"Look out—!"
Amidst the storm, Dwalin yelled hoarsely, rain pouring into his mouth, making him spit out a few mouthfuls.
Thorin saw the huge rock flying towards him and shouted in a panic, "Arthur!!!"
"Everyone, stick close to the wall! Watch out for falling debris!!" Arthur also shouted urgently.
Facing the whistling, hill-sized rock, he couldn't guarantee a perfect solution, and even worried about casualties among the dwarves.
"Igon!! Help!!" he roared.
Igon also nodded with a serious expression, his Dragon Greatbow already unslung from his back, two 'harpoons' made from Ancient Dragon scales aimed at the flying rock.
However, he was not in a hurry to act, waiting for Arthur instead.
Because Igon knew that against such a massive rock, these two arrows would not play a decisive role.
So he waited for Arthur, Igon believed and could only believe that Arthur had a way to deal with that deadly large rock first.
The weapon in Arthur's hand transformed again, and the Azur's Glinstone Staff appeared.
Comet-like light burst from the staff, dispelling all shadows in the canyon, and the azure glow flowed like a liquid galaxy between the rock walls, reflecting countless stars.
"Boom—"
The hill-sized rock, under the magical torrent of Azur Comet , was cut in half as if by a sharp sword.
But the remaining two large rocks, with lingering fury, roared like startled beasts and lunged towards Thorin and the others.
And at this moment, Igon made his move.
His breathing froze, time seemed to stand still, all sounds vanished, leaving only his heartbeat pounding like a drum in his chest.
The bowstring in Igon's hand was stretched to its limit, and he suddenly released it, the arrow, several times longer than an adult dwarf, tore through the air with a whistling sound.
In the panicked eyes of Thorin and his companions, the two arrows, like the brightest lightning in the night sky, accurately struck the two rocks respectively.
The moment they collided with the rocks, the sharp arrowheads mercilessly pierced through the rocks' defenses, embedding themselves deeply, with only the fletching visible.
However, these two rocks also experienced a subtle change in their trajectory due to the impact of the two arrows shot by Igon.
Thorin and his companions watched wide-eyed as the two massive rocks, with whistling wind, descended from the sky, then at the last moment, veered off course, brushing past them and plummeting into the bottomless valley below.
As the rocks landed, a series of dull echoes reverberated through the valley.
Thorin and his companions stood on the edge of the cliff, involuntarily holding their breath, their hearts filled with the lingering fear of their brush with death.
Arthur, however, showed no signs of relaxing; instead, he shouted loudly, "Don't stop! Keep moving forward!!"
Bilbo, with a look of horror, pointed in the direction from which the giant rocks had been thrown: "Oh my goodness, what is that?!"
Bofur, while gripping Bilbo to prevent the hobbit from falling into the valley, looked over and murmured, his eyes unfocused, "The legends are true…"
The dark clouds were as thick as ink, covering the entire sky. Lightning flashed, and thunder roared like the wrath of a deity, echoing through the clouds.
A towering giant stood there, its body tightly pieced together from hard rock, appearing at some unknown time.
Arthur's gaze was involuntarily drawn to that figure; each step the Rock Giants took seemed to cause a slight tremor in the canyon.
It was an indescribable immensity; the Rock Giants of ancient legends were now reappearing in the world.
Of course, Arthur's main thought was: how do I fight such a massive creature I've never seen before?
Bad weather? Enormous enemy size?
No, these were not enough to make Arthur feel panicked or afraid.
The rain poured down, but Arthur had fought in worse conditions.
Massive in size… well, he had to admit, perhaps only the Great Ancient Dragon that fell into the Royal Capital could compare in size to this Rock Giants.
However, Arthur had indeed never encountered an enemy like the Rock Giants, and facing an unknown enemy, he had to maintain sufficient caution and care to ensure his survival.
This was the experience The Lands Between taught all warriors.
And now, more importantly, Arthur had to protect these dwarves.
But Arthur always felt that the Rock Giants approaching him was very strange, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was strange about it.
