Dungeon of Niflheim

Chapter 1001: Chapter 1001: Farewell [Pork abattoir]

"Maybe I can use these monsters as a cover in my escape." Frost concluded that there’d likely be some kind of force waiting for him when he left the monster lair so why not utilise the escaping monsters to blend into the crowd and slip away unseen.

With this idea formulating in his mind an evil smile donned Frost lips as he used his aura to seek out groups of feral monsters and began ushering them to the exit in a more ordered mass.

"Hold the line! All adventurers are to aid in the defence of the village and then be subjected to questioning any who try to disobey this order will be executed under military law!" Standing outside the monster lair’s entrance in a dense cascade of semi circles the head guard and all those in his employ had set up a stringent barricade, forcing the nearby adventurers into enlistment under the penalty of death.

Of course a bunch attempted to refuse such orders but unfortunately the head guard wasn’t joking, heads rolled and bodies were dismembered, his cruelty bringing quick stability among the non-guards, no more daring to step out of line.

The head guard knew exactly what was coming, if he didn’t forcibly enlist these men and women to his aid the village would be overrun by the escaping monsters and those who concocted this attack would be able to escape punishment.

"Mages prep your magic, archers I want you primed and ready to fire the instant I give the order, frontline fighters weapons at the ready, a barrage of beasts will soon hit us." The man may be corrupt, obese and ugly but he knew what he was doing, he initially got this position through his skill and experience after all.

"Sir yes sir!" The guards, butchers and even some of the adventurer responded to his orders strongly, feeling a sense of support from his confident and booming voice.

The monster lair’s gateway that spanned about 5 metres wide was thus locked down, refusing to let even a wayward rat slip through....but it wasn’t rats coming out but furious pigs and boars.

"SQUEALLL!!!!" Before they even had a chance to see their prominent snouts and thick tusks the men and women stationed around the entrance could hear their squeals as well as the shaking of the ground beneath their feet. Every single monster that managed to retain their minds after the downfall of the core was charging out like maddened beasts, their insanity and aggression only furthered by the action of a lone adventurer nipping at their heels.

Frost was like an apex predator, instilling within the simple beasts the meaning of terror. He was no longer hiding his true strength, at least not while he was still within the monster lair, hidden from those waiting outside.

"FIREEE!!!" The head guard lowered his arm and ordered the beginning of their attack. Three boars all E-rank barged through the gate side by side, squealing with bloodlust in their eyes. Their rage only growing the moment they caught sight of the dozens upon dozens of sapients blocking their path.

Woosh!

Arrows came in droves, followed quickly by spells of all elements, bolts of fire, ice, air, earth and even bolts of lightning. The first three pigs were quickly culled, their bodies falling to the cold hard ground never to move again but it was only the start of this stampede. Those corpses were quickly bulldozed through as nearly a dozen pigs and boars charged dead ahead.

"Front line fighters brace!" The head guard was unperturbed by the situation, his voice brimming with a steady cadence and sense of control but internally he was bemoaning the lack of talent and strength under his command. They’d survive the deluge of course but the manner in which they’d survive was the question.

The head guard estimated at least half of their number would be severely injured with close to 20% losing their lives. Without a single B-rank and less than half a dozen C-ranks they weren’t exactly fighting with quality.

By the time the battle turned into a brutal melee with commands being nothing more than messages letting those in thick of it know that their allies still lived Frost had reached the exit, but he didn’t run out quite yet. Even with the chaos someone would definitely catch sight of him during his departure. He still wanted to remain incognito.... without having to rely on a mass slaughter of the people outside by his own hand.

Frost waited until the battle reached a true fervour before making his move.

"[Icy fog]" He may not know many spells but those he did he’d found a use for, even the 2nd circle spell [icy fog] which was perfect for hidden activities.

With a flourish of his hands fog tinged with the ice element, cold and thick billowed out from an ice blue magic crest hovering before him, swallowing the surrounding area and spreading beyond the exit.

"What is this fog?" One of the guards hollered in confusion.

"Since when has the [Pork Abattoir] housed a spell casting monster?"

"Four years ago there was one, but the element was earth." An older guard answered after pushing back a black hide pig. She’d been here for years and had thus seen an array of mysterious things.

"It’s not from a monster it’s our interlopers!" The head guard who’d also been stationed here for a while knew of the magic slinging boar his subordinate spoke of, but this spell was laced with obvious intentions, beasts lacked such forethought.

"Archers give me a volley on the gate, mages pepper the area with magic, flush the bastards out!" The head guard was adamant in making the interloper pay for their crimes to the extent that he forced his rear guard to pull their focus from the current battleline.

The gate was thus quickly inundated with a combinations of arrows, bolts and magic, tearing apart the boar and pig monsters still rushing out but they caught no sign of an interloper like the head guard suggested and now because of their distraction the frontline suffered cracks.

"Hahahaha moron, who’d be stupid enough to move the instant the fog rolled out." Of course he knew they’d launch an attack, so Frost held himself back, waiting for the peppering to come to a halt before conjuring an ice golem to serve as an even greater distraction.

"Roaarrr!" From within the ice fog a golem of ice charged forth, roaring in an eery manner, barrelling through a group of pigs to reach a squad of guardsmen, shattering their attempts at a blockade.

"Bring it down and find me the bastard responsible for this chaos!" The head guard grew red in the face, he’d fallen for the enemy’s ploy and now his battlelines were a mess, his rear guard made vulnerable to the monsters and the fog around them was only growing thicker, clearly the caster bore a lot of mana.

Unfortunately Frost under the cover of his golem had already managed to squirrel himself away, using his vastly supreme speed and agility, keeping his face and body obscured he rushed south, jumping the fence like a common hurdle. Thanks to the head guard summoning every able bodied man and woman there was no one to bar his way but just in case he deceived them by heading south rather than west, he didn’t want to give any inclination of his true direction.

Frost travelled at speed for a good twenty minutes before taking a curved route back to Niflheim.

"Hahahaha that was so much fun and so profitable." He still couldn’t believe it, less than a day out and his DP rose by over 200,000 points.

His return journey was smooth, with his speed there was little here that could infringe his path, he was back in the private space a little of ten hours later, his mouth transformed into a permanent smile.

Back at the [Pork abattoir] however things were in disarray. With no sign of Frost after 30 minutes since the fog took root the head guard started counting his losses, Frost was long gone that much was true, so he focused on dealing with the matter at hand, surviving the stampede.

By the end his initial expectations in terms of losses and injuries was way off, all because of his reckless actions in trying to find Frost at the expense of his battle lines. The final tally was 40% dead and over 60% of those who survived bore serious injuries, the head guard himself had a broken right arm and a few cracked ribs, a pyrrhic victory by any means.

Aid from the nearby town came far too late, the village was half decimated and the [Pork abattoir] was no more, the head guard’s haven and personal kingdom was gone. And what’s worse the hammer for this failure would fall solely on his head, at a time when the governing body was going to be anything but lenient.

To show mercy during a civil war would only welcome a backstabbing further down the line.

The head guard was stripped of his rank and placed in the stockades until his ultimate punishment could be decided....at best he’d be executed but at worst he’d be turned into cannon fodder, forced to dance on the precipice of death with little chance of redemption.

But none of that mattered to Frost as he danced around with Maya in his arms celebrating his lavish win, he had enough DP now to start his redevelopment.