Lord of the Frozen Winter: Starting with Daily Intelligence Reports

Louis stood atop the peak, looking down at the Ice Armor Bear pack below.
The sunlight illuminated their grayish-white ice armor, and the hexagonal ice crystal scales reflected dazzling light.
Their front paws were equipped with claws as sharp as cold iron, and blue flames occasionally flickered from the ice armor on their backs as they moved.
These Ice Armor Bears were enormous, and each low growl was like thunder shaking the earth.
But no matter how one looked at them, these behemoths possessed no cuteness; instead, they were extremely ferocious beings.
They roamed the snowy landscape, searching for prey to fill their bellies.
Beside Louis stood two children—Lilia and Weil.
They were the only two among the nine candidate knights who had activated their bloodlines to become Apprentice Knights.
Today, Louis decided to bring them to witness this hunt firsthand.
He wanted to free them from their monotonous daily training, as a reward for their efforts.
Lilia's eyes sparkled with excitement, and she clutched a longsword almost as tall as herself, imitating the posture of an adult knight.
Weil was not to be outdone; he adjusted his gear, then immediately straightened his back, trying to make himself look like a true knight.
"You two, just stay by my side and protect me for now," Louis whispered.
He was actually afraid that the two little rascals, in their excitement, might rush down to fight the Ice Armor Bears to the death.
Protect the Lord! This was such an important mission!
Lilia and Weil straightened their backs even further, nodding nervously and excitedly.
When all preparations were in place, Louis waved his hand: "Ready, Bear Hunt plan initiated."
As the command was given, the distant commander waved a large flag, signaling the knights and hunters to move stealthily from their various ambush points.
The hunters quietly approached the Ice Armor Bears' activity area, gently sprinkling the urine of estrous female bears.
This special scent could quickly attract Ice Armor Bears, especially male bears, who were extremely sensitive to it.
As the urine was scattered, the bear pack slowly began to gather, with nine Ice Armor Bears gradually converging in one spot and heading towards the canyon.

Another group of hunters, hidden on a distant ridge, created the sound of rolling rocks, successfully guiding the bear pack into the designated canyon.
"They've entered the canyon! Everyone proceed as planned!" The commander waved the flag as a signal.
In the low-lying part of the canyon, a row of sharp wooden stakes had been meticulously arranged underground.
Under the hunters' guidance, when the Ice Armor Bears entered the canyon,
since their paws had no thick armor, these wooden stakes quickly pierced into the paws of several leading bears like venomous snakes.
Excruciating pain rapidly spread throughout their bodies, and the Ice Armor Bears growled, trying to pull out the deeply embedded stakes.
But their enormous size and overly clumsy strength prevented them from breaking free immediately.
The remaining Ice Armor Bears also found themselves in similar predicaments, and the entire group began to fall into disarray.
Following this, the hunters ignited the pine resin and lamp oil accumulated on the rock walls, and flames instantly engulfed the mountain walls.
With a roar, a fireball rolled down from the edge of the cliff, landing precisely in the center of the bear pack.
The explosion and flames spread together, instantly engulfing the few Ice Armor Bears trapped by the wooden stakes.
Although the high temperature of the flames ignited the Ice Armor Bears' fur, their heavy ice armor did not immediately collapse under the fire.
It only left scorched marks on the Ice Armor Bears' tough scales and was not a fatal blow.
The bear pack felt pain from the scorching flames, making them even more chaotic and berserk.
The Ice Armor Bears huddled together, pushing and colliding with each other.
At this point, the Ice Armor Bears' weaknesses, such as their eyes and necks, were exposed, but due to the protection of their heavy ice armor, ordinary arrows found it difficult to directly penetrate these hard shells.
Archers hidden above the canyon began to use flaming arrows, shooting them towards the Ice Armor Bears.
Their offensive power was negligible, but these arrows were not meant to penetrate; rather, their purpose was to exhaust the Ice Armor Bears' stamina and patience.
Flaming arrows struck the Ice Armor Bears' bodies, and flames spread along their heavy shells.
Although unable to tear through the ice armor, the continuous burning of the flames caused the Ice Armor Bears' stamina to be constantly depleted, and the bear pack's movement speed noticeably slowed down.
Despite their continued strength, their heavy ice armor was now riddled with cracks, and some areas had even melted due to the high temperatures, revealing the tough but no longer impenetrable skin beneath.
At this very moment, the knights ambushed all around moved.
"Now!" The commander's flag suddenly dropped.
The knights raised their longswords and spears high, gathering their battle aura, and the sword blades ignited with a blazing red glow.
Crimson battle aura flowed along their weapons, and slight tremors even caused the air to distort.
"Charge!"
The knights' warhorses leaped forward, their targets clear: the Ice Armor Bears' joints, lower jaws, throats, and eyes—the Ice Armor Bears' weaknesses.
The archers had already greatly reduced the defense of these areas, and the knights' mission was to end their lives.
An Elite Knight wielded a spear, and battle aura condensed into a blazing radiance at the spearhead.
He aimed at a slightly smaller Ice Armor Bear whose throat had already been given a tiny crack by an arrow.
The knight's gaze was like an eagle's, and his warhorse galloped through the strong wind.
With battle aura burning on the spearhead, he fiercely stabbed into that crack!
"Puff!"
The spear directly pierced into the Ice Armor Bear's crack, and blood and red battle aura intertwined, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) like scorching lava pouring into the bear's body, burning its flesh.
The Ice Armor Bear let out an earth-shattering roar, its massive body trembling in agony, nearly collapsing.
Weil, watching the battle, his eyes sparkling with excitement, jumped up directly: "We defeated one! The Knight Lords are so strong!"
"Don't rejoice too soon, Weil," Louis's voice was calm, "This is only the first phase."
Weil was startled, somewhat puzzled, wasn't this Ice Armor Bear about to fall?
Just then, the tottering Ice Armor Bear roared, lifting its head.
Its hard shell began to produce violent cracks, and streaks of ice flames spread out like devil's wings, rapidly extending into the air with bone-chilling coldness!
The ice flames quickly contacted the air, erupting in a strong cooling explosion.
"Retreat!" The commander frantically waved the flag.
That cold power swept through the surroundings, and several knights, before they could react, were covered by the ice flames.
Fortunately, with their battle aura protection, they did not lose their ability to move and quickly retreated.
However, the Ice Armor Bear's attack did not cease there.
As the Ice Armor Bear's berserk state fully activated, three massive crystalline spikes protruded from its back.
The crystalline spikes continuously released shockwaves with super-high energy, and heatwaves and explosions intertwined, shaking the surrounding knights, almost causing them to lose their combat ability.
The air around them seemed to become heavy, and each violent tremor made it difficult to breathe.