Dungeon of Niflheim-Chapter 915: Only choice is to evade

Frost stood in a defensive position with his glaive tightly in hand, the blue hue in his eyes activating fully so the world around him slowed to a crawl. His brain gradually being encased in a protective vapor of ice as he forcibly kicked it into high gear and his heart thumping away as his instincts screamed danger.

Opposite him after entering some sort of rage induced state Valend conjured a frightening apparition with such detail and presence that it was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

He had witnessed this apparition once before and back then he froze in fear, unable to muster even the slightest bit of resistance and that was when he wasn’t even the target. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Now however there was no Hamon to take the vanguard, the onus was on him.

[Dynamic freezing, rending of the frost giants] a racial skill that worked best with a large two handed weapon, a great axe or hammer being the ideal conduit. A high octane skill that devoured a great deal of internal energy as well as a small degree of life blood to summon the image of the frost giant’s God or at least a crude imitation of him. Valend despite his size and talent was still only at the B-rank, summoning even a sliver of Ymir even before his ascension was far beyond his means.....that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous nor terrifying for the current Frost, however.

That apparition of energy had enough resemblance and essence to make the hair on the back of his head stand on end. This attack partnered with Valend’s rage induced state posed a substantial threat to him.

His strongest skill was [Flight of the Luan] and unfortunately it fell short in comparison. A direct confrontation against [Dynamic freezing, rending of the frost giants] would result in a swift and crushing defeat.

Frost’s mind processed every minute detail, searching for signs of weakness and abusable traits as well as evaluating his own strength in comparison to the monster before him and the terrifying apparition that was slowly forming above him.

Witnessing this display in slow motion ended up rewarding him with some interesting insights towards his own skills and techniques but unfortunately nothing that could be used right away.

’Dodge.’ After running multiple simulations he came to but a single conclusion, he needed to avoid at all costs. None his skills could compete in terms of power and his mastery over the glaive fell short, eliminating the option of parrying or deflecting it. The best he could do was reduce its power by about half but even at half strength his body would be sent flying like a ragdoll, several bones fracturing into hundreds of shards and at least two organs suffering significant damage.

"[Wyvern’s maw]" utilising his speed advantage as well as the longer powering up stage of Valend’s skill Frost first tossed out a move he relied on quite heavily before he reached B-rank. Enhanced with his aura and coated with azure flames a large wyvern’s maw formed atop his glaive and with a quick downward slash it let loose a mighty roar before flying straight for Valend’s injured shoulder likely the only place on his body that was currently susceptible to an attack.

"Futile effort." Valend completely ignored the large wyvern head, allowing it to wrench open it jaws and attempt to shred apart his flesh. Such a paltry attack would dissipate the moment the apparition of Ymir finished forming, just its presence alone was enough to shatter any of its weaker kin.

Alas Frost wasn’t quite finished.

"[Ice entanglement], [Ice shield] and [Icy fog]" He followed up [wyvern’s maw] with three low level spells. Although he was more prone to relying on his physical capabilities and chakra that didn’t mean his magic could be easily disregarded. Even low spells when used by a master could play a significant role when it comes to winning or losing a battle. Victory or defeat wasn’t simply determined by who had more power or who was faster, the world wasn’t that black and white.

Frost’s first spell [ice entanglement] summoned thick tendrils of icy vines beneath Valend. These vines stretched and wrapped around his legs almost reaching the lower end of his hips, supposedly limiting his range motion.

’Tsk he’s far too big.’ Unfortunately Valend’s sheer size made these vines look rather pathetic, fragile in the face of his physical prowess. Regardless however he never expected them to be able to hold back that mountain of flesh for any length of time.

Next large opaque shields of ice with a thickness of at least 10 centimetres formed between the two of them, establishing a basic barrier that would hopefully stall Valend’s attack by a couple milliseconds while at the same time temporarily obscuring Frost from view.

This was followed by a thick, chilling fog that quickly enveloped Frost and the nearby vicinity, making standard eyesight all but useless.

Valend however was unimpressed, his entire focus remained on forming the apparition of Ymir. Such flimsy vines, paper thin shields and annoying fog would be instantly eradicated. It didn’t matter how Frost hid himself as he planned to destroy everything around him.

A moment later Valend’s conjuring was complete, the image of Ymir opened its eyes, pressing down on everything within a 15 metre radius. The wyvern’s maw that had just planted his fangs atop Valend’s flesh vibrated, its form apparently struggling to be maintained in the presence of a superior kin. But since it was an existence without life and therefore no fear it continued to bite, its teeth managing to sink in a couple centimetres before the image of Ymir opened its mouth and roared.

Valend moved in concert with the image, his hammer beginning its colossal descent as it roared and shattered the wyvern’s maw like it was made of paper. The vines holding onto his legs snapped instantly, unable to hold him back for even a tenth of second.

"Die!!" The rage induced giant screamed, his voice filled with an intense wrath and hatred far beyond what a single person was capable of. A hatred shared by an entire race flowed through him, granting him strength far beyond what he could normally summon. Suffice to say Valend had never felt as powerful as he did in this very moment.

His hammer thundered down like a natural calamity, the ice shields summoned by Frost were obliterated in an instant and the fog that obscured the surrounding area vanished, blown apart by the residual air pressure.

The young Dungeon core was thus revealed standing a few metres left of where he was standing previously.

’Idiot!’ Valend internally mocked, such a distance was nowhere near enough to evade what was coming.

With the taste of his ultimate victory already on his lips Valend brought down his hammer on Frost’s head.

BOOOOOOMMMMM!

An earth shattering explosion reverberated through the mountain pass causing the ground to split and quake, cliffs to shatter, boulders to hurl down from on high and even affect the battle between the seven evil men and the Lunar maidens.

Several maidens fell face first onto the hard ground, one of the young children screamed in despair as she saw one of her sisters being stabbed in the shoulder while one of evil men stumbled loosing his grip on a pair of three pronged claws.

"Fuck, sounds like the boss is having to go all out." One of the men muttered with no small amount of fear, his mind flashing back to when he was forcibly conscripted. Valend was immensely strong, far too strong for the local area in their minds and thus they could never imagine someone being able to go toe to toe with him.

"Focus on this fight Pedro otherwise his wrath will be turned on you." Another higher ranked man ordered as he fended off Kiba’s powerful claws, his arms slightly trembling as a result.

’Why the fuck do I have to fight this damn tiger.’ He silently complained about his fate, his strength ended up being a crux, forcing him to fight against the second strongest opponent within the caravan.

"Matriarch?" A lunar maiden who had received a minor wound asked worriedly, her eyes glancing over to where Frost and Valend had gone.

"Trust in the master, he has his fight and we have ours." Neve replied without any hesitation, her trust in Frost unwavering.

The battle between the maidens and seven evil men quickly resumed once the shaking stopped, a brief intermission that seemed to deepen the aggression of both sides.

Meanwhile at the shaking’s point of origin, the entire landscape had transformed. Cracks that went on as far as the eye could see and reached depths of tens of metres radiated outward from an enormous crater. Valend’s destructive skill that demanded not just internal energy but also a wisp of his life essence to use had annihilated everything in the vicinity, leaving literally no stone unturned. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the target of such an attack turned into dust, their blood reaching from one cliff face to other.

Such was the power behind Valend’s [Dynamic freezing, rending of the frost giants].