I really didn't want to burn it.

"It's done."

Li Ang put down the longbow in his hand.

Are these guys common in the Nine Realms?

Mashu shifted her gaze from the monster's corpse and followed the trail of blood to Leon, who was examining the arrows pulled from the body.

"This is unusual. These monsters don't usually get this close to human villages. It seems the long winter has made it difficult for these guys to find food."

Li Ang wiped the blood off the arrowhead and put it back into the quiver.

“It’s a bit disgusting.”

Mashu stuck out her tongue in disgust.

Li Ang shrugged nonchalantly: "There's nothing I can do. With no idea where the next supply will be, I have to be frugal. These are rune arrows, they're really expensive."

"What's our next step? Just waiting like this will only waste time and might attract more monsters." Ritsuka glanced at the corpses on the ground, "Although they weren't very strong."

These five werewolves are really not that strong; even Mash could take them down with a single shield.

But if more monsters arrive, it will be troublesome. Ritsuka doesn't want to end up fighting a positional annihilation war with their backs to the lake, instead of playing Plants vs. Zombies.

"Let's walk on the ice."

After thinking for a moment, Li Ang sighed.

"The ice at the edge is at least several meters thick, so walking shouldn't be a problem, as long as no meteorites fall from the sky..."

As Li Ang was speaking, he suddenly looked up at the sky.

Seeing Li Ang's actions, Mashu and Ritsuka also quickly looked up at the sky.

They soon spotted a black dot in the sky, and the dot was getting bigger and bigger!

"what is that?"

Ritsuka frowned slightly.

Mashu, with her better eyesight, exclaimed in surprise, "That looks like a giant!"

In the short time it took Li Ang to say those words, the black dot in the sky quickly transformed into a clearly discernible human figure, which then plummeted straight down from the sky!

Soon, the dark shadow obscured the already dim sky and hurtled towards Li Ang and his two companions.

"Get out of the way!"

Leon grabbed Mash and Ritsuka and ran as fast as he could towards the spot where the giant had crashed.

Rumble!

Amidst the deafening roar, the falling giant drew ever closer.

Then, the giant crashed head-on into the lake, which was covered with a thick layer of ice.

boom!

Amidst a deafening roar like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting open, a mushroom-shaped cloud of dust billowed up!

The entire earth trembled, and cracks resembling long snakes stretched outwards from the point where the giant had fallen.

From high above, it looks like a dense spider web spread across the earth.

The shockwave, tens of meters high, swirled with dust and smoke, spreading outwards in all directions.

Even Li Ang and his two companions, who had already fled far away, were not spared. They were swept by the shockwave and were thrown forward, falling onto the snow.

Fortunately, the snow was thick enough, and Li Ang protected the frail Ritsuka immediately, so none of the three were injured.

"Are you two okay?"

Li Ang got up from the snow, spat out the snow from his mouth, and asked Mashu and Ritsuka.

"Li Ang, your mouth is truly blessed! Whatever you say comes true."

Mash moved the shield off her body and complained to Leon.

"I said……"

Li Ang stopped talking, pulled Mashu back down into the snowdrift, and also pulled Ritsuka, who had straightened up, into the snow.

"Let's see if you still dare to disrespect the gods!"

A haughty figure wafted through the cold air.

"Enough, this guy's dead," another voice said. "Let's hurry back to Asgard, I fucking hate this cold place! There's nowhere to even have fun!"

With a loud thud, it seemed the second person had kicked something over.

The first voice snapped, "Enough with the nonsense. It's our duty to clear out the giants who have left Jotunheim. If you have something to say, go talk to Lord Thor."

“I wouldn’t dare,” the second voice chuckled sheepishly. “But I must say Lord Thor’s plan was brilliant. He managed to force the giants out of Jotunheim little by little by using a long winter, and then wiped them out one by one.”

"They came out on their own! We didn't break any rules!"

The second voice emitted a strange laugh that made you want to strangle it.

“Yes,” the first voice agreed. “That way, we won’t have to wait long to wipe out all these giants.”

"Excuse me... could you explain Thor's plan to slaughter the Titans in more detail?"

"Huh?"*2

The two people standing on the giant's body turned their heads at the same time to look in the direction from which the sound came.

A 20-year-old black-haired man stood there with an innocent-looking smile.

"Hello, could you explain what you just said in more detail?"

