Dungeon of Niflheim

481 Chapter 481: Facing off against the eldest rindar

Schwing!

Slash!

“Gyahhhhh!” The sounds of weapons cleaving through the air and into flesh resounded around Frost, followed with the inevitable screams of monsters dying from his glaive. His beautiful white robes were covered in blood, as was his hair and weapon, the stench was quite impactful, but Frost didn’t notice. He was completely in the zone, culling monster after monster like a machine, growing more and more efficient after each kill.

The constant supply of DP from those he killed kept his energy levels topped up and filled him with a mad pleasure which was portrayed by a crazy smile that stretched from ear to ear. He was having fun, the madness of war suited him greatly.

However as though on cue, the moment he was at an all-time high, a sense of danger struck his body like lightning. His forearms formed goosebumps and the small hairs on the back of his neck stood up and his heart stopped mid-beat. A second later he swiftly ducked his head down and a large fist passed where his head once was. The air above him exploded with a small sonic boom revealing the force behind the sudden blow.

The danger wasn’t over though, a purple knee appeared next, aiming to crack open his orbital bone. Frost twisted his body desperately to the side successfully avoiding the rapidly moving knee by a hair’s breadth.

At the same time he violently kick against the floor pushing his body away from his aggressor.

Boom!

Though he moved quickly, the aggressor still managed to make contact with his body. A sudden shoulder barge sent him careening farther than he anticipated but with a quick flip and twist the extra momentum was dealt with. When he landed Frost got to see the entity that attacked with such fervour, and he wasn’t surprised by the result.

.....

“So the defeated dog dares to barge upon the frontline, you must really be tired of living.” Frost chuckled in derision and entered a defensive stance with his glaive.

The eldest rindar who attempted to catch Frost by surprise felt his fury grow at his insipid insult.

“Better than a coward who hides behind his commanders, only attacking from a place of safety.” The eldest rindar replied back in a mocking tone before glancing at the nearby area as if looking for Frost’s ‘protectors’.

The cowardly comment caused Frost’s lips to twitch as the insinuation though partially true hurt his pride. He faced off against the rindar with Hamon and only fought the cyclops solo once he, Maggie and Artemis wounded it the previous day and even then Maggie was nearby ready to act in a moment of danger.

“Don’t bother looking they won’t be coming, it’s just going to be you and me, just like what you wanted.” Frost pointed his glaive’s blade towards the eldest rindar, taunting him.

“Bagua you’re in command of the squad, keep some distance lest you’re targeted, this bastard isn’t above using cheap shots.” He countered the rindar’s coward comment with one of his own.

The two fighters stared at one another full of aggression while the nearby monsters and forces of Furano made space for their battle.

Atop the northern wall Douglas, Hamon, Ryuu, Jessie and most importantly Kiba saw the eldest rindar make his sudden advancement. It took a lot of self-restraint for them to not rush to the young dungeon core’s aid but this was a battle he needed to handle himself if they wished to survive this war.

“Rallen and Yvonne pick up the slack.” Hamon gave an order and a pair of Majors replied “understood Colonel” at the same time before leaping from the northern wall. Rallen and Yvonne needed to handle the frontline while Frost and the other majors took care of the 4 B-ranks sent into the battlefield. Thankfully all four of them were injured thus the required manpower was feasible but risky, the matchups could go either way.

“Frost’s on his own now, may fate shine brightly upon this young prodigy.” Hamon spoke with difficulty and clenched fists as he really didn’t want to take such risks, but the war gave him no other option, battles could be lost but the big picture the war could not, no matter what it cost.

Douglas also looked down at Frost with clenched fists, feeling immense guilt. How often have they put this young man in the firing line when all he’d ever given them was aid. He sighed depressingly before reaching his arm out to stroke the large tiger whose fur stood on end from anxiety as he was forced to watch his master contend with a mighty opponent all by himself.

“Relax Kiba believe in your master, he will triumph like he always has.” He portrayed a forced smile in an attempt to calm the emotions of the young glacial winged tiger, but Kiba was wise enough to understand that the situation was truly dangerous. The only reason he still stayed on the northern wall was because of the look on his master’s face as well as the emotion being transferred through their soul bond. Frost was excited and wanted no one to interfere in this duel not even Kiba so he remained silently on the wall.

Douglas felt he got through to Kiba, so his gaze then turned to another battlefield. There standing off against the second rindar who was blind in one eye was Bastion, his long time friend.

His battle would not be an easy one either, the second rindar with its far less wounds was likely equal to the eldest rindar in strength and though Bastion was more experienced than Frost and likely stronger he didn’t have the advantage of youth and the ability to absorb DP. After fighting for an hour in this slugfest, dashing to and fro the old guild master was significantly tired and was already breathing heavily before the rindar arrived. However his expression showed nothing but fierce determination as he tensed his biceps and back muscles and launched himself at his enemy with fiery aggression.

Though Bastion’s battle may be even more treacherous Douglas didn’t feel as worried as he did with Frost. He’d fought side by side with Bastion for decades and knew his friend’s tenacity and experience thus creating a form of undeniable conviction that he could never lose.

As Bagua and the rest of Frost’s teammates moved away from him and the rindar the two fighters tensed their bodies and sharpened their eyes upon each other.

A blood splatter shot out from the shoulder of a nearby monster and acted as a sign. Both Frost and the eldest rindar moved at the exact same moment.

Clang!

Frost’s glaive adorned in a narrow but dense set of cold flames clashed against the rindar’s powerful fist. Both were knocked back, coming out even.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At hard to follow speeds Frost and the rindar exchanged blow after blow, relying solely on their mastery of their weapons, no skills or techniques involved.

With the rindar only having two arms instead of the usual four Frost was able to keep up with his insane speed, skilfully deflecting his blows with his blade edge without having to take a single step backward.

They were evenly matched during the warm-up phase and thanks to his chakra and the rindar’s lack of scales, minor wounds were beginning to accumulate on the rindar’s fists.

The eldest rindar frowned at this realisation before taking the battle up a notch.

“[Drunken gambit]” while reeling up for a chest strike the eldest rindar activated a pugilist skill called [Drunken gambit] that made his movements changeup and become much harder to follow. His counters also became faster and heavier, and a numbness filled his body as though he was partially drunk allowing him to ignore the pain from the Frost’s cold flames.

Frost was encountering this type of boost skill for the first time, so it caught him by surprise. He miss-timed a punch and was struck in the rib, this lead to him receiving another then another and another. His chakra armour swiftly broke apart on contact and his newly repaired physical armour endured most of the damage but somehow a great deal of force still made its way through, bruising his skin and muscles.

“[Ice piercer]” in response Frost took a step backwards granting him some distance before activating his final advanced level glaive skill, [ice piercer]. As he drew back his glaive, white-blue energy covered the blade’s tip, enhancing its penetrative power and caused the surrounding air to chill. This ice borne skill was not only sharp and deadly but also matched well with Frost’s ice element.

Frost moved with incredible swiftness but the rindar was no easy opponent and had anticipated such a retaliation. The ice encrusted glaive thrust out with immense force, breaking the sound barrier as it passed across the rindar’s torso. The monster twisted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly tip however, a large gash still opened up as the glaive passed by. The wind generated by such a fast thrust though invisible made its mark.

“Hmph!” Annoyed by Frost’s smile and the sting on his chest the rindar grunted before aggressively kneeing Frost’s outstretched glaive.

Frost predicated such a counter and decided to lean into the upward force placed on his weapon. He leaped upwards and backflipped, distancing himself from the rindar in preparation for another skill.