Conquering His Cold Heart

Karrick's hands gripped hard around the shaft of his spear, his heart beating like a relentless drum. His forces launched a fierce volley of fire and metal at their invaders, cutting down Frost's soldiers one by one, yet still they were slowly gaining ground.

Frost's soldiers were plentiful, of high rank and incredibly determined to bridge the gap. Despite being inundated with waves of fire magic, massive flaming boulders and the occasional magma trap they pushed ahead, inching ever closer to himself and his defensive line.

And now Frost and Khuno utilised their immense B-rank strength to open up a hole, temporarily allowing the soldiers behind to charge ahead without fear.

His entire body trembled the moment he felt the whisper of Frost's aura and witnessed the devastation brought down by his glaive. Frustration, anger but mostly envy coursed through his veins.

"Kenta, Margo begin phase 2." Commanded Karrick with a swing of his spear.

"Yes sir." Kenta and Margo were Karrick's most trusted and most powerful aides, the two of them leaped from the defensive wall alongside their direct subordinates, creating a bulwark between the enemy and their master.

Kenta, a peak C-ranked fire drake, whose scales could easily block steel and claws rend apart even the toughest of hides took command of the eastern section while Margo a flaming minotaur who had flames for fur and a massive battle-axe as her weapons controlled the west. They would stop the charge of the enemy or die trying.

Frost silently exchanged looks with Karrick as his forces charged ahead with maddened expressions.

Click click click

The moment Frost's forces reached a certain point an array of clicks went off and plumes of fire rose from the ground, engulfing the frontlines. Screeches erupted from the ice borne monsters as the fire assaulted their bodies without mercy, but the majority continued their charge through the fire.

The ronsos and magically inclined monsters could protect themselves to some degree thanks to their cold flame chakra and ice spells respectively but for the rest they simply ignored the pain and pushed through it in rage.

Spear, axe and sword clashed against one another, and the smell of charred flesh quickly filled the air, causing Frost's face to grimace. This battle was far different than the previous ones, his forces were truly struggling in the most painful way possible but still they fought and killed, hoping to make a path for their lord.

As time passed more and more blood was spilled, death was all around but the battle continued as the soldiers on either side were still plentiful.

"Khuno have the ronsos and ice revenants move in, I want his defensive line to feel the pressure."

"As you command my lord. Ronsos, revenants attack formations now!" Khuno gave the order with a booming voice that broke through the chaotic din of battle.

"We hear and obey!" The ronsos and revenants replied with glinting eyes, finally they were allowed to go all in.

These C-rank monsters couldn't be compared to the numerous regular soldiers that made up Frost's army no they were elites, champions that could deal real damage when let loose. 20 ronsos and 15 ice revenants answered the call and swiftly charged ahead to carve up the brutal death line that had been created between the two forces.

"Tsk guess he got tired of waiting, drakes and minotaurs endure their charge, the heat will gradually sap away their strength, continue to hold out and we can still win this war!" Karrick quickly supported his forces, urging them to play a war of attrition.

They had the home field advantage, and the environment would eat away at the enemy's strength, there was no need for them to take any aggressive risks.

His forces replied with enthusiasm as they braced themselves for a devasting charge while he himself smiled and waited for Frost's ronsos and revenant to near.

As the ronsos wreathed in their cold flame chakra and ice revenants with their durable armour picked out their targets Karrick tapped the butt of his spear against the wall activating a bunch of hidden traps. With a light rumble gaps in the tall wall opened up to reveal what appeared to be iron pipes.

"Burn" The moment the word left Karrick's lips raging hot fire spewed out from the revealed pipes. The ronsos and ice revenants were suddenly awash in fire bringing their sudden assault to a stop. The fire charred their skin and or weakened their armour but most of all stopped their momentum.

Karrick's minotaurs and drakes then quickly surrounded the ronsos and ice revenants with their numbers and used their stubbornness to hold them in place, returning the battle to a stagnant mire, that benefited Karrick.

