Dungeon of Niflheim-Chapter 763 : Beware of the skies (6)

High in the air Frost's chakra armour was completely shattered, his body broken, battered and riddled with deep cuts that revealed not only his bloodied flesh but his pristine white bones, cracked and fragmented.

His eyes were glazed, his vision a blurry mess, obscured by an endless stream of blood running from a crack in skull.

His glaive the [Wolf howling at the moon] was torn from his iron grip and sent careening far off into the distance.

Frost was a bloody mess, his conscious nothing more than a dwindling candle in the wind.

Despite his wounds however there was a bold almost maddened smile smeared across his lips as he gazed up at his enemy. He could no longer see the beast's form, even its shadow escaped his gaze by this point.

The last thing he saw before darkness threatened to take over was the sight of his summoned Luan scraping its claw across the Zu's left cheek, drawing blood from the mighty monster.

For him this was a win.

A short moment later Frost's eyes completely glazed over and the remaining force acting upon his body sent him flying through the air like a ragdoll, spraying his blood across the snow covered ground.

"Damn worm!" As a stinging sensation appeared on its left cheek the Artic Zu hatefully bellowed, its chest rising and falling as its anger threatened to overwhelm it.

It hadn't been wounded in years, the last time being when it fought for dominion over this region, a glorious duel between mighty A-rank monsters far beyond the reach of mere worms like Frost and Kiba.

Yet here it was with blood dripping down its left cheek and its would be prey smiling from ear to ear as he was sent flying by its attack.

The Zu was absolutely livid, its eyes turning a deep blood red as its feathers became erect, turning the surrounding blizzard even more turbulent.

It was done playing games.

"Rawr!" Kiba who had flown a few hundred metres away cried out, tears streaming down his face as he saw his once confident and invincible master obliterated by a single attack.

He chased after Frost's body, desperate to catch him before he smashed against the nearby mountains.

Unfortunately there was too much distance between them and Frost was travelling too fast for him to catch up.

Thud!

With a bloodcurdling crunch Frost's body smashed hard against a massive structure adorned in a thick coating of rock solid ice.

His battered and wounded body slumped forward, scraping against the sharp edges of the structure as he plummeted to the ground.

His blood left an obvious stain, a thick blotch followed by a gruesome trail.

With another thud Frost fell to the ground, the pain so extreme that he was forcefully pulled from his sudden slumber.

"Urgh!" All he could articulate was a painful grunt as ever inch of his body screamed in pain and refused to listen to any of his commands. He felt as though all receptors apart from those that transmitted pain were severed.

It was with great difficulty and perseverance that he managed to slightly crane his head upward so as to look upon the one who promised him death.

The mighty Zu that was previously calm, collected and insufferably arrogant was now filled with anger. Its blood red eyes were locked onto his shattered form as it hastily flew in his direction, wanting nothing more than to feast upon his flesh and erase the insult he had inflicted upon it.

Frost could feel endless pressure, an intimidating might that grew heavier and heavier with every passing moment.

The spectre of death loomed close at his ear, quietly whispering temptations as its ice cold grip wrapped around his heart.

Yet still, somehow he was smiling as though greeting a welcome friend. He was in pain and felt a great deal of pressure but for some reason he wasn't all that afraid of the Zu.

The monster may eclipse him in strength, a force so powerful that he couldn't even endure a single blow but compared to what he'd already seen, it was nothing but a small fry in the grand scheme, just a slightly larger bug than himself.

Frost had to stop himself from erupting into a joyous laughter that would only hasten his demise.

Once again he had become arrogant, cocky and reckless and unfortunately it seemed that this time it would be his last.

Time slowed down to a crawl, moments felt like minutes, a grace or perhaps even a form of mental torture as he lay at death's door.

'My body is completely shattered as is my armour.' The beautiful armour that was crafted by his lover was no more, even the vest gifted to him by the Furanos was in a tattered state, revealing just how powerful the Artic Zu truly was.

