with the same move."
However, as soon as Xueying turned its head, Eudora let go. Pulled by the taut insect wire, her body soared into the air.
"Ugh!"
Eudora took a deep breath, raising her Dragon Greatsword with both hands behind her back.
Swoosh! A pale white light enveloped the flame-like blade.
"Aren't you going to look back?"
Li Fan, observing from a distance, pointed behind Xueying.
Xueying completely ignored him, pressing its claws down, arching its body in preparation to leap and attack.
It wasn't until it saw a blurry orange glow reflected on the white ice beneath its claws, as if fireballs were descending from above, that it sensed something was wrong.
It immediately changed its trajectory, leaping backward.
"Hiyah!"
Eudora, slashing downwards from mid-air, roared, her Dragon Greatsword smashing into the ice.
Bang! Crackle! Splash!
A spiderweb-like crack spread across the ice, and melting steam billowed everywhere.
As the orange flames on the Dragon Greatsword reignited, the hunter's silhouette, obscured by the mist, was illuminated.
Xueying stared at the scene for a moment, as if the figure standing in the mist was not a hunter, but a terrifying dragon!
"Hoo hoo ha... Is this the power of a Dragon?"
Eudora praised.
"You don't have to smile so evilly..."
Li Fan said, releasing his third Wirebug, Xie Guangkun.
Seeing that the opponent was going to use that move again, Xueying leaped lightly, its claw tips digging into the ice, its left wing bone pushing forward as its body tilted slightly.
"Iron Mountain Push, right?"
Li Fan immediately relaxed his grip, and the slackened insect wire drooped downwards.
The standard actions of a weapon provided excellent support for subsequent combos or dodges.
However, when performed in the game, some actions had the drawback of not being able to be canceled at any time.
This deficiency was nonexistent here. Not only could he stop mid-action, but Li Fan had also retreated and fled more than once.
Seeing that the opponent was no longer going to leap and slash, Xueying's tilted body straightened again, but the claw tips embedded in the ice remained in place.
Li Fan tried pulling the wire back. Xueying immediately began to tilt to the side.
Let go, return to center.
Pull, tilt.
...
In just over ten seconds, the hunter and the monster had probed each other five or six times, neither willing to make the first move.
Li Fan suddenly realized that stopping mid-action was not just possible for hunters here, but for monsters as well.
It was similar to Kuku's delayed tail whip with varying speeds.
Seeing that both sides were still probing, Dilu seized the opportunity to act.
Bang! A Pukei-Pukei Orb hit its face, exploding into a cloud of pink mist.
Xueying glanced sideways, trying to intimidate Dilu.
However, Dilu was no ordinary Felyne. Not only was he brothers with the Dragon, but he had also ridden on Mizutsune's neck.
A mere Icefang Wyvern's intimidation had no effect.
"Kitty Snowball Technique! Kitty Ice Shard Assault, meow!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...
Dilu picked up and threw snowballs and ice shards from the ice.
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
With its head constantly being struck, Xueying's gaze grew increasingly grim.
But anger aside, Xueying's reason told it that this team, from the hunter to the Felyne, was anything but normal, and it absolutely could not continue fighting.
Glancing at Mizutsune's position, Xueying forcefully lifted its claws off the ice and then rapidly charged towards it.
"It's trying to use Mizu to escape..."
Li Fan felt that Xueying's strategy would be quite effective against a regular hunter team.
Mizu wanted to intercept, but having been on standby for too long, the frozen foamy lubricant beneath it had stuck its purple fur to the ice.
Helpless, Mizu could only coil its body and then use its claws to pick away at the frozen ice.
Xueying leaped into the air, its clawed wings flapping vigorously.
After gliding down, it continuously looked back at the sky while running, keeping a close eye on the little dummy's movements.
After escaping for about three minutes, seeing the complex terrain of the snowy mountains and forests ahead, Xueying faintly felt that it was about to escape.
However, a series of shouts approached from afar.
