The girl with white hair and red eyes is serious about revenge

Seeing that Pace avoided his attack, the hunter jumped silently and disappeared again in the frozen woods.

As expected... there is a pursuer... and it is most likely an [Iron Guard].

It is true that Venia is a good-for-nothing, but not all members of the Iron Guard are good-for-nothings. Among them are the most powerful elites of Thebit, and it is impossible for them to be completely lost.

I just don't know where he started following me... If it was earlier, I'm afraid the Monarch family's hiding place would be exposed...

Although the old butler should be able to cope with it, if the [Infinite Iron Legion] attacks in full force, he probably won't be able to withstand it.

In short, let's eliminate the current threat first.

"..."

Pace broke the arrow in his hand, took two steps back, and lowered his head to pick up a handful of gravel on the ground.

He looked around the Ice Peak Forest and listened carefully, listening to the sound of the icicles falling.

——If the hunter moves between the tree trunks, icicles will inevitably fall.

In this way, as long as he reveals a flaw, he can be easily dealt with.

"..."

"..."

"...bite!"

Right behind him, Pace heard the sound of icicles falling to the ground, and he turned his head sharply, throwing gravel with his silver hand.

"boom!"

A storm of gravel tore through the ice forest like grapeshot, but hit nothing.

Is it too slow?... Thinking of this, Pace frowned and spun the hatchet in his hand.

He kept changing directions, and from time to time, an arrow would fly from the sky and aim directly at his vital points.

He had no choice but to dodge and block the flying arrows with his axe.

After a while, Pace found that this kind of attack posed no threat to him at all: his factor shield could block those flying arrows, which basically had no way of causing any harm to him.

This level of attack is too weak... I'm afraid I'll just get beaten once I leave Wanren Mountain...

Pace looked around, but he couldn't find the shooter no matter what he did, and the shooter couldn't hurt him either.

Or... just take advantage of the situation? Just lure him out like this?

Thinking of this, Pace walked towards the stone tablet and looked at the inscription on it pretending to be indifferent.

At this moment, another arrow flew at him, but Pace did not turn around to block it.

"boom!"

A huge explosion occurred, followed by a cloud of smoke.

Pace only felt a strong blow from behind him, and his whole body was embedded in the snow, motionless.

"..."

After watching Pace lying motionless on the snow for a long time, the hunter's figure emerged from the woods.

He held the bow and approached Pace cautiously, with the arrow pointed at Pace.

From the beginning, the hunter had been looking for Pace's bottom line, and then calculating what kind of attack could break his defense in one go.

The explosives in the arrow just now contained enough factor energy equivalent, and according to calculations, it could barely break the strong factor shield, but it was not reliable enough, so it was only part of the test.

The hunter didn't expect Pace to fall down like this.

The Monarch family still can't pass the test...

"..."

[Hunter] Vasily walked to Pace's body. He put away the mechanical longbow, pulled out the broken sword forged with cold steel from his waist, and looked down at Pace.

The best option for Lord Venia is to capture him and take him back. In this case...

Vasily reached out to Pace, grabbed his shoulders, and turned him over.

Then, he saw the boy's smiling face and the silver mechanical arm that was already filled with red light:

"Hello (Thebitten)."

The next second, the distorted factor energy exploded and broke apart, shaking off the icicles on the tree—

"boom!"

[Hunter] Vasily's body was thrown out by the exploding red light, and he fell heavily against a tree and slowly slid down.

He heard the sound of the giant armor on his body breaking, and he spat out a mouthful of hot blood, which sprayed on the ground and melted the ice.

"..."

Pace slowly got up, brushed off the snow on his body, and walked up to Vasily.

"You're so easy to fool... Why do you think the Strong Factor Shield can be easily broken?"

He spun his axe, ready to deliver the final blow to the Iron Guard, but suddenly recognized his face—

"Captain? Is that you?"

......

Extra) "Until the top of the snowy peak" (Part 13)

Pace could not forget the duel on the top of the snowy peak, the battle of blood and steel in which he lost his identity as a Thebitman.

At that time, Venia suddenly ordered the Executioner to kill Perlis, and Pace chose Perlis without hesitation between his identity and Perlis.

When Pace broke out of the encirclement of the giant armor, it was this captain who cleared the way for him.

