Episode 70/Chapter 3: Sword of the World Dragon (3)
TL: Tsubak
ED: StellarRain & Sephtair-Sensei
While Tongtian Jiaozhu and the Thousand Man commanders were away, the 13 sages lead the defense of Kum Oh Do.
These 13 sages could be compared to the 12 masters of Kunlun and were the pinnacle of the countless specters that fought on the battlefield.
But their ability wasn't only limited to battling.
The 13 sages of Kum Oh weren't that proficient in battles in general as they were ranked highly as specters and had few abilities that were helpful in battles.
However, the Thousand Man commanders had accumulated countless experiences through real battles and possessed abilities specialized in fighting.
That meant that if the 13 sages of Kum Oh Do were Gods that presided over the small and big matters of a country, then the Thousand Man commanders were generals in charge of war.
Currently, there was not even one Thousand Man commander in Kum Oh Do. Not only that but Daji and King Zhou, the two beings who had battle power higher than the Thousand men commander, were also absent.
There were two reasons why Tongtian Jiaozhu chose an extreme option like this one.
One was the existence of the Kingdom of Fire that had destroyed the southern defenses of the Temple.
The Temple couldn't separate another force to counter the Kingdom of Fire. The Temple was in a situation that it was hard to defend against just Kunlun.
The second reason was simpler.
Tongtian Jiaozhu believed in the Five Gates that guarded the entrance of Kum Oh Do. His trust on the Gate of Zulzhi was especially large as it had never fallen despite the countless battles against the Temple.
The Gate of Zulzhi was a huge gate hundreds of meters tall that split the land into two.
In addition, it wasn't just tall. There were countless enchantments placed on the gate so it really boasted an invincible defense. The Gate of Zulzhi was a reliable shield for Kum Oh Do and it was an unbreachable wall of pain for the Temple.
Before Tongtian Jiaozhu left Kum Oh Do he told the 13 sages to bear in mind one thing.
That they should concentrate all of their forces on the Gate of Zulzhi if there was an attack. The Gate would never fall with enough manpower.
The 13 sages of Kum Oh followed that order well and had three of them constantly stay on the gate. It was to activate all the enchantments placed on the gate and provide enough manpower.
Fifteen days since Tongtian Jiaozhu led his great army and left Kum Oh Do.
Hyunwoo Cheon, one of the 13 sages who had been overseeing the defenses of Kum Oh Do, collapsed in place and dripped cold sweat. He was a specter that originated from a bear and was the one with the strongest physical capabilities among the 13 sages.
But that was all meaningless right now. He looked in front with a dumbfounded face and barely managed to speak after inhaling a few times.
"What did you say? What did you say just now?"
"Two of the five gates at the frontlines were destroyed!"
The post stationaire repeated the same words while being completely covered in sweat. It was an unbelievable story. It was because not even 30 minutes had passed since they received the notices that the first gate was under attack. But now not only the first gate but even the second gate was destroyed?
However, the disaster didn't end here. There was an even more unbelievable news left.
"It's an emergency!"
A pale stationaire almost rolled to get in front of Hyunwoo Cheon and kowtowed. Hyunwoo Cheon gulped dry saliva and asked.
"What is it? I don't need etiquette so hurry up and speak."
The Gate of Zulzhi came after the second gate.
The Gate that boasted of its invincible defense.
Hyunwoo Cheon's breathing that was really rough started to calm down. It was because he calmed down just by thinking of the Gate of Zulzhi.
But reality was cruel. The stationaire spoke nightmarish words.
"The Gate of Zulzhi is collapsing!"
"What?"
"It is collapsing. It is collapsing!"
The stationaire seemed to be mentally breaking down. Just what did he see that made him act like that? And what did it mean that the gate was collapsing?
Hyunwoo Cheon hurriedly placed his big hands on top of the head of the stationaire. He concentrated and read the memories of the man. The stationaire didn't see the situation directly and had received the memories of a third party, but it was enough to read the general situation.
An image appeared in Hyunwoo Cheon's head as he closed his eyes. And he could only wear the same expression as the stationaire and groan.
The Gate of Zulzhi was collapsing.
As literally as it sounded.
&
["I'm-Rolling!"]
Nidhogg was huge. She spanned almost 2 kilometers from head to tail. The proportion her neck and tail took was quite considerable but her body was still huge even if you didn't take into account her head and tail. She easily surpassed a hundred meters.
Nidhogg curled up in a circle. She covered her body with her tail and neck and then covered herself with her huge wings and became the shape of a ball.
She hadn't started rolling completely but was still a massive sphere.
About 500 meters.
It was a disaster of the sky that rolled with a frightening intent. The ground around her shook every time she spun.
A huge ball that created earthquakes while charging.
The Gate of Zulzhi was certainly strong. It was an impregnable fortress that never collapsed.
But even so, it was only a 100 meter tall fence for Nidhogg.
The huge ball and the Gate collided. The power of the enchantments placed on the Gate stopped Nidhogg for a moment but it was literally only for a moment.
The protective barrier was crushed and as was the wall.
["I'm-Rolling!"]
A nightmarish yell rang in the sky. The black and huge ball didn't stop. It wasn't just breaking through the Gate of Zulzhi. The ball began to roll across the wall. It seemed like she was planning to drive the entire Gate of Zulzhi into the ground.
"Uwaa!"
"Leave behind the walls! Escape!"
"A black devil is coming! Black devil!"
The specters that were protecting the walls screamed and started to flee. Just because they were destructive beings didn't mean they couldn't feel fear from the sky and ground collapsing. The charge of the black ball only bred despair.
"You have to escape!"
