Valhalla Saga

ED: Julsmul

“So-”

“Wait.”

It was when Ratatoskr was about to start telling the story that Tae Ho raised his hand to interrupt him and then turned to look at Odin and said,

“Odin, sorry for my impertinence, but can we move places first?”

The place they were at currently was the side of the World Tree. It had quite an inclination, but one could say that they were hanging on it.

It didn’t matter if it was hard for Ratatoskr or not, but the problem was Nidhogg. She had used all her strength on passing the line, so it seemed like it was hard on her to even stay hanging.

Odin understood Tae Ho’s words and then nodded while looking at Nidhogg.

“Right, this isn’t a comfortable place to have a conversation. Your words are right.”

They had to move places. It was impossible to find a place for Nidhogg to sit or lie down, but Odin didn’t mind much. It was because Nidhogg wasn’t the only one that had joined their group.

“Ratatoskr. Lead us to the closest cave.”

The squirrel beast, Ratatoskr.

It had several caves in the World Tree. It was a beast that had lived for more than a thousand years, but as it was originally a squirrel, it couldn’t throw away its natural habits.

Odin didn’t simply order and activated the rune of obedience. Ratatoskr grew anxious at the pain that pressured his head and said hurriedly,

“Ah, I understand! I will lead you!”

Ratatoskr moved immediately, and Tae Ho moved from its head to Nidhogg’s head.

“Nidhogg, are you able to move?”

“Yes, I can. Thank you for worrying.”

Nidhogg’s voice reached Tae Ho’s head directly. Tae Ho lowered his posture and lightly touched Nidhogg’s head. Ratatoskr, who was carrying Odin in its forehead, moved with utter haste.

The World Tree that pierced through Asgard, Midgard, and Niflheim was merely a part of the real Yggdrasil, but even that section alone was huge.

When Tae Ho reached the cave after being led by Ratatoskr, he looked at his surroundings with an amazed face. The cave was so big that there was still space remaining after Ratatoskr and the hundred-meter long Nidhogg entered it.

“For there to be a place like this. Amazing.”

Tae Ho exclaimed unconsciously, and Odin said in a low voice,

“The roots of the World Tree are really vast. There may even be fairies that make caves like this and live in them.”

“They are also in here?”

Nidhogg’s eyes shone at the word ‘fairy’ and threw a question. She had appeared as the shape of a woman, her real essence, possibly because they’d entered a safe place.

Odin looked at Nidhogg with a satisfied look and answered,

“Not here. I will take you to them when we have the opportunity.”

“Re-Really? Thank you. Odin-nim is kind.”

Compared to Ratatoskr, Tae Ho and Odin were kind. As Nidhogg smiled brightly in joy, Odin smiled bitterly. It was because he thought of the misunderstandings he’d had about Nidhogg.

‘There are many things I don’t know.’

He had acquired copious amounts of knowledge for nine days by offering one of his eyes in the lake of Mimir, but it’s not that he completely understood how this world worked. Odin was actually an incomplete existence.

“Ratatoskr, start speaking.”

Odin ordered Ratatoskr after organizing his thoughts. Ratatoskr gulped dry saliva and opened its mouth.

“It’s rumored that the King of Gods was bitten by the World Wolf and died. It seems like the Gods and the giants believe this.”

It was unavoidable. Tae Ho and Odin had disappeared after the World Wolf gulped the two of them, and as they were in the roots of the World Tree, a place blocked from external communication, the giants and even the Gods of Asgard wouldn’t have been able to sense Odin. It was obvious to think that he had died.

“Next?”

“Giant king.....so the Magician King, Utgard Loki, did something to the World Tree and inflicted tremendous damage upon Asgard. Even I don’t know what he did. Hraesvelgr has also grown angry because the highest root that it lived in suffered damage.”

“Hraesvelgr did?”

Nidhogg was the one that asked unconsciously.

The existence that always appeared in Ratatoskr’s stories and the scary bird that really disliked Nidhogg.

Nidhogg ended up cursing Hraesvelgr because Ratatoskr forced it to do so, but it actually didn’t really dislike Hraesvelgr. It was more curious as to what kind of existence it was.

But no matter how Nidhogg was feeling, Ratatoskr snorted and said,

“Yeah, it got angry saying that it was all your fault. It said that it would peck out your eyes when it met you.”

“It’s not my fault. I didn’t do anything. I don’t like things that hurt.”

Nidhogg shrugged her shoulders and stammered. She had realized what pain was through the battle against Tae Ho, so she had shrunk even more after that.

Ratatoskr smiled once again.

“Reta.....kyaak! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Ratatoskr couldn’t finish cursing and screamed while twisting its neck, but Odin didn’t even blink once. He gave Ratatoskr pain for a few more minutes and then deactivated the obedience rune.

“Keep speaking.”

“Freya! The Goddess of Magic, Freya, sealed Valhalla to block the attacks from the giants! And the Magician King took the giants to surround Valhalla!”

Ratatoskr spoke quickly almost as if spewing it out. Odin frowned.

“Certainly...so that’s the reason why we can’t connect with them?”

“Odin?”

Tae Ho, who was soothing the scared Nidhogg, called Odin’s name. It was because he didn’t understand how Valhalla had gotten sealed.

Odin let out a long sigh and started explaining.

“It’s a similar thing to the Great Barrier spread in Midgard. It can block external interference and also interfere with the things sent from inside. You can think of it as completely sealing the gates of a castle and cutting off all communication.”

‘Master......’

Cuchulainn said in a low voice. It was a voice filled with anxiousness and relief.

Tae Ho also felt the same as him and let out a sigh of relief. He was worried since he couldn’t connect with Idun even after having left the roots, but he could understand it if there was a reason like that.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s not a seal that will break that easily. It’s only momentarily, but Idun and the others will be safe.”

12 days.

It wasn’t short, but it wasn’t too long either. If it was Freya, she would be able to endure it for even longer. So that was why it was fine for now.

Odin finished speaking with Tae Ho and activated the rune of obedience. Ratatoskr, who was listening to their conversation, screamed at the sudden pain.

“Kyak! Wh-Why?!”

It didn’t do anything!

But that was the problem there.

“Continue speaking.”

Ratatoskr grumbled inwardly when Odin ordered it but resumed speaking immediately.

“The giants are trying to pierce through Asgard while surrounding it. It seems like they are planning to isolate Thor and the army of Valhalla that are fighting against the Frost Giant King!”

Now that they had sealed Valhalla, the only hope Freya had was in Thor who was outside.

They would capture Thor and cut off all hope. They would make Valhalla dry up and die.

Nidhogg blinked and admired Ratatoskr who’d explained as smoothly as a current of water.

“Ratatoskr is smart.”

“Of course, do I look like a fool like......aaak! Yo-You are doing it for no re......kyak!”

Ratatoskr cursed and screamed and glared at Nidhogg with scary eyes. While Nidhogg said that she wasn’t, Odin gave Tae Ho a rock that had a rune engraved in it.

“You will be able to control the pain with this. I will entrust it to you.”

“Thank you.”

As the rune was given to Tae Ho, someone who seemed to treasure Nidhogg at a glance, the squirrel put on a horrible expression, but there was no one that would side with it.

“I-I will keep speaking. So please....”

Ratatoskr grabbed its head and begged. Tae Ho glared at it with cold eyes for a moment and then calmly manipulated the rune. It wasn’t completely deactivated but instead at a really weak level.

A pain that was endurable but would still harass someone.

Ratatoskr realized that begging would be useless and then continued speaking while shedding cold sweat.

“A great barrier was also set in Midgard. Hraesvelgr said that Feay made it too hurriedly, but anyways, the giants and warriors of Valhalla that weren’t able to return are still fighting.”

It wasn’t good. Midgard was a real mess right now.

“What about Niflheim?”

“The giants also entered Niflheim to attack it. I passed through it while coming down here. The fight would have started by now.”

Ratatoskr answered immediately Odin’s question.

It was a story that made one’s worry deepen.

But thinking about it, it was an obvious thing. Whether the barrier was spread or not, in the first place, Midgard couldn’t help Asgard.

The only ones that could rescue Valhalla in this situation was both the army being led by Thor and Hela’s army that was on standby in Niflheim.

That’s why they would invade Niflheim and capture Hela. They would make Hela, the youngest daughter of Loki and sister to the World Wolf and Space Snake, submit to gain control over the army of undead.

Odin would do the same.

“Didn’t you hear anything from Loki? The God of Fire and Lies.”

“I don’t know. There were no rumors about him.”

“I understand. Rest for a moment.”

He had heard almost everything he had to hear from Ratatoskr. When Odin finished speaking, Tae Ho decided to deactivate the obedience rune for the time being.

Odin turned to look at Tae Ho and said,

“Our first priority is going to Niflheim after passing through the lake of Mimir. We will rescue Hela and make her strength ours.”

This was also an obvious thing.

But will that be possible?

The ones that were here was a superior-ranked warrior and a God that couldn’t even move properly.

It was a thoughtless thing. It was like hitting a rock with an egg.

But Odin was also the God of War and didn’t utter anything casually. Actually, Odin and Tae Ho did have some chances.

Because the two of them weren’t alone.

Because Tae Ho had changed the plan to escape the roots which Odin had first come with.

“We have the ancient dragon-the black dragon, Nidhogg.”

