Dungeon of Niflheim

As Celunia's entombed ice spirit and Abagar's giant tiger king unleashed their might, behind Casper a chaotic mess of violent lightning repeatedly clashed against sturdy ice crystals.

The ensuing chaos generated a fierce storm that roiled and boiled, growing at an absurd rate as brutal explosions happened within.

Within seconds the giant looming storm outshone both the ice spirit and the tiger, threatening to engulf them both.

An ideal representation of how fragile life was in the face of mother nature.

"Die!" Loudly bellowed Casper as he shot one final injection of chakra into the massive storm, finally pushing it over the edge.

With a cataclysmic boom the storm burst open like a violent volcano, erupting the chaos sealed within upon Celunia and Abagar.

""AHHHHHH!!!!"" The two enemy Colonel screamed in terror as their ultimate skills were ripped apart and their bodies were sent flying like a pair of ragdolls.

Bones shattered, blood erupted like a geyser and the ground all around was completely destroyed.

An enormous pit more then 15 metres deep and twice that in diameter was formed where Celunia and Abagar once stood.

Such destructive prowess couldn't go ignored. Vash and the other A-rank Generals in the core of the army turned their heads in Casper's direction.

Such an attack would put even them on tenterhooks let alone individuals still at the B-rank.

"Go Avalon!" Knowing that his current predicament and display of strength would draw attention from the sleeping dragons Casper despite his wounds ordered Avalon to retreat as fast as possible. He even summoned a few tendrils of lightning chakra to increase their speed.

As the two ran away, dozens of blood vessels burst open throughout their bodies, quickly dyeing them blood red.

"Cough, cough!" Casper loudly coughed, spitting up a significant amount of dark coloured blood and even bits of his lungs.

[Fury of the elements, lighting avalanche] was no joke, his body couldn't handle such chaotic power.

Everything in his body hurt, the pain was so bad that every signal sent to his brain was trying to knock him unconscious.

Despite his severe injuries however Casper pulled out three metallic spheres from his storage ring, charged them with a little mana and tossed them behind, to his left and to his right.

Moments after these spheres struck the ground they exploded, fragmenting any nearby monsters and putting up a thick smokescreen to mask his tracks.

With that done he no longer looked back, he stuck his body as close to Avalon's back as possible and the two ran for the western mountain in the distance.

In the core area of the alliance's army General Vash glared at the fleeing Casper, his dark thoughts obvious for all to see.

To his left at roughly the same time Colonel Ridge also managed to successfully push back his opponents and make a dash to safety.

This was not good news, not good at all.

One of them had to die.

With just a quick exchange of glances Vash ordered two A-rank Generals with decent speed to chase after the fleeing enemy.

To hell with Katrina's threats, these Colonels needed to die.

Their movements were soon noticed by Generals Katrina and Jessica who instantly bared their fangs.

"You dare!" They loudly questioned, their auras piercing the sky in an attempt to intimidate their enemy.

Alas this time Vash was determined. He and the remaining Generals stood stalwart against their intimidation, releasing their own auras in reply.

The speed of an A-rank was hard to describe, even with the distance between them and the narrow head starts that Casper and Ridge had managed to secure the enemy was on their heels in just 20 seconds.

"Bastards!!" Katrina roared once more, this time taking a forceful step into the air, using her aura to form a solid surface beneath her feet.

Her mind was split between two choices, should she continue to restrain herself or completely let loose.

It wasn't the ideal time for her to go on a slaughter but then again she couldn't allow the War Ursa Battalion to lose such talented Colonels.

This short period of indecision was exactly what Vash wanted; an A-rank only needed a moment to launch a devasting attack. Once the deed was done and the enemy was dead would she still risk an all-out war at such a juncture?

He was gambling on the answer being no….but even if he was wrong, he couldn't let the two Colonels leave.

A couple hundred metres from the western mountain.

Casper and Avalon who had charged ahead as fast as they possibly could at the expense of more injuries felt the spectre of death clawing at the back of their necks.

The pressure they suddenly felt was magnitudes greater than that from Celunia and Abagar.

'Shit they really made a move.' Casper felt a tinge of despair in his heart. If he wasn't injured he wouldn't mind going a couple rounds with a weak A-rank but now….his injuries were so severe that just one well-placed attack could end him.

