Dungeon of Niflheim

It didn't long for General Bando to make his way back to the fortress' frontlines, its northern wall.

The scene here was quite a bit different from the rather easy going southern wall. Instead of having a few small platoons keeping up appearances, the northern wall was littered with soldiers from both the Duchy's own forces and the vaulted War Ursa Battalion.

Thousands perhaps even tens of thousands stood atop and before the massive wall that stretched several kilometres across.

Men and women of differing Sapient species stood stalwart at the base of the wall, adorned in high quality armour fashioned from a mixture of metals and monster materials. These soldiers were the Duchy's vanguard, men and women of great physical strength and unwavering courage.

They didn't rely upon the safety of the wall behind them no they stood in front of it, culling any would be aggressor that dared to infringe upon their land.

Their armour and clothes long dyed red from the blood of their enemies. Across the entire empire there were few regiments that could match their experience and sheer kill count.

With powerful shieldmen armed with tower shields as tall as themselves standing at the forefront, deadly spearmen and pole users primed behind and vicious swordsmen and axe users in the rear this 3 layer system acted like a meat grinder, swiftly dispatching swaths of enemy combatants regardless of their shape or form.

Atop of the wall stood the Duchy's ranger corps, crossbowmen and archers arrayed in individual rectangular formations with close combat bodyguard units standing in between. While behind them were the magic corps, mages of all elements who were grouped up on extended platforms and specially build towers that amplified the flow of mana.

From on high and safety the ranger corps and the magic corps rained death from above but even then their firepower paled in comparison to the war machines lined across not only the top of the wall but also within it.

Just like the newly built wall around the Niflheim city-state this monstrosity was partially hollow allowing soldiers to enter it at will and man the ballistae and even mana cannons placed within.

If that wasn't enough stationed behind the wall was the cavalry of the Duchy and the War Ursa Battalion. Men and women who rode upon bear monsters ranging from E-rank to even upper C-rank.

Hidden pathways within the nearby mountains as well as beneath the ground itself allowed this deadly force to appear and disappear like the wind, stabbing deep into the heart of the enemy forces before swiftly returning safely behind the wall.

Throughout Northrend hell probably throughout the entire civilised regions of Yangmir there wasn't a single fortress that came close to matching the defensive power of Icethorne.

General Bando when his eyes gazed upon the current state of the northern wall surprisingly frowned, his expression briefly darkening as worry filled his heart.

Smack!

The moment he was lost in thought however a large hand slammed hard against his back, leaving a distinct handprint and forcing the mighty general to reel forward.

"Welcome back rookie!" His attacker was a bear beastwoman even taller and more muscular than himself.

"Katrina." Jared grumbled, his back searing from her malicious smack. "How long are you gonna call me 'rookie' by the way." Though in pain and annoyed by her choice of greeting he was in a lower position hierarchy wise plus he may have took longer than necessary to return to his post.

Katrina or rather General Katrina Orwell tilted her head to the side in a playful manner. "Hmmm probably until the next person reaches A-rank then they'd be the rookie General."

"….I'm the first new General in ten years"

"Un so you have your answer, rookie." Katrina nodded her head, mockingly praising Jared's intelligence which caused the usually calm and collected man to twitch at the lips. His fists trembled as he restrained the urge to pick a fight with the woman as doing so would only result in his abysmal defeat.

General Katrina was one of the oldest Generals under Duke Runak, a lady who was literally slaughtering people when he was still in diapers. Currently she was in the upper ranges of middle A-rank, but Jared suspected that her true strength was even higher, possibly even late stage A-rank.

With him being the rookie who only just ascended to A-rank she could easily crush him without much effort and in fact one of her favourite pastimes was too abuse him under the guise of training.

Katrina taunted and teased urging him to take a swing at her so she could put him in his place, but he refused to take the bait.

"Tsk boring….by the way what took you so long?" Katrina clicked her tongue before changing topics.

