Dungeon of Niflheim-Chapter 908: Not death but salvation (3)
Hearing the words ’bound’, ’absolute’ along with ’bare minimum’ Neve’s frown grew even more pronounced. Clearly Frost wasn’t in favour of using them as part of his military.
"...Before you explain our other choice can you expand on what you meant by a resurgence?" This was the only thing she failed to understand.
Frost smiled in response to her question; he hoped that she’d pick up on this word choice. His goal was to ascertain Neve’s understanding of her own race and the reason for its inevitable fall before laying out his own plans, hoping that doing it in such a way would make them more reciprocal to his ideas.
His gaze drifted over the lunar maidens sitting in a huddle behind Neve, their robes clearly seeing better days and the bodies hidden beneath appearing malnourished. "Neve in your own words why do you think the Lunar maidens fell into such dire straits despite their impressive ancestry." Their bloodline could be traced back to Shivali himself, a being who stood at the very peak of this world.
"...." Neve felt a tight grasp around her throat answering this question especially in the presence of her subordinates wasn’t easy. To openly disparage their long held traditions could spark division and invite indictment but Frost wasn’t asking for a placated answer he wanted the truth.
"There are a few reasons, but the main one would probably be our arrogance and stubborn pride that resulted in our dismissal of those we deemed lesser than ourselves." Disregarding the other races meant they had no allies, no one who would come to their defence, a lack in trading partners which stifled their economic growth and stability, and finally last but not least a limit in regards to their population. Closing themselves off for such a long period of time brought them nothing but decline.
Her answer bought her a round of shocked stares, the two elders Shalla and Yana even had the urge to speak up against her but held back their instinctual tongues upon receiving a sharp, intimidating glare from Frost.
He had been warned about these two elders, the most likely impediments to his plans. Their advanced age made it almost impossible for them to abandon their traditions, even now in their current deplorable state they couldn’t resist trying to disagree with their young Matriarch as she chastised the decisions of their forebearers.
"Not a bad answer but not entirely correct either...." Isolation wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, you didn’t need allies if you yourself were strong, the same held true for the economy, as long as you constantly developed your own products and services you may not need those from outside....the population problem however especially given their nature did not fare well with isolation, there was no way around that.
But the key issue regarding their decline was something else and Neve likely knew it given how harshly she was biting her lip while under his alluding gaze, she just lacked the courage to admit it.
"In my opinion the main reason the Lunar maidens have declined to such a dismal state is because they have rejected their own nature, you have forgotten your own design, what your creator envisioned when he birthed your race." Frost bluntly accused their entire race of blasphemy against Shivali that they had betrayed his intentions, a heavy crime given the origin of their arrogance and pride, of course the man himself didn’t really care what they chose merely viewing it as a shame, a decision made out of free will. Some Gods may view their creations as slaves, servants completely beholden to their will but Shivali was not among them, he was a big believer in a life of freedom.
Neve’s expression immediately darkened as did the rest of the Lunar maidens’ such a crime was difficult to bear.
"T...that’s..." Neve’s lungs filled with fire as she tried to retort against Frost’s accusation, but the man wasn’t willing to let her, or her companions wiggle out of this. He needed to set them straight, to purge these damaging traditions from their lives so as to ensure a glorious future. He had high hopes for the Lunar maidens and knew in his heart that their rise to prominence would help erase one of his uncle’s longstanding regrets.
"Are you not just like the succubae race, a species that centres around devouring the lust of others? Your appearance, your bodies, your instinctual mannerisms and even your natural pheromones are all designed to make you appealing to others sexually. Do you not crave carnal energy? Does your body not scream for you to engage in such acts? Can you honestly tell me that your entire philosophy isn’t centred around denying these instinctual urges, urges that stem from your biological design." It was fine to follow your own desires and dreams but to deny your innate nature to such a degree was nothing but harmful, you are who you are. Neve and the Lunar maidens needed to understand that their nature was not shameful, that it wasn’t something to abhor but rather something they should embrace especially given how far they’ve fallen because of such denial.
Enduring Frost’s harsh, pressuring words the two elders Yana and Shalla couldn’t help but cough up blood, their sense of shame and rejection being too much to handle. Frost was assaulting their core traditions, the pride that had been passed down for millennia, an essence that had been drilled into them since they were small and practices they still carried out to this day. Even now they still covered as much of their skin as possible, believing that revealing their bodies to the world was a shameful act.
