Dungeon of Niflheim

General Katrina Orwell stood at the forefront of the Northern wall overseeing the clearing of the battlefield. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes narrowed as she took stock of the current situation.

"Tsk!" Upon seeing something in the distance she couldn't help but loudly click her tongue.

"How's it looking Kat?" General Jessica Tunray who still had a black eye from their earlier spat asked. She stood to Katrina's left looking no less serious.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Bad, even with your extra embellishments Vash shows no sign of retreating. You managed to wipe out a significant fraction of their forces and even deprived them of two generals yet still they persist. Though they've retreated back several hundred metres they're still somewhat united." The more she talked the more furrowed her brow became.

The fact that Vash and his vanguard forces were not cowed by Jessica's spell meant that they still had the confidence to crush them in this war. Of course the Vanguard itself was incapable of such an achievement but behind them was the Alliance's main force….Vash was clearly confident because of them.

The Vanguard may look strong from the outset given that 8 A-rank generals including Vash were present alongside dozens of B-rank officers and commanders but that was purely on an individual level.

The million strong army was a coalition of 4 groups, the Jabrak kingdom, the northern nation of glacial sprites and ice elementals, the horde of ravenous blue ants and polar mantises and finally the tribe of the large horned ice drakes. These four groups supplied a portion of their forces to make the Vanguard.

Doing so allowed them to build a sufficiently large force quickly but at the cost of unity. Since the soldiers are from differing sources they cannot utilise large scale battle formations or war magic, thus depriving them of a core warfare strategy. Instead of a solid wall they are akin to a loose sandcastle, easily dispersed.

Jessica's war magic spell [greater meteor fall] wouldn't have had nearly as much impact against a united force even if their generals and officers were individually weaker and lesser. Being able to combine their strengths together would have allowed them to destroy far more of the meteor before it crash landed.

This was why despite them being outnumbered the War Ursa Battalion didn't take the alliance's Vanguard all that seriously. Unfortunately they were merely a prelude to a much more dangerous force.

"Have you noticed it Jess, there's no sign of the demonic empire." Out of the million strong army Katrina failed to find a single soldier from the demonic empire, the most powerful nation within the inner regions of the Glacial Mountains.

"I have….they're truly going to great lengths to keep us in the dark." The War Ursa Battalion and Icethorne knew practically nothing about the demonic empire except for the fact that it dwelled within the 9th layer and that their military made even the most powerful nations within the inner regions nervous.

"The unknown is always the most dangerous factor in war…..do you feel it Jess?" Katrina pulled back her sleeves to reveal goosebumps. Her heart beat with audible thumps and her instincts were going haywire.

"War Jess, a true war hehehehe a battlefield so chaotic and desperate that even you and I may fail to see another sunrise." As she spoke Katrina clenched her fists tightly and began to smile.

Jessica mirrored her best friend. It had been too long since the two of them had felt any true danger….a primal feeling that they had missed.

Regardless of the outcome they would enjoy this war to the fullest and leave no regrets.

The two high ranking Generals continued to stare into the distance, their minds churning in anticipation.

While Icethorne endured a dangerous siege, back in the Niflheim city-state, several days after Frost had left the place in Yuna's capable hands a mandatory meeting of the council members had been called.

This was only the second mandatory meeting called since the town's conception and it was called not by Frost but by his stand in. Some were of course a little annoyed by this, feeling that Yuna was overstepping her bounds but the moment ronso guards appeared at their residences to escort them they held their tongues.

Within Niflheim's meeting hall, all members of the council were seated with not a single person missing. The air was tense, and no one spoke a single word as they awaited Yuna's arrival.

Behind them were ronsos guards to prevent anyone from leaving or causing a ruckus.

Some members such as the guild representatives were apparently aware of the reasons for this sudden summons and were looking at the other council members warily and somewhat aggressively which caused a great deal of confusion.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait in a tense silence for too long. The large double doors to the hall opened wide to reveal interim lord Yuna as well as Daki, Maya and even the head of the guards Khuno. Each of them however bore cold expressions, something very serious was going down.

Yuna quietly sat at the head of the table, Daki and Maya took their seats by her side while Khuno intimidatingly remained standing behind them armed with his large halberd. There was a palpable blood lust in the air that unsettled the weaker members of the council. They felt their blood run cold and had the sudden urge to evacuate their bowels.

"Members of the Niflheim council first off I apologise for the sudden summons and the less than respectful escort but unfortunately there was no other recourse as the subject of this meeting is rather dire." Yuna spoke with an air of authority as her gaze passed over the council members.

"….."

"Colleagues I regret to inform that there are traitors in our midst, dogs that have not only dared to bite the hand that feeds them but backstab them in the most cowardly way possible and for that they must be punished." Yuna flicked her hands and in response the ronso guards standing behind the council members swung into action.

Bang!

In less than a second two council members had their heads violently slammed against the table. Such aggression sent shivers down the spines of the other council members. A few wanted to quickly shout and reprimand Yuna for her methods but held their tongues when Khuno's fierce glare narrowed in on them.

"W….Why?" one of the restrained council members a merchant by the name of Josif asked through the pain, confusion evident on his face. He was genuinely taken by surprise by Yuna's conduct.

In response he received a vicious smile from the young woman before she happily explained.

"Josif and Nash we graciously accepted you into the Niflheim city state, granted you prime real estate and even welcomed you into the council to better serve and protect our community. Lord Frost had high expectations for the two of you….so tell why did you stab him in the back?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Your next chapter is on empire

"I would never harm Lord Frost I owe him so much!" The two pleaded their innocence so naturally that many in the room felt that Yuna had made a mistake.

"Interim Lord what exactly have they supposedly done?" One of the other council members who weren't in the know asked nervously.

How Yuna responded and managed this situation could very well break the trust and confidence these people had in the Niflheim city-state.

"I'm glad you asked, and I'd be more than happy to tell explain but first I'll grant these two an opportunity to come clean….well, Josif, Nash?"

"…..I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm innocent! Josif hesitated for a second, but Nash immediately declared his innocence once again which caused Yuna's lips to turn upwards.

"Very well I shall reveal your crimes to the rest of the council. Lord Frost is rather lenient when it comes to your individual interests as am I. For example despite the order being passed down to keep the knowledge regarding the ability to contract with monsters from the Dungeon in house some of you have taken it upon yourselves to relay that information to outsiders." A few merchants stiffed up as this revelation, Josif and Nash included.

'How did she find out?' They all asked themselves. They couldn't have been more discreet in their actions yet still they were discovered. Was this the treasonous action? But did such an act deserve this kind of treatment.

One of the 'guilty' feeling council members moved to question Yuna but was silenced before he could open his lips.

"Relax fellow council members Lord Frost and I have no intention in seriously reprimanding any of you for your disobedience in regards to this. The majority of you are merchants, information is your lifeblood…we expected you to leak it eventually."

"Then?"

"Though Josif and Nash are also complicit in the outside trading of this information that's not the reason for this meeting nor why I had the ronso guards restrain them." At this moment the bloodlust in the room skyrocketed. Both Daki and Maya were crushing the chairs they sat on as their fury struggled to be contained any longer.

Seeing the wrath in their eyes the council members once again kept silent, Nash and Josif however began to tremble and shiver. The hatred and anger was solely directed at them, Maya even used her pseudo aura to pressure them, desiring nothing more than to squash them into meat paste.

Yuna didn't say a single word for a few seconds, letting Nash and Josif stew under Maya and Daki's pressure. Her silence generated an air of curiosity among the other council members, a curiosity that needed to be sated.