Episode 39/Chapter 6: Hela (6)

TL: Tsubak

ED: Julsmul

'Stay calm. The damages aren't big,'

Cuchulainn said.

And it was just like he said.

Nidhogg didn't suffer any big wounds until now. Excluding the deep wound inflicted in her tail, one could say that all the others were superficial.

They were minor injuries that a normal warrior would have ignored and fought on with, and if the warrior was one of Valhalla, they were wounds one couldn't even feel.

'She will need training.'

They could solve her battle prowess to some extent thanks to Tae Ho's control, but he couldn't overcome the resistance she had towards pain.

Nidhogg heard the words Cuchulainn had said to himself and then lowered her head and gritted her teeth. She made a resolution to endure the small wounds however she could.

Tae Ho had read her thoughts directly thanks to the 'One that Controls Dragons'.

"It's not your fault."

She was already doing her best, and she had actually already defeated thousands of evil spirits and hundreds of giants. She was the one that had started the flow in which the army of the evil spirits started to flee. If Tae Ho had been alone, he wouldn't have been able to make this flow.

And Cuchulainn agreed on that point. He checked the surroundings and said quickly,

'He's Hrumbak the Striking King. He's one of the giant kings that had spread his name far and wide even during the Great War.'

He wasn't a sort of underling at all. He was an enemy they couldn't lower their guards on.

Tae Ho took a breath. He placed his hands on the keyboard and mouse softly as if embracing Nidhogg.

Odin had told him about the trump card Hela had, but Tae Ho didn't think about it.

He was thinking of winning this war only with Nidhogg's and his strength.

He would grant a complete victory to Nidhogg.

That wasn't impossible nor arrogance.

They could do it.

They could win.

Bang!

A loud explosion resonated out. It had been made by Hrumbak. He kicked the ground roughly and sped forwards at lightning speed. The axe he swung expanded twice its size and covered the black dragon.

Tae Ho focused his attention. He wasn't planning on letting it graze her.

He would dodge it perfectly and would create a means to escape by the attacks that would follow back.

The attack tore the ground. The black dragon that was a hundred meters in size drew a beautiful trajectory and dodged Hrumbak's attack like in a picturesque scene.

There were remnants of green venom left in the spot the dragon passed through, and Hrumbak, who followed through it after slicing the air, cursed out inside the thin, toxic cloud. Still, he endured it with his strong body of a giant king and magic power.

Tae Ho made the black dragon turn high in the sky and checked all the stats of Nidhogg through the 'Legendary Pro Gamer'. He also looked at Hrumbak's state with his strengthened 'Eyes of the Dragon'.

He would go.

Tae Ho's fingers danced on top of the keyboard and then the black dragon spread all of its four pair of wings and charged towards Hrumbak.

Hrumbak smiled in joy. Rather than stepping back while facing the dragon that was ten times bigger than he was, he chose to raise his axe.

Kwagagagagak!

Right at that moment, another sound was heard from somewhere else, and Hrumbak could only turn to look as that sound was getting closer.

It was the second black dragon. The dragon that had been rolling in the battlefield and crushing the evil spirits was now rolling towards them!

That was the reason Tae Ho's fingers had gotten faster.

Even if Nidhogg's affection towards Tae Ho was strong, the time they had to bless and receive blessings lacked absolutely. That was why the fake Nidhogg Tae Ho created could only do simple and restricted movements. Having recreated a body that was a hundred meters big was close to a miracle.

Tae Ho manipulated that fake Nidhogg. Both dragons charged towards Hrumbak recklessly from above and from the side.

Hrumbak had to choose one alternative at the two attacks that were approaching from two different sides, and at that moment, he also followed his instincts. Rather than going for the fake Nidhogg, he chose to solely concentrate on the black dragon that was in the sky.

Hrumbak hurriedly kicked the ground and jumped up. He fired all the strength he had stored to the dragon in the sky.

It was strong. It was an attack that could be said to be one suitable for the Striking King.

His movements satisfied Tae Ho. Hrumbak was moving as he had thought.

[Strengthened saga: The Warrior that had a Valkyrie Meet Him]

Tae Ho activated his saga, but this time, it wasn't to make a fake one.

The effects of the 'Warrior that had a Valkyrie Meet Him'.

It wasn't only effective in making copies. It also had the function to summon the real Valkyries to his side just as it had been revealed in Vanaheim.

But Tae Ho wasn't content with only that. He pondered the notion that he could call the real ones.

If he could call the real one, wouldn't he also be able to do the opposite?

The black dragon didn't close its eyes. It faced the attack coming from the front head on.

Chwaaaaaaaaak!

The attack split the ground and only sliced the empty air.

Hrumbak opened his eyes widely and then realized what was wrong.

The fake Nidhogg.

The fake dragon that was located below Hrumbak after he'd leapt up was still rolling over the ground.

It wasn't a fake anymore. The fake disappeared, and the real one appeared in its place.

Hrumbak turned his head in the air, but when he did, it was already late.

The black dragon spat out venom.

They were close, and in addition, they were in the air. Hrumbak had dodged all direct hits until now, but he couldn't do anything about this one.

The venom covered Hrumbak, and the nasty poison changed the color of the sky.

Hrumbak did his best. He covered his body with magic power, and at the same time, blocked the venom with his axe.

It was an axe that was refined with the frost of Jotunheim for more than a hundred years. It could somehow maintain its shape even after being hit with the venom of the black dragon.

