Ulrika reacted quickly to the Thunder Scorpion's sudden attack; dozens of bolts shot toward her, and she destroyed them simply by unsheathing her sword.
At the same time, Benia blocked the figure of the Frost Giant wielding the hammer, which vibrated at such speed it looked like a mirage.
But the third opponent facing her was the one that worried her the most; it was a man who looked different from the rest of the giants.
The giants had tall and stocky builds, with stone-toned skin and marks and tattoos covering their entire bodies in the colors of their clans: Storm Giants had violet runes, Frost Giants had blue ones. The last giant, however...
He was the tallest of the group, standing over five meters tall, bordering on six, but he used a sword that seemed short compared to his size; even so, its blade reached over two meters. He had black hair and white tattoos.
Ulrika had heard of them, but she thought they had gone extinct. The existence in front of her...
Was a Cloud Giant.
"Damn blueblood, burned my fucking leg," the Cloud Giant growled in anger as he kicked the servant's mangled body one last time.
She didn't remember his name, but she felt pity; he had survived a battle against an ex-Blood Elder only to die miserably at the hands of some bandits.
Life could be so unfair sometimes.
But then the combat began before the giant's words were even finished.
Ulrika's speed was absurd; in an instant, she had teleported behind her target, the Cloud Giant. He seemed to be the strongest, and his presence felt comparable to that of a Noble.
In a flash, Ulrika's figure split into several water figures, melting like mirages into the air as they simultaneously stabbed at the giant's five vital organs.
"Cloud Aura."
Suddenly, the giant's body dispersed into the air and, like a blizzard or mist, infiltrated behind Ulrika's figures. In an instant, an illusory sword that seemed to be made of wind shattered every single one of the water illusions.
Forcing Ulrika to materialize a few meters away from him with a bloody wound on her belly, she frowned and glared at the giant with a furious expression.
"Hahaha, it seems the little blueblood isn't as strong as she thinks... What?"
But before he could finish speaking, the mangled, lifeless body of the Frost Giant fell to the ground a few meters away from him.
"You..." he growled in anger, but then he turned around to see that the other giant's situation was no better: dozens of men and women surrounded him, led by a golden-haired woman with enchanting eyes. They were the slaves and servants from the wagon.
In an instant, they had surrounded the crossbowman and harassed him until finally, Benia had pierced his heart with a high-speed stone.
Only he was left.
"It seems you overestimate yourself, giant," Ulrika growled with disdain as she licked the blood off her upper lip, giving him a defiant look. "It seems you are the useless ones."
But then the giant's gaze turned as cold as an iceberg while his aura shifted. Suddenly, his presence split, and, to the surprise of Ulrika and everyone present, two identical Cloud Giants emerged.
"An illusion?" Ulrika thought in surprise. "No, but why would he materialize an illusion if they're useless and he's being outnumbered like this?"
But then both giants moved at the same time and attacked in different directions, like two unsheathed swords. In an instant, they attacked Benia and Ulrika, who quickly blocked the strike using their Chakras while simultaneously retreating as the massive figures pursued them.
"It's not an illusion, Ulrika, it's—!" Benia shouted hastily.
But then the enormous giant swept his body toward Benia, who tried to clash with it, but to her horror, he passed right through her. The giant's body had become intangible, and his attack changed direction in an instant.
He stabbed directly toward Benia.
"No!" Ulrika yelled, but she couldn't move; the giant's cloud clone was blocking her.
Benia tried to evade the attack, but its area of effect was too wide; it was impossible to dodge.
She was going to be hit.
But then a figure was impaled by the giant's sword. The blade clashed against flesh but did not pierce through. In that moment, everyone was dumbfounded to realize that a tall, stocky figure with black hair was glaring coldly, despite being covered in blood and wounds.
"I will die with a sword in hand, bastard. Lend me yours."
.....
Golden blood pulsed through his body; his wounds hurt like hell, but he could move forward. He knew it; something told him that even though he wasn't invincible, superficial wounds couldn't kill him. But the pain existed within him like a perverse curse.
