Valhalla Saga Chapter 105

TL: Tsubak

ED: Julsmul

The King of G.o.ds, Odin, spent long hours each day sitting beside Mimir’s lake.

Because of this, several important matters regarding Asgard and Valhalla were organized on location, although, Odin wasn’t one to demand the opinions of others.

He fell deep into thought while sitting there, curled up in between the roots.

Mimir, who’d grown hollow and devoid of emotion after death, had become his only advisor. The three sisters sometimes conversed with Odin, but they didn’t exchange opinions. Their conversations only served to pa.s.s to Odin the thread of fate they had made.

After the Great War, Asgard underwent many changes.

Odin’s disposition also underwent a similar metamorphosis.

He hadn’t always been someone who decided upon everything by himself. His verdict had always been final, but he once asked for the opinions of others and consulted with his many advisors on a regular basis.

The Great War had changed him.

Odin now held many more secrets than before.

Excluding Thor and a few other exceptions, the G.o.ds couldn’t meet with Odin at all.

Instead, the G.o.ds and Valkyries communicated with him through the crows Hugin and Munin.

Perhaps the changes to Odin’s character were calculable.

The Great War had taken many things from Odin.

Odin’s wife and most reliable ally, Frigg, had her life stolen amid the conflict..

Once Odin’s advisor and friend, Loki betrayed Asgard and chose to stand alongside the giants.

Frigg wasn’t the only G.o.d who’d lost their life. Several of Odin’s loved and treasured had disappeared from this world.

The sun was setting on Asgard.

Odin admired the beautiful sunset as he rose to leave. After he left Mimir’s lake, he traveled to Heimdal’s fortress, the bridge between Midgard and Asgard and the origin of the Bifrost.

Heimdal, the chief gatekeeper of Asgard who’d used Gjallarhorn to alert everyone of the Great War, hadn’t left his fortress even for a single day.

Its defense was his sacred role and task.

Even Odin, the King of G.o.ds, had to personally visit the fortress to converse with him.

“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”

“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”

Heimdal welcomed Odin in the deepest and most secretive room within his fortress. He, whose body seemed as solid and stiff as rock and steel, had the appearance of a living, iron tower.

Odin hit his chest twice in reply to Heimdal’s courtesy and then curled up by the corner. Heimdal didn’t jest. He just stood at the wall across the room him and waited for the next visitors to arrive.

“I’ve arrived.”

Thor was next to appear. He hit his chest twice with Heimdal and then sat alongside Odin.

Odin lightly patted on Thor’s shoulders twice without speaking and expressed his emotions as a father. Thor answered him with a smile.

The last one to arrive was Freya. She, the G.o.ddess of Beauty and Magic, had obscured her head with a large hood.

She expressed etiquette towards Heimdal as soon as she entered the room but frowned upon seeing Odin curled up in a corner of the room.

“You are a king, so do you really have to sit like that? It’s the same for you, Thor. You should have stopped him, and you Heimdal, you should have prepared some seats.”

“I prepared one for you.”

A smile appeared on the brusque face of Heimdal. There was a comfy, elegant chair prepared in the direction his finger pointed.

Freya put on a hesitant face but then let out a sigh and spoke honestly.

“Thank you, but you do know that I wasn’t telling you to give me a chair, right?”

“Of course.”

Heimdal also found it uncomfortable that the King of G.o.ds chose to remain curled up in a corner of the room.

Freya read the sympathy in Heimdal’s voice and wore a like-minded face as if she too were suffering before taking a seat in her chair. Thor, who watched them from his spot, put on a ‘nice to see you’ smile.

“You are still cute.”

“Thor, you shouldn’t smile like that. Even with that handsome face, you still appear foolish. How nice it would be if you were to show a cool and dignified face like Heimdal.”

Thor laughed once again as Freya grumbled with a sweet voice.

“Thanks for calling me ‘handsome’, and Heimdal, I can tell you’re smirking. Even the great Heimdal is moved by a compliment from Freya, is that it?”

“I won’t deny it.”

Heimdal said shortly and Thor laughed even louder.

Freya shook her head a few times as if they were both lost causes and then took off her hood. Her bright, blue hair that wasn’t unlike the hue of the sky flowed down naturally like a waterfall.

Her pale-white face could only be described as matchlessly beautiful. To speak any words of flattery would not be an overstatement.

The G.o.ddess of Magic and Beauty, Freya.

She, who was hailed as the most divinely beautiful woman in Asgard, was a G.o.ddess of the Vanir race that had had disputed with the Aesir over the right to rule Asgard.

She had come to Asgard as a hostage after having been defeated, but that was now all in the past.

She was an important existence that couldn’t be replaced in Asgard and was the commander of the Valkyries that ruled over Valhalla with Odin.

As Freya’s beauty revealed itself, Thor’s mouth hung slightly open unconsciously. Heimdal’s face didn’t change, but his face and eyes became softly tensed.

“You have that look again. I am going to tell Sif-unnie about this.”

Freya spoke sharply, but everyone could tell she’d been joking.

However to Thor, it seemed like a rather serious threat. He hurriedly averted his eyes and Heimdal let out a short chuckle and spoke.

“You say that, but it seems like you’re enjoying it.”

“Well, there isn’t a women alive that dislikes being told that they are pretty.”

Freya shrugged her shoulders and spoke matter-of-factly, and Thor’s mouth dropped open again, although he seemed to have better control than before.

This meeting was a gathering between the strongest G.o.ds of Asgard, but the atmosphere wasn’t heavy at all.

Actually, Freya didn’t mention that she had purposely brightened the mood. Ever since the Great War’s conclusion, she’d worked hard to enliven and revitalize the atmosphere even if she had to act cute.

“Then, let us begin.”

Odin said in a low voice and the atmosphere in the room grew neutral.

The first one to speak was Thor.

“The fragments of Garmr’s soul aren’t being discovered at all. We’ve finished searching through all of Asgard and Svartalfheim but haven’t found anything.”

Thor also reported about the movements of the giants that were at the front lines. The giants that were there showed their existences clearly with small and big provocations.

After Thor’s brief had concluded, Freya frowned slightly before speaking up.

“There are also no notices from Vanaheim and Alfheim. There’s Nidavellir and Niflheim remaining but…..As the places are such, searching is difficult and the probability of discovery is low.”

Nidavellir was underground and Niflheim was the land of death. The difficulty of searching couldn’t be compared to other realms.

In addition, there were comparatively low traces of the Great War compared to the other places. As Garmr’s soul fragment was normally found near the old remnants of the Great War, there was less of a chance to uncover any soul fragments in Nidavellir and Niflheim.

As Freya concluded, the next one to speak was Heimdal.

“It’s not certain, but we’ve discovered traces of a soul fragment having already been retrieved. If the fomoires or the giants really did find it, then the fourth soul fragment has been claimed in Midgard.”

The number Asgard retrieved and destroyed was five, and in addition, three more had been discovered in Midgard.

Just like Heimdal had said, if the fourth fragment really appeared in Midgard, then there was a high probability for the fifth and sixth ones to also be discovered there.

“It’s a bit weird that they are so concentrated in Midgard, but….. as the Great Barrier was set up after the Great War, it’s not that it’s impossible.”

In addition, Odin and Freya hadn’t been in their right minds when they’d created the Great Barrier.

Odin’s thoughts had weighed heavily on the death of Frigg, Loki’s betrayal, and the deaths of countless other G.o.ds. Freya had also faced hard times because her brother, Freyr, had died.

They had proceeded hurriedly to block the second attack of the giants, so Odin and Freya were absent regarding things that happened after the Great War and right before they set up the barrier.

The battle between the warriors of Valhalla and Bress was an example of their non-intervention.

“I suppose it’s obvious to say that we will have to concentrate more on Midgard.”

Thor turned to look at Odin and said these words.

After the Great Barrier was set, Midgard had held a superficial peace for around a hundred years.

By now, the truth of its hidden turmoil had already been revealed.

For the giants to search in Midgard was a difficult task because of the Great Barrier, but even so, it wasn’t wise for the G.o.ds to take their time completing the task.

“Um, but Thor.”

As they discussed their forces having to concentrate on Midgard, Freya looked at Thor and carefully called out to him.

As Thor turned around with an inquisitive expression, Freya smacked her lips a few times and then inspected Thor’s face after throwing out a question.

“How was…..Loki?”

Thor and Loki had faced each other during their latest battle.

No, to say ‘faced’ was an understatement. They’d attacked one another.

Freya knew about the relations.h.i.+p between Odin, Thor, and Loki really well.

After all, she also had some friends.h.i.+p with him.

Because of that, there could only be several emotions fixed in her voice.

Thor closed his eyes tightly and then spoke with a heavy tone.

“That guy- No, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d is our enemy.”

It was impossible to convince him through a conversation. It was also impossible to return to the past when everything had been better.

Thor stayed silent for a moment and then opened his eyes and continued speaking.

“It’s all my fault that our strategy fell apart.”

If he had just expected that Loki would appear.

If he had just pushed him back more fiercely.

Freya hurriedly raised her voice at Thor’s self blame.

“It’s not your fault but Loki’s, and if you are going to speak like that, then it’s fair to say I was also caught unprepared for his intervention. It’s not only your fault, so don’t be that dispirited, yes?”

Freya ended up requesting it to him without being aware of it.

As Thor loosened his expression forcefully, Freya spoke again with a rather bright voice.

“I’m planning to reward all the Valkyries and warriors of Valhalla that had contributed this time. Our budget will suffer greatly, so be ready to work hard Thor, okay?”

“I will.”

“Good. That’s a good determination. From what I’ve heard, Idun’s warrior’s performance was peerless this time around, right?”

Freya changed the subject and looked at Heimdal.

Heimdal nodded and agreed.

“It was an eye-catching performance to say the least. If he wasn’t there, our warriors’ sacrifices would have been much more numerous.”

No. Perhaps they wouldn’t have been able to defeat him at all. Bress’ power had increased from when he’d attacked Erin. If he had had more time, then he would have completely removed from the seal of the Valkyries.

As Heimdal spoke in an excited voice that didn’t suit him, Freya’s eyes shone with interest.

“Hee. I want to meet him once. The Valkyrie of our legion also said that she wanted him as he was an outstanding guy. Will that ‘kid’ hate it if I go to meet him?”

Thor clicked his tongue as Freya referenced Idun instead of her warrior.

“After such a long time, she’s finally got a warrior again, but you are planning to take him? How well disposed of you…..”

