Chapter 25
VS Episode 7 Chapter 3 Episode 7/Chapter 3: Valkyrie (3)
TL: Tsubak
ED: Isalee
The giants were huge.
They, who were like pillars, could easily crush the bug-like existences on the ground — and they were strong because of that.
Lowest ranked giant.
An existence that was merely huge.
However, it was still a giant. The strength it had was because of its huge size.
They couldn’t move. It was normal for them to feel fear. They were just trembling, waiting for their deaths.
The giant pulled his blunt weapon. It had already repeated this action three times. Even the Valkyries shrank back like turtles and raised a protective wall.
It would be the same this time. No one would be able to stop it!
“TH-OR-!”
A shout broke the silence and shook the fortress.
It wasn’t the giant nor was it the Valkyries.
It was a warrior of Valhalla.
He smiled. Bracky, a lowest ranked warrior that belonged to Thor’s legion, charged over the fortress and called the name of the God.
His shout was like a signal.
“Odin!”
“Ullr!”
The warriors yelled the name of the Gods. They stood up while shaking off their fears.
Everyone that gathered here was special. They were valiant enough to be granted entry to Valhalla.
“Go! Go! Go! Warriors of the Gods!” Bracky yelled. He, who had a big body even among the warriors of Valhalla, was holding a big axe. He threw himself towards the giant after yelling.
It was pointless. Meaningless. An ignorant thing.
However, it wasn’t for the warriors of Valhalla. Some of the warriors started following Bracky’s back. The huge giant was a really big target. The warriors of Ullr’s legion fired their crossbows and the other warriors charged towards the giant.
It was like a violent storm that occurred in the silent sea like a wave.
Tae Ho also saw that. The wyvern fluttered its wings and Siri yelled towards Tae Ho.
“Get me down! I have to go to Rolph!”
Her voice was urgent, but it had a calmness that was much like Siri.
The giant swung his blunt weapon that was about to hit down the fortress. Some of the warriors that valiantly followed Bracky were swept up by it. Their bodies exploded at that overwhelming strength.
There was bloodshed. There were even some that pierced through that bloodshed and stuck on the giant. They stabbed their axes and swords and kept attacking even though it seemed to be pointless.
“Kua!”
The giant roared and shook its body. It hit its own body with the hand that wasn’t holding the blunt weapon and then some more warriors died again.
Tae Ho didn’t see that. He turned the wyvern back and then found Rolph with the dragon’s eyes. He flew lowly as if grazing the fortress.
“I will make an opening! Use that!”
Siri jumped down and yelled and Tae Ho looked up the sky instead of asking how. Then he surged up once again.
The giant moved its body violently. Its grey body really seemed like it was made with rocks as ordinary attacks didn’t seem to effect it at all. Most of the arrows couldn’t even pierce it and bounced back.
Siri jumped down from the wyvern and rolled on the ground. She quickly stood up, looked at Rolph, and then extended her crossbow without speaking.
They were short on time. Siri stood up on the handrail of the fortress. Rolph stood behind her as if pulling her and then grabbed the crossbow with her.
Tae Ho looked at the two people at a high place and then realized something.
[ Saga: The Arrows of the Witch Never Misses Its Target ]
[ Saga: The Arrow of the Hunter Calls for an Explosion ]
The two people activated their sagas at the same time.
The arrow flew through the air. Different from a normal arrow, it kept changing its direction mid-flight.
Bang!
It hit the eye of the giant and then exploded.
It was a place that wasn’t protected by its rock-like skin. The giant cried in terrible pain and writhed. Siri and Rolph fired the second arrow.
They aimed for the mouth instead of the eyes because it was closing its eyes in response to the pain. The arrow that passed through its teeth exploded.
The giant cried out again. Siri and Rolph sat down at the same time as if they had exhausted all their strength.
An opening.
It wasn’t enough yet. It had to be bigger than this.
And because of that, he arrived on the ground.
[ Saga: He’s the Son of a God ]
Bracky took in a deep breath. A one-man army, an invincible warrior — he had many nicknames but the one he liked the most was the son of a God.
Thor’s son. A seed sprinkled by Thor to humanity. For him, as he didn’t know who his father was, the nickname was like a blessing.
“Kuhahaha!”
Bracky laughed and then pulled his axe. He used all his strength that was further strengthened by the saga and hit the talon of Aquiles of the giant.
Bang!
The axe, that couldn’t handle the force, broke down. At the same time, the giant’s ankle was also destroyed. The giant let out a real cry this time and fell down on its butt. The ground shook like an earthquake because of that shock, and everyone near it lost their balance and fell.
