Facing this peculiar elental life form, Orion's first instinct wasn't to kill her, but to extend an olive branch.
Lumi stared at Orion. She rembered him—how he once ordered Thunderhawk to drive her back with a single strike that left her injured. What shocked her more was that the Orion now standing before her was already at Legendary level.
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Under a different lord's domain, a giant had actually managed to ascend to Legendary and even beco a lord in his own right. Lumi found that idea mind-boggling.
"Why were you able to reach Legendary level?"
She was desperate to know because that was her own dream, too.
Orion simply smiled without answering. After a mont of locking eyes with her, he pressed on.
"Surrender to , and I'll give you new lands to call your own."
"I haven't submitted to Lord Jorik," Lumi replied. "And I won't submit to you, either!"
With that, she dissolved into clusters of snowflakes and vanished before Orion could say anything else.
He made no move to stop her. With transcendent power now at his beck and call, he sensed Lumi's energy fading into the distance.
"What a sha."
It would've been a big advantage for both him and the Stoneheart Horde if he could've tad an elental being. Plus, Orion privately admitted he also wouldn't have minded conquering her with his cock—just a very male giant's urge, as he saw it.
"Master, that woman attacked our territory last ti. Why let her go?"
Thunderhawk Rayden still rembered Lumi well.
"Not your concern. Keep flying."
"Oh…"
Noting Orion's closed-off tone, Rayden flapped its wings, climbed a bit higher, and sped north toward the glaciers.
Two days later, Orion had Thunderhawk Rayden co to a halt in front of a massive ice cliff.
"Stay here. Keep your wits about you."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Orion beca a flash of lightning, leaping ahead toward the glacier.
Off in the distance, atop a peak of solid ice, a massive Glacial Dragon crawled out from its lair. Spotting the flickering lightning in the sky, it began to roar.
A cascading series of deafening dragon cries rang out, one after another.
"Intruder! Must be driven away!"
From sowhere in that lightning, Orion sensed a will—hostile, dead-set on expelling him.
Crackkk—crackkk!
It sounded like shards of ice scraping together, or glass shattering—a sharp, earsplitting noise. Caught in the wind, jagged sheets of ice ford a river of cold aid straight at the lightning.
No words exchanged—Lord Jorik chose to strike first.
Rumble… boom…
High in the sky, cocooned in flashes of lightning, Orion wore a calm expression. Thunder rolled ominously as he lashed out in return.
Three thick, terrifying bolts of lightning barreled downward, shattering that crushing wave of ice. Though partially dissipated by impact, they still tore through the freezing air, beelining toward Lord Jorik on the glacier.
Roar!
Another dragon roar erupted—slightly different in timbre this ti. Shrill and fierce, it practically shook the air itself. Nearby beasts on the glacier shattered under the force, their bodies destroyed even at a distance.
Outside in the periphery, Thunderhawk Rayden, hearing that roar, lost its balance and plumted from the sky. Fortunately, it had been flying quite high, so after several seconds of free fall, it caught itself and hastily winged back south.
anwhile, Orion—his transcendent power swirling—t that boomso roar head-on and snuffed it out before it could even reach him.
The three bolts of lightning he'd sent out vanished in the aftershock, and the tridents hidden within them were crushed into dust by the dragon's sonic attack.
"Dragons really are sothing else," Orion said to himself. He'd poured formidable energy into those three lightning bolts, yet Lord Jorik neutralized them with a single roar.
Roar!
Just then, the Glacial Dragon spread its wings and soared upward in a flash. Orion saw that at so point, a layer of glittering ice—like armor—had ford over the dragon's body. Icy wind whirled around it, charging toward the lightning-clad Orion.
"Good!"
Lightning crackled around Orion's fra. He readied his weapon, the Fla of Will, and an ice-like covering instantly ford on his own body.
"Kill!"
With a bellow, Orion sent an even brighter surge of lightning flaring across the trident's surface. A split second later, he used Swift Charge—a special power dive that blasted him straight down.
Boom!
Lightning t ice in a dull, earthshaking detonation. Ancient ice coating the glacier splintered and tumbled away in jagged chunks, setting off an avalanche.
Up above, a glaring flash burned montarily before everything fell silent. On the glacier summit, the Glacial Dragon dropped back onto the ice, staring darkly at the fleeing streak of lightning.
Once it returned to its lair, the dragon's shape lted and shifted until it stood as a tall warrior clad in ice armor, gripping a massive sword.
Lord Jorik lowered his gaze toward his chest. The ice plating there had fractured, revealing a wound across his scales. The skin was charred and smoked faintly—that was the aftermath of Orion's lightning.
"Orion barely reached Legendary level, so how is he already this strong?"
That question was first and foremost on Jorik's mind. Whereas re monts ago, he'd been overflowing with contempt at the idea of a giant capturing Legendary rank, the mory of Orion dropping in wreathed in lightning made him uneasy.
"A lightning-type transcendent power… so much trouble."
Lord Jorik stared at the spot where Orion had disappeared, brow furrowed. Before seeing him in person, Jorik had felt only hostility. Now that they'd actually crossed paths, he was forced to be wary.
"Guess he was here to size
up…? Damn giant… who does he think he's looking down on?!"
Long after Orion departed, Jorik finally understood why he had co. Furious, the Glacial Dragon's roars echoed across the ice.
Farther north still, Gustalon erged from the wind, hearing that angry bellow carried on the gale. Without seeing it firsthand, Gustalon knew how furious Lord Jorik must be.
"Is the south really bursting with that many resources? Enough for a giant to reach Legendary level!"
"For my own freedom, I might want to head south too…"
He glanced toward the glaciers, then toward the south, a pensive gleam in his eyes.
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