Dungeon of Niflheim

475 Chapter 475: New enemy commander

The second day since Frost’s arrival came and went and it was now dawn of the third day.

The B-rank monsters stayed quiet for most of waves after yesterday morning, but a couple newly uninjured ones appeared during nightfall but without the rest of them their presence was easily managed.

Douglas was back in fighting condition, perhaps around 85%, enough to safely head into battle. Hamon was still in recovery, but the majority of the Majors and other elite fighters were in good condition and ready to face off against the dreaded dawn wave.

Once again the mages were pretty spent from last night’s defence but not as bad as the previous dawn wave. This time they’d have a decent amount magic support. There was even arrows for the ranger corps as well as repaired trebuchets and ballistae. This wave was expected to be a difficult one, so all the stops were pulled out to preserve as much of their forces as possible.

Douglas stood up straight on the northern wall in his bespoke platinum armour with Maggie, Halgrave and Frost by his side creating a very imposing image. How this wave goes down will likely determine whether or not they’d survive the full four days until the reinforcements arrive. Thankfully a few groups of C-rank adventurers arrived in the early hours through the south gate adding to their forces slightly. Unfortunately they didn’t bring resources like Frost, but warm able bodies were just as good.

The war horn was blazing throughout the area heralding the hordes’ forces but even without that everyone could feel the earth shake.

And as if on cue the moment Furano’s forces finished arranging themselves the monsters madly charged out from behind the treeline in great numbers. It was a hodgepodge of species completely different from the large brutes that were sent the previous day.

“Everyone ready arms!” Douglas drew his sword causing the sun to reflect off the edge as he raised it above his head in a grandiose manner.

“Ready arms!” Many captains and squad leaders mirrored his orders causing everyone to draw their weapons and enter their stances. The plan for this wave was turtle tactics and will be the same for each and every wave following this. They were going to play full on defensive until their reinforcements arrived. Only the upper ranked fighters would head beyond the frontline and only when necessary. There was no more vanguard troops deployed beyond the frontline, too risky.

.....

“You guys will likely have a hard fight on your hands are you prepared.” Douglas asked the three people who were by his side.

“We are Lord Viscount”

“I’m always ready for a good fight.”

“No problem, Douglas.” Halgrave responded respectfully while Maggie laughed and smashed her fists together, creating a booming sound whereas Frost answered informally but all of them sported determined expressions.

“Good, let’s survive this and deal with the next one.” Douglas gently smiled before releasing his aura in a similar way to Hamon. Since he was weaker his aura wasn’t quite as heavy as Hamon’s, but it was no less rousing among their own troops perhaps even more so. Hamon was a colonel, a commander of warfare, but Douglas was a true blooded noble someone that bore the lives of thousands of people on his shoulders a weight that was passed down through his family and it influenced his aura.

Following his outburst Halgrave and Maggie did the same, releasing their blood-filled auras for a powerful demonstration. The three of them together slightly surpassed Hamon thus causing many monsters to flinch in fear.

However in response a heavy and dense aura rose from behind the treeline and smashed against their combined aura, restricting it like an immovable wall causing Halgrave’s, Maggie’s and Douglas’s faces to whiten. This aura wasn’t from the eldest rindar or the poison herald but something stronger....a mid level B-rank.

Following the outburst from this new monster came the auras of the rindar, the poison herald and the second eldest rindar as they were the only other ones able to fully utilise their own aura. It was a show of force and defiance as they’d had enough of being pressured by the aura of the frost wolf battalion.

With their assistance the heavy aura of the unknown B-rank monster gained insidious qualities and increased in strength pushing back the combined auras of Douglas, Halgrave and Maggie worsening their expressions even further.

Douglas gave a hand gesture and suddenly Ryuu, Bastion, four majors and even Frost summoned their auras and launched them in aid.

The combined auras of both sides battled for supremacy, the very air was visibly warped in areas and the sounds of hidden crashes appeared overhead. Only those that had started on the path of aura could understand what was happening and truly feel the building conflict. Those below, the monsters and sapients only felt a dreadful pressure above their heads that made them feel instinctual fear when it passed over them.

After a minute or so there was still no clear winner between the two sides, perhaps the monster group was slightly weaker, but the difference wasn’t enough to force them back, a realisation that greatly disturbed Douglas and the two vice leaders of the frost wolf battalion.

It was mainly because of that unknown monster its aura wasn’t at full strength in the beginning, so they misjudged it. Now however it was clear that this monster was worlds apart from the rindar and likely as strong if not stronger than Hamon at least in terms of its aura.

