Dungeon of Niflheim

497 Chapter 497: “…T…Th...That’s….”

Hamon landed gracefully back on the ground, sporting no damage and still retained a great deal of stamina.

Valend however after curling up into a ball and enduring Vaccos’ and Maggie’s well-timed attacks crashed into the ground with a loud thud, sending plumes of dirt flying outwards. Though he looked rather inelegant the massive frost giant was practically unharmed, pissed off but unharmed.

Valend violently swung his hammer in a wide arc and flipped to his feet, causing the ground to tremble from his weight and a blade of air to span around him from the sheer force of his swing. An expression of pure unbridled fury could be seen on his face as he glared at Hamon and Vaccos and Maggie who had just descended by his side.

Frost and Kiba joined them a moment later, floating above their heads, ready to dive back into battle at a moment’s notice. Valend was now faced with a very powerful group of sapients, a group that had the ability to serious wound him and even possibly kill him if he wasn’t careful. For the first time since this fight began he felt an inkling of fear. Goosebumps formed along his forearms and a cold sweat dripped down his neck. A feeling a mighty frost giant rarely ever experienced... as the fear washed over him and he came to terms with his situation a smile grew on his lips and excitement exploded in his heart.

“Hahahahahaha that’s more like it! It’s no fun if the prey can’t fight back hahahahahaha!” Valend erupted into a bellowing laughter, his booming voice causing nearby soldiers to cover their ears in pain.

Hamon, Frost and the others braced themselves, preparing their stances, not taking Valend lightly in the slightest despite having the numerical advantage and Hamon in their midst.

“Dulan!” Valend gripped his massive hammer with both hands and called for his battle mount. Dulan who was covered in multiple wounds grunted in response before charging towards his position. Valend leaped into the air and landed on the war mammoth’s back, his aura turning up to eleven before the two charged ahead without fear.

“Frost find yourself another opponent, we’ll handle Valend.” Hamon gave a stern order to Frost before once again activating his war god form. Vaccos and Maggie also activated their full battle states as they fanned out to the flanks, leaving Hamon to handle the head on approach.

Frost bit his bottom lip in frustration, knowing that he was truly too weak to be of much use in this battle, he may even just get in the way.

.....

“Let’s go Kiba!” With a reluctance Frost ordered Kiba to rise into the air so they may find a more appropriate opponent of which there were quite a few. The B-rank monsters now outnumbered their B-rank Majors and elite adventurers thus causing serious damage to the frontlines. Such a situation really couldn’t be maintained.

Frost gave a quick glance to Frostine and then to the Northern wall, wondering if he should join that battle given his resistance to ice magic but the determined look on Ryuu’s face gave him his answer. The team of the young dungeon core and glacial winged tiger juvenile thus charged towards a B-rank minotaur that was cleaving its way towards Valend and Hamon, hoping to even up the playing field.

“[Hammering beast’s charge]” While in the air Frost and Kiba activated their combined attack causing them to be covered in a green energy that enhanced their charging force. With Frost’s glaive tip as the focal point they slammed into minotaur who hastily raised up his battle axe in defence.

With a loud boom the minotaur was sent skidding across the ground for several metres, its arms visibly trembling from the blow.

Frost quickly glanced around the area and singled out two C-rank fighters.

“You two help me take care of this one.”

“Yes sir!” The two c-rank fighters who were covered in multiple superficial wounds quickly brought down their current opponents before joining Frost’s side.

“Valend” meanwhile Frostine who had his prized 4th circle magic blocked glared at the battle taking place between Valend, Hamon, Maggie and Vaccos and called out his allies’ name. If Valend was pinned down by such strong opposition the battle would progress far slower. And thanks to Hamon’s speech and timely arrival the emotional state of the enemy that was near broken now resurged with such intensity that their forces were actually starting to be pushed back in areas. This was far from what the lord frost monarch wished.

‘Why won’t these ants just give up? There’s no way they can win against our forces so why do they continue this futility?’ Frostine internally complained, struggling to understand why their morale hadn’t shattered.

