Conquering His Cold Heart

"Fuck!" The bandit boss loudly cursed as Frost sauntered closer to their formation with a malicious expression plastered on his charming face. Her body instinctively trembled in fear because she knew the threat that Frost posed. The lord of the Niflheim base camp, commander of the devastatingly powerful ronsos and a mighty B-rank fighter himself who's lauded as a war hero by the local inhabitants.

He was not someone a bunch of bandits like them could hold a candle against even if their numbers were doubled or even tripled. They were akin to children playing war before him.

Unfortunately though she and a few of her wiser subordinates knew of Frost the lower rabble did not. They visibly relaxed the moment they saw that their opponent was just one man.

"Hmph just some pompous elf, let's rip him apart boss. Those robes of his could fetch a pretty penny on the black market hehehehe." A grotesque looking bandit venomously spoke, pure hatred and envy leaking from his eyes as he gazed at Frost's supreme appearance.

Frost's evil smile widened as a result; the bandit's ignorance would make what happens next much more satisfying. However someone beat him to it.

Half a second after the grotesque bandit threatened Frost a large hammer struck his skull from behind. His head burst open like a watermelon, covering his former comrades in blood and brain matter.

The rabble were paralysed with abject fear, their bodies shivering as they tried to understand what happened. Frost didn't move a muscle, yet their friend suddenly died. Eventually they understood that the attack came from behind and saw the bloodstained hammer of their boss as well as the intimidating expression on her face.

Her more trusted subordinates all bore agreeing expressions, one even let out a sigh of relief as if she was grateful for the boss's quick reaction. The rabble simply couldn't understand, why did the boss kill one of our own?

"Hoh, interesting." Frost found the play rather curious, his anticipation for the future growing.

"Apologies for that ignorant gnat Lord Frost, I assure you we have no intention to enter into conflict with someone as respected as you." The bandit boss spoke with respect and with experience, she knew what opponents she could and could not provoke.

"Hmm I see but what if I want a conflict?" His smile continued to widen as his head tilted to the side.

"Urgh…." The bandit boss grunted, she hoped to get out of this predicament cleanly but clearly that wasn't an option. She wracked her mind for a compromise. "I'm sorry we intruded upon your territory as bandits, we promise to leave immediately, never to return and will offer you compensation for our crimes." She'd rather live than desperately cling to their loot, this just wasn't their day.

What were the chances of being caught red handed by a B-rank fighter, the lord of the camp no less.

"...." Frost replied with silence making the bandits think he was mulling over their generous offer. Unfortunately for them however Frost had no intentions in sparing them. The weaker ones would fall to his glaive just like those two scouts whereas the stronger bandits such as the eloquent boss would spend the rest of their miserable lives in his prison, providing his dungeon with ample nourishment.

Though he did somewhat appreciate her ability to understand her position and even offer a compromise her fate was sealed the moment she hunted his customers.

'It's a shame I can't use them even after their deaths like Yami and Agar. I'm sure she'd make a decent undead subordinate.' Frost lamented his inability to raise the dead like his brothers. While he specialised in ice magic the two of them focused on dark magic. Agar in particular was quite adept in handling the undead, dead husks of the living.

When enemies died in his dungeon he could -with cost- raise them as undead entities to serve as new monsters in his dungeon, truly milking intruders for all their worth.

'Maybe I could ask him for some magic scrolls or something?' Though his dungeon menu was lacking in non-ice related magics their father never said anything about preventing trade between his children. In fact he even promoted it to an extent. Damascus already had a couple orders for his personally forged weapons. Maybe Agar or Yami would be willing to trade dark scrolls for some of his ice scrolls.

Frost's silence strained the bandits' nerves, the boss in particular was feeling less and less confident the longer his lack of response continued. The question was simple, let them go and receive a juicy payday as well as booting them out of his territory or fight them. It shouldn't be taking him this long to decide.

"…..You're not letting us go are you?" Eventually she reached the end of her patience.

