"What is that?" - The 15-meter Giant asked, pointing to the hammer on the ground.
Juri who is still weakened, after hearing what Gratya had to say, looked at the huge figure, looked at Neferu and said. - "Is that who I think it is?"
"Yes!" - Answered Neferu letting out a sigh.
"I feel my son in this hammer... what does that mean?" - The Giant asked intensely.
Juri looked at him and his information:
[Giant Ice King, Akaryor Promekyus(LORDE) - Level 215 / 12]
"Your son is Normandak, correct?" - Juri asked.
"Normandak? Yes, that's the name of one of my sons..." - Akaryor said, but it doesn't seem to be that significant.
Juri knows that the Giants are low in numbers due to their sizes, but it doesn't mean they have a problem in their fertility.
And as King of the Giants, Akaryor has many wives, even though he is so huge, the Giants have their methods to reproduce.
"I killed him!" - Said Juri, no need to hide, he would have known anyway.
"..." - Akaryor looked at Juri intensely.
"Very brave of you little one, now why shouldn't I kill you?" - Akaryor asked forming a smile, but you can see that he is really going to attack.
"If you kill me the last trace of your son will disappear?" - Said Juri calmly.
Akaryor didn't seem to understand Neferu got in the middle.
"This weapon possesses the Essence of your son, his will and power, if Juri is able to use it, it means your son's spirit allowed it!" - Neferu said calmly.
"And why would my son allow such a thing? What doesn't assure me that his soul is sealed there?" - Akaryor asked pointing to the hammer.
"What Neferu says is part of the truth, but the Hammer is much more than that." - Juri said and continued. - "This hammer came into being soon after I killed him, born of his son's desire to create the most perfect weapon for himself to use!"
"But dying to me, he died full of regret at not being able to use the weapon he so desired, so somehow the materials he had collected and was accumulating, assimilated together with his Soul and Essence, giving form to this hammer!
I am the one who picked it up and faced your son's spirit, where we fought for quite a while before he gave up!" - Said Juri calmly.
Akaryor frowned, then reached out and took the hammer with two fingers.
The weight of the hammer was nothing, as was its size.
He analyzed it and his Mana injected itself into the hammer, then threw it to Juri.
"Let's deal with this freak, then... I'll take care of avenging my son!" - Akaryor said coldly.
It turns out that he didn't say this on his own, but because Neferu sent him a telepathic message.
It is obvious that Akaryor would attack Juri, in the end, she killed his son and dozens of his people!
Even if he has many sons, the 10 meter ones can be counted on 1 hand!
Not to mention Normandak was still young and maybe he would be the Giant to succeed him, but we will never know since he died!
But Neferu told him important words, Juri has a power that will be of immense help in defeating Priscilla.
Akaryor is not stupid, he can sense how strong Priscilla is, which is why he hasn't attacked her yet.
Unlike what many people think, Giants are not brute fools, they think, the problem is that due to their sizes, their actions are very limited!
Giants hardly use armor, because they must collect tons of resources.
Only 3~5 Meter Giants are equipped, the other Giants must rely fully on their bodies.
As for White Weapons, another problem, the good thing is that they have their Giant Blacksmiths, just like they have some mines.
...
With the problem of Normandak's death put aside for now, Juri focused on taking care of Luria, who needed his attention.
Juri had some [Sanity] potions, which she handed over, which helped her recover.
During this time, the two were taken to where Neferu and Gratya were, it turns out that Giants have a certain laziness about building things, so they stuck to mountains or underground.
So they only had to dig huge halls, of course, the "Palace" is very well decorated and its entrance looks more like the entrance to a fortress, but it's normal, their King is 15 meters!
The place they are, is a section of the palace, where it is for the stay of guests.
Since the Ice Giants have certain relations with some Human Kingdoms, it is obvious that they have accommodations for such.
"How did you guys get so strong, in such a short time?" - Asked Neferu in amazement, as he could feel Luria's [Aura], even the feeling is a bit lower than Preyor's.
Neferu being quite experienced, knew that Luria was successful in learning the [White Knights Manual].
But she is less than 100 years old... Luria is a genius, or... there is something more to it!
"I have a method of creating Dungeons, Luria and I have been training there for the past few months, I finally succeeded and developed my Chi, that energy of Martial Artists, so I helped Luria awaken hers!" - Juri said bluntly.
Neferu nodded, Gratya lost that motherly look of hers, as the last month for her was intense.
She lost her husband and a long time friend, not to mention many of her children were killed and made toys of by those she once called her sister.
Hundreds of thousands of her people have been annihilated, in fact, likely 1/3 of her people have been killed!
Even if this calamity is taken care of, the Winter Kingdom will never be the same!
Her eyes slowly landed on Luria, several thoughts in her mind, but she soon looked away, leaving this for the future.
...
Quickly Juri learned of everything that had occurred in the last month, as well as the plan to deal with Priscilla.
"The [Alliance of Explorers] is helping us?" - Juri was surprised, since they are a neutral organization.
"Priscila attacked the 3 Dungeons of our Kingdom and... slaughtered everyone associated with the Alliance, she is also a common enemy of our dimension, even the Alliance that is Neutral, will not allow this!" - Neferu sighed, Gratya at her side clenching her fist slightly.