Bernal's voice came from behind Arthur: "With such a massive body, I'm afraid my [Giant Hunt] Battle Skill won't be effective."
"Don't even think about it. That's like a small mountain, unless your Battle Skill is something like [Mountain Hunt]," Arthur retorted irritably.
At this moment, the dwarves were scurrying along the slippery, steep cliff, praying that the Rock Giants hadn't noticed them, and also praying that they could quickly leave this area.
"Balin, don't you come this way often? Why are there Rock Giants here?"
While running, the dwarves didn't forget to complain to Balin.
Balin ran, stroking his long, white beard, and said, "How should I know? Perhaps you should ask the Rock Giants yourselves why they came here."
"I'm not so foolish as to ask a rock questions," Kili quickly retorted.
Thorin shouted loudly, "Enough, all of you! Listen to Arthur, run fast, don't slow down!"
"Thump, thump—"
At this moment, the same footsteps echoed from the valley not far behind Arthur and his companions.
Millison's urgent voice came: "Arthur, another Rock Giants appeared behind us."
Not just Arthur, even Bernal, who had been eagerly fiddling with his sword hilt, reined in his desire to fight and focused on running.
Are you kidding? Just one of these massive creatures was already a huge problem.
Now, with two appearing at once, it was practically a death sentence for them.
Arthur gripped the Azur's Glinstone Staff tightly in his hand, and he had already hung the Cerulean Tear Flask on his waist beforehand to ensure his magic power would not run out.
That last Azur Comet had only consumed half of Arthur's magic, and he had to be constantly wary of the Rock Giants throwing hill-sized rocks again.
Where was the core of these Rock Giants? And what powered their movements?
Arthur's mind was filled with various thoughts, and then he felt the narrow path beneath his feet begin to vibrate.
"Everyone, stick to the rock wall, hold on!!" Thorin immediately shouted to the members of the expedition team the moment the ground shook.
Wait, could it be? No way?
In Arthur's wide eyes, the narrow path suddenly broke in the middle, but fortunately, the dwarves were agile and none of them fell off the cliff because of it.
But now their team was also divided into two parts: Thorin, Fili, Balin, Dwalin, Oin, and Gloin were on the other side, while the rest were left behind due to the sudden break in the road.
"Kili!!" Thorin, upon realizing the situation, immediately turned back and anxiously shouted his nephew's name.
Kili immediately shouted back, "I'm fine! Arthur is with us!"
Dwalin also wiped away some rain and, feeling the ground shake beneath his feet, said to Thorin, "It's too dangerous here, even with earthquakes. Let's go lend a hand and have Kili and the others jump over."
This reply somewhat reassured Thorin, but the next moment his heart leaped again.
Because he suddenly realized that Kili and the others on the other side of the broken road were getting further and further away from him.
"Damn it, we're standing on the knee of the third Rock Giants!!" Thorin reacted, immediately leading the dwarves with him to jump onto the narrow path on the other side.
Then he turned his head, but he couldn't see Kili and the others; the rock they were just on had stood up, blocking Thorin's view.
At this moment, the large rock in the hand of the first Rock Giants they saw smashed into this Rock Giants that had just stood up.
This Rock Giants seemed to have just woken up; it was too slow to dodge and was hit squarely by the mountain-like rock, losing its balance and sprawling its entire body on the cliff edge.
From Thorin's perspective, the broken road where Kili and the others were standing was also hit.
In an instant, the sight of Kili and Arthur's mangled and bloody bodies, crushed by rocks, appeared in his mind, causing Thorin to roar in despair, "No! Kili! Arthur! Bilbo!"
The other dwarves also had their mouths half-open; at this point, the Rock Giants that had caught up from behind began to fight the first Rock Giants, with head-sized Gravel flying from their bodies.
Dwalin held Thorin, who was trying to jump back, tightly, while turning his head and shouting loudly to Balin and the others, "Quick, hide in the hollows, watch out for those stones!!"
Thorin struggled, flailing his hands wildly in the rain and air, "I order you to let go of me, Dwalin! I'm going to bring Kili, Arthur, and that hobbit back!"