As far as chakra was concerned the thin tendrils of ice fire had long been snuffed out while what little remained of his armour was quickly flaking off, disintegrating back into its natural mana form.

His physical strength and stamina were all but spent as well, every inch of his body was screaming in pain and a veritable deluge of blood continued to leak from his many wounds. The ground had long become dyed red by his blood.

'Mana channels are….fine but my tanks are empty.' He could cast magic if he had the necessary fuel.

'Haaaaa actually what does it matter, its not as though my magic could harm it anyway.' He thought, realising that whether or not he could attack made no difference. Nothing not even his most powerful attack could truly injure the enemy looming towards him.

'So what, do I give up?' If he couldn't attack or defend himself what was the point in fighting. In fact could it even be called fighting; he was nothing but a mantis attempting to stop a carriage.

As Frost's thoughts wavered due to the pain, his desire to rest and of course the whisperings of death that incessantly entered his heart he gazed at the approaching Zu, his eyes gradually becoming more and more focused as it drew closer.

'No, that is not who I am!' With an inviolable will Frost shook off his misgivings and commanded his body. "Move Dammit!"

His body refused to listen but that didn't stop him, his mind continued to roar order after order until finally there was a slight shiver.

"Urgh!" Frost groaned again as another wave of pain assailed him but there was hope in his eyes, his body was starting to listen.

He didn't have much time; the Zu would be on him in moments, and he was determined to face death with a smile on his face and while standing on his own two feet. He would not resign himself to an easy, submissive death.

'Move! Move! Move! Ignore the pain and move!' His battered body, his cracked bones and torn muscles begged him to stop but Frost refused to pay them any heed.

With great difficulty and a pain so excruciating that all colour drained from his face Frost began to stand up.

He raised his chest from the ground, the snow long dyed by his blood then placed one foot shakily underneath, then the next before slowly rising.

By the time the Artic Zu had arrived in the air directly above him Frost was on his feet, smiling from ear to ear, his body visibly shaking from the strain.

The Artic Zu had never seen such reckless and foolish prey. If he was at its level then perhaps it would feel respect for him but for Frost there was only contempt and ridicule.

It felt even more insulted, even at this point the bug still dared to stand tall in its presence, refusing to cower.

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Overwhelmed with rage the Artic Zu craned its neck upwards and screeched so loud that mountains tens of kilometres away shivered, releasing devasting avalanches upon those that dwelled both on them and below.

This was the roar of a king, of a monarch who's dignity had been spat on. The Artic Zu wanted everyone to know the result that come from offending it.

The Artic Zu's large silver feathers stood erect, drawing in the ambient mana from the nearby surroundings. It then started to flap its mighty wings summoning a fierce blizzard far more devasting than what was naturally occurring already..

It was clear that this attack would be far greater than its earlier [blizzard's judgement].

"You should be honoured bug, the fact that you'll get to die from this attack is a testament to my hatred, my fury." Despite Frost being just a B-rank bug the Artic Zu was not holding back in the slightest.

With its mana levels rising to maximum output its aura, a presence so thick and heavy that it had long become corporeal in nature fused within its body.

"[Wrath of the frost borne heavens, Calamity of ice and snow.] As the monster uttered the command words for its skill the sky visibly darkened and the surrounding sounds became but a whisper as a concentrated ball of freezing energy formed before the creature's large chest.

The movements and feel was similar to that of [Blizzard's judgement] but it was clear that this attack was of a much higher rank.

Frost suspected that it was likely because of this very skill that the Artic Zu was so easily able to claim dominion over the region.

He calmly stared up at the ever growing sphere that even way down on the ground its presence could already be felt.

'Yeah there's no coming back from something like that.' His body was already shattered by the weaker version of that skill let alone this one.

Frost in fact did feel strangely honoured by the Artic Zu's actions. Despite its action being fuelled by anger and pride it was still attacking him like it would a being of a strength equal to its own.

Perhaps this could also count as a win….somehow.