Dungeon of Niflheim-Chapter 916: Only choice is to evade (2)

Devastation would the most appropriate word for the state of the mountain passage where Frost and Valend chose to engage in battle.

After entering a state of rage brought on by an innate racial hatred Valend activated his most powerful skill, an attack that not only absorbed a great deal of his internal energy but also part of his life essence, a resource that would not recover naturally. His desire to see Frost killed was so strong that he cared not for the state of his own body.

[Dynamic freezing, rending of the frost giants], a skill that summoned a crude image of the frost giant’s most hallowed God, Ymir. A move that was so destructive that Frost’s only logical recourse was to evade.

He summoned vines to bind Valend, shields to slow down his approach and a dense fog to obscure him from sight alas his every attempt to forestall the inevitable was shattered in an instant. He was caught; his form revealed ten metres to the left well within Valend’s striking distance. And like a fierce predator the mighty frost giant locked his wrath filled gaze upon him and swiftly brought down his hammer upon his head, annihilating him from existence alongside the majority of the surrounding terrain.

When the dust cleared and Valend saw the head of his hammer deeply entrenched in the rock floor without any sign of Frost he revealed a prideful smile, victory was his....Unfortunately such thoughts of revelry were almost immediately turned on their head.

All he heard was a high pitched whistle, the sound of something dangerously sharp cutting through the air before he felt an impact hit his left shoulder followed by a burst of pain.

"Argh!" Valend let out a guttural yelp in response, his head swiftly turning to the side to see Frost the very person he had supposedly just killed stabbing him with his glaive.

Falling from on high and aided by Nova’s gravitational pull Frost thrust his glaive straight down plunging over half the blade into Valend’s damaged shoulder. Once again it was stopped by those durable bones of his but at least this time he managed to leave a small crack before quickly tearing it from the wound and giving that shocked face of his an ever so satisfying kick. Even with his rage induced state unless Valend ingested a mid-level health potion or higher that wound of his would remain open for the rest of the battle.

Frost twirled elegantly in the air before landing back on the ground with a slight stumble. The right hem of his robe was partially gone and what remained of the area was shredded, flapping loosely in the wind. Skilfully hidden by his chosen stance that placed his left foot forward Frost’s right ankle and lower calf were damaged. Nothing too severe, no open wound or fracture but a case of severe bruising and damaged skin. Putting his full weight on it was impossible, the pain being too great. With this his speed and manoeuvrability was certainly hampered but Valend didn’t need to know that.

"Impossible I killed you!" After his state of shock passed Valend roared with such gusto that the veins on his neck throbbed and pulsed as if on the verge of bursting. His state of madness deepening further as the redness in his eyes turned bloody.

"Did you though?" Frost tilted his head to the side and smiled in a teasing manner as though mocking Valend’s intelligence.

"Yes! My hammer crushed that puny heretical skull of yours!" As if to demonstrate its might and prove the deed he yanked his hammer out of the rock floor -an act that took a great deal of strength given how deep it was entrenched- and showed off the face that he believed to be marred with Frost’s blood. Alas there was no sign of anything red, flecks of rock, dirt as well as ice but definitely no blood. Such proof had Valend flabbergasted, his gaze switched between Frost and his hammer several times in disbelief.

"Rage, a state where the user is granted improved strength, regeneration, physical and magical resistance but at the cost of a calm and clear mind." Frost spoke like a wizened scholar, generously explaining what happened in a leading manner, drawing Valend’s full attention. This served to both eat away at Valend’s time sensitive state of rage as well as allow him to secretively retrieve a vial from his storage ring.

"Without logic, without intelligence how are you any different from a common beast. Driven by instinct and anger you may gain power, but you become predictable and susceptible to trickery." As he spoke with a smile that seemed to continually stretch across his face, behind his back and hidden from Valend’s gaze Frost poured out the liquid from the vial he retrieved, letting it loosely splash on the back of his right leg. Such careless and external administration wouldn’t heal his wound completely, but it would numb the pain and allow him to put weight back on the leg, an important resource considering that their fight was still far from over.

Valend listened to Frost’s words, his last vestiges of consciousness giving him pause, preventing him from charging right back into battle. He fought against the madness and looked back on what happened a few seconds prior, his gaze eventually focusing on the edge of hammer. Rock and dirt was understandable given their location but the ice, there wasn’t a single piece of ice within a 100 metres, snow and water struggled to reach this area that was so obscured by jagged cliffs and overhanging rocks.

As if a veil had been lifted the image of Frost being subjected to his hammer and his skill [Dynamic freezing, rending of the frost giants] started to transform. In its place was a crude figure fashioned from ice, it bore a similar shape and stature, but any clear minded person would be able to tell that it was a fake.

"A golem." Valend eventually spoke through tightly clenched teeth his tone absolutely seething.

"Bing bong correct, it was a golem and honestly a pretty half assed one too." Frost jeered even going as far as to clap in a sarcastic manner. In response to Valend’s powerful attack he actually casted four spells not three.

As soon as [icy fog] enveloped him completely Frost quietly used the third circle spell [summon ice golem] to create a false version of himself roughly ten metres from his current position. He then leaped high into the air banking on the fact that Valend’s raging state would prevent him from seeing through his little charade. A plan that clearly worked wonders.

Valend was none the wiser, convinced of his victory he became an easy target thus granting Frost the chance to deal some serious damage even with his resistances amplified. And now with his shoulder in such a state of disarray Valend’s swings would lose a great deal of momentum and using a skill like [Dynamic freezing, rending of the frost giants] would no longer be feasible, his threat towards Frost had now diminished.

"BASTARD!!!" Valend was obviously angered by Frost’s blatant mocking but alongside that his nose picked up the scent of a health potion. He realised he’d been played like a fool, his foe clearly failed to avoid his attack completely yet instead of capitalising on that fact he instead questioned the how of his escape and thus lost any advantage. With blood rushing to his head, turning his face a ruddy shade of red he roared at the top of his lungs, ignored the pain in his left shoulder as he tensed his muscles and charged for Frost like a raging beast. He discarded what remained of his reasoning fully accepting the demon inside.

"Tsk! Barely had time to catch my breath and he’s already swinging." Although he escaped with nothing more than a slight injury to his lower leg the whole event had cold sweat dripping down Frost’s neck. [Dynamic freezing, rending of the frost giants] was quite frankly terrifying, such destructive power, he both feared and longed for it.

’The moment I get back to the Dungeon, I’m going to train my ass off.’ He internally swore to escape his weak constraints, to delve deeper into the Niflheim royal family spear arts that Shivali had gifted him. But first he needed to take care of this fate entwined foe of his.

With his eyes shining with a bright blue glow Frost engaged Valend, dodging his ravenous blows with seamless precision, moving to and fro as though performing an elegant dance. Yet under such beauty lay great danger. Every attack by Valend carried immense strength and almost animalistic ferocity. He didn’t stop for anything, a cut on the arm, a thrust into his gut, a kick to the face and even blows to his joints seemed to only infuriate him further.

Frost was dancing on the edge of a knife, relax his guard for even a single moment and his entire defence would unravel. Like a bull charging at a bright red flag Valend charged forward determined to slaughter the annoying matador that dared to taunt him. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

A battle that ideally should have been brought to a swift end dragged on, minute after minute passed and litres of giant blood decorated the floor but still the beast refused to fall.

Frost could hear the cacophony of the battle further down the pass, a violent engagement between numerous individuals. Screams of anguish, intense hatred and wrath echoed along the cliffs always letting him know how dire the circumstances of the caravan was. They were starting to reach the limit of their desperate perseverance.