“Who said I would be taking him from her? I just said that I was going to meet him.”

But of course, she wasn’t planning on stopping him if Idun’s warrior fell for her and said that he would move over to her legion himself.

As Freya snorted, Heimdal cut in with a low voice.

“It won’t matter as he won’t get taken even if you go to him with such intentions.”

“What are you speaking about?”

Freya became slightly annoyed by his words.

However, Heimdal didn’t elaborate. He didn’t mention the highlights of the most recent nomination.

“Well, I can somewhat guess.”

Thor smirked, and Freya frowned as she felt left out of some exclusive secret.

As the heavy atmosphere recovered to some degree, Odin, who’d been watching silently, spoke again.

“Having dispatched Bress the Tyrant is certainly no minor deed. We will need to provide a suitable reward for Idun’s warrior. Regardless of that….Heimdal, how are the battles against the remaining fomoires going?”

“Although the fomoires are without guidance after losing their king, they are showing up one by one. We are grasping their locations slowly, so we aim to hopefully have them taken care of after the nomination for Idun’s commander ends.”

“Valkyrie Rasgrid will a.s.sist on the nomination.”

Freya added hurriedly.

Originally, the Valkyries would command the strategy, but they now had a superior-ranked warrior and a commander in charge of a legion.

It wasn’t only Rasgrid, but all the Valkyries that had traveled to Midgard should obviously a.s.sist with the nomination.

“Ragnar didn’t look at him that way for nothing. It seems like it won’t be long until the day arrives when we stand together on the battlefield.”

As Thor spoke in a nice mood, Heimdal also nodded.

At the reaction of those two G.o.ds, Freya, who’d never met or seen Idun’s warrior, Tae Ho, pouted as if feeling anxious.

“If you keep speaking like that, I really have to go to meet him. Do I have to dispatch a Valkyrie from my legion?”

Even if that wasn’t the case, it seemed like Valkyrie Hildegarde wanted to go to meet him.

As light chatter came and went among the G.o.ds, Odin grasped his connection to Hugin a great distance away.

He had sent Hugin next to Rasgrid this morning, so although there was a time difference due to the barrier, he would be able to watch both Idun’s warrior and the others that were in Midgard.

The crow Hugin transmitted its memories to Odin.

Odin then unveiled a bitter smile.

—

“Idun! Heda! Idun! Heda!”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m protecting my family’s……no, the peace in my residence.”

< Episode 29 – Idun’s commander (1) > End

TL: Tsubak

ED: Julsmul

“Idun! Heda! Idun! Heda!”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m protecting my family’s……no, the peace in my residence.”

Tae Ho answered Bracky’s question with a rather serious face.

Obviously enough, Bracky’s face contorted in disbelief as he asked again.

“What bulls.h.i.+t are you talking about?”

Just how was alternatingly calling the names of a G.o.ddess and a Valkyrie related to protecting the peace in his residence?

Bracky’s doubt was logical and Siri, who was sunbathing nearby, angled her head as if she were equally perplexed.

It was obvious for the two of them not to know of Tae Ho’s domestic plight.

Siri had never met Idun, while Bracky was a man who’d never even visited Idun’s residence.

Tae Ho crossed his arms and thought for a moment.

Was it wise to elaborate to those two?

Frankly, he felt he needed some proper counseling from others at least once.

‘If it’s Bracky and Captain Siri…….’

They were the best comrades in arms that could exist, warriors that had surpa.s.sed several obstacles together alongside him. In addition, Bracky was a married man with several wives, and Siri was a woman.

At the very least, they’d know better about women than himself.

‘Although, she’s not just a woman but a G.o.ddess as well.’

Idun always announced her att.i.tude as ‘joking’ and that she wasn’t really so petty that he need worry, but Tae Ho couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

‘It will be fine for the two of them.’

If he insisted, they would keep his secret.

Tae Ho’s determination overcame his sense of precaution, and he motioned for Bracky and Siri to come closer.

“Well, the thing is….”

Tae Ho explained the things that had happened during that short, sweet time. After he’d finished, Bracky was the first to speak, his words filled with admiration.

“So even a G.o.ddess came to visit you. Scary b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”

It was a divine message with words, but it was actually a meeting.

Siri also nodded with a really surprised face.

“Anyways, the problem is that…Idun-nim….has become sulky?”

Siri spoke while choosing her words carefully. Tae Ho nodded and Bracky smirked.

“The G.o.ddess of ‘Youth’ indeed. How cute.”

“Bracky, you are being disrespectful.”

Siri stared daggers at Bracky for his casual remark. Bracky showed his palms as if telling her to calm down and then turned towards Tae Ho.

“Anyways, if the problem is as such, isn’t there an easy fix?”

“Oh? It seems like you have thought of something?”

“No, well- You can also call out the name of Idun-nim in decisive moments. Take me for instance; I always pray to Thor.”

It was so whenever he swung his hammer, called out lighting, or even simply swung his fists.

“I also thought the same. In the first place, I don’t know how many times Idun-nim has su…no, been bothered by it.”

The words of the two warriors were reasonable, as it was a no-brainer for the warriors of Valhalla to praise whichever G.o.d they served.

However, Tae Ho awkwardly scratched his head before speaking.

“Eh, what can I say? It comes out unconsciously….? I just accidentally blurt out Heda’s name instead of Idun-nim’s.”

After all, he did get strength from it.

“That’s serious. But still, it’s a good time for you. A good time.”

Bracky clicked his tongue and then laughed again.

“But hey, if you flip-flop calling out Idun-nim’s name and Heda’s name, you’ll still end up calling out Idun-nim’s name first sometimes. Won’t Heda also sulk out?”

He’d call out her name after Idun’s.

Tae Ho flinched at Bracky’s words which seemed to pierce his soul. He ran a quick simulation in his head.

Actually, as a serious thought, Heda, unlike Idun, had no way of knowing who Tae Ho called out first so there was no need to worry. Unfortunately, Tae Ho had already distanced himself from thinking rationally about such a tender subject.

Idun could always tell Heda.

“Uh, um, she won’t right?”

Whatever the case, Heda was still a Valkyrie of Idun.

It would be weird to sulk out because Idun was called out first.

However, Bracky only raised his head triumphantly and spoke with an air of unfathomable wisdom.

“Foolish child, the heart of a woman is something you can’t understand with your head.”

Compa.s.sion filled Bracky’s eyes as if he’d suddenly gazed upon some poor, hapless creature.

Tae Ho was overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of uneasiness, and desperately turned to look at the only woman present.

“Ca- Captain Siri?”

“I….I don’t know about that. You should go ask Adenmaha instead.”

Embarra.s.sed, Siri shook her hand and quickly stepped back.

Siri always grew awkward when they talked about the ‘heart of a woman’ or other cheesy things.

“Hahh. Besides, it’s disrespectful. Let’s end it here.”

Siri cleared her throat and put their conversation to an abrupt halt. Bracky smirked as if reveling in something, but Tae Ho could only put on a dumbfounded face.

But it was at that moment-

“What are you talking about that’s so funny?”

Valkyries Reginleif and Rasgrid had walked over.

Kalliv Ahim, a land whose ruler had disappeared, had ended up falling into a state of vacancy.

The Valkyries were now in charge of the political affairs, and they worked hard to lessen the problems Bress’ absence had created by promoting new rulers in his stead.

As the situation was as such, although half of the deployed warriors of Valhalla had already returned home, the Valkyries were still stuck at Kalliv Castle.

“We were just talking about worldly affairs.”

Bracky winked towards Tae Ho as he spoke. It was a sign that he would keep their secret.

Regrettably, his ‘secret’ gesture had been far too obvious, and it was no different than proclaiming that there was something hidden between the two of them.

What was fortunate was that the ones who’d appeared were Reginleif and Rasgrid. If Gandur was also present, she would have pressed for the truth until the end.

“It’s enough if you were resting well. The reason we came is because we have a order to pa.s.s along, warrior Tae Ho.”

Tae Ho stood up reflexively at the word ‘order’. Siri and Bracky also fixed their postures.

Reginleif put on a satisfied face at the reaction of the three people and glanced at Rasgrid, maintaining a neat figure as she stood before Tae Ho.

“Warrior Tae Ho, Commander of Idun’s legion. Effective immediately, you shall become the commander of all forces of Valhalla currently within Midgard.”

As she spoke about forces, it was obvious that she meant not only the warriors but the Valkyries as well.

As if proving this, Rasgrid spoke right after that.

“Both I and Valkyrie Reginleif will support you. As of now, you have two directives; the first pertains to dispatching the remaining fomoires, and the second is ensuring the continuation of the search for Garmr’s soul fragment. This is a direct order from the King of G.o.ds, Odin, so please fulfill your duties as a glorious, superior-ranked warrior of Valhalla without any setbacks.”

Rasgrid ended the explanation while looking at Tae Ho and then hit her chest twice.

“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”

“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”

As Tae Ho hit his chest twice and expressed etiquette, Rasgrid let out a short sigh. Reginleif, that was behind her, laughed before speaking.

“Well, there’s no need to be nervous about it. It really isn’t that big of a change. You will only have to command and lead the forces as well as deploy us Valkyries to the appropriate areas.”

“That….does seem like something.”

Bracky remarked, and Tae Ho nodded.

Compared to the times when he had to follow the Valkyries’ orders, it was the difference between heaven and earth.

However, Rasgrid smiled as if telling him not to worry.

“Warrior Tae Ho, Reginleif and I will be a.s.sisting you. It won’t be an easy task, but I’ve no doubt of your endurance.”

“I have a question.”

The one that raised his hand and spoke up was Bracky. As Rasgrid asked him what was wrong, he continued with interest.

“Is there something that changes when one becomes a superior-ranked warrior or the commander of a legion? I’m wondering because I’ve never met a superior-ranked warrior aside from Tae Ho.”

Bracky had once seen the old man that commanded Thor’s legion in the welcoming banquet from far away, but that was it. A superior-ranked warrior was still an unfamiliar existence for him.

“For the superior-ranked warriors….Right, if I speak with numbers, it will be easier to understand.”

Reginleif clapped her hands and then raised six fingers.

“The warriors of Valhalla number approximately six hundred thousand. Among them there are merely tens of superior-ranked warriors. Even if you calculate it simply, it’s about one superior-ranked warrior per legion.”

Of course, about half of those six hundred thousand were steel warriors, but still, tens of warriors compared to three hundred thousand was still a low number.