The younger generation -barring the children who still had little to no knowledge about such topics- didn’t react quite so violently, their expressions were still dark and several sported shameful blushes on their cheeks but none of them spurted blood like Yana and Shalla.
Neve however being the focal point of Frost’s tirade felt a sharp pain in her lungs. As the Matriarch of the Lunar maidens’ main lineage she should defend the traditions of her ancestors, honour their beliefs but as someone who lived through their most recent downfall, a fall that would have spelled their end if not for the Primordial Ice King she couldn’t help but question such traditions in the back of her mind. Perhaps if she was given enough time she could start openly questioning such things herself, but Frost wasn’t willing to wait, he brought their honoured traditions into focus and started tearing them apart with brutal truths, truths that she struggled to deny because of who said them. Anyone else she could hold her head up high, retain the stereotypical demeanour that was beholden to her race, but Frost was related to their greatest ancestor. Their pride and arrogance stemmed from Shivali so how could they argue with someone directly related to him, to do so would in fact go against the very traditions Frost was tearing apart.
"Your race has devolved to this state because of harmful traditions, denying what you are has made you weak Neve!" Frost loudly stated, his aura once again being released, pressuring the Lunar maidens, making their pitiful strength abundantly clear. Neve couldn’t even raise her head before such might.
"If you want your race to have a resurgence, to once again attain what you had in ages long past you must forgo such harmful traditions and embrace what you truly are." Only by becoming like the succubae, monsters that feed on carnal lust could the Lunar maidens regain the strength that was hidden in their genealogy. Without such nutrition they would continue to waste away and eventually if given long enough devolve into creatures who lacked intelligence hardly different from low level beasts.
"...What are you proposing Lord Frost and how would it be any different from what that brute suggested?" After enduring the heat in her lungs for a few seconds and ruminating on the word ’resurgence’ Neve let out a deep, repressed sigh her face looking haggard as though she just went through a life altering ordeal.
In response Frost’s smile stretched from ear to ear, the fish had taken the bait now it was time to reel it in. He stroked his chin in deep thought, piecing together how he’d go about the next step of his plan.
"Hehehe well then how about talk about the offer made by that brute." Even without being present when he made his ultimatum Frost could easily surmise his intentions. "He probably promised you protection in leu of sexual services, perhaps he even offered to take you the leader of the Lunar maidens as his concubine, but you and I both know that that’s nothing more than a pretext." Before continuing he ran his gaze across each and every one of the lunar maidens making them instinctively shiver. "The moment he returns your fate will be sealed, each and every one of you will be used like disposable products, fucked over and over again to satisfy their lust before ultimately being abandoned like used trash." Frost spared no punches determined to shatter any semblance of naive hope that they held towards their second option.
His words had Neve violently shaking, her repressed fears rising to the surface, such a fate being easy to imagine given the man in question. She knew that accepting his outstretched hand would result in a fate worse than death but even so she couldn’t help but foster some degree of hope. Perhaps she’d be able to win over his affection, play an important role in his ambitions but Frost was right he didn’t see them as anything but products to be used and discarded. There would be no happy ending....Frost was their only true choice, regardless of his terms rejecting him meant death.
In terms of a business transaction Neve and her maidens lacked even the slightest bit of leverage, Frost held all the power and not only was he aware of it he was rubbing it in their faces, shattering whatever remained of their spirit.
"You don’t have any other option Neve." Frost whispered in a malicious manner like an insidious merchant about to force a group of poor and ignorant victims into an unsavoury contract. Even Kiba who was doing his best to remain silent and appear menacing (instructions given by Frost shortly before they met up with the Lunar maidens) struggled to keep a straight face, his master sounded so evil.
Frost’s whispers were like those of a devil in Neve’s ear, her heart was on the brink of breaking, the heavy weight that she had been enduring despite her young age threatened to crush her in this moment. Her stubborn struggles till now faltering at the last step.
But just as she was about to completely collapse the air around Frost shifted, gone was the devil instead what remained was a handsome angel emitting a sense of kindness.
"But don’t worry... I am not that brute."
