"By Thrym above..."
"They didn't even get close before—"
"How could we ever defeat an enemy like this?"
As the wasteland turned into a purgatory flowing with lava, the surviving hundred or so frost giants wore terrified expressions, dreading that they would draw the gaze of the terrifying red dragon.
Heavy-armored ogres closed in, surrounding the frost giants on all sides. Groups of three or four ogres strained with all their might, binding each frost giant tightly with hemp ropes as thick as a grown man's wrist, before hauling them off toward the south.
"These frost giants will become useful consumables for the empire."
"They will not be permitted to bear offspring, nor will they be permitted to hold faith. In their idle hours, they shall be locked in dark dungeons."
"We will use them to build walls and fortify our defenses, reducing them to victims of hard labor and the lash. And their blood—all of it shall belong to me."
Cassius's eyes gleamed.
He harbored no pity for these giants who called themselves the Frost Calamity and had caused countless bloody massacres. He felt not the slightest moral guilt in dealing with them, fixated solely on squeezing out every drop of their value.
"Yes, as You will."
Trump spoke in an excited tone.
He held just as little sympathy for these distant kin; his excitement stemmed far more from the prospect of researching this "Everfrost power" as a wizard.
At his side, Duoluo reported, "Master, I've questioned them thoroughly about the situation at Vahara Glacier. Those giants cracked rather easily.
"Aside from the three hundred frost giant warriors who invaded southward, there are about a hundred-odd elderly and weak, along with several dozen warriors stationed there. In their absence, Nur Everfrost—the high priest and eldest elder of the Everfrost Tribe—is managing all their affairs."
"A high priest, is it...?"
"Understood,"
Cassius said calmly.
To destroy the Everfrost Tribe, he had to eliminate this so-called priest and wipe out their faith entirely.
Since he had already provoked Thrym and drawn the slumbering deity's enmity, he might as well take it further: slaughter the god's already sparse followers in Anzeta to the last, convert their entire people into slaves of the empire, and leave the deity with no faith whatsoever.
After the collapse of the ancient giant empire, giants walking the land had grown increasingly rare. Most storm giants, cloud giants, and their kin had even departed the Material Plane to serve other lawful deities, celestial beings, or even good metallic dragons. Meanwhile, marauding races like the frost giants had steadily dwindled through war after war, finally driven to the northern edge of the world.
"Tell me its location. I shall bring them a catastrophe... they will never forget for the rest of their lives."
"As You will."
...
The Great Vahara Glacier.
Inside the frost giants' vast, crude ice fortress.
"It's over. It's all coming to an end."
"My prophecy was not wrong. The destined calamity is coming. He will destroy everything and enslave my people..."
Nur set down the Ice Orb of True Seeing in his hand and shakily rose to his feet. The warriors attending at his sides hurriedly moved forward to support him, only to be shoved aside by the aged priest.
He muttered to himself as if suddenly stricken with madness.
"No, no, perhaps there is still a chance."
"Quick, go summon all the young warriors in the tribe!"
The frost giant warriors were bewildered by Nur's panic, yet compelled by his centuries of accumulated authority, they obeyed and gathered the young warriors.
Dozens of frost giant warriors assembled beneath the great glacier.
"What's wrong with Elder Nur?"
"Why did he summon us?"
"Has Chieftain Kasa not even returned yet? It's only been a few days. The sacred southern campaign should still be underway."
The hot-blooded young frost giant warriors were equally confused, whispering endlessly until the stooped, gaunt, and weathered Elder Nur appeared.
"Kasa's campaign is over. They encountered the destined calamity and have been... completely wiped out."
His voice was low and hoarse, yet piercingly clear.
These words provoked an instant uproar among the frost giants, who could no longer contain their agitation.
Though left behind at Vahara Glacier as totem warriors guarding the holy ground, they had also yearned to pillage the south, firmly believing Kasa would strike terror into the southern humans.
Yet in just a few short days, three hundred frost giant champions had been wiped out to the last?
This was beyond unbelievable—it defied every law of reality the Everfrost Tribe had known for centuries!
"Elder Nur, your spell must have gone wrong!"
"More than wrong—you've gone mad!"
"Kasa is a warrior who can wrestle dragons with his bare hands! With his strength, there's no way those humans could defeat him!"
"Elder Nur, we are the Frost Calamity!"
The aged frost giant priest let out a helpless sigh, deep sorrow showing in his eyes.
He, too, had once believed that the "destined calamity" foretold in the prophecy referred to themselves—that the frost giants would sweep through like a natural disaster, brutally razing everything in the Northlands to rebuild a realm of their own. But now it seemed they were merely victims of the calamity.
With his trembling right hand, Nur drew a modest circle on the ice with his wooden staff. A gust of frigid wind blew through—and immediately after, a terrifying red dragon appeared within the reflection. Beneath him were dozens of frost giants thrashing desperately in lava, clawing outward in agony. It was a horrific sight as their flesh melted away in the searing magma, exposing ghastly white bone.
Nur stopped at the right moment, his tone weighed down with immense dread.
"Do you see... clearly now?"
The frost giants fell dead silent.
If not for witnessing this brutal magical image, nothing could have convinced them that the army led by Chieftain Kasa had been driven to such a dead end, falling into certain death.
"We are now the final line of defense for the Everfrost Tribe, my kin."
"Have all the women and children evacuate. This battle is ours."
"Elder, I..."
A young frost giant started to speak, only to be choked into silence by Nur's cold gaze.
The young frost giants looked stifled and grim. Though countless questions burned within them, they had no way to voice them; they could only obediently follow orders, moving swiftly across the glacier into action.
Only Kasa's young son, Koman Everfrost, was brought over by Nur's command.
This frost giant was merely thirty years old, still in his adolescence and standing less than four meters tall—a mere child before Nur.
Yet Koman was far from naive. His eyes were already brimming with hatred—the customary reaction of a frost giant to the death of kin.
"I want to kill that dragon and avenge my father! Elder Nur, let me join this battle! I am the son of Kasa! I'm not afraid of death!"
Nur stroked his head and said softly, "I was already close to death to begin with..."
"You are different. The blood of the Chosen flows within your veins; you are our last hope."
"Flee, child. Go south, to the Anstica Mountains. Keep our people alive, and let the name of Everfrost... make others tremble once more in the days to come."
With trembling hands, the aged frost giant priest slipped a Ring of Alteration, glimmering with magical aura, onto Koman's finger.
Chapter 183