Chapter 38: The Threat of the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon

After Kyle and the others left the safe ice cave with Eric, they advanced cautiously towards the depths of the glacier. The surrounding world seemed to be shrouded in a layer of icy veil. Everywhere they looked was a vast expanse of white. Sharp ice prisms hung upside down from the top, like sharp blades that might fall at any moment. The howling wind swept by, making a sound like the wailing of ghosts. It carried fine ice debris, which hit the protective gear of everyone, making a crackling sound.

"Tom was last seen near that towering ice peak," Eric said as he struggled to walk through the thick snow, pointing to the faintly visible ice peak in the distance. "But this journey won't be easy. There are dangers everywhere. Ice-Winged Snow Dragons often haunt that area. They are used to building their nests among the towering ice peaks and rely on the terrain of the ice peaks and the cold climate to defend their territory."

Morgan closely followed behind Eric. Although his illusion ability was somewhat restricted in this cold environment, it still formed a faint layer of protection around him, resisting part of the cold wind. "This damned place. It feels like I'm going to be frozen through with every step I take," he complained.

Cavin focused on sensing the fluctuations of the magical energy around him, trying to find some clues about Tom or warnings of danger. "The cold energy here is more concentrated than we imagined, and it seems that there is some powerful creature moving nearby. The energy fluctuations are very chaotic. As far as I know, Ice-Winged Snow Dragons are extremely sensitive to cold energy. They can not only absorb cold energy to strengthen themselves but also use cold energy to sense the movements around them. No foreign object that intrudes on their territory can escape their detection," he said with a solemn expression.

Alicia held the energy gun in her hand and vigilantly observed her surroundings, ready to deal with any possible danger at any time. Her eyes were slightly red from the cold air, but her gaze was extremely determined. "Everyone, be careful. We don't know what other dangers are hidden in this place."

Just as everyone was moving forward with difficulty, suddenly, a deafening roar came from the sky. Kyle looked up and saw a huge figure swooping down from the clouds. Accompanied by a strong cold wind, the figure became clearer and clearer - it was an Ice-Winged Snow Dragon. Its body was extremely huge, like a moving iceberg. Its huge wings, when spread out, were dozens of meters wide. The crystal-clear ice crystals on the wings shimmered, emitting a cold light under the refraction of the sun. Its scales were like hard ice blocks, each as big as a shield. Its pair of blood-red eyes were like burning flames, exuding boundless majesty and threat.

"No, it's an Ice-Winged Snow Dragon!" Eric shouted, his voice tinged with a trace of nervousness. "Everyone, find a place to take cover quickly! Ice-Winged Snow Dragons have a very strong sense of territory. Once they find intruders, they will definitely attack with all their might."

However, the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon didn't give them much time. After circling in the air once, it suddenly swooped down towards everyone. Its huge wings set off a strong wind, lifting the surrounding snow and ice blocks and forming a white storm. Everyone was blown off balance by this strong wind. Morgan's illusions were instantly dispersed, and he almost got hit by a flying ice block. Before attacking, Ice-Winged Snow Dragons are used to using their wings to set off a strong wind first to disrupt the enemy's formation and then launch a fatal attack. This is a tactic they have developed during their long-term hunting and territorial defense.

"Kyle, what should we do?" Alicia shouted loudly, pointing the energy gun at the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon, but she knew that this might be just a drop in the bucket against such a powerful creature.

Kyle quickly gathered the stardust power and formed a transparent shield around everyone, temporarily withstanding the impact of the strong wind. "Everyone, don't panic. Let's find a way together! Although this snow dragon is powerful, we're not completely helpless," he said, his voice firm and powerful, giving everyone a glimmer of confidence.

Seeing this, the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon let out an angry roar and exhaled a stream of cold air from its mouth. This stream of cold air instantly condensed into countless ice cones, shooting towards everyone like raindrops. Kyle quickly increased the output of the stardust power. A layer of frost appeared on the shield, but it barely withstood the attack of the ice cones. The cold air attack of the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon is extremely deadly. They can accurately control the condensation form and attack range of the cold air, which is also a common means for them to hunt and defend against enemies.

"This won't work. We must fight back!" Cavin shouted. He waved his staff and released a stream of blazing magical energy, trying to melt those ice cones. However, the environment where the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon was located gave it a high resistance to cold. Cavin's magical energy was greatly weakened by the cold air when it approached the snow dragon.

