Chapter 49: The Mist Giant’s Demise

Never before had Qing Yu witnessed a storm of such ferocious intensity.

It was savage, an unstoppable force.

Hailing from the far north, the storm ripped through the pervasive mist, and from Aldoran’s core, pristine ice crystals erupted, swiftly spreading to encase every inch of Qing Yu’s vision.

The very monsters that had swaggered with such arrogance moments before were caught in its grip, frozen solid before they could even utter a single shriek, their forms shattering into a flurry of glittering ice shards.

A startling clap of thunder rent the heavens, as the Spear Emblem materialized in the sky.

From its radiant core, layers of cumulus clouds were rapidly ensnared by climbing frost, while an expanse of extreme ice unfurled across the firmament.

The deluge ceased in a single breath, leaving only a gentle descent of ice and snow between the vast expanse of heaven and earth.

“Rest assured,” Aldoran declared, her voice a bastion of calm, “with me here, you are safe.”

Cradling Qing Yu in her arms, Aldoran’s gaze remained unyielding, locked upon the colossal beast that roared within the swirling mist.

She could feel the formidable power of Gungnir ceaselessly surging within her, yearning to shatter its restraints and unleash an attack.

As if drawn by an unseen force, ice and snow drifted down to Aldoran’s wrist, coalescing into a pristine white gauntlet that enveloped her delicate forearm.

From it emanated a profound, unblemished power, unmistakably divine.

It was a power that echoed from the distant Age of Gods.

The very might of the ruler of all deities.

“Aldoran,” Qing Yu breathed, a wave of profound relief washing over him, “It’s truly you.”

In the instant his eyes met Aldoran’s, all of Qing Yu’s suffering and oppressive burdens dissolved completely.

A profound sense of hope and tranquility suffused his being, and as if seeking ultimate sanctuary, he burrowed deeper into Aldoran’s embrace.

With Aldoran by his side, he felt an unwavering sense of security and support.

This profound reassurance stemmed entirely from Aldoran’s overwhelming power.

Under the crushing weight of Aldoran’s power, the monster bellowed in fury.

A fierce gale tore through the mist, unveiling the creature’s grotesquely twisted visage.

Its gargantuan body, reaching skyward, was supported by four limbs fashioned from writhing tentacles, while countless black eyes sprouted across every inch of its form.

Its very mass was a horrifying tapestry woven from the corpses of humans and beasts alike.

The monster’s enormous, hideous head resembled an infant’s face contorted in agony, its fanged mouth emitting an unholy, infantile wail.

Disturbingly, apart from its maw, its entire face was overgrown with pale, flailing arms that waved and writhed amidst its eerie, twisted cries.

It bore a resemblance to a centaur, possessing a humanoid torso above its four monstrous limbs.

This human-like body was a grotesque, twisted black hole of flesh and blood, with blood-soaked internal organs dangling from every part, dripping viscous, pitch-black ichor.

At its abdomen, a horrifying melange of countless putrid, maggot-ridden musical instruments pulsed, emitting a cacophony of shrill wails, cries, howls, screams, and discordant music.

Were it not for the protective aura of Ms. R’s flower, Qing Yu would undoubtedly have been plunged into instant madness.

Behind the colossal creature, a multitude of tentacles writhed and soared, holding Liliya, Thrud, Roalsa, Jess, Kills, and numerous members of the knight order aloft, as if in a perverse display of triumph.

“A giant…” Aldoran murmured, a chilling realization dawning upon her.

She had read of beings called giants in ancient legends, always believing these twisted, blasphemous aberrations to be mere mythical constructs.

Yet now, the enormous creature she had once glimpsed depicted on the murals of the far northern ruins stood before her, horrifyingly real.

A Giant.

The Mist Giant.

A killer born of the mist, dwelling deep within the roots of the distant Yggdrasil.

“ROAR—”

The monster bellowed, slowly extending one of its impossibly thick legs, bringing it down upon Aldoran with the crushing force of a descending mountain.

The sheer weight of its movement seemed to shatter the very air around it the moment its leg lifted, and with each inch of its descent, a new fissure spiderwebbed across the earth.

Beneath its colossal foot, Aldoran and Qing Yu appeared as nothing more than insignificant ants.

The downward rushing air pressed down with such intensity that Qing Yu found himself struggling to draw breath.

Aldoran stood unmoving, holding Qing Yu securely with one arm while her other hand rose with an almost imperceptible grace.

Immediately, frigid ice was swept up by the violent currents, as a tempestuous wind shrieked around them.

Behind Aldoran, a magnificent pair of icy wings unfurled, and the piercing cry of an eagle echoed, tearing through the cosmos.

The Eagle Emblem beneath Aldoran’s feet blazed with unparalleled radiance, its light solidifying into myriad ice lances that converged and, in an instant, impaled the monster’s colossal foot.

In that moment, torrents of pitch-black blood gushed forth.

A protective shield unfurled above Aldoran’s head, deflecting the corrosive liquid that rained down.

The monster let out a piteous shriek, as the twisted instruments embedded in its abdomen erupted into a deafening roar.

An unbearable cacophony of demonic sound resonated, pulverizing the very ground beneath its foot.

As the booming crescendo intensified, the earth beneath the monster began to collapse, sending dirt and stones flying.

A powerful storm whirled into being, and countless tentacles erupted from the ground.

These monstrous appendages, each three stories high and studded with eyes, seemed to sneer as they collectively slammed down towards Aldoran’s head, vowing to crush her into mere pulp.

Aldoran, however, remained rooted to her spot, for in her eyes, these monstrous threats were utterly insignificant.

From the heavens descended colossal ice lances, mercilessly impaling the bodies of the tentacles.