“Superior-ranked warriors are heroes that can take control of an entire battlefield by themselves. Because of that, in battles that superior-ranked warrior are deployed, only us Valkyries will a.s.sist them.”

They weren’t the leaders anymore. The authority of a superior-ranked warrior superseded that of a Valkyrie’s.

“You must already know about the myth-ranked saga of a superior-ranked warrior and if there’s a change in normal life…..superior-ranked warriors live in a different place from the intermediate-ranked warriors and below. When they are outside the residence, they are given individual tasks that often entail traveling to other planets or protecting the front lines. Siri, didn’t you already go to the front lines once?”

“It was for a really short while, but I have.”

When Tae Ho and Bracky were lowest-ranked warriors, Siri was already an inferior-ranked warrior.

After her promotion to the inferior rank, she’d been dispatched to the front lines with the warriors of her legion, albeit for a short time only.

Reginleif nodded and continued.

“It’s not excessive to say that most of the superior-ranked warriors are in the front lines, as the war between the giants is still raging even at this moment.”

In truth, they were in a state of ceasefire, but the G.o.ds of Asgard and the giants had never come to an agreement or signed any formal pact.

Their peace was only temporary. Because of that, Asgard was still dispatching droves of warriors to the front lines in preparation for the inevitable invasion by the giants.

“Whatever the case, the treatment a superior-ranked warrior receives becomes better. Each legion does this differently, so ask when you return to yours.”

In other words, she’d implied that he’d have to find out for himself.

As Bracky rolled his eyes, Rasgrid began expounding upon another topic.

“The commander of a legion is a warrior that both represents and commands it. A warrior can become a commander starting from the superior rank, and each legion only has a single commander.”

Tae Ho was the only warrior in Idun’s legion, but he’d been an intermediate-ranked warrior until very recently. It went without saying that there hadn’t been any commanders for Idun’s legion until now.

“The commander will administer the legion along with the representing Valkyrie of the legion from training the legion’s warriors to increasing the buildings of welfare by using the legion’s resources. As a result, the quality of a legion changes depending on who becomes the commander.”

‘So if a commander is a division commander, then the representative Valkyrie is the one in charge of a division?’

Just by looking at the work they did in their legions, the Valkyries were no different from administration personnel in many ways.

“A commander is the person closest to the G.o.d of a legion. Because of that, they’re granted more audiences with their G.o.d.”

Bracky and Siri nodded as Reginleif spoke as if that wasn’t cool, but Tae Ho put on a vague expression.

He already met with Idun quite frequently. Tae Ho probably had the highest frequency of meetings with his G.o.d among all the warriors of Valhalla.

“But warrior Tae Ho, are you training hard on the attributes?”

Tae Ho grew unconsciously nervous at Rasgrid’s question, and Siri also flinched and shrugged her shoulders.

Tae Ho put on a desperate expression and replied.

“I’m doing it everyday.”

So there’s no reason to take cla.s.ses.

Tae Ho forced out the last syllables and sent an earnest gaze, and Rasgrid laughed in a low voice and nodded.

“Right. If it’s you, I can trust in your abilities. I hope you can keep progressing.”

“Thank you.”

Tae Ho thanked her sincerely. Siri, who stood behind him, didn’t make a sound, but her expression was identical to Tae Ho’s. She let out a sigh of relief as soon as Rasgrid finished speaking.

Reginleif laughed again.

“Anyways, we have finished with our immediate task. It seems that we’ll head out to deal with the remaining fomoires in a few days at most, so you should enjoy your free time. It’s every warrior’s duty to rest when they can, so I hope you can enjoy this time earnestly, okay?”

“I understand.”

Tae Ho had become a commander that would lead the forces deployed in Midgard, but he was still more accustomed to receiving orders.

Rasgrid put on a smile at Tae Ho’s unavoidable answer as Reginleif laughed magnanimously beside her.

Elsewhere, at the same time-

Merlin, who’d been searching for Mordred’s room for the past few days, finally found it.

Deep underground, it was closer to a prison cell than someone’s living quarters.

Merlin scanned the cold, dark room hewn from rock with a contrite expression before sitting on the dusty, rotting bed.

“Mordred….”

Drawings which littered the floor, ceiling, and wall entered Merlin’s aged vision. Within them was depicted the untarnished splendor of Camelot that he couldn’t even forget in his dreams.

Merlin couldn’t forgive Mordred. His rationale for betraying King Arthur to protect Camelot was completely insane.

Still, despite everything, Merlin’s heart bled upon realizing the magnitude of Mordred’s love and grief for Camelot.

Merlin checked each drawing slowly before pausing on one.

It was the only drawing that wasn’t of Camelot.

“Is that it?”

It was a place that couldn’t possibly exist now that Erin was gone.

Regardless of that, Merlin couldn’t completely deny the notion.

When Tae Ho had recreated Camelot’s glory with Caliburn, Merlin could feel its existence in a far away place.

It was the promised resting place of the king.

It was the land of the fairies, a place which had the highest possibility of containing the sword of the fairies, Excalibur.

“It’s Avalon.”

Merlin let out a low exclamation and then extended his hand to envelope the drawing itself. He delved into the remnants of Mordred’s magic power which remained in the drawing.

—

Time flowed.

The warriors of Valhalla that currently resided in Kalliv Castle were preparing themselves for a new battle.

The fomoires that had lost their king were appearing everywhere, and the underlings of the Giant of Earth, Balgad, moved stealthily amidst the fuss.

On the sixth night since the battle of Kalliv Castle, Tae Ho made plans to go to battle with Rasgrid and went to sleep late.

A few hours later-

Tae Ho opened his eyes again before dawn, but he was quick to realize from experience that he was still dreaming.

‘Did Idun-nim call me?’

Normally when this happened, he’d be granted an audience with Idun.

Tae Ho stood up from his bed and waited for Idun to visit him, but it was different. Rather, it was the same. His surroundings didn’t change no matter how long he waited. A wide plains with an apple tree had yet to appear.

But that wasn’t the only weird thing.

A sweet scent was coming from somewhere, different from the smell of apples.

Tae Ho sniffed a few times and then pinched his cheek once to see if it hurt or not before rising from his bed. The sweet smell was coming from outside his door.

Tae Ho slowly opened the door and was greeted by a completely different scene than the hall of Kalliv Castle.

It was a really big bed.

There were several layers of carpets on the ground, and beautiful, thick tapestries were draped along the walls. It gave a rather cozy feeling.

Tae Ho scanned his surroundings slowly. There were cats rolling on the cus.h.i.+ons splayed over the ground. If he’d counted their numbers, it wouldn’t be surprising for there to be dozens of cats.

It wasn’t a divine message from Idun.

The sweet scent and the odd feeling weren’t hers.

Tae Ho took a wary step forwards and then the inner side of the bedroom entered his vision. To his surprise, a bewitchingly beautiful lady lay lounging on the enormous bed.

Tae Ho halted his movement, but he was already in front of the bed. The woman wore a thin, sky-blue dress that flashed her skin and a fluffy hood which covered her head. He couldn’t see her face, but he knew she was an outstanding beauty just from her figure alone.

“So….you are the rumored commander of Idun.”

The woman spoke enigmatically and then twisted her body forward a bit to fixate upon Tae Ho. She then took off her hood, and long hair and a beautiful, alabaster face were revealed underneath.

The G.o.ddess of Beauty and Magic, Freya.

Her beauty seemed to depict the golden ratio. Even G.o.ds fell for her beauty if they met her in person, so there was nothing more to say about the warriors of Valhalla.

Freya had never requested any warrior to move to her legion, but there were nevertheless countless warriors that had done so.

Obviously, all of those who’d flocked to her legion voluntarily did so because they craved her love.

Freya wasn’t particularly thinking of stealing away Idun’s commander. She was curious, but if Heimdal hadn’t provoked her, then this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Freya looked at Tae Ho with her mystical, azure eyes.

It was the seductive eyes of Freya that had caught the hearts of innumerable men.

But when Tae Ho faced them, a thought arose in his mind which Freya couldn’t have foreseen in the slightest.

‘Heda is prettier.’

Is what he thought of unconsciously.

The clout of love was rather mighty.

< Episode 29 – Idun’s commander (2) > End

TL: Tsubak

ED: Julsmul

Freya was stunned.

Her shock came from the fact that there was no change in Tae Ho’s face even though she’d approached him directly.

No, there was a change.

His look was one you’d wear after seeing something beautiful.

Tae Ho’s expression revealed as much. The face of someone who just spotted a beautiful person.

But it was a bit different. Should she relate it to an expression one held when viewing something beautiful in nature? It was obvious that Tae Ho hadn’t fallen head over heels for Freya.

Freya suppressed her bewilderment and focused on making her gaze even more coquettish. Again, Tae Ho faced her eyes, but he still didn’t fall over her beauty like a s...o...b..ring idiot.

‘Ah. Isn’t he impotent?’

Or he likes men.

However, Freya discarded that thought as her beauty didn’t only affect men but also women.

She was certain that the reason Idun’s warrior could be so calm in her presence was because he was thinking of another woman.

Freya laughed inwardly and then put on her usual, bright expression instead of a seductive one and spoke.

“Commander of Idun. I’m called Freya.”

“Idun’s warrior greets the G.o.ddess of Magic and Beauty.”

Tae Ho had been educated about the G.o.ds of Asgard by the Valkyries, Bracky, Siri, and others. As he called out the fields of Freya’s divinity, she put on a satisfied smile.

But it was then-

“Freya!”

A shrill voice pierced through the air. A corner of the cozy room cracked to reveal plains behind it. The next second, the whole wall broke down to unveil a very familiar apple tree.

Two opposing domains became mixed in one spot; however, the plains couldn’t completely overtake the bedroom. Freya, who’d sat up on her bed, let out a sigh before speaking to the G.o.ddess standing there.

“Hi. It’s been a while.”

“Just what are you doing?”

A really indignant voice.

Although her face was obscured by the light shrouding her, one could clearly feel the anger radiating off her.

Tae Ho was a bit frightened at her unfamiliar visage, but Freya merely waved her hands as if she’d expected it.

“Calm down, calm down. As the chief of the Valkyries, I just came here to compliment the warrior that had performed many great merits. I wasn’t planning on taking him or anything.”

Her words were as if addressing a kindly junior of hers.

Idun didn’t respond and only glared at Freya. The latter just shrugged.

“Well, it doesn’t even look like he’s interested in swapping legions. It really hurts my pride, you know.”

Of course, if Freya grew determined and went all out, the story may have changed, but as she had said, it wasn’t her intention.

