1454 He’s Just Half-Dead
More than half of the brave defenders of Hestia, the Asgardians, as well as the Underworld warriors that Kasogonaga had brought with him, died without leaving anything behind.
“Dra… umm… I live the rest… to you,” Myrendor, the Ent King, and the strongest Pseudo-God of the Silvermoon Continent breathed his last as the embers of destruction burned his entire body.
“Myrendor!” Drauum roared in anger as he rushed to the Ent King who had sacrificed his life to protect the Elven Armies from complete annihilation.
Upon seeing the death of their Guardians, the Elves dropped the weapons in their hands as they fell into despair.
“I-It’s impossible. We can’t win. All of us are going to die!”
“I don’t want to die! Someone, anyone, wake me up from this nightmare!”
pA n,dan(-)0ve1.c0m “Nooooo! I don’t want to die!”
“Help! Someone save us!”
Hundreds of Elves fell on their knees as they cried and wailed for someone to save them.
They had done their best to fight, despite the great disparity between their opponents, but Surtr’s hellish attack broke them completely.
In that instant, they all knew that there was no chance of winning, making them feel that everything they did was useless.
“Kill them!” One of the Giants shouted, as they hacked apart the defenders who had lost their will to fight.
Everywhere in the battlefield, the same scene was happening.
Several Demigods and Pseudo-Gods died, as they did their best to block Surtr’s attack. Although they succeeded, those they had saved no longer had the courage to continue fighting as they allowed themselves to be killed, so that their suffering would end.
“Ugh…” Loxos slowly propped herself up from the ground, and looked at her surroundings.
Her sisters, Opis, and Hekaerge, lay on the ground several meters away from her, with various injuries on their bodies. The worst part was that they were unconscious, and Loxos didn’t know how severe their injuries were.
Even though she was injured, and every part of her body was aching, she knew that she couldn’t remain on the ground, or their enemies would kill them without the power to resist.
Loxos tried to stand, but she felt so weak that her body wasn’t responding to her.
The young nymph then glanced in the direction where Titania was at. What she saw almost made her soul leave her body because the beautiful Fairy Queen, who used her body to protect Princess Aila and Anh, dangled from the hands of one of the Giants.
Blood dripped down from the injuries of her body, while her dress was in tatters.
Princess Aila, and Anh, on the other hand, was lying on the ground, right beside the Giant’s foot, who had its attention on the unconscious Fairy Queen in his hand.
As if sensing Loxos’ gaze, the Giant looked in her direction before giving her a devilish smile. A moment later, the Giant opened his mouth as he moved Titania over it.
“Stoop!” Loxos screamed. “Please stop!”
The Giant ignored her and bit the Fairy Queen’s legs, tearing them off from her body.
“Noooo!” Loxos screamed as tears streamed down her eyes. She knew that there was a possibility of them dying in this war, but to actually see one of her sisters being eaten right in front of her made her feel true despair.
The pain that followed after having her legs eaten woke Titania up, making her open her eyes.
The beautiful Fairy Queen looked at the Giant who was chewing her legs, and the latter looked back at her with a hint of mischief in his eyes.
Clearly, the Giant planned to make the beautiful fairy despair, by eating her bit by bit, until she screamed and begged for her life.
However, Titania didn’t scream.
Despite the great pain she was feeling, she glanced in Loxos direction with a smile.
“Take care of Will for me,” Titania said as a single teardrop streamed down the side of her face. “Tell him I love him.”
“Tiana!” Loxos shouted as she tried to muster her power to attack the Giant.
Titania only allowed a select few to call her Tiana. It was part of her True Name, and those who could call her that way were the people she trusted with all of her heart.
Seeing that his food didn’t plan to beg for her life, the Giant decided to just eat her up whole, and torture the two girls beside his feet. Perhaps, the two mortal ladies would beg for their lives, which would make him enjoy their desperate cries of mercy, as he ate them slowly.
Titania gave Loxos one last smile as her body fell inside the Giant’s mouth.
