CHAPTER 248: OPERATION WOLF SLAYER. (PART 36)

The NVPD and BEO coalition chose three hero teams to participate in Operation Wolf Slayer. They were intended to be the spearhead of the raid, piercing through the enemy defenses and securing a position for the remaining forces to follow.

Due to the interference of the mysterious third party, however, the heroes failed to make the progress expected of them, resulting in the enemy receiving enough time to move their forces around and prepare to resist the invasion.

One of the three teams was Blizzard Force. With its members wielding powers related to ice and cold, they were the best counter against the Shirogane Sorcerers and their frustrating camouflage ability. In the end, Blizzard force was forced to take on a different challenge, including the next heir of the Romanos, Salvatore Romano, which led to the death of one of their members.

Just when it appeared like they were back on track, their main target, Klaus Stahlwölfe, wasn’t where they expected him to be, having vanished at some point without the knowledge of their informants who were supposed to keep an eye on him. The Stahlwölfe scion was seemingly aware that he was being watched and thus devised a plan to disappear without anyone noticing, using Giovanni Romano’s sudden death as a distraction.

Storming the banquet hall wasn’t the best of ideas as it led them to encounter more of the Romano executioners. Fighting them while trying to prevent any harm from befalling the other guests proved to be the most difficult part so far, and as if to make things worse, Silver Wind contacted them, demanding that they come handle their original target, which had fled to the collection room.

Of course, extricating themselves from their current predicament was going to be very difficult, which is why Cryonis asked the other team’s leader to handle things on their own. The message didn’t seem to get across, however, seeing as they were asked to capture some purple-haired woman immediately after.

Cryonis had no choice but to accept. Retrieving the relic was one of the top objectives the heroes were tasked with, so if said woman did truly steal the artifact, they needed to catch her right away. Looking for an opening, he left things in the banquet hall to his teammates and made a swift retreat, hoping to catch up with the thief before they could escape.

As he ran through the mansion’s halls, a few thoughts occurred to the cold hero. He wondered if this woman he was trying to catch belonged to the third party that had interfered with their operation, and if stealing the relic was her objective as well. That added to the sense of urgency pushing him, giving the matter much more importance than before.

The only way to leave the thirty-seventh floor was through the four elevators on the mansion’s third floor, but that didn’t seem like a good escape route, seeing as the raid force had turned the upper floors into a battlefield. Just as he began to think that the woman he’s after would be forced to slow down once she came across the coalition forces, he suddenly remembered the staff elevator connected to the thirty-sixth floor, prompting him to look out of the next window he came across, and his hunch turned out to be correct.

The target was running toward the forest where the entrance to the staff elevator was located. It was likely that the powerful Diver supporting them was able to gain control of it, and since he dealt with the three members of Raven Heart alone, it was safe to assume he had secured their escape route, taking out whoever was guarding it, if there were any guards to begin with.

Knowing he couldn’t let them reach that elevator, Cryonis smashed through the glass window and rushed after them. He used his powers to form three icicles and shot from a distance intending to slow the three so he could take care of them properly.

The thieves reacted quickly, evading most of the projectiles, with only one of them hitting the larger of the three. Nevertheless, it bought Cryonis the time he needed, and once the distance between them closed, it wouldn’t be a minute before they turned into ice sculptures.

The woman passed her bag to the only one who seemed unscathed, telling him to go before turning toward Cryonis and aiming her weapon. Bullets were fired, but none reached him. Their trajectory was easy to read, and with his enhanced reflexes, dodging some bullets was an easy feat.

The giant slammed his foot a few times to shatter the ice encasing it then, but when it became clear that the cold had already seeped all the way to his bones, he abandoned trying to get rid of it and grabbed his rifle, releasing a shower of bullets. Before any could leave its barrel, Cryonis pressed his right foot into the ground and raised a pillar of ice, launching himself in the air.

Forming a shield of ice, he blocked the bullets that everything they threw at him as he passed over them. He planned on dealing with them later, but for the time being, stopping the old man who ran off with the relic was his priority.

Entering the forest, Cryonis released his powers, causing the temperature in the surroundings to drop drastically. The moisture in the air froze, encasing everything in a layer of white frost. Exhaling a cloud of white mist, he looked at the back of the old man running away from him and prepared to impale him with a spear of ice, making sure he wouldn’t be able to flee anymore.

As the ice at his feet coalesced into a sharp point, an orange glow drew Cryonis’s attention. The next moment, he forgot all about the old man as he leapt away, evading a torrent of flames that burned everything in its way, almost incinerating him in the process.

Another one followed right after, this one curving as it forced him to retreat. He was forced out of the forest before long, and before he could understand what was happening, another attack came right away.

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