It appeared that Idun had grown even more agitated at Freya’s words, as she walked to stand firmly between Tae Ho and the bewitching G.o.ddess. Her aura was like a cat’s whose hair had bristled.

Freya continued to smile as she slowly crawled toward the end of her bed to look at Idun and Tae Ho.

“Idun’s warrior, as your G.o.ddess is so brusque, I’ll get straight to the point.”

Idun still didn’t say anything. As Tae Ho nodded behind her, Freya crossed her legs to show her sensual curves before continuing.

“You should already know, but I’m the chief of the Valkyries. I aid Odin, the King of G.o.ds, in ruling over Valhalla.”

The one at the apex of Valhalla’s command was obviously Odin, but his next direct subordinate wasn’t Thor, but Freya.

Among other things, the rune growth system which was every warrior of Valhalla’s roots was created by her.

Although she’d collaborated heavily with Odin, no one could dispute the notion that she was the true creator of Valhalla.

“Idun’s commander, the achievements you’ve earned this time aren’t small. You must have already received praise from the Valkyries, but I came to this place because I wanted to compliment you directly. A great warrior deserves treatment suitable to their accomplishments.”

Freya’s beauty changed based on the situation, just like a fairy pitt.

At this moment, Freya’s beauty emanated a stark n.o.bility and air of high standing.

After Frigg, Odin’s wife and Asgard’s landlady, died, Freya a.s.sumed her role as adminstrator of Asgard.

As a result, she was accustomed to the role of a queen and gave off a profound dignity alongside her usual brightness.

Freya stopped talking for a moment and flicked her eyes between Idun and Tae Ho. At that, anger appeared in Idun’s eyes for a moment, but she expertly regained her composure.

Freya laughed.

“Idun’s commander, while I was thinking of what reward to bestow you with, I heard something fun. After hearing, I knew exactly what to prepare. Apparently, you’re called the ‘Valkyrie Master’ by the warriors of Valhalla?”

Tae Ho was at a complete loss for words and couldn’t speak.

It may have been his imagination, but he felt a bit of resentment from Idun’s back.

Whatever the case, Freya laughed gracefully as if finding Tae Ho’s reaction amusing and then crossed her legs the other way.

“Extend your hands. I will bestow upon you something suitable for a Valkyrie master.”

At Freya’s words, Tae Ho extended his two hands and light seemed to condense in the air. A white, flawless horn appeared within them.

“It’s a Valkyrie Horn, something like the sibling of Gjallarhorn which Heimdal possesses. When you blow it once, the Valkyries nearby will gather at your side. This horn holds my decree as Valkyrie chief, so all those who gather will follow your orders without question.”

Originally, a superior-ranked warrior held higher authority than a Valkyrie, but that didn’t mean they could order them around.

Of course, if a superior rank became a commander of a legion, they could obviously give orders to the legion’s Valkyries, but it wasn’t that they could do the same to the Valkyries in other legions.

There were many cases of Valkyries following and respecting the orders of a legion’s commander, but strictly speaking, there weren’t obligated to follow the orders of a commander from another legion.

What Freya gave was an object that granted him the right to gather and order any Valkyries on a whim.

It was a reward that only the real Valkyrie master could grant.

“Thank you.”

Tae Ho suppressed his happiness and thanked her politely.

As Freya nodded lightly, Idun, who’d been staring, spoke up casually.

“Freya, you’re finished with your business, right?”

Her voice was still on guard even if it was less than before.

“Don’t rush me too much. After all, you’re in front of none other than your warrior.”

Idun’s mouth clamped shut at her words. Such was the integrity of honor between G.o.ds. Regardless of how she’d meant her words, they were still true.

Actually, Tae Ho was really surprised about Idun’s behavior. Her actions, expressions, and words were quite different from her usual self.

“You really are being favored.”

“I’m always thankful.”

As Tae Ho gave a suitable answer immediately, Freya laughed and nodded. She turned towards Idun once more.

“Come closer. I will give you a blessing before the divine message ends.”

She was speaking to Tae Ho, but her eyes were directed at Idun. Tae Ho also turned to look at Idun.

Idun pressed her lips inside the light at the eyes of the two people and then stood to the side and opened a path.

Freya smiled cutely at her silent permission before switching her gaze to Tae Ho. He gulped dryly and then stood in front of Freya and lowered his posture.

“Raise your head.”

Tae Ho raised his head as Freya approached him. She arched her back to bless him on the forehead.

Suddenly, Freya turned to look at Idun with a malicious smile. She then blessed Tae Ho’s lips instead of his forehead.

“May my blessing accompany you.”

The time their lips touched was merely an instant; however, it was a really vivid and memorable one.

Tae Ho opened his eyes widely in surprise, and Idun exploded in anger.

“Freya-unnie!”

“Let’s meet another time.”

Freya laughed and then waved her hand. Both Freya and the bedroom disappeared like a lie and the plains swept over the entire surrounding area.

It was a perfect hit and run.

After a few seconds had pa.s.sed-

Tae Ho wasn’t happy even though he’d just been kissed by the G.o.ddess of Beauty. No, he rather felt that he was faced with misfortune.

“Uh..um….”

As Tae Ho struggled awkwardly, Idun took a deep breath and then spoke as if nothing had happened.

“Hmhm, my warrior Tae Ho. It’s good to see that you are healthy.”

She acted as usual but also felt incredibly uneasy.

“Um, me too.”

Tae Ho just made it worse. All of a sudden, Idun swooped down in front of Tae Ho and spoke urgently.

“Why are you like that? Did she use a strange magic on you? Is that it?”

Freya was the G.o.ddess of Magic. Whatever Idun’s thoughts were, several warriors of various legions had indeed migrated to Freya’s while vying desperately for her love.

The light obscuring Idun’s face revealed traces of shock, worry, rage, and fear all at once.

Tae Ho peered at the light and then opened his mouth gradually.

“No, um…….”

“Um?”

“I was just wondering why you’re always hiding behind the light.”

It went without saying that their awkwardness was a result of the recent situation, but Tae Ho also hadn’t made his question up.

When he first faced Idun, he thought that all the G.o.ds were like this.

But Thor was different. He could clearly see his face.

It wasn’t that weird until now since Tae Ho only had two references.

But after seeing Freya, he became certain that there was something strange. While Freya seemed to glow from her charm, there wasn’t any bright light on her like Idun.

Like Thor, she’d been clearly visible.

Idun flinched at Tae Ho’s words and then answered with a low voice.

“If….If you want to see what’s beyond the light, I can show it to you.”

Idun didn’t particularly wait for Tae Ho’s answer. As she finished speaking, she raised her right hand and touched her face. The light covering her face subsequently disappeared.

Beautiful, blond hair that seemed woven from countless strands of gold was revealed atop her translucent face.

However, he could only see half of her face. Across the rest, Idun wore a encompa.s.sing, black mask that contrasted her fair features.

Of course, it wasn’t that the mask covered her entire face, so he could still see her expression clearly. Her sharp chin and pretty lips were also clear.

“Hm, it seems like you are somewhat disappointed.”

As Idun spoke with a sulky voice, Tae Ho flinched and shook his head hurriedly. To be frank, he’d merely been baffled to see a mask appear under the light. Regardless of what he saw, Idun had still listened to his request. It wasn’t something he should be disappointed about.

Idun covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.

“I’m joking. Joking.”

Although she was wearing a mask, it was much easier to read her emotions and expressions than when she was hidden behind the light.

‘But what did she hide herself for in the first place?’

He couldn’t imagine any reason for it.

In addition, by looking at Idun’s movements, it didn’t seem like a normal mask. It was like a veil or a pair of sungla.s.ses that the wearer could use to look from the inside.

While Tae Ho was pondering it, Idun looked up at the sky and pouted.

“My warrior, Tae Ho, it’s unfortunate, but I will have to return today.”

Of course, she hadn’t originally planned to send a divine message at all.

Tae Ho nodded and then lowered his posture like he did with Freya. Idun thought for a moment after seeing Tae Ho kneel, but she ended up blessing him on his forehead like always.

“May my blessing accompany you.”

Idun revealed a gentle smile and Tae Ho answered in kind. He then blinked and woke from his dream.

—

The number of warriors that’d remained behind in Valhalla to eradicate the remaining fomoires were exactly a hundred. This included Tae Ho’s group.

The number decided upon after guessing that it wasn’t a good influence for existences of Asgard to roam Midgard for longer than necessary.

Ingrid stayed back in Kalliv Castle with a few warriors.

It was to dissuade some neighboring countries from invading the now leaderless Kalliv Ahim.

It wasn’t that acceptable for the existences of Asgard to provoke to politics in Midgard, but it was only to prevent Kalliv Ahim from suffering any further damage.

It was a really irresponsible thing to step back saying that human affairs should be handled among themselves.

Tae Ho split up some forces with Rasgrid as she had the most leaders.h.i.+p experience out of the Valkyries who’d remained behind.

It was also to exterminate the few fomoires that were left effectively.

And a month later-

As the mopping up of the fomoires was ending, a change occurred.

The smoke coming from the fragments of Garmr’s soul that Ingrid had stored away started to blow in a specific direction.

Valhalla showed an immediate reaction, as this phenomenon had already happened in the first expedition in Midgard.

Tae Ho and Rasgrid received a heavenly order and paused the cleanup of the remaining fomoires to make haste towards another location.

They rushed to where Ingrid and the soul fragments were at.

—

The Giant of Earth, Balgad, didn’t personally witness the battle that occurred in Kalliv Castle, but he knew what happened.

The Giant of the Night, Avalt, thought of the Giant of Strength, Harad, at the last moments of Bress the Tyrant’s life.

Idun’s warrior.

The one that had slain the Giant of Strength was Thor; however, Avalt remembered what Harad was trying to do before he died. He tried to kill the high-named Ragnar Lodbrok and the warrior of Idun that wasn’t even at the intermediate rank.

It was then that he’d thought that Idun’s warrior may very well become a great enemy for the Magician King one day.

The day of Bress’ death, Avalt was able to confirm his belief.

Idun’s warrior was dangerous. There was a dire need to sever the roots before the flower bloomed entirely.

The Giant of the Night, Avalt, opened his eyes in the darkness. At that moment, there was a voice that called out to him like an illusion.

The Giant of Earth, Balgad.

It was him.

—

The Magician King, Utgard Loki, sat upon his throne and looked off to a distant place. He rolled his fingers across his armrest and sent out two streams of his magic carrying orders.

