Dungeon of Niflheim

499 Chapter 499: Demon

“How utterly revolting….Kill them all.” With those hate filled words the horde of monsters that had been motionless and silent while in the demon’s presence started to move once again. A discord of roars, squeals and grunts erupted in response causing the very air to vibrate.

Valend, Frostine and the two t-rexes showed evil smiles as they unleased their auras to their maximum. Joining with the demon’s aura to weigh down the last stragglers who showed rebellion, doing their best to snuff out the last vestiges of fighting spirit. However this seemed to have no effect, perhaps even the opposite. Those still standing or rather still breathing all stared at the golden back of their commander, remembering his words.

‘Brave men and women of the empire do not falter! And if you feel yourself waning look upon my back! As long as I still stand this battle is not lost!’ As long as Hamon still stood at the forefront with his great golden back filling their sights this war wasn’t over. Not until they and their commander drew their very last breaths would this fight be over. The empire did not birth cowards after all.

“Rahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!” Passionate roars and howls from the sapients side clashed with the voices of the monsters, refusing to lose in terms of tenacity despite their lesser numbers.

Sounds of the ground cracking beneath each of the remaining elites rang with these roars as they each tensed their bodies to their upmost, activating their last ditch techniques, caring not for the cost. Hamon saw himself grow even larger, his muscles threatening to tear themselves apart while Vaccos entered a full on berserk state seeing nothing but carnage through his eyes.

Maggie covered herself from head to toe in thick bear fur, her nails elongating into sharp claws and her stature growing to match that of Vaccos and Hamon, she drew on her lifeforce to further spark the beast blood within her.

Ryuu and Jessie clasped one another’s hands and began casting their most powerful combined magic. Their bodies shook and blood trickled from their noses, but they didn’t stop. The remaining mage corps also siphoned their remaining mana into their commanders, empowering their magic even at the cost of leaving themselves open to attack.

The remaining frontline forces charged forth with their weapons drawn, going full on offensive with mad smiles plastered on their faces. A sight which caused the demon’s anger to intensify to frightening levels. He was so angry that he was going to move against these ants himself.

The great demon raised his hand, summoning a pitch black scythe that sported a blade as long as his own body. The sudden appearance of this weapon changed the demon’s aura making it feel far more sinister. A simple glance upon it would make one feel as though their very soul was being pried out from their bodies. It was scythe that bore the mark of death, an evil weapon that would see its victims suffer even in death.

.....

Douglas who activated the full capabilities of his noble armour looked at this weapon and felt his heart stop. These people fighting were his responsibility, his people, how could he condone such treatment. His eyes quickly scanned the battlefield until he found Frost. The capable young man who not only saved his life twice but also that of his son’s and helped defend his town at its most vulnerable. A man who was not beholden to the empire, who came not for riches but to lend aid to his friends in their time of need. A strong feeling of guilt filled him the moment he laid eyes on Frost and Kiba. He saw the fear in their expressions and the pain in their eyes as they struggled on how to proceed.

Frost couldn’t possibly hear any words that Douglas would say but he felt his gaze. He turned towards his friend, his heart feeling guilty about his recent thoughts of escaping. Frost still struggled to hide his emotions, so Douglas saw through him immediately. The old Viscount smiled gently in response before mouthing the word ‘go’. This was no longer Frost’s fight, he’d done enough, it was time to prioritise his own safety, so he gave his permission, ordering Frost to escape before facing off against the mighty monster horde.

Tears started to well up in Frost’s eyes and his heart felt as though it had been cut by a knife. Douglas had taken away the responsibility, making the choice to flee no longer his burden to bear. A mercy that filled Frost with great pain as well as gratitude. He would never forget the man that was Douglas Furano.

“For the empire!!!!!!!” Hamon, Vaccos, Maggie, Douglas and the others roared out the moment they charged forth into battle. The first three making moves directly against the demon.

“Hmph pitiful [Nightmare of a 1000 lifetimes]” The mighty demon had scorn in his eyes as he reeled back his scythe. A black corrosive energy covered the scythe, elongating it and causing to emit a deathly chill. The sound of screaming could be heard as the image of a hellscape formed behind the blade, filled with the many souls the scythe had reaped until now. Indefinitely torturing them until their souls completely degrade, a fate the demon wished to impart upon the annoying ants before it.

With a graceful swing the demon’s scythe carved through the air silently creating a wide portal before him that stretched outwards and tried to entrap the charging Hamon, Vaccos and Maggie. The three valiant fighters responded with their most aggressive attacks, donning themselves in vigorous energy but the closer they grew to the hellscape the more their energy would be eaten until eventually their skills were nullified entirely.

Their attacks were completely ineffective against the hellscape and now they were completely unprotected and heading straight for it. Was this it? were they going to be so easily absorbed by this nightmare without anything to show for it.

The death energy of the hellscape started eroding their bodies, siphoning them of their strength. They were powerless against such an attack. Even covering themselves in chakra or standard magic proved to be ineffective. Vaccos’ high mortal grade fire an oddity that he had fused with managed to put up some resistance, but the effects were minor at best.

Suddenly before the three were about to being completely engulfed Douglas appeared before them with his armour and sword radiating an intense holy light.

“[Light God’s dawn]” A bright flash covered Douglas, Hamon, Vaccos and Maggie protecting them from the dreaded hellscape like an expanding barrier. Light elemental magic was the antithesis of such evil borne magic. It was lucky Douglas’s equipment was imbued with powerful light runes.

The demon was forced to cover his eyes from the bright light lest they be damaged. His skin even began to tingle as rays struck against him. The hellscape he summoned blew apart thanks to Hamon’s counter thus allowing Hamon, Vaccos and Maggie the chance to retreat.

The screams from the hellscape intensified as it broke down and eventually shattered, the tortured souls returning to the scythe, bound to it forever.

“Frostine, Valend and you two idiots kill them! Kill them now!” Completely enraged and sporting some minor burns the demon screamed out orders to which the targets responded immediately.

Each commander class monster had a single opponent each, leaving the demon grand commander to conjure up something even more nasty than the hellscape he just used. Before he was just letting out a standard attack against those three persistent ants but now he was going to summon something that would absorb the souls of every last one of them at once. Something that a mere [light God’s dawn] couldn’t stop.

As Hamon and the others prepared themselves to handle the onslaught of Valend and the rest Frost sat atop Kiba’s back, his heart in turmoil. He’d tried to get out of this quagmire of monsters but failed, there were just too many of them and the B-rank minotaur was particularly adamant on keeping him here.

His left hand still held the talisman as he wavered on whether on not to use it. The wounds across his body and Kiba’s continued to pile up as did his fear towards the demon that so easily dealt with Hamon and the others. If Douglas didn’t have a particularly powerful light based enchantment the three of them would have been captured in its hellscape to be tortured for eternity. A thought that caused his skin to crawl, such a fate was a terrifying prospect.

Boom!

As he was distracted the minotaur’s mighty battle axe clashed against his glaive, sending him and Kiba careening backwards.

“Whimper” Kiba let loose a whimper as his leg was hurt from the blow, blood was leaking out and it appeared twisted. They weren’t escaping by themselves anymore with that kind of wound. Calling Maya was the only resort.

Frost looked over at the struggling Douglas, Hamon, Vaccos and Maggie one last time before firming his resolve. He withdrew the teleporting talisman from his robes and moved to tear it apart and summon his mighty guardian to his side.

However as he did this the demon had finished chanting something foul and a massive black magic crest appeared beneath him and expanded across the entire battlefield, marking every living sapient as a target, Frost and Kiba included.