The howling wind raged, swirling the sky full of goose-feather snow, almost submerging the extreme northern world below in a vast ocean of white.
Beneath the curtain of snow that blotted out the sky, there stood a massive area, a still tribe in the midst of the wind and snow.
The Polar Tribe.
As a super-large tribe of Frost Giants, the Polar Tribe was more of a fortress, a city, a Giant City governed by the Frost Giants, known as the City of Extreme Cold.
It was many times larger than the Frost Giant tribe that Garon had initially annihilated and was still expanding in many areas.
The difference between them was like that between a village and a town.
High and majestic walls surrounded the City of Extreme Cold.
Constructed from huge blocks of gray-white stone, the walls were nearly thirty meters high at their lowest point, with formidable giant crossbows mounted on top and Frost Giants patrolling.
The buildings inside were all immensely large, rising and falling, emanating a grand aura.
On the spacious streets, Frost Giants wearing simple leather armor walked about.
However, there were more large humanoid creatures serving as slaves to the Frost Giants, moving huge stones, sweating in the cold as they continued to build and expand the City of Extreme Cold with the sound of clinking and clanking.
The Frost Giants held a status akin to nobility here, commanding awe wherever they went, with the hard labor left to their slaves.
Among the towering buildings, one could see a palace fortress at the very center.
It was striking, entirely gray-white, with a rough and primitive sense of strength, making it the most magnificent presence among the giant structures.
This was where the leader of the Frost Giant tribe resided.
In the grand hall of the fortress, on a throne made of cold iron, sat a giant eighteen meters tall, with a face as if carved by knives and axes, exuding an aura of cold, darkness, and despair.
His rough, black skin, devoid of any hint of blue, bulged with muscle like steel bars at the slightest movement.
This was a Dark Frost Giant, and his strength had already surpassed that of a Dark Guard.
As a legendary creature, in the records of the Frost Giant race, he had a new title, the Dark Lord, a powerful existence one step beyond the Dark Guards.
The Frost Giant tribes on the Northern Ice Plain, originally fragmented and warring, united and obeyed commands because of the presence of the Dark Lord.
His appearance marked him as a king among the Frost Giants.
This Dark Lord, named Balton, was currently tilting his head slightly, resting it on his palm, his eyes closed, meditating.
Unmoving, with his upper body bare and only a cold white, scale-covered skirt armor around his waist, he radiated a terrifying pressure even in stillness.
Suddenly, Balton's brows furrowed, and he slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes were special, pitch black where the whites should be, with ice-blue pupils, giving off a strange feeling as if devoid of any emotion, cold and eerie.
Upon opening his eyes, the Dark Lord looked into the distance, squinting, feeling somewhat uneasy.
As a legendary creature, he had a certain intuition for danger, and this feeling of unease didn't arise without reason.
"What troublesome matter could there be?"
Balton pondered, expression unchanged.
He had not been the Dark Lord for long, only a few months.
Since becoming the Dark Lord, Balton harbored a grand ambition to bring the entire Northern Ice Plain under Giant rule, using it as a base to gradually rebuild the Giant Empire and restore the glory of the Giants.
The first step of this plan was to unite all the Frost Giants.
He was very efficient.
Almost the second day after gaining legendary power, he began to integrate the Frost Giant tribes scattered across the Northern Ice Plain as the Dark Lord. He encountered some resistance in this process, but with his identity as the Dark Lord and legendary strength, he solved them relatively easily.
The original Polar Tribe was slowly transformed into the City of Extreme Cold, and the Frost Giant tribes within thousands of miles relocated to its vicinity.
As the City of Extreme Cold expanded, they gradually merged into it.
The City of Extreme Cold thrived, growing rapidly.
According to Balton's plan, once the city was expanded enough to accommodate all Frost Giants and their slaves, with a solid foundation, he would start a conquest war.
First, he would rule all creatures on the Northern Ice Plain, then gradually establish an empire, making all races on the Noah Continent experience the glory of the Giants once again.
Especially those damned dragons!
Balton caressed his cheek.
On the right side of his face, there were several scar marks resembling claw wounds, covering half of his face, vaguely showing the terrifying appearance of flesh turned inside out, but now it was fully healed.
These scars were left by a white dragon Balton encountered while out alone as an adult, marking the most thrilling battle of his life. He nearly stepped into the abyss of death and awakened the power of darkness, becoming a Dark Guard and killing the white dragon.
Afterward, Balton continued to grow with the idea of killing all dragons in his heart.
His mastery of dark and frost powers became more proficient, eventually stepping into legend and becoming the Dark Lord.
"Dragons?"
Balton's gaze turned icy, but after some thought, he shook his head, dismissing the idea.