They have left its real body that reached 2 kilometers and could bring the end of a world in the roots, but they still had the body that was hundreds of meters large.

Nidhogg was the oldest dragon that existed in Asgard. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was the God of dragons.

‘It fights really bad, but it doesn’t matter as we have the best pilot.’

‘The one that controls dragons’.

Tae Ho could share all five senses with Nidhogg. He could become one with it and control it.

The best pilot that could perfectly control the dragon that possessed the best physical body but couldn’t fight at all.

“Nidhogg, will you help us?”

“Yes, yes. I will help Tae Ho master. I’m happy that I can be of help.”

Nidhogg answered immediately at Tae Ho’s question, and Tae Ho stroke her head.

“Thank you Nidhogg. Idun-nim will be grateful. Heda too.”

“I know that name. I saw them in your memories. The most gentle Goddess in the world and the most beautiful Valkyrie.”

‘Just when did you brainwash her?’

Cuchulainn spoke with a lukewarm voice, but Tae Ho ignored him. He nodded instead and complemented Nidhogg.

“Right, you know it well. Nidhogg is smart.”

“Hehehe.”

“This retard...... Kyak!”

Ratatoskr collapsed while being mad, but there was no one that cared for it besides Nidhogg. Tae Ho stroke Nidhogg’s cheek once again and said,

“Nidhogg, when we go up, we will have to fight against the giants, but you just have to trust in me, okay?”

“Yes, I trust in Tae Ho master.”

‘Why don’t you say oppa? That would be a better fit.’

Cuchulainn’s bitter voice was ignored again.

Odin smiled bitterly and said,

“There’s no time. Let’s go to the lake of Mimir for now and organize ourselves there.”

“I understand.”

Tae Ho expressed etiquette while hitting his chest twice and then took Nidhogg to its body. Odin then ordered Ratatoskr,

“Ratatoskr, take the lead.”

Ratatoskr nodded with a teary face and moved outside the cave.

Because of that, Odin was left alone for a moment, so he took a deep breath and looked at the sky. He envisioned the worlds that laid far beyond the ceiling of the cave and secretly thought,

‘It’s not enough with Nidhogg alone.’

What they needed to win-

The strength that had to be added to Nidhogg.

Nidhogg started to move slowly, and Odin turned to look at it. He thought of Tae Ho’s back that was moving with the essence of Nidhogg.

Idun’s warrior.

The existence that had made alterations to both Odin’s and the black dragon, Nidhogg’s, destinies.

Odin nodded slowly.

He saved the method that would be used in the decisive moment deep in his heart.

< Episode 38 – Ratatoskr (5) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~

Episode 39/Chapter 1: Hela (1)

ED: Julsmul

The God of Fire and Lies, Loki, had three children with the giant, Angrboda.

The first, the World Wolf, and the second, the Space Snake, Jormungand, were beings that hoped for the destruction of the world as they had inherited the strong blood of their mother.

In addition, the two of them were special. The fate of the World Wolf was entangled with the greatest God, and the fate of the Space Snake was entangled with the strongest God.

The World Wolf, Fenrir, was the doom for the King of Gods, Odin.

The Space Snake, Jormungand, was the doom for the God of Thunder, Thor.

The Gods of Asgard feared the two children of Loki and wanted to take their lives, but it wasn’t possible. It was because Loki had protected the two of them.

Loki himself knew that he was doing something childish. It was too obvious that the two children would grow up to become disasters.

But Loki couldn’t kill them with his own hands.

The giant, Angrboda, took the opportunity when Loki dropped his guard to take the two children and escape. It was to raise the two of them from between the giants.

That’s how the first and second kids disappeared.

Loki couldn’t distinguish if he had really dropped his guard or he had made himself to be like that.

And only the third kid that got left behind stayed next to Loki.

It was a kid that had inherited more of Loki’s blood compared to her other two brothers.

The kid that was born as someone that wanted to maintain the world wasn’t born with a destructive power, but she wasn’t a normal being either.

The three sisters making the threads of fate had said that Hela’s fate was connected to someone in Asgard.

But the King of Gods, Odin, kept that a secret, and because of that, not even Odin’s closest people like Thor or Heimdal knew who that person was.

While the World Wolf and the Space Snake grew as strong monsters, Hela also grew up.

She, who had all the appearances of a kid, a woman, and an old lady at the same time, received Odin’s order and became the monarch of Niflheim.

The queen that ruled over the dead people.

She was loyal to Asgard. She sided up with Asgard even when Loki sided with the giants.

And the same held true after a hundred years had passed.

—

‘But Cuchulainn, there’s something I want to ask.’

‘What is it? Do you still have other thoughts?’

It was when they were climbing Yggdrasil by following Ratatoskr.

Tae Ho, who was embracing the essence of Nidhogg inside of her body, said with a calm face,

‘I feel like I even got accustomed to your grumbling as I keep hearing it. Anyways, listen to my question.’

‘Right, what is it? Let’s hear it.’

Nidhogg stirred while being in Tae Ho’s embrace. Tae Ho patted her shoulders and continued speaking.

‘Asgard......The reason Valhalla is in danger is because it’s in the core of the World Tree?’

Based on Ratatoskr’s words, Asgard was in a precarious situation.

Odin was certainly the King of Gods. The death of the supreme commander was something that would drop the morale of the entire army and bring problems in the orders.

But even if that was the case, everything had a limit.

It was impossible for the situation to turn over completely with Odin’s death alone.

Something else was added to his death.

A variable that made the scale tilt over to the side of the giants.

Tae Ho thought of the core of the World Tree he had seen in Loki’s memories, and Cuchulainn nodded.

‘That is possible. We couldn’t ask the details because the situation was urgent but....the Magician King treated it to be so important he himself had to hide. He wouldn’t have been able to trick Odin with something that was considered as nothing.’

The God of Fire and Lies, Loki, had raised several merits the past hundred years, but just like Cuchulainn had said, the Magician King wasn’t a foolish one.

It was impossible that he had set up all of his plans by trusting in Loki’s words.

He would probably have another information dealer.

And this meant that something that may deal a great blow to Asgard, although not to the point the Magician King thought of, existed in the core of the World Tree.

‘It seems too early to guess, but at the least, a struggle that cut off the path between the army Thor led and Valhalla would have been cut off. There’s a possibility Valhalla itself got attacked. Sealing all of Valhalla just because Odin disappeared is an extreme decision.’

Freya was a delicate one, but she wasn’t feeble-minded at all. She was rather really strong.

Now, Freya had gotten scared by Odin’s death and sealed up Valhalla?

It was something unimaginable. Something must have happened that necessitated her having to seal Valhalla.

‘We will know when we get there. And....I’m saying this just in case, but don’t blame Odin-nim too much. Odin also wouldn’t have hoped for such a situation.’

One needed to take great risks to obtain great rewards.

The plan Odin had come up with had no problems when looking at it in an objective way, and actually, the Magician King hadn’t doubted Loki even a little before everything had been revealed. It was good to say that he had completely fallen for Odin’s trap.

If the unimaginable variable of the World Wolf having already been reborn wasn’t there, Odin’s plan would have succeeded.

Tae Ho nodded at Cuchulainn’s words. It wasn’t right to criticize when there was no problem in the process, but the results were bad.

Tae Ho had experienced something similar several times when he was a pro gamer.

But it was at that moment upon Nidhogg’s body- precisely speaking, Odin’s voice was heard from his seat upon its head.

“Ratatoskr, wait near here. It doesn’t matter how far you go, but be at a distance that you can come immediately when I call you. Understood?”

“I understand. I understand. I will do so.”

Ratatoskr stopped at the place and repeated some words while grabbing its head. It was frowning because the rune of obedience had activated weakly.

Odin treated Ratatoskr coldly and said,

“It’s impossible to do something to the rune of obedience no matter how far you go. Just know that the runes will explode once you get out of the range I decided, and you will lose your life.”

“I understand! I understand!”

Ratatoskr yelled and then curled up in a soft place. That sight was quite poor to see, but Odin didn’t feel sympathy for it. He looked down and then spoke to Tae Ho who was inside of Nidhogg.

“Idun’s warrior, you should also wait here. I will call you when the time is right.”

“I understand.”

‘The lake of Mimir is a secret, but well, it seems like he will call you after he takes all the preparations.’

While Cuchulainn mumbled in a low voice, Odin stood up and jumped inside the fog. The fog was so dense that Odin disappeared in a flash.

As Tae Ho stared into the patch of fog in which Odin had disappeared, he spoke to Cuchulainn once again.

‘The rune of obedience is really amazing. The process of engraving it is a bit difficult, but it seems like it will be effective even on giants.’

‘It is useful indeed, but it’s not omnipotent. It’s a method that works well on trash like Ratatoskr that are weak to pain.’

The rune of obedience wasn’t only exclusive to Asgard. Erin and the giants also had some similar magic.

Because of that, Cuchulainn knew well about the limits this rune had.

‘The rune of obedience doesn’t perfectly control the adversary. It just gives pain to the ones that don’t obey your orders. If it’s this much, don’t you think of something?’

‘It’s no different to torture.’

It was the same that it inflicted pain if one didn’t listen to the words.

The limit of the rune of obedience was like torture.

It was meaningless to the ones that had a strong will to endure the pain. In addition, it wasn’t that one could force their actions, so it was meaningless if the adversary became determined for death.

