Dungeon of Niflheim

Over an hour later Frost finally reached the final floor of Karrick's dungeon, a floor that far surpassed the previous floors in terms of temperature.

Tssss

Droplets of sweat evaporated on contact with the ground, the entire place was akin to the inside of an oven, unbearable to a normal person let alone one blessed by ice.

Multiple weaker monsters and those that were injured collapsed to the ground, their bodies' in pain and turning red from the heat.

"Shit! Those below D-rank leave the floor immediately, yuki-onnas and ronsos double your output for the veil and your cold flames." The lower ranking monsters would practically dead weight in this environment. After delving for so long into somewhere so inhospitable and fighting against their antithesis they were too exhausted to endure the punishment.

"Sorry master." Those who could articulate the common tongue apologised before dragging themselves and their allies upwards to a more hospitable floor, a small detachment of lesser yuki-onnas joined them to cast [veil of ice] as they travelled.

"Everyone else stick close together and keep your eyes peeled, fighting in an environment of this level will be immensely draining on our stamina and strength but manageable as long as we keep on task. We've trained for this, ronsos form concentric circles within our formation and channel your cold flames, yuki-onnas, start chugging mana potions if you need to.

The only magic that will be of any use here is the [veil of ice] so no need to restrict your mana usage."

""Yes master"" The yuki-onnas did as intrusted, pumping more mana into the surround veil of ice while the ronsos abandoned their role as vanguards to further reduce the insufferable temperature. It'd be a slog to the end, but he was determined to get there and face Karrick openly.

Thankfully Karrick pulled back the vast majority of his remaining forces to the final blockade, leaving just the traps to bar their path which failed rather miserably thanks to Frost's keen senses and his lack in utilising them as effectively as his brother. It did slow them down though which prolonging their time in the oven.

By the time Frost reached Karrick's position he had lost most of his patience and the smile that used to adorn his face was replaced with a frown, he really, really didn't like heat nor did his monsters.

"What's wrong brother you're looking rather red in the face." Karrick who had been on the backfoot for the majority of this war and had been trembling in anxiety as Frost grow closer couldn't help but act smug upon seeing his expression.

"….." All he got in response was a chilling glare that sent shivers down his spine, Frost clearly wasn't in the mood for jokes at this point, he heard that loud and clear. But even so it was uplifting to see him struggle, a small win amongst a long string of losses.

Frost quickly doused himself in cold flames and coated himself in ice armour that almost immediately started to melt.

"I really hate fire." He spoke these four words with great force as he straightened his back and regained his usual demeanour.

"I'll try to not take offence to that."

"Oh you should take a little."

"….That's just mean."

"Well I am pretty pissed right now." More and more tendrils of cold flame chakra danced around him as if mirroring his hatred.

"Pot calling the kettle black brother as I too am pretty pissed." Red hot flames danced around Karrick and his spear as his voice rose in volume.

"My forces have barely made into your fourth floor before being completely decimated whereas you've made it to my final floor with the vast majority of yours still intact. You didn't even have to put in much effort for your victory. Tell me brother how can that not PISS ME OFF!!" Karrick roared out his frustrations, his anger, his helplessness, catching Frost by surprise.

"....There is always a taller mountain little brother no matter how strong you become but as long as you don't give up you can learn to scale it, to surpass your previous self." Frost was silent for a few seconds before quoting a phrase from a book he read which of course came off as a lecture from the strong to the weak, angering Karrick further but eventually the message got through.

"I guess I should thank you for the lessons, but the class isn't quite finished, is it?"

"No I don't believe it is Karrick." Frost tightened his grip around his glaive and did his best to ignore the surrounding heat.

"Those sapients?"

"I'll explain once we're finished here." Frost flourished his glaive and readied himself for battle.

Karrick smiled from ear to ear as his heart was set ablaze, finally he could pummel out his frustrations. "Kenta, Margo let's turn up the heat."

"Rooooooaaaaarrrrr!!!!!" Karrick's forces roared out at the top of their lungs, shaking the ground and establishing a threatening pressure upon Frost's forces.

"Tsk he couldn't have used worse words." Frost clicked his tongue before readying himself and his forces for the fight of their lives.

"This battle will not be easy, but it is one we shall not lose, are you with me?"

