Dungeon of Niflheim

427 Chapter 427: War ursa

With his girlfriend’s blessing Frost rose up off her lap and entered a space warp, teleporting him to the dungeon’s first section where his elite troops were ready and waiting. The over 12 hours without a single wave had worn their nerves thin, always on edge waiting, not knowing when the next battle would come.

With Frost’s arrival however everyone present nearby felt invigorated. Those with the ability to make facial expressions smiled wildly as their blood started pumping in excitement, their lord and prime commander had arrived, battle was nigh.

Back in the private space Maya rubbed her thighs, they had become slightly numb from housing Frost’s head. She was smiling but internally quite nervous, monsters that could truly threaten Frost were coming.

“Frost will be preoccupied with his battles, so he’ll be relying on the two of you to keep watch and spot any signs of danger.” Maya looked towards the two phoenix kin would were slightly trembling in front of the floating core. Multiple screens were showing the winter highlands section from all manner of angles.

“Un!” Nanna and Loki nodded their heads and grunted, their eyes remaining fixed on the screens. They knew what they had to do.

‘Haaaaaaa so similar.’ Maya sighed and shook her head before getting up and moving to the kitchen. She still couldn’t take an active part in dungeon management, but she could easily procure refreshments.

“Milord.”

“Master” Findlay and Khuno both stepped forward the moment Frost arrived, each sporting fire in their eyes and wild smiles on their faces. Seeing their expressions allowed Frost to eliminate any remnants of anxiety. A wild almost mad smile quickly grew on his face mirroring that of his monsters.

“The horn’s calling once again boys and girls. I hope you’ve brought you’re A-game because the stampede certainly has.”

.....

“Uwaaaaagggggghhhhhhh!” Everyone roared out in reply causing Frost’s smile to grow further.

“Good answer. Let’s give these invaders our very best welcome! Move out!” Frost raised his glaive up high before moving into position.

His elite troops mirrored his actions, getting into position before the enemy charged through their doors.

Frost stood alongside the ice and frost revenants with his glaive standing vertical against the ground. (Think Gandalf against the balrog or Hannyabal against Luffy saying you shall not pass, very imposing.)

To his right was Findlay caressing his battle axe, eagerly waiting for the arrival of his destined foe. His blood lust and pseudo aura emanating subconsciously.

“Relax Findlay. Your opponent is stronger than you are so you must be in complete control of your emotions if you want survive.” Frost immediately poured a bucket of cold water on his commander’s unrestrained excitement.

“....Yes master, thank you.” Findlay thanked Frost for his advice and retracted back his bloodlust.

Khuno was hidden beneath the snow along with his ronso kin, ready to leap out at the opportune time. Frost enlisted his entire crew of C-rank monsters, no need for managed shift rotations anymore. This first wave would not make it past the winter highlands.

A couple minutes later a cacophony or roars could be heard as a swarm of high ranking monsters in a frenzied state barrelled through the dungeon’s ‘narrow’ entrance, demolishing parts of it as they passed.

Bears, lesser drakes, yetis as well as wolves charged forward and quickly caught sight of the wall made of revenants as well as the heavy threatening pressure emitted by Frost.

“Rooooaaaarrrrrr!” Their frenzied state as well as the pressure emitted by their leader the war ursa left no hesitation, they all charged forward with their sharp teeth prominently displayed in threat.

“Revenants hold your ground, let them come to us. Yuki-onnas pelt them with your magic once they reach within 100 metres. Ronsos act as you see fit, you’ll know what timing is best.”

“Yes sir.” The revenants and yuki-onnas replied loudly while the ronsos silently smiled, keeping their presence hidden.

Stomp! Stomp!

As the D-ranks roared and charged head first towards Frost and the revenants the war ursa made its presence known. Even among the other C-ranks and dozens of D-ranks it was hard to miss.

It walked through the dungeon’s entrance alone and took an eyeful of Frost and the monsters surrounding him. It could feel the threat posed by Frost and scowled. Unlike its lesser kin the war ursa retained some intelligence, so it knew the threat Frost, and this set up posed to its life, but it couldn’t exactly retreat. The mana vein’s corruption resulted in a pounding desire to attack and devour, stalling its advance was the best it could do.

