Dungeon of Niflheim-Chapter 913: Speed vs power
"Kill them all!" The 7 evil elites that were accompanying Valend quickly got their act together before any real damage had been dealt. They were at a disadvantage numerically, but their quality was higher and they each had a great deal more experience when it came to fighting. If Frost didn’t manage to wrap up his battle quickly then it was obvious which side would come out victorious in the end. Even with Kiba’s capabilities and Neve’s newly risen strength the best they could do was drag it out.
Several tens of metres away from the slugfest Frost was engaging Valend the enemy frost giant and a foe who stood roughly on the same level as himself.
Don! Bang! Schwing!
"I could have sworn that cunt was only at the late stages last time we met." Glaive struck against hammer repeatedly, each time ending in a rough stalemate. The two were still in the process of feeling one another out, neither moving in for the kill quite yet.
"Just because you haven’t been able to improve Valend doesn’t mean that’s the same for others." Frost answered with no small amount of contempt in his voice. Valend hadn’t made a lick of progress since the war in Furano in fact he even appeared somewhat weaker than what he remembered.
During the end stages of the war Frost had a clear line of sight into Valend’s battles, the giant was definitely in the mid stages of B-rank, a real powerhouse even without the aid of his war mammoth mount. Such an opponent shouldn’t be this easy to handle.
Valend’s physical strength was immense, a few levels higher than his own but nothing he couldn’t absorb with his glaive and lower body. The ground may quake and shatter with his every swing, but Frost was left uninjured, not even the slightest tremor amongst his fingers. He found this strange as the man he was engaging fell short of his expectations.
’I didn’t personally cross blows with him back then and I have improved tremendously since the war... maybe I misjudged his strength.’ If this was truly the capabilities of a mighty frost giant in the mid stages of B-rank then what kind of monster did that make him?
"Shut up! You’re strange enough being able to exchange blows with a noble giant like myself despite only having crossed into B-rank less than a year ago but there’s no way in hell that weak bitch managed to suddenly jump to the peak of C-rank within a few days! What did you give her?" Valend brought down his hammer with an even greater force than normal summoning a plume of rock dust as Frost effortlessly evaded it.
"Hmph guess you’re not that stupid after all." Frost launched a sudden thrust forcing Valend to block with the head of his hammer.
DONG!
A dull bell like sound reverberated when the tip of Frost’s glaive smashed into Valend’s hammer, the force behind the thrust being so strong that the massive giant was sent sliding across the ground and into a nearby rockface.
Khione taught him that move, not a skill just an application of movement that resulted in extreme force. Instead of wielding the shaft with both hands and stabbing Frost held it by the butt with his right hand and pushed and twisted, creating an attack with much greater range and a surprisingly high lethality. The only downside being the potential double edged effect. The move placed great strain on the palm, wrist, arm and shoulder of its user as well as the weapon itself. However given that the glaive used was of upper 4 star quality there wasn’t even the slightest sign of damage, his palm however felt a little bruised, the butt wasn’t perfectly in centre of his palm when he struck so he felt some of the rebound. His expression however revealed no signs of pain.
Boom!
"Hmph nothing but a tickle." Valend pulled himself out of the rock face like nothing happened, his shoulders cracking as he stretched. "Change of plans I won’t kill you tonight instead I’ll chop off your limbs and torture out ever drop of information in that little head of yours and then only then will I send you to the afterlife." He spat out a chunk of flehm and a little blood before once again entering a battle ready stance. Though he shrugged it off, that last attack shook up his internal organs and despite his aggressive stance he was feeling a sharp pain in his lungs.
"You don’t have the strength Valend."
"We’ll see."
The time for testing the waters was over, it was time to start the real fight.
As if in perfect sync the two men, one standing ten metres tall and the other roughly two charged straight for one another their auras deeply infused into their weapons.
"[Titan’s judgement]"
"[Flight of the Luan]" Both used advanced level skills, apparitions of energy violently clashing against each other followed by the sound of metal striking metal.
Ding! Don! Schwing!
Blow after blow was met with rapidly increasing ferocity, the air exploded and the terrain around them transformed as if two vibrant volcanoes were vying for the title of most destructive.
Frost was faster than his opponent, lashing out three no five times as often but Valend was used to fighting smaller adversaries. He took advantage of his size to limit the areas in which Frost could attack, directing him to the areas most defended. Any blow that made it through his defences resulted in nothing more than a negligible cut. Frost giants were strong and large in stature, but it wasn’t their physical prowess that made them dangerous but their durability. The skin and dense muscle of a frost giant was hard to cut or pierce even with a quality weapon.
Within a few minutes a thick layer of blood marred the majority of Valend’s exposed body, yet the man didn’t show the slightest sign of being affected. His swings remained just as powerful, just as accurate and just as devasting.
He may be able to endure the occasional blow, but Frost was nowhere near capable enough to withstand the same level of torment, he was built differently.
Boom!
Another one of Valend’s fierce assaults failed to reach him, landing once again on the rock floor.
"Slippery little coward." After dozens of attacks Valend was still failing to even catch the hem of Frost’s robes let alone any part of his body and once again as a consequence of overdrawing himself for a large swing he was rewarded with a fresh set of cuts.
"Hmph how crude. Just because I’m faster than you that means I’m a coward." Frost felt a brief surge of anger and in response moved to make a more meaningful wound upon Valend’s sluggish body. A reaction that the frost giant anticipated and even hoped for.
’Hahaha an emotional fool makes for a dead fool.’ With unusual speed Valend pulled back his hammer, shortened his grip and let loose a swing that rivalled the speed of a sword.
"DIEEEEE!!!" He roared at the top of his lungs, overextending the limit of his muscles to the point that they groaned in protest, but such minor pain was nothing in the eyes of victory. The moment Frost was hit by the head of his hammer his bones would shatter and his organs would burst....alas Valend was under a great misconception.
"Fool do you really think I’m that naïve?" Frost practically whispered yet his voice was akin to that of an immense bellow in Valend’s ears. The mighty frost giant who was puffed up with arrogance and the idea of Frost being shattered by his hammer opened his eyes as far as they could go. Frost’s lips were curved into a smile that was filled with contempt. He had been played.
"When it comes to battle I never drop my guard." Frost’s eyes radiated a bright blue hue, since Valend’s first swing he had be using the [Lunar Eyes] Khione taught him, activating them for just a brief second or so, slowing the already sluggish frost giant to a crawl. His every move, twitch and glance was ascertained leaving not a single thing up to chance. Luck and a speed slightly faster than his opponent was not enough for Frost to dodge everything that was thrown at him, the divide between the two of them wasn’t that large.
Frost held true to his most recent training determined to use everything in his arsenal to kill such a worthy opponent. Thankfully Valend was a good punching bag, able to carry on fighting despite him making over a dozen cuts across his body.
As Valend’s accelerated swing was about to make contact with Frost’s chest the young Dungeon core gracefully twisted his body relying on some of the force generated to enter a fast spin. He completely evaded the hammer’s path, moved in close and raised his glaive high above his head. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Dancing on the blade edge was a dense azure flame much purer and sharper than what was there not two seconds prior. The aura infused also felt more abundant granting the weapon an even greater sense of presence, a death blow was coming, one far more lethal than what Valend threw out.
’Fuck!’ Valend only had the time to curse internally before Frost lashed out, choosing to forgo the use of a skill so as to maintain the advantage of a surprise, speed was key to this attack.
Schwing!