"The little bastard really isn't going to make this fight easy is he." Khuno merely growled in response, displeased with the failure.

Frost looked across the fire filled battlefield with narrowed eyes, feeling the heat seeping through his clothes and into his pores irritated him. He'd had enough of this dreadful heat and wished to return to the cold embrace of his own dungeon and the glacial mountains. He had taught Karrick enough and had showed him who was superior in terms of dungeon management.

It was now time to test his personal development.

He looked back at Karrick who stood stalwart on the wall, gazing down at the battlefield with fiery eyes.

"Karrick I think it's time to end this war." Frost spoke with the aid of aura allowing his voice to clearly reach Karrick's ears.

"What? Starting to feel the strain brother, didn't take you for one to surrender at the final stretch" Karrick replied in a booming voice, his taunting words reaching across the room.

"Arrogant litt…." Khuno clenched his fists until they started to crack, he desperately wanted to smack Karrick across the jaw but was stopped by Frost.

"You know as well as I do Karrick that this war is already over, I've beaten you at every turn. All that remains is a field of blood and death." Frost gestured to the frontlines where countless bodies of all shapes, sizes and origins now resided, being crushed under the feet of their comrades as they continued to do battle.

Frost words carried a solemn tone within, a tone that made Karrick follow his gaze and see the plight that lay before him with a different perspective. For a moment he felt guilt and wondered if his pride and desire to not be labelled weak was worth it. He spent so much of his hard earned DP and sacrificed countless soldiers for what, another loss.

He had only recently recovered from the war with Pyro and now he was going to be in red once again, destined to fall behind even further. It was impossible to not feel some level of regret but in the end it was just some.

"You are right brother this is a field of blood and death but it's valiant blood and honourable deaths. You may have beaten me at every turn like you said… but I am not done yet. I will not bring shame to my soldiers by surrendering before I've given this war everything I've got.

So do your worst brother, we welcome the challenge." Karrick beat his chest and pointed his spear's tip directly at Frost as he roared out his promise.

His gallant figure and inspiring words conjured up a flurry of support from his forces. The battalion of fire monsters that stood between Frost and Karrick turned up the heat, attacking with a sudden burst of strength as though they were injected with stimulants, forcing Frost's forces several steps back.

"...." Frost silently took in Karrick's words and felt the battle lust radiating off him and his energetic soldiers. "Hmph." With a loud hmph Frost's lips began to turn upwards, his heart beating like a drum and music began to play in his ears, urging him to wield his glaive and dance.

"Well said little brother, let us see how your personal strength compares to your skills in management." Thick tendrils of silver cold flames wrapped around Frost's body, creating what appeared to be a suit of armour, he was gearing to enter the fray personally and Karrick was more than happy to join him.

"Khuno take care of those two aides of his but don't kill them, I'd rather not create a permanent vendetta with my brother."

"I'll try my best master but no promises." Khuno replied through clenched teeth, he too was feeling the urge to dance in amongst the enemy.

Frost lightly shook his head and internally wished Kenta and Margo luck before charging ahead with Karrick locked in his sights. He looked forward to exchanging blows with a spear user.

Don! Don!

In response Karrick tapped the wall beneath him with the butt of his spear twice in rapid succession the instant Frost entered range. Two more iron pipes at least 50% larger this time poked out from the wall and suddenly breathed red hot flames in Frost's direction, hoping to turn him into a chargrilled dungeon core.

"Not hot enough!" Unfortunately Frost wasn't like the weak rabble nor was he defenceless against the flames. While still running he placed his glaive before his body and started rotating it with extreme speed. Cold flames wrapped around the spinning glaive to create a swirl of silver fire that clashed with the red hot flames, dissipating them without mercy.

"Tsk use the flame cannon." Unperturbed by the failure of his trap Karrick called upon a group of azer (Fire borne elementals that have an appearance similar to dwarves) who pushed up a large cannon like contraption to the edge of the wall.

"Try and cool down this one brother hahahahaha."