Chapter 29 – Battle between Gods! (Part 1)

Here's the new chapter!

Thanks for the wait!

*Any images in this chapter do not belong to me! It belongs to their respective artists/creators!

*Name Caption (You can adopt {ð = d} and {Þ = Th} to make it easier):

Balðr = Baldur/Balder (first son of Odin and Frigg).

Höðr = Höder (second son of Odin and Frigg).

Ahvenanmaa (Finnish) = Aland.

Heimdallr = Heimdall.

Gullinbursti = Frey's Boar.

Sumarbrandr = Sword of Frey.

Skidblaðnir = Skidbladnir (Frey's flying boat).

Attention: Remember, the *Auxiliary chapter* is reserved for the design characters chosen by ME. But if you don't like it, feel free to choose the design you like for the characters.

Without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

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- Location: Archipelago located at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia [future Ahvenanmaa Islands (Aland)] / Baltic Sea / Valhalla Arena.

Pov. Third-person.

After Heimdallr finished introducing the representatives of each pantheon, and after the crowd from each pantheon had calmed down, Heimdallr immediately proceeded to explain what the battle will be like.

"Alright then! Regarding the battle, will be very simple! A showdown to the 'death' in the mirror dimension! Death will not be real... But the pain will be so 'real' that it will knock out the defeated one as soon as he leaves the mirror dimension! Being knocked out for hours, days, weeks... or even years! Regarding the weapons that can be used... There is no limitation! Regarding the order of the fights, it will be quite simple... Two people will face each other until someone is defeated and expelled from the mirror dimension, the 'winner' of the fight will remain in the mirror dimension until he is defeated, then it means there will be no 'exchanges' of fighters!" explained Heimdallr.

What Heimdallr explained are the most basic and traditional rules of the Valhalla arena. Basically, the pantheon's victory will only occur when there are no representatives left.

During the match, if the winner of the first fight is injured... He will still fight in the next fight even if he is 'injured'.

While Heimdallr explained how the confrontation will happen, Frey chose that moment to speak with Thor.

"So... Who do you think goes first from the Slavs?" asked Frey.

Thor seemed to think for a moment before answering.

"Honestly… I have no idea. Both are well known as excellent fighters and enjoy a good fight. But, Dažbog seems to be a bit lazier, but he is also the most unpredictable... According to my father, Dažbog has never fought seriously. While Perun fights Veles every year, mortals have even associated their confrontation with the 'seasons,' of the year" Thor said.

Thor's answer seemed to discourage Frey because he would be fighting experienced fighters... But Frey had never fought before.

"How am I going to be able to beat one of them when I've never fought before? Do you... Do you have any hints?" asked Frey.

Thor then looked at Frey.

"A hint? Hmm... Let's see... If you're going to fight Dažbog, try to take him down as fast as possible as he doesn't usually fight seriously when he doesn't know the opponent, so you can take advantage of that... But if you fight Perun?... Be more creative" said Thor.

This seemed to confuse Frey a little...

"What do you mean by 'creative'?" asked Frey.

"Simply put... Don't be so predictable when you're attacking with your weapons," said Thor.

It was then, at that moment, Heimdallr chose to speak.

"Very well representatives, choose your first fighter! With the first fighter decided, stand on the rune next to you" said Heimdallr.

It was then that Dažbog began to walk towards the Slavic 'team' rune. Meaning the Slavic sun god would be the first fighter.

Frey then began to speak.

"So... Who's going to-," Frey said, before being interrupted.

Thor had pushed Frey toward the rune.

"Good luck my friend, make me proud! Everyone's watching you…so no pressure," Thor said with a thumbs up and a small smile.

The fighters had been chosen...

"Looks like the fighters have been chosen! A piece of advice for fighters... Defeat will only happen when your opponent 'dies', so be careful! At the sound of my trumpet, you may begin!" said Heimdallr.

It was then that the runes that Dažbog and Frey were standing on began to glow until moments later the two fighters were gone.

It was then that giant 'screens' began to appear and began broadcasting images from the 'mirror dimension' so that all people could see the combat.

- Location: Mirror dimension.

Pov. Third-person.

In a clearing, Frey could be seen looking for his opponent, although the mirror dimension transported the combatants, they never transported them close to each other.

The reason was simple, it would give the person some 'time' to plan to carry out an attack, set traps, or do other things.

But in Frey's case, it would be to summon their weapons.