“Noooooooooooo!” Loxos screamed with every fiber of her being as she watched one of the most important people in her life get eaten by the hateful giant who didn’t show any mercy.
However, before the giant could even close his mouth to crush Titania’s body with his teeth, his entire body turned into ice.
A moment later, the giant ice statue shattered.
Loxos, whose vision was already blurry due to the tears covering her eyes, saw the faint image of someone with light-blue hair fluttering in the breeze.
After rubbing her eyes the young nymph was able to see an otherworldly beauty with two crimson horns protruding out of her head.
In her arms, was the Fairy Queen, who was still alive, but seriously injured.
Princess Aila, and Anh, who were lying on the ground stirred, as they looked around in their surroundings.
The first thing they saw was the blue-haired young lady, carrying Titania in her arms.
“Tiana!” Princess Aila hurriedly stood up despite her injuries after seeing the Fairy Queen’s current state.
The first thing she did was to immediately use her Life Magic in order to stabilize the Fairy Queen’s condition.
Although she couldn’t do anything to restore Titania’s legs for the moment, saving the Fairy Queen’s life was her priority.
Anh rummaged through her storage ring, and took out several High-Quality healing potions that William had given her before the war started.
The one-horned demon gently poured it on the Fairy Queen’s injuries, speeding up the process of her recovery.
“I’ll leave her to you,” the young lady with light-blue hair said, while gently laying the Fairy Queen on the ground. “I need to help others.”
Without waiting for their reply, the young lady disappeared, and soon, all of the Giants that were near William’s wives, turned into Ice Statues, which all shattered into hundreds of pieces.
————–
“Gah!” William’s body smashed on the ground, creating a small crater.
It only took two exchanges before Surtr sent him flying.
The silver radiance around him disappeared, as his hair returned to its red color, proving that he could no longer keep his Einherjar form.
William tried to prop himself up, but his body no longer listened to him. Every time he inhaled, he could feel stinging pain in his chest, as blood spilled from the corner of his lips.
One of his legs was also bent in an unnatural angle, making him unable to move it.
The only thing he could move right now was his fingers, and his blood-shot eyes that were looking at the approaching giant who was looking at him with amusement.
“I have to thank you, Half-Elf,” Surtr said as he walked towards the fallen Half-Elf with a sinister smile on his face. “It has been a while since I’ve been able to get serious. In order to honor your effort to entertain me, I will give you a swift death. This will be my mercy to you. So, go to the afterlife knowing that everyone you cared for will soon follow you to Hell!”
Surtr raised his flaming sword to deliver the finishing blow to the Half-Elf when suddenly, the Fire Giant took a defensive stance.
A second later, Sharur smashed against the flaming Blade, making Surtr take a step back.
“Get away from him!” Chiffon shouted as she swung her mace a second time. “Get away from Will!”
“It’s you again,” Surtr commented. “Traitor of the giant race. You still haven’t learned your lesson after thousands of years.”
Surtr swung his sword, which forced Chiffon to block it. However, the attack of a God was too strong for her to handle, making her skid dozens of meters on the ground.
“Shatter the Firmament! Gleipnir!”
A golden dragon attacked Surtr from behind, but the Fire Giant simply swung his blade and dispersed the Golden Dragon as if it was made of air.
A second later Black and Purple Fireballs pummeled Surtr’s body as Celine and Princess Sidonie, unleashed their Divinities in an attempt to kill the God of Destruction who had seriously injured their beloved.
However, their attacks only managed to leave faint scratches on Surtr’s body, which healed after a few seconds.
“Die!” Shannon yelled as she summoned the giant Monsters which she had drawn before the battle started.
However, these monsters were all split in half as Surtr swung his sword with ease.
“G-Get away from him!” William shouted as blood dripped from his lips. “All of you get away from here!”
Surtr gave the Half-Elf a side-long glance before looking at the flying ship where several beautiful ladies were attacking him without pause.