Bracky also fell. He just smiled instead of running away while lying down on the floor. It was because he saw someone charging towards the giant from the sky, passing through the shining sun.
“For Idun!” Siri and Rolph yelled. The surrounding warriors also noticed him. They all yelled.
“Idun!”
The thing falling down from the sky.
The thing that was similar to Thor’s thunder!
The wings of the wyvern flew through the wind. No, it split the air. The tip of Tae Ho’s spear broke the air and charged forward.
Babang!
The spear broke. A deep crack appeared on the giant’s forehead. The giant fell down completely at the great shock and the wyvern trembled. It could barely fly upwards with all its strength.
Tae Ho was also exhausted. His right arm, that had executed the lance charging, felt like tearing off.
The warriors yelled towards Tae Ho. They called Idun’s name.
Siri did the same and Rolph also cheered. But the Valkyries didn’t. Reginleif shouted, “Not yet!”
The giant raised its body. The giant rose up and extended its arm so fast that it didn’t seem real at all.
“Chant!”
The giant grabbed the wyvern. The wyvern let out a feeble cry in the instant that its body and wings crumbled. Tae Ho barely transformed to a hawk and flew towards the fortress.
“Dodge!” Siri yelled, but Tae Ho couldn’t react in time. The corpse of the wyvern that had become a ball hit Tae Ho.
His wing was bent and he rolled in the air a few times. The wyvern’s corpse that had hit Tae Ho clashed with the fortress and exploded. Tae Ho fell down while having become a mess. He reached the ground, but kept rolling until the end.
His head hurt and he couldn’t see. He couldn’t breathe and his chest hurt. He felt like he would die any moment.
He could hear a buzzing sound. Every time that happened, his skull rang. He opened his mouth but only blood from who knows where filled his throat.
He didn’t even know if his transformation had ended or not. He couldn’t distinguish if he had the shape of a hawk or a human. He didn’t have any senses.
Ahh.
Ahhhh.
He gritted his teeth. Tae Ho admitted this time too that Heda was right. Idun’s blessing was caught on Tae Ho’s tough lifeline. It didn’t let him go.
He felt a warm feeling on his forehead. He didn’t know what was happening but Tae Ho felt Heda.
That feeling was minimal, but it gave him the strength to move.
His trembling hand moved towards his waist. He took out the entire cloth and threw it towards his mouth. Then used the last of his strength to take out the cloth and gritted his teeth again.
Crunch.
It had a nice flavor even in this moment. A cold and fresh feeling flowed through his mouth and Tae Ho opened his eyes.
“Tae Ho!”
He saw Rolph. Rolph couldn’t open his mouth at the faint golden light healing his wounds. When he barely managed to gather his voice, the thing he said was Idun’s name.
Tae Ho breathed in. He raised his body. He could see Siri firing her crossbow with his eyes that had barely gained vision. The warriors of Valhalla were fighting with the giant that was like a wounded predator.
Odin also saw that. Hugin twisted its beak and spoke with Rasgrid.
“They are warriors of Valhalla. They aren’t weak people that you have to protect. Valkyrie Rasgrid. My daughter. Go and do your task.”
Rasgrid closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and then looked at the battlefield with cold eyes again.
Hugin flew off Rasgrid’s and she ran without even looking back at Hugin.
“Warrior Tae Ho!”
Rasgrid approached Tae Ho. Reginleif and Ingrid also did the same.
Ingrid opened his eyes abruptly when she saw the remaining strength of Idun in Tae Ho’s body, and Reginleif put on a complicated smile. However, Rasgrid directly asked, “Will you be able do that once more?”
The charging lance that fell fromthe sky. The attack that made a crack in the giant’s forehead.
Tae Ho stood up and looked at the giant. The dragon knight Kalsted told Tae Ho that it was possible. It was only once, but he would be able to execute the same attack.
But the problem wasn’t only Tae Ho’s body.
“I need something to ride on.” Tae Ho said. Rasgrid nodded at his words that were closer to a request.
“Reginleif, Ingrid. Take care of it.”
Rasgrid spoke in a low voice and quickly and then gave the unt she was holding to the two Valkyries. Reginleif understood what Rasgrid was going to ask.
“We have only one opportunity.”
“We can do it then.”
Rasgrid hid her determination and answered. Reginleif laughed and then grabbed the unt with Ingrid. They poured all of their magic and activated the power of the exalted rune.