"Always master." Khuno, the ronsos, yuki-onnas and revenants all pledged themselves for the upcoming battle with unwavering dedication while the drakes and wolves roared and howled in support. They'd follow their lord into fire, literally.

"Hahahahahaha well then let's show my brother our power, the unrelenting spirit of ice and the might of the Niflheim dungeon." With those inspiring words Frost led the charge, diving headfirst at Karrick's forces.

The moment he started his charge fire and magma was shot into the air by Karrick's spellcasters and rained down upon the invaders with fierce vengeance. The mighty [veil of ice] that protected Frost and his group throughout their delve barely even slowed the barrage down. The environment and elemental disparity had never been clearer.

A large ball of magma smashed into the chest plate of an ice revenant, seriously cracking the mighty piece of armour, exposing the core hidden within. Across the field two lesser yuki-onnas were set ablaze as if they were made of dried tinder. The losses only continued to accrue as they charged.

"Dammit! Khuno, ronsos protection!" Frost felt a sharp pain in his heart as he heard the many screams of his monsters dying behind him. These were monsters he fought beside, talked to and spent a hell of a lot of DP and time on thus every one of their deaths was painful.

"Yes sir!" Khuno and the ronsos acted immediately, charging ahead and jumping up to knock down the worst of the barrage before more of their weaker forces succumbed to the rain of fire. It was taxing work but necessary.

Boom!

"Tsk should have expected that!" Frost narrowly avoided a nasty trap that Karrick placed before his defensive line. A plume of red hot magma burst forth from ground the moment his foot touched the marked area. If he was a split second slower he'd have been doused in the burning liquid.

"Watch out for traps."

"Master look out!"

"What! Shit!" Practically the same instant he dodged the magma trap a massive flaming boulder came flying in his direction. Without Khuno leaping to his aid to push him away he would have been struck, sent reeling to back of formation, bruised and battered, not a good look for a leader.

While Frost had ballistae and similarly style war machines Karrick had access to what appeared to be trebuchets, very long ranged catapults that could hurl massive spheres from behind the walls, nasty piece of equipment that sacrifices mobility and rate of fire for distance and devastating impact. Though he managed to escape such an attack thanks to Khuno several others weren't quite so lucky.

A ronso for example was struck mid-air, his body barrelled into a nearby wall before falling into a pit of lava, beyond the reach of his allies…dead.

"He's really going all out with his forces this time." Frost remarked with a pronounced frown after crossing another hundred metres. The monsters at Karrick's beck and call this time were far more numerous and of much higher quality than before. Getting to them wasn't going to be easy, thankfully he brought a veritable army as well as a mighty general.

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"Enough of this shit, Khuno let's clear a path [Wyvern's maw]" Frost seeing his monsters falling at a substantial rate conjured up his ultimate strength and called on Khuno to do the same.

"[Freezing tornado]" Both Frost and Khuno activated one of their most powerful skills. A massive wyvern's maw appeared behind Frost's glaive, showing off its mighty fangs. Aura seeped into the maw granting it substance and density. Next chilling sliver flames with splits of azure danced around it, enhancing its already devasting power.

For Khuno his halberd hummed with power, waves of energy rotated around the blade and shaft, quickly merging with his cold fire chakra to create a raging blizzard. The two charged forward at the exact same time with their skills in full swing.

A fierce torrent of energy slammed forward, wrecking apart the ensuing barrage and even reaching the protective walls where some of Karrick's forces were stationed.

"Charge ahead now!!" Frost loudly bellowed making sure not even a single second was wasted, this reprieve wouldn't last long. At his command Frost's forces charged ahead following after their liege and commander caring not for their defences in that moment, all so they could shorten the distance between them and the enemy.

Having the shoe on the other foot felt terrible, without their long range ice magic supporting both their charges and defences they realised just how much their truly relied on it. Regular arrows and bolts alone weren't enough to compete with what Karrick was throwing at them.

Thankfully they were strong enough to endure and gradually gain ground though without Frost taking action the losses would have been momentous.

Karrick stood at the edge of his defensive wall, watching the entire battle unfold before his eyes. His forces were terrifying, they had significant advantages in this fight yet still they were being slowly pushed back even before Frost and his ronso commander decided to unveil another secret.

"So you're also at that level."