Conquering His Cold Heart

Frost kneeled in the snow, his right hand firmly holding onto his glaive while his left felt his ribs, assessing the degree of damage.

'Fuck that hurt!' The physical strength behind each of Bella's blows was immense, rivalling that of Maya's and then some. Every blow she dealt required his complete focus and attention, a slight miss and he'd end up in his current situation, tossed aside like a ragdoll.

Thankfully his own body was rather durable and quick to heal. The bruised ribs were already becoming numb while muscles around the broken one bulked up to prevent excess movement. It still hurt but not enough to take him out of the fight.

He stood up, gripped his glaive with both hands and once again entered a battle ready stance, welcoming the massive female giant charging towards him with her hammer raised over her head.

"[Titan's calamity]" Enthralled by the smell of blood Bella stepped up her aggression, she used an advanced level hammer skill hoping to turn Frost into a pile of mush. If he survived great she could continue to enjoy this little game and if not then it was a job well done, she could then return home, see to her son's injuries and hand him the flesh of her prey.

Flesh that would surely allow Gageus to ascend to her realm and become a true member of the tribe.

Among the frost giant caste those at C-rank were the weakest of the weak and the very young. Only when a frost giant achieved B-rank would they be considered and adult and be granted an official status within the tribe. Until then they could only take on rudimentary and unimportant tasks such as scout work in the external regions of the glacial mountains.

Bella's already massive hammer grew in size as the image of a giant even larger than herself formed behind her. Before the weapon even began to descend Frost could already feel its immense weight. He felt as though the gravity around him increased by several degrees, restricting him to the one area, ensuring successful contact but Frost was already used to such a feeling.

Maya thoroughly trained him in regards to both hammer techniques as well as the effects of aura that could appear within those at the B-rank.

With a flush of his own aura through his body he brushed off the pressure and rolled away. A moment later Bella's hammer came down with a thunderclap. A cataclysmic explosion erupted when the hammer met the floor. Snow, ice and even deep-seated bedrock burst out, flying tens of metres in all directions, revealing the insane strength behind Bella's blow.

Kiba barely manage to stay upright as the ground beneath his paws trembled and even fractured. Avira and Borris felt their hearts lurch as fear and worry overcame them. They didn't manage to catch Frost's escape and thought he'd been caught. The confident and suave elf who seemed nigh invincible, crushed by the hammer of a monster, just a few tens of kilometres outside the fortress of Icethorne.

Thankfully he did manage to escape and was already on the attack. Through the thick dust of ice and snow Frost's handsome face appeared, his expression wild and his eyes fixated on the visage of Bella before him.

Moving silently and with immense speed Frost thrust his glaive dead ahead, aiming for Bella's calves.

Squelch!

"Bastard!" His blade edge sunk several inches deep, not much in regards to lethality but certainly painful. The area was rather lacking in armour and couldn't result in anything substantial, so Bella wasn't expecting to be attacked there, least of all by a thrust.

She felt a stinging pain coming from her left calf and on instinct lashed out with her hammer, but Frost had already disappeared back into the snow dust she herself had caused.

The dust obscured her vision, and his soft movements made it hard for her to rely on her ears, so she could only use her years of experience as well as battle senses. Unfortunately Frost appeared to change up his tempo. He was still peppering her from different angles, relying primarily on his speed and small stature but this time he was being very proactive and attacking unusual areas.

While she blocked her vitals a sudden slash would cut up her backside or when she was protecting her arms his glaive would end up slicing her pinkie finger. The uncouth young man even targeted her breasts, chopping off over half her left nipple, taking advantage of her fashionably exposed flesh while avoiding the harder to reach areas.

Within a couple of minutes the massive giant was covered in minor cuts and scrapes. All of which stung like insect bites.

"Annoying bug!!!" Her fury finally hit the fan when her breasts were targeted. She sported dozens of scars throughout her body, but her breasts were still smooth and firm just the way she and her husband liked them yet now the left one had a nasty scar running straight across and half her nipple had come loose, flapping in the air.