An old soldier pleaded to Juk Sangcheon, one of the 13 sages and the one who had guarded the Gate of Zulzhi the longest. However he just shook his head heavily.
"My body is one that has taken charge of guarding the Gate. I won't have any face left if I just give up the Gate and escape. My fate will be the same as the Gate."
Juk Sangcheon was a being who had a really deep connection with the Gate of Zulzhi. She was the one who created the Gate.
The Gate that had stopped countless attacks from the Temple. The invincible fortress that protected Kum Oh Do.
The old soldier started to shed tears. It was because he remembered the countless battles he faced on the Gate of Zulzhi.
The wall he thought would always be in place no matter when he turned back to look at it.
Half of that wall collapsed. And the other half was also collapsing right at this moment.
He could understand it if it had fallen after a fierce battle. He could accept it if it was broken after the Temple gathered forces and struck a strong blow.
But a simple roll. For it to just be a simple huge roll!
The ground shook. The old soldier and Juk Sangcheon turned tin the direction of the sound.
The ceiling collapsed and in the end the entire gate disappeared.
&
"Kuhahahaha! Wahahahaha! Did you see! This is the power of Nidhogg and me!"
Hraesvelgr clenched his fist and let out a refreshing laugh. He seemed like a villain while while laughing and looking down at the collapsing Gate.
"Hraesvelgr grandpa is weird."
"It looks like he has received a lot of stress. Just understand him."
"Ye, yes."
Nidhogg and Tae Ho whispered each other while looking at the mad Hraesvelgr.
"More than that, are you fine? You are not overdoing yourself?"
"Yes, I'm fine for now. Nidhogg can roll a bit more. At least this much?"
Nidhogg smiled brightly at Tae Ho's question and spread all ten fingers. Rather than looking at this like she could literally roll ten times, it was more like she could roll quite a few more times.
"But you still shouldn't force yourself. Understand?"
"Ye,yes."
Nidhogg smiled in a good mood as Tae Ho stroke her head and nodded.
Nidhogg's original body was huge and strong.
There were few existences no matter where you searched in the world that could stop a body of 2 kilometers long.
But it wasn't invincible.
It needed a vast amount of magic power to move its massive body. The time Nidhogg could fight with all her strength was relatively short.
And there was also another big problem.
Nidhogg's body, that could be said to be a kind of magical armor, was quite light compared to its size. It was because the density of magic power became lower with a greater size, and the armor became thin and light.
But of course, it wasn't really that thin and light. The size of the body was just so big that even the thin body boasted of being really thick.
But it wasn't invincible.
A monster like Tiamat, who they fought in the Golden Palace, could easily threaten Nidhogg.
Someone like Karna with the black sun could easily invade inside Nidhogg and attack her heart room.
'Decreasing the size may be more efficient.'
In the battle of the Golden Palace he had transformed part of Nidhogg's magical armor into pillars to strengthen the power of Hall of Valhalla. And because of that her 2km body shrunk to 1km.
What would have happened if she hadn't used magic power on the pillars and simply shrunk down?
'1km…no, is 500m the most ideal size?'
Nidhogg kept rolling while Tae Ho pondered, and ultimately erased the Gate of Zulzhi from existence.
"Uhahahahahahahaha! Wahahahahaha!"
Nidhogg dropped her shoulders while Hraesvelgr acted crazily as if he had become the God of destruction. She clearly seemed exhausted.
"Nidhogg is sleepy……"
"Yes yes, you did well. Rest for today. You did really well."
Tae Ho stroke Nidhogg's head once again. Nidhogg tilted towards Tae Ho as if asking him to stroke her head a bit more, but she then asked with a worried tone.
"But Tae Ho master, isn't there a few more left?"
There were five Gates but Nidhogg had only destroyed three of them, so there was still two left.
But Tae Ho shook his head. He crouched down to be on eye level with Nidhogg and answered while smiling.
"Don't worry, I can't stay still either."
He couldn't leave everything to Nidhogg. In addition, the defenses of the two remaining Gates were weak because they relied so heavily on the defenses of the Gate of Zulzhi. There was only a minimal amount of soldiers guarding the remaining gates.
"Adenmaha."
Adenmaha appeared at Tae Ho's call and she grabbed Nidhogg's shoulders and spoke.
"Don't worry and go. Be careful too. I will put Nidhogg to sleep now."
It seemed like she had really become Nidhogg's mother looking at how gently she was smiling. Because of that Tae Ho ended up putting an awkward expression.
"Ye, yes."
"Why?"
"No, just so."
'What now? You were imagining something like a couple raising children.'
It was a sharp and precise remark of Cuchulainn.
But Tae Ho ignored Cuchulainn's words like usual. He spoke to Rolo who was lying on the ground and turned back as if hiding his red face.
"Rolo, let's go!"
"Sob sob. Master. Why is it Rolo and not me?"
Drakon Ismenios despaired while Rolo rose up with a reticent expression. Tae Ho just rode Rolo instead of giving an explanation and flew up. Bracky followed right behind him while riding on Siri who had transformed into a golden furred wolf.
"Let's enjoy this one."
It seemed like his body ached just from watching as Bracky grabbed his hammer and smirked. Looking at the sparks surging from his hands you could clearly see that he was the God of thunder.
"Go easy, easy."
Siri said and Tae Ho transformed Rolo into a red dragon. They left Nidhogg's body and looked at the remaining two Gates.
Only a day had passed since they started the invasion of Kum Oh Do.
"I will make it so that you aren't able to endure if you don't return back."
An evil smirk appeared in Tae Ho's face.
&
"It's calling me."
< Episode 70 - Sword of the World Dragon (3) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~