Conquering His Cold Heart

"Major Kursch you know about these monsters?" Asked Frost.

Major Kursch, a dwarf with a short stature and a strangely amiable expression given their current circumstances turned to Frost as they chased after Casper and Avalon.

"Yes thanks to my younger cousin." He replied.

His cousin was a talented peak 3 star blacksmith who had travelled throughout the inner regions in her youth, learning all manner of skills and techniques before eventually setting up shop in Icethorne.

"According to her they can occasionally be found at the fringes of the 9th layer and are supposedly a subspecies of another species of viper that inhabits the core regions."

Although it was just an unconfirmed hypothesis by Kursch's cousin anything even remotely related to the core regions was certain to be powerful.

Very few sapients ever managed to travel beyond the inner regions and survive but all those that were lucky enough, described it as a hellish landscape, littered with upper ranked monsters as far as the eye could see.

B-ranks were common, A-ranks merely uncommon and even S-ranks were simply rare. A chaotic place where survival of the fittest reigned supreme.

"Any weaknesses?"

"F'raid not Frost. They're fast, flexible, resistant to magic especially the ice element and pack a deadly corrosive venom that they can spit over long distances or inject directly through their fangs." Karsch replied and shrugged his shoulders causing Frost to frown.

"The only advise I can give you is to stay away from their tails…Oh and try to preserve as much of their skin and organs as possible, they make for great smithing and cooking materials hehehe."

Kursch laughed and salivated at the thought of some snake hotpot.

'Haaaaaa guess I'll have to play it by ear then.' Frost sighed and lamented his luck.

"Eyes front, weapons and shields at the ready, take them down!" Colonel Casper loudly bellowed as he led the charge.

The night bloom adders were ahead and charging right for them. Their long split tongues flickering in and out of their venom laced maws as they eyed up Casper and his cohorts.

Such delicious prey was offering themselves up on a silver platter.

These vipers with their rugged scales easily slithered across the ice and snow faster than any horse, eager to taste Sapient flesh.

Stretching more than 15 metres in length and numbering in the dozens these monsters made for quite an intimidating sight. Yet despite this Colonel Casper, Frost and the other Majors picked up speed and readied their weapons, diving headfirst into the monstrous pit.

Once the distance between them reached 50 metres or so the night bloom adders arched their necks upwards. A wide hood decorated with a threatening pair of fake eyes then extended from the sides of their heads.

Following that they all hissed as a large bubble formed and rose up through their necks.

"Venom incoming!" Casper warned and in the next second thick, viscous dollops of purple and red venom was launched their way with immense speed.

"Dodge!" The Cavalry corps elites took evasive actions, weaving side to side in order to dodge the corrosive rain.

"[Fire bullets]"

"[Wind shield]"

"[Freezing fireball]" Two of the elites were capable of utilising low circle magic. They tested the waters with an offensive fire spell and a defensive wind spell.

"Tssss!" The venom corroded the wind shield in less than a second while the fire bullets were quickly engulfed and extinguished.

Only Frost's [freezing fireball] managed to offset the venomous blob, gradually eroding it until it vanished.

The ice fire element seemed to still be effective against them albeit barely, half of his fireball's energy had been used up dealing with just one blob.

Frost planed to try out his glaive next but in his peripheral vision he saw someone block a blob with their shield. The thick purple and red liquid wrapped itself around the metal and instantly started to eat away at it layer by layer. The female elite was forced to dispose of her shield lest she wanted to lose an arm.

Upon seeing such a reaction the rest of the team focused on evasive actions.

Such an aggressive volley may be devasting for a larger group but for a small squad of elites it was merely an annoyance.

"Tsk Carol's going to chew me out for losing another shield, she just made me that one." The female elite who abandoned her shield clicked her tongue and visibly shivered. She was more scared of dealing with the wrath of a certain blacksmith than the snake monsters before her.

"Hahahaha serves you right, who told you to block something so corrosive." Another elite laughed out loud as he and his battle mount zigzagged in amongst the purple and red rain.

When the group were less than 20 metres away from the snakes they all unsheathed their weapons and prepared their strongest skills to make short work of the enemy.

"Ahhhh!"

"Urahh!"

"Diieee!!" They roared aloud, madness marring their expressions.

Vast explosions of energy, creative applications of chakra and razor sharp weapons crashed down on the night bloom adders.