Also, one could notice who had the runes of obedience engraved in their bodies. That’s why it was hard to dispatch weak-willed beings like Ratatoskr that were engraved with the rune.

‘Right, even if it’s useful, it’s not as much as you think. Even though I said that it still feels somewhat strange, you do know what I’m talking about, right?’

‘I think so.’

Tae Ho nodded and patted Nidhogg’s shoulders and then pushed her away from him.

“Nidhogg wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

Nidhogg blinked and rose her upper body and Cuchulainn asked at that.

‘What is wrong?’

‘I’m a bit hungry.’

It had already been 9 days since he ate the golden apple. In addition, several cases happened in consecution after he woke up, so Tae Ho couldn’t even eat a bread crumb.

“Now that I see....Nidhogg, aren’t you hungry?”

Tae Ho was secondary, but he had never seen Nidhogg eat something.

Because of that, Nidhogg shook her head.

“I’m not hungry. The root of the World Tree is not tasty. It’s sour.”

Nidhogg hadn’t eaten anything besides the root of the World Tree for the thousand of years it had been trapped.

Cuchulainn nodded.

‘Indeed, thinking about its size....and in the first place, there are some dragons that don’t even need to eat.’

Nidhogg, that had a body of 2 kilometers, was something else, but there were also cases where ordinary dragons didn’t eat normally as it was almost impossible to maintain their big bodies with normal food.

‘Now that I think about it, Adenmaha also doesn’t eat much.’

Adenmaha could become a sea serpent that reached twenty meters in length, but he had never seen her eat anything proportionate to her size.

‘Most of the dragon race maintains their body with magic. They absorb the magic in the earth or the air and move. High-ranked dragons posses a dragon heart that is like a generator of magic.’

Cuchulainn listened to Tae Ho’s mumbling and explained in more detail.

Tae Ho nodded this time too and then turned to look at Nidhogg that was looking at him with round eyes. He stroke her head unconsciously and said,

“Then what about eating something with oppa.....ah, no- With me?”

“Yes, yes. I want to eat.”

‘Hey, wait. Didn’t your real feelings come out just now?’

Cuchulainn criticized sharply, but Tae Ho ignored him like usual. In the first place, it wasn’t because he had impure thoughts like Cuchulainn but because Nidhogg’s actions were that of a sister.

“Here.”

Tae Ho took out some things from the air and offered them to Nidhogg. It was a simple sandwich that was made with bread, dried meat, and some vegetables.

But it was the first time Nidhogg saw this.

She blinked with eyes filled with curiosity and then slowly brought the sandwich to her mouth. She then stood up and yelled,

“Delicious!”

It was too different from the root of the World Tree. It was soft, tender, and delicious. Nidhogg couldn’t think of other words as she lacked the languages to express herself, but she still kept repeating that it was delicious.

“Eat it slowly. Here, drink some water”

Tae Ho also became happy as Nidhogg did. He put on the smile of a dad and gave her a barrel of water.

But Cuchulainn clicked his tongue at that.

‘Hey, don’t you have more delicious things? Why are you giving her something that’s like army food? It must be the first proper meal she had in her life.’

‘If you give something too delicious at first, the joy you feel by eating something less delicious than that disappears. It’s much better to climb up step by step.’

What would happen if she ate a golden apple from the start?

She probably wouldn’t feel happiness from a sandwich like now.

‘I want to rebuke, but I can’t.’

While Tae Ho and Cuchulainn were speaking among themselves, Nidhogg put on a depressed face. It was because she had eaten all her sandwich.

Tae Ho put a smile at that and then took out another sandwich, and Nidhogg put on a bright smile as he’d expected.

‘Idun’s warrior.’

Odin’s voice was heard at that moment. The voice rang in his head just like when he conversed with Cuchulainn.

‘Come to the lake of Mimir alone. I will lead you down the path.’

It was Odin’s message magic. When he blinked once, he saw a shining butterfly approaching from far away.

Tae Ho stroke Nidhogg’s head instead of standing up right away.

“Nidhogg, can you wait for a moment? Odin is calling for me and I have to go.”

At that moment, Nidhogg’s face contorted, but it was only for a moment. She fixed her expression and nodded.

“Yes, yes. I will wait for Tae Ho master. Tae Ho master keeps promises well.”

“Right, I will go then. Eat slowly.”

Tae Ho took out one more sandwich and placed it in front of Nidhogg and then tried to stand up. But Nidhogg grabbed his hand.

“Tae Ho master.”

“Yes?”

He wondered if she may beg him to take her with him, but that wasn’t the case. She looked up at him and smiled brightly.

“I will also bless you. Tae Ho master likes blessings.”

‘She clearly saw your memories.’

Cuchulainn’s voice was kind of cold.

But Tae Ho also ignored it this time and looked at Nidhogg with the ‘Eyes of the Dragon’. The green words [Odin’s Valkyrie] that appeared above her head moved his heart.

“I will entrust you, then.”

“Yes.”

Nidhogg nodded, in a good mood, and then grabbed on Tae Ho’s hand to make him sit down. She then moved and gave Tae Ho the best blessing.

Tae Ho blinked as he was thinking that he would receive a blessing in his forehead, and Nidhogg flushed and laughed like a fool.

Meanwhile, Cuchulainn grew enraged.

But that rage obviously didn’t reach Nidhogg and Tae Ho.

Nidhogg blinked her eyes a few times as if recalling her memories and then stuttered.

“Uh....um....ah! May Idun’s blessing accompany you.”

She had to say ‘Odin’ instead of ‘Idun’, but Nidhogg thought that she was Idun’s Valkyrie.

Tae Ho ended up laughing unconsciously and answered Nidhogg, who was frowning as if she was thinking that she’d gotten something wrong.

“May Idun’s blessing accompany you.”

Nidhogg looked at Tae Ho with expecting eyes, and Tae Ho pondered for a moment and then blessed Nidhogg in her forehead.

—

“You came.”

< Episode 39 – Hela (1) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~

Episode 39/Chapter 2: Hela (2)

ED: Julsmul

“You came.”

After following the shining butterfly and passing through the fog for some time-

Odin’s voice was heard suddenly, and then the fog filling his sight disappeared completely. Behind him, fog filled up the surroundings completely, but there was none of it in front of him as if a line was drawn.

Odin’s voice was heard from the front.

There was a big lake there and a wide boulder at a side. As for Odin, he was seated in front of that boulder.

Tae Ho followed the lake and stood in front of Odin. The big head that was on top of the boulder bothered him, so he unconsciously activated the ‘Eyes of the Dragon’.

[Mimir’s head]

It was the head of a giant, but the color of his name was green. Tae Ho removed the ‘Eyes of the Dragon’ and expressed etiquette in front of Odin. Odin leaned back on a root that surged up the ground and asked,

“DId you leave Nidhogg alone?”

“Cuchulainn is with her.”

They could never leave Nidhogg and Ratatoskr alone as they couldn’t know what the sly Ratatoskr would try to do.

‘You can’t entrust a fish to a cat.’

Tae Ho agreed with Cuchulainn’s words. Instead of leaving a sheep and a wolf in the same place, he’d decided to leave Gae Bolg in her hands.

“That’s a wise decision. You have done well.”

Odin smiled and complemented Tae Ho. His smile bore the message that Tae Ho’s coming alone had been a test.

“Odin, there’s something I want to ask.”

“Speak.”

“I want to know about Nidhogg, Ratatoskr, and Hraesvelgr- precisely speaking, about Ratatoskr.”

“Right, we didn’t have time to speak properly until now, and my misunderstandings have also run deep.”

They’d kept running since they escaped the root, so there was no time to speak about the situation properly until now.

Odin looked at a distant place and opened his mouth slowly.

“There are several wonders and mystics in the world. I have certainly killed the giant Ymir and cleaned off Midgard with my brothers, but they weren’t created from complete nothingness. Because of that, I can’t see through all the things in the world. There are overwhelming parts too.”

He had offered one of his eyes in the lake of Mimir to fill his wisdom and hung on a branch of the World Tree for nine days.

But there was still a region of nothingness. It was impossible to completely understand the world even for the King of Gods.

“Just as you know, Nidhogg is an ancient dragon that was born alongside the World Tree. It possesses strength enough to destroy the world, but as it’s an existence that’s caught in the roots, it was an existence with low danger rates. I misunderstood it....no, her, as someone that hoped for the destruction of the world, but the truth was different. That’s when I realized my nothingness.”

She had turned to resent the world because she’d gotten harassed by Ratatoskr for a long time, but she still had a white heart. She was bright and pure like a clean sheet of paper.

“Hraesvelgr, King of Birds, lives in the highest branches, and unlike Nidhogg, it’s not an existence that’s lived since ancient times. It belongs to the ones that want to maintain the world, but it doesn’t have much interest in the world. It’s only interested in the highest branch that belongs to its territory.”

The ones that lived in the highest branch were beasts that had the attributes of birds. Because of that, Odin also didn’t put his interest in its territory, the highest branch.

“Ratatoskr is the only existence that can freely move in the World Tree. We don’t know how it was born with such strength- no, permission, but whatever the case, it’s the only one that can freely move between Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr.”

Hraesvelgr’s region wasn’t a restricted area like the highest branch. Because of that, Odin could also go there if he became determined to do so.