"Very well... Come on Gullinbursti, it's time for you to stretch your legs," said Frey.

It was then that a golden aura manifested from Frey's body and took the form of a boar, a boar made of pure energy.

The boar, identified as Gullinbursti, 'left' Frey's body and began to 'solidify' itself.

A golden-colored boar the size of a rhino was now at Frey's side.

It was then that a sound resounded throughout the 'mirror world'.

A sound of a trumpet.

The sound of Gjallarhorn.

Frey, taking the signal, mounted the golden boar.

"Let's go Gullinbursti!" said Frey.

Gullinbursti roared in response and began to gallop.

Frey didn't know his opponent's location, so he could only rely on Gullinbursti's sense of smell and keep an eye out for anything that gave away his Slavic opponent's location.

However... Someone didn't have the patience to 'search' his opponent in the traditional way.

A figure could be seen walking through a forest.

The figure was Dažbog, who walked slowly through the forest, waiting for something to happen after the sound of the trumpet announced the start of the confrontation.

"*sigh* Apparently, I ended up further away from him than expected... Well, I'll make it easy for him then" said Dažbog.

It was then that Dažbog began to float and began to fly until he was at the height of the clouds.

"I just hope he survives this… I'd like to stretch myself a bit since I haven't had a decent fight in a while," said Dažbog, who then raised his right hand.

It was at this moment that a red aura began to emerge from his body and a small sphere of pure energy, the size of a golf ball, appeared in Dažbog's right hand.

Meanwhile, Frey, who had felt the surge of energy, looked towards the sky.

"Gullinbursti!" said Frey quickly.

Gullinbursti, who seemed to have understood his master's signal, glowed yellow, before quickly turning into energy, Frey then stayed inside Gullinbursti's ethereal form.

Dažbog, who was still in the sky, released the small sphere of energy.

The sphere appeared to be insignificant to some who were watching from the arena...

But all that changed when the sphere hit the ground.

An explosion that could be described as catastrophic, appeared at the spot where the sphere fell, painted the sky in red, and caused the earth to shake and the fire from the explosion spread across the surface of the earth, burning anything in front of it.

Reducing the 'creation' to ashes.

The 'planet' of the mirror dimension, considered a perfect copy of the current earth with trees and water, had turned into just 'empty' earth... Things like 'trees' had become mere ashes in the wind, and any source of water had ceased to exist.

Dažbog had changed the very landscape of the world.

After the explosion happened, Dažbog descended from the sky and headed towards the 'yellow dot' that could now be seen from the sky.

The 'yellow dot' was Gullinbursti, who had successfully shielded Frey from the overwhelming blast.

Dažbog as he approached, gave a small smile.

"Ah?... At least you didn't die... Can we start fighting now, Prince Frey?" asked Dažbog.

Frey's answer to Dažbog?... It was a sword flying towards the Slavic god.

Dažbog wisely dodged the blade that was aimed at his neck. However, it was not just the sword that Dažbog should pay attention to.

*BAM*

The golden boar, now in solid form, had charged at Dažbog and hit him, sending the slav god flying away, thus opening a gap between the Norse god and the Slavic god.

However... When Gullinbursti hits the target, the victim usually ends up with at least a few broken bones.

But Dažbog looked perfectly fine.

There was a red aura around the Slavic god, while his eyes glowed with a crimson color.

"... Want to try again?" asked Dažbog, with a mocking smile.

Dažbog then heard the sound of the wind cutting behind him, causing him to turn around and do something that surprised not only Frey but the arena audience as well.

Dažbog was holding Sumarbrandr's blade.

Now Sumarbrandr was known to duel without needing to be wielded by anyone, and its blade was hotter than the surface of the sun.

Frey, not understanding how Dažbog was doing this, spoke in shock.

"How?" asked Frey.

Dažbog replied while holding Sumarbrandr.

"I'm a solar deity, Prince Frey... Do you really think I can get burned easily?" asked Dažbog, with a sarcastic tone.

It was then that Dažbog noticed Gullinbursti running towards him.

Dažbog simply smiled and covered his freehand with a red aura, but he didn't hit Gullinbursti... Dažbog hit Sumarbrandr.

Sumarbrandr was then flung away by the force of the blow, and now Dažbog focused on the golden boar.

Gullinbursti, while it was the strongest defense Frey had for being resistant to physical blows as well as immune to magic, had a small problem.