One was sent to the front lines and the other to Midgard.

The magician king took a deep breath. He felt like the old wound in his shoulder by the Prince of Light, Cuchulainn, was itching.

A hundred years since the Great War.

Soon,, the time to stand on the battlefield would come again.

—

The G.o.ds on par with Thor couldn’t enter through the Great Barrier. The possibility of their immense power influencing the barrier was too high.

Loki was certainly a strong existence; however, he was the G.o.d of Lies and could portray his level of strength however he wished.

Loki was now inside the Great Barrier. He, who stood in a place cast in shadow, was glaring at the sky like a statue. Far above, a flock of crows were traveling through the air.

Odin.

Loki took his eyes off the flock. He a.n.a.lyzed the message of the Magician King that had grown faint after having pa.s.sed through several territories.

“Let everything happen as the King wishes.”

Loki mumbled in a low voice before moving with vigor.

The biggest country of humans in Midgard, Ironside, was now his target.

< Episode 29 – Idun’s commander (3) > End

TL: Tsubak

ED:

Including the now destroyed Erin, there were now ten planets in this universe.

Each of these realms used the name of a world that exists.

Just like Asgard, Erin and Olympus.

The realms weren’t the same with each other. They had similar parts but each of them had their unique colors.

Asgard’s biggest difference with the other realms was the existence of the world tree Yggdrasil.

Asgard was divided in several sectors and all those sectors were in touch with the roots or branches of Yggdrasil.

Asgard, the land of G.o.ds and the place that is at the highest point of Yggdrasil.

The huge land of humans, that is covering Asgard.

Alfheim, the land of fairies, and Svartalfheim.

The beautiful land where the Vanir reside.

The home for the dwarves and the underground kingdom where the sun doesn’t rise, Nidavellir.

Asgard’s other world that is filled with frost, Niflheim.

Those weren’t the only sectors that the world tree touched. One of the roots of Yggdrasil touched with the land of the giants, Jotunheim.

This composition was widely spread in Asgard and also in Midgard. Because of that, the humans in Midgard land and rocks that were above the big roots and branches to be their world.

It was a funny idea but the truth was a bit different.

The world tree Yggdrasil was a really huge tree but it was still smaller than Midgard. No, it was certainly smaller than even Alfheim and Svartalfheim.

The world tree was just a concept.

The white and huge tree was piercing the center of Asgard and several people called it as the world tree Yggdrasil, but this was only half true. That tree was merely a substantiation of a part of Yggdrasil.

It was more proper to look at it as Yggdrasil connecting the several sectors into one.

The several lands were connected by one thanks to the system called Yggdrasil.

That was the shape of Asgard, one of the ten realms.

&

“Valkyrie Ingrid greets the commander of Idun.”

Ingrid faced Tae Ho at the entrance of the castle of Kalliv and then hit her chest twice.

After Tae Ho got promoted to the commander of Idun’s legion, Ingrid always used polite words at formal places.

You wouldn’t know in personal places but she had said that she couldn’t treat a commander of an army impolitely in a formal place.

‘She’s as earnest as always.’

There were many times that Rasgrid and Reginleif talked politely to Tae Ho but they weren’t comparable to Ingrid.

Actually, it wasn’t only the Valkyries that changed their way of speech with Tae Ho.

“Don’t call me captain Siri from now on.”

Siri had said these words about a month ago, when they were going out to clean up the remaining fomoires.

“Tae Ho, I know why you keep calling me as captain but you are now a commander. I don’t know in private places but honestly speaking it’s burdensome for you to call me captain when there are many people. It also won’t be good to you.”

For Tae Ho ‘captain Siri’ wasn’t a t.i.tle but a nickname filled with affection. As Siri had faced countless trials with Tae Ho when he was merely a lowest ranked warrior, Siri was something beyond a simple comrade.

Because of that, Tae Ho came up with another nickname as soon as ‘captain Siri’ got denied.

“Then what about Siri noona?”

It was close to impossible to guess the age of the warriors of Valhalla with just their appearances, but taking into account the time they have been in Valhalla, there was no doubt that Siri was older than him.

Siri flinched at Tae Ho’s proposal and then said quickly while shaking her head.

“Ju, just call me Siri. Just like Harabal and Bracky does. Please.”

It was burdensome for Tae Ho to call her as noona but it would become a bigger problem if Bracky or Harabal imitated him.

In addition, Siri still had some rejection towards people calling her noona.

Tae Ho simply listened to Siri’s request as she had said that she was afraid about Harabal and Bracky imitating him.

Tae Ho thought of what happened with Siri and then glanced back. He could see Reginleif, Siri, Merlin, and Helga that were in the same troop in the subjugation of the fomoires so they had been with him all along.

Siri tilted her head as if asking what was wrong and then Tae Ho nodded once and faced Ingrid. Listening to the story, it seemed like Rasgrid’s group had also arrived.

As they didn’t have the time to waste or leisure, Tae Ho moved to the conference room where Rasgrid’s group was waiting at.

“For Asgard and the nine realms.”

“For Asgard and the nine realms.”

Tae Ho saluted with Rasgrid while hitting his chest twice and then greeted Harabal, Bracky and Gandur with his eyes and started the conference.

There was a map of Midgard spread in the big and square table that was in the middle of the conference room.

Ingrid placed a red rock on top of Kalliv castle that was in the center of Kalliv Ahim and started to explain.

“Garmr’s soul fragment has started to react two days ago and its pointing a certain direction just like it did in the island of king Sven or in Katren.”

They sent the soul fragments they discovered in the island and Kataron to Valhalla, but the fragments they retrieved in Radetza was still being held by Ingrid.

“The direction it’s pointing at is as following.”

Ingrid placed a long and firm wooden ruler on the table this time. The fragment of Garmr’s soul would be in the direction the wooden ruler was pointing at.

“There are no special regions in the path?”

“There are a few.”

Ingrid answered briefly at Rasgrid’s question and then placed yellow rocks on the path the wooden ruler crossed.

“They are named forests, villages and cities that exist in the path.”

Until now, Garmr’s soul fragment had always created a change. Because of that, if there were people living in the are near the fragments, then the rumors would spread much faster.

“There are particularly no rumors regarding the changes. Perhaps the soul fragments may be located on the places that the yellow rocks aren’t placed at.”

As there have already been several precedents, they could somewhat guess the distance with the amount of smoke the fragment emanated. Although the margin of error was quite big, they could lower the margin if more conditions were added.

Ingrid pointed at the place in between the two yellow rocks that were the farthest from each other.

“Currently, this place has the highest probabilities.”

Bracky frowned at Ingrid’s words. It was because the place Ingrid’s long and slender fingers pointed at was one of the famous and harsh mountain ranges in Midgard, the Karton mountain ranges.

“It’s vague.”

Rasgrid opened her eyes sharply. She raised her head to look up at Tae Ho and he nodded.

“The direction where the remaining fomoires were headed to is overlapping.”

The remnants Tae Ho and Rasgrid chased were all heading towards the mountain ranges of Karton. Their objective may be beyond the mountain ranges but it was too much of a coincidence.

Then, Merlin that was silent until now, approached the table and said.

“If it’s the mountain ranges of Karton, there’s a place that comes to my head.”

Merlin picked a red rock and then placed it in the middle of the mountain ranges.

“There’s a gate that connects to Erin in this place.”

“A gate? Are you talking about a s.p.a.ce door?”

Merlin nodded at Rasgrid’s question.

“It’s similar. An old gate that was built long before Erin got destroyed…..and even before Camelot was set up. Erin and Asgard hadn’t been interacting with each other a few days ago.”

It was an item that the Tuatha De Danann and the fomoires disputed over with before the Milesians appeared in Erin.

“Does it still work?”

Merlin frowned as if going through his memories at Tae Ho’s question.

“It was actually half destroyed when I pa.s.sed over there long ago to check on it. In addition, even if it does work, Erin has already been destroyed. There’s a possibility that the exit gate in Erin or even the place itself got destroyed. We also can’t ignore the influence of the great barrier.”

Two or more s.p.a.ce doors had to exist in order for it to work properly. It was because the entrance and exit gates had to do their roles.

“But if it does work and there’s even a destination place, it means that it’s the escape route for the fomoires.”

Bracky frowned and said. If it were the fomoires, they may only think of hiding and live like rats, but the ones that had some strength would choose to evade the warriors of Valhalla and escape from Midgard.

“So the fragment just appeared in that place?”

If it was coincidence, then it was a trick of fate.

Harabal shrugged his shoulders and said.

“If we interpret it in a good way, it is a good opportunity. We will be able to catch two or three birds with one stone.”

The fomoires had lost their pivot with the death of Bress.

The reason Valhalla put that much effort to get rid of Bress wasn’t simply to chase away the fomoires from Midgard. It was to stop the giants from entering Midgard through the fomoires.

Now that the powerful fomoires along with Bress had died, the force of the fomoires was greatly weakened. Because of that, it would be hard for the giants to send strong giants to Midgard like in Radetza or Kataron.

The fomoires got weakened and so that would hinder the movement of the giants.

While all this happened, Garmr’s soul fragment had appeared.

Looking at it with a different point of view, it was the opportunity to take care of two things at once.

Everyone turned to look at Tae Ho and he came to a fast conclusion instead of delaying.

“Let’s depart immediately.”

To the mountain ranges of Katon.

The warriors of Valhalla left the castle of Kalliv.

&

At the same tim on a different place.

Heda was tying up the wooden boat in the dock while Tae Ho’s group was increasing their speed.

“Lalalala lalalalalla.”

After she finished setting things up, she sat on the wooden box just like the first day she faced Tae Ho. As she looked at a far place, she could see s.h.i.+ps of other legions entering the dock.

The Valkyries of the other legions that were standing on the decks saluted Heda. Heda waved her hand lightly or greeted her with a glance of her eyes and then checked her bag she had brought with her. It seemed like she was planning to write a letter to Tae Ho while she waited.

But it was when she just spread the paper and wrote a word of ‘Hi’.

A shadow was cast over Heda’s head. Heda turned to look up reflexively as her piece of paper got dark and then faced some big warriors standing in front of her.

She was looking at them for the first time but it was different for the warriors. They had expressions as if they were meeting a famous person, as if they had heard several things about Heda.

Heda blinked for now. She looked at her surroundings and then pointed at herself with the pen she was holding.

“Huh? Maybe?”

Maybe.

“Idun’s Valkyrie.”

“The most beautiful Valkyrie.”

