Conquering His Cold Heart

Frost couldn't help but frown as he saw his freezing fireballs erased by the might of their twin hammers, they were far more tenacious than he first thought. However with them being preoccupied with him and having used their chain bolas Kiba was free to charge forward unencumbered at least for a few tens of metres before being faced with Gageus.

The larger frost giant kept his eyes entirely on Kiba and the weaker prey that resided on his back. He moved seamlessly to block their path forward, his great axe raised above his head.

"[Great glacier cleave]" Gageus used a high tier weapon skill that greatly increased the size of his axe as well as its weight. He swung down with enough force to rend apart the ground beneath their feet, an inferior copy of Ymir cleaving apart the Glacial mountains millennia ago.

Kiba felt his fur stand erect, his instincts screaming for him to dodge the intimidating blow.

Boooomm!!!

The great axe fell upon the snow fields with immense fury, exploding the point of contact for metres in all directions. Cracks quickly formed along the ground, expanding into massive fissures as they hurtled towards Kiba.

"Grrr!" The glacial winged tiger was forced backwards and into the air, undoing the distance he managed to cover.

"[Wind bullet]" Feeling annoyed Avira launched several green wind bullets with her wand in retaliation but Gageus simply stood his ground, he didn't even block, allowing the wind bullets to collide against his armour and even flesh.

"Hmph!" He smirked in reply, finding Avira's magic ticklish.

"V don't bother with offensive spells, nothing you have will work against him!" Frost suddenly appeared between Gageus and them with his glaive at the ready.

"Focus on those two while I clear the way." He loudly ordered before dashing straight at Gageus.

This battle needed to be over yesterday, every second they waste the closer the horde behind them becomes and the more attention they draw from the real powerhouses lying in wait. Gageus was a test, the strongest line-up they'd send before bringing in the big guns.

Gageus who saw Frost charging at him with his glaive poised and his body donned in ice armour couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. His heart thumped in anticipation, his lust for battle filling every inch of his body as he gripped the shaft of his axe and readied himself. Finally his true opponent was facing him head on.

"[Wyvern's maw]" Frost made the first move, summoning a massive wyvern's maw covered in ice fire chakra. The great beast was let loose with a violent swing of his glaive, roaring as it moved to bite Gageus' left arm.

"Hmph you think a pathetic little wyvern can intimidate me, a giant." Gageus wasn't pressured in the slightest, he didn't even ready his axe instead he moved his left hand and simply grabbed hold of the vicious wyvern's maw.

"You want to bite into a giant's flesh then you're going to need a full blown dragon little elf!" Gageus stopped the wyvern's maw dead in its tracks with his physical strength alone and after mocking the creature's species slammed the semi-corporal maw into the snow beneath his feet, dissipating it instantly.

"I know but what about my glaive." Frost coldly replied as he appeared right beside Gageus, his glaive's blade edge glinting in the sunlight as dreaded silver flames danced across it.

The [wyvern's maw] was a decent skill but rather lacking when it came to dealing with those in the higher ranks, Frost knew this therefore he didn't expect it to deal any sort of damage, merely draw Gageus' attention while he got into position.

Time seemed to slow down as Frost's glaive was filled with internal energy as well as a sliver of his aura, not enough to draw too much attention but enough to harmonise with his next skill, a skill that required one to be at the advanced level of glaive mastery. A move that far surpassed the [wyvern's maw] and one that had the potential to end this little duel in an instant.

He was going to use everything he had to put Gageus in the ground in shortest amount of time.

Gageus who's instincts were at a high very high level instantly sensed danger, completely different from the threat of the large wyvern's maw. His muscles grew taught, and a cold sweat dripped down his spine as the spectre of death started to whisper into his ear and take hold of his heart.

'Shit!' He internally cursed while giving up on all forms of offence. Without even looking at what Frost was cooking up he immediately locked himself up like a turtle, protecting his vital areas with his thickest muscles and armour in preparation.

"[Flight of the Luan]" As Frost spoke the command words for his most powerful glaive skill, his internal energy moulded into the form of a large Luan, a bird of ice fire, a sub species of the ice phoenix.

The large bird loudly cried out, shaking Gageus to his core and in the next moment the Luan along with Frost's glaive [wolf howling at the moon] slashed with such intensity that the sound lagged behind the swing.

Schwing! Squelch! Ding!

"Ahhhh!!" Gageus roared in pain, his arms were lacerated to the point that the bones were showing. Ruby red blood dripped profusely onto the snow as fragments of his armour flaked off, some were finely cut, others were deformed while a few were completely shattered, blown apart by the frigid flames of the Luan and Frost's chakra.

A serious wound that made even holding onto his great axe difficult let alone swinging it.

Gageus reeled backwards from the residual force, partially grateful as it put some much needed distance between the two of them.

Gageus knew that Frost was strong, but this was something else, this wasn't the strength of a person at the peak of C-rank no this was someone at the B-rank and not necessarily at the entry stages either. Despite him not using a full blown aura Gageus knew Frost was not in the same realm as him.

"Shit he's…." Doing his best to ignore the pain in his arms Gageus tried to warn his comrades and hopefully any true tribesmen in the area. But before he could Frost was on him like a shark on blood.

'Fucking dense meat bag!' Though he appeared calm and rational, internally Frost was lamenting his failure to deal more damage with his advanced level glaive skill. That thing was a move that even a strong B-rank monster would struggle to endure yet Gageus didn't even lose a limb, his density and resilience was truly monstrous.

"Kiba!" Not forgetting his aim Frost loudly called upon his battle mount who had become entangled with Gageus' cohorts. He'd swipe with his claws, beat his wings and occasionally attempt to take a bite while Avira enchanted him with wind magic and focused on shielding his blind spots along with Borris.

"Garow!" Understanding his partner Kiba roared and forcefully pushed back the two frost giants before dashing north towards Icethorne now that the way was clear.

Meanwhile Frost focused on eliminating the threat that was Gageus, as long as the man could chase after them and instruct his fellow giants they'd simply be delaying the inevitable, he needed to be taken care of if they didn't want to be bogged down in another ten minutes.

As if sensing Frost's desire to kill Gageus once again turtled up, this time however he increased the density of his own ice chakra armour over his vitals. Unfortunately Frost had already learned of his durability thus he aimed lower.

"[Flight of the Luan]" Once again he used his strongest move. Ignoring the cost in stamina he targeted Gageus' legs. His arms were injured to the point that launching a decent swing was an impossibility but as long as he could move he'd be trouble thus Frost targeted his legs.

Killing someone as strong as Gageus in such a short amount of time and without the full use of his aura was impossible and though desired not integral.

"Criiiiiii" The Luan cried out the moment it formed once again causing Gageus' soul to tremble before he was struck with an intense, sharp, burning sensation along his legs.

Blood burst forth like a geyser, drenching Frost's white robes red. The cuts were deep, the nerves damaged by ice fire to the point that even the slightest of movements sent pangs of intense pain through Gageus' body. His lower strength left him, his balance faltering as he threatened buckle, his legs no longer able to support his immense weight.

Despite the pain however Gageus remained locked up like a turtle, refusing to give Frost even the slightest glimmer of reaching his vitals, stubborn to the end. An act that would see him live to see another day but first.

Don!

He felt a strong kick to his midriff and the next thing he knew his massive 8 metre body was sent barrelling through the air, his blood leaving a distinct trail as he passed near his two comrades.

"Gageus!!" They roared in concern before dashing to catch him, completely ignoring Frost and Kiba who used this chance to escape.

Using Gageus' body as a springboard Frost launched himself into the air and landed on Kiba's back.

"Run!"