Dungeon of Niflheim

501 Chapter 501: Prayers

“Kyackkyackkyackkyack” The demon manically laughed as he endured the hate filled gaze of the barely breathing Hamon. An insidious ear reaching smile adorned his face as his heart was filled with joy. He relished in their despair, their hatred, their pain, a delicacy of great renown. However all meals must eventually come to an end.

The hellscape he summoned dragged soul after soul into its depths, leaving only the strongest survivors to battle with evil spirits, resisting their pulling and tearing.

His eyes drifted across the remaining elites, Maggie who was at death’s door, Vaccos who fervently defended her from the enemy and of course Douglas who’s weapon had been shattered, his armour cracked and was currently held in the air by the jaws of a t-rex as Frostine readied a mighty spell to end the tenacious viscount. His heart couldn’t help but tremble in joy at the sight of that nasty light aspected armour crumbling apart and falling from Douglas’s body.

It wasn’t strong enough to cause him a great deal of damage but dark entities especially evil ones such as himself abhorred anything related to the light no matter their strength.

By the time his gaze returned to Hamon his smile had disappeared and a serious expression had replaced it. The hounding of the stampede’s madness bellowed within his mind, impatient for victory.

“Time to end this and move on.” He spoke with a chilling tone before drawing in an extreme amount of ambient mana.

In response to his actions Frostine, Valend and the other B-rank monsters moved swiftly to pin down the remaining elites, preventing them from acting out in defence. Even the B-rank minotaur attacking Frost and Kiba changed its tactics.

Frost was still kind of out of it, the sudden loss of Bagua despite his quick actions dulled his thinking, making it seem as though what was going on around him was miles away. He struggled to hear anyone’s voice and sense the movements around him. Kiba’s attempts at reaching him through their soul bond were slowly bringing him back to reality but unfortunately it wasn’t fast enough.

Bang!

.....

Kiba was knocked to the side by the minotaur’s battle axe, his head bleeding profusely from the blow and moment later Frost was pushed to the ground by the minotaur’s large hand while the other pinned him to the floor. This sudden touching and the last roar of Kiba brought his thoughts back to reality but by that point he was thoroughly pinned as were the rest of the elites.

He struggled to push against the minotaur but received a harsh blow in response, pushing him deeper into the dirt. His eyes met with blood covered Kiba whose breathing had become laboured and his heart lurched to a stop. His lack of focus had caused this situation, because he couldn’t keep his head in the game Kiba was seriously injured and he was pinned down.

Frost tried his best to reach into his robes choosing to no longer delay summoning Maya but the minotaur wasn’t making it easy. Even slightest movements resulted in a fierce reprisal.

By this point the demon had finished gathering the mana he needed and upon seeing that all his subordinates had followed his orders he slammed the gathered mana onto the hellscape, infusing it with a burst of nourishment.

The black lines that acted as the portal lit up and a loud chorus of evil screams escaped from the ground before dozens perhaps even hundreds of apparitions charged out from the hellscape and swarmed towards the pinned down elites.

The grey, death filled fog grew thicker as the barrier between the two realms narrowed thus turning this war torn battlefield into a literal nightmare. The remaining elites were strong and could fend off several ghosts without much issue but dozens or perhaps even hundreds was impossible.

While being pinned down ghost after ghost entered their bodies, violently attacking their minds and souls without mercy. Many screamed in agony as they endured a torture that was far more terrifying than something physical. Even Frost who held ice fire chakra found that he couldn’t burn them out as fast they could enter. His mind was quickly assaulted and a pain he couldn’t put into words rampaged deep within his core. The hand that was mere moments from tearing apart the teleportation talisman froze before his body started spasming. He no longer hand the opportunity to call Maya.

The demon exhaled a deep breath a he felt drained from conjuring such a large amount of mana for his summoned hellscape, but the price was worth it. The remaining elites would soon be dragged down into the portal to be tortured for eternity thus leaving the town of Furano undefended. He and the rest of the horde could then complete their main mission, to destroy Furano and wreak havoc upon the southlands.