There shouldn't be any dragons in the Northern Ice Plain that could pose a danger to him.
"Could it be those pups causing trouble?"
"With Uzan following them, they shouldn't be able to stir up any waves."
Balton thought back to a small Frost Giant tribe recently destroyed by winter wolves.
Upon receiving the news, he could have personally taken action and annihilated the entire wolf pack with a thunderous approach, but as the lord of the Giant City and the Dark Lord, he couldn't personally handle everything.
Before the conquest began, his giants needed opportunities to train.
The numerous winter wolves were a suitable target.
In fact, Balton also entertained the idea of subjugating the wolf pack.
Winter wolves and Frost Giants often formed cooperative relationships, but the City of Extreme Cold currently had no winter wolves. A pack capable of destroying a Frost Giant tribe was exceptional among all wolf clans, hence Balton was somewhat interested.
As for the winter wolves' plan to lure small groups of Frost Giants and defeat them one by one, he saw through it clearly and directly sent a Dark Guard in disguise to follow them.
"No, by this time, Uzan should have dealt with the winter wolves."
"But he hasn't returned, nor has any message been sent."
Balton's gaze suddenly sharpened.
Immediately, a crystal filled with evil aura appeared in his hand.
With a slight exertion of his black fingers, he injected a trickle of magic power, causing the crystal to shake violently, releasing billows of black mist in front of Balton.
"Uzan!"
Balton called out in a deep voice.
The black mist trembled violently for a few seconds.
After a few seconds, as if something on the other end heard Balton's call, the black mist, as if stirred by an invisible hand, quickly rippled, turning into a mirror-like outline in an instant.
The ripples eventually subsided, revealing a scene of thick clouds thousands of meters in the sky.
In addition to that, a pair of platinum dragon eyes, with a hint of curiosity and inquiry, entered Balton's view, causing his expression to darken as intense killing intent burst forth in his eyes.
The serpentine dragon horns and layers of deep facial armor all revealed the identity of the other party.
"Dragon!"
The syllables of Giant language squeezed through Balton's teeth, his voice heavy and powerful, his eyes fixed on the silver dragon in the mirror of black mist.
Time shifted to a few minutes earlier.
On the boundless Northern Ice Plain, as Garon and his companions ventured deeper, the cold wind grew fiercer, and the falling snow became heavier, covering the world with palm-sized snowflakes.
However, the raging snowstorm was helpless against the creatures soaring and speeding through it.
Silver dragons, crystal dragons, red dragons, high-level spellcasters. For them, the brutal snowstorm was like a gentle breeze and drizzle, barely touching their bodies.
True dragons flapped their wide wings in the high sky, navigating through the stormy air currents.
On the ground, a dense pack of wolves, their fur fluttering, limbs intermingling, radiated the glow of spells, speeding through the snowstorm under the shadow of dragon wings, closely following them.
High-level spellcasters cast many speed-enhancing auxiliary spells on the wolf pack, and with the true dragons slowing down their flight speed a bit, they managed to keep up.
The true dragons and the wolf pack had a clear target, the City of Extreme Cold.
In the high sky, Garon's expression was calm, overlooking the snow-covered Northern Ice Plain, with the howling cold wind, simultaneously constructing a three-dimensional map of the ice plain in his mind.
As he explored more areas, the map of the ice plain in his mind became more and more complete.
The Noah Continent wasn't very large, just a small world within the main material plane.
After heading south and learning more about the continent from some books, Garon realized that the Noah Continent was only about one-third the size of Earth, or even less.
Such a small world indeed struggled to produce many strong legendary creatures.
For example, among the human nations, the number of known legendary beings could be counted on one hand.
The same was true for other races, with a limited number of legendary creatures.
In the past, the Northern Ice Plain, vast to the point of seeming infinite to Garon, now appeared as a limited map. If he wished to explore the entire Northern Ice Plain, with his current speed, it wouldn't take much time or effort.
"We're almost there."
Garon's gaze shifted slightly, focusing on what lay ahead.
His long-distance vision pierced through the snowstorm, seeing the outline of a city standing amidst the wind and snow.
Such towering walls were typically built by large creatures.
"Around this Frost Giant city, there are also scattered tribes."
Garon's gaze moved, and he saw the shadows of several Frost Giant tribes.
At the same time, the voice of Nicole Nina rose from behind.
"Hmph, these filthy, ugly giants uniting must be up to no good."
"We need to teach them a lesson this time, let them know the might of true dragons."
The crystal dragon flapped its wings, its scales' dazzling glow evident even in the snowstorm, Nicole Nina following behind Garon. Since they weren't flying fast, she was only a bit behind Garon, bombarding him with questions non-stop.
Garon didn't respond, merely nodding slightly.
