Dungeon of Niflheim

With their path forward cut off by deluges of javelins Frost, Kiba, Borris and Avira were forced to confront their new adversary, a massive B-rank female frost giant and the dozen or so C-rank giants still hidden within the nearby blizzard and behind large boulders of ice.

Their destination was in sight, no more than an hour or so travel yet it never felt so far. Avira and Borris visibly trembled and felt their hearts clench as they looked upon the giant's towering form. They knew instinctively that they were no match, mere ants under her hammer. Even twenty C-rank frost giants weren't as intimidating as this woman standing before them now.

The twenty they could at least outrun and endure against but her, there was no escape.

"Frost?" Borris being the more experienced of the group called upon their strongest protector with a resigned look in his eyes. They were truly up against a rock and a hard place.

He expected Frost to don an even uglier expression than his own but surprisingly there was a wild smile on his lips and though his body was tensed up, his jaw clenched, and he was visibly trembling it didn't seem to be out of fear like himself and Avira. Instead Frost appeared excited, thrilled even.

Borris' assumption was on point, Frost was truly excited by the situation. Of course he understood their abysmal prospects but beneath that was an opportunity, an opponent to throw his all at.

The B-rank frost giant was clearly in the upper levels of B-rank, a fighter with an abundant amount of experience behind her given the many scars lining her body. An opponent that was stronger than him and who would do everything in her power to devour him. His inner battle maniac couldn't help but get riled up by the prospect.

His blood flowed at a faster rate heating up his entire body, improving his reflexes and allowing his chakra and aura to flow through his system with near perfect fluidity. His body was ready for a fight, but his mind still needed to take care of the situation.

They were several kilometres from Icethorne's boundary, still within the crevasse of Ymir's extended territory. The B-rank giant and her cohorts were thoroughly pining them down, any attempt to leave their zone of control resulted in a deluge of javelins and Frost could pick up movement in their surroundings.

More and more giants were coming their way, yet none deigned to shown themselves apart from the B-rank woman.

Perhaps there was a possibility of negotiation or at least a window of opportunity. As long as he could control and limit the actions of this women perhaps they could make a break for it or maybe just Avira.

Borris was too much of a liability and had already offered to sacrifice himself. Frost needed to fight, there was no recourse for that thus that left Kiba and Avira.

Avira alone would easily be run down by the C-ranks hidden behind the snowstorm so Kiba would have to go with her. Choosing to do so would not only fulfil his promise to Borris, Luna and General Anya but would present an opportunity.

With Avira's identity as long as she made it Icethorne she could enlist aid from their soldiers. The war fortress of Icethorne was filled with dozens of B-ranks and even several A-ranks, more than enough to intimidate the group currently moving to surround them.

"Whatever you do don't let go of Kiba." After rapidly analysing their situation for a second or two Frost sternly said, his eyes locked onto the giant woman with an evil smirk on her lips. She was enjoying the sight of her prey floundering in her presence.

Frost closed his eyes for a moment, let out a deep breath and then leaped from Kiba's back to stand before the giant woman with his glaive in hand, ready to face off against her without nary a fear, leaving protection of Borris and Avira to Kiba who at this moment was shivering.

The young glacial winged tiger was afraid, fearful of the strength held by the female frost giant but more so about his partner who was now standing against her.

"Hoh interesting, you've got balls I'll give you that but then again it's not like you've got much choice." The large female giant lightly laughed as she rested her massive hammer across her shoulders and took a few steps forward.

With her almost 13 metre frame she dwarfed the 2 metre Frost, like an adult looking down on an infant that just learned to stand, the sight if you take out the danger and bloodlust filling the air was rather comical.

The female frost giant or Bella as she was called wasn't simply standing in front of Frost in an intimidating manner no her aura was fully unleashed, pressuring the surroundings and entirely focused on the little elf before her. Yet the man didn't even stumble or wince instead he glared back at her, unleashing his own aura in reply.

Frost's aura wasn't as heavy nor as all-encompassing but there was a greater quality to it, a density that allowed it stand on roughly equal footing with Bella's. A situation that truly surprised her and made her smile stretch from ear to ear.

"No wonder my son was so heavily injured." Bella was Gageus' mother and someone with a rather high standing back in their tribe.

When her son came home with significant injuries she was furious and upon learning that they were caused by a B-rank elf who had intruded upon their territory she immediately rounded up a battalion and set off in pursuit only just now managing to catch up and deploy their anti-escape measures.

"Your flesh will make for a great tonic, allowing my son to bridge the gap and become a true member of the tribe." Bella was quite a protective mother and had high hopes for her son so despite it being a little overkill moved to hunt this little elf personally.

"Hmph you know I was thinking the same thing, I've never had frost giant steaks before." Frost taunted in reply with a starving look in his eyes, looking Bella up and down as if she was a walking delicacy.

"..." There was an eery silence for a second or two before sudden cracks and twangs reverberated. Being looked at as prey by someone inferior set Bella off. Throbbing veins instantly appeared across her forehead and along her arms as without the slightest hesitation she swung out with her massive hammer.

DON!!

Frost expecting some sort of responsive had his glaive and chakra armour ready but even so the moment her hammer made contact he felt like a child. The force behind her blow instantly lifted him from the ground and sent him skidding across the snow.

His chakra armour lining his left side literally exploded from the impact and blood trickled down his forearm as the seams between his fingers split open. There was at least several tons behind that sudden blow, a great deal more than what he was expecting.

'She's even stronger than I thought.' Frost purposefully baited Bella into attacking him suddenly, hoping to gauge the extent of her physical brutality and he wasn't disappointed. His internal organs were shaken, his vision slightly blurry and he felt like he wanted to puke his guts out but that was only temporary.

'It's just like Maya.' He compared Bella's blow and even movement to that of Maya who also used hammers and who before the family gathering trumped him in terms of physical strength.

If Bella used an axe, a sword or anything other than a hammer then he wouldn't be quite so optimistic but given that he trained profusely with someone who had perfect grade mastery over hammers Bella's capabilities seemed rather lacklustre in comparison.

"Frost!" Avira loudly screamed in concern, her body fighting against her base instincts and her desire to run to his side to help him but in the end she stayed put. Her body refused to leave Kiba's back, Bella was just too intimidating. This was the right call as the moment she left Kiba's back was the moment this battle was over.

Frost stood before Bella so as to draw her aggression and protect her, Borris and Kiba while they waited for an opportunity. Right now only Bella was making moves in the open, whether that was out of arrogance, or some other reason Frost didn't care as it was advantageous to them.

'There'll be a chance, there has to be.'

'Kiba use your nascent aura to calm yourself, watch the surroundings and if you see an opportunity run for Icethorne and don't look back.' Frost used his soul connection with Kiba to silently give him an order while he shook off Bella's impact and moved to retaliate.

The young tiger trembled as he heard his partner's voice and moved to used his still growing aura, an action he had very little experience in doing.

"[Freezing fireball]" Frost launched two balls of ice fire at Bella, obscuring her vision as he moved into a blind spot, using a similar method as he did with Gageus.

And to be expected the balls of ice fire were nothing in Bella's eyes, with a simple punch and headbutt these balls of flaming magic were dissipated, revealing the tiny elf directly below her chin.

"[Flight of the Luan]" Using his most powerful glaive skill Frost summoned a silver blue Luan around his glaive and slashed upwards, holding nothing back. His blow was infused with ice fire chakra and his royal aspected aura to its absolute limits.

Such as slash was even greater that what Gageus was hit with and the timing, angle and speed were bang on perfect…Unfortunately his opponent was stronger, faster and more experienced than he was.

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