Chapter 178: Winter's Roar
Gazing at the steam clouds ahead and the gradually dissipating blizzard, Kasa did not halt his charge.
He resolutely rode his tundra land dragon forward without hesitation.
Even without the blizzard's cover, and despite the discomfort caused by the searing heat around him, Kasa's absolute confidence in his strength remained unshaken. He believed he could cleave through any enemy before him with his double-edged axe—he was, after all, Kasa Eternal Frost, the "Bonebreaker."
"Warriors of the Eternal Frost Tribe!"
"Charge with me and fight for the glory of our ancestors!"
Inspired by their leader's fearless charge, the Frost Giant warriors roared in excitement, brandishing their weapons as they followed closely behind.
Hundreds of Frost Giants swept across the vast wasteland, raising rolling clouds of dust and shaking the earth with their thunderous march.
In the Ember Kingdom's ranks, fueled by his unrelenting fury, Dolo bellowed orders:
"Fire! Fire!"
"Blast these foolish giants to bits!"
"Let them taste the wrath of our cannons!"
The newly developed cannons from the [Cult of the Machine God] were arranged in neat rows, each operated by several well-trained hobgoblin soldiers. Each cannon position had a [Cult of the Machine God] technician overseeing its use, though the Iron Frenzy unit was not among them.
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom!"
The roaring artillery unleashed deafening blasts.
Shells rained down upon the Frost Giants' path, creating charred craters and reducing unlucky giants caught in the barrage to mangled corpses.
However, the Frost Giants' loose formation and the open expanse of the wasteland meant the bombardment inflicted limited casualties and failed to slow the fearless and tenacious Frost Giant warriors.
The first wave charging alongside the chieftain comprised elite warriors—cowards had no place in their ranks.
Wyverns dove from the skies, dropping magical incendiary bombs from their claws, igniting the battlefield in blazing flames.
Smoke billowed, and fire engulfed the battlefield.
"Follow my lead, warriors!"
"The great Solem watches over us!"
Undeterred by shells and flames, Kasa continued his charge with unwavering determination.
A cannonball fell directly above Kasa, but with a casual swing of his double-edged axe, he hurled it aside.
"Swish—"
The heavy axe spun through the air, slicing the incoming shell in half mid-flight. The clean cut froze over instantly, and the severed halves clattered harmlessly to the ground.
But it did not stop there. The axe danced through the air, trailing frosty afterimages like a snow-white iron curtain, rendering incoming shells into frozen fragments.
"Clink—"
The double-edged axe returned to Kasa's hand with precise accuracy, firmly caught.
Laughing triumphantly, Kasa shouted:
"See this?"
"These toys are nothing to fear!"
"The enemy resorts to petty tricks because they know their strength is no match for ours!"
Witnessing this, the Frost Giants cheered loudly, their initial trepidation at the cannon fire completely dispelled.
Kasa stood as a living banner for the Frost Giants, guiding their charge and emboldening their courage.
The frost-covered double-edged axe was no ordinary weapon.
Legend says the weapon of Solem, the Frost Giant god, was a snow-white double-edged axe. When wielded, it turned the world into a white winter. Kasa's axe was a replica of that weapon, a relic of the ancient era and a symbol passed down by the Eternal Frost Tribe's chieftains: the "Winter's Roar."
Dolo noticed this display, furrowing his brow as he observed Kasa. Although he considered himself proficient with axes, he knew he couldn't match such skill.
"A formidable foe indeed."
"Line infantry, prepare to advance."
The hobgoblin commander issued his orders.
In large-scale battles, Dolo preferred to employ the "line firing" tactics of regimented formations, a strategy proven effective in past wars.
With satyrs playing rousing music and rhythmic drumbeats, the hobgoblin line infantry began their advance.
Their synchronized footsteps, "step, step, step," created an overwhelming sense of pressure.
When they closed within 100 meters of the Frost Giant forces, the latest long guns fired in unison, sending waves of smoke and explosive rounds that caught several unprepared Frost Giants off guard.
Amid the rumbling ground and pained roars, over a dozen Frost Giants fell.
An exceptional warrior like Kasa instantly sensed the danger emanating from the enchanted barrels of the guns.
"So this is the army that gave Baya so much trouble?"
Narrowing his eyes, the Frost Giant gripped his frosty double-edged axe tightly, his muscles tensed, and he let out a ferocious grin.
"They look... quite weak!"
With that, the ground erupted beneath him, slightly caving in as Kasa unleashed his immense strength. Raising the "Winter's Roar" overhead, he leapt high in a textbook axe-strike pose, appearing to almost fly.
His leap spanned nearly 100 meters.
"Impossible!"
"He's... he's flying over here!"
The hobgoblin infantry below panicked as they watched the Frost Giant grow larger in their sights.
In their chaos, they fired wildly at the airborne giant, but their bullets couldn't hit the swiftly moving target, and those that did bounced harmlessly off his indestructible white dragon-scale armor.
"Boom!"
Kasa landed with a thunderous crash, cleaving several hobgoblins and shattering the ground beneath them.
As "Winter's Roar" struck the earth, massive ice spikes erupted along the cracks, launching and impaling the hobgoblins.
The attack tore through the hobgoblin formation, breaking their cohesion.
"Before you stands the greatest warrior of the Eternal Frost Tribe in two centuries—Bonebreaker Kasa Eternal Frost!"
"Remember this name! For it shall be your last honor!"
Kasa rampaged through the line infantry ranks, cleaving through more than a dozen hobgoblin soldiers who couldn't dodge in time.
As the axe sliced effortlessly through their bodies, the halved corpses froze solid like glacial ice.
"Against my strength, your struggles and fleeing are meaningless!"
"Hahaha, behold the roar of winter!"
Kasa roared toward the heavens, singlehandedly slaughtering the entire battalion, rejuvenating the morale of the Frost Giants who had suffered heavy losses earlier.
In mere moments, the Ember Kingdom's precious hobgoblin line infantry suffered over a hundred casualties, causing Dolo to feel a deep pang of loss.
"We must find a way to eliminate this Frost Giant chieftain."
"Otherwise, this war cannot be won!"
Gritting his teeth until his jaw ached, Dolo clutched his Bloodfire Battleaxe, steeling himself for what needed to be done.