Episode 9/Chapter 4: Svartalfheim (4)

TL: Tsubak

ED: Isalee

Tae Ho blinked. There was still a golden-furred wolf instead of Siri in front of him. She was smaller than a white silence, but it was enough to ride on her.

"Captain....Siri?"

"Is it that surprising?"

What came out of the wolf's mouth was certainly Siri's voice. The deep and blue eyes of the wolf were similar to Siri's.

'Well, a Valkyrie can even transform into a dragon.'

Thinking about it, didn't Tae Ho himself transform into a hawk?

'Ah, so that's why.....she took it off?'

Because she didn't transform into an item like the wing clothes. It seemed like it was impossible to transform with her clothes on.

"Captain Siri, you were a magician?"

At Tae Ho's question, Siri put on a strange smile with her wolf appearance and then replied vaguely.

"It's similar. But first, is your shoulder fine? Your regeneration rate was faster than I imagined."

Tae Ho looked at the wound he'd received from the regenerator. Tae Ho's recovery rate was fast thanks to Idun's necklace, but the wound was too big in the first place. It did close up quite a bit, but he still felt pain when he moved.

"Wait a moment."

Tae Ho took in several breaths. He closed his eyes and activated the God's power. As he concentrated, the aura that covered his entire body shifted to his shoulder and a golden light started to cover the wound.

Using game terms it would be the divine power used by priests or paladins. Just like the Gods of Asgard represented different fields, the strength of the Gods varied based on what God it was.

"It really is the strength of the Goddess of Life, Idun."

Siri said this in a low voice. Tae Ho spent a great amount of health and concentration for using the strength of the God he wasn't accustomed to but thanks to that, his wound was able to completely close up.

"Whew."

He certainly needed training. It wasn't a strength you could use starting from the intermediate rank for nothing.

'It still has its uses.'

Tae Ho moved his shoulder lightly. He did feel some pain but it didn't restrict his movements.

Siri said, "Tae Ho, if we start moving, the stealth blessing will become weaker. So they will chase us immediately after that. Avoiding battle is impossible."

Tae Ho activated the dragon's eye and looked at his surroundings. He saw several red words through the grass.

The basilisks and several giant snakes.

Tae Ho smiled bitterly without having realizing it himself and nodded. Just like Siri had said, avoiding battle was impossible.

"Get on my back. I'm not as fast as a white silence, but I should be quite fast."

She said that, but she might be faster. Siri had the most amount of runes among the inferior ranked warriors gathered for this expedition.

"Didn't you think of taking Rolph and escaping?"

If she had chosen Rolph instead of Tae Ho then she would have been able to transform into a wolf way before.

As Tae Ho got up and asked, Siri, let out a long sigh and looked at Tae Ho fixedly.

"I'm sorry for Rolph but....If I had to choose between saving one of the two, I would have chosen you. For Asgard and for Valhalla."

Tae Ho understood what Siri meant by those words.

As the atmosphere became grim, Siri put on a playful smile.

"Well, it was more dangerous than I thought because you didn't wake up as I expected."

She said that as a joke but it was the truth. If Siri had prioritized her safety she would have chosen another warrior instead of Tae Ho.

However, she chose him. Just like she had said herself, she judged that she would save Tae Ho.

"Your smiling face is cute."

As Tae Ho said unconsciously, Siri burst out of laughter.

"What are you saying looking at the face of a wolf?"

She was also right this time. However, Tae Ho just smirked and rode on Siri's back. It was more comfortable to fix his posture because she was smaller than a white silence.

"Tae Ho, I will entrust you with battling."

The only thing Siri could do now that she had Tae Ho riding her back was running. Tae Ho was the one in charge of repelling the snakes chasing them.

Tae Ho nodded. He clenched his fist once and then lowered his posture and said.

"You should also entrust your body to me."

"What?"

[Saga: The one that handles dragons]

Tae Ho activated his saga instead of replying. And then, Siri also flinched just like Rasgrid had done, but then accepted Tae Ho.

"So it was like this."

"It's better than you thought, right?"

Siri just prepared to charge forward instead of replying. Tae Ho also concentrated instead of joking around anymore.

The moment they charged forward, the stealth blessing would disappear. And battle would start from that moment.

Tae Ho's and Siri's breathing started to synchronize. They shared their senses through the saga.

Uneasiness and nervousness and expectation towards the battle that would occur starting from now.

