Dungeon of Niflheim

As Frost's strength gave out, his face twisted. A mixture of intense pain and stark refusal marred his expression. The young man internally roared, chastising his body, ordering it to remain strong but unfortunately sheer will could only carry him so far.

The moment his knees hit the soft, blood soaked snow they became totally unresponsive, silent as rocks. He was no longer capable of defending himself.

The frost giants, Bella included couldn't help but smile from ear to ear at such a sight and while the massive woman proceeded to then lick her lips and show a famished glint in her eyes the others let out long held breaths of relief.

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The young Dungeon core was a wily foe, an enemy none of them could even hope to win against. Only Bella could deal with him and even then the mighty priestess was adorned in dozens of freshly carved scars.

Since the fight began in earnest these C-rank frost giants were unable to let down their guards as just a moment of distraction could see them injured or worse see Frost escape pass them.

Now however that worry was clearly gone from their hearts. The young man even if he could launch one last attack with his glaive his legs were completely shot, he could no longer escape.

"Hahahahahaha! Marvellous truly a spectacular display little Frost but unfortunately pointless in the end….I'm going to enjoy devouring your flesh." Bella erupted with joyful and somewhat maddening laughter.

She looked down hungrily at her kneeling opponent, showing him her razor sharp teeth that could easily tear into even the toughest of hides. Her stomach rumbled with demand as she stepped closer, and saliva began dripping down from her lips. She looked like a starving beast while Frost looked like a helpless rabbit.

However even in his debilitated state Frost wore the same stubborn and prideful expression. He showed no fear while gazing up at the approaching giant, his would be predator.

His body was plagued with pain and his limbs were all but useless, he could barely hold onto his glaive yet still he refused to give up. As long as he could still draw breath the fight was never over.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Frost as Bella approached, his mind rapidly processing his options.

He knew going in that victory was all but impossible, Bella was at the very least an expert at the upper B-rank, an opponent far more skilled and far more experienced than himself. He may have managed to land a couple decent blows and catch her by surprise a few times but that was nowhere near enough to take down the monster that was Bella.

Her body was so durable that even when using his strongest skills and his royal aspected aura his glaive failed to slice more than a single centimetre into her bones, resulting in nothing more than a mere flesh wound.

So why did he choose to keeping fighting an unwinnable fight? Was it just to buy time for Avira, Borris and Kiba?

Crunch.

The snow underneath Bella's feet let out a loud crunch as she stopped directly in front of Frost, well within striking distance. Alas nothing came, there was no last ditch effort, no final desperate bite from her cornered mouse. Instead the young man gazed up at her with a wild smile as though he was in the throes of ecstasy. A look she understood to some extent but still found baffling.

Never in her long years had she come across such a natural battle maniac.

'Haaaaa if only he was a giant.' She briefly lamented the fact that her race failed to give birth to such a gem before once again donning the expression of a starving beast. She could strongly smell the scent of his talent filled blood and see the layers of his muscles, delectable meat that would taste perfect either raw or roasted.

Her monster instincts threatened to overwhelm her consciousness, screaming for her to devour this prey before her in its entirety but she was no longer a youngling, unable to resist her natural temptations.

With a fierce shake of her head she erased such urges, choosing to leave the better parts for her darling son….an arm wouldn't matter though right.

Bella reached out with her muscle bound arm that was thicker than Frost's entire body, she aimed to tear off what was left of his shattered right arm.

Despite her clear victory she didn't completely let her guard down, one eye was constantly on Frost's glaive, wary of even the slightest movement. Strangely she failed to notice that there was no longer a hand wrapped around the glaive's shaft nor did she notice the glint flashing in Frost's eyes, the glint of a hunter finally catching his prey.

As her hand neared and her focus was drawn to his weapon Frost reached into his robes and discreetly withdrew a crystal like object from his storage ring. It was yellow in colour and appeared rather fragile as though it could burst apart at any moment.

This crystal was something he recently received from Indra; a speciality product known as a flash crystal from his Dungeon the Lightning Grotto.

These flash crystals were imbued with high levels of low grade lightning mana, filled so much to the brim that even the smallest of mana injections and the slightest amount of concussive force would cause them to explode. The explosion itself was rather mild in terms of damage potential but the light given off was more than enough to temporarily blind one's opponents thus the name 'flash crystal'.

'This better work Indra.' With a fierce expression Frost pulled out the crystal and moved to inject some of his own mana starting the process….however the situation suddenly changed.

Just when Bella was about to take hold of Frost's arm she suddenly stopped in place and her face that originally expressed hunger and joy was now marred with fear and dread. Goosebumps swiftly covered her arms, and the scent of death assailed her nostrils. Her instincts screamed danger and she was never one to ignore her instincts.

Without even the slightest hesitation the massive frost giant reeled backwards and swiftly distanced herself from the heavily wounded Frost.

A moment later a blue axe appeared like a lightning bolt where she once stood. If she had been any slower her arm would have been severed from her body or at the very least made useless. The force behind that axe was far beyond anything Frost could have wrought with his early B-rank strength.

"Hoh good instincts." A man's voice was heard following the attack, praising Bella for her swift reactions.

Upon hearing this nearby voice the surrounding frost giants shivered before rapidly turning around to confront this new arrival.

There slowly walking towards them as if on a leisurely stroll was man of the bear beastman tribe, standing at 2 metres tall with a blue axe in his right hand, an identical match for the one now stabbed deep within the snow before Frost.

Jared Bando had arrived.

Frost who was just about to use a flash crystal struggled to see the form of the approaching man given his weakened vision but the axe directly in front of him and the voice seemed oddly familiar.

'Where have I heard that voice before?' He questioned but didn't dwell on it. What mattered was that someone strong had arrived in time meaning Kiba and Avira succeeded in their mission.

'Guess I don't have to waste a teleportation talisman.' His initial escape plan was to use a flash crystal to momentarily blind Bella and obscure his own movements from the surrounding frost giants.

In that brief moment of respite he'd then use a teleportation talisman, an item he purchased from Void for a rather significant sum to instantly teleport himself up to ten kilometres away, escaping the immediate danger. He would then use his sole high level health potion to quickly recover from his severe wounds.

Afterwards he'd just have to do his best to keep a low profile, hoping that he wouldn't run into anything else before reaching Icethorne.

That was his plan anyway and his confidence in facing of against Bella alone.

Bella and the frost giants were silent as the bear beastman Jared bando walked towards them. Even without the use of his aura Jared's natural presence and confident stature intimidated them, sending their instincts ablaze, Bella's especially.

'Fuck why did one of them appear here?' There was only a single group of people from Icethorne that could make her body react in such a way….Icethorne's vaunted Generals.

"My, my, my it really is you lad, to be granted the chance to pay back my debt so soon, the Gods must be truly smiling on us." Jared Bando stopped about 15 metres from Frost and Bella, he looked at the kneeling Frost and couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. He immediately recognised him despite the many wounds marring his body.

Several months ago while investigating the external regions of Glacial mountains he came across a young elf from Furano, an E-rank adventurer on a scouting quest. The two shared shelter for a few hours and talked about their lives and in doing so Jared was able to put down some regrets he had in regards to his hometown thus allowing him to finally see a way forward, a path to A-rank.

A debt was thus incurred by the old soldier, a debt he promised to repay.