Chapter 348 - 203: The Frost Giant Commander’s Combat Strength (2)
But in the next second, the situation dramatically changed!
Commander Gorash of the Frost Giants launched himself high into the air with a heavy push from the sprinting mammoth beneath him.
Yet the mammoth let out a mournful cry; the tank-like body couldn’t withstand the recoil of Gorash’s leap, and its four pillar-like legs plunged straight into the hard, frozen surface of the age-sealed Ice Lake, as if driven by a pile driver.
"Roar!"
Using the mammoth’s momentum, Commander Gorash roared in the air, leaping a full twenty to thirty meters like a descending god towards Gregory and the scattered Royal Guards, hewing with his bone axe as he landed.
"Boom!!!"
It was as if a real meteor had fallen from the sky onto the Ice Lake.
A huge crater suddenly appeared on the previously smooth ice surface, with numerous webs of cracks spreading outward.
Even more deadly, ice shards like bullets, followed by air waves, shot out at high speed, instantly blasting away everyone nearby.
A white bone blade flashed through the air, cutting down two Royal Guard Officers like slantedly slashed tin fruit cans, killing them instantly!
The vast strength disparity could not be bridged by superior equipment.
In the face of such overpowering force from the Frost Giant Commander, Commodore Gregory coldly yelled to Henry and the others: "Quick, retreat in different directions!"
If they delayed any longer, once the twenty or more Frost Giants from the rear caught up, none of them would be able to escape.
...
In the distance.
Under the Group Invisibility Spell, Olaf and Secret Master Sarno watched with smiles, enjoying the scene immensely.
"From the power of that leap followed by slashing, this Frost Giant Commander... neither Soladin’s Transcendent King nor I can stop him," Olaf shook his head and said.
Olaf’s words fully confirmed the combat strength of Frost Giant Commander Gorash.
"Indeed, with such strength, he could almost battle the White Dragon," Secret Master Sarno marveled, "We should be thankful to the teams from the Soladin Kingdom."
On the Valzeg Continent, some beings like Dragons and Giants are naturally blessed, achieving great combat ability upon maturity, whereas humans have to toil endlessly with training and rely on good talent to achieve results.
Just then, Sarno’s expression changed as he softly exclaimed, "Olaf, look!"
Following Sarno’s direction, Olaf’s pupils instantly contracted!
The ice layer where Commander Gorash had landed after his great jump seemed to have fractured, revealing a black hole with a diameter of two or three meters, from which a black pillar of smoke surged like a fountain.
As they watched, dozens of semi-transparent, ghost-like figures struggled and squeezed out from it.
"Are those Ice Spirits?"
"So many Ice Spirits?"
"Wait! Below there must be the Solaisar Ruins!" Sarno remarked with surprise and joy.
For Olaf and Secret Master Sarno, representing the ’Nightmare Blade’, their primary objective in the Lankote Snowfield was to locate the Solaisar Ruins and retrieve the Necromancy Crystal shards from within.
Considering the vast Ice Lake District, finding the exact location of the Solaisar Ruins would have taken Sarno days, he estimated.
Yet Commander Gorash’s strike expedited this search significantly.
This spectacle not only stunned Olaf, Sarno, and their party but also left both sides of the battle speechless.
Viscount Henry, amidst his retreat, noticed the towering black smoke column and quickly realized its significance.
Yet, his expression was one of mixed emotions - half joyful, half worried.
The joy was from no longer needing to spend extra time and effort searching for the Solaisar Ruins;
The worry was seeing the currently superior Frost Giants - if they couldn’t be driven away, they wouldn’t be able to enter the Solaisar Ruins to search for the Necromancy Crystal, and any delay could lead to unforeseen complications.
Nonetheless, Henry quickly devised a plan; his eyes gleamed as he shouted to Baron Olsen, Benest, and Colonel Tessa, "Master Benest, head south; Baron Olsen, head southeast; Colonel Tessa, head southwest. Let’s try to disperse the Frost Giants."
"Understood!"
"Alright!"
"Got it!"
Benest, Baron Olsen, and Colonel Tessa nodded in agreement.
Gathering together would only put them at risk of being overtaken by the Frost Giant Commander, leading to significant casualties.
Thus, everyone agreed with Viscount Henry’s proposal without hesitation.
Immediately, the nearly eighteen people split into three groups, running in different directions.
Having repelled Gregory with a single axe, Frost Giant Commander Gorash also noticed the surge of black energy behind him.
This evil energy made even him uncomfortable instinctively.
Seeing the vast number of Ice Spirits, other Frost Giants fled as well. Though not afraid of Ice Spirits, these were clearly abnormally savage, and their target was humans, making it unnecessary to spend time and effort on the spirits.
Seeing humans scatter, Frost Giant Captains Linveiya and Tollesk silently communicated with hand signs. Tollesk took four or five giants to chase Benest heading south.
After observing for a moment, Linveiya decided to pursue Baron Olsen, where there were more knights in gilded armor.
She surmised that a group with more knights likely harbored a valuable target.
Seeing this, Gregory flashed a slight smile and, after brief consideration, ran alone westward.
Commander Gorash, naturally, continued the pursuit without hesitation—killing a human Transcendent would justify his tribe’s losses.
The happiest in this venture was naturally Henry, seeing no Frost Giant pursuing him. He quickly took out a Communication Crystal from his waist pouch: "Kritt Squad, where are you?"
"We should arrive at the Ice Lake Region in about fifteen minutes," a calm male voice replied from the crystal.
"Don’t go to the Ice Lake, there are Frost Giants. Meet me approximately three kilometers southwest of the Ice Lake."
"Understood!"
Meanwhile.
Olaf and Secret Master Sarno exchanged a glance, laughing as they looked at the black hole now vacated by Ice Spirits: "Let’s go, we must thank the Soladin Kingdom for this excellent opportunity."
With that, they led their Dusk Sword team under the cloak of the Group Invisibility Spell, quickly advancing toward the hole.
....
At the same time.
Raine was holding Meredith, flying rapidly toward the Ice Lake Region using a Flying Spell in a nearly ground-hugging flight posture.
As he grew more familiar with the Flying Spell, Raine could now navigate obstacles at around two meters above the ground.
This height allowed avoiding direct clashes with Demons in the Lankote Snowfield skies, though it had disadvantages, such as consuming Spiritual Power and encounters like the recent blind Ice Owl Bear jumping up to attack him.
The feather newly hanging from his waist was a trophy from that encounter.
"Huh? Is that Schneider running ahead frantically?"
Suddenly, Raine noticed a familiar figure running at full speed ahead—it was indeed Schneider.
