Dungeon of Niflheim

494 Chapter 494: “May the gods have mercy on our souls”

“Bastard!” Maggie roared out with fury in her eyes as many of her men and women were crushed under the brutality of the maddened mammoths. She dashed forward, her skin swiftly becoming covered in fur and her nails elongating into claws. She used beastification to the extreme.

Beastification, an ability shared by most sapient beastmen that allows them to transform their bodies closer to that of their animalistic origins. Basically a toned down version of the transformation abilities held by monster kin such as Nanna and Loki. Nonetheless it did succeed in adding to Maggie’s already impressive physical strength.

Vaccos wasn’t one to fall behind, his berserk state intensified causing his face to warp to the point he looked like a mad demon hell bent on a path of destruction. He and Maggie knew that Valend wasn’t an opponent they could take lightly thus they used all they had from the get-go, disregarding the cost in stamina.

With Frost releasing his royal aura and donning his frost chakra armour the three people and one glacial winged tiger readied themselves for an uphill battle.

“This is going to be fun.” Valend who was on the receiving end of such furious glares smiled evilly and laughed before speaking. Three B-rank opponents and a C-rank glacial winged tiger battle mount, an exciting prospect indeed.

The great frost giant released his aura to compete against the combined might of Frost, Maggie and Vaccos. It was heavy, dense and filled with unbridled ferocity. A pressure that felt even greater than Frostine’s.

Booooooommmm!

An invisible clash erupted between the four people and two battle mounts as the different auras made contact. Valend’s powerful aura expanded, quickly superseding the combined might of Frost, Maggie and Vaccos. Frost’s aura lacked the depth required to properly compete with Valend and aid Maggie and Vaccos but thanks to the royal intent now held within, its superior quality allowed it to withstand the pressure, buckle and bend but not break.

“Hahahahahaha how amusing!” Valend hollered before intensifying his aura, forcing Frost, Maggie and Vaccos backwards as they struggled to endure the overbearing pressure. It was clear that in terms of aura the three of them were outmatched.

.....

Since such a battle was pointless Frost, Maggie and Vaccos retracted their auras to the point that they were only protecting their bodies. Having to only cover a small area their auras became denser, allowing them to withstand Valend’s pressure and move as per normal. Without said aura protecting them their bodies would become sluggish and slow as if suffering from intense gravity, making fighting effectively an impossibility.

Maggie and Vaccos briefly looked at one another before nodding and charging ahead.

“[Reverberating strike]” Maggie attacked first, covering her hammer in multiple layers of vibrating energy as she swung against Valend.

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“[Howling fist]” Vaccos was close on her heels attacking from above while she moved below.

“Let’s go Kiba!” Frost clenched his legs around Kiba and twirled his glaive [Wolf howling at the moon] as the young tiger leaped into the air.

In response to their actions Valend raised his hammer above his head, gripping it tightly with both hands and uttered the command word for a unique skill.

“[Giant crusher]” Grey coloured energy filled his oversized hammer before forming the image of a phantom giant behind it. Valend swung with overwhelming power and such speed that the very surface of his hammer began to glow from the intense friction. This was a mighty swing that would obliterate anything that stood against it.

For those with very keen eyes they’d be able to see Maggie and Vaccos’ attacks aiming for Valend’s weapon as though anticipating its path.

Boooooooommmmmmm!

Maggie’s hammer swung horizontally and struck the lower face of Valend’s hammer while Vaccos struck the top face at the same time successfully knocking it off course thus preventing Maggie from becoming a pancake.

Valend’s hammer though not striking Maggie still smashed hard against the ground next to her causing plumes of dirt to explode outwards, obscuring the area and sending Maggie careening backwards with a great deal of force, though not any more than she was expecting. Immediately after slamming into Valend’s hammer she jumped backwards to offset some of the backlash.

Meanwhile Vaccos flipped in the air, twisting his body until he was lined up to kick Valend in his oversized face. Vaccos was powerful but his true talent lay in speed and flexibility. His attacks could come from any angle at any time and with any tempo. His transition from one attack to another was practically seamless.

Valend’s eyebrows rose in surprise as he was forced to quickly veer his head to the side. Vaccos’ left foot grazed passed his cheek, leaving a cut under his eye that extended towards his ear. The attack was a minor success but now Vaccos was easy pickings, flying through the air with nothing to rebound off of.

Valend removed his right hand from his hammer and reached up to grab Vaccos before he could escape however he failed to notice the smile on the mad iron chef’s face.