Hrumbak kept releasing magic power without pause. He pressed himself down with a huge amount of magic power to dodge the venom, and he crashed into the ground below after a fierce, vertical plummet.

And then, the tail of the black dragon swept through Hrumbak.

It was an attack that had been prepared beforehand. There weren't many options Hrumbak could utilize now that he was exposed to the venom.

A strong attack utilizing the weight of a body that was a hundred meters big.

A blunt shock that defied imagination hit Hrumbak, and as it was an unexpected attack, he received a proper and direct hit.

He could only throw himself in the direction of its trajectory as the attack reached him. There was nothing else he could do.

Hrumbak flew across the battlefield in a second and only slid to a stop after he'd been thrown away over a hundred meters.

The damage was too massive. Hrumbak could feel how the warriors of Valhalla he had fought until now felt.

A battle against a foe where one couldn't allow even a single attack to hit them.

Hrumbak gritted his teeth and stood up. He activated his regenerative powers while feeling drowsy.

And he vomited out black blood.

The blood didn't stop flowing.

The venom of the black dragon, Nidhogg.

It wasn't the real body, and because of that, it's power also wasn't comparable to the real thing.

Still, Hrumbak had swallowed too much of the venom. His thought that his decision to fight Nidhogg in close range was correct, but if he got by the dragon, he'd unavoidably be placed in direct proximity to the poisonous gas surrounding Nidhogg.

The venom that poured down right in front of him was the decisive blow. The poison that had been accumulating in Hrumbak's body finally crossed the threshold of his control.

Hrumbak vomited out blood once again and then raised his head. He saw a black dragon that had approached him through his dim vision.

The black dragon opened its mouth and fired out venom once again. It could bite and crush him to death, but it didn't choose to do that. It was to evade the possible scenario where Hrumbak would attack the insides of the mouth of the dragon or its eyes as his will to live took over his actions.

Hrumbak squeezed out the last of his strength. He prepared to jump over the venom, but the tail of the dragon swept over him once again.

It was also a prepared card this time. (ED note: I read this as 'prepaid card'. Anyone else?)

If the first attack was a sweep of the tail then this time it was a slamming down of it.

Hrumbak was thrown away diagonally, and when he landed, it made a sound akin to a meteor's impact. The ground shook as if it was being split during the occurrence of an earthquake.

The black dragon spread its wings.

And then surged up into the sky like nothing.

Hrumbak, who'd been wedged into the ground, vomited out black blood and looked at that black dragon. He understood instinctively what the dragon was planning to do.

And because of that, he ended up laughing unconsciously. He cursed out inwardly, saying that he was a sly bastard.

The thing falling down the sky.

An arrow of disaster that reached a hundred meters.

[Saga: Catapult of the Dragon]

Draconic Ballista.

It fell down at a stupendous speed. It was a move aimed at bringing destruction not only to Hrumbak but to everyone on the battlefield.

From everywhere, participants of both sides looked at the sky.

The ones that were fighting and escaping all stopped and looked.

Phase five.

The last phase.

The black dragon flew roughly before reaching the ground. It flew up towards the sky like a bird that had caught its prey.

And right at that moment, when the trajectory of the dragon changed-

The chest of the black dragon opened up, and someone fell down towards the ground.

[Saga: Idun's Warrior]

The momentum of the Draconic Ballista was still left in Tae Ho's body. He drew a new trajectory with the 'Charge of the Warrior' and concentrated all his strength on the weapon he was grabbing with his right hand.

The Spear of Passion.

The weapon that converted magic power and several other qualities into destructive power.

Tae Ho threw the Spear of Passion towards Hrumbak, and the spear that was shining with Idun's golden power pierced Hrumbak's chest. It then exploded and destroyed his heart!

But it didn't end there. As Hrumbak's chest also exploded, there was a bigger explosion deeper in the ground.

Tae Ho surged up towards the sky. It wasn't the strength of the 'Charge of the Warrior'. The black dragon, Nidhogg, was using all of her strong magic power to pull Tae Ho up.

Nidhogg struggled while having her hands on the mouse and keyboard.

There was no need for her to use it, but Cuchulainn just smiled with a satisfied face as it rather suited her.

Tae Ho kicked in the air to return to Nidhogg. He then looked down over and across the battlefield.

A great amount of runes surged up from the corpse of Hrumbak and flew towards Tae Ho and Nidhogg. It was a pure white light that didn't seem to suit Hrumbak's person.

Tae Ho put a smile and then decided to play his last card loyally like always.

The mystical magic he'd learned from Adenmaha.

Tae Ho's identity.

The shape of a huge apple tree appeared with Tae Ho at its center. The tree, bathed in golden light, surged up in the middle of the battlefield like the World Tree and attracted the attention of everyone.

Idun's warrior.

The giants and evil spirits lost their will completely.

Opposingly, the army of the dead started to yell heatedly. Their cries soon united and shook the entire battlefield.

"Idun's warrior!"

"For Idun.

"For Heda."

Tae Ho mumbled in a low voice and then returned to Nidhogg in the heart room where he no longer knew what to do with the mouse and keyboard.

Elsewhere, Hela, who had seen the entire battle from a distant place, looked down at Misteltein that was in her hands unconsciously.

The God-killing spear that couldn't be compared to anything.

'Save it for now,'

Odin said. Hela looked at her surroundings with an awkward face and then cleared her throat before putting the spear back inside of her.

< Episode 39 - Hela (6) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~