Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 443 Torturing the Frost Giant

Li Wei, who had been lounging in his chair, leaned forward slightly, his nonchalant expression fading and replaced by a deep, still gaze.

"Oh?"

He uttered a simple syllable, signaling for Frena to continue.

“Think about it,” Flina continued, “You are Harland’s son-in-law, your legal wife is Harland’s biological daughter, and you command a large army, control the wilderness, and are a renowned dragon knight of High Cliff Fortress. If you were to take the field, it would be enough to tip the scales.”

"What does that have to do with me?" Li Wei squinted, a glint of light flashing in his seemingly weary eyes.

Li Wei had already guessed what the Duchess of the North wanted to say, but she kept rambling on and on without getting to the point.

Flina looked up at the lord, her eyes gleaming: "Let me be frank, Levi. If Harland dies and Gonda is caught in the power struggle for the throne, you also have... to be precise, your little fiancée, Princess Ashlu, also have the right to inherit the throne."

The air inside the tent seemed to freeze, with only the faint crackling sound of burning charcoal in the brazier.

The wind and snow outside the tent seemed to be getting heavier, lashing against the thick canvas and making a howling sound.

"And what about you?" The lord seemed to have expected this, and simply smiled as he asked.

“As for me,” Frena said with a hint of self-mockery, “the Duke of the North, with his vast army, guards the northern gateway to Debe. Whichever side comes to power, they all want to turn me into a mere vassal, or replace me with their own people. My very existence is to guard this harsh land for them. We Northerners will never be able to set foot on the rich lands of Debe, let alone…”

She paused, a strange glint in her eyes. "We have a close relationship. In many people's eyes, we are natural allies."

She looked directly into Li Wei's eyes: "Once a civil war breaks out in Gonda, we will be drawn into it whether we like it or not. They don't care if you have any ambition for the throne, because they have already assumed that no one can resist the temptation of the throne, especially a duke with a great reputation, a large army, and a right of succession."

Li Wei tapped his fingers on the chair repeatedly, making a crisp sound.

It wasn't that he was unaware of the treacherous nature of politics; it was just that his past extraordinary strength and the remote, isolated geographical location had allowed him to remain uninvolved.

Frena's analysis was like a cold dagger, slicing through the surface calm to reveal the turbulent undercurrents beneath.

Simply put, if a struggle for the throne were to unfold, they would need to choose a new king to support regardless of the circumstances. History has long proven that so-called centrists often end up pleasing neither side.

When the new king is crowned, even if he doesn't dare to openly attack High Cliff Fortress, he will definitely engage in all sorts of disgusting underhanded tactics.

Never overestimate a person's intelligence; the world is a giant makeshift operation.

Otherwise, so many unbelievable and breathtakingly absurd operations wouldn't have occurred.

Not to mention, as Frina said, he also has the right to be king, and if he doesn't take sides, it will only make everyone feel uneasy.

"I won't hide it from you. For me, no matter who sits on that throne, I will still guard this harsh land. At most, I will never set foot in Gonda again because of the new king's grudge. But rather than choosing someone I don't like, why not choose someone I feel is alright?" The beautiful duchess stood up, patted the lord's shoulder, and said, "Who will be higher in status than you then? Whether it's beauty or wealth, you can have everything you want. The only thing you need to worry about is how to live a luxurious and wonderful tomorrow. All I need are some decrees that are beneficial to the development of the North."

"If I were to ascend the throne, I would definitely take you into my harem, summon you every day, and have a bunch of healthy sons," the lord thought to himself.

"Don't you think it's incredibly realistic and materialistic for us to be talking about these things here?" Frena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled, her face as alluring as a ripe peach.

"But... isn't that life?" The lord smiled and said, "People spend their lives striving for fame and fortune, which is not hard to understand."

“Yes, that’s life.” Frena sighed heavily.

……

Duke Frena left quietly amidst the sighs of the barbarians.

In the past, every barbarian would talk about their lord's romantic history with great interest, but now that they've seen it so often, they're no longer surprised.