Before the appendages could even react, they were violently pinned to the earth.

Within the monsters, razor-sharp ice crystals proliferated, radiating an intense cold that caused their wails to erupt from all sides.

Black blood congealed into rivers, snaking across the fractured landscape.

“Annihilation’s Lock,” Aldoran murmured, and the majestic silhouette of an eagle rapidly expanded, encompassing the entirety of the monster in mere moments.

A cerulean barrier erupted skyward, and in the very instant it ascended, countless magical arrays unfurled within its confines.

One after another, energy-imbued lances shot forth from these arrays, striking the monster and slowing its movements by dozens of times.

Before the swiftly passing spears, it had no opportunity to retaliate.

Trapped within this temporal prison, the monster could only writhe in agony.

With its movements decelerated by dozens of times, even the simple act of raising a limb to resist became an agonizingly difficult and protracted ordeal.

Wounds began to manifest across its body, as one magical array after another materialized without cease.

Lances streaked past, striking the earth and exploding in rapid succession.

The monster could only let out tortured wails, utterly devoid of any power to fight back.

As each of the monster’s tentacles was severed, the captive individuals plummeted, only to be enveloped by a protective force and instantly teleported to Aldoran’s side.

“The suffering you inflicted upon Qing Yu,” Aldoran declared, her voice laced with chilling resolve, “I shall return to you in full.”

Raising her hand, Aldoran brought all the lances to a sudden halt, suspending them in mid-air.

Empowered by her energy, the spears gradually elongated, inch by agonizing inch, as ice crystals coalesced beneath the monster’s feet and began to creep inexorably up its legs, spreading across its entire form.

This time, the creature did not even manage a single wail before it was, in the blink of an eye, completely encased in ice.

In the very next second, the lances unleashed their full power, and in the blink of an eye, the colossal monster was shattered into countless fragments, dissolving into dust that drifted away amidst the mist.

Through the entirety of this devastating assault, the monster had not been afforded even the slightest opportunity to resist, vanquished with effortless grace by Aldoran.

As the ice shards danced in the air, the pervasive mist finally registered the imminent danger, sensing a power potent enough to confront it, a force capable of its utter annihilation.

Even before the last of the ice dust could settle, the mist began to recede with alarming speed.

“Gungnir,” Aldoran, of course, had no intention of allowing the mist to simply dissipate.

The cerulean barrier rapidly expanded, and the elusive mist, now cornered, found no escape.

Under the pervasive influence of “Annihilation’s Lock,” the mist was utterly unable to retreat, forced to remain helplessly trapped, incapable even of a desperate, cornered struggle.

A brilliant blue radiance tore across the heavens, and the ice-forged gauntlet on Aldoran’s right arm glowed with a sacred light.

The Spear Emblem in the sky began to rotate, and from its core, countless smaller magical arrays unfurled in concentric rings, spinning across the firmament.

A terrifying oppression permeated every corner of the world below.

As the brilliance intensified, a pristine white spear began to emerge, piece by piece, from within the heart of the magical arrays, slowly revealing its true form.

It was a spear of purest white, its tip formed of pale blue gemstones.

An eagle with wings outstretched was carved into its fore-section, its powerful form enveloped by a potent frost aura, which coalesced to create an even sharper, colder spearhead of pure energy.

From its rear, a flowing blue ribbon unfurled, gradually dispersing as the spear fully revealed itself, fanning out like the resplendent tail feathers of a phoenix blossoming across the sky.

“Let me witness your true power, Gungnir,” she whispered, as ancient incantations swirled around the celestial spear, and a torrent of raw energy threatened to crush the very earth.

“Target confirmed: Corpse Whale.”

The Spear Emblem flared within Aldoran’s eyes.

“Fire!”

In that instant, light erupted, painting the pitch-black heavens a pale azure.

Immense energy, like a colossal, roaring tidal wave, crashed into the earth, unleashing powerful shockwaves that reduced everything to ash.

The fore-section of the spear surged with unfathomable power, frost coalescing into a spearhead, a hundred meters in length, which descended, laden with earth-shattering energy—

Innumerable pillars of light shot skyward, tearing through the earth and piercing the firmament, banishing the perpetual night.

The mist-shrouded town was utterly razed, replaced by a terrifying, colossal crater.

At its heart, Aldoran stood, serene amidst the devastation, cradling Qing Yu in her arms.

As the mist finally dispersed, the remnants of the original town were revealed.

****

“Did they win?” the young woman mused, seated beside Vidofnir within the Sky-Piercing Pagoda.

Ratatoskr, having inexplicably returned to her hands, was being playfully offered a peanut by the young woman.

Vidofnir simply hummed in response, remaining sprawled on the windowsill.

“How utterly boring,” the six-winged young woman scoffed, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the somewhat dazzling sunlight.

“This meager power is still insufficient, far from enough. Such a fragile being, she is pitifully weak.”

The young woman lowered her head, continuing to tease Ratatoskr.

“She still has a long road ahead, Vidofnir. Please, have faith in her, believe in her and her companions.”

“You always say that,” Vidofnir retorted mercilessly, closing his eyes.

“Always trusting everyone unconditionally. After all this time, you still cling to those unrealistic dreams, like a fool.”

Every conversation between the young woman and Vidofnir concluded with Vidofnir’s derision.

Yet, the young woman never showed a hint of anger.

She merely sat quietly beneath the windowsill, her head bowed, either lost in thought or gently coaxing Ratatoskr.

“It will, it will certainly be possible…”

“Nonsense. To harbor unrealistic hopes will ultimately lead to one’s own demise. Regardless of when, that statement will one day prove true.”

“Boring, truly boring.”