His broken jaw, his shattered hand, and the rest of his broken bones and ribs were the result of the brutal beating he had taken while on the ground.
At first, he had been dragging himself; when he realized he was leaning on two hands, he was stunned, but he didn't think too much about it in the moment. And when he saw the giant nearly skewer the woman, he didn't think twice about throwing himself between her and the attack.
Catching the sword in his claws.
Why claws? Because now his hands were covered in an armor of golden scales that effortlessly resisted the weapon's edge.
"You... how...?" The stupid expression on the giant's face remained even as Ulrika severed his head with her sword. The other Cloud Giant was also on the ground, dead.
Both seemed real.
Both were dead.
And Ducanor might soon be, too...
"Get away from him, Benia!" Ulrika yelled as she pointed her sword at him.
Benia, the woman behind him, looked at him in confusion and said with a conflicted expression: "Ulrika, he saved my life."
"Benia," she insisted, "come towards me, it's not safe."
He didn't react much; he had no energy and felt strangely tired. He was so hungry he could eat a horse. He took a step forward.
The tension in the air was absurd, and he felt as if his life could vanish at any moment, but for some strange reason, he wasn't worried about dying.
He felt as though he couldn't die, and that honestly bothered him a bit.
Just a bit, though.
"I want this sword," he grunted, before the blood, like an eruption, flowed out like golden magma and fell to the ground.
Finally earning the rest he so richly deserved.
.....
Sometimes things don't go perfectly right, just as they don't go perfectly wrong.
The brief interlude that was their trip to the Kangqueror Clan's home ended so quickly that Benia practically couldn't even properly greet the Lord of the Kangqueror Clan.
Alzarq Kangqueror.
"I am glad you managed to defeat the bandits so quickly," said the middle-aged man with a tired tone. He looked similar to Tolrik, but with clear signs of fatigue and old age.
The fact that the Toisech of this area was ill was common knowledge, and Alzarq's own forces had been taken by his Captain of the Guard in response to the call to arms from the Lord of Ulheim, who sensed the imminent invasion of a great horde of Giants.
After all, they had elected a Horde Lord.
The retinue of servants and slaves was not present; they were all filling in for the absent clan forces, currently manning the guard posts, as well as rebuilding and fortifying the surroundings of both the clan castle and the nearby villages.
"It wasn't that fast," Tolrik grumbled sadly, seemingly unscathed from the clash. It had been a group of about twenty bandits who had invaded the nearby villages and pillaged the surroundings, despite being a small group.
The fact that there were no soldiers left, and that the attackers were giants, made everyone flee to the castle, but Tolrik had managed to deal with them—albeit at the cost of the life of Adrait, the young crimson-haired Warden.
"Losses are normal, son. In war, you will see dozens, if not hundreds of people die, and not just innocents. Your familiar mages, soldiers under your command... You must strengthen not only your body, but your will."
Tolrik bowed and said, "Yes, Father."
"And you must also take care of the women. How could you think of leaving your sister and your fiancée alone? Did you...?" The Toisech's gaze locked onto Benia with a kind smile and goodwill, causing her to feel nervous and step back without a word.
"Father, it's not what you think. Benia is not my fiancée, she is simply my companion and friend," Tolrik said hurriedly.
"Friend... Hahaha! You've known each other since you were little, you are practically... Cough, cough!" A coughing fit made Tolrik help his father up from his chair in the Great Hall.
"Father," Ulrika said worriedly as she approached, watching her father cough violently while being helped up by her brother.
Meanwhile, an old man approached the group with a worried expression, also helping Alzarq. "Quickly, Tolrik, help me carry him. We must take the Lord to his room."
Tolrik nodded, and the two of them disappeared, helping the frail Lord to his quarters, with Ulrika following right behind them.
Benia was left frozen in the hall, completely alone, uncomfortable, and unsure of what to do as the seconds ticked by and no one reappeared.
Making the loneliness that had always been present in her life grow ever deeper.