As he was caught up in his thoughts he was assaulted by a sharp pain in his head. The remaining two hydra heads had been taken out, bringing an end to his spell.

Frostine glared at the top of the northern wall, looking directly at the exhausted and pale face of Ryuu. He saw the will and determination in his gaze, and it filled him with fury.

“Fine then if you won’t give up then I’ll just have to crush you before moving forward!” Truly annoyed by how the war was playing out Frostine roared and began moving in earnest this time against the two mages set on restraining his movements.

A grand exchange of close combat skills that rocked the very battlefield erupted between Valend, Hamon, Vaccos and Maggie while a great and colourful display of magic filled the skies as Frostine, Ryuu and Jessie faced off. Both battles pressured their surroundings and caused great amounts of side-line damage, but the individuals were restrained to a degree thus lightening the burden on the frontline slightly.

Frost, Kiba and the two C-rank fighter helpers did their best to handle and quickly take out the B-rank minotaur as did the remaining Majors and their assisting elite teams. The arrival of Hamon on the battlefield inspired the remaining soldiers to an absurd degree granting them great bursts of temporary power which allowed their lines to remain together for another spell.

Frost and the other high ranking fighters did their best to take advantage of this temporary boost. Each and every man and woman on the battlefield pushed themselves beyond their limits, fighting back with ferocious intensity.

The air had long been filled with the heavy stench of blood and a pressure akin to aura and bloodlust generated by those fighting loomed over the battlefield. A regular person would feel sick and terrified just being near such pressure. This was war, bloody, brutal and in many ways insane. That such an easy going and rather peaceful town could suddenly be subjected to such brutality was a frightening prospect. War no matter how profitable was still war, something that inspired fear in the hearts of civilians and even soldiers.

For those currently fighting the only thoughts running through their minds was ‘kill’ and ‘fight’. Their bodies that were mangled, exhausted and for many partial, burned through their lifeforce to stay standing, refusing to let the monster opponents before them pass. And whenever they felt themselves waning they’d look towards the great golden back of their commander and would be filled with strength once more. Pain was no longer something they felt, they were in the thrall of a mad war fervour much like their monster opponents, granting them the strength to continue and hold back the tide.

However nothing lasts forever. It started gradually, a solider who was at the very end of their tether found that their body no longer responded to their commands regardless of how loudly or how persistent those commands were. This effect spread to soldier after soldier, their bodies gave out one after another causing a cascade of breaks in the formation.

Hamon who was blown back by one of Valend’s hammer strikes felt a chill down his spine and looked behind in response.

“Dammit!” He cursed through gritted teeth as he saw soldier after soldier fall to the ground and become unresponsive. The lines had finally broken, and the horde of monsters wasted no time taking advantage of this change. They swarmed the northern wall and climbed up using their claws, hands and even the bodies of their fellow monsters. The weaker close combat troops, ranged troops and the mage corps quickly found themselves being assaulted in masse. The wall was under siege.

“A valiant effort I’ll give you that, but your victory was impossible from the start.” Frostine who was now free from Ryuu and Jessie’s containment walked towards Hamon and the rest with a gloating smile on his face causing Hamon, Maggie and Vaccos to frown and clench their fists to the point that blood trickled down their fingers.

Screams ran rampant as soldiers were cut down without resistance and that unfaltering will started to corrode. Hamon and the elite fighters that were left standing felt their arms lose strength, their weapons threatening to fall to the ground.

‘Is this it? Is this where we’ll fall?’ Hamon looked up at the sky, a defeated expression donning his face. Even with his assistance they failed to take out Valend before the lines the broke.

The sky was clear and blue, the sun not even at its highest point yet, they didn’t even make it to midday. And as though to mock them even further a heavy aura far greater than even Valend’s spread from the treeline, pressing down on monster and sapient alike, filling their hearts with fear.

Hamon’s gaze nervously moved towards the origin of that burst of aura.

“…T…Th...That’s….”