“[Ice piercer]” The moment Vaccos was about to be grabbed, Frost appeared like a silent spectre from Valend’s blind spot, his glaive already thrusting towards Valend’s right eye thuds giving him a choice. Either lose an eye and get hold of Vaccos or retract his hand to block Frost’s thrust….the choice was obvious.

Without even the slightest hesitation Valend redirected his right hand to block Frost thus allowing Vaccos to make a clean escape.

“Kreeee!” Frost’s sharp glaive skidded across a primitive looking gauntlet that protected Valend’s forearm. It left only a small scratch revealing that despite its primitive appearance the gauntlet was made of some choice material.

Frost moved away the instant his thrust was blocked, not giving Valend a chance to retaliate against him. Since Kiba was a flying battle mount and of the tiger species he was able to be far more nimble than Vaccos and Maggie. However, Valend was not alone

Dulan the war mammoth made a move in place of his master. He bucked like a bull and kicked out with his back legs, aiming for the swiftly retreating Kiba.

“Tsk! [ice shield]” Frost annoyed that a mammoth a creature known for being rather slow in their movements was able to react when Valend couldn’t clicked his tongue before desperately conjuring a shield of ice. Even though Dulan was only a C-rank monster, getting hit by those massive legs of his would result in no small amount of injury.

Smash!

The hastily conjured shield shattered almost instantly but it gave enough time for Kiba to escape with a strong beat of his wings. He and Frost landed safely on the ground, east of Valend and Dulan’s position while Vaccos manned the west and Maggie the south, surrounding him and preventing him from acting against anyone other than the three of them.

Valend brought his right hand to his cut cheek, feeling the blood dripping from the wound as well erasing the remnants of flames left by Vaccos. Being a frost giant he was quite adverse to fire.

The wild smile on his face gradually grew larger as he stared at his blood smeared fingers. “Hahahahaha it’s been a long time since someone last drew my blood!” He laughed and bellowed madly, his eyes radiating a fierce fire as his heart thumped strongly, excited by the prospect.

Valend proceeded to pull up his hammer from the pit he created and placed it back upon his shoulders before stretching out his right hand and beckoning Maggie in a taunting manner.

The three B-rank fighters looked at one another and nodded before moving in concert, working together to take down Valend and his battle mount Dulan.

While their battle was just beginning the chaotic melee between the mammoths and standard soldiers was already underway. Dozens of men and women had already fallen victim to the mammoths charge and their oversized limbs but thanks to their unity, the aid of the many war machines and the efforts of the grounded Majors a stalemate had been reached wherein neither side really gained any headway. Soldiers and adventurers would die but so would mammoths, an equal exchange if you will.

However such a fragile balance was swiftly broken and the forces of Furano once again found themselves being pushed back, unable to stand against the endless tide of rampant monsters.

Lines of chaff -lesser monsters that the leaders didn’t care about- followed after the mammoths, slipping in between them and catching many men and women unaware. If that was all it would have been fine but Frostine was not holding back in the slightest, the stampede was putting all it had into crushing Furano before the sun had time to reach its highest point.

The grand commander himself along with the other B-rank monsters stepped into the fray, thinning out the already stretched thin battlelines thus forcing Hamon and Douglas to remove the Majors and elite squads from the frontlines so as to restrain them the best they could.

Ryuu and Jessie stood at the forefront of the northern wall, looking down with determined gazes as they were adorned and surrounded by a plethora of magic devices. They would restrain Frostine while the other Majors and elites handled the rest. Everyone had their targets as well as their own individual missions. They lacked the personnel needed to win this war but god damn they were going to endure no matter the cost.

“I’ll be off Colonel, try to restrain yourself as long as possible.” Douglas spoke with clenched fists, his eyes already bloodshot from frustration.

“Good luck Lord Viscount.” Hamon spoke through a closed jaw, his expression no better than Douglas’s. He knew that apart from Frost, Maggie and Vaccos who were dealing with Valend as a team the other Majors were having to work solo against their B-rank opponents and in some cases there wasn’t even a Major class fighter available.

These men and women were sorely outmatched, with not even the remotest chance of winning. Hamon had to stand here and watch as he ordered these brave men and women to their deaths, he couldn’t even join them in battle at least not yet.

With the arrival of Valend and the actions of Frostine it was made even more apparent that there was something even more dangerous out there, a foe only he would be able to restrain.

“May the gods have mercy on our souls” Hamon muttered as Douglas leaped from the wall to fight against one of the approaching B-rank monsters.