Let the weaker more animalistic monsters charge in first, test the waters.

‘Tch higher ranking monsters certainly pose far greater danger.’ Frost frowned as he felt himself and his forces being calmly judged and evaluated. A patient and forward thinking adversary was dangerous.

He looked to his side where Findlay was standing, whose gaze was focused on the war ursa.

‘He’s got a real uphill battle ahead of him.’ Frost couldn’t help but feel worried.

“Khuno and I will do our best to separate the war ursa from the rest, what happens after that will be on you.”

“Understood master, I won’t let you down.” Findlay’s bloodlust and pseudo aura surfaced once again, forcing the war ursa to focus on him. However its reaction was anything but positive, it scoffed at Findlay, mocking his display of strength.

Findlay of course flared up in anger but managed to collect himself thanks to Frost being by his side plus the war ursa couldn’t really be blamed for its disdain. He was beneath it in the pecking order at least strength wise. Frost already made it clear to him that he wouldn’t be able to survive let alone win if he relied on his physical strength. He had a good brain, he just had to use it.

The moment the horde crossed the 100 metre line the yuki-onnas let loose their spells, breaking up the advancing lines and slowing their progression.

“Revenants raise arms and brace!” Frost roared out his command and in response moved from a stalwart stance to an attacking one. Frost did the same with his glaive.

Booooooommmmmmm!

A massive sonic boom reverberated throughout the area when the opposing sides fiercely clashed. Bits of blood and runic armour exploded outwards, but the defence line remained in place.

Schwing!

Frost slashed downwards blowing away a lesser drake like it was nothing while his eyes remained focused on the war ursa that was slowly marching towards them.

Suddenly the many hidden ronsos leapt out from underneath the snow successfully catching a few monster unawares but many other reacted swiftly enough to withstand the ambush. What ensued was a bloody brawl between high ranking monsters, one that would last a fair amount of time.

Frost rebounded several foolish attackers, injuring them but not killing them. Even at his level he’d need to deal out a few attacks or at least one with his full focus if he wished to kill. He was currently donned in a thin yet robust layer of ice chakra armour making him appear quite gallant.

“It’s making its move.” He loudly announced to Findlay who was still nearby as well as Khuno who had revealed himself and was currently holding a yeti by the throat. The two commanders redirected their gazes to the upper C-ranked war ursa.

It had sent the D-ranks ahead to test the waters and was quite glad it did, a messy battlefield was beneficial to its survival given Frost’s presence.

The 7 other C-ranks under its charge moved in next further muddying the waters, making it harder for Frost’s monsters to manoeuvre between opponents.

Its gaze remained on Frost for most of the time, it did briefly glance at Khuno before frowning. Estimating that Khuno was roughly equal to it in power, another danger that it wished to stay clear of.

The war ursa began scanning the muddied waters looking for a safe approach, an opponent that it could sink its teeth into.

An unfortunate ronso was pushed to the edges of the battlefield by one of the entry C-ranks and got caught in its sights. Moving at a speed almost unimaginable for its size the war ursa dashed ahead, arriving before the unfortunate ronso in a fraction of a second.

The area around the ronso grew dark, obscured in shadow by the war ursa’s bulk. He trembled as an intense sense of impeding doom filled his body. He looked up just in time to see the war ursa’s massive claws crashing down against his chest. He had no time to defend himself or even retreat, the swipe was true.

Bang!

The unfortunate ronso felt his ribs crack and a searing sharp pain across the majority of his torso before finding himself airborne. The weight behind the war ursa’s attack was akin to a mountain, far heavier that what the ronso could withstand even if he was truly prepared. He soon found himself careening through the air, smashing through some invading monsters before being caught by Khuno who sported a menacing glare.

“Cough cough” The unfortunate ronso violently coughed up blood as he held his chest in pain. The wound was devasting but thankfully not fatal, the armour the ronso wore made sure of that.