"But the problem is that after that... likely the Winter Kingdom will no longer exist!" - Gratya bit her lips and showed a sad look.
"What do you mean? I know you guys will lose half of your territory to the Giants, but the Winter Kingdom is big!" - Juri said calmly.
"The alliance's help is bigger than you can imagine... likely to turn what's left of the Winter Kingdom into a vassal territory, that's pretty common..." - Neferu sighed.
"... I still don't get it!" - Juri said confused.
Then after an explanation she understood!
The [Alliance of Explorers] is not that neutral, they are a continental organization, they pray legends that they are connected to other continents, but they are just rumors!
Actually, the existence of other continents are rumors that few believe, this is because to cross the ocean and reach another continent, the sea is 4 times the size of the continent!
So let's say that from one end of the continent to the other, if it would take 3~4 months for a Level 200 Mage with the ability to fly, it would take 12~16 months to cross the ocean.
This just made Juri sure that the System does not want her to explore other Continents, it is technically impossible!
Not to mention that there are monsters in the Ocean, which are many times larger and even more powerful than those on land!
But leaving that aside!
The [Explorers Alliance] is a gigantic organization with several "Presidents" and "Managers".
The "Managers" are the ones who manage countless branches of the association in various cities around the world.
As for the "Presidents", they manage 1 branch, but it will be the central one in that region!
Sometimes the "Presidents of the Explorers" manage 1 or 2 Kingdoms, so all the "Managers" in the area influenced by the Presidents, must report to him!
But now comes the main point, on the surface the association is Neutral, but internally it has many strict policies for the core members.
This is necessary for such a colossal organization to have order and be able to cooperate with each other.
But the point is, they still need resources and manpower!
Such a colossal organization, needs equally colossal resources and mere missions are not enough to supply the greed!
So the Presidents of the Associations are always trying to get more resources to support their authority.
And something every President craves, is lots of land to call his own, then rule it like a King!
Presidents who get such lands, even though they are not called such, would have authority equal to one and control over everything in these lands.
And because it is the lands of the [Explorers Alliance], the result is that the lands become protected and neutral, if any nation attacks them, it will be like declaring war on the association and well... poor the Nation that fought against them, in no time it is annihilated!
And that is about to happen with the Winter Kingdom, because even if many Explorers died, it is simply a fluke, the association would not make such a huge move.
But it turns out that they have their reasons for using this as an excuse.
They will use the fact that Priscilla has become an aberrant creature that wants to destroy everything!
Then after dealing with her, the President of this region will offer to help rebuild, so he will send many specific Explorers here.
Next... well, the land will have a new owner!
It's quite complex, it's not as if Juri will understand everything, but the important thing is that once these snowy lands are cleansed of evil, there will be an internal political fight, to decide their next ruler!
And even if the alliance doesn't take all the authority for itself, it will have a great influence in making decisions in the future of the Kingdom!
Juri knowing this, asked. - "If this organization can use calamities to benefit themselves and take over the Kingdoms, why do they allow it?"
As far as she knows, the Alliance is Neutral and they follow the laws and rules, if a Kingdom happens to be there, then it gets a visit from the President, saying about creating Alliance branches and etc.
The King looks on, laughs in his face and says: No!
The President would just accept and go away, not expanding his facilities to the Kingdom.
Simple as that... well, not that simple!
It turns out that having the Explorers Alliance in your territories will generate work and security, since the Explorers, which encompass Adventurers and Mercenaries, are given many jobs of exterminating monsters and bandits.
Like it or not, this helps the Kingdom's prosperity, not to mention that it is not often that a Kingdom can witness such a Calamity.
But the main factor that makes everyone accept the Alliance in their lands, would be fear!
Because if a Nation refuses to affiliate or have good connections with the Alliance, the result is that the Alliance will allow missions that harm those Nations.
How so?
There are countless nations on the continent, most of them are enemies and always have conflicts among themselves, wars break out easily, which generates a lot of profit for those who know how to use their brains.
This is where the Mercenaries come in!
Adventurers are focused on exterminating monsters and gathering information, but Mercenaries are larger and more independent groups.
Mercenaries, if they so choose, can get involved in wars and conflicts between nobles, but of course the Association will not get involved in this and will not take responsibility.
And should those involved take revenge on the Mercenaries and annihilate them, the association will also do nothing, because it is their own fault for getting involved in more than they can handle!
But the point is, a Nation not affiliated with the Alliance, will be targeted by other nations, where the Alliance will allow such Nations to botch missions in their branches to harm the unaffiliated Nation.
In other words, the Alliance will actively help damage or even exterminate this Nation!
And the power of the Explorers is not low, now combine with the military might of the Nations, it becomes even more serious.
That's why 2/3 of the Nations on the Continent, are affiliated with the Explorers Alliance.
As for the 1/3? Those are Nations that have created their own alliances to deal with the constant expansion of the Explorer Alliance.
It turns out that while there are those who just accept fate, there are those who refuse to accept it and have the power to resist, so they join with others with the same power!
It is simply a gigantic mess, it is such a headache!
(Author: Lucky you won't have that shit in Version 3.0, too complicated!)
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