But the roots was different. One could freely cross the line and enter the roots, but it was different if they wanted to get out of it. It was impossible even for the King of Gods, Odin.

“You should know it as you have fought it yourself, but Ratatoskr isn’t a beast that is particularly strong. In addition, I have left it on standby as the only thing it does is move between the root and the branches. I was planning on using it when I needed it.”

But of course, Ratatoskr was so big it could overwhelm normal giants or warriors with its big body that reached tens of meters, but when the King of Gods looked at it with his eyes, it wasn’t that strong of an existence. It was a beast that could barely be faced against intermediate-ranked warriors.

“Ratatoskr isn’t someone that hopes to destroy or maintain the world. It is exactly in the middle. I think it didn’t bully Nidhogg because of a sense of duty but because it was simply its hobby.”

Tae Ho opened his eyes widely at Odin’s words. Having been ordered by someone may have been better, but Tae Ho felt like his blood flowed backwards when he thought about how Ratatoskr had harassed Nidhogg for a long time just for its enjoyment.

Odin said in a lower tone as if trying to calm down Tae Ho.

“But I’m planning to watch it a bit more. I already felt that I should reinspect what I already knew.”

Odin saved his words. It wasn’t certain as to what kind of organization would be behind Ratatoskr. It wasn’t something to be rash about.

“Have your doubts been resolved?”

“Thank you for answering.”

Odin nodded with a satisfied face as Tae Ho expressed etiquette and then pointed at the wide boulder.

“Right, I will now introduce you to the head of Mimir that is my friend and adviser.”

“Idun’s warrior.”

The head of a giant that was placed in the boulder — the head of Mimir — said in a low voice. It’s voice gave one the feeling that it was a machine as it didn’t have any tonal fluctuations.

“He was born as a giant but was much closer to a being that wanted to maintain the world. In addition, I kept him close to me as it was really wise and asked advice from it. But unfortunately enough, he ended up losing his life in the negotiation of peace that resulted in a fight against the Vanir.”

“In the negotiation of peace?”

Odin smiled bitterly as Tae Ho grew surprised.

“It’s because there were some problems with the prisoners of war we exchanged with each other, but don’t worry too much as it’s all in the past. You should know it well as you have visited them directly. They are our reliable allies.”

Tae Ho thought of the chief of the Vanir, Heimstream, and nodded.

But there was a part that bothered him. The Vanir had sent Freya, Freyr, and Njord as captives of war. You could know just by looking at Freya, but they were all talented and powerful Gods.

The Vanir had sent the greatest ones among themselves as war prisoners. It meant that they were being sincere.

But if a problem occurred to the point that someone lost their life, then that meant that there origin of the problem was on the Aesir rather than on the Vanir.

And just like Tae Ho had guessed, the origin of the problem was on the Aesir.

The race of the Aesir, that didn’t want to send someone outstanding like the Vanir, had sent the fool God, Hoenir, that was really handsome, but his head was empty.

They had sent an advisor with him as they would notice in an instant that Hoenir was a fool, and that advisor was the giant Mimir.

But even if it was the wise Mimir, he couldn’t hide all the childishness of Hoenir in all places.

The Vanir realized that the Aesir had sent an useless captive unlike them and killed Hoenir and Mimir in madness, and because of this, the Vanir and the Aesir had to resume a short war once again.

But whatever the case, this was all in the past, just like Odin had said.

Odin looked at the head of Mimir and continued speaking.

“Mimir is dead, but his wisdom still remains in his head. That’s why I retrieved his head and placed it here. It’s because in this place, Mimir is able to think and speak like he did in his previous life thanks to rune magics and the power of the lake.”

Mimir, who became an existence not unlike a machine after losing his life, turned into a more excellent advisor.

Some Gods doubted that Odin had planned all of this to be able to use him freely for himself, but this was all mere suspicion. Clear proof didn’t exist anywhere.

“I checked the situation outside through the head of Mimir.”

Odin rolled his fingers and a hologram-like video appeared in the air.

There were worlds piled up like floors with the World Tree at its center, and they were Niflheim, Midgard, and Asgard respectively, going from below to up

“The Magician King destroyed the core of the World Tree, and Asgard perceived great changes due to it. That aftereffect made the force Thor was leading get isolated among the giants, and several fortresses of Valhalla were destroyed as well.”

It was like Cuchulainn had guessed.

The core of the World Tree wasn’t a big weakness that could destroy Asgard in an instant like the Magician King had thought, but it was enough to deal big damages to it.

“When Valhalla got sealed up, the giant kings that were hiding in Jotunheim until now started to appear. They are cowards that just looked at everything in fear that their forces may decline, but because of that they could maintain their strength until now.”

The ones called as giant kings were really strong. There were even some that were stronger than the Five Fingers, the closest subordinates of the Magician King.

“But unfortunately, this is everything Mimir’s head knows. With Freya sealing up Valhalla, the connection Mimir had with the three sisters was cut off and Hugin and Munin, that served as my eyes and ears, went to Valhalla after receiving a call from Freya.”

Their eyes and ears were closed right now. It was fortunate enough that they got the recent information.

“Just like you’ve seen, the situation is really harsh but we have to find our own path.”

Odin looked at Tae Ho again.

“Our current objective is to retake Niflheim or protect it. Hela, the queen of the dead, is a long loyal person of Asgard, so she will gladly lend us her army of the dead.”

Compared to what was known from the God of Fire and Lies, Loki, he could be said that he was a loyal follower that has been known from a long time ago.

He didn’t throw away her loyalty towards Asgard even though he faced disregard and insults for hundreds of years.

And that was the same for Hela.

Even though she’d always been suspected because of her father, she still kept her loyalty towards Asgard.

“If we place our hands on the strength of Niflheim, Midgard comes next, but there are now some doors in the new Great Barrier compared to the old one. We will enter Midgard through one of those doors and gather the warriors of Valhalla that are scattered and subjugating the giants.”

Tae Ho thought of Bracky and Siri that had left for Midgard first. Perhaps, they may still be fighting against evil spirits in Midgard even now.

“The last is Asgard. It will be different based on the situation, but we will concentrate on regrouping with Thor and recapturing Valhalla.”

They would gather strength from Niflheim and Midgard and take back Valhalla.

It was a dream-like proposal. There were too many mountains to climb over.

But Odin’s smile didn’t disappear.

“If I was alone, I wouldn’t have been able to even imagine it. In the first place, being in this place alive is a miracle of itself. I will thank you once again. It’s all thanks to you, Idun’s warrior.”

“I’m much obliged.”

Tae Ho bowed and expressed etiquette. Odin’s words were all true but even so, he felt embarrassed being complimented like this.

Odin smiled once more at Tae Ho’s humble attitude and then moved his hand.

“The reason I called you here is because I have something to give you. Take this.”

The thing Odin took out from the air was a sealed barrel of alcohol. Tae Ho reflexively activated his ‘Eyes of the Dragon’.

[Skaldskapar Mjadar]

[The Mead of Poetry]

He couldn’t easily guess its effect, but it didn’t seem to be a normal object as its name was shining in white and gold.

“I will tell you an old story.”

Odin buried his body in a root and started speaking.

“When the fight between the Vanir ended, we held a ceremony at the end of the peace treaty. Us Aesir and the Vanir spat saliva in a big barrel.”

Tae Ho forced himself to put a normal expression. It was questionable as to how that was exactly related to the peace treaty, but they must have done the ceremony because it held some meaning.

And it really did have a meaning behind.

“We created a human named Kvasir with the saliva of the Gods that was gathered that way. He was a really clear and beautiful God as he was born from the saliva of Gods that contained wisdom and wiseness in it. We ordered Kvasir to roam Midgard to transmit new knowledge to the humans.”

When the fight between the Aesir and the Vanir came to an end, Midgard had become a land of wildness. It was because the Gods poured all their attention in their battle and couldn’t care for the humans.

“But unfortunately, Kvasir ended up losing his life in a trap set by the wicked dvergars, Fjalar and Galar. Those evil bastards mixed the blood of Kvasir with honey and that became the Mead of Poetry.”

Odin turned to look at the Mead once again and said while smiling.

“For the Gods, the Mead of Poetry is merely a sweet and delicious alcohol. Although that enough makes it special, if humans drink this alcohol, they can receive part of Kvasir’s wisdom and become an outstanding poet.”

The effects depended on who drank it.

And the only ones Odin named were the Gods and the humans. He didn’t mention the ones that were in between them yet.

“What will happen if a warrior of Valhalla drinks this alcohol? I think that you know the answer as you possess the rune of Bragi.”

Odin tilted his head as for Tae Ho he immediately came up with an answer.

“Strengthening....of a saga.......”

“You got it right. The Mead of Poetry has an effect that strengthens one saga of a warrior of Valhalla.”

It had the same principle of Bragi’s rune, the God of Music and Poetry, that strengthened your saga.

“It’s good to strengthen a big saga and then strengthen a small saga meant for revenge, and it’s also good to focus all of its strength in one saga and make it stronger. I will leave the decision entirely on you.”

Tae Ho’s saga was Tae Ho’s story so the one that could make the most correct decision was himself.

“Thank you. I will think of it well and choose.”

“Right, if it’s you, you will be able to come with a good choice.”

The Mead of Poetry wasn’t the trump card Odin had thought about, but it would certainly bring Tae Ho’s strength to a higher level.