The warriors smirked and Heda flushed. It was partly because she was embarra.s.sed but also because she was excited of pure happiness.

How long had pa.s.sed since Tae Ho entered?

New warriors had entered Idun’s legion.

< Episode 30 – The knights of the round table (1) > End

TL: Tsubak

ED: SlowAsLightning

Heda closed and opened her eyes once.

It didn’t change. There wasn’t only one or two big warriors in front of her, there were five of them.

Tae Ho didn’t know, but actually Valhalla didn’t take in warriors every day. At least once in a few days or at most once in a day.

As a warrior’s soul entered the souls resting room at the entrance of Valhalla, it fell asleep until it’s turn so that it wouldn’t notice the pa.s.sage of time.

Whatever the case, the important thing was that they gathered the warriors and received them at once.

It was different for popular legions like Odin’s or Thor’s legion and it depended on the situation in Midgard, but there were times that they received hundreds of warriors at once.

Because of that, five warriors wasn’t that big of a number. You could say that it was rather low.

But everything depended on who you were talking about.

Five was a big number for Idun’s legion as it reached a record of 500%!

In addition, the time they gathered warriors this time was short. As Heda looked at her surroundings she noticed that the number of warriors that entered the other legions only amounted to ten.

Five people

Ohh five people!

It was different to when Tae Ho entered. She could be calm with Tae Ho as it was the first time someone entered Idun’s legion since the Great War and was a really unexpected thing.

But this time, she was somewhat looking for it and the results were more than she had thought of, so her mouth dropped open unconsciously.

If she had a tail, she would be waving it really quickly. Heda forced down her urge to jump everywhere and said calmly.

“Wait a moment I will check your names.”

Heda opened the pocket that was hanging on her waist and then spread the list as if it was something she usually did.

‘There are, there are!’

The names of five warriors were really listed on it.

“Um, right. Yeah. But I will still check your names just in case. Answer me if I call out your name.”

Heda called out the name of each of them and every time, the warriors answered with a loud voice.

But it was when Heda finished naming the five of them.

“The most beautiful Valkyrie.”

“The prettiest Valkyrie in Valhalla.”

“The Valkyrie that is prettier than even a G.o.ddess!”

The warriors called out to Heda with their own methods.

Heda cleared her throat at the embarra.s.sing but nice to hear nicknames and then asked after flus.h.i.+ng.

“Um….what? Do you have anything you want to ask? Ah, I’m Heda. Called me that way.”

For her to be the prettiest Valkyrie in Valhalla. Was Tae Ho the one that spread the rumors? And just what was the Valkyrie that is prettier than even a G.o.ddess? Tae Ho wouldn’t have been able to meet that many G.o.ddesses. Or was he talking about Freya, the G.o.ddess of beauty and magic?

‘Tae Ho, you too.’

He is so childish.

It was when Heda was twisting her body and thinking about Tae Ho.

One of the warriors that looked at each other raised his hand and asked.

“Valkyrie Heda. Where’s the s.h.i.+p of our legion?”

“Huh?”

As Heda asked back unconsciously, another warrior asked while his eyes shone.

“Idun’s warrior said that we had a really big and cool s.h.i.+p.”

“Right, right. It was a luxurious s.h.i.+p that was adorned in gold.”

“It was a cool s.h.i.+p that could carry hundreds of people. It could even fly on the sky.”

It seemed like they were talking about the flying pirate s.h.i.+p.

But that wasn’t the important thing. The important thing was that the warriors were looking at her with eyes filled with expectation. In addition, one of them looked at the wooden boat that was behind her and Heda felt like she could listen to his thoughts.

That wooden boat shouldn’t be it, right?

Ey, no way.

Idun’s legion wasn’t a place that kids played war at.

“Uh…..so……”

Heda felt cold sweat dripping from her back. Tae Ho could come up boldly as nothing, but the situation was different this time. There were too many things the warriors had heard before entering the legion compared to Tae Ho that didn’t know anything.

‘Tae Ho!’

Just know he was the subject of affection but now he was the subject of resentment. How could he lie like that and how would he take care of it?

“Will you wait for a moment?”

She had to first put off the urgent fire. Even if she came up confidently as Tae Ho- no, as boldly as him, the wooden boat in front of her was too small to carry all five warriors. She couldn’t make repeated trips while leaving the warriors standing on the dock so she had to come up with something.

Heda hurriedly drew a rune in the air and threw a white feather to the air. And then, the white feather transformed into a beautiful owl and started to fly towards the residence of Idun.

“Just a moment, a moment.”

The simple warriors didn’t doubt that Heda’s reaction was suspicious but rather let out sighs of exclamation while checking their surroundings. As she heard the stories in between, it seemed like their expectation towards the residence was great.

‘What do I do?’

That tens of Valkyries prepared delicious and luxurious meals everyday. Just what kind of residence was he talking about?!

Heda pressed her mouth shut to hide her anxiousness and then looked at the direction the owl flew at. A reaction returned when the s.h.i.+ps of the other legions started to leave one by one.

“Heda, what’s wrong?”

Adenmaha, that appeared as a sea serpent, transformed back into the shape of a G.o.ddess and landed on the dock. The warriors clapped, enjoying the flashy transformation.

Heda said.

“They are new warriors that entered the legion. I forgot about the number of warriors and brought a small s.h.i.+p. That’s why I would appreciate it if you could help.”

Compared to Heda’s leisurely words, she sent an earnest gaze and Adenmaha that was fast to catch on things just nodded slowly instead of breaking the atmosphere by saying things like ‘only a small boat? Our legion only has that boat.’

“Well…..it’s unavoidable.”

‘Thank you! I really appreciate it!’

Heda moved here mouth and sent a gaze filled with thankfulness and Adenmaha snorted like always and then jumped back into the water and transformed into a sea serpent.

“Two will get on the boat with me and the remaining three will ride on Adenmaha.”

“Ohh!”

“Ohhhhh!”

The greatly moved warriors discussed about who would ride on Adenmaha, but the one that had the final decision was none other than her. Adenmaha picked three warriors that seemed to be the lightest and the ones that weren’t picked put on depressed faces and got on the wooden boat.

“Hmhm. Does someone want to smoke?”

Heda departed from the dock and then asked after taking out the cigarette. Compared to Tae Ho, all of them wanted to smoke it but there was only one cigarette.

Heda told them to smoke it in turns and then gave it to the warrior closest to her. Heda could hide that she had coughed out the smoke because the warriors were fighting on who would smoke it first.

Heda fixed her posture to sit more comfortably and then looked at the warriors smoking the cigarette with a satisfied expression but then worry filled their faces.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Or is it cold?”

As Adenmaha asked the warrior that was riding on her, the handsome warrior that had a long beard shook his head.

“That’s not it. I’m just moved. One of the reasons is because I entered Valhalla but the main reason is because I also became a warrior that rides on Valkyries, right?”

So he was trembling because he was happy.

The warriors that were sitting behind the bearded warrior cheered.

“Ohh! Warriors that rides on Valkyries!”

“Me too!”

“Do you want to get beaten? Do you still want to spout nonsense? I will turn over.”

The last one was Adenmaha and the warrior that received the gaze of a sea serpent directly could only shut their mouths and shrink down.

it was poor to see the dispirited warriors but Heda ended up laughing unconsciously. The warriors that were riding on the boat asked that Heda.

“I heard that Idun’s legion possesses the best food in Valhalla and that it’s not from this world. Is that true?”

“As it’s food from Valhalla, it’s already not from this world right?”

“No, I also heard that it’s the most delicious in Valhalla.”

“Right, right. I also heard that.”

The warriors talked among themselves and brought out topics to speak about.

“I also heard that there are beauties that are comparable to Valkyries.”

“Is that the only thing? Ragnar Lodbrok. I also heard that the king of the vikings is residing in Idun’s residence.”

“Ohh Ragnar! Ragnar Lodbrok!”

“There are also strong and cool s.h.i.+nsoos.”

The warriors put on s.h.i.+ning expressions again. The warrior that was closest to Heda asked her with s.h.i.+ning eyes.

“I’m really expecting going towards the residence.”

“Yeah.”

Heda clenched her fists unconsciously and drew a smile.

&

“Heda told me that you will pay for it.”

The day after the warriors arrived at the residence.

Adenmaha got summoned by Tae Ho and clicked her tongue.

“You should have held yourself in the exaggeration, how could you make up things?”

Adenmaha got summoned to a small cabin inside the flying pirate s.h.i.+p. It was carrying all hundred warriors of Valhalla but it had still surpa.s.sed the limit even though the s.h.i.+p had increased to its maximum size.

Because of that Adenmaha’s shoulder was touching with Tae Ho’s. Tae Ho shook his hands and said:

“Ey, when did I make up things? There’s you and Heda in the residence. And also captain Siri and Scathach-nim.”

The part that Idun’s residence was a place that beauties stayed at in Valhalla wasn’t made up. Although he did exaggerate the numbers a bit.

“Hmhm.”

Adenmaha snorted like a always as if she was happy that she got named. Tae Ho snickered and continued speaking.

“In addition, master Ragnar really is there.”

If it were the strong and cool s.h.i.+nsoos he had Adenmaha, McLaren, Rolo and his wives.

“What about the food?”

“If it’s the food Heda made, then it’s the most delicious in the whole world. You also eat it everyday so why don’t you know? Ah, I want to eat food made by Heda.”

“Ah, yes. How infalible.”

Adenmaha said with lukewarm eyes and Tae Ho relaxed his body a bit.

“So new warriors really entered our legion.”

It was the result of some months of publicizing.

He thought that it wasn’t completely proper to be happy as you had to die first to enter Valhalla, but whatever the case it was true that he was happy.

“They said they were warriors that died against the battle with the fomoires. They all fought valiantly because they believed that they could go to Valhalla.”

“Mm.”

Listening to it, it seemed like they were the warriors that had died in the recent battle against the fomoires.

‘So this was what master Ragnar spoke about?’

The warriors of Midgard knew that Valhalla existed. Because of that they thought that it was more important how they died rather than when and they didn’t fear death in the battlefield.

But it all had its limits.

If all men wished for a brave death in the battlefield, the world could only become a mess.

The warriors were more specialized in destroying rather than creating. Just who would work the field and make buildings if everyone wanted to become warriors?

If young men threw their lives like nothing, then the heritage of the families would only get cut off.

A world with endless wars was just like h.e.l.l.

And Odin didn’t wish for a world like that.

Because Midgard wasn’t a human farm to replenish warriors of Valhalla.

