Episode 28/Chapter 2: Great Attack (2)
TL: Tsubak
ED: Julsmul
The dozens of steel structures did not fall in random fashion.
The ones looking from the ground couldn't tell, but Tae Ho realized it in an instant from his perch far above.
The budding flower-shaped steel structures were separated at intervals consistent with one another, and they fell in a circular formation with Kalliv Castle at its center. Indeed, it seemed like a circle was being drawn to isolate the castle from the city.
Loud explosions sounded in consecution. The fomoires that attempted escape as the situation had worsened were crushed by the steel structures and died on the spot.
The ground split and the sky rang as the steel structures pierced deep into the ground. The runes upon the structures' surfaces started to shine, and they floated up to form a sort of diagram. The hundreds of lights became interconnected and established a single, huge wall of light.
Papapapapapak!
A rainbow-like energy barrier surged up to the sky. It's appearance was breathtaking, although it spelled death for the fomoires trapped inside.
The God of War, Odin, had given up chasing the fomoires that fled outside of the barrier, and instead, he planned to completely eradicate the fomoires inside Kalliv Castle.
The fomoires within the castle were successfully trapped by the rainbow wall.
Unfortunately, the humans within close proximity to Kalliv Castle were similarly restrained.
The steel structures shot open one after another. The sight of dozens of steel structures rapidly unfurling in sequence was overwhelming by itself.
"Valhalla!"
"Odin watches us!"
The flowers made with steel bloomed, and warriors emerged in ranks from within. Most of them were inferior-ranked warriors, but they numbered over two thousand.
Even the lowest ranked warriors had the strength which far surpassed the best warriors of the mortal world. As an inferior-ranked warrior was like gathering ten of the lowest ranked warriors, a might of tens of thousands of warriors had appeared on the battlefield.
"Warriors! Charge!"
Many Valkyries had followed the warriors down in the rain of steel, and they led the warriors into an earth-shaking charge. Among them were Reginleif of Tir's legion and Gandur of Ullr's legion.
The warriors roared and sprinted forward. To their allies, they were the warriors of Gods and terrifying angels of death to their enemies.
"The ones that have blue paint on their foreheads are humans! The rest are fomoires!"
Valkyrie Gandur yelled in a loud voice and the inferior-ranked warrior, Rolph, of Ullr's legion, nodded. The warriors surrounding Gandur kept her words fresh in their minds as they roared to face the enemies before them.
Meanwhile, the fomoires had given up escaping the magical barrier, and they charged towards the warriors in a haze of wrathful vengeance. As the two supercharged forces collided, blood spewed into the air and began slowly seeping through the battlefield.
Elsewhere, Rasgrid pictured the battle in her head from within the small forest. She gazed at the distant rainbow barrier with hazy eyes and knelt down. No. 'Collapsed' was a more proper description.
As one may have guessed, the barrier was an incredibly large-scaled great magic. As she had undertaken a key role during the ceremony, she had ended up spending all of her magic power and stamina.
She was drenched in her own sweat, and her breathing had grown increasingly labored. She didn't even have the strength to move her fingers.
Ingrid and Kaldea, who had shared their strength with Rasgrid, were also in similar states.
Kaldea seemed almost unconscious on the ground, and Ingrid had to use her sword as a staff to prop herself up.
Rasgrid closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. With effort, she raised her head once again and looked at the ones leaving the small forest.
A huge figure shot through the sky, and one especially brave warrior of Valhalla sat atop it.
"Fly properly!"
"Maybe you should wear it!"
"Who told you to lose in Rock-paper-scissors?! I knew I'd win from the start! You. Only. Play. Rock!"
"Bastard! Men should always go with rock!"
Rasgrid pretended to ignore the voices she'd heard. She just blessed them with the little amount of strength she had left.
Bracky, who had transformed into a huge dragon after donning a Dragon Wing Coat, was flying awkwardly above the city, and Harabal glared at the rainbow barrier that were fast approaching.
At the same time, Tae Ho looked down at the battlefield from an even higher vantage point. The dozens of flying-type fomoires had begun to show unified movements even in the midst of the chaotic environment. They increased their speed as if they'd seen the end of the barrier.
Inevitably, they would soon reach the place Tae Ho's group was stationed. Tae Ho glanced towards Siri as she chugged another potion. Although she hadn't recovered completely, she was now able to control her body.
"Go, Tae Ho."
Siri spoke tersely, but Tae Ho understood and nodded. He released his arms that were grabbing on her waist and spoke.
"I will entrust Rolo to you, Merlin."
"Do not worry, my King."
Tae Ho transmitted his thoughts to Rolo one final time. Rolo snorted, but his attitude vanished a moment later. Like Adenmaha, who grumbled but still did everything Tae Ho asked, Rolo held a similar disposition.
Tae Ho kicked off Rolo's back and surged into the air. Siri laid down to stabilize her posture and Rolo flapped his wings harder and increased his speed.
Tae Ho looked down once again. He twisted his body and took out the Liberatus prototype.
'Let's go for it.'
Tae Ho answered Cuchulainn's words with a smile and then took out Caladbolg from the Liberatus prototype. Caladbolg was already burning as he'd stored its power for the past fifteen days. Thunder sparked following the blade's release.