"Let you go….why on Nova would I do that?" Frost's thoughtful expression returned to an evil smile. "You rats dared to intrude into my territory and hunt my delicious food. You are vermin and there's only one way to deal with vermin." Frost's let his aura slowly diffuse into his surroundings, drastically increasing the pressure the bandits felt.

"F…food…w…what the hell do you mean!" The bandit boss struggled against the pressure; her mind rattled by Frost's strange references.

"Oh since you're not going to leave this place alive I guess I can grant you some knowledge, I'm very merciful that way hehehehe." Frost giggled eerily, amplifying the fear filling the bandits. The spectre of death looming in, whispering into their ears about their approaching death. Their hearts and lungs wrapped in its ice grasp making breathing almost impossible.

This was the pressure of a B-rank fighter, an aura.

Some bandits started tearing up while the boss clenched her jaw and did her upmost to raise her hammer for battle but internally she already knew this was the end. She at least wanted to know the reason why?

"My dear bandits you should be honoured." Frost took several forceful steps towards the group, increasing the pressure upon them. "You're one of the very few people who get to learn the truth."

"T….t…the…t…truth?" The bandit boss struggled to look directly at Frost, his aura instinctually demanding that she not profane him with her gaze, to kneel before him.

"Yes. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Frost, Lord of the Niflheim base camp and the personification of the Niflheim Dungeon. Basically I am the Dungeon. Where you're standing is a part of me." His proclamation was suffused with his royal aura, forcing many of the bandits to their knees, the boss however struggled with all she had to remain partially upright.

Her mind however was frantic, yet a measure of understanding was also present.

"Now you see why you need to die. You hunted my food in my territory without my permission, taking away my sustenance. Your life force will thus be taken in reparation." Frost was now within spitting distance of the bandits and looking down at them like a king, his aura in full swing and an evil grin plastered on his handsome face.

He was having so much fun right now, playing the villain suited him well.

While the rest of the bandits fully succumbed, practically immobile before his aura the bandit boss tightened her grip around the shaft of her hammer and conjured up all her fighting spirit. If she was going to die she'd go out swinging even if it was pointless she refused to simply hand over her life.

Clang!

Her hammer met with Frost's glaive generating several sparks.

"Good fighting spirit, shame you're a bandit." Frost withstood her attack with ease. His physical strength was far beyond the bandit boss despite her muscular stature.

After stopping her pathetic swing he parried the hammer upwards before slashing horizontally. Her hands were severed allowing the hammer to fly through the air and land tens of metres in the distance, but the bandit boss didn't seem to care. A maddened look marred her face, it was like she was a berserk monster.

She felt no pain from her severed hands and went back on the offensive, punching out with her stumps, spraying blood everywhere. Alas this too was a pointless endeavour to Frost. He easily dodged her blows, all she managed to do was flick some blood on his robes and face.

A slight admiration filled Frost as he evaded the woman's desperate attempts. Perhaps he wouldn't torture her for her crimes and instead allow her to die from starvation. He let her attack a few more times before ending the charade.

"Enough!" With a sudden burst of force he knocked the butt of his glaive against the back of her head, knocking he bandit boss out cold. He then eyed the remaining bandits who struggled to even hold onto their weapons. He isolated the higher ranked bandits for imprisoning and culled the rest.

"Khuno have these four transferred to the prison. Fleece them for all their valuables and call me when they awake….especially the bandit boss."

"As you wish Milord." Khuno replied through dungeon menu and a minute later ronsos appeared and carried the four bandits to the hidden prison on the 11th or rather the 10th floor. Frost had already  created hidden routes throughout the dungeon that his monsters could use to transport prisoners out of sight from the regular delvers.

It'd be a lot easier if he could simply teleport them there but then again a system like that could easily be abused.

"Well that was rather fun, no thrilling battle but still fun." Frost genuinely smiled from ear to ear, he enjoyed the little play.

Meanwhile back in the private space two women were sitting on the sofa watching the whole event.

"See totally evil right."

"Yeah I see what you mean but…."

"He still looks damn good doing it right?"

"Yeah." Maya and Daki giggled between themselves as they enjoyed seeing a certain side of their boyfriend.