Rasgrid turned to look at Tae Ho. The Valkyries that didn’t get permission to go to battle couldn’t exert even a fourth of their strength. It was obvious about the magic Reginleif and Ingrid could exert looking at the situation. They would merely be able to transform the unt once.
Rasgrid was also restricted in her actions. Because of that, she decided to help Tae Ho instead of fighting directly.
“Ride on me.”
Tae Ho blinked. At his look that seemed to imply what she was talking about, Rasgrid took off her cape. She took out a coat from the air and then recited a chant after wearing it.
“Draco!”
Dragon’s wing coat.
The Valkyries didn’t only have swan wing coat. She, who was the daughter of Odin, would surely have more things than others.
Rasgrid transformed into a dragon that had white scales and blue eyes. Maybe it was because of the battle restriction that her size wasn’t that big. She was about the size of a wyvern.
“Get on,” Rasgrid said. Then, she gave him the unt Reginleif and Ingrid had transformed. It was a sharp blade you could put at the tip of the charging lance. There were complicated rune symbols in it.
They were ready. The pro gamer Lee Tae Ho wasn’t someone to step back in this situation.
[ Saga: The Sword of the Warrior ]
He applied the unt that was filled with the strength of the runes at the tip of the charging spear. Then he climbed onto Rasgrid’s back.
[ Saga: The One That Can Handle Dragons ]
At that moment, Rasgrid flinched, but she accepted Tae Ho. She flew to the air while sharing the same senses with Tae Ho.
The giant looked at Tae Ho and Rasgrid. It extended its arm as if it was enraged that he had gotten hit in the forehead.
“Where are you going!” Bracky yelled. He grabbed the dead warrior’s weapon to replace his broken axe and then attacked the giant’s leg.
The giant frowned. It stomped down and kicked, but Bracky was surprisingly agile. He quickly dodged the attacks but this time he started throwing weapons at it.
“Go! Warriors of Valhalla!”
Reginleif yelled with all her strength. The warriors charged towards the giant to try to buy at least one more second. Siri and Rolph also fired an arrow with the last of their strengths.
The giant roared. The gnolls also charged to try to help the giant. The yells and roars mixed in the battlefield.
However, Tae Ho didn’t listen to that. He surged up the air and read the atmosphere. Then he strengthened Rasgrid with his saga.
She was much stronger than a wyvern. She could fly faster, higher, and stronger.
Rasgrid turned high in the sky. Her flight, spread in a silent world, started to call in a raging wind.
[ Saga: The Charge of a Warrior Is Just Like a Storm ]
[ Saga: The Eyes of a Dragon Sees Through All Things ]
He secured his target. Then raised his speed with the wind he had called.
The forehead of the giant. The crack he had made. The deepest place within that.
Tae Ho didn’t close his eyes. He stopped his breath and concentrated.
“Kua!”
The giant yelled. He swung his arms in an attempt to hit Tae Ho who was falling at an amazing speed.
It felt like a wall was flying towards him. It was fast and threatening.
However, Tae Ho didn’t lessen his speed. He dodged the hands of the giant by following the wind. He only charged forward.
The lance also charged.
It was the thing that didn’t need to look back.
Bang!
It hit. The unt stabbed the crack. The spear exploded and the giant fell with a last cry. At the same time, the strength of the rune that was concentrated on the unt was released in an instant.
Rasgrid was falling as if she would crash on the ground but then she strongly batted her wing. She flew upwards again and Tae Ho could see her from the back.
The giant’s head was destroyed. It seemed like it had split into several pieces, but then became dust and scattered away.
Silence fell on the battlefield, but that was merely the calm before the storm.
The cheers of the warriors exploded.
Bracky, who had become a bloody mess, started to laughing and Rolph called Idun’s name. They were calling the names of several Gods, but soon started to call only one.
“Idun!”
“Idun’s warrior!”
Tae Ho laid down on Rasgrid’s back instead of replying to them. He could see something even after releasing his saga.
[ Synchro rate: 13% ]
But that wasn’t all. There was something telling him that it wasn’t the time to sleep yet. There were still many enemies left.
[ Idun’s blessing ]
On top of that, there was the effect of the piece of the golden apple.
‘Heda is always right.’
Tae Ho mumbled something weird and then raised his body. He asked Rasgrid to go to the battlefield once again as she was about to return to the fortress. Rasgrid didn’t decline.
On that day in the afternoon.
The warriors of Valhalla cheered. They cried out in victory once again.
< Episode 7 – Valkyrie (3) > End