Odin dropped his shoulders as if he felt exhausted and said,

“We are in a hurry, but we still need some rest. We will depart tomorrow morning, so until then, rest with Nidhogg.”

“I understand. Let’s meet tomorrow.”

The lake of Mimir was wide, but it wasn’t to the point that could accommodate Nidhogg. In addition, the location of the lake of Mimir was a secret spot that even few of Odin’s closest Gods knew about. Letting Tae Ho, who was only a superior-ranked warrior, enter this place was already an exceptional case.

Odin finished speaking and then lightly raised his fist and hit his chest, and Tae Ho also did the same.

“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”

“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”

Tae Ho turned around. It was already deep in the night.

—

As soon as he returned, Nidhogg faced him with a cute smile.

But there was a weird part.

“Tae Ho master, come. I have been doing well with Cuchulainn-oppa.”

“Cuchulainn....oppa?”

Tae Ho opened his eyes sharply reflexively and then turned to look at Gae Bolg that was being held by Nidhogg.

Cuchulainn then spoke with a proud voice.

‘She listened to my words well. She’s pretty and nice.’

“Ehehe.”

Nidhogg blushed and twisted her body as if she was embarrassed at the words ‘pretty and nice’.

He had left Cuchulainn to keep apart a sheep and a wolf, but he ended up leaving a fish to a cat.

Cuchulainn laughed while Tae Ho looked at him with lukewarm eyes, and Nidhogg just smiled merrily as if she was happy that she was with the two of them.

And Ratatoskr frowned alone as he was looking at this from afar.

< Episode 39 – Hela (2) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~

Episode 39/Chapter 3: Hela (3)

ED: Julsmul

Niflheim was the land of death.

That place was hard for the living being to continue living as it was swept by extreme cold and the sun didn’t rise.

Because of that, the people living in Niflheim was really low even though it was as wide as Midgard.

Niflheim. The land of death. The world of the dead.

Niflheim was Asgard’s underworld. The souls of the humans that died in Midgard and couldn’t enter Valhalla stayed in Niflheim for a moment and prepared for a new life.

Extreme cold swept up.

That thing that was the same everyday was so cold it could freeze one’s lungs just by inhaling some air.

But that wasn’t the case for the giants of Jotunheim. The frost giants that grew in a land with the same conditions as Niflheim showed leisure in this land.

The army of the giant king, Hrumbark, marched.

He and his army were exhausted in peace as they had only stayed in Jotunheim and saved their power since the Great War. They were bengs that wanted to destroy the world and desired both destruction and massacre.

The giants numbered 600, and there were close to 100,000 evil spirits.

The giants couldn’t cope with their strength. They couldn’t rest easily because of their desire to destroy and wanted to tear apart the evil spirits.

It was unavoidable. Because this land was Niflheim, the land of the dead.

There were no living beings here to grant the blood and screams the giants desired. The dead ones did scream and cry, but it was comparatively lacking to the ones that were alive.

“It will be different if you go to Helheim. You will find the Queen of the Dead, Hela, living there, and her subordinates are also living beings.”

The giant king, Hrumbark, said with a loud voice.

“Let’s destroy Helheim and fill Niflheim with the screams and cries of Hela.”

Hrumbark laughed. The other giants panted as if they were waiting for that moment and laughed alongside their king.

The Magician King Utgard Loki had said,

‘Destroy Helheim and turn the underworld into a mess. Destroy the cycle of the living and the dead beings and create chaos.’

Hrumbark didn’t like the Magician King all that much. The orders he gave were always complicated.

But he liked that he had said that he was able to do whatever he wanted with Hela.

“Let’s go.”

To seek some blood.

“Let’s go.”

To give birth to screams and cries.

Hrumbark and his army marched towards Helheim.

—

Hela went out to the floating garden.

The God of Messages, Hermod, had told her not to go out to the garden, but it was unavoidable.

There wasn’t an army from Asgard that would protect Niflheim for her.

The dead ones gathered next to Hela.

She, who could take the appearance of a young girl, woman, and old lady, walked with haughty steps and consoled her citizens. Stepping up with courage made their fear subside a little.

The army of the dead greeted Hela.The ones at the front were people that were warriors of Midgard in their previous lives.

The ones that couldn’t die in the battlefields and died in their beds.. The ones that had died by disease. The ones that couldn’t fight and had been slain by beasts.

They were people that didn’t have what it took to enter Valhalla, but they were still the most proficient in battle among the dead ones.

Next to them were the second most proficient in battle.

They were wicked people that couldn’t even dream about entering Valhalla.

The ones that fled from the battlefield, betrayed their comrades, and the ones that brought destruction to their allies and even themselves because of their jealousy and envy.

It seemed like they hadn’t been able to throw that side of them away, for they all had sly and wicked eyes. They were people that would have fled already if this place wasn’t Niflheim and if it wasn’t a place that didn’t have anywhere to flee to.

And behind them was the group with the biggest number lined up with nervous faces.

The ones that weren’t accustomed to battle.

The ones that lived all their lives as farmers, fishermen, blacksmiths, carpenters, researchers, cooks, and other random professions.

They were weak. They were the ones that had ignored Valhalla even though they’d lived in a world which knew of its existence.

But Hela didn’t pity them. Midgard wasn’t a place to provide warriors for Valhalla. A world with only warriors in it couldn’t work properly. Midgard was able to be maintained because each one of them existed.

The ones belonging to the third category faced Hela with stiff expressions, and she showed a smile towards them. Some felt the fresh smile of a girl, and some felt charmed at the smile of a woman. And others felt gentleness that came out from a mature and old woman.

“Please, get on.”

The strongest and bravest warrior of the first category, Galeon, pulled a ghost horse and stood in front of Hela.

He hadn’t been able to die because he was too strong, and because of that, he couldn’t enter Valhalla.

That wasn’t actually the real story, but he was still the most reliable warrior and advisor Hela had. And he, who’d received the trust from Hela, had the strength of an intermediate-ranked warrior or above.

“Thank you.”

Hela got on the ghost horse. The army of the undead reached 200,000 in numbers. As the army that was marching towards Helheim was composed of 600 giants and 100,000 evil spirits, it was almost twice the number.

But they couldn’t ascertain victory, and defeat was more probable.

It was an army that the strongest warrior was merely at the intermediate-ranked level.

They could plentily face the evil spirits, but the problem lay in the appearance of giants. The fight could tilt to the side of the giants just by having the 600 giants charge towards them.

But they still had to go. They couldn’t collapse without any resistance.

“Let’s go,”

Hela said. At the gesture of her warrior, Galeon, the dead ones blew the horn trumpets.

He ordered the army of the dead to march.

—

An evil spirit that had the head of a dog and body of a human went out to scout.

The dead spirit that had went up ahead riding a ghost horse discovered the army of giants.

With this, the giant king, Hrumbak, and Hela knew where their armies would face each other.

“We will fight in the valley.”

“It seems like the battle will occur in the valley.”

It was a mutual agreement. The place the two armies could fight on could only be limited as both sides surpassed the hundred thousand mark.

The reason Hela had chosen to go out and fight was because of the giants. The existences of the giants made the purpose of the walls meaningless, so it was rather better to use the dead spirits on a wide plains in the most efficient way.

Both armies moved. There was a bit of a dissonance as a perfect agreement couldn’t exist, so in the end they ended up facing one another when the sun was at its peak.

The giants panted due to excitement. Hrumbak imagined the screams Hela would let out and unsheathed his sword.

Hela raised her hand in front of those giants with a dispirited face.

The sound of horn trumpets was heard from both sides.

The battle had started.

—

“We are late! Late! The battle has already started!”

Ratatoskr, that had gone out to scout as Odin had ordered it to, chirped quickly. Looking at how it spoke, it seemed that it was telling them not to go as they were already late.

But only Nidhogg listened to its words among the group.

Odin activated the rune of obedience to make Ratatoskr shut up and then turned to look at Tae Ho.

“With Nidhogg’s speed, we won’t arrive that late.”

Odin and Tae Ho were currently in the forehead of Nidhogg while lying down.

The reason they did this and sent Ratatoskr out to scout was to prepare for the battle to come.

As soon as the group reached Niflheim, Odin started to engrave several runes in Nidhogg’s huge body. This was the best he could do as he couldn’t go out to the battlefield due to his injuries that hadn’t healed completely.

The essence of Nidhogg moved her fingers sluggishly with a nervous expression.

It was because she was afraid to fight.

The only time Nidhogg had fought since being born was with Tae Ho. And actually even that was hard to call it a fight as she had only gotten hit one sidedly.

“It will be fine. Idun’s warrior will do great. Just believe in him and entrust your body.”

“Ye-Yeah. I believe in Tae Ho master.”

Nidhogg hurriedly nodded at Odin’s words.

“We spent too much time. I will pray for your victory,”

Odin floated in the air and said. Tae Ho hit his chest twice towards Odin, and Nidhogg copied Tae Ho’s movements sloppily.

“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”

“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”

Odin moved to Ratatoskr’s head, and Tae Ho grabbed Nidhogg’s hand and went to the insides of her body.

As the current body wasn’t that big compared to the original 2 kilometer-long body, the heart room wasn’t that big, but Tae Ho felt that it wasn’t bad at all. It was because he felt like he had entered a control cabin.

