The Snow Orks looked at each other before glancing at their leader, their beastly but somewhat human faces filled with hope once again…
He was the one with the strongest cold magic amongst them.
"...?!"
But just one look at his face was enough to make the others realize that it wasn't his doing at all.
Within the next second, the situation escalated, at least a dozen disfigured boars were suddenly impaled with ice spears through their heads, dying without even being able to let out a cry, while many others dropped down on the spots, with ice and frost claiming their lives as silently as it was swift.
The handful of the remaining monsters stopped in their tracks, too, realizing that it wasn't a counterattack from the Snow Orks but from an entirely different being.
"Get back….! GET BACK TO THE VILLAGE, NO-...!"
The leader of Snow Orks called out in desperation as every hair on his body was standing up on its end from fear so electrifying it was almost tangible…
*WHAM*
"!!!"
And the next moment, to the shock of other Snow Orks, the boulder thrown by their leader just a few seconds earlier shot right back at him, only with much more force behind it when he threw it.
"GRAAAAAGH!"
Although the attack did take him by surprise, the leader of Snow Orks had such a ridiculous reaction time that he managed to parry and counter the boulder, shattering it into pieces with a shoulder tackle… even though it did cost him a broken bone in his arm.
"..."
"!?"
He was going to roar towards the being that attacked him, but then he shivered, taken over by the primal fear of a prey animal not simply seeing, but SENSING an apex predator.
…and that feeling of overwhelming dread wasn't coming from the spot the boulder was launched, but from behind him…
It was as if the glare of beastly yellow eyes was stabbing into his back!
"GHA! H-huh…?"
The leader of the Snow Orks let out a short growl as he spun around to deliver a punch with all of his strength against that unknown threat, but was met with only an empty space…
Well, not completely empty.
There were fresh tracks, although only two, of footprints of a bipedal creature much smaller than any of their kind, with the exception of children, but even then, distinctly different still.
*bump* *thump*
"?!?!"
Without giving the Snow Orks Leader any time to figure out what any of that meant, something suddenly struck the back of his knees, causing him to drop down, taken by complete surprise.
It wasn't even a strong attack or anything…
Instead, it was a disrespect in its purest form.
"I expect an apology for that attack."
"!!!"
When a low growl resounded from behind, the Snow Ork Leader didn't wait! He instantly twisted his body and elbowed the mysterious being who spoke to him.
Upon impact, it felt as if the Snow Ork had hit a wall! His already broken bone ended up piercing through flesh and protruding out through the sleeve of the thick coat, staining the white fur violet with the fresh blood.
The violet blood coursing through the Snow Ork's veins was the reason their skin was blue.
Alas, the counter was effective, although not to the desired degree because of the self-inflicted injury, but it did result in the mysterious attacker being pushed back, even tumbling through the air and crashing into a tree, breaking and felling it with their body.
The sound of the fallen tree hitting the ground caused the entire area to go completely silent.
The tension was palpable.
It couldn't be over like that. It would be far too simple.
Such hopes were nothing more than foolish wishful thinking.
*THUMP* *UMPH*
"...!?"
The silence was ended by a stomp followed by a shockwave that stirred up the snow created a miniature blizzard lasting less than a second as it passed by the Snow Orks and the few remaining boar monsters.
He was right there.
Disheveled bleached-blond hair. Wearing a roughed-up uniform of the Royal Academy. With cuts all over his face and even some bruising.
But nothing could even compare to the look in his eyes.
His beastly yellow eyes… the pressure of their glare alone caused everyone's hearts to sink.
Rotsard Vallhall.
"I'm giving you a chance to apologize, and you DARE to double down!?"
The snarl that followed brought the already freezing temperature even lower.
Then…
He vanished.
Only, not really.
He simply went on the offensive, already taking down two Snow Orks and moving on to the third and fourth.
Their heads slammed against the ground, and their feet shot up because of the force of the impact before anyone comprehended what was going on.
…and even when they did realize, there was hardly anything the Snow Orks could do about it as cinderblock-sized blocks of ice started materializing all around each and every one of them, launching at their vital points with twice the force of a mutated boar's charge.