Rumble! Rumble!
Ethan ran in front, with a whole pack of snow monsters chasing wildly behind him.
If not for Ethan's extremely high agility, he would have already been torn apart by the snow monsters by now. Even the Snow Monster Queen's white fur had been dragged until it was patchy and bald in places.
"AAAAHHH~"
The Snow Monster Queen's shrill scream instantly ignited the boundless fury of the male snow monsters.
As they ran, they even beat their chests.
Letting out furious, crazed roars.
"ROAR!"
The roaring echoed across the entire ice plain.
The snow mountain had already been shaken loose by the vibrations caused by the magma octopus explosion earlier, making the ice and snow extremely unstable.
Now add to that a horde of snow monsters running, countless roars and heavy footsteps—
Rumble~
Rumble~ Rumble~
The snow mountain began to let out the roar of the mountain god.
In the next instant, the snow mountain started to shake violently.
The sound of the mountain shaking far surpassed every other noise.
Ethan and the snow monsters all stopped at the same time and looked toward the snow mountain.
"An avalanche!"
Everyone was stunned.
Ethan hadn't expected that a single action of his would actually trigger an avalanche.
And all the snow monsters were stunned as well. They hadn't expected that their actions would disturb the mountain god, causing the snow mountain to collapse.
Countless masses of ice and snow slid down from the peak at an extremely fast speed.
At this point, forget agility bonuses. Even if someone's agility were godlike, there would be no escape.
In the blink of an eye, the ice and snow sliding down from the mountain directly buried everyone and every monster, including Ethan, the Snow Monster Queen, and the group of snow monsters chasing behind him, all of them were completely swallowed by the ice and snow.
In an instant, all traces on the snowy ground vanished. Leaving behind a vast stretch of white, clean and empty land.
———
[The Villa]
Cook Four and the others watched as the sun gradually set and the thick fog slowly rose.
Yet the lord and Hunter Five's team still hadn't returned. By now, both Stone Six's team and Herb Three's group had already come back.
Only the lord still hadn't returned.
"Lord! It's the lord, they're back!"
Cook Four and the others stood by the villa gate, gazing into the depths of the fog.
At this moment, a dim yellow light appeared within the fog.
That was the light of a kerosene lamp, the light that guided everyone back home.
Hearing that it was the lord returning, smiles appeared on everyone's faces.
But as the kerosene lamp's light drew closer and closer, someone with sharp eyes suddenly noticed—
"Why are there only five people?"
Guard Five exclaimed, "And it looks like the one in front isn't the lord at all, but Hunter Five! Where's Lady Daji? Why doesn't it look like she came back either?"
Daji naturally looked different from them.
She was also the most recognizable presence in the team. At this moment, everyone realized that both Daji and the lord seemed to be missing.
"Hunter Five!"
When Hunter Five and the others broke through the fog and returned to the villa gate, everyone rushed forward and asked, "Where's the lord? What's going on? Why didn't the lord come back with you?"
"The lord hasn't come back yet?", Hunter Five and the others also looked shocked.
They had originally thought that with the lord's speed, he should have returned to the villa even faster than they did.
But now, from Guard Five and the others' words, Hunter Five finally realized, the lord still hadn't come back.
'What is going on?'
"He hasn't come back!", Stone Six also said with a puzzled look, "Didn't the lord take you to the ice plains? Why did you come back, but the lord didn't? Did you people do something to the lord."
"How could we possibly!"
Hearing this, Hunter Five immediately dropped to one knee and said, "Our loyalty to the lord can be proven by heaven and earth!"
"We are absolutely loyal to the lord!"
"Even if the lord told us to die right now, we would not hesitate!"
Hunter Five and his entire team knelt down and swore their oaths.
Even Ivankov was no exception.
Although he hadn't respected the lord as much as the others at first, after this incident, Ivankov had developed boundless admiration for the lord.
At this moment, hearing that the lord still hadn't returned, his eyes immediately filled with tears.
'Could it be that the lord really…'
'Sacrificed himself for us?'
'Impossible!'
'Absolutely impossible!'
"It actually went like this…"
Hunter Five explained everything that had happened on the ice plains to Cook Four and the others, piece by piece.
After learning that the lord had been willing to do so much for them, mere residents, everyone's eyes instantly filled with tears.
They all gathered at the villa gate, ignoring the fog that was growing deeper and deeper.
Hand in hand, heart to heart, they waited for the lord's return.
But they waited, and waited again, from the still-bright daytime, all the way until night fell and the sun disappeared.
The lord still had not returned.
Many people gave up waiting.
Although Cook Four wanted to keep waiting, the kitchen still needed her. Holding back tears, she returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the lord and the other residents.
Night gradually deepened, from within the fog came frightening sounds from time to time, along with various shadows flickering about.
Guard Five broke the rules and took out several kerosene lamps, placing them by the villa gate. Though this was very wasteful, though the lord would scold her for being extravagant.
She still hoped, that if the lord could return, he would at least be able to see, from afar, the dim lights by the villa gate.
Those lights might be like the beacon of a lighthouse, faintly guiding the lord on his way home.
Unfortunately, what disappointed them was this.
They waited from nightfall until the kerosene lamps went out, yet still failed to see the lord return.
"Team Leader Hunter Five, you should all go back and rest."
Guard Five said with a trace of dejection, "It's already been ten hours since the sun set. The lord might…"
"Shut up!", Hunter Five slapped Guard Five's hand away and roared, "The lord will absolutely be fine! I'm warning you, if you dare say another word of nonsense, I'll cut you down on the spot!"
"Captain Hunter Five, please don't be impulsive!"
Everyone hurriedly stopped Hunter Five.
At this moment, Cook Four had already reheated the dinner again and again. This was her third time coming to the villa gate to persuade Hunter Five and the others, "Captain Hunter Five, I also believe the lord will definitely come back. You should go eat first!"
"Only if you're full will you have the strength to keep waiting for the lord, and the strength to work for the lord tomorrow, right?"
Cook Four's words calmed Hunter Five down a little.
Although he didn't believe that the lord truly wouldn't return.
Everyone knew, just how terrifying the fog was.
Once you got lost in the fog, once you failed to return before sunset, then perhaps there would be no more.
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