Conquering His Cold Heart

Frost and Maya remained in close proximity until Maya had her fill of him. The two then teleported to the private space joining Nanna, Loki as well as Kiba.

A high quality meal was planned as a send off after which Frost and Kiba would make their way to Furano and embark upon the next battlefield.

As a protest to Valend and his mount Dulan, Maya and Nanna prepared a round of war mammoth steaks for everyone and garnished it with a special pepper based sauce and winter vegetables. A delightful tasting meal that garnered more than a few laughs, a pleasant send off.

Unfortunately given the schedule created by himself, Frost couldn't spend more time with the kids nor have a farewell 'battle' with Maya, something that both of them clearly regretted as they stared into one another's eyes.

"Hurry back alright and remember to use the talisman the moment you sense extreme danger. I'll arrive in flash to protect you." Maya spoke in a serious tone while doing her best to keep the redness in her eyes from showing.

Frost and Kiba wouldn't just be gone for a day or two but likely a week or so at least, a long time to be apart given their new relationship.

Frost held her hands and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"I promise."

He then kneeled down, so he was eye level with Nanna and Loki.

"Rely on Findlay and Khuno when you're confused about something and make sure to listen to Maya and continue your studies while I'm gone. I'll be leaving the dungeon and Maya in your capable hands." Nanna and Loki both clenched their fists before placing their arms over their chests in salute, trying to look as reliable as possible.

Their eyes however were clearly red, sad to see him as well as Kiba go.

The three of them had become quite close in the months' time they'd been together. Being similar in maturity and position it was hard for them to not get along.

Frost ruffled their hair with affection before jumping onto Kiba's back, creating the image of a handsome and gallant knight.

"Alright then we're off, have fun and work hard while we're away." Frost waved goodbye to his family as well as his loyal generals who were standing against the dungeon's entrance to see him off.

Frost then leaned down and spoke into Kiba's ear.

"Let's ride."

"Rooooooaaaaaarrrrr!" Kiba replied back with a mighty roar before dashing into the nearby Northrend forest.

Within a few seconds they were completely out of view and a dour mood spread among those left behind before eventually Nanna shook her head vigorously and slapped her cheeks.

"You heard Master it's time for us to get to work. Just because he's not here doesn't mean we can slack off." She turned around a shouted in her most intimidating voice which unfortunately still sounded adorable, but her point was made.

The adults lightly laughed before replying.

"As you say lady Nanna we can't be lazy while master is absent." Findlay nodded and looked at Nanna with praise.

"Well then let's start this construction project. By the time milord returns we'll blow him away with our progress." Khuno roared out lighting a fire under the asses of the conscripted ronsos and dwarves.

Maya silently arrived behind Nanna and swept her up in a tight hug, unable to resist her cuteness.

Northrend forest.

"Vrrrrrr?" Kiba chuffed, asking Frost a question which thanks to their soul bond was easily translated.

"Sorry that's a no Kiba. I know you want to fly every chance you get but now's not the right time."

"Vvrrrrrrr?"

"Why well because if I'm being perfectly honest your wings still aren't fully developed nor are your skills.

Yes the travel time would be faster, but I'd likely be throwing my guts up by the time we arrived, and you'd be so exhausted that you'd be nothing but deadweight." Frost instantly shot down Kiba suggestion to fly above the Northrend forest to Furano causing the winged tiger to moan in complaint.

The two of them were riding through the Northrend forest at an already extreme speed but thanks to the monsters being horded to the same destination they were taking a very arced path that would see them avoid the large congregations.

Of course avoiding them all was impossible that's why Frost currently had his glaive out, ready to slash through any opposition. Blood was already coating the blade thanks to a bunch of frost wolves that unfortunately crossed their paths.

Still even with their wide berth and minor interruptions with Kiba's speed on land they'd be at Furano within 4 hours, more than enough time for the two of them to plan and prepare themselves for what they were about to dive into.

