Book 3: Chapter 304: Heroic Epic, Pallsance’s Spear

The biting cold wind carried snow grains and ice crystals, making exposed skin sting with piercing pain, like sharp blades cutting into flesh.

A three-person squad trudged across the icefield, their cloaks and hoods piled with unmelting snowflakes, blending seamlessly into the vast white world.

"How much farther, Oren?" The member at the rear of the trio asked through the wind and snow, and the moment he opened his mouth, ice grains poured in.

"Almost there." A muffled response came from the front.

"When you say almost there, it's not still dozens of miles away, is it?" The rear member shouted again.

"No, just five kilometers left."

"Five kilometers is ten li. I knew it." A complaining voice rang out, but the trio didn't stop, continuing to advance step by step through the blizzard.

Oren had uncovered a secret piece of information a few months ago—that somewhere on the icefield, there existed an experimental stronghold that had persisted for nearly a century, and many evil Black Mages and experimental secret arts had spread from this very place.

This area was virtually uninhabited, without official jurisdiction from the Mage Alliance. The vast icefield had almost no reference points, and unless one possessed special means, it was extremely difficult to pinpoint this stronghold's location.

Moreover, even if someone managed to escape from this stronghold, facing the endless icefield, they would either die from hunger and cold or be caught up by pursuing forces. There was nowhere to hide.

After two years of tirelessly tracking clues, interrogating captured Black Mages, Oren finally confirmed the location of this stronghold. This time, he had invited the two others to accompany him.

"Say, what if this stronghold has enemies beyond our combat power? What do we do if we can't win?" Luke called out from the back of the group.

"There's some danger, yes, but I've prepared some trump cards. As long as we don't run into Sixth Tier enemies, we shouldn't have any problems." Oren replied.

Sixth Tier was practically the top-tier existence within the Mage Alliance. As for those Seventh Tier Sages, they were distant legends that ordinary people would never encounter in a lifetime.

"The way you say that, I'm already starting to worry." Luke grumbled.

"Aren't you a Fifth Tier practitioner now? Don't you trust yourself that much?" Oren walked ahead, a teasing laugh drifting back.

"Back when you were Second Tier, you dared to challenge Miss Hedra. Now you've gotten so cautious."

"That's different. Back then, we were still students, and Hedra wouldn't have gone so far as to kill me." Luke shook his head.

"But it's true, I've lost that arrogance of youth where I wanted to try everything." He laughed, admitting it openly.

"I've basically met all the top geniuses of the Alliance around my age."

"Among them, 'Hedra' and Falverd—when I crossed blows with them, I felt absolutely no hope of victory. It was that kind of despair where everything went according to my calculations, I performed at my absolute best, and even when I caught them in traps and exposed their flaws, I still couldn't defeat them. I simply couldn't see the limit of their strength."

"As for 'He Tina,' Norez, and Everett—those three, my win rate is probably only about twenty percent, but I can't say there's no hope."

"As for Winter, Asela... those who've earned rankings and championships in the College Grand Competition—though there's still a gap between us now, I believe surpassing them in the future isn't impossible." Luke commented on all the Alliance geniuses he'd encountered over the years.

All of the aforementioned had appeared in the College Grand Competition, and Winter had even won the championship in the dueling event.

"That's quite confident of you." Oren let out a hearty laugh as well.

"Back in my academy days, I never once placed in the College Grand Competition. Perhaps the Opera School just isn't suited for one-on-one combat."

"By the way, Hedra, who do you think is the strongest of the new generation of prodigies?" Luke noticed that the third member of the party had been silent for a long while and spoke up to ask.

"You seem quite interested in that." Hedra shook her head.

"But, I believe Sister Anari will be the most formidable."

"Is that so? Heh, you're quite impressive yourself." Luke recalled something Aurora had mentioned at a family gathering a few years ago.

"The gap between that person and ordinary people has grown so vast that even imagination can't keep up."

The three chatted through the wind and snow, passing the time on this boring, tedious journey, inching closer to their target.

Two hours later...

"It should be right nearby." Oren stopped, produced a peculiar stellar orbit instrument, observed its rotating movements and orientation, and corrected their direction of travel once more.

This time, Luke also leaned in, his gaze examining the instrument.

"This stellar orbit device looks quite old. The scratches and wear on it look like it's been used for decades."

"They're very cautious. Aside from this specially-made instrument, there's virtually no other way to accurately locate the stronghold."

"Who knows how many old monsters are hiding inside, but there should also be quite a few treasures and riches." Luke rubbed his chin.

"Once we go in, Oren and I will handle charging and combat. Anari, you summon the specters you carry with you to assist with vigilance and reconnaissance. Also, be careful to protect yourself."

"Understood." Anari nodded.

"Let's go, it's right ahead."

The trio put away the instrument, took out the provisions they carried, and ate to replenish their strength and nutrition before continuing onward.

Twenty minutes later, the three arrived at a low hill on the icefield and came to a stop.

"This is the place." Oren surveyed his surroundings, then withdrew a gold-bronze spear from the spatial armband on his arm. He also removed his cloak and mantle, straightening the particularly dashing outfit he wore.

The spear was inscribed with strange patterns. Oren raised it high overhead, then shouted at the top of his lungs.

"O legend that walks in the heavens and lightning, undefeated hero galloping across the battlefield, your fame shines so brilliantly, like thunder resounding across the land!"

His voice became high and impassioned, like the lines from a grand heroic epic performed in a theater, spreading through the raging snowstorm and kicking up countless drifts of snow.

"Driving the seven horses through the dark of night, commanding the gale to sweep the mountains, the golden

</path> war chariot like a shooting star..."

"Fall, pierce, shake—sharper than obsidian, hotter than molten lava, more dazzling than the rising sun..." As his words echoed, golden script surfaced on the spear, shining ever brighter, as if a holy relic were being unsealed.

At that moment, a hurricane wrapped in lightning swept around the trio, gradually forming a massive tornado that connected to the heavens. Everything in sight began to darken, and then golden lightning started to emerge within the dark cyclone, crackling with the hiss of electric current.

"Pallsance's Spear!"

A thin beam of golden light pierced heaven and earth, descending from the boundless distant sky, striking through this frozen land. Fragments of golden electricity spread continuously through the strata, reaching for kilometers in every direction.

[Heroic Epic, Pallsance's Spear] (Secret Word, Firmament)

"Unleashes the power of the hero 'Pallsance' from ancient legends, driving his spear to pierce the earth."

To cast this secret art, one must be versed in the ancient heroic epic, possess deep knowledge of Pallsance's life history, wear the same attire as Pallsance during the casting, hold a spear of the same design, and shout the epic's lines that have been passed down through the ages—only then can the power of this secret art be unleashed.

The closer the attire, spear, incantation, and bearing match the legend, the greater the power. (The casting of this type of secret art is akin to a ritual, but the power remains limited by the caster's own strength.)

Explosive golden lightning spread outward. Anari covered her ears, feeling her entire body struck by the electric current and going numb. Even though she wasn't the target of the secret art, the residual force still left her utterly shaken.

No wonder Mr. Oren dared to pursue this investigation alone for so long. His strength truly couldn't be underestimated.

When it was over, a deep tunnel roughly five meters wide appeared in the ground, extending over a kilometer into the earth. From within, faint sounds of panicked shouts and hurried footsteps could now be heard.

"That's right, this is the place. Let's go down!" Oren took the lead, leaping into the tunnel and diving downward.

Next came Luke, and finally Anari, who summoned a hawk specter that wrapped around her as she plunged into the depths.