Blood gushed forth like geysers, instantly painting the snow and ice below bright red. A full on onslaught from a bunch of B-ranks was quite the destructive force.

Even these immensely strong C-rank snakes crumbled like paper before such immense fury.

High pitched hissing escaped their lungs as heads rolled and guts were spilled.

"Charge through!" Casper gave another order before ripping apart a night bloom adder that reached close to 20 metres in length, a monster that was just a single step away from the B-rank.

"Roaaaarrr!!" Avalon his trusted partner crushed another night bloom adder beneath his paws and roared out in victory.

The other battle mounts -Kiba included- replied with their own roars, allowing the thrill of battle and carnage to flow through their veins.

The first line of adders was down, on to the next.

Colonel Casper and the other elites carved through the adders, making sure to stay out of range of their devasting tails whenever possible. A few of them were almost knocked off their mounts due to a single moment of carelessness.

Unfortunately the adders had a couple B-rank commanders with intelligence. While the strongest of their group restricted Casper and the elites a few dozens fanned out from the sides and charged at the rest of the left wing.

"Fuck!" Casper loudly cursed as he blocked a tail whip from one of the B-rank commanders.

"Military order, focus on escaping. Don't get bogged down with killing the enemy."

The standard cavalry soldiers were like sheep to these ravenous snakes. Just one alone was able to take down multiple soldiers and mounts at the same time.

Killing all of them would only delay their escape, the broken flanks of the enemy were already showing signs of resurgence. The longer they stayed the worse it'd get.

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So despite knowing that such an order would result in multiple deaths Colonel Casper still issued it with nary an ounce of hesitation.

"Frost slaughter a path; the other Majors and I will cover the rear and widen it."

"Yes Colonel!" Frost bravely replied with a firm military salute before charging ahead, picking up some of the extra slack. He'd never say no to extra DP after all, plus Kiba was showing signs of improvement.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Although he wasn't all that threatened by the night bloom adders Kiba was just a C-rank monster, one that was still a little aways from the peak.

Even the slightest mistake could result in him suffering serious wounds.

He needed to be constantly on guard, ducking and weaving, biting and clawing, mowing down enemy after enemy.

The carnage, the thrill, the bloodlust all inspired him, igniting his natural instincts, the blood of a predator, a devourer that ruled both the land and sky.

"ROOOAARRRR!" Kiba let loose a roar so earth shattering and intimidating that a B-rank Night bloom adder temporarily froze in fear. Its reptilian eyes stared at the smaller Kiba situated beneath Frost.

Within his tiger frame and his curled up wings it saw something that made its heart lurch. An image of a fierce predator, one that relished in the flesh of snakes.

Though the illusion was momentary it was more than enough time for Frost to take advantage of it.

With a swift slash of his glaive he severed its head from its body, opening up the path ahead. Kiba meanwhile had a sudden strong urge to eat.

The moment the snake's head fell to the ground he wrenched open his jaw and swallowed a massive chunk of its juicy flesh.

It was delicious and energising, Kiba felt like he was going to explode if he didn't continue to fight and devour his enemies.

The two partners, one a Dungeon core and the other a winged glacial tiger entered a battle focused fugue state wherein their every move was as efficient as possible. Moving in perfect concert the two killed and moved almost as fast as Casper and Avalon.

Within a couple minutes Frost and the other elites managed to create a wide channel, wide enough for the left wing to pass through and reach the western mountain.

"Move! Move! Move!" Casper shouted desperately, his spear stabbing in all directions. Their losses were growing exponentially, if they didn't leave right this second then the alliance's mid ranks would catch up and pelt them to death with ranged attacks.

Cavalrymen after cavalrymen charged through the channel, running at full speed towards the western mountain while Colonel Casper and several other elites defended the channel and blocked the rear.

"The way is clear Colonel!" Frost hollered. By this point there wasn't a single spot of his robes that weren't dyed red.

"Good work Frost. You and Kursch guard the fleeing troops from any more surprises! Everyone else follow in pairs every ten seconds."

"What about you Colonel?"

"I'll be the last to leave now go!" Casper was the strongest member of the left wing and their leader, he would hold off the enemy for as long as possible, guaranteeing the maximum number of survivors.

He was strong, strong enough to ensure his survival even if the enemy caught up to him and started to surround him.

The only way his life would be in true danger was if an A-rank General made a move and so far he didn't see any signs of them heading over.

Battle etiquette was still being upheld for now.