It was a precious world were countless lives grew up.

Ingrid had said that it wasn’t good for the warriors of Valhalla to stay in the mortal world for a long time.

It was obvious. The more the humans of Midgard saw the activities of the warriors of Valhalla, they would value the life after death to be more important than their current lives.

Rasgrid hadn’t made the warriors stay in the shrine for nothing. Having sent back most of the warriors to Valhalla right after the battle with the fomoires ended was for same reason.

‘When the cleanup of the fomoires and the searching of Garmr’s soul fragments ends, Valhalla will distance itself with Midgard. We will stop deploying warriors for at least tens of years….or perhaps for dozens of years. The best thing is for the existence of the warriors of Valhalla to stay as legends inside of myths. We are too close to them right now.’

Tae Ho remembered Ragnar’s words and nodded. Even Tae Ho, that didn’t belong to Midgard, found the current situation to not be normal.

“Ah, and I have something to discuss with you.”

Adenmaha, that was looking at Tae Ho thinking by himself, flicked her shoulder and then said.

“The number of warriors will keep increasing from now on so……Heda asked me if I wasn’t thinking of becoming a Valkyrie.”

“You can become one?”

Because Adenmaha was a G.o.ddess of the Tuatha De Danann.

However she just shrugged as if it was nothing.

“Well, it’s not that I can’t. And if you look at it with another point of view, it’s rather similar.”

Valkyries had a low stature but they were still G.o.ddesses. Looking at it from Adenmaha’s point of view, that was just a normal G.o.ddess of the Tuatha De Danann, her rank didn’t increase or get lower, it was just moving to a side.

“What do you think, master? Would you like it if I became a Valkyrie?”

“I will always welcome it.”

Actually in Tae Ho’s situation, nothing would change in his life if she became a Valkyrie of Idun but he would gain quite a bit from it if he looked at her battle prowess.

He could strengthen her with the ‘warrior that rides on Valkyries’ and also register her with the ‘warrior that had a Valkyrie meet him’.

“Hmm. I will think about it then.”

“Right, I will be waiting for the day I receive a blessing from you.”

“Hmph.”

Adenmaha’s mood became good at Tae Ho’s words and then stood up from her place.

“I will be going now.”

“Right, tell Heda how I’m doing.”

Adenmaha frowned because he kept calling out Heda until the end and then disappeared while snorting.

Tae Ho got left alone in the cabin and started to think.

‘Wait a moment. We will reach the mountain ranges of Katon in two days, and new warriors entered today……..’

At least tonight, or tomorrow at night.

Tae Ho fell asleep early and then could face the one he had expected.

“My warrior Tae Ho! There are a lot of things I want to talk to you about!”

The G.o.ddess of youth Idun.

She was more youthful than usual today.

< Episode 30 – The knights of the round table (2) > End

TL: Tsubak

ED: SlowAsLightning

“That’s what I’m saying. I met the five of them today. They were all good kids.”

Idun started speaking with a really excited face while sitting next to Tae Ho on the wide boulder. He could only see her lips because of the eye cover that was more like a mask but Idun could make quite a lot of expressions with just her pink lips.

Tae Ho felt like he was looking at a bird that was chirping so he started to concentrate more on Idun rather than her story.

“But still Tae Ho, you went too far. Heda was really troubled because the expectations of the warriors were too big.”

She could somewhat evade the answer when they were going to the residence but when they arrived they only found Heda as a Valkyrie. Excluding Tae Ho, the only warrior that stayed in the residence, the five could not avoid noticing that they were the only ones there.

Tae Ho answered boldly at Idun’s voice.

“Ey, weren’t their expectations fulfilled? They were greeted by Heda and even met Idun-nim. I didn’t lie up to that point. I was a bit subjective.”

And a little excessive?

“You do speak well.”

Idun giggled. She tilted her head and looked up at Tae Ho for a moment and then asked with a friendly voice.

“My warrior Tae Ho, did you listen about picking a new Valkyrie from Adenmaha?”

“Yes, I heard that Heda proposed it to her.”

If the commander was someone that commanded the warriors of a legion, then the representative Valkyrie of a legion led the Valkyries in a certain legion.

The need of a new Valkyrie wasn’t that noticeable as Tae Ho was the only warrior, but Heda was in charge of selecting new Valkyries and training them as she was the representative of Idun’s legion.

“New warriors will increase so we will also need new Valkyries. All of these things haven’t happened in a long while, so it’s quite enjoyable.”

He could feel just how happy she was with her lips, voice and even her small movements.

Tae Ho looked at that Idun and felt that it was regrettable. Because the more warriors entered, the time he would be able to face Idun also got shorter. Perhaps, it may also be true for Heda.

Was this the feeling you got when you get new siblings?

As Tae Ho smiled bitterly, Idun placed her hand on top of Tae Ho’s and said.

“You are special Tae Ho. How will you be the same as them?”

Idun was looking at him as if she already knew what he was thinking about. Tae Ho got happy but also bewildered.

“Can you show that much favoritism?”

“I can. Why wouldn’t I be able to?”

Idun answered rather shamelessly and smiled brightly. No matter how many warriors entered the legion, the one Idun would favor the most would still be Tae Ho.

“Now that I see, Heda was asking. A Valkyrie more beautiful than a G.o.ddess. Just who were you talking about?”

Tae Ho couldn’t see her eyes because it was being covered by the eye bandage but he felt like she would be putting really sharp and expecting eyes.

Tae Ho answered immediately.

“Of course it’s Freya.”

Idun seemed to be really happy that Tae Ho said Heda was more beautiful than Freya, perhaps because she had had a little confrontation with her.

Idun snorted for a moment as if she was imitating Adenmaha and then looked up at Tae Ho and asked like a surprise.

“Then Tae Ho, what if you compare Heda and me? I’m also a G.o.ddess.”

Tae Ho couldn’t answer immediately. As Idun saw his hesitation on his face, she put away the hands that were on top of Tae Ho’s and pouted.

“So that’s the case. Tae Ho was certainly a warrior of Heda. That was the case.”

Rather than imitating Heda, it seemed to be her own words.

As Tae Ho started to drip cold sweat, Idun giggled like always and then shook her head.

“I’m joking, a joke.”

Until what part and up to where was a joke?

“Good times always pa.s.s by the fastest.”

Idun took a deep breath and then stood up. She placed her hands on Tae Ho’s shoulders and said gently.

“My warrior Tae Ho, I will be waiting for the day you return to the residence safely.”

Tae Ho closed his eyes after getting up and Idun placed her lips on Tae Ho’s forehead.

“Let my blessing accompany you.”

A warm golden light wrapped up Tae Ho.

&

The biggest advantage with the flying s.h.i.+p was that you could ignore the terrain and fly, but being able to operate it day and night was also a strong point you couldn’t exclude.

Excluding Rasgrid, who was tired from operating the s.h.i.+p all night, all the other Valkyries and intermediate ranked warriors were gathered at Tae Ho’s room. As the cabins were small in the first place and there were too many members, everyone’s shoulders were touching each other.

“The reaction of the soul fragment is becoming stronger. It seems like it really is the mountain ranges of Katon.”

Ingrid said with her usual sincere face. Merlin pointed at the surroundings with a cubic light and said.

“There are already quite a lot of fomoires gathered. Looking at the flow of magic power, they are preparing to operate the gate.”

Looking at the number of fomoires gathered in the mountain ranges of Katon, it seemed like they weren’t able to operate the gate yet, so they had arrived just in time.

“So the fomoires have the soul fragment?”

“They may have a beast that has transformed with it or are holding it to gift it to the giants. But the latter is probable, right?”

Because there was no way the fomoires and the beast would look at each other in a friendly light.

Harabal nodded as Gandur answered at Siri’s question.

“Good, whatever the case we just have to sweep up the both of them. It’s good as its simple.”

They just had to charge towards them and sweep them up. Although it was a really crude and simple way, it was really the way of Valhalla.

Reginleif smiled bitterly as if there was nothing to do about it and spoke to Tae Ho.

“Commander, our exact objective is to destroy the gate and stop the fomoires from escaping, and also retrieving the fragment of Garmr’s soul.”

It was more systemized but in the end it was similar to what Harabal had said.

“Merlin, is it possible to destroy the gate?”

The gate of the Tuatha De Danann wasn’t showing up above ground. It was inside the huge fortress that was dug underground just like the kingdom of the dwarves, Nidavellir.

The size of the fortress was so huge it wasn’t excessive to say that an entire mountain was used for it and it was as complicated as an ant tunnel.

Merlin frowned at Tae Ho’s question and answered.

“It won’t even budge if you touch the surface as it is a really huge gate. But if you destroy the core you will be able to stop them from operating it.”

As Merlin moved his hand, one of the mountain molds made of light got amplified and then a complicated structure showed up. It was a map made based on Merlin’s memories.

The core of the gate was located in the deepest cave of the fortress. It was right next to the huge gate that was installed in the floor.

“If the fomoires are planning to gift Garmr’s soul fragment to the giants, the possibilities of it being on that place would be the highest as it the place with the tightest security.”

“If we approach a little more I will be able to amplify the location.”

Ingrid answered at Bracky’s words and then she turned to look at Tae Ho.

“Commander, if we move at the current speed a battle will occur in two hours. I hope you can choose the strategy for this battle.”

How they would fight there.

Everyone turned to look at Tae Ho. Tae Ho looked at the mold for a moment and then crossed his arms and said.

“Let’s go the Valhalla way.”

“Valhalla way?”

“Valhalla way.”

Just what was the Valhalla way?

Everyone could understand it excluding Merlin.

&

“Uwaaaaaaaaaa”

“Th, I can’t sense my lower body!”

“It’s thrilling! It’s always something new!”

Rains of steel fell down the sky. There were a total of three steel structures and they were the ones that were used in the battle in Kalliv’s castle.

They had sent back almost all of the steel structures back to Valhalla along the warriors, but Tae Ho had taken some just in case. Even if it looked harsh, it was worth having carried it.

The flying pirate s.h.i.+p and Scuabtuinne increased their speed in between the steel structures that were drawing a triangle. The speed was similar to the rains of steel but compared to the steel structures, there wasn’t anything to fix yourself to so the suffering was much bigger. The members that rode on Scuabtuinne, that didn’t even have a roof, screamed as if they were riding on a Black flash.

And in front of them, a red dragon charged. Tae Ho and the intermediate ranked warriors, that could be called as the key to this battle, were riding on Rolo that had transformed into Shooting star, the owner of flames.