There was a big chair that Nidhogg had made by Tae Ho’s order in the center of the room. Tae Ho looked at the tools that were at the sides of his chair and put on a biter smile.

“Are they made poorly?”

Tae Ho shook his head when Nidhogg asked with an unconfident voice.

“No, it’s the best. It’s exactly as I wanted it.”

Tae Ho smirked and then sat on the chair, and then, Nidhogg sat in front of Tae Ho. He needed physical contact to use the ‘One that Controls Dragons’, so they had to assume a posture so that Nidhogg could enter Tae Ho’s embrace when she leaned back.

Nidhogg waited for a moment while leaning forwards. It was because she had heard something beforehand.

Tae Ho took out the Mead of Poetry from the air. He had thought about it, but there was only one choice.

‘Idun’s Warrior.’

The saga Tae Ho relied the most among the several sagas he had. The one he liked the most.

Tae Ho drank from the Mead. Nidhogg sniffed as a sweet aroma was emanated, and she smacked her lips.

And it was at that moment — Tae Ho drank all the liquid in the Mead without leaving a single drop and then opened his eyes abruptly.

It wasn’t that there was a problem with the Mead. He could feel that his saga was being strengthened just like Odin had said.

Bragi’s rune.

The God of Music and Poetry.

Light emanated in the rune of Bragi that was drawn in Tae Ho’s tongue. The strength it emitted grew much stronger than before.

‘Ahh.‘

‘Ahhhh.‘

Tae Ho let out a sound. It was merely a sound of admiration, but it was enough with that. That seemed to be just like a sweet song.

Nidhogg flushed and put on an enchanted face, and Cuchulainn mumbled as if it was absurd.

‘I think I know how Bragi and Idun got together.’

For an exclamation to be heard as a sweet song.

Tae Ho took a deep breath. When he exhaled, Nidhogg leaned on Tae Ho naturally.

‘Let’s go. To the battlefield,’

Cuchulainn said. Tae Ho closed his eyes and activated his saga. The raised the level of his saga by one stage as it got empowered by Bragi’s strengthened rune.

[Strengthened Saga: The One that Controls Dragons]

Nidhogg convulsed and let out an exclamation, but she didn’t resist and received Tae Ho’s command. She entrusted her body and soul to Tae Ho.

Tae Ho opened his eyes and saw the world through Nidhogg’s body. The world he saw with the eyes of a dragon that was a hundred meters big was different to the world he saw with his own eyes.

But Tae Ho grew quickly accustomed to it. He then extended both of his hands forward and placed them on the tools he had prepared beforehand.

‘Will that really be enough?’

A keyboard and a mouse.

The objects Nidhogg had made after listening to Tae Ho’s explanation and strange tools that Cuchulainn couldn’t even grasp where it was used on.

But it was different for Tae Ho.

If he had to control someone or something, this was the most familiar thing for him.

A keyboard on his left hand and a mouse in his right.

Nidhogg fluttered its wings and then jumped up and started to fly.

Tae Ho’s hands started to move quickly.

And at the same time, something else moved. There was something newly created.

[Synchro rate: 73%]

[Saga: The Legendary Pro Gamer]

Before being a warrior of Valhalla and a warrior of Idun and even before being the strongest warrior of Dark Age, Kalsted.

Pro gamer, Lee Tae Ho.

A smile spread across Tae Ho’s face.

The roar of the black dragon, Nidhogg, shook the sky and the ground greatly.

< Episode 39 – Hela (3) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~

Episode 39/Chapter 4: Hela (4)

ED: Julsmul

That was something one could only hear if they had ears.

They could only feel it if they were stepping on the ground.

The battlefield that had two huge armies gathered on either side froze for a moment.

The noisy sounds of the horn trumpets were suppressed by an even louder noise.

The warriors that were yelling and raising their morale shut their mouths and stayed silent.

It didn’t differentiate from the evil spirits, giants, or dead spirits. Everyone standing on the battlefield turned to look at the same direction in disbelief and witnessed a monster from the frozen silence.

It was a monstrous, dark dragon.

Its scales were darker than darkness, and its eyes were deeper than the night.

It was a black star located in the ash-colored sky.

That thing spread all its four wings and raised its four horns as if it would stab the sky at any time.

The roar covered the sky and ground one more time, and it sowed seeds fear across the entire battlefield.

The battlefield was wide.

The space that could hold a great army of three hundred thousand was really huge.

But everyone in the battlefield was overwhelmed.

The black dragon was huge.

No matter how big it was, it wasn’t as big as the battlefield, but that wasn’t important.

An individual that was a hundred meters long.

The marvel that size created.

Would ants looking at a giant feel like this?

Everyone in the battlefield held their breaths. The black dragon made them do that, and it made them breathe once again. It made them vomit out the fear that had surged up instinctively.

The black dragon fluttered its wings.

It charged towards the battlefield.

—

It was really thrilling thing seeing more than three hundred thousand beings turned to look at you.

Nidhogg breathed roughly. She struggled at the joy she experienced for the first time in her life. It was hard to control herself because her body heated up.

The joy of receiving attention.

A situation where countless beings focused upon each action one made, and the situation that made one feel like a God for a moment.

That was a really big stimulation for Nidhogg who had been alone for a long time.

Nidhogg didn’t know what to do. It was hard to express her current feeling with her short language, and because of that, she couldn’t stay still. She shuddered while having her cheeks flushed and then turned around and embraced Tae Ho strongly.

Tae Ho felt Nidhogg and then concentrated on her. He hung on while being swept up by Nidhogg’s worries by thinking of the experiences he had in front of millions of spectators when he was the best pro gamer in the world. He calmed down Nidhogg’s excitement.

The hands that were placed upon the keyboard and mouse moved faster. Tae Ho controlled Nidhogg’s movements more delicately.

‘The Legendary Pro Gamer’.

The new saga was focused on manipulating something. Tae Ho could see Nidhogg’s status through the data that appeared in numbers.

Her health, magic power, and even her concentration appeared in Tae Ho’s head.

“Let’s go,”

Tae Ho said to Nidhogg. He looked at the battlefield through her eyes. He flew over the dead spirits and charged towards the giants and evil spirits.

Actually, this situation wasn’t the best.

The best was to fight while riding on Nidhogg just like he did with Rolo or Adenmaha.

But that wasn’t possible.

Nidhogg fought too poorly to do that.

Rather than working together, it was more probable that she would have become an obstacle.

Because of that, Tae Ho chose to stay in the heart room. If he had to concentrate only on controlling Nidhogg, this was much better.

What the battlefield needed more right now wasn’t a powerful individual that could defeat another powerful individual but a huge existence that could crush a huge army.

Nidhogg roared once again and then arrived in front of the giants.

Cuchulainn had said,

‘Concentrate on destroying the army. Don’t think of it as a spot, but as a side.’

Tae Ho also agreed. His words were right.

“Let’s go.”

In this moment, Tae Ho was the boss of a game. A raid boss that faced the attacks of several beings head on.

A smile appeared on Tae Ho’s face, and Nidhogg howled once again.

Kwagagang!

The landing of the black dragon created a loud explosion. The giants could then finally realize how huge the dragon was up close. About ten giants were crushed to death, and about twice that number suffered serious injuries.

“Let’s go.”

Tae Ho said once again. He made the black dragon turn at that moment. Instead of using detailed attacks like biting or scratching a giant one by one, he used its huge body more efficiently.

The black dragon turned around in place. It’s tail that measured a third of its total body swept the battlefield.

That was like a natural disaster. As the huge body of a hundred meters turned around, a radius of a hundred meters turned to ruins in an instant, and it crushed and destroyed everything in its path.

But that was merely the start.

The black dragon didn’t fly. It just charged and kept turning around. But this time, it didn’t only sweep the battlefield with its tail.

Venom was fired from the mouth of the black dragon. The giants that were covered by it didn’t get infected. They just melted.

The width of that venom wasn’t small. It was fired at an overwhelming range.

But of course, it wasn’t strong enough to melt the giants in an instant. Only the ones that were closest to the dragon melted down completely. The remaining ones were poisoned, and some vomited out their damaged organs and suffered.

All of this happened in a few moments.

But the black dragon didn’t stop.

It couldn’t.

‘It’s coming.’

Cuchulainn spoke. The giant king, Hrumbak, had lost almost a hundred giants by the surprise attack and ordered his army to spread out. The lowest or inferior giants could only become sacrifices for the black dragon. It was much better to make them march towards the army of the dead.

He would gather the strength of intermediate giants or above and hunt down the dragon.

It was the right decision. The army of the evil spirits charged towards the army of the dead with the sound of the horn trumpet. The giants that wanted to get away from the dragon as fast as possible started running really quickly.

But Hela didn’t stay still either. She didn’t know the identity of the black dragon yet, but seeing that it had crossed over her army and attacked the giants, it could be treated as an ally.

No. If it was an enemy, she should have had to disperse her army and flee in the first place.

“Galeon!”

Galeon, who was next to her, blew his horn trumpet at her sharp order. The army of the dead pulled out their weapons to face the army that was charging towards them. The existence of the black dragon that seemed to be their ally gave them courage.

Clashes occurred in several places of the battlefield. The screams and yells of the evil spirits and dead spirits covered the battlefield.

At that moment, the black dragon moved. It showed an unprecedented action that got out of Hrumbak’s expectations.