This captain was also the captain that Pace met on the way up the mountain. He also suggested to Pace that he "rush directly into the Iron Fortress and kill as many as he can", which gave Pace a little Thebit shock.

And now, the captain lay under the tree trunk, severely wounded by Pace and ready to be executed at any time.

"..."

Seeing the boy's axe suddenly stop, [Hunter] Vasily smiled and said roughly:

"Boy, you remembered me?"

"How did you become an Iron Guard?"

Pace put the axe back to his waist, squatted in front of Vasily, and looked at the captain he had met after a long time.

"Venya is short of people, I am the best, of course choose me."

Vasily said breathlessly, with a smile on his face.

"No, just put away your weapon? Aren't you afraid that I'll hit you?"

"You can't beat me," Pace said, checking the captain's injuries, "and I owe you one."

"Don't be so naive, boy..." Vasily exhaled, "I am still loyal to the [Iron Fortress]... We are enemies..."

"You did what you were supposed to do in your position," Pace said, tearing open the captain's clothes to reveal the bleeding wound. "It will hurt, just bear with it."

"Damn it, I am a Thebite after all, you think I am..."

Before the captain finished speaking, Pace placed the glowing red axe face on his wound, causing him to scream:

"what!"

"Okay, the bleeding has been stopped," Pace said, moving the axe away. "Now, tell me the information."

"Intelligence? Ask it."

"Since when did you start following me?"

"Since you left the hideout," Vasily's voice was a little hoarse, "I know what you want to ask... I have obtained the specific location of your hideout..."

"Did you tell Venia the location?" Pace frowned.

"No... not yet..."

Vasily said this while groping at his waist. Pace immediately became alert, but he only saw him take out a cigarette.

"Borrow a fire."

"No," Pace shook his head, "Why didn't you tell Venia?"

"Because... I want to see what you are like..."

Vasily muttered, fumbled for a long time, finally took out a lighter and lit the cigarette.

He held the cigarette between his teeth, took a deep puff, and then blew out a smoke ring:

"Damn it, I let you go to save that girl. Isn't it normal for you to want to see the results of your actions?"

"That's not normal. You just said we were enemies." Pace shook his head and stood up. "Can you walk out by yourself?"

"Of course... don't underestimate me... damn..."

Vasily rubbed his waist, confirmed that he still had some strength left, and leaned against the tree trunk:

"That's what the Wilkins are looking for up ahead, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Pace, "I will use what's in there to overthrow Venia's rule."

"It seems that I will be liquidated later?"

"No, we need people like you."

As Pace spoke, he pulled out a wine flask from his waist and threw it to the captain.

This was what he brought out from Wolf Territory Town, and he had originally intended to use it to warm himself on the way back.

"This is your punishment. If you can get out of this frozen forest, the Monarch family welcomes your loyalty (Thebite)."

Vasily took the wine jug, stared at it for a while, raised his head, and grinned:

"It's quite formal...Okay...wait for me..."

"..."

After dealing with Vasily, Pace turned around and returned to the stone tablet again.

Following the lines on the stone tablet downwards, he found a small opening with many lines carved around it.

This should be where the key is needed...but there is no clue of the key at all...

Pace slowly stroked the keyhole on the stone tablet. As he looked at it carefully, he felt that the shape of the hole seemed very familiar.

Oh right...could it be...!

Pace took his axe from his waist, turned it, and looked at the snow sculpture head carved out of black iron.

——Exactly the same! This is the key!

This axe...was given to me by my father...

So, this bunker is actually Carl Monarch's bunker?

And my father had given me the key at that time?

"..."

Pace aimed the axe at the small opening on the stone tablet and then embedded the head of the snow sculpture.

"Bang!"

At the moment when the axe and the stone tablet were completely fitted together, a deep vibration came from under the ground, causing Pace's hands to tremble slightly.

He felt the ground around him sinking - no! It was really sinking! With the stone tablet as the center, the ground around him was slowly sinking towards the ground. From Pace's perspective, it seemed as if the ground around him was rising.

This is an elevator, an elevator to the bunker.

"Rumble..."

Soon, Pace sank into the ground along with the stone tablet. Above his head, the door of the bunker slowly closed, blocking out the light.

At the same time, Pace felt something trembling in his pocket. He touched it and found it was the [Divine Blood Compass] - the needle on it started to spin rapidly again.

The bunker of the Monarch family... contains the relics of Hafgard?

What would that be?