"The Princess appeared."

"Ahh no wonder Oscar's been so enthusiastic." Katrina turned to glance at the Northern wall's command centre. There a human man with short white hair, a bushy white beard and an intimidating a face stood with his arms crossed as he gazed beyond the wall.

This man was Oscar Runak the Duke of Icethorne, leader of the War Ursa Battalion and the strongest soldier in the Empire. Experience tales at empire

The old Duke was too strong to get personally involved in standard battles, but he regularly took command as the main strategist. Katrina had noticed that his orders had been rather aggressive over the past hour, now she knew why.

"That still doesn't explain you being absent for so long though." Katrina was too wizened to be fooled by a hot topic.

"There was a bit of a complication…" Jared proceeded to tell Katrina about having to rescue Frost because of the Princess' order/request.

"Frost…is he the one you met several months ago, the one you said helped you cross the gap?" Katrina asked knowing quite a bit about Jared's activities which was to be expected given that he was once under her direct command.

"Yes." Jared didn't hide anything.

"….How intriguing." Katrina stroked her chin in thought as a smile formed on her lips, she was curious. Frost's exploits were too impressive to ignore….she wanted him as a subordinate.

"General Bando give your report!" Suddenly Jared and Katrina were interrupted by a loud booming voice that sent shivers down their spines.

"Yes War Marshall." Duke Runak had two titles; one was his nobility title the Duke of Icethorne while the other was War Marshal of the War Ursa Battalion. Whenever they were on the battlefield or discussing the war effort Duke Runak insisted on being called War Marshal instead of Duke.

While Jared was reporting to the Duke, Frost, Avira and Borris got some much needed rest. The journey had been quite taxing on their minds and bodies especially the last leg.

Their assigned rooms were far better than even the best yurts found in the camps run by the order of the ice shield and miles apart from camping in a cave, so after a quick wash and a glass of a milk like drink the three of them fell asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow.

5 hours later when night had fallen, turning the once white landscape a beautiful black Frost and the rest were awoken from their sleep by the embassy attendants.

"Sir Frost the Duke requests your presence in the palace."

"Understood" Frost stretched and cracked his back after acknowledging the attendant's words. He then looked out the nearby window and saw the moon high in the sky "What time is it?" He asked.

"A little after 9pm sir."

"Seems I slept through dinner."

"Not to worry Sir a banquet has been prepared in the palace for you, Lord Darksteel and her majesty the Princess." The attendant was quick to allay Frost's worries.

'Great I'd hate to have to deal with the Duke on an empty stomach'

"Thank you, I'll be down in a minute." Once the sound of the attendant's footsteps disappeared Frost put on his robes and armour, casted clean up magic to get rid of any bed head and checked his appearance in a nearby mirror.

"Good as always." He narcissistically said before nodding his head and leaving the bedroom.

"Evening lad you're looking better." Borris was already waiting in the foyer with a glass of whiskey, a standard dwarven blacksmith pick me up.

"A good rest and hopefully tasty food should have me back to full potency." Though the high level health potion cleared up the majority of his injuries his exhaustion was still present thus when he arrived with Jared earlier his face was pale, his eyes bloodshot and sporting significant dark bags underneath.

"That's good to hear." Borris took a sip of whiskey before frowning. "How bad was it?" He asked knowing that Avira wasn't here yet.

"…Bad, I had to use a high level health potion."

Shatter!

The whiskey glass in Borris' hands shattered, the old dwarf in a rush of anger clench his hand too hard causing the glass to break and the whiskey to go to waste.

"Sorry, ah such a waste of premium liquor haaaaa." An attendant quickly moved to help clean up the broken glass and wipe down Borris's hand and clothes.

"….What were you thinking lad? If we hadn't run into that General Bando what would you have done?" Borris looked up at Frost with an aggrieved expression, his pain was evident.

Seeing this Frost felt his heart warm, and a gentle smile grew on his lips.