Episode 25/Chapter 5: Paul's sword (5)

Even though it was wide, they were still underground. The sound of thunder, that was heard from the tip of the sword, soon filled the place. That explosive ringing was stronger than the thunder from the surface.

The dwarf Gordon was absent minded. The sea serpent, that was rising up while roaring, also looked at Tae Ho with surprised eyes.

It was the same for Bracky and Siri. They, that had taken their battle stances, looked at the exploding thunder coming from Tae Ho's hands and put on expressions of joy and surprise.

But it was different for Cuchulainn. He yelled urgently rather than being happy.

'Use Idun's warrior! Remove Caladbolg!'

Caladbolg wasn't a normal weapon. It was one of the strongest magic weapons in Erin that was comparable to Gae Bolg or Claiomh Solais, the sword of Nuada.

There was a time in the past that Fergus mac Roich, the enemy of Cuchulainn, destroyed the peak of a mountain with an attack of Caladbolg.

Just looking at the strongest blow, Caladbolg was said to be the best in Erin.

But Caladbolg required an incredible amount of magic power to execute that one blow.

Because of that not anyone could use it. If someone that lacked the abilities used it, then they may get their magic power, stamina and life power sucked dry by it and die as a result.

Caladbolg, that awakened thanks to Tae Ho's thunder, craved for Tae Ho's magic power as if it was a beast that had starved for a long time. It seemed like it would eat down Tae Ho in an instant.

Tae Ho gritted his teeth and activated 'Idun's warrior'. Tae Ho's entire body started to shine in golden light and the power of a God got greatly amplified, and at that moment Caladbolg stopped absorbing magic power for a moment.

'It's impossible to execute all its strength. Use the sentence of the Milesians. You have to control Caladbolg at a suitable level.'

Fergus mac Roich was a strong warrior that could stand shoulder to shoulder with Cuchulainn. Even though Tae Ho had gotten a lot stronger, he hadn't reached that level yet.

The sentence of the Milesians shone in the back of Tae Ho's hands. He calmed down Caladbolg, that was endlessly seeking for magic power. He made it satisfied at a suitably full state.

It wasn't an easy thing. Having calmed down Caladbolg spent an incredible amount of magic power and stamina in mere seconds. If it wasn't for 'Idun's warrior' that his power of a God was amplified, he would have died even before he fought against his enemy.

'It's enough to battle with just the strength that has been recharged. Don't feed it anymore and fight like this.'

Nervousness and relief was felt from Cuchulainn's voice. Tae Ho gulped dry saliva and then looked at the serpent and its surroundings.

A few seconds after the thunder exploded.

It was a long time for Tae Ho but it was short for everyone else. The serpent roared again and then the sound of steps was heard from far away. The serpent had called for the monsters near this place and were gathering.

Siri raised her crossbow instead of her sword. Bracky placed down Gordon in the rock that had Caladbolg stuck in it and then gripped his hammer tightly.

'Tae Ho?'

Right then, Idun's voice was heard. It was thanks to the connection that was created with her just like when he used 'Idun's warrior' in Midgard.

But it was a bit different this time. He could listen to Idun's voice more clearly. It didn't feel like it was just a connection but that she really was next to him.

There were two reasons for this. Compared to Midgard, that was protected with the great barrier spread by Odin and Freya, there were particularly no obstacles from Nidavellir and Asgard. So the connection with Idun would naturally strengthen.

The other reason was the growth of Tae Ho and the strengthening of his saga. The farther the name of Idun spread and the stronger the belief of the people towards Idun got, 'Idun's warrior' also got stronger at the same time. The propaganda Tae Ho had done in Midgard was useful by many meanings.

Cuchulainn also felt Idun. But the most important thing was the fight in front of them.

'Tae Ho, it's a battle against a serpent. Can't you capture it like before?'

As serpents were a race of dragons.

Cuchulainn asked when he thought of him having captured Adenmaha and then Tae Ho looked at the serpent with the 'eyes of the dragon'. The information that was necessary right now appeared below the clear red words.

[Nameless rock serpent]

[Dragon race]

[Evil]

[Possesses evil eyes]

Just like Cuchulainn had said, there was a probability for the 'one that controls dragons' to work on it. Idun asked when Tae Ho nodded.

'My warrior Tae Ho. So is it a male or a female?'

'She really is a Goddess. She asked the most important thing right off the bait.'

You didn't know if Cuchulainn was being serious or was joking but he said with a rather serious tone. Tae Ho answered quickly at the rather pitiful question.

"A male!"

'Right, i'm glad.'

'Of course you are.'

Cuchulainn ended up laughing in the end. He had just told him to concentrate so what was he doing?

But the leisure only lasted for a moment. Siri, that didn't know of the conversation occurring in Tae Ho's head, yelled hurriedly.

"Tae Ho! They are approaching from the sides! Hurry up!"

It seemed like she had thought of a similar thing when she realized that it was a serpent.

Siri moved to the boulder that Gordon was at and kept firing arrows. The arrows that held the power of a God flew beyond the darkness and pierced the heads or chests of the monsters. They were bug monsters that Adenmaha would have screamed if she saw them.

