Dungeon of Niflheim

"Soldiers of Icethorne immediately hand over the tiger, dwarf and human woman!" The moment the soldiers were forced to their feet by the young Avira the frost giants had arrived.

Costa with Davros intimidatingly standing by his side loudly demanded, giving the soldiers of Icethorne a chance at redemption. If they refused his goodwill however then he could not be blamed for what would follow.

If Avira hadn't revealed her identity then the female sergeant wouldn't have hesitated in handing them over for the sake of her subordinates as well as the prosperity of Icethorne but unfortunately that was no longer an option.

Avira's safety was now their upmost priority, so a handover was impossible.

With nary a shred of indecision the female sergeant who was previously standing opposed to Avira pushed her behind her back and drew her sword.

"Friends of the frost giant tribe I'm afraid your request is impossible, please leave our lands." With a voice filled with strength and conviction the female sergeant refused Costa's request. Her subordinates as though in tune with their superior moved into battle positions in an instant.

The shield wall and spearmen now protectively covered Kiba, Borris and of course Avira, making their stance obvious.

"Hmph!" Not expecting such a strong refusal Costa was initially surprised but a moment later an evil smile appeared on his lips as a fire flowed through his veins.

"Oh how disappointing….slaughter them all."

"ROAARRR!!!" The frost giants following Costa and Davros let loose primal roars that shook the surroundings to the point that some soldiers had to rely on their comrades to stay upright.

"Shields up, mages cast protection and enhancement spells, archers fire whenever you see an opening, swordsmen cut down any wayward javelins!"

"Yes sergeant!" Like a well oiled machine the patrol unit readied themselves to defend against the onslaught of the frost giants, a vastly superior force.

Only the sergeant and one other solider were at the C-rank the rest were D-rank, practically ants in comparison to the many frost giants moving in the for the kill.

"Princess please stay behind cover."

"Understood but what about you and your soldiers?" Avira knew well that given her position her safety would be all these men and women were thinking about so she couldn't recklessly fight on the frontlines alongside them.

"Don't worry about us we'll hold the line as long as it takes." The female sergeant performed a military salute before looking at her second in command.

"Send up the flare after their first volley."

"Yes ma'am" The second in command was a young swordsman in his mid-twenties, an officer with a wealth of battle experience despite his youthful looks.

Don! Don! Don!

The sound of heavy javelins rattled against the shields of the Icethorne soldiers, many were pushed backwards, and some had their shields cracked but none fell victim to the initial volley revealing their training.

"Now Endo!"

Fwooosh!

The moment the initial volley ended a pink flare shot up from the centre of the shield huddle. It loudly screeched as it ascended before exploding several hundred metres above them in a burst of pink fog that could be seen for tens of kilometres despite the torrents of snow.

"Fuck! Kill them now!" Costa with a face warped in a mixture of anger and fear grabbed the shoulder of a nearby frost giant and shoved him forward.

That flare was a distress flare used by the soldiers of Icethorne and not a regular one either. Usually the colour blue or purple was used and on the rare occasion red but pink, that was of the highest order only to be used when the situation was of the upmost priority and extreme danger.

A blue or purple flare would summon additional regular reinforcements while red would alert the high ranking officers, requesting at least someone or several someone's at the mid to upper B-ranks. Pink however was reserved solely for Icethorne's top brass….the A-rank generals.

Costa could count on his fingers how many times a pink distress flare had been used in the past hundred years, yet now because of a young woman, an old dwarf, a tiger and some regular patrol soldiers it was being used for him and his comrades, a half dozen or so C-rank frost giants….the word overkill reverberated within his mind and filled him with dread and desperation.

The moment the pink fog filled the air above them the frost giants went into berserk state, determined to annihilate the sapients in front of them despite the cost.

The remaining javelins were tossed aggressively while they ran forward to engage in close combat, a frost giant's forte.