Hamon who had been forced to his knees by Valend continued to stare hatefully at the demon, refusing to let out a single scream as the ghosts assaulted his soul, he refused to give the demon even the slightest amount of satisfaction. Though in his heart he was in despair, what awaited him and the brave men and women behind him was a lifetime of endless torture. Even someone as experienced as him dreaded such an outcome.

Many prayed to the Gods and or thought of their loved ones in their final moments, hoping for a miracle to appear and save them from this terrifying fate...and their prayers were answered.

As the souls a few elites were brutally torn from their bodies and about to be dragged down into the summoned hellscape muttering could be heard from a distance. Quiet and unclear at first but eventually the voice rang clear like the sound of a mighty church bell.

“[Eye of the heavens]” The command words for a mighty light elemental spell were heard in the ears of those still conscious before the sky above cracked open and lavished the battlefield with beams of holy light.

The ghosts screamed and roared as the light set them ablaze, purifying their souls entirely. Souls that were being carried into the hellscape were set free of their captors and swiftly returned to their host bodies, bringing them back to life.

“Noooooooooo!!!!!!!” The demon’s aura burst out in fury, his expression warping into madness as he glared at the sky and the endless streams of light cascading down upon his hellscape. These beams of light were not just destroying his summoned portal but were thoroughly purifying the realm and the souls within, undoing all his work. Even the souls recently pulled into the hellscape were able to escape with the aid of the light beams and find their way back to their slightly cold bodies, the timeframe still being within the allowed separation.

Following the cascade of light a barrage of magic erupted from behind the northern wall smashing into the endless horde of monsters making their way into the town, killing dozens in an instant.

Next the sound of swords and blades could be heard being drawn from their sheaths as knights riding large ice wolves suddenly appeared from the east and west sides of the battlefield.

“Frost wolf knights charge forth and aid our comrades.” A woman donned in a full set of blue armour and armed with a deadly red spear roared out as she charged at the vanguard on top of a wolf larger than even Kiba.

Along with the ground forces, coming from the air with the mage who cast the 5th circle spell [eye of the heavens] were a regiment of griffin knights all donned in glorious and regal looking white armour. At the head of these flying knights were two men, one old with a natural overpowering presence and one who was likely in his late twenties perhaps very early thirties dressed in the most lavish armour Frost had ever seen. A small crown also adorned his head and though he was nowhere near as strong as the old man by his side it felt as though he was in charge.

“Royal griffin knights, destroy the enemies of our mighty empire!” The young man pointed his sword high into the air as he gave a command.

“Your will be done Your Highness.” The griffin knights responded respectively before unsheathing their weapons and diving into the battlefield.

“I’ll leave the demon to you General Warik.” His Highness the crown prince spoke with respect to the old man by his side before following after the griffin knights.

“Be safe Your Highness.” General Warik crossed his arm over his chest and bowed slightly before focusing his gaze upon the demon.

“Thank you for your timely magic Sir Dalamar but I can take it from here.” Warik turned his head to speak to a man even older than he was who was riding what appeared to be a couatl with his young apprentice behind him.

“No thanks needed General I only did what was expected of me. The adventurers guild requested that I join the reinforcements but I will follow your lead.” Dalamar was the A-rank adventurer that the capital’s adventurer guild sent due to Bastion’s request however the grand commander was this general Warik, therefore if he was asked to not interfere further by him then he would not. Of course Warik was only referring to the demon as it would be far better for the empire’s soldiers to handle the enemy’s commander. The reputation of the Northrend empire’s military couldn’t be seen heavily relying on the strength of the guild.

Warik nodded his head in thanks for Dalamar’s understanding before ordering his griffin to fly at the demon.

“Come Natalie let’s go and see where we can lend a hand.”

“Yes grandfather.”