A heavy and unnatural silence had taken over the fallen city of Frostheart.
The massive corpse of the alpha wolf lay on the frozen snow, and its blue blood slowly spread on the ground.
But what had caught Lian’s attention was not the wolf’s body, but the presences that were disappearing.
With the help of the Blood Hunt skill, his senses had become unnaturally strong, and now he could feel the presence of living creatures around him.
And now all those presences were moving away.
Fast. Very fast, in fact. As if something had terrified them.
Lian frowned. Next to him, Seris also raised her head.
"They are leaving."
"Yes."
"But they are not running from us."
Lian did not answer, because he had understood the same thing. They were running from something else.
Something that had just woken up. And if his guess was correct, and he was sure it was correct, that monster was the Titan. The monster responsible for the destruction of this city.
A level 19 Fallen monster! In this situation, they had no chance against that monster.
He had killed seven level 12 wolves, two level 13 wolves, and one level 14 wolf. And above that, with Seris’s help, he had killed the alpha wolf.
He had gained 4 stat points for level 12 and 13 monsters, and 5 stat points for level 14 and 15 monsters.
Everything matched his calculations. Finally, his eyes fell on the status panel.
[Available Stat Points: 46]
His eyes lit up. He had 46 stat points. For other Awakened below level 10, this amount is insane. But not for him.
Without any hesitation, he made his decision. 20 points on strength, 10 points on resistance, and 16 points on mana.
[Strength: 100 --> 120]
[Resistance: 45 --> 55]
[Mana: 34 --> 50]
Immediately, a wave of energy spread through his entire body.
His muscles tightened. His bones made sounds. His veins became prominent.
He felt that if he punched the castle wall, he would bring part of it down. Of course, he was not sure he could actually do that.
But he could feel the flow of power in his body. Then he looked at his level bar and saw that it was almost full, and he was not far from level 9.
Then he looked at his new skill.
[Thunder Fang]
[Rank: Common (+)]
[Description: The user can use the lightning element for small explosive sparks. Consumes 0.1 mana per minute.]
"An extremely useful offensive skill," he whispered to himself. It was a useful skill, but it was not at the level the alpha wolf had used.
Lian took a deep breath. More power was great, but he did not feel calm.
Not at all.
Because at that moment, the ground shook. Not a normal shake, but a shake that seemed to come from the depths of the world itself.
BOOM!
The sound of ice breaking echoed throughout the city. Then again.
BOOM!
The surrounding ice towers began to shake. Huge pieces of ice fell from the buildings.
Seris raised her head, and for the first time in a long while, her face became completely serious.
"It woke up."
Lian looked toward the center of the city, and his heart stopped beating for a moment.
That ice giant was moving.
First, its fingers twitched.
The sound of ice that had sat on its body for years breaking echoed in the air. Then its massive arms moved.
Then its shoulders. And finally its head.
Slowly, very slowly, as if a mountain was waking up. Each of its movements made the ground shake. The surrounding buildings collapsed.
The ice streets cracked. The blizzard became more intense. Next to that creature...
Even multi-story buildings looked small.
A system notification appeared.
[Frostfallen Titan]
[Rank: Fallen]
[Level: ???]
Lian swallowed. This was no joke.
The monster opened its massive blue eyes. Two icy suns. And it looked directly at them.
At that moment, the cold of the environment multiplied. Seris started to shiver. Her teeth clenched.
Lian noticed. He almost no longer felt the cold, but Seris was different.
"Are you okay?"
"For now." But her tone said something else.
Seris was the first to move. She did not want to wait to be attacked. An invisible aura spread around her body.
The surrounding snow trembled, and a heavy pressure filled the environment.
[King’s Dominion]
The skill that weakened enemies.
But...
[Effect Reduced]
[Target Rank Too High]
For the first time, Seris frowned deeply.
"Damn it." Almost no effect. The skill that had helped them defeat the alpha wolf now had practically no effect on this Titan.
But Lian did not stop. Blue sparks of electricity appeared around his body.
[Thunder Fang Activated]
The wind around him exploded.
Then...
[Fallen Wolf Speed Activated]
The world around him slowed down.
Then...
[Frost Claw]
He activated it as well, and massive ice claws formed around his hands. He released all his power. This was not a place to hold back or hide his power.
Here, he had to fight with everything he had!
And he charged forward.
BOOM!
The snow under his feet exploded. He covered several streets in an instant, reaching a speed where even seeing his movement was difficult.
And then he reached the Titan’s knee. He brought down his ice claws with all his power, and at the same time, lightning sparks gathered in his fists.
CRAAASH!
The sound of metal against metal. Ice sparks echoed. And then an explosion!
But when Lian looked at the result, only a small scratch could be seen.
One scratch. On a creature that was dozens of meters tall!
And at that moment, his heart sank. Their power was not enough. With such a hit, he could not even land a proper blow!
The Titan did not even look at him. It just raised its hand. A simple movement, completely simple. But suddenly, everything around exploded.
A massive wave of ice was released.
"Damn it! Seris, fall back!" Lian only had time to shout and warn Seris, who was coming to help him.
And then...
Explosion.
BOOOOOOM!
The world turned white for him. His body lost control. He was thrown hundreds of meters through the air, hit the wall of an ice building.
And the wall collapsed. Blood sprayed from his mouth. His ribs hurt.
His hand was numb. For the first time since escaping from that damned village, he felt the danger of death again!
Seris’s situation was not better. She had also been thrown back dozens of meters. Her clothes were torn, and parts of her beautiful body, especially her curves, were exposed.
Blood was flowing from the corner of her lips, but she still managed to stand up and was still looking at the monster.
The Titan took one step forward. Just one step, but the ground collapsed. The ice towers cracked.
And at that moment, something caught Lian’s attention.
The center of the monster’s chest. Among the massive layers of ice, a blue crystal could be seen.
A crystal that, unlike the rest of the creature’s body, was shining.
And more importantly, it was cracked. As if something was beating inside it, like a heart.
Lian’s eyes narrowed. Seris had also seen it.
"That..." Lian whispered quietly.
"Its heart?"
Seris did not answer, but her gaze would not leave that crystal.
At that moment, the Titan pulled its head back.
And it roared. A roar that shook all of Frostheart. The towers cracked. The ice windows shattered.
And the monster’s voice echoed through the entire city.
"If that is its heart..." Seris clenched her fist and said.
"Then we have to get to it." And Lian completed the sentence.
But at that very moment, the Titan took its second step.
The ground under their feet split open, and the massive shadow of the monster fell over both of them.
The real battle had just begun.