"Shield wall brace from impact, mages conjure additional shields." Fully prepared for such a reaction the female sergeant readied her men and women for the giant's advance but even with her strong words and their strict training an onslaught of frost giants was intimidating and hard to forestall.

"Ahhhh!!" Several soldiers screamed as their arms broke, twisted or downright exploded when a frost giant swung at them with their hammers or clubs. The force behind it being too much for them to individually endure.

"Hold the line!" The sergeant repeatedly invigorated her soldiers while occasionally lashing out with her sword, using her C-rank strength to force back a giant's hand while Endo drew two swords from his side to slash apart a javelin that was aimed at her.

While Frost engaged in a deadly duel with Bella and Avira and her group fought alongside the soldiers to withstand the assault of Costa and Davros the burst of pink fog alerted those stationed on Icethorne's southern wall.

"Captain someone set off a pink distress flare, 20 kilometres directly south of the wall." An officer quickly reported the sight to his superior who then ordered for a warning bell to be rung. Within a minute high ranking commanders and even two generals appeared on the southern wall to investigate the flare.

"It's pink alright, will you go or will I?" A massive woman of the bear beastman tribe looked to her left and asked the elegant looking woman adorned in dark robes.

"Neither the rookie's already left." The elegant woman gestured with her chin towards a plume of snow in the far distance.

"Hoh! He's quick." The bear beastwoman nodded her head in praise, finding the 'rookie's' diligence admirable.

"Come let's head back to the Northern wall before some idiot tries to take advantage of our absence."

"Agreed." The large bear woman and the elegant woman in robes thus disappeared as quickly as they appeared leaving the situation entirely in the hands of the 'rookie'.

A few minutes passed and unfortunately six soldiers fell to the giant's onslaught with even more injured. The patrol squad was made up of 25 soldiers including the Sergeant and her second in command Endo. With 6 deceased and even more injured the squad wasn't even at half capacity while their attackers the frost giants sported nothing more than minor wounds.

One had a few deep cuts along an arm, but his remaining arm was still able to swing at full strength. A few minutes more and they'd be completely wiped out.

Strangely however it the was the frost giants who sported the more desperate expressions, expressions that grew worse with each passing second. These soldiers were taking too long to kill.

Davros and Costa tried to focus on Avira, Borris and Kiba but whenever they tried the soldiers would erupt into a frenzy pushing them back even if meant they had sacrifice themselves. They wouldn't let a single hair come to harm on the princess' head.

Eventually their valiant efforts were rewarded.

"Hmm a squad of frost giants? A large beastman of the bear tribe with two blue axes sheathed by his side remarked as he charged across the snow at a speed that made even Kiba ashamed.

The man arrived because of the pink distress flare so he was expecting more of a fight but…

"No matter I'll ask about it once they're safe."

Boom!

The large man kicked against the snow and appeared beside the frost giants like a bullet. He withdrew his axes and slashed with extreme dexterity and ferocity. He used no skill in the sudden attack instead relying solely on his weapon mastery and the sharpness of his axes.

The poor frost giant that was unfortunately chosen as his first target was Davros one of the strongest frost giants in the assault. Alas the mighty enemy that both the female sergeant and Endo struggled to even push back was carved apart with minimal effort.

The many sections of the giant's body didn't even manage to fall to the ground before the surrounding area was filled with a dense aura that forcibly froze each and every one of the giants in place.

Pure fear gripped their hearts as the beastman's aura overwhelmed them. This wasn't merely the pressure of someone at the B-rank no it was something far denser, far more corporal.

'A-rank' Costa internally screamed, his words failing to pass beyond his lips.

A-rank for many was the absolute peak, the ultimate level of power they could attain with effort. Anything beyond that required specific bloodlines and inhuman talent. Even the mighty Northrend empire one of the strongest nations in the world didn't have a single person at S-rank thus those at A-rank were revered like kings.

Costa trembled from the pressure and did his upmost to resist falling to his knees in submission, but his resistance made little to no difference. He along with his comrades were carved up in less than a minute, the bear beastman didn't even pause to take a breath.