The black dragon didn’t charge towards Hrumbak and his subordinates. It rather turned its back on them and chased the giants that were charging towards the dead spirits. And at some point, it started to roll on the ground!

A giant snowball.

The giants felt the dragon to be like that. They screamed as they were crushed under the overwhelming body.

In addition, the giants weren’t the only ones to be crushed this time. A lot of evil spirits were crushed too, so many that the black scales of the dragon were dyed in red.

Tae Ho used the huge body the best he could.

Why did a huge dragon have to extend its head to face a small existence? Why did it have to lower itself to the level of lowly beings? Why did it have to face them one by one?

This wasn’t a game.

It wasn’t a boss that should be eradicated.

He chose the most logical option.

He would fight the most favorable fight.

Show the majesty of the real final boss!

“Nidhogg! Roll!”

A black dragon that was a hundred meters in size rolling on the ground would give anyone a real shock. It would have been better if it had swept its tail or fired venom.

But for it to roll on the ground....

Its actions were actually creating big damages.

That action that planned for at all by the giants paralyzed them, and that short moment created an even bigger tragedy.

Hrumbak opened his mouth widely with a dumb face and then barely managed to curse out. The giants that were in command let out orders once again. Spread out the most while dodging the black dragon. Enter through the breaches of the dead spirits!

At the same time, Hrumbak and his warriors charged towards the black dragon. They weren’t accustomed to hunting beings that were bigger than them, but they couldn’t do anything about it. They couldn’t leave the dragon alone.

The situation was flowing just like Tae Ho had expected.

And because of that, Tae Ho pressed down his excitement. He said almost like whispering.

“It’s phase two.”

Tae Ho’s left hand danced on top of the keyboard. A black dragon surged up while Nidhogg exclaimed.

And Hrumbak saw that dragon. He felt joy when he looked at the dragon that was about to charge towards them. He grabbed his huge axe and roared.

Hrumbak was 20 meters tall. It was possible that his huge axe would prove effective on the hundred meter-long dragon.

And Tae Ho also knew that. He looked at the giants that were firing and throwing weapons towards him. Nidhogg looked at the throwing weapons that covered the sky and squeezed out all the strength she didn’t even know she had. She fired a strong magical wave to block the rain of arrows and then brought chaos to the giants and evil spirits with her Dragon Fear.

But it wasn’t the time yet. Tae Ho pierced through the throwing weapons and opened his mouth. He activated the most effective saga in this situation.

And at that moment, Cuchulainn also opened his mouth. He shook his head and said while looking at his disciple that was really wicked.

‘Ragnar, you were right.’

A cheat instead of a saga.

He wasn’t talking about the ‘Warrior that Rides on Valkyries’.

Nor was he talking about the ‘Legendary Pro Gamer’ that let him control the black dragon, Nidhogg, as if it was his own body.

The only reason he could allow the cute, pretty, good, and pure Nidhogg to give the black-hearted Tae Ho the best blessing several times a day.

Bragi’s rune activated, and at the same time, the strength of the saga created another marvel.

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

The black dragon howled, but there wasn’t only one howl. Hrumbak grew terrified at the other howl that was heard above his head. He found himself at a loss for words at the big and dense shadow that had appeared suddenly.

[Fake Nidhogg]

[Odin’s Valkyrie]

Another black dragon.

The next moment, two catastrophes danced over the head of the giants.

< Episode 39 – Hela (4) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~

Episode 39/Chapter 5: Hela (5)

ED: Julsmul

People tend to not think about anything when they face a really bewildering scene.

And that was the same for the giants and evil spirits.

When the roar of the second dragon erupted, the giants lost their words. They just looked at the dragon dumbfoundedly.

The one that got a hold of himself the fastest was Hrumbak.

No matter what the situation, he was still a king. He opened his mouth reflexively and squeezed out his voice out of desperation. He put strength into his hands that he had lost unconsciously and yelled.

“It’s a fake!”

He hadn’t seen through the fake Nidhogg like the ‘Eyes of the Dragon’ Tae Ho had. It was the answer his instincts of a beast and battle experiences he had accumulated had given him.

All the eyes at the place fixed on to him, and at that moment, Hrumbak became certain of it. He thought of the proof that would validate his answer that he came up beyond logic.

The second dragon was a fake.

The first piece of evidence was that it had appeared without any signs of arriving above their heads.

If it was an existence that was a hundred meters long, it would always have a presence that couldn’t be hid.

‘That’s why it’s fake. It’s magic. I will welcome it.’

Hrumbak spoke to himself and then immediately thought of the second answer.

‘If it was real, there is no way it just stayed watching until now.’

In the first place, it would have been more effective for two dragons to appear at the same time and sweep up the battlefield.

‘Fake magic. I welcome it!’

Hrumbak grew even more certain of it and then yelled once again by gathering all the air from his lungs.

“It’s a fake! A trick! Don’t get scared!”

Kwagang!

His voice got buried in the loud sound, and Hrumbak fell in shock on top of the shaking ground.

The second black dragon.

It was the sound the dragon, that Hrumbak was certain was fake, had made. The loud sound was made by rolling in the ground, just like the first dragon did.

“Uaaak!”

“It’s real!”

“Real!”

Several voices were heard at the same time. The ones that were crushed by the second dragon became paste and died, and the ones that hadn’t immediately perished screamed in agony.

It was real.

Not a fake.

It had a real body.

Hrumbak’s head turned white, and the giants at his surroundings turned to look at him as if asking what was going on.

Bewilderment, resentment, and anger.

Gazes with several expressions mixed behind them.

The ground shook once again. The second dragon was still rolling on top of the battlefield.

And there was still the first dragon remaining.

Hrumbak raised his head. The giants also struggled to keep balance on top of the shaking ground and glared at the first black dragon that was in the sky.

Nidhogg grew excited once more at their gazes.

But Tae Ho calmed down the dragon and let out a long sigh. He quickly moved his hand on the keyboard and mumbled,

“Phase three.”

The phase two had worked. That’s why he would immediately proceed with the phase three. He wasn’t thinking about waiting for the giants to grow accustomed to his phase two at all.

Tae Ho clicked his mouse, and Nidhogg buried her head on Tae Ho’s neck and played affectionately.

“Right, right. Good girl.”

Tae Ho removed his hands from his setup and patted Nidhogg’s shoulders for a moment. It was to listen to her affectionate plays but also to proceed with the phase three.

The rune magic the King of Gods, Odin, and God of Magic had engraved.

As soon as he touched Nidhogg’s right shoulder, the big rune that was engraved on the shoulder of the black dragon activated. And as he stroke her back, the several runes that were engraved on the back of the black dragon also activated in consecution and showed their power.

The black dragon roared as the sky opened. The ash colored sky was suddenly dyed in black!

A mass welcoming magic.

A black dragon with six pairs of wings appeared in a really high place of the sky.

A black dragon with two horns appeared a bit lower than that.

There was a bit of a difference with each dragon, but twelve dragons, that were all black and huge, pierced the clouds and appeared.

It was all a welcoming magic.

It was merely a virtual image that had no real body compared to the fake dragons made with the ‘Warrior that had a Valkyrie Meet Him’.

But it wasn’t appraised as such for the giants and evil spirits.

It was because they had already experienced the phase two, the black dragon that possess a true body.

Tae Ho touched Nidhogg’s left shoulder. The black dragon roared once again, and at that moment, the twelve dragons that were in the sky roared at the same time.

Mass echo magic.

A simple trick that amplified a sound and made it ring in several places.

But the effect of it was absolute. The giants and the evil spirits couldn’t think properly under the roar that seemed like it would split the skies. An image of fourteen dragons rolling in the ground was drawn in their heads.

“Phase four.”

Tae Ho lightly swept through Nidhogg’s neck. It was a silent and stealthy magic compared to the ones from before.

After a few seconds since the twelve black dragons appeared-

The giants and evil spirits tried to move their heads that’d been paralyzed even while the second dragon was rolling on the battlefield. The ones that had clashed against the dead army resumed their fight almost half-heartedly.

But someone among them said,

“Escape.”

They couldn’t win. There were fourteen black dragons.

“Flee.”

Similar words popped up in other places.

It was fear.

And that fear spread really easily and quickly.

Words saying that they should escape.

There were evil spirits and giants in the battlefield.

And that was something that could come out from them. That was an emotion that everyone had in the battlefield.

That’s why the act in concert to it was fast.

The ones saying that they should escape increased in numbers, and that flow increased explosively like a chain reaction across the battlefield. Mass panic had erupted.

“Flee!”

The evil spirits turned around. They shook like an ebbing tide trying to get out of the battlefield.

There were also some disturbances among the giants, and finally, some of them also started to flee.

It was a mess. As deserters started to appear in a group that numbered a hundred thousand, many were trampled to death by their own allies.

Hrumbak yelled reflexively to stop, but it was meaningless. The fear that had spread like a wild fire had long ago passed his ability to command.

“Strike them! Rip them to tears!”

Hela yelled, and Galeon transmitted the order of the queen he served to the army of the dead.

The moment the most deaths occurred wasn’t when the two sides clashed against each other. It was when one side lost their will to fight and attempted to escape.

They would slash their enemies when they showed their backs. They would massacre them one-sidedly.

The army of the dead started to swallow the army of evil spirits. The twelve dragons roared once again in the air and lit up the fire even more, and the second dragon was still rolling in the battlefield even now.