Frost and Kiba left the dungeon with full backpacks, filled with a vast supply of low-level and some mid-level potions, 2 sets of reserve armour and weapons, the smoke bombs he got from Leo as well as hefty chunk of materials that would sell well among the local merchants and adventurer's guild- the dungeon vault was pretty much at the brim once again so he brought the excess and that which may spoil.

The external camp needed coins to function as well as materials after all.

With Kiba's plan shot dead in the water the dungeon core and young glacial winged tiger made their way through the dense treeline in an arc towards Furano swiftly cutting down whatever was foolish enough to bar their path.

Furano

"Fire the ballistae, launch the fire oil trebuchets and where's that god damn volley of arrows I ordered!" Colonel Hamon could be seen atop the northern wall with a red face as he hollered off order after order.

"Sorry Colonel we're out of usable bolts and half the trebuchets have been damaged." A soldier aide by his side who was covered in blood (not his own) shouted back while cutting down an alpha frost wolf that had made its way up the wall atop the many monster corpses.

"Volley's coming colonel!" An officer in charge of the 2nd archer regiment roared out before a cascade of arrows were launched into the air. This volley contained hundreds of arrows that flew gracefully over the northern wall before swiftly descending into a veritable river of monsters a hundred metres away from the northern wall.

Don! Don! Don!

This volley not only killed a few tens of monsters but more importantly stopped an aggressive charge about to happen that could have tipped the scales.

Crack!

Hamon clenched his fists hard causing his knuckles to crack, his expression hadn't eased in slightest despite the success of the arrow volley.

'What the hell is this! This stampede is nothing like the previous ones!' Fear could be clearly seen in his eyes as he overlooked the battlefield, taking in their current situation.

Ammo was pretty much depleted, smiths were on call constantly pumping out new arrows, bolts and other ammunition thus repeated volleys were impossible. Hamon had to time each and every one precisely to ensure maximum damage.

The contingent of wizards focused on ranged attack were wearing themselves thin trying to keep up with lack of physical ranged support. Many were glugging down foul tasting low-level mana potions as they continued to cast balls of fire and wind into the invading hordes.

And in the thick of it, the frontlines all the weaker soldiers and adventurers that survived the mid stages were called back and replaced with those at the minimum of entry C-rank. These elite fighters held back the majority of the tide, wading through the corpses of monsters without so much of a second to relax.

Douglas, Bastion, all the close combat majors of the frost wolf battalion as well as 3 other majors sent as reinforcements and a B-rank adventurer party that arrived on sight yesterday were beyond the northern wall preventing it from being overrun.

The sound of flesh being torn, weapons smashing against bone, scale and even other weapons not to mention the magic explosions filled the frontlines generating a din of madness. Voices couldn't be heard meaning orders could only be telegraphed by flags, but the chaos was too much for anyone to look away even for a split second.

Douglas the current viscount of the Furano territory didn't hesitate for even a second to put his life on the line. Along with Bastion and other season veterans he plunged into the mad melee with his sword and shield, cutting down monster after monster.

In the beginning he felt revitalised. After being bed ridden for so long it felt good to be up and active doing what he trained so hard for. But eventually even with this not being his first stampede his will began to grow thin.

He couldn't tell who was still fighting, he'd lost track of Bastion and his other friends, finding himself alone surrounded by dozens of corpses and awash with monster blood. The smell, the noise and the sense of death was beginning to take its toll on the old veteran who's will out of everyone's should be the last to break.

He was the viscount the leading noble, everyone relied on him to shoulder the weight and lead them to prosperity, but that task seemed impossible right now.

'How long have I been fighting? Is Bastion ok? I can't hear anyone anymore.' Douglas pulled his sword out a slain ice troll in a sluggish manner, this was just one of many that he'd slain.

He looked around in daze seeing nothing but death and fire. The flags were still up on the wall, and he could make out people shouting and fighting atop the wall but couldn't hear a word they were saying.

'Such carnage. Will this be the end of Furano? Of my people? Of my family?'

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