Morgan re-condensed the illusions, and several illusory figures flew towards the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon, trying to interfere with its vision. The Ice-Winged Snow Dragon waved its wings and dispersed the illusions one by one, but this also gave everyone some breathing room. Ice-Winged Snow Dragons are extremely sensitive to moving objects. Although the illusions can briefly interfere with them, it's difficult to cause substantial damage.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Alicia carefully observed the body structure of the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon, trying to find its weakness. She noticed that the scales on the snow dragon's abdomen were relatively thin, and there was an obvious heave and fall on its abdomen every time it exhaled cold air. "Everyone, pay attention. The abdomen of the snow dragon might be its weakness! It is said that the scales on the abdomen of the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon develop relatively slowly, and the protection is weak. This is a weakness they have retained during the evolution process," she shouted loudly.

Kyle nodded. He gathered the stardust power in his hand and formed a shining long sword. "I'll attract its attention. You guys find the right opportunity to attack its abdomen!" After saying that, he rushed towards the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon. The long sword in his hand waved out streams of sword qi, attacking the snow dragon's head.

The Ice-Winged Snow Dragon was enraged by Kyle's attack. It exhaled cold air again, trying to freeze Kyle. Kyle nimbly dodged and at the same time used the sword qi to resist the cold air. During the intense battle, some scales on the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon began to fall off. These scales shimmered with a strange light in the sun and slowly drifted down.

"Everyone, look at those scales! We can collect them. It is said that they can be used to make equipment to resist the cold," Eric shouted. Morgan immediately sent out a part of the illusions to collect those fallen scales. He carefully avoided the battle area and put the scales into his bag one by one. During the battle, due to violent movements and attacks, some scales of the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon will fall off. This is also a part of their self-protection mechanism, and new scales will grow back after a period of time.

Cavin continued to release magic. He changed the attribute of the magic, converting the originally blazing energy into a powerful pushing force, trying to push the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon away and create a better attack opportunity for Kyle. Under the pushing force of Cavin's magic, the body of the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon swayed slightly. It roared angrily and kept waving its wings, trying to get rid of this force.

Alicia raised the energy gun, aimed at the abdomen of the snow dragon, and kept shooting. The energy beams hit the abdomen of the snow dragon. Although they couldn't cause a fatal injury to it, they still made it feel a pang of pain. The Ice-Winged Snow Dragon attacked everyone even more furiously. The range of its cold air attack became wider, and the intensity also increased. After being injured, the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon will fall into a rage state, and its attacks will become more ferocious, with the attack range and intensity increasing significantly.

During the battle with the snow dragon, Kyle gradually mastered its attack rhythm. He seized a gap in the snow dragon's attack, suddenly leaped up, and the stardust long sword in his hand, with great force, stabbed towards the abdomen of the snow dragon. The Ice-Winged Snow Dragon sensed the danger and tried to dodge, but Kyle's speed was too fast, and the long sword deeply pierced into its abdomen.

The snow dragon let out a painful roar. It waved its wings vigorously and threw Kyle out. Kyle adjusted his posture in the air and landed safely on the ground. Blue blood flowed out from the abdomen of the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon, and this blood instantly froze in the cold air. Its attacks became even more frenzied, but it was also obviously a bit slower.

"Everyone, put in more effort. It's injured!" Kyle shouted. Encouraged, everyone attacked the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon even more vigorously. Morgan's illusions kept flickering around the snow dragon, interfering with its movements; Cavin's magical energy continuously impacted the snow dragon; and Alicia's energy gun kept shooting without stopping.

Under the combined attack of everyone, the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon finally couldn't hold on. Its body slowly fell and crashed onto the ice surface, setting off a huge ice wave. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. They had successfully repelled the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon, but they were all extremely exhausted.

"We did it!" Eric shouted excitedly. Everyone gathered around and hugged each other, celebrating this hard-won victory.

"We couldn't have done it without everyone's concerted efforts," Kyle said. "We not only repelled the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon but also collected some scales, which will be of great help for our next adventure."

Morgan took out the collected scales. Looking at these shimmering scales, he smiled and said, "These scales look really powerful. Maybe we can really make powerful equipment to resist the cold with them."

Cavin then checked everyone's injuries. Although everyone was a bit tired, fortunately, no one was seriously injured. "Let's take a rest first, recover our strength, and then continue to look for Tom," he said.

Everyone found a relatively safe place and sat down to rest. While recovering their strength, they discussed their next actions.