Just looking at them individually, they weren't a match to Tae Ho's group but quality couldn't amount to numbers. They had to finish it up quickly before being surrounded.

"Bracky!"

Tae Ho charged forward while yelling. Bracky understood what Tae Ho was requesting and then followed his back after smiling bitterly.

Tae Ho and Bracky ran in a line. The rock serpent had the shape of a snake, compared to Adenmaha that was more similar to a normal dragon.

The rock serpent swung its body towards Tae Ho and Bracky instead of extending its head towards them. And then, the ground surged up as if a wave was created from the sea and charged towards Tae Ho and Bracky.

As it was an attack resembling an earthquake, it wasn't wise to dodge it while having their feet on the ground. Tae Ho kicked the air to jump over the dirt and rocks charging  towards him and Bracky showed great agility regardless of his big body and jumped over the rocks in consecution. He had really jumped over the wave of dirt and rocks.

But the attack of the serpent didn't end yet. It was rather the start. The monster executed its second attack right after Tae Ho and Bracky jumped over the wave of dirt as the first attack was just to warm up. Flames erupted from its open mouth.

It was a fire breath, that was the representative of breaths.

It wasn't easy to dodge the fire breath as they were in the middle of the air because they jumped to dodge the wave of dirt. Because of that Tae Ho charged forward and swung Caladbolg widely. He fired the condensed thunder and split the fire breath from the front.

Babang!

The white thunder tore the flames. The serpent got surprised at the thunder that exploded right in front of it and shrunk for a moment and Tae Ho and Bracky used that moment to close the distance even more.

It was short. The distance between them was almost nonexistent.

Cuchulainn yelled.

'The evil eyes!'

The serpent quickly changed the direction of its head and glared at Tae Ho and Bracky. His red eyes flashed and executed the power of the evil eyes. It was the power to petrify the ones that reflected on its eyes, just like the basilisks.

The standard way was to endure it with the power of a God but Tae Ho sought another method. It was a method he had prepared since he realized that it had evil eyes.

[Saga: Warrior's equipment]

Tae Ho raised his left arm, that was holding Caladbolg. And then a smooth and huge shield appeared on top of his left arm.

Mirror shield. It was a shield that reflected yourself. It was a necessary item to face Medusa, that was an event boss in Dark Age, and had the power to reflect the several kinds of evil eyes.

It wasn't the 'warrior's sword' but the 'warrior's equipment'. There were several protective items in the saga that progressed without stop.

But only, for the case of the armors, the strength of the stories it had was weaker compared to the weapons so there were fewer kinds recorded but for special equipment that had abilities like the Mirror shield, they were all registered without missing one.

The petrification curse attacked Tae Ho and Bracky. However Tae Ho jumped up at the exact angle and got in the path of its eyes and Bracky. He also didn't forget to hide himself on the overly big shield.

The serpent looked at himself being reflected on the Mirror shield. It seemed like it had some resistance towards it as it possessed evil eyes itself that it didn't get completely petrified and merely flinched for a moment but it was enough with that much time. Tae Ho landed on the ground and Bracky surged up from behind him.

"Tho-R!"

Bracky let out a roar and swung his hammer. As he released all the condensed power of Thor in an instant, Bracky's attack didn't simply become a blow. The moment he hit its chin, an incredible thunder swept its head.

"Kuha!"

Bracky landed on the ground and let out a satisfied voice. The serpent couldn't endure the shock and then hit the ground with its head and a loud sound was heard.

This was it. Thor's warrior was Bracky himself. Although Tae Ho could fire off thunder and lightning, he wasn't a warrior of Thor but Idun's.

While Bracky was feeling a sense of satisfaction, Tae Ho hurriedly moved his feet and climbed on top of the rock serpent. And right then the serpent raised its head again. It seemed like electricity didn't work on it well as it was made of rocks or he could take punches really well but it recovered much quicker than expected.

"Bracky! Dodge!"

Siri yelled from far away. She was grabbing on Gordon's neck with one hand facing the monsters gathering from the sides.

Bracky rolled on the ground as soon as Siri warned him. A fire breath poured down on the place he was just standing. It was so strong it could melt the ground.

'Are you able to do it?'

Tae Ho stabbed Caladbolg on the neck of the serpent to create a supporting stand instead of replying and then moved his feet and hands quickly. He created a space to install the 'Beast's saddle' and hung the suppression reins on its neck.

It would have been perfect if he also hung the Hunter's rope but it seemed like it would be impossible. Tae Ho placed his hands on top of the neck of the serpent that was starting to struggle and then activated his saga.

[Saga: The one that controls dragons]

The rock serpent reacted at the saga but it didn't fall that easily. It trembled a bit and then fended off the controlling power.

'Is it impossible?!'

Cuchulainn asked hurriedly and Tae Ho transmitted his thought instead of answering.

It wasn't because the rock serpent was stronger than Adenmaha or had a stronger will. In the first place, the situation with the both of them was different.

Adenmaha already had an owner and in addition she really hated him. Because of that deep in her heart she was longing for a new owner.