“Are all of them your women?” Surtr asked as a plan formed inside his head. He wanted to make the Half-Elf suffer and the best way to do that was to kill the people that were important to him, right in front of his face.
As if understanding what the Giant was thinking, William once again shouted for his wives to leave. However, none of them listened to him.
They knew that if they left him, the Half-Elf would die, which was something they didn’t want to happen.
“All of you go!” William shouted. “Leave me!”
“You’re too noisy,” Surtr said before snapping his finger.
An explosion took place and the Half-Elf’s body was blown away, making his wives cry out in alarm.
“Everyone, attack!” Celine roared as she once again bombarded Surtr with her wrathful flames that had grown in intensity due to her rage.
William, whose injuries became more severe after Surtr’s attack, could only look on helplessly as his wives fought with everything they had.
‘Not… again.’ William bit his lip until it drew blood. ‘I said… that this time… it would be different. I promised…’
‘Move!’ William shouted in his heart. ”Move! Move! Move! Move!”
The Half-Elf’s fingers dug on the ground as he tried to prop himself up, but he could not muster any strength in his body.
He could only watch helplessly as Chiffon was kicked by Surtr, sending the body of the pink-haired Giantess skidding across the ground for several meters.
He watched as Surtr always gave him side-long glances, as if making sure that the Half-Elf was seeing the suffering that his wives were experiencing at the moment. Although the distance was quite far, he could see the amusement in Surtr’s expression as he destroyed Eriny’s flying ship, causing all the women riding on it to fall from the sky.
Fortunately, a few of them could fly, so none of them fell to their deaths. However, instead of escaping, they stood between William and Surtr.
They had no intention of letting the Fire Giant pass through them, and kill the person they loved.
Tears started to form in William’s eyes as he looked at his injured wives, who were fighting for his sake.
‘Someone! Anyone! I am willing to pay any price, just give me the strength to kill these Gods who toy with our mortal lives!’ William screamed in his heart. ‘I will do anything! Just give me the power to protect those important to me! To protect those I love!’
A sob escaped William’s lips as the seconds passed by without hearing any answers. He had already closed his eyes, and his tears fell like rain.
The Half-Elf didn’t care where the help was coming from, or what kind of price he had to pay. As long as he was able to wipe the sneer off Surtr’s face, he was even willing to even sell his soul to the Devil.
It was at this moment, when William was feeling as if all hope was lost, he heard two voices, which made him open his tear-stained eyes.
“My Goodness! We just took a nap and you’re already at your wits end? This is very unbecoming of you, Will.”
“Kekeke. Maybe he didn’t drink enough vitamins? Having that many wives requires a lot of energy.”
Through his blurry vision, the images of an angelic and devilish familiar appeared in front of him.
Elliot was licking a lollipop, while Conan held a King Chess piece in his two hands. The two familiars were looking down on the Half-Elf with smiles on their faces.
“E-Elliot?” William muttered. “Conan?”
“Good afternoon, Will,” Elliot replied. “Did you miss us?”
“Kekeke! You look like you’ve been run over by Truck-Kun,” Conan commented as he momentarily released the King Chess Piece in his hands making it hover in the air. “How many fingers do you see?”
Conan showed William two of his fingers, making Elliot chuckle.
“He’s not drunk, Conan.” Elliot chuckled. “He’s just Half-Dead.”
William’s tears continued to fall as he looked at his two familiars who had appeared in front of him. He didn’t know if he was just hallucinating, or he had already died and had gone to the Afterlife because those were the only two ways that he could see his two familiars, who had sacrificed their lives for his sake.
Deep inside William’s Sea of Consciousness, Optimus gave a soft sigh as several rows of text appeared in front of it.
————-
< Requirements have been met! >
< Start up Initiated! >
< Start up Completed! >
Optimus pressed his hands together as if in prayer.
He then opened his lips and said the words that he had been dying to say for the longest time, ever since he had been created to assist William.
< By my authority, begin the process of unlocking… >
< The Strongest System! >