Ice Vapor Goddess

Chapter 62 Adventure
Four hours later, the convoy approached the site of the train accident. The ground plowed by the heavy train had been filled with snow, with only some steel structures still standing on the surface, forming snow mounds.

The boiler's heat was reduced to a minimum, with weak flames accompanied by feeble hissing steam, and the convoy moved forward at a snail's pace.

Suddenly, the vehicle stopped, and Fafnir jumped out and walked forward at Aldridge's direction.

"What's going on?" Arthur stopped the car and looked at them curiously.

A moment later, three red lights flashed, indicating "danger," followed by three yellow lights, indicating "get off the bus."

People jumped out of the car and gathered around. Fafnir's face was grave: "There are many huge footprints ahead, denser than before, and there are also drag marks."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Kyle tried to boost morale: "Maybe they're just passing by?"

“I hope so.” Aldridge sighed. “Theoretically, no one should be around to tend to the train in this heavy snow. Sigh…”

"Kyle, go check ahead," Siren instructed. "Be careful."

Kyle looked at Siron, genuinely worried. The bishop had inexplicably fainted just moments before, and as the captain of the guard, he didn't want to leave his side.

He hesitated for a few seconds on the order—which was unusual for him—before saying to the person beside him, “Brother, you stay here and protect the bishop.”

After saying that, he turned and disappeared into the wind and snow.
-
After the heavy snow fell, most of the landmarks disappeared, and they could only roughly reach the vicinity of the crash site. The rest would depend on luck.

Kyle followed the snowdrifts on the ground, and in the dim blizzard, the footprints on the ground became more and more numerous.

Most of the footprints were about the same size as him, but some were several times larger. Some were similar to human feet, but most were just oval-shaped imprints.

The wind and snow obscured most of his senses. Huge footprints surrounded him, and a sense of danger surged up wildly, as if every snowflake carried malice. Beyond the dark snow wall, something seemed to be waiting for him, ready to devour him.

He took several deep breaths, inhaling a lot of snowflakes, but managed to calm down and grip his rifle tightly.

He was the top marksman in the Holy Guard Squad. Even without his talent, he was still a sharpshooter with perfect accuracy. If it weren't for his talent for enchanting bullets over a wide area with the [Light Blast Bullet], and the fact that he was the first to reach the peak of the regular knights, he would definitely be the leader of the gunnery group.

"I really miss it... Leonard..." He began to miss his team leader. Although they had competed for a long time back then, he had to admit that no shooter could help but feel intoxicated when his gun barrel burst out with scorching and dazzling holy light bullets, shattering the enemy with the shriek of light and judgment.

That was absolutely awesome!
Unfortunately, his gun barrel now only contains metal bullets, and the few runes only help to increase the bullet's muzzle velocity.

Suddenly, it seemed he kicked something.

It is very hard, but not very big.

He shifted his foot—it was a black thing that emerged from the snow.

He sensed something in his mind, and then he dug down like a madman, ignoring the coldness of his hands, frantically digging through the snow.

Finally, following the frozen, bluish-black arm, he saw a head.

“Reinhard…” he murmured, trembling as he collapsed to the ground.

Yes, because they couldn't carry so many bodies away, and they couldn't bury them in the frozen soil, those who didn't survive were left here. We've arrived... at the crash site.

He looked up and saw that the wind and snow had subsided slightly, and he could clearly see a two-meter-high ice wall standing in front of him.

This place is no longer deserted.

He took a deep breath, leaped several meters into the air, and looked over the wall.

The ice wall seemed to be just a simple ice wall, with no traps or enemies behind it.

So he grabbed the wall and nimbly flipped over, landing silently on the soft snow like a feline.

The ice wall blocked the wind and snow, making the area quieter. You could see the train wreckage spread out like a dead giant snake, stretching far into the distance.

Then he saw the Ice Man.

A creature five or six meters tall sat quietly on the ice wall, emanating a deep, chilling aura. Its simple, clay-like face, resembling that of a child, possessed an inexplicable majesty, exuding a grand presence even in its slumber.

Before him were the two red mercury carriages, and a group of small ice figures danced around him, seemingly performing some ancient ritual.

They seemed unaware of Kyle's arrival; some even climbed onto his body, using snowflakes to touch up his face, as if trying to mold him into a certain shape.

Kyle was startled and froze in place—he was close enough that he didn't want to make any noise that might disturb the guys.

He also noticed that near the two red mercury carriages, there were strange runes carved there. They were runes he had never seen before, and they seemed to be similar to the sacred runes of the church. They could be drawn on a flat surface and could be pieced together into various geometric shapes such as circles and squares to form new content, rather than simply being written line by line.

He slowly backed away until he touched the ice wall.

He leaped lightly, jumping several meters without making a sound, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He wondered what these guys were relying on to sense things; they didn't seem to be very sharp.

But in that moment of distraction, he lost control of where he landed and his shoulder accidentally bumped into the outside of the ice wall.

Slight cracks appeared, and it looked like a large chunk of ice was about to fall!
In that instant, a transparent wall blocked its way—that was the "Stop!" sign!
It perfectly stopped the broken ice without making a sound.

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed back, marveling at how close he had come to disaster.

But a roar came from not far away, and the wind and snow instantly became brutal and frenzied. The white sky swept across the world, and noisy footsteps rushed towards him.

"Damn it!" Kyle was startled and ran as fast as he could. His physical strength as a Royal Knight allowed him to jump freely on the snow.

He ran hundreds of meters, only to find that the ice men didn't seem to be chasing him.

He stood there in confusion, then watched as the enormous creature stood up, slowly walked towards the ice wall, and then shattered the "Stop" barrier with a single punch.

Then, as if they had lost their purpose, they wandered around aimlessly for several hours before returning to their resting place.

Kyle's eyes lit up.

Their senses... seem to be able to perceive only divine thoughts!
(End of this chapter)