Louis stood on a sheltered rocky outcrop, looking down at an open stretch of ground in the valley.
Four Frost Giants were tossing boulders into the air and batting them away with enormous clubs of ice and rock, having the time of their lives.
"Are they playing baseball?" Louis quipped, but he did not relax in the slightest.
These hulking creatures averaged five meters twenty in height, their bodies covered in natural armor woven from ice crystals and fragments of rock.
The sight of their bulging, knotted muscles alone was enough to suggest terrifying brute strength.
The ice-and-rock clubs they swung so casually were a full six meters long, and their blows could gouge cracked trenches into the ground.
Even more frightening was the layer of pale blue frost mist surrounding the Frost Giants: their extreme cold domain.
If ordinary people got too close, even their circulation would slow, and they might freeze into ice sculptures on the spot.
Fortunately, there were only four. If there had been forty, Louis would have had to pack up the Red Tide Fief and flee overnight.
Was he nervous? Not particularly.
He had already identified the Frost Giants' weaknesses and laid his traps in advance.
On top of that, he had brought most of the Red Tide Fief's knights and over a hundred soldiers.
Fifty-three knights against four Frost Giants. The advantage is mine.
"Is everyone ready?" Louis asked quietly.
"Yes, my lord. Everyone is in position," the signal officer replied.
"Good." Louis nodded slightly. "Follow the plan. Let these big fellows get a taste of what the Red Tide Fief can do."
He slowly raised his right hand, fingers together. "Move!"
The signal officer waved his great flag, and the knights lying in ambush sprang into action at once.
Whooo-!
A whistling arrow tore across the sky, trailing a red streak of flame as it slammed into a Frost Giant.
Startled by the sudden attack, the four Frost Giants paused in their merry play, then let out deafening roars. Their enormous feet stamped the ground as they advanced furiously toward the flames.
"Split them up!" Lambert shouted.
The knights divided into four groups, harrying the giants from different directions and constantly provoking them with their spears.
Every attack struck a giant's most sensitive areas with precision: knees, faces, gaps between fingers, armpits...
The giants roared and swept their enormous ice-and-rock clubs around, trying to crush these insectlike enemies.
But the knights were prepared. They swiftly retreated, using the terrain and their speed to buy time and lead each giant toward a separate ambush site.
A few minutes later, the four giants had been completely separated and drawn into different trap zones.
"Release!"
The trap teams, who had been waiting in ambush, abruptly hurled out their prepared weighted hemp nets.
The heavy ropes wrapped precisely around the giants' legs.
The giants faltered, struggling to tear free of their bonds.
Knights concealed on the flanks swiftly charged in, driving sharp spearheads and longswords straight into the vulnerable joints behind the giants' knees!
Squelch!
A spear pierced a giant's cold flesh, where its ice armor was thinnest.
Every thrust drew a thunderous roar from the giants and sent them staggering backward in pain.
"Fall back! Reposition!"
The fighters did not linger. They swiftly scattered in different directions, giving the giants no chance to strike back.
The giants howled in pain and dropped to one knee, their struggles immediately growing sluggish.
Soldiers waiting in ambush on the other side hurled torches, sending flames licking across the giants' sturdy ice armor.
Soon, their aura of extreme cold began to falter, and the outer layer of their ice armor gradually cracked under the heat.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The archers seized the opening to loose flaming arrows, which sliced through the night straight toward the giants' faces.
Several arrows struck the giants squarely in their eyes and cheeks, their flames scorching flesh.
"Roar-!!"
The giants clutched their faces in agony, struggling violently.
"Knights, ready! Aim for the heart and throat!"
"Kill!!"
The knights activated their Battle Aura, red energy burning along their longswords and spears.
They spurred their horses forward, like crimson blades driving viciously into the giants' hearts and throats!
Blood sprayed. The first giant gave one final, agonized howl before its body crashed to the ground.
Of course, things did not go so smoothly for every group.
A deafening roar suddenly erupted from one of the trap zones!
"Roar-!!"
An especially savage Frost Giant had torn its massive body free of the hemp net.
A slight stamp of its thick leg was enough to crack the trap-covered ground and send shattered stones flying.
"Damn it! The traps can't hold it!"
The lead knight's expression changed. He was about to order his squad to surround the giant again, but it had already flown into a complete frenzy!
It suddenly spread its arms and roared at the sky, the icy aura around it surging violently!
A raging frost storm abruptly swept outward in every direction!
Boom-!
The gale, filled with countless sharp blades of ice, engulfed the entire area in an instant.
Freezing winds tore at the earth, catching the knights off guard and knocking them off their feet.
"Aah!!"
Two Apprentice Knights were swept straight into the storm. Thick ice instantly coated their armor, freezing their bodies stiff.
Then a gust caught them and hurled them into the distance. They slammed into a rock wall, left unable to fight.
An Official Knight had no time to react before the giant's sweeping club struck him.
He flew dozens of meters like a kite with its string cut, then slammed into the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.
The battlefield instantly descended into chaos!
But just as the Frost Giant prepared to sweep its club around again, a streak of red Battle Aura suddenly sliced through the blizzard, slashing straight at its wrist!
Squelch!
The searing sword energy tore a long, narrow wound through the giant's cold iron muscles. Dark blue blood sprayed out, splattering onto the snow and rapidly freezing into ice crystals.
"Cut its legs!"
Lambert bellowed, raising his greatsword high. Wreathed in dense Battle Aura, the blade pointed straight at the giant's knee!
Two Elite Knights followed close behind, the three charging toward the giant in a triangular assault formation.
"Haaah-!"
Lambert brought his greatsword down hard, aiming directly at the joint behind the giant's knee!
Crack!
The blade sank deep into the ice armor and cut into the tendons. The giant's enormous body shuddered violently, nearly dropping to its knees.
Another Elite Knight seized the opening to leap up, his longsword blazing with fiery Battle Aura as he drove it deep into the giant's ribs!
The last knight slashed hard at the giant's ankle, trying to destroy its balance completely!
All three swords struck together. The intense pain drove the giant into utter fury, and it unleashed a sky-rending roar as it tried to swing its club in retaliation!
"Stop it!"
Lambert roared, stamping hard against the ground to launch himself into the air again.
He swept his greatsword across in a backhand slash, its edge striking the giant's wrist joint with precision!
Crack-!
The sound of breaking bone rang out clearly.
The giant's grip suddenly slackened. Its enormous ice-and-rock club slipped from between its fingers and crashed into the ground, throwing ice shards into the air!
"Now!!"
The knights behind him raised their spears. With thunderous roars, they drove every weapon into the giant's vital points at once.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Icy blood sprayed, staining the snow red. The savage giant could hold on no longer. Its enormous body crashed to the ground, all life extinguished.
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