Dwalin, however, showed no intention of letting go: "No, Thorin, unless you cut off my hands, I cannot watch you go to your death."
"Fili, you and I!"
Thorin instantly flew into a rage; he had just called on Fili for help when he felt a biting chill blow across his wet cheek.
Even though it was already winter, Thorin could still feel that this cold was unusual.
At this moment, Fili, whose golden hair was wet, had an expression of surprise burst forth in his eyes; he pointed towards the direction where Arthur and the others had just been and shouted, "Look! Kili and the others are alive!"
"Oh, my goodness… This is practically an ice storm." Balin also exclaimed in surprise.
Thorin followed the sound and saw that the location where Kili and the others had just been was enveloped in a large amount of ice mist, and the frost had forcefully frozen the Rock Giants' knee, while Kili's shouts also reached Thorin and the others' ears.
"Oh oh oh—!"
Kili's expression was fierce; he held the Clawmark Seal in his palm.
And above Bilbo and the others' heads, a rock as large as two dwarves or one Bombur was firmly wedged between the cliff wall and the Rock Giants, allowing them to survive and not be crushed by the Rock Giants' movements.
Of course, the reason that rock could protect Kili and the others from the impact of the Rock Giants falling was also because thick ice had solidified in other places.
It was these ice blocks that Fili and Balin saw, created by the ice storm.
And behind Bilbo, Arthur knelt on one knee on the narrow path, his staff firmly plunged into the rock, continuously releasing the ice storm.
'Gurrang's Rock' and 'Samir Ice Storm,' the Prayers Kili comprehended at the brink of death and the Glintstone Magic Arthur cast, respectively, produced miraculous effects, saving their lives.
"You all, quickly go! Kili, you too, quickly go!"
Arthur's voice also became uncharacteristically strained; the Rock Giants' strength was terrifying, and he had to constantly maintain his casting posture and infuse magic to ensure that the solid ice would not shatter.
Otherwise, it would be as easy as pie for the Rock Giants to break free from the ice that had frozen itself and the cliff together.
Kili immediately nodded, but the moment he dispelled the Prayers, the rock above his head trembled like glass and developed cracks.
Arthur noticed this and silently increased his magic output, and the ice storm also froze the rock above everyone's heads.
"No, Teacher Arthur, I must stay…" Kili hadn't finished his sentence when his entire body instantly went limp, kneeling on the narrow path.
The previous Prayers had consumed too much of his stamina; Kili was now in a state of exhaustion.
"Quickly take him away!" Arthur urged sternly this time.
The remaining dwarves said nothing more; Bofur and Bifur grabbed Kili's shoulders, one on each side, and threw him to the safe position where Thorin was, then they jumped over themselves.
Bilbo looked back at Arthur with some concern, opening his mouth to say something, but he was lifted by the waist by Bernal as he strode past, and then he also jumped to a safe position with Bilbo.
Millison also had no superfluous words; after Igon also jumped to the safe platform, she drew her knife and turned back.
She wanted to try if she could use her Battle Skill to cut off the Rock Giants' knee, to ensure Arthur's safety.
"Don't worry about me, Millison." Arthur said briefly when he saw this scene.
Then he pulled his staff out of the rock and blew the horse Whistle in his hand; Torrent snorted, allowing Arthur to ride on its saddle.
The ice crystals, no longer sustained by magic, immediately disintegrated, but Arthur had already arrived at Thorin's side with Torrent's leap.
"?"
This Rock Giants didn't understand why it couldn't move just now; although somewhat confused, its two companions were happily playing, causing it to immediately cast this question aside.
If the Rock Giants had brains, that is.
So it stood up again, happily swinging its fists to deliver a head-on blow to its two companions.
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this scene.
Thorin looked at the Rock Giants, who were fighting each other and gradually moving away, and asked curiously, "What's going on? Why are they moving away?"
Arthur sighed and said, "If I'm not mistaken, they probably didn't even notice us…"