The speed.

As soon as Gullinbursti got close enough, Dažbog just jumped up and ran towards Frey with his fist enveloped in a red aura.

Frey, sensing the onslaught of the Slavic god, stood up and crossed his arms in defense, however...

*BAM*

*crack*

"Ugh!" squeaked Frey.

Dažbog's fist ended up breaking Frey's arms on contact and sent Frey flying towards the nearest mountain, with Frey's body showing no signs of stopping until it hit the mountainside.

"Shit..." swore Frey, cursing as he looked down at his arms, which showed bruises.

"Don't stare at your wounds until the fight is over!" said Dažbog, who had quickly approached Frey.

As soon as Frey heard Dažbog's voice, he looked towards the Slavic god only to realize that Dažbog was already in front of him with his fist raised.

"Sumarbrandr!" shouted Frey.

The sword, Sumarbrandr, shot towards its master and came between the Slavic god's blow and its master in a way to protect him from the blow.

"You're not going to stop me with this, Frey!" said Dažbog, with a smile.

Dažbog didn't stop his blow, and when he hit the blade, he slammed his sword into Frey's chest.

*BAM*.

The force behind the blow was great enough that in addition to creating cracks in the mountain, it made Frey spit blood due to some broken ribs.

Dažbog, who still had his fist outstretched and applying pressure so that the Sumarbrandr was stuck, extended his free hand, which began to emit a red aura and a sphere of energy soon began to form.

"You know… I hear you also represent 'daylight'. Tell me then, are you fireproof?" asked Dažbog, with a sarcastic tone.

Dažbog intended to shoot the energy sphere at point-blank range.

"*Coff* No... But Gullinbursti is," Frey said with a smile while coughing up some blood.

It was then that Dažbog felt movement behind him, causing him to turn and face Frey's other weapon.

The magic-immune golden boar, the Gullinbursti.

A red aura permeated Dažbog's body, as the Slavic god stretched out his hands to stop the boar's onslaught.

"Where are you looking at?" asked Frey.

Dažbog made a mistake, he had turned his back to his opponent.

His opponent had a sword. However, Dažbog was not worried about being injured by the sword, as he believed that with his body imbued with the sun's divine energy, the blade could not pierce him.

However, that is not what happened.

*Slash*

Dažbog looked at his chest and saw Sumarbrandr's blade glowing golden.

Sumarbrandr had somehow managed to pierce Dažbog's body.

The Slavic god looked back and saw that Frey had one hand extended to the hilt of his sword.

Frey had imbued Sumarbrandr with his divine power and empowered the slashing power of the Sumarbrandr sword.

The sound of Gullinbursti approaching alerted Dažbog, who looked ahead again.

Only for Gullinbursti to become a structure of pure energy and pass through Dažbog's body smoothly and merge with Frey's body again.

It was then that Frey kicked Sumarbrandr into Dažbog's back, forcing the Slavic god further and sending him flying away from Frey.

Frey then left the mountainside and gave a weary sigh before drawing his sword.

"Sumarbrandr..." said Frey.

The sword then left Dažbog's inert body and flew towards him and hovered beside him.

"*Pant* Well, I guess it's over… I guess I should get ready for –" Frey started to speak until he was interrupted by a voice.

"*Coff* I have to say… You have my full attention now," said the voice.

Frey then looked at Dažbog, who was getting up from the ground.

The wound made by Sumarbrandr didn't even seem to bother the Slavic god, who now possessed an intimidating crimson aura, Dažbog wore a smile, in addition to his eyes glowing crimson.

Dažbog's smile promised pain.

Dažbog then looked at his wound and the state of his clothes, which had been reduced to mere rags after Sumarbrandr's blade had stabbed him and incinerated the much part of his coat, and frowned.

The Slavic god then reached out with his right hand and ripped the remaining rags from his coat, showing off his physique and… A few tattoos.

Dažbog then covered his hand with a red aura that resembled fire and pressed the wound made by Sumarbrandr, intending to cauterize the wound. The solar deity's flames were strong, but due to Dažbog's resistance, it took a while to cauterize the wound.

At no time did Dažbog show discomfort.

When he finished cauterizing the wound, Dažbog looked towards Frey and flashed a smile again.

"It's been a while since I've had this much fun!... *spit*... Shall we continue?" asked Dažbog after he spat out some blood.