‘Sly bastard.’

Cuchulainn smirked and said. He’d been amazed by Tae Ho’s actions with pure feelings of admiration.

The evil spirits that had said they should escape weren’t real. They were fakes created through Odin’s magic.

Everything was as Tae Ho had planned.

Phase two. Introduce the fake dragon. Let them recognize that the second dragon has a real body and plant a prejudice within their ranks.

Phase three. Make twelve fake dragons. The ones that’d gotten influenced by phase two could only doubt that the twelve dragons also had real bodies.

Phase four. Incite the enemies that fell into chaos. It was the same principle as a domino effect. If one pushed the first piece, the remaining ones would fall by their own accord.

The black dragon was certainly huge. It was a strong monster.

But it was impossible to defeat a hundred thousand evil spirits and six hundred giants with his own strength.

That’s why he would use a tactic. He would bring a terrible chaos to the battlefield.

The twelve dragons only fluttered their wings in the sky. One could only doubt that scene if they had a head, but there was almost no one that actually doubted it. No, in the first place, they didn’t have the leisure to think.

The flow to escape has already grown too strong. It was impossible to stop the huge wave.

The army of the dead pushed back the evil spirits. It was an army that was twice as big as the evil spirits.

Finally, some deserters also appeared from the giants.

Hrumbak swung his axe and split the neck of the closest deserter. The smell of blood that spread anew made the giants at his surrounding concentrate on him, but it was only that. It was impossible to give a warning to the entire battlefield.

Hrumbak didn’t get disappointed. In the first place he hadn’t swung his axe for that. He had just killed a deserter.

“We will strike the black dragon.”

He decided not to think in a complicated way. He would first achieve his first objective.

The dragons in the sky were fake.

He felt it would turn out well somehow if he just got rid of the black dragon that had appeared at first.

There was no logic behind it. His instincts as a warrior was yelling at him to do so, and Hrumbak decided to be loyal to his instincts.

He disturbed the flow. He ran in a straight line towards the black dragon. An overwhelming strength was put behind his huge axe.

Giant king.

His other name was Hrumbak the Striking King.

‘He’s coming!’

Cuchulainn warned. Tae Ho quickly moved his hands and controlled the black dragon.

It was a battle between a monster that was a hundred meters big and a giant that was twenty meters tall.

It was the opposite situation to the more unusual fights Tae Ho was used to, and because of that, Tae Ho knew what kind of attacks would be drawn.

Hrumbak would approach him. He would stick to the body of the black dragon and pour down attacks from its blind spot.

Tae Ho first increased his speed, but Hrumbak didn’t let Tae Ho go that easily. He stepped on the shoulders of the giants to take a big leap and swung his axe!

It was a strike that destroyed the ground. The black dragon flew acrobatically to dodge the attack but couldn’t completely dodge it because of its huge body. The attack hit its side, and at that moment, Nidhogg let out a scream.

“It hurts! Hurts!”

The strike split the scales of the dragon and gave a wound to its flesh even though it only grazed it. It was merely a scratch, but it was different for Nidhogg. She had almost no resistance towards pain at all.

At that moment, the black dragon escaped Tae Ho’s control because of its pain, and Hrumbak didn’t miss that moment. He also realized in an instant that the black dragon was weak towards pain.

“Nidhogg!”

Tae Ho embraced Nidhogg and moved his hands, and Nidhogg gritted her teeth and endured the pain. She tried her best to follow Tae Ho’s orders.

The black dragon fluttered its wings. It split the sky with its huge body and fired out venom.

Hrumbak moved quickly. He didn’t care about the giants and evil spirits that died because of the venom. He was now closer to a hunter rather than a king.

He would grab the tail and get on top of it somehow.

The underlings of Hrumbak also joined him in doing the same. They fired attacks or threw weapons and attacked the black dragon.

Most of the attacks couldn’t pierce the scales, but there were some that gave it wounds.

Nidhogg bit her lips with a teary face. It was because she realized that she would make things difficult for Tae Ho if she struggled because of the pain. She tried her best to endure it somehow.

Tae Ho moved his hands hastily. He had to face the giants while minimizing the damages Nidhogg suffered, and so he needed movements that were frequently used in a shooting game.

The venom melted the giants.

The strike of Hrumbak tore up the scales of the dragon once more.

The ground shook. The tail the black dragon swung to crush the ground became an overwhelming hail and swept up the giants and evil spirits.

But Hrumbak didn’t care at all. He rather siezed the opportunity when the black dragon used a big movement to close the distance. He tried to inflict a fatal blow while using the blind spot created by the difference in size.

Venom covered the battlefield once again. The black dragon flew up with its big wings, and Hrumbak surged up as if chasing it back. He finally managed to grab its tail.

‘He’s coming!’

Cuchulainn yelled. At that moment, the black dragon shook its tail rashly, but Hrumbak didn’t let go of its tail. He rather swung the axe he was holding and stuck it in the tail of the dragon.

“Kyaak!”

Nidhogg couldn’t endure it this time. She threw a tantrum while crying once again.

Hrumbak poured out magic power in his axe. He was planning on making the black dragon, that was weak towards pain, crash into the ground.

Tae Ho embraced Nidhogg strongly so that she could calm herself down. He activated the ‘One that Controls Dragons’ and forcefully blocked her pain. The dragon landed down like Hrumbak had wanted, and at the same time, it turned its body. It used all of its body to execute a strong tail sweep.

Hrumbak also couldn’t endure it this time. He got thrown away along with his axe and rolled across the ground as a mess.

Corpses were now filling the ground, and it was colored in red because of the overwhelming amount of blood that had been shed.

Hrumbak smiled creepily even after having sustained injuries from his tumbling and rose up as Tae Ho manipulated the black dragon and glared at Hrumbak.

Tae Ho wasn’t thinking of fleeing at all. It wasn’t his pride as a warrior. If the black dragon escaped now, Hrumbak would move to massacre Hela and the members of Niflheim without a doubt. In addition, the escape of the black dragon would turn around the situation once more.

“I will endure it even if it hurts. I can do it. I won’t obstruct you.”

Nidhogg said while crying while squeezing out her voice, and Tae Ho embraced her once again. He made the black dragon charge at the same time as Hrumbak roared.

—

The battlefield that could hold a huge army numbering 300,000 was overwhelmingly large.

Hela looked at the battlefield on top of the ghost horse. There were several different battles occurring in the battlefield.

The evil spirits that were fleeing and the dead spirits that chased after them.

The black dragon rolling in the ground and the black dragons that were at the sky.

And another black dragon and the giant king that were fighting fiercely while making the ground and sky shake as if they were excluded from everyone.

Hela didn’t know what or who the black dragon was, but she could only think of it as an ally by now.

She had to help the black dragon. They had to defeat the giant king together.

But Hela wasn’t proficient in battle. It was meaningless even if she joined in the fight with her army.

Hela gulped dry saliva. She breathed roughly and placed her hand on her chest.

But it was at that moment-

There was something flying towards her. It melted in with the surroundings really well as if it was an accessory from the battlefield. It took a place on Hela’s shoulder really naturally.

‘Hela.’

Hela turned to look at her shoulder in shock. There was a crow perched upon it, and the voice it emitted certainly belonged to Odin.

“Odin!”

Hela yelled in joy unconsciously. It was obvious, as Odin, who was supposed to be dead, had returned.

Odin smiled bitterly at Hela welcoming his return. He erased the small doubt he had and said quickly.

‘There’s no time. We have to help Nidhogg.’

Hela opened her eyes widely at the word ‘Nidhogg’.

The black dragon, Nidhogg.

Hela also knew of it. It was because of the stories the God of Fire and Lies, Loki, her father, had told her.

The black dragon living in the roots of the World Tree.

The evil existence that would one day fire venom that would destroy the world.

Hela gulped dry saliva. The intelligent Hela waited for Odin to keep speaking instead of asking what had happened. The black dragon had already sided with them and was currently fighting for them. As Odin had said that they should help Nidhogg, she erased all the useless doubts and had to first follow his orders.

Odin thought that Hela was really commendable for that. He spoke to her, who had all of the ambition of a girl, the patience of a woman, and the wisdom of an elder.

‘Hela. You brought that, right?’

“It’s in my embrace.”

Hela answered immediately. Odin had said ‘that’, but it was really clear as to what he was talking about.

‘That’ was a cursed object.

A crystal of terrible evil that couldn’t be stored in the holy Asgard at all and had to be hidden in the cold depths of Niflheim.

But they needed it right now. They couldn’t not use the power of a curse that could even change the fates of Gods to stop the World Wolf and the Magician King.

The thing that Hela was holding.

The cursed weapon Odin had told her to protect himself.

Hela clenched her chest and then took out the item she was hiding inside her body.

Odin gulped the silence. The item that was dyed with the blood of Baldr and was planned to be passed down along with the seat of the King of Gods to his most loved son.

But it wasn’t the moment to waste time. Odin whispered to Hela once again,

‘Idun’s warrior is inside the black dragon. Transmit that to him and defeat the giant king together.’

The mistletoe branch.

Mistilteinn, the God-killing spear.

Hela nodded. She gulped some saliva while looking at the clash between the giant king and the dragon but then threw away her hesitation. She threw her ghost horse into a full sprint.

< Episode 39 – Hela (5) > End

TL note: Thanks for reading~