Conquering His Cold Heart

Frost and his remaining forces were teleported to the first floor of his dungeon once the war was over. The moment their feet touched the snow and the cool breeze flowed over their skin each and every one of them took in a deep breath and relished in the comfort of home. Karrick's dungeon was truly unbearable for ice borne creatures such as themselves.

Frost smiled as he saw this and picked up a handful of snow to rub between his fingers.

"Much better" he muttered before getting to work.

"Alright, everyone who took part in the war can take the next 24 hours off, retreat to the lower floors so the replacement shifts can take over your regular duties.

Officers please report the losses from your regiments to Findlay and prepare your own analysis for how the war went down." Frost wanted his officers to utilise their intelligence and learn from each and every battle so as to lessen the losses in the next war.

With his orders given his forces dusted themselves off and very slowly made their way to the lower floors.

"Oh and don't worry I won't forget about your rewards." His subordinates were waiting for him to say that. A loud chorus of praises and chants for their lord rang throughout as they picked up the pace and smiled from ear to ear. Frost lightly shook his head in response but couldn't stop a smile from growing on his lips. He very much liked the current relationship he had with his monsters.

"Ohhh looks like somebody's not happy milord." Said Khuno while gesturing with his chin in the direction of a charging young woman.

"Haaaaaa I can probably guess the reason." Frost sighed before putting on a genial smile. "Ladius how great to see you again, I hope the little exchange between my brother, and I proved fruitful to your investigation."

"Oh it certainly was until about 5 minutes ago when we were forcibly teleported back to your dungeon." Ladius was huffing and puffing with a reddened face. She was so close to picking up on something essential with the spatial corridor but was rudely absconded at the worst possible moment.

Now the black energy barrier was completely sealed and about to disappear along with the possibility to further understand the spatial magic behind it.

Frost let Ladius rant for a few minutes about how close she was to a discovery and how important such a discovery would be to Nova before putting a pin in it.

"Ladius you can rant and rave all you want but nothing's going to change. You had an opportunity to witness and briefly study something that was created by the Dark God. Instead of complaining that you didn't have enough time you should just be glad you had such an opportunity in the first place." He bluntly splashed her with cold water bringing an end to her little tirade.

"Now I'm going to my chambers to rest after a very long day, I hope that I can trust you to hold up your end of the bargain miss Ladius Palmer…..Terrance." He spoke in an authoritative tone that allowed for no refusal and to make sure he glanced at Terrance, handing responsibility of making Ladius do the work to him. To which he flinched but acquiesced with a nod.

"I'll find some time later to convene with you but right now I've got a whole list of other things to take care of goodbye." Frost waved farewell and started walking deeper into the dungeon with Khuno following after him.

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"..b..bb..aaa..hhh." Ladius was tongue tied, she wanted to protest and complain some more or beg for another opportunity to study the spatial corridor, but Frost was already walking away, and her security team was doing their best to usher her to the door. They couldn't impose on Frost at this time, to do so would be incredibly rude.

Eventually Terrance gave up and threw her over his shoulders dragging her towards the dungeon's entrance that was beginning to open up once again.

Several hours ago they crossed through the same stone archway and landed halfway around the world but now it once again led them to the Niflheim base camp.

A large group of observers had been watching the entrance for the past 40 hours or so ever since the black barrier covered it up, preventing access.

"Quick look someone's coming out."

"Is that?"

"It's the investigation team from the federation of knowledge, quick someone inform the guild." The Niflheim dungeon being classed as a sudden restricted zone was known by all who stayed within the camp's borders. Under Ladius' lead her team informed the local populace of the change in circumstances and strongly advised everyone to stay clear of the dungeon until the situation had abated itself.

Many where obviously curious of the situation and some even believed it to be a load of hogwash but when the black barrier came down over the entrance and barred entry to all that tried to gain access those sceptics all changed their tune, something really was happening. Thus the moment Terrance, Ladius and the others exited from the dungeon dozens of people swarmed around them in curiosity.

"Calm down, calm down we'll explain what happened after we've rested and talked with the adventurers guild." Terrance loudly informed the nosy group while Mammon, Quintep and Ariana made a hole for him and Ladius -who was promptly placed back on her own two feet, couldn't let her image be ruined in front of the masses.

"Is it safe to go back in?"

"Has the dungeon changed at all?"

"Is it the same difficulty?" However despite Terrance's words many couldn't hold themselves back. Hundreds of people had moved their workspaces and invested heavily in the dungeon, whether or not it was still viable was a very important fact in regards to their future.

Not having access to it for a few days was already painful enough for the energetic adventurers that swarmed to the camp under the promise of fame and riches.

Terrance looked at Ladius for answers, he was just the security detail, such questions were best left to the head investigator. Ladius let out a sigh and shook her head knowing that these people needed something. She arched her back and started addressing the crowds in a booming voice that didn't match her small stature.

"Your questions will all be answered in due time so please have patience and if you really can't wait I'll only say this.

You can enter the dungeon again but whether or not it's safe I cannot say, but for those of you who are worried about the dungeon's long term viability I can confirm that that is not an issue, good day." Ladius said her piece, bringing a great deal of comfort to the many merchants and business owners that set up shop in the camp.

The adventurers however were split, some wanted to rush into the dungeon immediately to scoop up any possible treasure while others took Ladius' warning of danger very seriously.  Regardless the crowd dispersed allowing Ladius and her security detail to reunite with the rest of the team hunkering down in their inn.

"Miss Ladius you're back." Her junior investigator subordinates all let out breaths of relief upon seeing her unharmed.

"Yes, yes I'm back and boy do I have a story for you guys."

Dungeon's private space.

After Ladius and her team exited the dungeon Frost had Khuno rendezvous with Findlay while he teleported to the private space to relax and celebrate with his loved ones.

"I'm home." He said joyfully the moment he materialised in the living room.

""Master welcome back."" Both Nanna and Loki energetically replied before running into his outstretched arms for a hug. The two had been working in shifts over the course of the war but made sure to both be awake for the final stretch so as to welcome their master home together.

"Oh so squishy." Frost pulled them in tight against his body, enjoying how soft and cute they were, his heart warming at the sound of their giggling.

"Cough, cough" Daki loudly coughed with an obvious pouty expression and squirming figure. Her desire couldn't be any clearer.

Frost reluctantly put down Nanna and Loki and moved to capture her in a tight embrace. The luscious green enchantress cooed from his touch, her hands wrapping tight around his back as she kissed him on the cheek, leaving a clear imprint thanks to her lipstick.

"So what did you think of the dungeon war?" He asked while guiding her to the sofa, with Nanna and Loki trailing after him to claim his legs for seats.

"She's been pacing back and forth out of worry whenever a report came in, I almost had to restrain in place with rope." Maya playfully dobbed her in with a coy smile on her lips. She appeared from behind Frost, wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him back and gave him an upside down kiss in front of everybody.

Daki of course felt betrayed, her sister girlfriend tattling to their partner about her embarrassing actions, so not cool. Loki giggled, enjoying how close the family was while Nanna blushed from seeing Maya's bold actions.