“Amazing Tae Ho!”

Bracky yelled sincerely. Siri gritted her teeth and closed her eyes and Harabal seemed like he would die at any moment because of his blue face.

Tae Ho and Rolo looked at the ground while sharing their senses. Tae Ho thought of the trauma generated when he rode on a Black flash but he could somewhat maintain himself calmly thanks to Rolo who enjoyed the thrill.

Tae Ho counted the numbers while looking at the ground that seemed like it would smash them at an amazing speed. He looked at the words covering the mountain range of Katon with the ‘eyes of the dragon’.

Kyaaaaa!

The cry that was like a scream was heard in several places of the mountain. The flying type fomoires surged up but they couldn’t do anything about the Rains of steel that were descending with an incredible speed.

Tae Ho chose the slope to descend on that was a bit higher than the entrance of the fortress. The reason was too clear.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Rains of steel hit the ground. Rolo flew up before clas.h.i.+ng against the ground and flew up the dust cloud, and Tae Ho extended a summoning rock and yelled.

“McLaren! I choose you!” (Ed note: Brock chose Onyx! Jk.)

The rock serpent that appeared in the air acted as he was ordered beforehand. It started to dig on the mountain rather than landing on the ground to carry Tae Ho.

(Ed note: Onyx used dig!)

The pa.s.sage that connected the fortress were all complicated. As it was filled with the fomoires gathered from various places of Midgard, there was too much waste in time to charge through the entrance.

Because of that Tae Ho made things simpler like a warrior of Valhalla.

He would dig a new path.

He would destroy the normal pa.s.sages and make a new path that connected to the core of the gate.

The sea serpent McLaren could move freely in the ground. Just by charging forward a tunnel of several meters was made.

“Amazing. Amazing. You are an exemplary warrior of Valhalla!”

Bracky yelled in joy and Harabal, that landed on the ground, started to throw up. Tae Ho sent back Rolo and then looked at the tunnel McLaren was making ahead of him.

“It seems like Garmr’s soul fragment is at the core of the gate, just like we expected.”

Ingrid got down from Scuabtuinne and spoke quickly. Tae Ho turned to look at the steel structures hurriedly.

“Rasgrid! I will entrust you with securing the path to retreat!”

“I will heed to your order!”

The fomoires that were near the entrance and scattered throughout the mountain ranges were flocking over there.

There were a lot of them but as most of them were low cla.s.s, he could leave them to Rasgrid..

About half of the members that got down the steel structure stayed behind with Rasgrid. As three steel structures and one flying s.h.i.+p took place, it looked like a rather small fortress.

The warriors of Valhalla charged with Tae Ho at the front. As they had decided on the landing spot after looking at the map Merlin created, McLaren’s path was mostly straight.

“The fomoires are coming!”

Merlin yelled running behind Tae Ho. Tae Ho could also feel that the flow of magic in his surroundings was becoming faster.

The tunnel McLaren made pa.s.sed through the original paths. Tae Ho looked at the fomoires that were gathering with his ‘eyes of the dragon’.

They were stronger than the ones that were outside and also numbered the dozen.

It was quite a big number when they were the remnants.

But thinking about it contrarily, this was the remaining force of the fomoires as most of the fomoires outside of the mountain ranges of Katon were already subjugated by Tae Ho and Rasgrid.

“Gandur!”

“Leave it to me!”

As Tae Ho yelled, Gandur set up a defensive wall along the warriors of Valhalla that stayed behind once again. It was to retrieve a retreat path just like Rasgrid had done.

McLaren kept charging without stopping and reached its destination.

Kwagang!

A big hole pierced the core of the huge cave. McLaren jumped as if diving inside the ground and Tae Ho kicked the air and observed in front of him. There was quite a strong fomoire at the end of the cave.

[Has planted a fragment of Garmr’s soul]

[Korga]

Korga had somehow made it out alive from the battle of the castle of Kalliv. He had a fragment of Garmr’s soul, that was emanating a bright red light, stuck in his chest that was broken because of the injuries.

“Crazy dogs of Valhalla!”

Korga cursed out. He could only do so. Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They really were crazy. For them to pour down from the sky and even make a new path. To make the defenses they had prepared become useless!

Korga increased his magic power. The red and black smoke that surged up from the soul fragment covered Korga’s body and the flow of magic power filling up the cave became faster.

“For Asgard and the nine realms!”

Valkyrie Reginleif yelled and announced the start of the fight.The warriors of Valhalla charged towards the fomoires that were inside the cave and Merlin looked at the ground. The huge magic circle that filled the entire floor of the cave was emanating a golden light.

“It’s right before the gate activates!”

Tae Ho charged forward instead of answering. He charged like a storm and his objective was Korga.

“Thoor!”

Bracky and Siri ran towards the direction Merlin pointed at. It was towards the altar that was at the middle of the magic circle.

“Idun’s hunting dog!”

Korga charged towards Tae Ho instead of fleeing. Cuchulainn found the expression hunting dog to be funny and Tae Ho concentrated. He wasn’t planning on wasting even a second on defeating Korga.

The smoke that was covering Korga poured out towards Tae Ho. That thing, that got gathered at one place took the shape of a huge hunting dug in an instant, and Tae Ho swung the sparking Caladbolg and pulverized the smoke. He didn’t stop at that and kept charging.

At that moment, Merlin that was checking on the magic circle, raised his head and Tae Ho could feel it instinctively.

The gate was already fully charged with magic power. They could activate it whenever they wanted.

In addition, Korga was already in front of it and there was quite a number of fomoires gathered.

But why weren’t they fleeing? Were they waiting for other fomoires to gather? That Korga that even left behind his king and fled?

Tae Ho reached Korga and he got bewildered at the really fast Tae Ho and moved his hands urgently.

Tae Ho didn’t parry his sword but cut off his arm. It was possible as he had entered Korga’s reach even before he could react.

The arm of Korga that fell to the ground let out a blunt sound. Korga let out a terrible scream and Tae Ho tried to slash his chest upwards.

But Korga was a bit faster this time. He rather charged towards Tae Ho instead of stepping back. He released the red and black smoke once again and yelled after holding Tae Ho.

“Katas Krodaia!”

It was certainly the activating word for the gate. The golden light getting emitted from the magic circle got stronger and Korga tried to walk towards the inside of the magic circle even more.

Bracky destroyed the altar with his lightning hammer. Merlin hurriedly recited a chant and disturbed the flow of the magic power.

Tae Ho now understood what Korga was planning.

He wasn’t simply planning to escape from Midgard. His real objective was to take Tae Ho’s group through the gate and send them to Erin.

How?

Tae Ho stopped pondering about it. He emanated the divine power of Idun and endured it with his two legs. Tae Ho then faced Korga’s pus.h.i.+ng power head on and stabbed Caladbolg in his body and then made the lightning in Caladbolg explode!

Kwagagang!

Caladbolg was closer to being a rod that fired lightning rather than being a sword. Lightning exploded in the center of Korga’s body and he couldn’t advance anymore. Garmr’s soul fragment fell from the huge hole that was made in his body. It seemed that just trying to push him rather than fighting Tae Ho had weakened him.

Tae Ho gulped dry saliva. He threw his body in between the hole that was created and then retrieved Garmr’s soul fragment and turned around.

It seemed like it was thanks to Bracky for having destroyed the altar or thanks to Merlin’s chant having taken effect that the golden light being emanated from the magic circle got really reduced. However Tae Ho could see it with his eyes. The gate had already activated and the transporting magic to Erin was still proceeding.

Korga had failed. He had failed from pus.h.i.+ng Tae Ho to the magic circle and activate the gate.

But Tae Ho had to make a decision.

And the reason was really simple.

There were still people on the reduced area.

Ingrid and the warriors of Valhalla. Bracky and Siri.

The transporting magic got completed. The light emanating from the magic circle became a pillar of light and surged towards the ceiling.

Tae Ho didn’t hesitate. The moment the light surged up, he was already charging forward.

“My king!”

Merlin yelled however Tae Ho didn’t stop.

Because he was a commander. No, even if that wasn’t the case, he couldn’t throw his allies in front of his eyes!

The pillar of light dispersed.

There was nothing in the place the pillar disappeared at.

&

The great barrier didn’t stop things from going outside of it. If you wanted to enter inside the great barrier through the gate, your body and soul would get crushed after being hit by the barrier but fortunately, such things didn’t happen when you got out of it.

It has been a long time since Erin got destroyed.

The fire of the Giant Surtr burned and destroyed Erin and the destroyed Erin broke down to pieces and scattered towards Asgard, Olympus and the temple.

Because of that, there was a possibility for the arrival gate to not exist. But fortunately enough a destination existed this time.

The pillar of light dispersed.

Moving a long distance through an incomplete gate was dangerous and hard.

The warriors of Valhalla let out rough breaths and sat on their places and Bracky and Siri also panted with hard expressions.

Tae Ho, that could jump inside the pillar of light by the breath of a hair, raised his head. He had heard Merlin’s voice calling out to him at the last moment.

“Erin.”

There was grief in that voice and sorrow about the reality.

The beautiful land he had seen from Cuchulainn’s memories didn’t exist anymore. The broken land, the land of death that has dried up everything.

The magic power in the ground was really weak and the sky and ground were completely gray.

Tae Ho looked at his surroundings with the ‘eyes of the dragon. He couldn’t see any fomoires, excluding the ones that were transported with him.

But the moment Tae Ho looked up at the sky he could understand why Korga tried to push Tae Ho inside the magic circle.

&

That was a really simple story.

You couldn’t send forces inside the great barrier as you pleased. It was also impossible to dispatch a giant strong enough to be able to defeat Idun’s warrior.

That’s why they would take him out of it.

They would hunt him down outside of the barrier.

Two of the Five Fingers were obsessed towards a warrior that had just become superior ranked. It wasn’t an easy thing to happen and because of that it was also hard to guess.

Korga had failed and Merlin had intervened with the transporting magic. Idun’s warrior appeared in a different place to the planned one.

But the important thing was that Idun’s warrior had gotten outside of the barrier.

The Giant of Night Avalt thought of when he first faced Idun’s warrior. He observed him inside the darkness.

The place where the destroyed fragments of Erin gathered at in the ash sky and beyond the front lines. The land that was closer to Jotunheim rather than to Asgard.

“Idun’s warrior.”

The Giant of Earth Balgad said and descended on the completely gray land.

< Episode 30 – The knights of the round table (3) > End