Li Wei was not a fool; he did not impulsively agree under the dual pressure of the honey trap and the promise of profit.

Even if he had such thoughts in his heart, he could not show them, otherwise he would be criticized by historians in later generations.

It must be that his subordinates have caused him great suffering, and under the circumstances, he reluctantly takes the seat; only then will it conform to the correct procedure.

In short, although the lord refused, he remained cautious.

As expected, the Frost Giant arrived around noon the next day.

A series of dull, massive sounds echoed across the wilderness as something crashed to the ground.

Countless dark clouds loomed overhead, making it hard to breathe, and a biting wind swept through the air, carrying snowflakes as big as goose feathers, making it impossible to open one's eyes.

Amidst the symphony of howling winds and swirling snow, colossal figures appeared on the distant snowfield, their sheer number making them resemble a devastating avalanche.

"What a formidable force." The lord cracked his neck. "Tell everyone not to attack rashly. Let Sersney and I talk to these big guys first."

After all, they are magical creatures that disappeared thousands of years ago. It would be a bit of a pity if we wiped them out.

The lord wants to capture one to be his slave. It's hard to say how useful it will be, but it will definitely make him look good.

And so, in full view of everyone, a black dragon leaped down from the towering ice wall, flapping its wings, and charged toward the distant formation.

The dense, goose-feather-like snowflakes lashed at us, but before they could get close, they were scorched into white mist by the dragon's furnace-like body. Its massive form stirred up the wind and clouds, exuding an overwhelming and destructive power. As time passed, the full form of the frost giant drew ever closer.

A gust of biting wind swept by, and a frost giant, standing ten feet tall and carrying a giant spiked club, came into view first.

It was a giant with a weathered face, whose arrogant expression drew everyone's attention. The giant club on his shoulder was more like a Roman column than a weapon.

Its body was like a mountain, a ridge, its bulging muscles like undulating hills. It was as if the Creator had concentrated all the power of the world into one person, and its whole body was filled with an aura of world destruction.

It wore a suit of deep blue frost armor, and its pupils gleamed with a malevolent, destructive light, as if everything in its path would turn to dust.

"What a magnificent man!" The lord was so regretful at the moment that he didn't have a recording stone to capture the scene. Otherwise, just recording this moment and selling it as a CG short film would surely be a sensation across the Seven Kingdoms. Getting some gold would be easier than selling hooks.

"Black Dragon, why do you block our path?" A deafening voice suddenly exploded, like a muffled thunderclap in the dead of night on a hot summer day, or a chain of lightning flashes suddenly gathering dark clouds on a calm sea.

The only similarity is that they both seem like gods surveying weak and powerless ants, easily destroyed by them.

This frost giant was exceptionally arrogant. Despite the fact that the lord was riding on Sersni's back, he completely ignored him and instead treated Sersni, the slave, with disdain.

For top-tier magical creatures like frost giants and dragons, only beings as powerful as themselves can earn their attention; the rest are nothing more than ants that can be easily crushed.

It was obvious that the lord was seen as a tiny insect in the eyes of the other party.

Obviously, no one would pay attention to an insect.

“Big guy, it’s me who’s here to have a talk with you.” The lord waved to the behemoth in front of him, whose eyes were almost bigger than his own.

“You are a tiny and fragile creature, unworthy to speak with me.”

As if a cowhide drum were exploding in his ears, the lord couldn't help but pick at his ear: "I say, fighting and killing is no good. Do we have to fight to the death? Tell me what you want to do, find a home? Or what? As long as you behave yourselves, I will definitely make it happen for you."

The lord always shows more patience when faced with a proud and imposing man.

"Hahaha, you ant, are you praying to the great Lagras?"

The Frost Giant laughed loudly, looking up at the sky.

It wasn't stupid; it naturally knew that the person in front of it was a dragon knight among humans. But every race knows that the reason why humans can become dragon knights is because, in the long life of dragons, if they encounter an interesting being, they don't mind wasting a little bit of their own time to accompany them through their short lives.