This was not a good sign but one that was expected. This monster stampede was already not like any other, far stronger and relentless so they expected that monsters in the mid or possibly even upper B-ranks would eventually attack that’s why they requested the reinforcements.

With no clear winner and the fact that constantly forcing out your aura like this was rather draining both sides relaxed their auras calming the air and removing the looming pressure on those below.

Douglas grasped the hilt of his sword tightly, nervous about the battle to come. He barely made it out alive the last time he took to the field and couldn’t help but wonder about the possibility but that feeling was brief and swiftly sent to the back of his mind.

“Ranger corps fire a volley!” Since an aura attack didn’t work they’d start with a deluge of arrows to soften up the first few lines.

In response the ranger corps loaded their recently crafted arrows and shot a vast bombardment of arrows over the northern wall.

“Haaaaaaa fire the contraptions” A deep voice sighed and spoke through the trees and in response what sounded like catapults launched ball and chains into the air right into the path of the arrow volley.

Crunch! Boom! Snap!

The balls and chains smashed apart the volley like falling twigs eliminating the vast majority of the arrows.

And thus another attack failed.

“Mage corps!” Not willing to suffer defeat Douglas roared out in anger causing Ryuu and Jessie’s teams to launch their spells while the two of them prepared fourth circle magic for an extra kick. Even Frost chanted the aria for his [ice fireball] adding to the devastation.

A couple seconds later an array of magic spells flew through the air in attempt to slaughter the lines of monster charging the field.

“Haaaaaaa block it.” The deep voice could heard sighing once again before giving out an order.

In response dozens of blue magic circles appeared above the monsters’ side summoning thick shields of ice while the speaker themselves chanted an aria for a strong 4th circle magic spell to fight against Ryuu and Jessie.

A colourful battle erupted in the air as spell clashed against spell. Some spells those predominantly of the fire element as well as Frost’s smashed their way through the ice wall but lost a lot of their destructive power in doing so and barely did any damage when making contact with the enemy.

The magic attack also failed.

“Fuck!” Douglas loudly cursed and ground his teeth together. If this happened in the earlier stages it would have been fine since they could afford to waste some ammunition but not at this stage, every spell and arrow was a precious commodity.

This new B-rank was not only strong in terms of aura but knew strategy intimately, a very dangerous opponent. It knew to keep those contraptions hidden until when they were needed and even now they could only roughly guess their position within the forest. Arrow volleys were now too risky severely limiting one of their powerful attacks.

The monster horde also seemed to be reinforced with a contingent of magic users likely the lesser kin of the new commander making their magic attacks fall short as well. Once again it seemed that the dawn wave would rely primarily on the frontline forces.

Seeing that close combat would be the focus Frost was sent down to give aid while Maggie and Halgrave remained atop the wall to conserve their strength for when the B-ranks make a move.

“Chuff!” Kiba who had pretty much healed chuffed in demand wanting to join Frost on the frontline, but Douglas immediately vetoed that option.

“No Kiba you’re needed here as emergency backup. None of us are as quick nor as manoeuvrable as you are so you’ll have to stay by my side so I can order you where to go at a moment’s notice.” Douglas understood Kiba’s feelings, but emotions couldn’t play a part in his decisions he needed to make the most efficient and logical choices if they were to survive this war. Kiba’s ability to fly and fierce charging power made him great as immediate reinforcement and as a retriever of the wounded which given the line up they faced was likely to be generously open for business.

The big tiger grumbled in annoyance before flying back to his little prepared area nearby ready and waiting to be put in motion.

Minutes passed by and the monsters continued to charge forth in dense lines, swarming the frontline troops with numbers and the occasionally high C-ranks gradually eating away at the town’s defences.

Arrows would still occasionally fall but whenever the volley was too dense the hidden contraptions on the monster’s side would reactively fire wasting the entire volley.

Magic attacks didn’t get much better with both sides reaching a stalemate however with Ryuu and Jessie pushing 4th circles spells the unknown commander was forced to repeatedly intervene thus they managed to make some guesses in regards to its species and unfortunately it wasn’t good news.

The battle was a veritable slugfest that gradually saw Furano become weaker and weaker. The new commander didn’t use overly aggressive tactics, nor did they reveal themselves instead they slowly ordered their pretty much unlimited forces eat away at the frontline piece by piece.

A commander with frightening patience.

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