Tae Ho entrusted his body to the gravity. No, gravity wasn't enough. Tae Ho kicked off empty space to accelerate further. He shot down like a meteor and then swung Caladbolg in a wide arc across the swarm of airborne fomoires.
What he'd fired was lightning.
A strong attack which could even destroy a mountain!
Kwagagagagagang!
Thunder exploded. The lightning fired from the flaming Caladbolg was like a net. Hundreds of bolts spread in all directions.
The fomoires didn't even have time to scream, let alone dodge the lightning, and they were swept up by the deadly burst and incinerated to pieces.
The dozens of flying fomoires were annihilated in an instant. Their charcoaled remains fell, returning to the battlefield.
The warriors of Valhalla had clearly seen the scene from the ground. They cheered at the flashy display of thunder and lighting that could brighten even the clearest of days.
"Thor!"
"It's Thor!"
"The God of Thunder is protecting us!"
The warriors of Valhalla cheered and their morale surged, but there were some that felt otherwise. They exclaimed almost in unison.
"I'm telling you that I'm Thor's warrior!"
"I am a warrior of Idun!"
They were voices from the sky that wouldn't reach the ground. Tae Ho turned his eyes to follow the voice and then spotted a large dragon flying strangely like a newborn. He was a dragon absolutely wreathed by muscles and brown scales, and the image gave Tae Ho the feeling of watching a dinosaur.
[Is Really Sloppy at Flying]
[Bracky]
Tae Ho smiled unconsciously. He consecutively jumped through the air to reach Bracky. Unfortunately, since Bracky was already a poorly flying dragon, he had completely lost balance from of the aftershock of having crossed the barrier.
"Uaaaa! Is it time to quibble over that?! Fly properly!"
"I am?!"
Harabal cursed at Bracky while the latter swore and put more effort into his flapping wings, but he was still a mess.
Tae Ho landed on Bracky and activated a saga instead of telling the bewildered Harabal to calm down.
[Saga: The One that Controls Dragons]
He shared his senses with Bracky and then Bracky's flight was quick to stabilize. If it was like this, he may be able to land properly.
Harabal let out a sigh of relief, but Bracky still had his complaints.
"I- I feel weird!"
"It's the same for me?!"
He didn't feel so violated when he'd shared senses with Siri or the Valkyries.
"Shut up and land!"
As Bracky let out a vague complaint, he twisted his body downwards. Harabal yelled out once more.
Bracky unfurled his wings after dropping a good distance. Tae Ho led Bracky to land and then looked at the ground. The fomoires that had poured from Kalliv Castle were charging towards the warriors of Valhalla with reckless abandon.
If he landed like this, Bracky's huge body would crush quite a few fomoires, but it wasn't that efficient a strategy. Instead, Tae Ho took out a summoning rock from Unnir.
"McLaren!"
He yelled and pointed at the ground. Instead of acting bewildered, the rock serpent that appeared in the air grasped the situation in an instant. It was because he had already heard from Adenmaha about the battle that would take place today.
Kwagagang!
The rock serpent dug into the earth and released a small earthquake. The charge of the fomoires was naturally disrupted, but the serpent didn't stop. He tunneled beneath the surface underground and threw the grouped fomoires into discord.
Tae Ho recalled Adenmaha's words at that scene. He didn't delay and another summoning rock appeared in his hands.
"Adenmaha!"
A white, majestic sea serpent appeared in the air. Recently, she'd seemed to favor the shape of a Goddess, but today was different. She had obviously prepared after McLaren's and Rolo's summonings, and she spewed an ice breath immediately.
'It's a battle of monsters.'
Cuchulainn spoke with an absent-minded voice. The battle prowess of two serpents being unleashed upon the fomoires made one think of a natural disaster.
This still wasn't the end. There was something else that remained.
Bracky had released his transformation as soon as he'd landed. Tae Ho restrained Harabal from trying to kiss the ground and then extended his hand to Bracky.
Bracky understood Tae Ho's meaning and said.
"You are going to wear it?"
Tae Ho shook his head. He activated another saga instead of answering.
[Saga: The Warrior That had a Valkyrie Meet Him]
The fake Heda appeared. She received the Dragon Wing Coat from Bracky with a plastered, bright smile and threw it on without hesitation. In Heda's voice, a shout erupted from her lips.
"Draco!"
A small yet beautiful dragon appeared in her place. Its red scales resembled the color of Heda's hair, and its eyes were also gold like Heda's.
It looked just like a stunning Shinsoo that would appear in legends.
"If the real Heda wore it, she'd totally be much more beautiful, right?"
'That's the first thing you say?'
Cuchualinn spoke in a ridiculous tone, but he was smiling nevertheless. Tae Ho rode on the fake Heda and then spoke to Bracky.
"I will leave the ground to you."
"Tear down the sky, Tae Ho."
The sky was filled with battle-ready fomoires. Rolo, who carried Merlin and Siri, was struggling to fight them alone. He had to go and help him.
"For Asgard and the Nine Realms."
"For Asgard and the Nine Realms."
Tae Ho and Bracky spoke almost synonymously and then laughed at the absurdity. They both turned to face their respective battlefields.
Bracky and Harabal charged, and Tae Ho shot into the sky.
The battle of Kalliv Castle was only just beginning.
< Episode 28 - Great Attack (2) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~