While Alicia bathed the skies in dragon blood, another nightmare unfolded far from the capital.
At the borders of the Avaloria Empire, the barrier shattered with a sound like breaking glass stretched across the heavens. Light fractured, then vanished.
And from the white storm beyond, they stepped through.
Frost Giants.
Each one towered like a walking mountain—thirty feet of pale‑blue muscle wrapped in jagged ice‑armor fused directly into their flesh. Their skin wasn't truly visible; it shimmered like distorted air, refracting light and magic alike. Arrows curved away from them. Spells slipped, weakened, as if reality itself refused to grasp their forms.
They did not charge.
They advanced.
Every step crushed homes.
Every breath exhaled winter.
A city on the frontier vanished in minutes.
"Hold the line!"
