Dungeon of Niflheim

115 Chapter 115: Returning to the manor (2)

“Ah! My poor little boy you look terrible.” Cassandra rapidly stood up and ran over to Leo, sweeping him up in a bear hug. Leo truly did look worse for wear; his clothes were torn up and he was covered in blood. Cassandra almost died of fright seeing her baby boy in such a condition.

“Oww oww owww mom it hurts let go.” Leo complained in pain, low level health potions had their limits, so Leo’s bones were still bruised and or cracked in places. Cassandra quickly released her son from her crushing hug, afraid to cause him more pain.

“Leo you’re safe thank goodness...did you succeed... is my brother dealt with?” Douglas spoke up with difficulty, pain in his eyes.

Leo moved away from his mother, handing Luna over to her as a compromise.

“Yes, father... it’s over.”

“Haaaaaa good, good.” Douglas smiled in relief after sighing, the burden that was his young brother was dealt with, he could finally relax and stop fighting. His son had proven to be a capable young man. He looked over his son and then to his wife.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid of death, or that he didn’t wish to spend more time with his family, see his son become a father but he’d never make it till then and the pain was too much. Even now every word he spoke was agony on his lungs. He reached his goal, his son had proven himself, had reliable allies and the thorn that stood in his way, the blight on the territory was now gone. He could pass on happily knowing that.

Leo now aware of his father’s thoughts picked up on his expression and bit his lip before moving close. Determination filling his eyes he grabbed his father’s thin and weakened hand forcing him to look his way.

“Father I know what you’re thinking but the answer is no.” Leo then retrieved the protective case holding the silver vial that Adam held onto. It was a long shot, but Leo was determined to give it a try.

.....

“Bar...Uncle Adam had one last thing to say as his final words.” Leo spoke aloud so his mother could hear as well.

“Before he died, he showed regret for his actions in poisoning you father...this vial here supposedly contains the antidote for it...with this you’ll be cured.” Leo fought to restrain his tears, as he remembered the image of his strong, brave, and powerful father who taught him how to use the sword years ago, he missed him.

“Eh!” Cassandra gasped and looked towards Luna for confirmation, in which she received a nod. She broke down and started sobbing, she had lost hope for so long and what kind of wife would she be if she didn’t understand her husband’s mind. She knew deep down that he wouldn’t last much longer and that he’d probably stop fighting now that was his brother had been dealt with. She played the fool for her son’s sake as well as her own, it was somehow easier to deal with if she pretended to believe.

Leo held out the silver vial towards his father waiting for him to take it.

Douglas frowned; he was surprised. He looked towards the vial but was unsure, his hands remained stationary as his frown became more and more pronounced.

‘Adam did you really have regrets?’ He stared at the liquid in the vial, trying to work out his brother’s intentions but he quickly gave up, his choice had already been made and what was the point anyway, he was already in great pain and would die soon regardless.

‘Oh well might as well.’ Hope sparked within Douglas’s eyes, hoping his brother still had some part of him that was considered good. He grabbed the vial from Leo’s hands and downed all the vial’s contents with relish.

Frost walked in at that moment and smiled, Douglas would be saved, it filled him with joy but that was suddenly cut short when a cold suffocating pressure was unleashed upon his body. No one else was targeted, just him.

He started trembling and craned his neck around towards the source of the pressure and there she was eyeing him with a deadly glare, Maya.

She was quite interested in seeing Douglas recover but that paled in comparison to her young master. She turned around to see him the moment he walked passed the door and the first thing she saw was the wounds on his perfect face, everything else was secondary but his face must never be touched.

“Young master,” she didn’t keep up the act of calling him Frost even though they were with company and the way she spoke was incredibly cold and sent shivers down the spines of everyone in the room. They all turned around towards Frost and Maya completely forgetting about Douglas.

“Oh! Wow” Cassandra was taken aback, Frost was the most handsome man she’d ever seen, and she couldn’t help but slightly fantasize, it wasn’t until Douglas started coughing that she was dragged out of her thoughts albeit with slight reluctance.

“Douglas!” She lunged towards her husband with increased enthusiasm to make up for her wandering imagination, supporting his back and holding his hand as the antidote well at least she hoped it was an antidote worked its way through his body.

“Cough cough” Douglas violently coughed forcing out some kind of black substance from his body, it gave off a foul smell and stained his bed sheets. His body was clearly evacuating the substance that was harming him as well as any infected tissue. It was a good sign, Adam was true to his word, it was an antidote.

Douglas continued to cough violently, spurting out more and more of the black substance and every time he did his face would gain a little bit more colour. It was working.

It’d be a long road to a full recovery but at least his body wouldn’t be in any further danger. The situation brought smiles and tears of joy to his family even Maya couldn’t help but twitch a little as she struggled to maintain her cold and pressurising glare upon her young master.

While Frost was off gallivanting with Leo and Luna she was stuck in the manor with Cassandra and Douglas. It was impossible for her to not get a little attached given their personalities, Cassandra especially since their personalities matched up quite well.

