Dungeon of Niflheim

Dark was completely speechless as he watched Frost, Indra and Damascus dance by Tovar's side, effectively erasing the majority of his humiliation, the whole damn point of his punishment. Soon he even saw some of his children dancing in the stands to show their own support, completely ignoring the exposure of Tovar and gradually that speechlessness turned to anger, then fury and finally wrath.

An eery pressure formed around him as his entire body started to tense.

Frost's body visibly trembled as he sensed extreme danger, his back quickly becoming drenched in cold sweat as warning bells went off in his head. It felt as though a bloodthirsty predator was breathing down his neck. Yet despite this danger that he and his siblings felt they continued to wantonly ignore it, continuing to dance by Tovar's side as though shielding him from those that wished him harm.

It was a risky endeavour but one which he, Indra and Damascus felt needed to be done. Sure Tovar needed to receive some form of punishment so as to dissuade others from being lazy and falling behind in terms of their DP income, but this was not the way. It was cruel and unnecessary.

Just as Dark was about to blow his top off Frost sent a pleading look towards the only two people who could save them from their father's wrath. An instant later those two saviours appeared between the four of them and Dark.

"Father don't you think this has gone on long enough."

"You're punishment has gone too far old man! It's cruel and unnecessary!" Yami and Aqua boldly declared as they shielded and endured the pressure that was meant for Frost and the others. The two of them weren't just the strongest in their family but the ones with the most sway with the old man. If he was in his right mind he'd listen to the two of them.

Unfortunately right now he wasn't in his right mind. The splitting of his soul to create his children had left it damaged thus he was occasionally subjected to flare ups of emotion, poor judgement and sometimes in the worst cases bouts of mania. Thankfully until now he'd been able to hold back the occasional attack, but everyone has their limit.

Dark's aura continued to billow outward quickly growing in density and presence, soon Aqua and Yami struggled to even breathe let alone stand tall against it.

"Oh no, everyone move in to restrain Dark God-sama!" Sensing that something was very wrong Diablos roared out to the other guardians before teleporting in front of Yami and Aqua. It took the guardians only a split second to realise the gravity of the situation before all 34 of them appeared between Dark and his children.

Maya and Izuna quickly pushed away Frost, Damascus, Indra and Tovar while Damascus' guardian Emery retrieved Yami and Aqua launching them into the stands where an isolating barrier was quickly erected.

The guardians then surrounded Dark and channelled their powers into an advanced, intricate formation that quickly encased Dark, isolating him in a separate space. The situation was far more dire than Frost and the others suspected, each of the guardian's had ashen faces, their expressions being that of one's prepared to face off against an impossible adversary.

There was a vast chasm between someone at S-rank and a God and that was just for a standard one, Dark was the ultimate existence with but a single equal. Despite the power these guardians held in the mortal world, in comparison to Dark they were but ants no less than ants, amoeba, insignificant specks that could be erased with but a single thought.

The mighty formation that placed Dark in a separate space didn't even last a single second before the dimensional walls disintegrated, revealing a man shaped shadow, who apart from his eyes all else was an all consuming black.

"Dark God-sama please calm your anger!"

"Lord Creator!"

"All Father!"

"Your eminence show mercy!"

All the upper ranked guardians screamed, begging Dark to calm his anger, to stop his sudden outburst.

Unfortunately their pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, the shadow that was Dark blinked his eyes once and an aura that couldn't be quantified by mortals pressed down on the 34 guardians quickly smashing each and every one of them into the ground without mercy. Bones cracked, blood was spilled, and strong feelings of terror and fear filled the room.

Frost watched on in abject dread as the entity that felt so disconnected from life, his supposed father took out 34 of the strongest beings he had ever seen with nothing but a simple blink of his eyes. For the first time in his life he viewed his father not with admiration, embarrassment, joy or anger but with pure unadulterated fear.

This entity was not just their father but an existence that stood above everything and everyone else, they had forgotten that.

"Ahhhhh Dark God-sama please!" The guardians that could still resist the pressure continued to call out, desperate to return Dark to reason.

Frost heard Maya's screams as more of her bones were broken and she was pushed deeper and deeper into the floor. Dark's aura was only growing stronger as time passed and soon if nothing was done all the guardians would be killed. This was something he couldn't condone.

