Dungeon of Niflheim

156 Chapter 156: Stand off between ice and fire

Pyro’s proclamation caused a strained silence to takeover the room, with everyone staring at him and Frost eagerly awaiting Frost’s reaction. Many were nervous and looked on with pity towards Frost but didn’t step in to help whereas others were smiling, anticipating an exciting fight.

Indra however was frowning; he really didn’t appreciate being ignored after being so rudely interrupted. Lightning started to cover his body as he tensed up, ready to square off against the towering bulk that was Pyro. But before he could come to blows, Frost beat him to the punch.

“Ah! You’re the muscle brained idiot father mentioned.” Frost spoke with an incredibly mocking tone as ice gathered around him. Frost was truly incensed, this man was nothing but a brute, thick as a block of wood without any class. And most of all he was the embodiment of fire, his natural nemesis. He could already feel the strain on his body, his ice chakra was harder to form and much weaker under Pyro’s aura. But that didn’t stop him from taking an aggressive stance.

Frost’s response caused a great number of dungeon cores in the audience to sharply gasp, not expecting him to say that. A few of the more bold dungeon cores, sniggered openly remembering the warning that Dark gave them about Pyro. The powerful woman in blue giggled loudly while looking at Frost with appreciation.

Pyro however was completely furious; his face became blood red from anger and shame. His teeth clenched and the flames around his body grew more aggressive, heating up the room several degrees. He hated being called an idiot more than anything, it was his reverse scale.

“Y....yo...you.... you’re dead!” Pyro stuttered; his anger palpable before eventually roaring. He clenched his right fist and took a forceful step forward swinging right for Frost’s face aiming to smash it into to smithereens. He cared little about their so called sibling relationship.

Pyro’s action elicited another round of gasps from the onlookers, with a few looking around desperately for Dark, hoping that he’d step in. This was supposed to be a happy gathering yet not 10 minutes in, a fight was starting.

Frost wasn’t one to take a blow lying down. Seeing Pyro move to strike he too clenched his fist and sent out a powerful punch.

Boooommmm!

.....

Their fists violently collided generating a sonic boom. Both strikes held nothing back and were empowered by chakra, devasting attacks. The red fire and blue ice chakra collided viciously in a display of dominance.

Unfortunately, even with Frost’s gruelling training with Maya he was still outmatched. Both in physical strength and natural element.

The fire chakra easily overpowered his ice chakra, melting it away without too much effort. It burned his snow white skin, damaging his nerve endings and releasing a foul smell of burning flesh. He frowned as the pain ran up his arm, but he still held his ground conjuring his ice chakra constantly to keep the fire at bay.

Next came the brutal physical pressure exerted by Pyro. His jacked frame was certainly not just for show. Frost felt as though he was punching a mountain made of super-heated heavy steel, even Maya’s punches didn’t contain as much force. The conflict lasted but a second before Frost was sent reeling backwards several metres, his feet scraping across the floor. He lost this exchange.

Pyro merely had his arm blown back yet his feet remained in place. A cocky smile adorned his face as he looked down at Frost in contempt. Yet internally he was quite amazed with Frost’s resistance. His fist actually felt cold, some of Frost’s chakra managed to successfully puncture his fire and strike his bones. This was the first time Pyro ever felt the sensation of cold and he hated it.

With increased fervour, Pyro escalated the fire chakra surrounding his body looking like the embodiment of flame. His bones cracked as he tensed his upper body preparing to continue his assault. He’d make Frost regret ever insulting him, the elder brother and one with such a superior element.

Frost’s face was dark, his expression cold as he resummoned his ice chakra over his body, preparing for another exchange. Not caring about his clear disadvantage. He could summon his glaive but felt that would be admitting defeat.

“Rahhhhhhhh!” Pyro roared.

“I think that’s enough you oversized brute!” Suddenly a woman’s voice sounded from behind Pyro and a massive dense sphere of water smashed against the back of his head. Instantly dousing his fire chakra, soaking his clothes, and cooling down his aggression.

Pyro instinctively shivered as he felt an overbearing pressure cover his body. His fire chakra was completely doused, and he looked like a wet rat, but he didn’t fly off the handle. Where he was clearly superior to Frost in regards to their elements this woman was superior to him in the same way. She was the embodiment of water and not only that she was far more powerful him, her aura was a true aura not a pseudo one.

Pyro turned around to face this new aggressor with fury in his eyes, yet he kept his tongue, his body was warning him that he was no match for this woman.

The beautiful blue haired woman sauntered over with a confident look, the man in black was by her side, with a stoic, uninterested expression.

“Pyro, was it? If you demand that Frost here adds ‘sama’ to your name because you’re older then what should you call me?” The woman released her aura even more, causing Frost and the nearby Indra to both take a step backwards.

‘This woman reminds of me Ryuu. Her power is clearly in the B-rank range.’ Frost looked at this beautiful woman sceptically, he thought he’d be quite strong among his siblings, given Maya’s praises of his talent but compared to this woman and the dark man beside her he was no match. Though he did feel grateful to her stepping in and ending the fight. Pyro may not have killed him, but he would have been quite injured, he didn’t want to disgrace himself in front of Dark.

Pyro shivered under her intense glare, but his eyes still showed aggression. Not wanting to back down he spoke up with his usual arrogance.

“And who are you then?” He turned to face the woman, standing over her with a dark expression.

“Hmph! Truly an idiot indeed. Listen well Pyro I’m your eldest sister Aqua, dungeon core number 002, don’t you forget it!” Aqua spoke with anger, truly disappointed with the younger brother before her.

“You!” Pyro was called an idiot twice now. He tensed up his arm and moved to slap Aqua, ignoring the fear his body was sending his brain.

Aqua didn’t even flinch under Pyro’s threatening actions, she moved to summon water to protect herself, but it was unnecessary. The darkly dressed man beside her clicked his tongue and rapidly appeared in front of her, grabbing onto Pyro’s forearm as though it was weightless.

“That’s enough little brother!” With cold voice, the dark man clenched down on Pyro’s arm causing him to wince in pain. Darkness then exuded from the man and covered Pyro making him feel tens of times heavier.

Crack!

Pyro fell to his knees under the weight unable to resist in the slightest against this man. He was terrified. Aqua was more powerful than him and his element was naturally countered by hers, but this man felt like something different entirely, crushing him with overbearing power. He reminded him of Dark.

“I am Yami, dungeon core 001, the eldest. If anyone is too receive the title ‘sama’ it would be me.” Yami increased the weight on Pyro, causing him to sink deeper into the floor.

“Father already said that there’s only a few seconds between us so there’s no hierarchy of age, and you Pyro have already been warned about your attitude.” Yami then leaned down to whisper into Pyro’s ear. “Do I need to give you’re a physical reminder?” Pyro shivered under the dark pressure, his massive body and rippling muscles working against him instead of for him.

Pyro was born filled with aggression and rage just like his innate element. The moment Dark told him he was the third sibling he felt inferior in some way, and his anger grew. He wished to assert his dominance as an elder to the rest of the cores and trained incredibly hard to be able to not be below anyone. Yet here he was, being played with as though he was but a child. His anger was boiling yet he could not release it, Yami was too strong.

Yami frowned and increased the pressure even more seeing that Pyro was refusing to reign in his aggression. The floor began to crack under the immense weight, yet Pyro still refused to give up, constantly trying to break free of this dark prison.

“I think that’s enough Yami. Pyro’s personality though brash and uncultured makes him who he is. He won’t change just because you over power him.” A deep sonorous voice filled the room originating from the top of the grand staircase, Dark had arrived.