Tae Ho put strength in his two legs tightening on Siri's waist. And then Siri kicked the ground.

Several sounds were heard at the same time. The sound of charging through the ground, and bodies getting up from the grass.

The eyes of the dragon pierced through the darkness. Tae Ho extended his hand after he sensed the red letters getting closer. The thing he chose was the executioner's sword.

Chwak!

Snakes attacked from the sides. They were just like arrows.

He slashed one snake. And at the same time fended back the snakes by using the shield on his left arm. Some snakes bit Siri. Siri let out a groan but she didn't stop.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The earth shook. The big guys were moving. Big red words approached from between the small ones.

[Saga: The charge of a warrior is just like a storm]

Siri's charge was empowered by the wind. Even though it was noisy, it effectively pushed back the small snakes coming at them.

'It came!'

The first Basilisk. Tae Ho looked at the red letters instead of the face of the Basilisk. He pulled the trigger of Thunderbolt instead of the Executioner's sword to check its general outline.

He fired in consecution but none of the arrows hit. A part of them bounced back as if they slipped off the scales.

"Don't face its eyes!"

Siri warned him. The snake king the Basilisk had a power evil eye that had the power to petrify.

Tae Ho followed Siri's warning. He kept looking at the red words instead of the head of the Basilisks to guess the distance.

Siri was fast but the terrain wasn't good. The bulky roots were too big and thick, and there were many holes in the ground. But the Basilisks moved quickly on the ground as if slipping through it.

There was one more on their right. And another one was charging from the left.

"Captain Siri!"

He yelled but it was late. Siri jumped up and tried to dodge them, but the Basilisk was faster. The monster, that had flown as if bouncing up, it gripped Siri's body.

It seemed like it was still an offspring that its body was small. The monster that was even bigger than an anaconda, that was famous for being big, covered Siri's entire lower body and tried to strangle her.

"Urasha!"

Tae Ho let out a cry and swung the Executioner's sword. At his strike that had all of his strength behind it, the Basilisk offspring got split. Although it didn't split in two, he had succeeded in slashing up to its bones.

"Kyak!"

The Basilisk offspring let out a cry and struggled. Thanks to that, Siri's lower body was unsealed but Tae Ho and Siri rolled on the ground.

"Chwak!"

The snakes charged towards them as if this was the right time. Some of the teeth pierced through the thick leather armor.

Tae Ho ground his teeth and endured. He acted calmly instead of moving his limbs rashly. He slashed the snakes biting his legs and then looked for Siri.

"Tae Ho!"

Siri fixed her posture and leaped up. Tae Ho kicked on the air and then hung on Siri's body.

He felt dizzy because of the poison. And he could also feel that Siri's movements had become dull.

But now wasn't the time to stop.

The Basilisk that was at their right extended its head and spread its mouth. Instead of biting down Tae Ho and Siri it started to pour out acid.

"Gant!"

Tae Ho activated the rune magic. As he pushed back the acid the most he could through using the wind wall he threw the blazing Runefang at his mouth. Runefang, that was supported by Tae Ho's strength, flew like an arrow and pierced its mouth.

The huge Basilisk that could devour an entire human struggled in pain, so the earth started to shake. Siri didn't stop her legs even when groaning in pain.

Tae Ho took in a breath. And then glared at a high place and determined himself.

"Captain Siri!"

At the same time, he called her he transmitted his thoughts through the one that can handle dragons.

Close your eyes and charge with your fastest speed. Leave everything to me.

It was an excessive order. However, Siri believed in Tae Ho. She closed her eyes and charged forward.

Now that he had defeated the regenerator, his synchro rate was at 15%. And obviously enough, the completion of the warrior's sword also became higher. Tae Ho took out the Heavy Lance he used for defeating the Ogre Lord Gandoll.

At their front, a Basilisk that was as twice as big as the normal ones were blocking their path. It was impossible to dodge it or going through the sides like they had been doing until now.

Tae Ho looked at its head instead of the red letters to aim better. You could see its red eyes below the projection that resembled a crown.

The evil eyes activated. And at the same time, Tae Ho concentrated the God's strength in his eyes.

The power of the evil eyes and the strength of the God clashed. The Basilisk, that was raising its head like a cobra, flinched at that moment and Tae Ho hit one spot with the Heavy Lance.

Siri looked at it through Tae Ho. She increased her speed to the maximum by using all her strength.

"Chwak!