Dažbog didn't give Frey time to respond and ran towards the god Vanir.

"Gullinbursti!" said Frey.

An aura surged from Frey's body and it took the ethereal form of the boar, Gullinbursti, which then 'solidified' and charged Dažbog.

Dažbog didn't even seem bothered when he attacked Gullinbursti.

*BAM*

The shock wave was comparable to an earthquake. Dažbog, still grinning, raised another arm ready to strike Gullinbursti again.

But then Dažbog noticed movement to his left.

*Clang*

Dažbog had blocked Sumarbrandr with his left forearm imbued with divine energy, while he had his right fist pushing Gullinbursti.

It was then that Gullinbursti began to slowly push Dažbog.

Dažbog applied pressure to his left arm and pushed Sumarbrandr for a while so he had the opportunity to punch Gullinbursti.

"I will break your toys, Frey! So then you can fight most respectfully!... With your fists!" shouted Dažbog as he punched Gullinbursti.

*BAM*

Gullinbursti stopped pushing Dažbog due to the shock wave.

Dažbog then noticed that Sumarbrandr was turning towards him. Then Dažbog applied pressure to his arms and pushed Gullinbursti, creating some space to now be able to deal against Sumarbrandr.

Dažbog imbued his arms with his divine energy and began to block Sumarbrandr's frantic attacks with his forearms and fists.

As Dažbog defended against Sumarbrandr's attacks, Frey looked down at his arms and then said in a low tone.

"...Skiðblaðnir," said Frey.

Meanwhile, Gullinbursti charged again at Dažbog, who continued kept defending from Sumarbrandr.

Dažbog, who noticed the Gullinbursti attack, looked at Sumarbrandr and smiled with an idea...

While Sumarbrandr furiously attacked the Slavic god, Dažbog found an opportunity to grab the blade again. When Gullinbursti got close enough, Dažbog dodged at the last second and forced Sumarbrandr's blade to stab Gullinbursti's right eye, who roared in pain in response.

Dažbog just smiled at his achievement, and then looked around for Frey. However, Frey was gone.

"Are you going to hide now, Vanir? You let your weapons fight for you and now you hide?! You are more cowardly than I thought!" shouted Dažbog, while taunting Frey to make him report his location.

"I'm not hiding!" said a voice from above.

It was then that Dažbog looked up to the sky and saw... A Drakkar.

The Drakkar was Frey's last weapon, the Skíðblaðnir.

The Slavic god noticed something different about Frey.

"How did you heal your arms?" asked Dažbog, confused.

Frey just smiled and flexed his fully healed arms a little.

"Well, the Skiðblaðnir has many functions and things... One of those things would be an internal healing chamber," Frey replied.

This seemed to outrage Dažbog.

"This is cheating!" roared Dažbog.

Yet Frey responded calmly.

"No, it's not. Don't you remember what they said? Let me remind you then... 'Regarding weapons, there is NO limitation', and the Skíðblaðnir is my weapon" said Frey.

This seemed to have angered Dažbog even more because his eyes gleamed with fury. Frey then continued to speak.

"But I won't deny it… I ran from the fight against you… You only faced my weapons. Well, not anymore..." said Frey.

Frey then jumped off the Drakkar towards the ground.

"Gullinbursti! Assault Mode!" said Frey.

Gullinbursti understood his master's command and then ran towards Frey, even with the Sumarbrandr in his eye.

As he approached Frey, Gullinbursti then transformed into pure energy, but this time he didn't 'merge' with Frey... Gullinbursti in his ethereal form began to 'envelop' the body of the god Vanir.

It was then that Frey emitted a golden glow that blinded the Dažbog and the arena audience who were watching the fight.

When the glow dimmed, Dažbog was the first to look at Frey.

Frey now had tattoos on his body.

"You said you would make me fight in a more respectful way, which was with my fists, right? Well, you got what you wanted..." Frey said, raising his fists.

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Well... That's it, folks!

The next chapter will be the outcome of Frey's fight against Dažbog, and the beginning of the next fight!

It gave me a lot of work, but I don't know if the fight went well and met your expectations. So, in case you guys don't like the fight so far, could you give me some hints on how to improve? Because I don't think I'm the best writer when it comes to fighting scenes.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Until next time, don't forget to leave a comment!

*The next chapter will likely be published on Friday or Saturday.

Title of the next chapter:

Chapter 30 – Battle between Gods! (Part 2)