Chapter 469: Valkyrie and Saint

Chapter 469: The Valkyries and the Holy Maiden

"Holy Knight... it's Lord Holy Knight."

Li Wei heard the reply from the half-orc leader and fell into thought.

It seemed that those who had been relentlessly pursuing him all along were none other than the Holy Knights of the Church of the God of Light.

This news was neither good nor bad.

At the very least, it was infinitely better than having the Cardinal himself come after him in person.

After pondering for a moment, Li Wei looked down at the half-orc leader and asked, "How many Holy Knights are there? Are they still within the city?"

The half-orc leader quickly replied, "Four Lord Holy Knights. They... they should still be inside the city. I only saw them enter but never saw them leave."

Li Wei nodded, sensing he wouldn't be able to extract much more information.

Truthfully speaking, this half-orc leader was merely a low-level figure; the fact that he could even recognize a Holy Knight was already quite impressive.

After all, in this isolated Ice City cut off from the outside world, there was no way to come into contact with the Church of the God of Light.

The fact that the Holy Knights sought help from the Ice Queen indicated that there was no temple of the God of Light within the Ice City.

Otherwise, the Holy Knights would have no need to seek assistance from the Ice Queen.

This was a place so remote that even the Church of the God of Light had yet to set foot here.

Nevertheless, the influence of the Church of the God of Light remained effective, albeit greatly diminished.

When the Ice Queen saw that among the newcomers were legendary Holy Knights, she didn't dare rashly refuse their request, fearing offense against the most powerful force on the continent—the Church of the God of Light.

Li Wei inquired about some related matters, but the half-orc leader's answers were always vague—either hearsay or based on what others said. Nothing was certain from his own knowledge.

Li Wei thus held no great expectations.

Just as he finished questioning and prepared to leave,

he keenly heard light footsteps approaching from outside the door.

Extending his spiritual perception outward, he discovered that the building was already surrounded.

Li Wei frowned—the troubles truly seemed endless.

It seemed he couldn't stay in this Ice City any longer.

Coincidentally, Li Wei had wanted to follow Bear Two back to his tribe to meet their tribal shaman and inquire about the Frozen Abyss.

"Listen up, everyone inside! You're surrounded. Surrender peacefully, cease resistance, lay down your weapons, and come out!"

Upon hearing this, the half-orc leader's eyes lit up with excitement—he felt salvation had arrived.

He hurriedly turned toward the door and shouted loudly, "Lady Valkyrie! The fugitive you're looking for is right here!"

Li Wei glanced at him—didn't this guy fear that he might kill him first?

So arrogant.

Though likely, the fellow probably hadn't considered that possibility.

Valkyries?

Li Wei's gaze shifted slightly—were these the guards of the Ice City?

Bang!

The door was kicked open from outside with tremendous force, and several fully armored female warriors clad in ice-blue armor appeared before Li Wei.

Each looked extremely formidable, their powerful auras impossible to ignore.

The sharp eyes of the Valkyries peered through the gaps in their helmets, scanning over Li Wei.

After staring for one second, they confirmed that the man before them was indeed the one Lady Ice Queen sought.

Whoosh!

The central figure drew her longsword from her waist and pointed it at Li Wei, shouting loudly, "Surrender peacefully! Cease resistance!"

Naturally, Li Wei had no intention of surrendering on the spot.

If captured by these women and brought before the Ice Queen, he'd likely encounter the Holy Knights pursuing him.

He had no desire to clash head-on with the Holy Knights now.

Whether he won or lost wouldn't benefit him either way.

If he won, the Church of the God of Light would send even stronger pursuers after him.

If he lost, the outcome was self-evident.

Either captured and returned to the Church of the God of Light, or killed outright.

Neither outcome was favorable.

Li Wei surveyed the surrounding figures and looked up at the icy ceiling above.

The Valkyries watched Li Wei's strange movements with confusion.

Seeing that Li Wei showed no signs of surrendering, the Valkyries wasted no words and charged forward directly with weapons drawn to seize him.

Boom!

A burst of flames erupted from within the house, scorching red light overwhelming everyone's vision.

The half-orc leader and his minions let out shrieks of pain.

Moments later, they realized these flames hadn't harmed them.

The fire primarily targeted the surrounding ice walls. Boom!

The ceiling above was blown apart, and Li Wei soared skyward.

The Valkyries, unable to advance due to the erupting flames, could only look up as Li Wei flew away.

Just ten meters into his flight, Li Wei sensed the ice elements around him becoming unusually active.

"Ice Crystal Coffin!"

By the time Li Wei recognized the ice magic being cast, the spell was already complete.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

In an instant, Li Wei was encased in a massive chunk of ice crystals, like an insect trapped in amber, completely frozen and motionless.

The coffin-shaped ice crystal plummeted to the ground.

Not far away, a woman dressed in a fluffy ice-blue mage robe withdrew her staff, gazed at the now-frozen Li Wei, and exhaled in relief.

Just as she breathed that sigh of relief,

the next moment brought ominous sounds to her ears.

Crack! Crack crack crack!

The supposedly unbreakable Ice Crystal Coffin actually developed numerous cracks.

Faint wisps of heat began seeping through the fissures.

The ice mage’s eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.

“How… how is this possible?”

No one should be able to cast spells while frozen.

With a thunderous crash, the impossibly sturdy crystal ice coffin shattered, bursting into countless fragments that scattered in all directions.

Li Wei, steam rising from his body, slowly emerged from the mist of broken ice.

Traces of flame still lingered at the corners of his mouth.

Indeed, once trapped within the crystal ice coffin, one could no longer cast spells.

The coffin sealed away the prisoner's ability to perceive and manipulate external elemental forces,

rendering them in a state of magical suppression.

But it could not stop someone from using the power already within their own body.

Unless it was the forbidden-level freezing spell—Absolute Zero.

Li Wei had shattered the coffin’s seal with dragonfire.

The moment he broke free, he locked onto the ice mage who had cast the spell.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Li Wei appeared before the ice mage.

Her eyes went wide, stunned.

She never expected a mage to move so swiftly.

The ice mage reacted quickly too—almost the instant she saw him appear, she instinctively cast "Ice Repel Ring," hoping to push him away.

Her casting speed was astonishingly fast.

Clearly, her strength was formidable and her talent extraordinary.

But the distance between them was simply too short.

No matter how fast she cast, it couldn’t match the speed of Li Wei’s action.

His right hand slapped aside the staff in her grip, interrupting her incantation, as a fireball formed in his palm and hurtled toward her head.

Whoosh!

The fierce wind from the fireball tore off her hood, sending her hair flying wildly.

Seeing her face, Li Wei felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Had he seen her somewhere before?

Instinctively, he halted his attack.

“Stop! Release Lady Saintess!”

The valkyrie rushed over in haste.

“Saintess?”

For a brief moment, surprise flickered across Li Wei’s mind. He stared at the saintess for a few heartbeats, driven by some inexplicable impulse.

He didn’t strike the killing blow. Instead, he hoisted the saintess onto his shoulder and soared into the sky, vanishing before their eyes.

Leaving several valkyries standing bewildered in the cold wind.

(End of Chapter)