"ROOOAAARRRR!!!" Bella suddenly lowered her centre of gravity, looked upwards into the sky and let loose with a primordial roar that shook the souls of all those dwelling nearby as well as tens of kilometres away. Kiba's roar was like a that of a mere kittens compared to hers. Even Frost who was somewhat prepared for it lost his footing, his ears ringing from the intense vibrations.

Worst of all the dust of ice and snow was forcibly cleared, bringing Frost back into the open as well as a surprise.

Bella in her anger didn't even register the situation her entire focus aimed at Frost. Wasting no time at all she wielded her hammer in anger and began wildly swinging the beast, her desire to quash the annoying bug palpable.

"Fuck!"

"They've gone!"

It was the surrounding frost giants who were there to serve as backup and escape prevention that noticed the immediate problem.

Kiba, Borris and Avira had disappeared. Their original position was bereft of a large tiger, a human and a dwarf. All that remained were a few paw prints from where Kiba once stood. There wasn't even a trail showing the direction in which they ran, clearly the beast utilised his wings to hover slightly.

Despite the lack of a trail it didn't take a genius to work out their direction. Within a couple seconds each and every one of the frost giants in the background turned to the face the north and far in the distance they could see the blurry figure of a tiger and two people riding him.

"Priestess the tiger escaped!" One of the higher ranked frost giant's immediately informed Bella who was wantonly chasing after Frost with heavy swings, the damn elf deftly avoiding each and every one with a calm expression.

"Huh?" Hearing the ruckus from her subordinates she reluctantly pried her gaze from Frost and took note of the situation.

"Fuck!" She loudly cursed, her fiery gaze once again turning back to the tiny elf standing before her in a taunting manner.

'The sneaky bugger used the snow dust to order his comrades away and used aggressive pain inducing moves to keep my focus entirely on him. fuck!' She was absolutely furious, she felt humiliated and mocked.

"Costa! Davros! Take half the giants and chase after them, we can't let them reach Icethorne!" Though the frost giants were quite the powerhouse Icethorne was an enemy they didn't want to cross right now. The Duke was especially frightening. Not only did the man have a personal strength nearing S-rank he was unrivalled when it came to warfare.

The man could win a battle easily when outnumbered ten to one. His monicker among the local monsters and nations within the inner regions was the [Iceborne War God]. Even her A-rank superiors wouldn't want to mess with him let alone her who was only at the peak of B-rank.

"Understood priestess." Costa and Davros replied with a military like salute and quickly took off after Kiba, Borris and Avira along with half their giant comrades. Leaving 8 not including Bella to restrain Frost in escaping which was now a likely scenario given that his weaker party members were clear of danger.

The frost giants that kept themselves hidden within the natural snowstorms and ice outcrops now revealed themselves and subtly surrounded Frost. With their Javelins primed and ready they took aim, waiting only for Bella's signal to start the deluge. If they allowed him to get away as well then they could kiss their lives goodbye.

"Seems that I'm rather popular" Frost said with a slight chuckle yet internally he was feeling the pressure. It wasn't a comfortable feeling being surrounded by giants that stood almost ten metres tall and pointed 4 metre javelins at you while an even larger giant glared at you in fury with a massive hammer in her hands, a hammer that could pulverise you in an instant if not prepared for the blow.

Veins protruded along Bella's body as her anger threatened to overwhelm her reasoning but eventually she managed to calm herself back down. She bit her lower lip, drawing blood and breathed which was not a good sign for Frost. An anger fuelled enemy though more aggressive and physically strong was easier to predict and manage.

"Congratulations elf but unfortunately you've merely delayed the inevitable" Bella shook her head, insinuating that Frost's valiant efforts were pointless. "…However, I respect your courage and because of that I'll kill you myself." She gestured with her hands causing the surrounding frost giants to lower their javelins.

"What's your name elf?"