"Ahhh!"
"Ooh!"
"Meow!"
Xueying curiously turned its head and was stunned.
On the ice illuminated by the moonlight, Mizutsune, with several insect wires wrapped around its neck, was rapidly sliding, dragging two people and a cat.
Roar?
Xueying couldn't understand, but thankfully it had already leaped onto the snow-covered land, feeling slightly more at ease.
Seeing the embankment several meters high ahead, Mizu let out a low growl as a reminder.
Mizu could easily leap onto the bank while sliding, but where the two people and the cat being dragged would be thrown was uncertain.
"This speed... and this impact!"
"I know!"
Eudora, gripping the insect wire tightly, clearly understood Li Fan's intention.
The essence of most insect wire techniques was to utilize the Wirebug's incredible load-bearing capacity and the wire's resilience to achieve high-speed body leaps, thereby transforming attacks.
The current speed conditions were met, so there was no need to actively charge up; the release conditions were already satisfied.
However, since neither of them had experienced such speed before, details like aerial posture and distance control would depend on individual performance.
Whoosh~
Mizu slowed down by swinging its body sideways and then leaped violently.
At the same time, the team released the insect wire and flew out diagonally forward.
Eudora stared intently at Xueying below, charging her sword in mid-air.
Li Fan held his Dragon Greatsword sideways, preparing to swing it in a spin at the opportune moment.
At this moment, Xueying leaped onto the icy rock wall and began to climb rapidly.
Roar! Roar!...
Faintly, Li Fan heard a series of urgent roars from high in the sky.
It was the little dummy's voice, sounding particularly anxious.
Li Fan realized something was wrong and looked up, scanning the wider area.
"It's a Brachydios!"
"I... cover... you!"
Eudora, charging her attack in mid-air, plummeted downwards.
Crrunch! The black claw tip of one of Xueying's wing claws firmly hooked into the ice at the top of the platform.
The continuous rapid sprints had consumed a large amount of its energy.
But as long as it climbed onto this platform, it could use its gliding ability to quickly fly into the mountains.
There, Xueying was confident it could easily shake off the hunter team's pursuit.
However, as its other wing claw embedded into the ice and its head was just raised to the top, the scene before it made Xueying tremble.
A Brachydios, resting on its forelimbs, was looking down at it, its fierce gaze devoid of any mercy.
The two dragons' eyes met. At this moment, the familiar fireballs reflected in the Brachydios's pupils.
Xueying thought it was fear causing an illusion, but as the orange light on the surrounding snow intensified.
It knew.
They were coming, soon...
Ah..... Ah.... Ah... Ah! Ah!!!
The shouts from high in the sky, approaching from afar.
The Brachydios sensed the approaching sounds and looked up.
Bang! Clang!
A Dragon Greatsword, swung downwards, struck its head.
Li Fan, in a spinning attack, landed two blows on its wing claws.
The Brachydios's head slammed into the snow, the immense impact as if the entire mountain had trembled.
Eudora, repelled by its hard skull, fell along with her dropped Dragon Greatsword to the mountainside below.
"Well... actually, I didn't want to swing this one, but the atmosphere was right, so I just went with it."
Li Fan said softly to the Brachydios, offering an explanation.
Whoosh~
The Brachydios's breath scattered the snow on the ground as its head slowly lifted.
The blood vessels in its forearms began to bulge, and the red-glowing blood flowed rapidly.
This platform was less than a hundred meters wide, with ice and rock formations on both sides. Li Fan felt that if it was caught, it would be certain death.
Glancing at Xueying, which was hooked onto the edge of the cliff, Li Fan slowly retreated while watching the Brachydios.
Roar!
The Brachydios tilted its head back, and a sound wave that distorted the air spread out.
Surrounding snow collapsed, and the ice cracked.
Seeing this, Xueying quietly lifted its wing claws, which were still gripping the ice of the platform.
Its claws exerted force, digging into the vertical ice and rock wall.