In the other hand, the rock serpent was a free body. It had never been controlled by someone.

It was obvious that the level of resisting it was different.

However Tae Ho's saga also wasn't normal. He could control anything if it was of the dragon race. But he needed to go through a process to do that.

'There's no business on easy things.'

Idun said something scary in a gentle way. Cuchulainn burst out of laughter in that moment and Tae Ho judged that her words were right. Idun was always right just like Heda.

The rock serpent struggled. It was to shake off Tae Ho. At first the rock serpent just shook its body like a bull in a rodeo match but then started to move towards the wall. It was planning to crush Tae Ho by slamming him on the wall.

Tae Ho took a breath and looked at the battlefield. Thanks to the aftershock and the small earthquakes created by the serpent struggling, half of the monsters that charged towards Siri got cleaned up.

Siri was still moving quickly and massacring the monsters. She was fleeing at first to protect Gordon but now it felt like she was hunting the monsters.

Tae Ho looked at Bracky. He made eye contact with Tae Ho while charging on the shaking ground and smiled bitterly as if he couldn't do anything about it. Bracky had continued to gather Thor's power after the first attack he had launched.

Babang!

The rock serpent started to slam itself against the wall but it was all pointless. Tae Ho moved to its side instead of behind its neck and dodged the attacks. Although the shock and the vibrations were great, the strength in Tae Ho's grip also wasn't normal.

It was the limit of the snake. Shaking off someone on top of yourself wasn't an easy thing.

The rock serpent slammed two more times and then raised its head as if it had judged that anymore than that was impossible. It was a movement to dig in the ground.

But right then Bracky finished his preparations. It roared greatly as if to take the attention of the rock serpent and then fired lightning towards the ceiling.

There was a time difference between his actions and his roar. The roar was a signal and Tae Ho pulled out Caladbolg to throw it and activated two powers at the same time.

The sentence of the Milesians.

[Saga: The one that handles gale and lightning]

Caladbolg flew towards the ceiling. But it wasn't merely flying. The thunder that originated from Tae Ho's hands got connected with the hilt of Caladbolg.

And Bracky's thunder reached it. The thunder that was filled with Thor's power got transmitted to Caladbolg.

Bababang!

Caladbolg exploded out once again. The overwhelming sound of thunder flew from a high place to a low place. Everyone inside of the cave couldn't help but turn to look at the strong light and sound that was created.

The rock serpent looked at Caladbolg and then realized what was going to happen soon.

The serpent moved. It was to dig in the ground. However Tae Ho was faster than it. He controlled Caladbolg with the thunder that was still connected to it.

From the sky to the ground.

The real lightning of the God would fall down!

Kwagagang!

Caladbolg, that fell down from the ceiling, hit the head of the rock serpent that had thrown itself towards the ground. The electricity spread from its head to all its body and also spread on the ground.

The rock serpent couldn't even scream. The shock of being hit in its head was already incredible but it was more obvious as its entire body was covered with electricity.

The serpent dropped its body on the ground. Cuchulainn yelled.

'Good! It is breathing! You succeeded on controlling your strength!'

It wasn't dead yet but it was clearly weakened. Tae Ho added his power of a God onto it as if giving it first aid. And then the serpent flinched and trembled.

At that moment, Tae Ho fired lightning once more from his hand. It was an attack that was weak, as it hadn't even gathered strength, but it was a shock that was hard to endure for the current rock serpent.

The serpent dropped its body once again. Tae Ho checked on how much power of a God he had left and then transmitted Idun's power onto it to make it conscious.

'Right, you are doing well. Erase all his will to resist. You should clearly let it know that you are stronger than it. It's similar to taming wild horses.'

'You, you really are evil.'

Idun let out a really surprised voice but  even so didn't retrieve her blessing from Tae Ho.

And at the fifth time.

The rock serpent, that repeated being unconscious and recovering, didn't resist to Tae Ho anymore. He naturally received the 'one that controls dragons'.

[Nameless rock serpent]

Tae Ho got satisfied at his name that had turned green and then released 'Idun's warrior' and slightly dropped his body.

When he looked at his surroundings he saw Bracky and Siri looking at him absurdly.

"Cruel bastard. You should have killed it in one blow."

"Uh....mm, well. He must have done that because there's something to gain out of it. I will think of it like that."

They were Bracky and Siri respectively.

Tae Ho inserted all the remaining power of a God into the rock serpent and then called Adenmaha with the summoning rock. The 'one that controls dragons' had worked to a certain extent but it seemed like they still lacked interaction that it was impossible to communicate with the rock serpent clearly.

"Translate for me."

Adenmaha, that was a Goddess of Tuatha De Danann, was an existence on another level and even lived on a different place but the two of them were still serpents.

Adenmaha blinked as she got summoned suddenly and then grasped the situation. She looked at the weak rock serpent that was panting and then asked Tae Ho. It was a question that went straight to the point.

"Is it male or female?"

'Well, it seems like she is also a Goddess.'

Tae Ho put on a lukewarm expression and told her the answer while Cuchulainn admired.

< Episode 25 - Paul's sword (5) > End