The Basilisk didn't dodge and charged forward. It opened its mouth wide and then spat out acid like a breath.

Tae Ho also didn't dodge it. He raised his shield and didn't stop. He jumped through the violet acid and then precisely hit the point he had established!

Bang!

A heavy sound rang out. A part of the Basilisk's body exploded the moment it clashed with Tae Ho and Tae Ho throw out the Heavy Lance that had become a mess. Siri rolled on the ground once without landing properly.

The Basilisk died on the spot. The monster collapsed to the ground and trembled, but those were just effects after dying.

Tae Ho bit his lips and stood up. He could see the naked Siri at a distance. It seemed like she had some consciousness remaining in her that she was using all her strength to rise up with her trembling arms and legs.

They had passed through the acid in an instant and blocked it with the wind and shield, but she had still drunk some of it.

Siri stood up by staggering a bit but fell again in the end. It wasn't only the Basilisk's acid, but the poison of the snakes also held her back. She smiled at Tae Ho that had approached her with difficulty and said.

"Tae Ho, go."

She would stay in this place and try to buy even a bit more time.

Those words weren't even a bit funny. Siri couldn't even properly stand up and didn't even have her crossbow that was her specialty.

Tae Ho took in a deep breath instead of replying. He stood next to Siri and gripped the blazing Runefang.

Siri dropped her mouth after looking at him but then closed it again. Because even she wouldn't be able to leave if she was in the same situation. But instead said another thing.

"I should be able to fire a few times."

Even if she didn't have a crossbow, she could still hit her target by activating her saga. Siri gripped a sharp stone and Tae Ho glared at the darkness.

The red words.

There were also five Basilisks.

Tae Ho smiled bitterly when he looked at himself trying to endure alone rather than escape. How much had it passed that he changed this much?

"I'm still glad that i'm next to you."

Because he wasn't alone. He had someone to fight with.

"Let's meet in Valhalla again."

Siri had also said it. The two people exchanged smiles instead of fear and glared at the front. The red letters charged towards them and Tae Ho shouted the name of Idun instead of fleeing. And because of that, he missed the things that approached them from behind.

"Uoooo!"

"Ullr!"

"Valhalla!"

"Captain Siri! I have come!"

Voices were heard in consecution. Siri and Tae Ho opened their eyes widely at the cries that were heard from behind. They could see them even if they didn't turn back.

The warriors riding on the white silences passed over Tae Ho and Siri and charged. Even though they were running on grass, they were unbelievably silent. And Valkyrie Gandur was at the front while riding a white silence wearing leather armor.

"Rip them off!"

She yelled. The inferior ranked warriors of Ullr's legion followed her orders.

In addition, they weren't alone. There was one more person. The man that moved like a storm even when he wasn't riding on a white silence swung his sword and lightly slashed open the head of a Basilisk.

Tae Ho looked at him. It was way more than what happened when he looked at the Valkyries. He could only distinguish his name.

[Ragnar Loðbrók]

Intermediate ranked warrior. No, perhaps a superior ranked warrior.

Tae Ho let out a sigh of relief and sat on the ground. Siri also seemed to have relaxed from her nervousness that she bent down her head almost to the point of falling.

They survived. Maybe they had come by listening to the fighting sound or they had another method but Gandur and the warriors had come at the right time.

'Heda.'

He was sorry to Idun but he could only think of Heda first in these situations. Tae Ho breathed in again and then looked at the warrior that had slashed the neck of the Basilisk as if it was straw. But something else entered his eyes first.

'Huh?'

The corpse of the huge Basilisk Tae Ho had killed.

There were small shining letters below the white letters that represented the corpse.

Tae Ho gulped air unconsciously. He forgot all of his exhaustion and raised his body.

'Why did that appear there?'

The items in Dark Age had different colors so you could differentiate its rank at a glance.

Normal equipment in white.

Rare equipment that had magic imbued with it in blue.

Equipment that was more superior to that in gold.

And once again, equipment that surpassed that in white gold.

And the pinnacle of all items, the rainbow light that represented an epic rank.

Tae Ho was the best programmer in Dark Age, but even he had seen the rainbow light as few times as he could count in one hand. But right in front of him, there were rainbow light letters.

[Broken piece of an unknown sword]

A handle of an old and worn up word that was in between the scales of the dead Basilisk.

Tae Ho extended his hand and gripped the handle of the sword.

< Episode 9 - Svartalfheim (4) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~