Chapter 71

Chapter 72: Keep chasing me!

In the blazing sky rolling with heat, a B class Frost Sparrow more than twenty meters long swept past. Its vast, deep ice blue wings almost blotted out the sun. It lifted its head and cried; the piercing call sent out a shockwave. In a single breath, the cold it exhaled erased the heat it crossed, freezing the air into falling chunks of ice. The crushing chill showed it ranked even higher than the Black Dragon Beast.

Maybe it was connected to the first Frost Sparrow. It flew straight toward it, and when it saw Zhao Qing attacking the much smaller Frost Sparrow, it beat its wings in fury and charged.

In an instant, a gale packed with killing cold rushed at Zhao Qing and turned into a giant wind blade. The air popped as the ice wind passed. Feeling danger, Zhao Qing’s eyes tightened as he pushed his Flight Skill, trying to escape the blade’s range.

But the small Frost Sparrow also lifted its wings and slashed from behind with an ice wind blade aimed at his back. Trapped between two crossing blades like a giant X, Zhao Qing could not get clear. He could only grit his teeth and slip past the center of both attacks to avoid the deadliest strike.

He still took damage. The shock when the blades met rattled his organs until they felt ready to burst. Without his defensive armor, he would have been shredded and fallen like a rain of meat.

He gasped and cursed under his breath: “This is killing me, so what good is a B class Flight Skill?”

He had no choice. Against a high level Magibeast with many skills, an ordinary Awakener was this powerless. In the Second B Combat Zone, he alone, a support skill user, could fight in the air. If they wanted to keep both Frost Sparrows inside the Combat Zone, he had to force their attention onto himself and stall until help arrived from the other zones. But could he really hold off two B class flying Magibeasts?

Lin Mo’s voice sounded in his mind as he sent orders with Psychic Power: “Zhao Qing, I will lock the big Frost Sparrow with Psychic Power. Lure the small one east and link up with Commander Su Ang. Remember, I can only hold for 3 minutes.”

Zhao Qing clenched his jaw and answered: “Okay.”

Compared with single skill Awakeners like him, Lin Mo, a psychic type Awakener, had far more tools. Psychic types could share skills with each other and, with training, learn one another’s mental techniques. Lin Mo could briefly bewilder the B class Frost Sparrow and make it lose its main target.

As Lin Mo’s Psychic Power spread, Zhao Qing drew a C grade throwing dart from his belt and shot for the small Frost Sparrow’s eye. The small Frost Sparrow cried and blasted the dart aside, then arrowed for Zhao Qing. He twisted and flew east. A quick look back showed the big Frost Sparrow was not following. It blinked in a daze for a few seconds, then struck at random all around.

He let out a thin breath. Dodging the small Frost Sparrow’s ice blades, he tapped his Light Brain to contact Su Ang and arrange a linkup. But then the small Frost Sparrow seemed to sense something and suddenly gave up on Zhao Qing, whipping around and flying at Lin Mo.

Zhao Qing’s heart lurched. He had to turn back and chase the Frost Sparrow. He pulled a throwing knife from his belt and slashed at the small Frost Sparrow’s tail feathers to draw its attention.

Annoyed, the small Frost Sparrow’s eyes flashed with anger. Its wings trembled and dozens of ice spikes formed in midair, shooting at the flea in its eyes, Zhao Qing. He triggered his evasion and slipped past them, then stabbed again at its tail.

He knew he could not outfight a Frost Sparrow. He only wanted to pull it as far from the civilian area as possible. This time the small Frost Sparrow truly lost its temper and turned to chase him again.

Just as he let out a tight breath, a roar unlike the Frost Sparrow or the Black Dragon Beast shook the air behind him. A stabbing pain hit his brain. On the ground, Awakener Warriors clutched their heads and cried out, losing the ability to fight in an instant. Zhao Qing’s skull throbbed, but it lasted only three seconds before his mind cleared. He heard Lin Mo snarl: “Damn it, a B class psychic type Magibeast!”

Zhao Qing understood at once. A B class psychic type was as dangerous as an A class elemental. It could seize the minds of every Awakener on the field and make them kill each other. Lin Mo now had to go all out against it if the Warriors were to last until support arrived. That meant the big Frost Sparrow would soon be free.

A chill ran through him. He looked back. The big Frost Sparrow, which should have lost its target, now stared across the distance with cold blue eyes. For a heartbeat a mocking light flickered there. It did nothing, yet Zhao Qing felt a thick threat to his life. His heart pounded. Something unseen seemed to be drawing near.

He turned to run, but the danger clung to him. The air around him grew hot, as if all the cold had been sucked away, and he jolted awake in alarm: [It is absorbing ice elements to charge up.]

He did not know its exact skill, but he knew his Defense could never take a charged blow from the big Frost Sparrow. He set his jaw, swung around, and flew straight for the small Frost Sparrow. [If I am going to die, I will at least wound the small Frost Sparrow, pull both of them onto me, and stall until support arrives.]

The moment he moved, the water and ice elements around him emptied out. Searing heat smothered him. He gulped air and rushed the small Frost Sparrow, but the burning air acted like fire and began melting his defensive armor.

Lin Mo, sweating as he fought to contain the psychic type Magibeast, split his focus and commanded: “Wang Shuo, Cheng Qing, support Zhao Qing!”

Wang Shuo and Cheng Qing bent to move, but the big Frost Sparrow, which had hung in place, gave a sharp cry. With a single wingbeat, a razor thin sliver of ice formed at Zhao Qing’s waist like a lifted knife and, in a blink, sliced his body cleanly in two.

He screamed as he tumbled, now very close to the small Frost Sparrow. Ignoring his falling lower half, he crushed the pain, snatched that thin ice shard, grabbed for the small Frost Sparrow’s wing, and drove the shard hard into its thick feathers. He choked out a raw roar: “Damn it! Keep chasing me!”

The small Frost Sparrow shrieked in pain and flung Zhao Qing away with a beat of its wings. He spat blood. It fell in sheets beneath him like rain. He smeared the melted armor across his torn waist to slow the bleeding and, holding on to the last thread of will, dragged half a body east through the air. [Even one more second. Hold for one more second.]

The wounded small Frost Sparrow chased him in fury. The big Frost Sparrow cried and followed. Wang Shuo and Cheng Qing froze, staring at Zhao Qing, who still hauled himself east through the sky with only half a body. They spoke in low voices: “Commander, no need to save him.”