Frost used this to abate her anger slightly, he moved in close to speak with her privately while Leo and the rest were crowding around Douglas.

“Did anyone attempt to attack while I was away having fun?” He emphasized the fact that his trip was enjoyable, hoping to curb her anger a little. It’s harder to get mad at someone for something they did if they had fun doing it.

“.....” Maya silently glared at her young master for a few moments before deeply sighing and withdrawing her aura. The phrase ‘boys will be boys’ came to the forefront of her mind. She looked over her young master, inspecting his entire injuries.

‘At least it’s not that bad, his face doesn’t have any permanent damage, so I suppose I’ll let him off.’ She really placed a high level of importance on Frost’s face but of course she would, it brought her warmth and made her feel happy, like a highly valued piece of art.

“Phew” Frost relaxed once Maya removed her aura, he could breath safely again. Although he also felt a little ticked off subconsciously knowing the reason she caved was due to his face only having minor injuries.

‘Having such a handsome appearance has its advantages but also disadvantages especially with someone like Maya by your side.’ He sighed internally but didn’t complain since in a way she still cared and that was enough.

“There was one attack, but I dealt with it easily.” Maya shrugged as she remembered what happened. With her strength even if Drogan, Rock, Jin and Adam attacked all at once she still probably handle with a single flick of her wrist.

“Hoh can you elaborate?” Frost was quite interested in the means that Adam was able to employ when he was trapped down in his bunker.

“A maid, one of Cassandra’s personal maids in fact, attempted to poison us but I noticed, when questioned she lunged with a hidden dagger, so I released a little of my presence and well she’s now catatonic mumbling in tongues.” Maya smiled with pleasure as she remembered the sight of the young woman completely breaking down due to immense fear. It was her own fault trying to not only poison a Fenrir but even attack one with a dagger.

Frost’s brow raised in understanding before he looked over towards Cassandra and Douglas, the two of them were perfectly fine and held no fear towards Maya.

‘She must have isolated her pressure to only effect the assassin.’ Frost was impressed and envious, not only could Maya display an aura that would prevent opponents from even being able to draw their weapons on her, but she could easily manipulate it to target only certain foes. He couldn’t help but look forward to the time when he could do the same but considering his current level that would be a long, long ways off.

“Adam must have had some communication device allowing him to send a message to the maid.” Other than that, the maid would have had no way of knowing that Frost and his group were assaulting Adam’s compound.

‘Good thing I arranged for Maya to stay by their side.’ If the maid had gotten hold of Douglas’s and Cassandra’s lives then the battle against Adam would have gone down a much darker path. Frost may have even been forced to fight Leo and Luna so as they could protect them. Frost frowned as he realised how dangerous Adam truly was as an opponent, he didn’t envy Leo’s responsibilities.

While Frost and Maya were having their exchange, the two phoenix kin walked in behind Frost each of them grabbing the sides of his robes.

“Eh! Who are these two little cuties?” Maya quickly noticed and lowered herself to their level, admiring them much like Luna did. She smiled and attempted to pinch their cheeks, but they hid behind Frost.

“Ah yeah about that...” Frost suddenly felt quite awkward. ‘How am I supposed to explain this.’

‘Oh, hey Maya after beating Adam I found these two and decided to adopt them, they’ll be coming home to live with us from now on.’ If he said that he’d probably get more than just a glare. He himself was just born yet he wished to take care of two young children, plus his identity was a major secret and kids weren’t know for being good at keeping such things to themselves. It was practically a disaster waiting to happen, but he’d already made his decision and wasn’t one to break his own word.

Frost sighed before ushering Maya and the two kids into a different room, best to not have Leo and the rest hear their discussion, whether that be because of the private details or to maintain his cool senpai image they had. It wouldn’t do for them to see him being lectured and bashed on the head by Maya.

Once they closed the door and he asked Maya to check for any surveillance devices or people within earshot he explained the situation as well as his decision and reasoning.

Several minutes later the group of four were standing in silence, Frost had a nervous sweat building. He had told Maya everything as well as his reasons and was just waiting for her response.

“.....” Maya held her tongue the entire time he spoke; her facial expressions were quite vivid, but she stayed quiet until the end and quite frankly she didn’t know what to say. Frost actions although based upon emotion were also quite logical and beneficial to them. Having more people with intelligence and the ability to think, speak and even grow stronger with them in the dungeon would not only brighten up the atmosphere but would give them a lot more freedom when it came to management. Also, due to the slave tattoo, these two kids would be unable to ever betray Frost meaning that his secret about being a dungeon core would never be leaked, at least by them. This fact cancelled out one of the primary disadvantages of bringing them to the dungeon, so Maya found it really hard to argue.

Of course, having two young kids in the house would limit their flirty banter, which was another downside in Maya’s opinion, but they were so cute that it didn’t matter. Them being phoenix kin was also interesting, Maya noticed their race almost immediately and was fairly impressed, even with her strength she rarely encountered people with phoenix bloodlines.