Dungeon of Niflheim

495 Chapter 495: ‘I guess we’ll have to see what fate has in store for us.’

Screams filled with agony and despair repeatedly entered Hamon’s ears, and in response to each one his fists clenched tighter and tighter. A narrow stream of blood was already flowing through his fingers as his nails pierced his palms, yet he felt no pain. His eyes were focused resolutely upon the battlefield, refusing to even blink, afraid to miss even a single valiant sacrifice.

The grand commander of Furano’s forces had to stand here upon the northern wall and take in every single death without retaliating. The anger and frustration brought on by such a situation was far more than he’d ever had to deal with before. His heart was screaming for him to act but act he could not. There was a plan set forth by him and agreed upon by all the officers under his command. Something far more dangerous than Frostine and Valend was coming and only then when the enemy was at their strongest could he enter the field. If he entered now and wasted all his energy there would be no one left who could even briefly stop such a monster.

Douglas who was technically in a similar position to him being the ruling viscount and all had already leapt into battle and was currently engaging a B-rank monster with a team of C-rank adventurers. Leaving him alone in this duty yet not for a single second would he wish it upon another.

It had already been close to an hour since the barrier came down and the death toll was beyond counting. By this point massive holes had formed in the defensive line and dozens of monsters had made their way to the base of the northern wall. Those stationed on the battlements shot arrows and poured the burning oil onto those that dared to scale the wall, but it seemed like a pointless endeavour as whenever one monster died another simply replaced it a second later.

Ammunition for the ballistae was all but spent thanks to the tenacity of the mammoths and only a single trebuchet remained. Occasionally large rocks could be seen hurtling through the air and crashing upon the dense lines of monsters charging through battlefield but it was but a drop in the ocean.

What remained of the frontline troops was a fractured mess, something that could break at any moment, yet they refused to do so. Even after another hour and when 3 Majors had died in glorious battle the weak and fractured lines of troops continued to stand tall, enduring the crashing waves. A miracle brought on by resolute determination.

If an arm was lost they’d use the other, a leg they’d hop and if they had no limbs left they’d bite and or throw themselves before their enemy giving their comrades a chance to deal a fatal blow. A marvel to watch, beautiful yet horribly sad at the same time.

Hot tears streamed down Hamon’s cheeks as he watched comrade after comrade fall in battle, many of which he’d fought alongside for decades. This battle would be the greatest loss the frost wolf battalion had ever endured within the past century, all while he was at the helm. The level of guilt and responsibility Hamon felt on his shoulders right now couldn’t be put into words.

“Argrrrrgggggghhhhh!!!” Suddenly the scream of someone he knew well entered his ears.

.....

“Halgrave!” Hamon roared frantically as his eyes zoomed in on where the vice leader was battling.

Halgrave being one of the strongest fighters on their side and one of the vice leaders took on the greatest burden. When the 3 Majors died it was him that did his best to pick up the slack and ultimately it became too much.

His piercing scream was due his left and right arms being viciously torn off. The left from the pincers of a white Ankheg- a huge insect like monster that dwells under the earth in the inner regions of glacial mountains- and the right from the jaws of a winter saurus- a large dinosaur like monster that’s quick and armed with a vicious set of jaws.

Hamon’s heart lurched to a complete halt and the colour drained from his face as he saw his old comrade and in many ways his rival fall to his knees, armless. The two of them had fought side by side since they were but young greenhorns, constantly doing their best to one up one another.

As though he could feel Hamon’s pain Halgrave turned his head to look up at his commander and despite being filled with pain to the point of screaming a mysterious smile grew on his lips. His death had come, not the one he hoped for but glorious, nonetheless. As his eyes met with the distant Hamon his expression became peaceful, holding no regrets.

“Halg...” Before Hamon could call out his name once more Halgrave’s peaceful expression warped into one of madness. He turned his head around and glared at the white ankheg who tore off his left arm and roared.

“For the empire!!!!” With those words Halgrave kicked off the ground, diving headfirst into the waiting maw of the giant insect. For many his actions would seem pointless, seeing only to hasten his death and grant his enemy a fresher meal but Hamon knew and for the first time since the wave began he closed his eyes unable to watch what was about to unfold, the pain being too much to bear.

The moment Halgrave leaped into the ankheg’s maw something activated inside his body covering it in mystical runes that forcibly absorbed the surrounding mana. Within a fraction of a second his body became bloated before.

Booooooooooommmmmm!!!!!

A magical explosion of great proportions erupted with Halgrave as the origin.

Some very dedicated and or reckless soldiers of the empire willingly placed a bomb within their bodies’ that could be detonated in their final moments thus allowing them to take down whomever or whatever they were pitted up against if their strengths fell short. Halgrave was one such individual.

The magic explosion that combined mass amounts of surrounding mana with the internal runic system inside Halgrave’s body was powerful enough to not only blow the white ankheg to pieces but also heavily injure the nearby winter saurus. However this destructive capability came at a cost…. there was not a single shred of Halgrave remaining. His every cell vaporised and transformed into the catalyst for the explosion. There would be no filled grave for this loyal solider

“Vice leader” depressed mutterings escaped the lips of many soldiers in the area. His noble sacrifice being hard to miss.

“Halgrave senpai” Maggie who was distracted by the events was knocked flying backwards by Valend’s hammer, her ribs suffering several cracks from the blow, but she didn’t even notice. Her eyes were glued to where Halgrave once fought, and a sharp pain ran through her heart.

A despairing pall formed across the battlefield as many soldiers couldn’t help but be emotionally impacted.

“Hmph! End this” with a wide and evil looking smile Frostine gave out an order in a booming voice, fully intending to take advantage of this lack in attention. The fractured lines that had held on for so long, fuelled by their determination and will were now faltering thus now was the perfect time to finally break them.

“Hahahahahahaha I knew I liked you old man!” Valend laughed as he knocked away both Frost and Vaccos who were doing their best to cover for Maggie. The frost giant wasn’t one to care for the emotions of his prey. At Frostine’s order he rushed ahead intent on removing the enemy’s second vice leader and thus destroy the heart of his enemy.

Boom!

Suddenly an explosion that could be easily disregarded during the current chaos went off atop the northern wall.

“FUCK OFFFFF!!!!!” A second later Hamon in all his glory smashed down on the ground, landing in front of Maggie and before Valend. He roared at the top of his lungs and released the full strength of his aura forcing even Valend to stop in his tracks and reassess.

Hamon had had enough waiting around, Halgrave was dead along with countless other soldiers, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He wouldn’t be able to call himself human if did.

Douglas who was at another part of the battlefield frowned and let out a sigh before shaking his head and dodging a blow from his opponent. Hamon had held on for a long time, more than he expected to be honest.

‘I guess we’ll have to see what fate has in store for us.’ Douglas didn’t blame Hamon for acting out early. Humans were emotional creatures and plans hardly ever went they way you wanted them to.

‘Cass I hope I’ll get to meet you again in the next life.’ Douglas reaffirmed his resolve before lashing out against his foe.

“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!” Hamon slammed his feet on the ground like a sumo wrestler which activated many of the runic inscriptions decorating his body. And in response his already tall and muscular form grew in stature and his skin gave off a golden sheen drawing the eyes of the many soldiers whose spirits were about to die out. He looked like a golden guardian that would never fall no matter what attacked him. This was Hamon’s ultimate battle form, The golden god of war, Ares.

“For the empire!!!”

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