Boom!
Laufey's icy killing intent merged with the hurricane. Ice spears filled the sky, tearing through the air with piercing shrieks.
The hurricane gnawed away at Asgard's golden domes while endless storm clouds smothered half the realm. As the raging winds swept past, the once-magnificent temples could no longer withstand the strain and were gradually torn apart and dragged into the storm.
Whenever an icicle pierced a temple floor, frost spread wildly through the cracks.
One luxurious hall after another collapsed with thunderous crashes. Reliefs depicting the epics of Asgard's past were frozen until they burst apart, crumbling into shards of ice that left their original images unrecognizable.
The pointed stone houses where generations of Asgardians had lived, the stone homes bearing their families' crests, the wooden lofts with ivy wrapped around their window frames, the artisans' workshops roofed in gilded tiles, and the communal courtyards linked by covered walkways all suffered the same fate. Countless buildings were pierced by ice spears before the extreme cold shattered them into innumerable fragments.
Everything in the hurricane's path was reduced to a lifeless wasteland, leaving only devastation behind.
Laufey's aura continued to grow stronger.
He now resembled a god commanding the end of the world, wantonly destroying everything in Asgard.
The instant his aura reached its peak, Fenris suddenly felt himself being locked onto.
"Kill!"
Laufey's voice rolled across the sky, carrying such overwhelming divine might that it seemed as though the heavens themselves were collapsing toward Fenris.
The clouds descended, and the hurricane surged forward with them. Everywhere it passed, layers of frost accumulated so rapidly that the ground itself rose beneath the ice.
Every attack seemed to find a single target upon which to unleash its fury. Even Fenris's colossal body appeared insignificant before this world-ending catastrophe.
"What does it matter how strong you are? Can you possibly withstand a natural disaster?"
Moreover, this was no ordinary disaster. It was a desperate attack containing the full extent of Laufey's power.
"Let's see you survive this!"
If the attack failed, Laufey was prepared to abandon everything he had gained and return to Jotunheim with the Casket of Ancient Winters. Like a gambler who had lost all reason, his mind was consumed by a single desire: to reduce the enemy who had thwarted him time and again to dust.
Fenris's body gradually disappeared within the hurricane.
Laufey tightened his grip on the Casket of Ancient Winters. In the next instant, every ice spear lengthened once more before breaking the sound barrier and thrusting its gleaming tip toward Fenris.
Boom!
The raging wind engulfed him. Moving at more than a thousand meters per second, it could effortlessly tear any living creature apart until not even a scrap of flesh remained.
At the same time, ice spears nearly ten meters long fell like rain, crashing against Fenris's heavy scales.
Terrifying cold spread wildly outward from every point of impact while constantly burrowing deeper into his body.
Every strike was vicious and came from a treacherous angle. The relentless bombardment seemed utterly impossible to resist. A mere body of flesh and blood stood no chance. Even a body forged from solid steel would be reduced to dust in an instant.
This attack could easily scour all of Asgard from one end to the other, yet its entire power was now being concentrated upon a single person.
Laufey knew that even he, while wielding a divine artifact, would be reluctant to face this attack head-on. How could this human, whose strength was inferior to his own, possibly survive?
Sure enough, only a few seconds later, Laufey heard a pained roar faintly emerge from within the hurricane.
Just as he expected.
A smile tugged at Laufey's lips.
He knew it. The universe still obeyed the laws of science. No matter how absurd this creature was, there had to be a limit.
Whoosh!
Within the howling winds, Fenris struggled to steady himself. Countless ice spears attacked from every conceivable angle, and each impact sent intense pain through his body.
At the same time, the familiar cold of the Casket of Ancient Winters poured relentlessly into him. Laufey was repeating his previous tactic, clearly intending to freeze him solid once again.
This time, however, the amount of cold invading his body far exceeded the combined total of Laufey's previous attacks.
Had this happened before, neither the hurricane nor the ice spears would have been necessary. Given the enormous difference in their strength, the faintest trace of escaping cold would have been enough to rob Fenris of all power to resist, leaving him helpless and ready to be slaughtered.
But...
Things were different now.
"ROAR!"
A plume of cold air escaped Fenris's mouth as his roar exploded like thunder.
The tremendous power filling his entire body erupted at once. He lowered his body heavily and drove all four limbs into the ground. His swaying form abruptly stabilized, remaining completely unmoved even within winds approaching a thousand meters per second.
At the same time, the overlapping layers of heavy scales covering his body contracted, instantly multiplying his defenses.
When the troublesome ice spears struck again, they slid across his scales almost in unison. Their momentum barely diminished as they were deflected into the ground.
Explosions rang out without pause. The ground beneath Fenris was forcibly blasted into a massive crater dozens of meters deep.
The crystalline spines along his back lit up with dazzling white radiance.
His colossal body shook violently, releasing a tremendous shock wave. It forcibly blasted a vast opening through the surrounding hurricane, and the ceaseless impacts of the ice spears suddenly fell silent.
"So you like freezing people, do you?"
The scales shattered by the spears regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye. In moments, they were smooth and flawless once more, gleaming with luminous white light.
Fenris raised his head. His gaze easily pierced the surrounding darkness and settled upon Laufey in the sky.
"What...?"
Laufey could not see Fenris's entire body. All he saw was a pair of luminous white eyes suddenly blaze upon the distant ground.
The cold within them sent a shudder through his entire body.
"How is this possible?"
His body instinctively stiffened, as though an invisible icicle had pinned him in midair.
Even that had failed to kill him?
An attack that not even Odin would dare take head-on had once again been endured by Fenris's bare body?
"No! That's impossible!"
At that moment, Laufey's panic was reflected clearly in Fenris's eyes.
Boom!
Fenris gave Laufey no time to think. He bent all four limbs, gathered strength for the briefest instant, and launched his colossal body into the air, forcing his way through the hurricane.
At the same time, the cold that had invaded his body alongside the ice spears began to gather.
Once, Fenris had been completely incapable of resisting this power. Now, it obeyed his every command. The instant it entered his body, he effortlessly assimilated it and turned all of it into his own strength.
The cool energy raced through his body before converging in his throat. In the blink of an eye, that refreshing coolness became a bone-chilling cold that radiated a terrifying chill.
Fenris's eyes erupted with blinding white light. The blue-violet spines along his back flashed continuously, growing more terrifying as his breath attack gathered power.
"No..."
Laufey's vision blurred.
A colossal beast nearly a hundred meters long suddenly erupted from the ground. Brilliant white light blazed within its open jaws, aimed directly at him.
Amid the sudden silence, something terrifying began to gather.
(End of Chapter)
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