Chapter 259 Cold Front

Chapter 259 Cold Front

"Do they need us over there?" Karl asked.

Overlord Orleans shook his head. "They have three times as many defenders per likely enemy unit as this front does, and the Spellblade Clan has a number of old masters who they can pull out of retirement if they are in real danger."

So, he was still on the worst front, just in a decent spot along it. That should be alright. From what he remembered of the Giants, they should be near his own team's power level, mostly ascended, with Commanders leading larger teams on occasion. But there was one more question that needed to be asked.

"Other than what was on the map, what is the strongest Frost Giant that has been seen in the past few years? Not what we know is deployed, but what could be coming at us unexpectedly." Karl asked The Defence Minister.

"There are Royal Rank Frost Giants, nearly thirty of them within the nation, and three known Monarchs, but their Immortal King, as they call him, is a Totem Rank monster, one step above the Overlord Rank.

He has been alive for hundreds of years, and we are unsure of his combat power these days, but there is a theory that they organized this alliance with the other Giants to eliminate the threat of the humans before the Immortal King succumbed to old age.

The leaders of the other Giant Nations are similarly impressive, though the Stone Giants are taking the majority of our strongest warriors, as they have dozens of Overlords in their ranks, and their average warriors can grow to Royal Rank in later adulthood."

Karl nodded and made notes as Defence Minister Orleans outlined the issues. Now it made sense that there weren't any Overlords on this front. They had all been deployed to keep the Stone Giants and Hill Giants at bay.

The Frost Giants were more numerous, but not as domineering at their peak strength.

The other two teams looked a bit relieved at the news that there weren't many Frost Giants above Commander Rank, but Karl had already seen the deployment numbers, and no matter where they went, it was not going to be an easy battle.

"What are the chances that they are going to stand down after a prolonged stalemate? Should we be aiming to push them back, or just to limit casualties on our side?" Jodi asked, distracting the Minister from his explanation about the difference between Giant Nations.

"Limited losses are the aim right now. If they make a full offensive against the artillery lines, that might change. The artillery is powerful enough for the Awakened Giants, and will have some effect against the Ascended beasts as well.

But if they make a full push, none of our conventional weapons will be able to hold against them, and it will be up to the Brothers of the Church and their blessings to allow our line infantry to fight back."

He was obviously trying to push them to do as much as they could to keep the Giants from attacking, as the casualties involved in regular infantry fighting Giants were guaranteed to be catastrophic. That was just basic history, and for millennia, that was how the less magical nations of humans had survived.

During those times, even when the average family had ten children, the nation had barely managed to increase its population after casualties in the wars against the monster tribes.

In the last ten years, they had made huge strides in the stability of the nation, and it was honestly surprising that the Giants had waited this long to start to team up to eliminate the human's power base.

The rest of Karl's team came in with a rather unassuming looking girl in an Ascended Rank school uniform. He had thought that they were going for a Berserker, but if she was their choice, Karl would work with it.

The Berserker shook her head, knocking some of her straight brown hair loose from its tie. "Not if it's bonded. Sister Lotus said you would splurge and cover some bonded armour for me, and a new weapon."

Karl smiled. "Of course. We all need to be equipped to go to battle, and I will check on the others as well. What is your transformed shape like?"

Ophelia made a vague gesture upwards. "I'm about 250cm tall, standing on my back legs, half bear, half human. I can still hold things, but I've got claws on my hands, and a bear head. It's the rage that causes problems because I can forget who is an ally if they look too much like the enemy."

"That shouldn't be a problem while fighting Frost Giants, but we can put you on the far side of Thor if that makes you more comfortable. I don't think anyone has ever mistaken him for a Frost Giant." Karl laughed.

"There is another member?" She asked.

Karl turned to Lotus. "Did you forget to give her details?"

The nature Priestess just shrugged. "We got the important parts."

Karl sighed as he turned back to the Berserker. "Thor is a Lightning Cerro, one of the four beasts I am partnered with. He's full-grown, bright green, and provides everyone a Lightning barrier that refreshes stamina, as well as providing basic healing.

Then we have Hawk, our scout, who is a form of Dragon Hawk, and Rae the Bloodbath Spider, who usually fights with two spider Golems made of vines at her side."

She nodded along, then counted on her fingers. "You said four, that is three."

Karl called Remi out into his hand.

The little blue and gold snake looked up at Bear, then activated [Minor Water Control] to make herself a pair of arms to wave hello.

"Oh my Goddess, she is adorable. But I can see why you don't count her as a combat pet. Why did you pick a common grade water snake?" She asked.

"Remi is a Naga Spirit Snake. When she grows up, she has a high chance to evolve into a Naga, but she is an Ascended Rank shaman already. Her skills are limited due to her age, but she isn't entirely incapable.

In fact, as she can cast Blizzard, she might even help us blend in with our surroundings on this mission." Karl explained as they reached their destination.

"Commander, what brings you back so soon?" The supply room manager asked when the group entered the room.

"We're heading out on a mission, and one of our team members needs gear. Possibly two, if Sister Lotus has been worried about everyone but herself." Karl replied.

"We've got just what you need. Just give me a moment to pull up the inventory."