"Brother, give me a ride."
Li Fan's incomprehensible words did not affect Xueying's actions.
Whoosh! Its two wing claws were quickly withdrawn, its claws pushed off the ice and rock wall, and it leaped into the air, flipping its body and spreading its wings to enter a glide. The entire sequence was fluid.
While gliding, Xueying was searching for a suitable place to descend, but it felt something constricting its shoulders and looked down to check.
When it saw the faintly glowing insect wires wrapped around its body, Xueying was immediately terrified.
"Flap your wings quickly! Otherwise, you'll crash into the mountain!"
Li Fan, from its back, issued a warning.
Xueying flapped its wings, slightly increasing its altitude, and then veered sideways to avoid the mountainside, continuing its glide.
Before it could figure out how to deal with the hunter on its back, the continuous thudding sounds from below made Xueying tense up again.
Hunter and monster turned their heads simultaneously to look down.
The Brachydios was charging at full speed, occasionally looking up to confirm Xueying's position.
It was clearly waiting for Xueying to land so it could finish them both off.
Hunter and monster began to ponder simultaneously.
Creeaak! Creeaak!
Xueying felt the insect wires on its shoulders pulling to the right due to the hunter on its back.
So Xueying instinctively looked to the left, noticing the direction of the near-sea ice.
Roar...
Xueying hesitated.
It seemed to understand Li Fan's intention in pointing the direction.
In the snowy mountains and forests, it would be extremely difficult for the hunter team to pursue it.
But the Brachydios was completely different, as that was their shared hunting ground.
Once forced into a confined space, Xueying knew it had no chance of winning, especially in its current injured and fatigued state.
The vast near-sea ice, however, was different. It was open in all directions, regardless of how strong one's terrain-climbing ability was.
While pondering, Li Fan pulled the insect wire again.
"Faster, if we land now, it'll be hard to glide away."
Li Fan reminded.
Xueying exhaled a puff of cold air from its nostrils, as if expressing dissatisfaction.
But a moment later, it still flapped its wings twice, turned its body, and began to glide towards the near-sea ice.
"You glide quite skillfully. You're flying quite far."
Li Fan praised.
Xueying couldn't be bothered with this hunter who was like a plague god.
Whoosh~ A strong gust of wind came from the side.
The little dummy, flying in, flew parallel to Xueying.
Turning its neck to look at the hunter and the monster, the little dummy's eyes were full of confusion.
"Little dummy, your head injury is quite serious."
Li Fan said with concern.
Roar! The little dummy roared at Xueying.
"Don't be angry, I'll get it back for you."
Li Fan said, crouching down and punching Xueying's head.
Clang! Xueying roared in displeasure.
Roar! The little dummy continued to roar, as if indicating the force was too light.
"As a dragon, you should be more magnanimous. Although Xueying broke your head carapace, you've also eaten its stored meat quite a bit before."
Li Fan reasoned.
Woo...
The little dummy hesitated.
Roar!
Xueying couldn't accept this.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
The sound of the Brachydios charging below intensified.
Seeing this, the little dummy tilted its body, flew diagonally below Xueying, and gestured for Li Fan to jump on quickly.
Xueying also intended to shake off Li Fan, and its body tilted slightly.
"Go to high altitude and wait, little dummy. Don't come down without orders. The Brachydios's sharp claws are no joke."
Li Fan gave instructions and raised his hand, firing a green flare into the air to summon Eudora and Dilu.
Roar?
The little dummy couldn't understand the intention behind this action.
"Trouble is something we all caused together, we can't just leave Yaya to bear it alone."
Li Fan stated his reason.
The little dummy hesitated for a moment, then ascended and flew away.
Seeing the female wyvern leave without taking the talkative hunter with it, Xueying seemed surprised.
"Yaya, do you know why you've never made a name for yourself in the Frozen Archipelago?"
Li Fan looked up at the aurora in the sky and asked.
Roar?
"Because you never met me before."