Despite being filled with so much fear that his body felt akin to solid lead and that his heart convulsed irregularly, threatening to stop at a moment's notice he braved through it. With veins undulating across his forehead and entire body Frost roared from behind the barrier.

"FATHER!!!!" He shouted so much that he spat up blood, but he continued to yell and soon his siblings, Indra, Damascus, Void, Chronos, Sylph, Terra, Gaia, Pyro, Aqua and Yami and a few others who had breached B-rank joined him.

"FATHER!!"

"OLD MAN!!"

"DAD!!"

"GREAT FATHER!!"

The only hope they had was for Dark to regain his sanity, even with their combined might they were no match for a single hair on his head, so they shouted and roared with emotion, pleading for their father, the man who created them, the one who was always smiling and cracking terrible jokes not this apparition of shadow.

Of the 34 guardians only 10 or so were still conscious by this point and only Diablos was still able to keep his head raised.

'It's hopeless, we're done for.' As the pressure continued to build despite the efforts of his colleagues and even their charges he said a final farewell before stopping his resistance, resigning to the fate he had been dealt.

With him lowering his defences and subjecting himself to the weight the last vestiges of the barrier fell, reconnecting the Dungeon cores with the ball room.

"FATHER!!!!!" The moment the barrier fell all the Dungeon cores called out as one, their voices no longer as hampered by the barrier quickly tore through the room to reach the apparition of shadow, but sound could only travel so quickly, and the pressure emitted by Dark wasn't any slower.

While the word was still on their lips a pressure akin to that of an entire mountain and more fell on their heads. The family of siblings were powerless to resist, even Yami and Aqua succumbed instantly.

Time appeared to drag on, in the fractions of a second that it took their bodies to be pressed against the floor their words reached Dark in his maddened state. And as though a flare went off in a land filled with darkness Dark started to wake up, his mind surging into action.

The shadowy visage that was akin to perhaps his true form receded in an instant once again revealing his appearance as a handsome middle-aged man. His violent and boundless aura that had continued to grow and grow was pulled back faster than a mortal's mind could even register.

Before Frost and his siblings could even blink Dark had returned to his amicable self, removed his aura, wrapped the 34 guardians in a black egg and teleported within their cluster catching each and everyone of their falling bodies with divine energy.

One minute they were facing darkness, an impending doom where their bodies, mind and even souls were set to be crushed and the next they were falling into what felt like a warm embrace.

"I'm sorry." Frost heard his father speak two words before he fell unconscious, his body drained of all strength.

Dark took in the devastation his state had caused and how close he was to losing everything he held dear. Just a moment longer, in fact not even a moment all of his children would have died, by his hand no less.

Find more chapters on m_v l|e-NovelBin.net

Dark bore an expression filled with pain and panic, he knew of his outbursts, his flare-ups and occasional bouts of mania but never before had he completely lost control like he just did, and it was with his own children. If he had lost himself with one of the Gods it would have been fine, their strength would have allowed them to withstand his aggression but his kids.

Even the strongest were only at B-rank, nothing but a speck in comparison.

As his thoughts coalesced he examined his past actions and the lead up to the attack. "What did I do?" He gazed over at Tovar who was still without garments, his heart in turmoil. He couldn't believe that he thought it was fine to subject his son to such extreme humiliation because he was a bit lazy and failed to rank high on the DP rankings.

It was no wonder Frost, Indra and Damascus took to the stage, to support him in a manner that didn't directly contend with his decision.

At this point he remembered seeing the four of them dancing, seeing Tovar smile and even some of his other children dancing in the stands as a show of support. He remembered his anger building in that moment and refusing to stop, growing, festering until he was fit to burst yet still he failed to notice anything wrong with his mental state.

Finally when Yami and Aqua confronted him directly the dam burst, and he was consumed by his fury.

Everything was clear now, he was sick, his mental scars running far deeper than he suspected. He was dangerous and couldn't trust his own judgement.

"I need to get a handle on this before I do something I'll regret." With a pained expression and tightly clenched fists Dark solemnly swore. He could not allow something like this to happen again.