Whenever he used [Fury of the elements, lighting avalanche] he was gambling with his life. As long as he killed or incapacitated his enemy he'd be golden but if he failed, he was easy pickings.

Casper felt regret, regret for his own weakness. Because of his limited strength he would never see his family again, never again fight alongside his brothers and sisters in arms, never watch the young pups grow up into a generation of soldiers stronger than the last.

He didn't want to die, he still had so much to live for.

But he was a man of honour and duty, if he was to die then he would die fighting.

Casper shared his emotions with Avalon and without a single shred of fear the two turned around and readied themselves for one final battle.

His spear and Avalon's claws had never tasted the flesh of an A-rank fighter, perhaps today would be the day….a fitting end.

'Sorry War Marshall, Field General Katrina I'll be leaving ahead of schedule.' With blood dripping down his lips and his bones aching with even the slightest of movements Casper internally bade farewell before tightly grabbing the shaft of his spear and thrusting outwards at the incoming bladed leg.

"Goodbye Colonel Casper." The A-rank General, a fierce looking bipedal mantis from the blue horde said her piece before bringing down her right leg upon his head, aiming to end it in a single blow.

"STOP!!!" Katrina roared for the third time, her aura blasting out to such an extreme degree that even Vash felt his insides churn.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Katrina was strong, far stronger than he was, but she was too slow to act. Even if she moved this very second she'd never make in time.

General Jessica however didn't hesitate, she conjured a 5th circle spell and shot it directly at the A-rank hounding after Colonel Ridge who was perhaps even more injured than Casper.

The two A-rank Generals completely ignored their antics, focusing all their efforts on the two Colonels lest they lose their nerve at the final moment. Katrina and Jessica were quite terrifying after all.

Casper seeing the determination in the enemy General's eyes summoned the last vestiges of his strength.

"Urah!" He loudly grunted and thrusted with his spear.

Clang!

His spear was easily repelled by the enemy's bladed leg. He was sent reeling backwards, his right shoulder on the brink of dislocation and his guard completely blown apart.

"Shit!" Casper let out a curse filled with frustration; he was too weak in his current state, carve up a piece of flesh hah he couldn't even leave a tiny scratch.

The mantis General donned an evil smile as she followed through with her downward cleave, Casper would be split in twain.

"COLONEL!!!!"

"Not today bitch!"

"Taste my spear!"

"And my axe!"

Suddenly just as the mantis General's leg was about to make contact with Casper's head the Majors who had stayed back to guard the catacomb's entrance suddenly appeared from behind with their weapons in hand.

"Urah!!" Frost and Kursch were among them, a total of 8 B-rank fighters joined together to block the strike of an A-rank General.

Despite their sudden movements the eight of them were quite in sync. None of them used skills so as to avoid being detected ahead of time yet even without such extras the physical strength of 8 B-ranks was nothing to sneeze at.

With their combined might they forced the enemy General back, saving Colonel Casper from certain death.

"Frost!" The moment the enemy was rebuffed Major Kursch called out to Frost.

"On it." He curtly replied before making a complete U-turn

"Sorry about this Colonel" Frost ignored the confused, relieved and somewhat anger expression on Casper's face and took hold of him.

"Urgh!" Casper grunted in pain as Frost carried him from Avalon's back and onto Kiba's.

The moment he was secure Kiba charged for the catacombs.

"Avalon!"

"Don't worry Colonel we're on it." The moment Frost took hold of Casper a pair of B-rank War ursas flanked Avalon and supported him as they ran in the same direction.

"AHHH you bastards how dare you disobey my orders! I'll see you all court martialled for insubordination when we return!" Casper after seeing that Avalon also being carried to safety was suddenly filled with anger.

He glared at the backs of his subordinates and loudly bellowed through fits of violent coughing.

"Hahaha sounds great Colonel."

"A court martial it's been a while since my last one hahaha."

"Try not to die on the way back Colonel otherwise who'll punish us hehehe." The Majors all laughed and smiled from ear to ear upon hearing his threats. They saved their commander, why would they fear a little court martial.

"Bastards!" Casper cursed once again but this time tears were streaming down his face.

'You better all return or else I'll chase your asses into the underworld.'

Casper feared for their lives, they may outnumber the enemy and be in somewhat peak condition but none of them were at the peak stage.

7 B-ranks against a single A-rank, fighting perhaps even defeating was possible, but losses would be inevitable.