Dungeon of Niflheim-Chapter 911: Reunion with a former enemy
In the depths of the mountain range that served as the barrier between the external and inner regions of the Glacial mountains Frost and his caravan of Lunar maidens encountered an ambush. A surprise given how thorough Frost had been when it came to sensing the way ahead.
A mysterious veil masked the enemy from all manner of sight, invisible to the naked eye even when standing directly ahead. They were only discovered thanks to Frost’s and Kiba’s natural instincts, a feeling that their journey so far had been too easy.
Convinced of the threat Frost brought the caravan to a swift halt and called out to the invisible foe. He was met with intimidating laugher before a massive arm reached beyond the veil and tore it apart.
Their enemy was the frost giant who had been hounding the Lunar maidens for the past couple weeks, the tyrant of the nearby force. Alongside him were 7 men of varying species each with an air of evil surrounding them. Their eyes blood red and filled with lust, hunger and malevolence as they roamed the hidden figures of the Lunar maidens. Several faltered under their terrifying gaze, their legs trembling and becoming like jelly as they came to understand the depths of their enemy. Even the weakest among them were late stage C-rank, more than a match for the injured elders Yana and Shalla.
The frost giant leader honed in on Neve, the young matriarch. He spoke with evident disdain and contempt, mocking her as a foolish woman who didn’t know her place. He had plans for her and her kin, short term plans but plans, nonetheless. Her actions today however ruined those plans as to uphold his prestige amongst his forces he now had kill every last one of them. No one could refuse him and live especially a group of weak rejects like them.
Strangely while the frost giant was interacting with Neve and the men behind him were using their eyes to feast upon the Lunar maidens Frost was silent, practically unresponsive after seeing the giant’s face. He merely frowned and titled his head slightly as though trying to ascertain something, a memory perhaps that had been eroded over time. There was something familiar about the frost giant, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
As for the aggregate strength of the enemy he wasn’t all that surprised, the giant likely summoned his highest ranked elites for this assault, a reward for their loyalty perhaps.
’Kiba can probably endure against two peak ranks for a while allowing Neve and the two elders to face off against another 2 or 3.’ The remaining adults would thus have to survive against the remaining until the battle shifted.
Frost wasn’t too worried about their current situation, they had the numerical advantage, and he trusted in Kiba’s ability to drag things out. As long as he could defeat the enemy leader then there’d be no problem.
’I’ve definitely seen that face before but where?’ The longer he stared at the giant the stronger that itch of familiarity became but before he was able to isolate their relationship the frost giant beat him to it.
"Eh!" The moment the frost giant turned his attention to Frost instead of Neve he was stunned, his jaw hanging agape as his heart started to thump a mile a minute. He would never forget that face.
He blinked rapidly and even rubbed his eyes a few times as though unable to believe that someone he desperately wanted to kill had somehow made his way here into his domain, saving him the trouble of tracking him down at a later date when his forces had finished growing.
"Hehehehehe!" Suddenly the frost giant laughed like a maniac, his booming voice nearly causing a rockslide. "It seems the heavens truly favour me after all." He covered his face with his right hand in an attempt to restrain his stretching smile. "Banished to this scab of a hell hole I never imagined I’d be able to enact my revenge so soon. That face of yours has haunted my dreams for months, Frooooossssttttt!!!" The frost giant’s aura and dense bloodlust billowed outwards, pressing down on every single individual in the vicinity, his subordinates included and they were reminded once again of his overwhelming power.
"Ahhh now I remember." The young Dungeon core who was the prime target of the man’s aura however was completely unphased by his attempts at intimidation he even had the forethought to release his own aura, subtlety protecting the four children that were being strictly guarded by the rest of the Lunar maidens. Faced with the giant’s loud yelling and a face was that warped by a mixture of anger and joy Frost’s mind was dragged back to the past, to a time where he came across a foe far beyond his means.
"You’re Vaden or something right? That black tattoo marring half your face threw me for a bit but it’s definitely you."
"It’s Valend you BASTARD!!!"
This was the frost giant he came across just outside the Dungeon, long before he first established the camp that was now thriving as a city state. Back then he was riding a war mammoth and Frost was absolutely no match for him even if he had Findley and Khuno backing him up. Thankfully he was merely passing through but that wasn’t the end of their entanglement.
They met again on the Furano battlefield, Valend was one of the leaders of the monster stampede while Frost played a major role in the city’s defence and as far as Valend was concerned the bane of his existence.
Because of his aid and because of his growth in battle Furano was able to hold on until their reinforcements arrived resulting in the decimation of the stampede’s entire force, Valend being the sole survivor.
With the tide turning as A-rank generals entered the fray Valend and his stampede colleague Frostine ran for their lives, the former was ultimately caught by Frost and the female general known as Anya while he managed to scamper away with significant injuries.
"Apologies, Valend then. Been a while since we crossed paths. The tattoo’s new right, can’t say you suit it though." Frost brushed off Valend’s rage, acting like he was reuniting with an old friend rather than a lifelong enemy.
"This is the mark of an exile! A brand that identifies me as a criminal within my clan and it’s because of you that I have to bear it!" Valend was infuriated by Frost’s detached attitude, his right hand tightening around the shaft of his weapon, a large two handed hammer that could easily shatter a small hill.
"Me? That’s a bit of a stretch; I wasn’t even the one that fought you." Frost pointed at himself struggling to understand the reasoning behind Valend’s hatred. Sure they were enemies on opposing sides and yes he did help chase him at the end of the war, but they never did properly cross blades as back then even after reaching B-rank he wasn’t a match for the mighty frost giant, his opponent was instead the much weaker rindar siblings.
"Without you, Furano would have fallen, the stampede would have been a success, and I wouldn’t have been incarcerated by my clan upon my return." The day Valend dragged himself back to his clan, his body covered in scars, alone and weak he was beaten by his kin and locked in prison alongside the most heinous of criminals.
He fell to the temptation of the stampede -a sign of weakness in their eyes-, marched upon the southlands with hundreds of the clans’ mammoths only to end up disgracefully defeated, a coward who slinked back home after every last one of his comrades died gloriously in battle.
If he had brought back news of victory, bounty and riches from his conquest his clan could have overlooked his enthrallment, but he didn’t so what awaited was not the comfort of home and the warm embrace of his family but treatment befitting that of a traitor.
After being charged by the clan’s high council Valend received the mark of an exile upon his face, a black tattoo that could only be removed by a high priest from the temple of Ymir. He was then banished to the edges of frost giant territory, forbidden to ever return until he overcame his disgrace i.e. ascended to S-rank or performed a deed so heroic that it would erase any crime he had previously committed.
He was tossed out into a raging blizzard with nothing but the clothes on his back and the hammer in his hand, his fate no longer being of interest to his clan.
He marched and marched through the mountains, his anger, hatred and wrath growing with every step. His mind replaying the events of his demise over and over again until he honed in on his would be enemy.
Frost and the people of Furano, he would slaughter them all, only then could his heart be at peace. With that as his goal he stopped bemoaning his fate and instead starting working to achieve his heart’s desire. Through force he gathered subordinates and fashioned a temporary fort near an entrance into the boundary, growing his strength for an assault against his enemy. If he was to take down Furano and Frost he needed a proper army, one that wasn’t as haphazardly put together like the monster stampede was.
A goal that would likely be many years in the making given the forces that supported them but as if fate was smiling down on him from on high one of his enemies decided to walk into his domain without even a single protector, as if offering his head up on a silver platter.
The young elf looking man that had haunted his dreams and who had set ablaze this festering hatred in the depths of his heart was now standing before him, once again as his enemy.....could life be any sweeter than this?