Simply put, dragon riders are nothing more than a little amusement or a pet that dragons seek out during their long lifespans.

Naturally, he was not taken seriously by Lagras.

Sersni looked at it pitifully, as if it were a piece of rotten meat on a chopping board: "Li Wei, why are you wasting your breath talking to this idiot? You used to be so savage, how come you've become like those sour-smelling bards now?"

“We should use words, not violence,” Li Wei said with a smile, but then sighed, “But this idiot obviously can’t understand human language.”

"Listen up, La...what Lashi? I'm warning you now, you'd better go back to where you came from, or you'll face the consequences!"

"At your own risk?"

Lagrass's massive head tilted slightly, his pupils, burning with destructive frost, focused on Li Wei, as if he had heard a funny joke.

All the frost giants grinned, their mouths forming an arc large enough to swallow a warhorse, revealing jagged, icicle-like teeth. Their laughter was like the collapse of an ancient glacier, shaking the surrounding snowflakes and causing them to swirl backward.

The frost giants were laughing so hard they were shaking, they were practically slapping their knees.

"Arrogant and ignorant ants! Facing a powerful adversary! Yet you show no respect!" A deafening roar, like a muffled thunderclap, accompanied by a howl, as a massive mace, powerful enough to shatter an glacier, slammed down: "Such ignorance will only cause your body to perish beneath my mace, and your soul to suffer the torment of the cold winds day and night in this snowy land..."

……

"Name?"

"Lagrass".

"What exactly is the purpose of your coming here?" Li Wei sat with his legs crossed on the ice crystal throne that rose up from the ground and was at least six or seven blades high.

"To retrieve our race's sacred artifact," the massive frost giant knelt on the snow and answered honestly.

It reached out to cover its slightly leaky teeth, and its cheeks were visibly swollen up to the size of small mounds.

Anyone who seems tough on the outside just hasn't met the right person yet, and Lagras is clearly one of them.

Out of the corner of its eye, it saw a group of its people lying in the snow behind it, wailing incessantly, their mournful cries sounding as if they were being subjected to some kind of inhuman treatment.

Beside them was a vast abyss that stretched ever wider, with the dark clouds in the sky piercing through it, casting rays of sunlight into the abyss.

It was still a little dizzy, only vaguely remembering that it and its people were knocked down with a few punches, followed by a golden horizon that filled its vision.

"The Box of Ice?"

“No.” After being beaten by a pair of iron fists, Lagras began to honestly spill the beans: “It is the Titan Gem – the Ring of Ice and Water. This is an artifact left to us frost giants by the Titan Father, but it was stolen by the despicable humans through conspiracy thousands of years ago. We have returned to the material world this time only to take back the artifact that belongs to us.”

"Look at my foul mouth." The Frost Giant leader lightly slapped himself. "My lord, I wasn't talking about you. Please don't take it to heart."

Levi and Sersney looked at each other in bewilderment.

She also has the Titan's Diamond, which is hailed as the strongest ring of the sky and thunder.

but!but!
There are only five Titan Diamonds, aren't there?
These are the "Ring of the Sky and Thunder", the "Ring of the Earth and Forest", the "Ring of the Sea and Storms", the "Ring of Fire and Metal", and the "Ring of Life and Death".

When did I get another Frost and Water Ring?
Could this guy have just made something up to survive?

Seemingly sensing what the man and the dragon were thinking, Lagras said indignantly, "You outsiders know far too little about the Father Gods. Why are there only five Titan Diamonds when there are twelve Father Gods? It's because the remaining two Father Gods love peace and don't want this Ring of Frost and Water to harm the world, so they entrusted it to us Frost Giants for safekeeping."

puff~
The lord couldn't help but laugh.

Peace? Or harm to the world?
The combination of these words and the evil frost giant is so hilarious.

This guy has thick eyebrows and big eyes; he seems to be a cunning and treacherous old man.

(End of this chapter)