Gunner.jpg

M78 Nebula 756365104

P.S.: The above is a drawing of Gunslinger Artoria by the artist Columbus. I have to say, once you get used to this art style, it's really captivating. =w=

Chapter 257: If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext.

Standing on the giant's corpse were two men in armor; they were tall and looked very robust.

"Atrium people?"

One of the men turned to look at Li Ang, his expression slightly confused.

"You shouldn't be here, human!"

The other man looked serious and warned Li Ang in a very stern tone.

"Can you tell me why?"

Li Ang revealed an innocent smile, just like a newbie who had never even left his home.

"Lord Thor's orders are that all humans must remain within designated areas until the long winter ends!" the stern-faced man declared. "This is for your own good; the wilderness is not peaceful right now."

"I don't deny that these days, you can't even leave a complete corpse."

Li Ang glanced at the giant's lower body.

A few minutes ago, there were five intact werewolf corpses lying there, but now they've all been turned into meat patties.

"Humans, you should thank us."

The first man, grinning, retorted, "If we weren't patrolling this area, you'd be crushed into mincemeat by this giant."

A glint of light flashed in Li Ang's eyes: "Responsible for patrolling? You're the ones who patrol this area on a fixed basis?"

The first man nodded and kicked the giant's corpse beneath him: "Of course, we're in charge of cleaning up these giants who left Jotunheim."

"So that's how it is, the ship is here."

Li Ang nodded in sudden realization.

"Human, what did you say?"

"It's nothing." Li Ang came back to his senses and said to the two men, "So, let's go back to the original question. Could you explain in detail the circumstances surrounding Lord Thor issuing this order?"

"Don't ask questions that humans shouldn't ask!" The first man's smile vanished, and he roared at Li Ang in a threatening tone, "Your survival is a blessing!"

"A gift?"

“We have no reason to save humans who have left our area of ​​operation,” the other party said with a sinister smile. “We can simply wait until the giant has trampled you to death before killing it.”

"so?"

"Money! Money!"

The man extended his hand directly to Li Ang.

"Your life-saving money! 25 gold coins!"

The man's serious-looking companion seemed to disapprove of the action, but he didn't show any refusal; he just frowned.

Li Ang touched his nose and sighed, "Asgard these days is really a place where any kind of monster or demon can get in."

"Kid! What do you mean?"

Seeing that Li Ang was refusing, the other party's expression turned somewhat angry.

"I was just expressing my thoughts. Since when did Asgard start recruiting such a lowly person as a soldier?"

"you wanna die!"

The two drew their swords and charged at Li Ang together.

Li Ang reacted quickly, nocking an arrow and aiming it at the two men.

whoosh-

Li Ang's first arrow went far off course, eliciting a strange laugh from the two men.

"You dare show your face with this level of skill, and even provoke us! I think you're tired of living!" the arrogant man yelled. "I'm going to cut your head off and hang it on the roof beam to dry!"

As he spoke, he swung his sword at Li Ang's neck, but Li Ang dodged it by tilting his head.

Faced with enemies so close at hand, Li Ang was unable to fire an arrow; he could only parry to prevent being attacked from both of them at once.

"Ouch."

The arrogant man stepped on the giant's armpit, twisted his ankle, and fell into the giant's arm.

"Just like a monkey! This man from Midgard is too cunning."

Seeing Li Ang moving with such agility on the giant's body as if walking on flat ground, the arrogant man roared in a fit of anger.

"Haven't you realized yet? This guy is playing us." The serious-looking man pulled up his companion and said sarcastically, "His identity is definitely not that of an ordinary person."

A greedy glint appeared in the arrogant man's eyes: "That's great! Catching a spy with a discerning track record is worth far more than killing a giant."

"The premise is that you have to be able to seize it."

As Li Ang leaped to the other end of the giant's body in a few quick movements, the serious-looking man narrowed his eyes.

"If only we could use a divine artifact! The giant just said he's used up all his stored magic power," the arrogant man said resentfully.

"Not necessarily, he's running onto the snow."

Upon hearing his companion's words, the arrogant man's eyes lit up.

"Haha, he asked for it, so he can't blame us! There's no room for him to move on the snow!"

The arrogant man laughed as he pulled his foot out from under the giant's armpit, then leaped off in the direction Li Ang had fled—

Boom!

The arrogant man returned to his original spot even faster than he had jumped out.

"WTF?"

Boom!

His answer was yet another large, black shield.

"Sorry, this road is blocked."

Mashu spoke to the two of them expressionlessly.