Chapter 135
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Taranis - 2
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Before dismantling the barrier, Iris began to devise a rough plan.
"I plan to create a double-layered barrier."
"Double-layered?"
"Yes. On top of the barrier currently maintained by Senior Helen and the priests, we'll layer a new one for defense."
"So, a fence that keeps Taranis from fleeing recklessly?"
"That's right."
Precautions for safety and blocking escape routes.
Not a bad plan.
But if this had been feasible from the start, they wouldn't have debated it this intensely.
Allie held up three fingers as she spoke.
"The new barrier can block Taranis's attacks up to three times. After that, we have no chance of winning."
"Understood."
Camilla listened intently to Allie's warning, gripping her shield with renewed force.
Having steeled herself to some degree, Camilla turned to me and said,
"Hero, you'll be in danger too."
"Hm? Me too?"
"Yes. Even a Titan would suffer massive damage from exposure to the divinity emanating from the divine relic."
"I've braced myself for that. And anyway, absorbing the thing should heal me instead."
"That won't be easy either. Even with the legacy last time, assimilation took ages, didn't it? Something incomparable like a divine relic will take far longer."
"Good point."
A staple trope in fantasy or martial arts tales.
The rarer the spirit elixir, the harder it is to absorb.
"Well, guess I have to trust you and dive in."
"So irresponsible."
"At times like this, it's called trust."
"Then I'll trust you too, Hero, and go in. You'll definitely assimilate it quickly."
"Hey, hey."
We'd burdened each other, but we faced one another and smiled.
With that, we entered the barrier and arrived before the god.
Arrogant humans! Do you not know who I am? Direct heir of the heavens! God of lightning and retribution! I am Taranis!
"Noisy now that we're inside."
"He's been yammering non-stop from the start. Guess even gods get dreadfully bored."
"Helen has it rough."
Helen, praying outside the barrier, gazed worriedly our way. I responded with a smile.
And right away,
"Well then, bon appétit."
I headed for the god atop the table.
The moment the barrier fell.
Taranis, ripped free by Sian, writhed in agony.
Titan!!! Vile race that devours parents, swallows siblings, engulfs offspring! Having devoured the heavens, now you seek to consume me too!
A dying god he may be, but Taranis was still a god.
Far from something to underestimate.
Yet he came to fear a mere man.
The Titans: the mad race that devoured even kin to defy the gods.
Memories of that brutal past, when gods fell prey to them, surged forth.
I, Taranis, shall not perish here!
Chanting his divine oath, Taranis thrashed for survival, condensing his lightning divinity into a forward blast.
Zzzeeeng!
The railgun-like force made Allie swallow hard. She'd boasted the barrier could withstand three strikes, but Taranis's unexpected reserves sowed doubt.
Fortunately, his attack never reached the barrier.
Camilla had blocked it.
"If this stops you, you've truly weakened."
"Yeah? Might end easier than expected."
Sian flashed a savage grin at Camilla's words, focusing on Taranis's form. Black blood trickled from his eyes.
This? Authority of an outer god?
Time Stop—the power that tormented Sian in the north last year—now restrained Taranis.
You think this feeble divinity can bind me?!
Godly as he was, with vast divinity, Taranis wasn't fully frozen.
But it held his lightning form, if only briefly.
Kwachik!
"Thanks for the meal."
Grraaaaaah!
Torn once more by Sian, Taranis could no longer contain his fury. He unleashed lightning straight at Sian.
Kururung, Kwaaaang!
"Whoa! That's something."
"No strike is easier to block than a predictable one."
Yet it was parried by Camilla again.
God or not, bereft of combat experience, Taranis was a child before a knight nearing 2nd rank and a god-hunter.
Woman! I'll smite you first!
"Punishment is for the righteous to inflict on sinners."
Titan! Silence! You, the vilest race, dare judge right and wrong before a god?!
"Least the Titans are righter than you, leeching off women's lives to cling on."
Sian pulled the gaze from Camilla onto himself, sneering as he taunted Taranis once more.
"To begin with, you're no god—you're a fucking moron."
You bastard!
Thoroughly enraged, Taranis hurled lightning at Sian yet again.
Fearing Camilla's block, he chained reactive blasts, striking repeatedly.
Kurur, Bang! Bang! Kwaaaang! Bang!
Even perfect defense would shred under that might!
Taranis was confident. He'd layered assault upon assault.
But,
"Whew~ That was close."
Against his expectations, Camilla hadn't defended. Sian stood unharmed.
How?!
"Rubber!"
Sian pulled a massive rubber wall—procured from the Tower of Wisdom—from his inventory, taunting all natural.
"Well, a moron like you wouldn't know what rubber is."
Of course, mere rubber couldn't fully halt divinity-charged lightning.
But Sian had Time Stop lingering in one eye.
He'd blocked the blasts with frozen-time rubber.
Had Taranis unleashed full power from the outset, it would've pierced. But his miscalculation—dialing back might to evade Camilla, multiplying strikes instead—proved fatal.
"Camilla!"
"Ready!"
Aura concentrated, Camilla lashed Taranis with a wall-shaped aura strike.
Mistaking her for defense-only, Taranis took it full-on.
Gyaaaaah!
"Watch your mouth. She's my teacher."
Kwachik!
Grraaaaaah!
Divinity torn away anew by Sian, Taranis teetered on death's threshold.
Kwaaaah! I shall not die here!
In his death throes, Taranis spewed divinity, shattering his own form.
The thrill unique to life-or-death combat.
Staring at a world slowed as if time itself halted, Camilla regarded the man before her.
He was her briefly instructed disciple, a friend with whom they traded jests.
And now, her cherished pillar of support.
'A knight is one who upholds their oath.'
Camilla deemed this the moment to shatter her walls.
So she asked him.
"Hero, do you trust me?"
"Ha? Is that even worth asking?"
Sian laughed through blood coughed up shielding her from lightning and divinity surges.
"Of course I do."
His reply drew a smile from Camilla. She amassed her aura, honing her mind to a single point.
A 4th-rank knight kindles will at sword's edge.
A 3rd-rank manifests will upon the world through blade.
A 2nd-rank imprints will upon the world itself.
As Pere Del pierced divine miracles, Andrew enforced inescapable kills upon reality.
Die! All of you!
Camilla imprinted unyielding protection upon the world.
Wha—how can a mere human...?
"How? Like this."
The god panicked before the knight's new law. The hunter, trusting her, seized the opening.
"Like this!"
Kwachik!
Flesh finally rent by Sian, Taranis flailed grotesquely for life. But,
Aaaaaah nooooooo!!!
His death wail scattered into futility.
"Camilla!"
As the barrier crumbled,
Helen rushed straight to Camilla.
"Are you alright?"
"Mama, I'm fine."
"You did so well... truly."
Confirming Camilla unharmed, Helen began shedding thick tears.
The girl who'd sworn from childhood to protect her had become a true knight.
"Mama is so proud of Camilla."
"It's all thanks to Mama."
No blood tied them, yet none could deny they were mother and daughter.
After a brief embrace, Camilla checked on Sian.
"Mama, the Hero?"
"Don't worry about Sian. He's safe, thanks to you. And..."
No sooner had Helen spoken than the nymphs of Asgard gathered, one and all
praying around Sian.
"Today might birth a new god."