Nicole Nina talked a lot, something Garon noticed the first time he met this crystal dragon. Even if Garon didn't reply, she could keep talking on her own. Engaging in conversation with her would only worsen the situation.
After a while, as the outline of the Frost Giant city became more visible through the snowstorm, Garon suddenly felt a disturbance.
It originated from his dimensional storage space.
Without slowing down, Garon silently recited a spell, then reached out with his dragon claw, as if dipping into a lake, causing ripples in the air. When he retracted his claw, it held a crystal emitting wisps of black mist.
"Something from a Dark Frost Giant."
Garon held the crystal.
This crystal was found among the ashes of a Dark Frost Giant's remains after the winter wolves cleaned up the battlefield in the valley, burnt to a crisp but undamaged.
The crystal shook continuously, as if vibrating and calling.
Kriechens' eyes sparkled, glancing at the trembling crystal, quickly saying, "Although the craftsmanship is somewhat special, it's just a communication crystal, not dangerous. Inject magic power to use it."
Garon nodded slightly.
He didn't sense any danger from this crystal, and Luna had given him a similar one, although not identical, very similar.
Immediately, magic power was mobilized, entering the communication crystal.
Elemental light emerged, layers of black mist intertwined and rolled out from the crystal, eventually forming a mirror-like outline, displaying the other end's scene and sound.
After activating the communication crystal, a face black as a pot bottom appeared in Garon's view.
Beyond this black face, one could see rough and tall walls, crude and savage murals depicting hunting and battling scenes of giants.
"Dragon!"
The black face twisted slightly, then emitted a hate-filled and angry Giant language.
Another Dark Guard, seemingly much stronger than the previous one, perhaps the real leader of these Frost Giants, Garon narrowed his eyes.
"What have you done with my subordinate?"
The Dark Frost Giant's face darkened, as if clouds gathered.
To Garon's surprise, this fellow spoke in Dragon language.
Garon smiled, glancing at the Giant City now less than five kilometers away, calmly saying, "The original owner of this crystal? He's turned to ash now."
The Dark Frost Giant was momentarily stunned, then intense killing intent burst forth in his eyes.
In the Frost Giant race, any Dark Guard or Dark Frost Giant was a rare combat force, blessed by the god of Frost Giants, an excellent existence. In the Northern Ice Plain, including the strongest among them, there were only three.
All Dark Guards had a certain chance to advance to legend.
Balton, now the highest-ranking leader, had absolute authority, but he wouldn't stifle the growth of the other two Dark Guards to solidify his position. He had absolute confidence in himself.
If the other Dark Guards became legendary, the strength of the giants would grow again, and the possibility of restoring the glory of the giants would be even greater.
But now, besides him, there was only one left.
Then, the Dark Frost Giant slowly said, with a voice filled with chilling killing intent, "Don't be proud, even if I search the entire Northern Ice Plain, I will find you, pluck your scales inch by inch, and make you wish for death."
"Remember my name, Balton, this name will become your nightmare."
Garon blinked, continuing to fly closer, looking at the clearly outlined Giant City.
Now, the foul smell from the Frost Giants entered his nostrils.
Similarly, the giant dragon's silhouette and scent in the air reached the Frost Giants' perception, causing the Frost Giant soldiers patrolling the tall walls to sense something amiss, smelling danger and disgust.
At the same time, Kriechens and Fred halted their bodies.
"Lord, let us clear some obstacles for you."
Garon nodded, calmly saying, "Show me your capabilities."
After receiving a response, the two high-level spellcasters looked down at the Giant City.
Wrapped in elemental light, magic power whirled rapidly, chanting spells.
The high-level spells being constructed gathered vast amounts of elemental energy, with violent magical reactions, making the light in the sky quickly become dazzling, overpowering the snowstorm.
"Hey, what's that? There are dragons and humans in the sky."
Some Frost Giants looked up, their faces changing dramatically.
"Four dragons! All super large, and those wolf packs!"
"Damn it, those winter wolves are actually the dragon's followers!"
"Bad news, there's a violent magical fluctuation, these guys are attacking the City of Extreme Cold."
"Block them, send someone to report to the leader!"
The Giant's voice was loud, like thunder.
Balton heard the familiar Giant language from both the communication crystal and the palace, pausing for a moment.
Realizing the other party had already come knocking, his previous threats seemed like a joke.
The silver dragon's calm expression seemed like a silent mockery.
A fierce expression appeared on the evil, cold face, the armrest of the cold iron throne deformed under the subconscious force of his hand, and the communication crystal simultaneously shattered.
"How dare you!"
The massive black body suddenly stood up, striding forward, leaving the grand and majestic palace with thunderous steps.
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