Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Tyr's Strike
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Cheongryang chased after Unhyang at full speed.
Even though lightness skill had been his specialty since childhood, closing the gap with her wasn't easy. Her footsteps, lightly treading on the tree branches, matched his best efforts in speed.
It was probably because she was consciously matching her pace to his, at least somewhat.
'Is she really going to do it?'
Unhyang had lived a life far removed from fighting ever since taking a job at Baehae Entertainment.
But lately, she'd been caught up in battles more and more.
The only thing that had changed was one.
'...Ever since she became Lee Soo-hyuk the streamer's manager.'
Paht-.
Unhyang, who had been leading the way, came to a stop.
Cheongryang, following close behind, stood at her back, and Reinhardt, who had been chasing while keeping his distance, also halted at a suitable range.
"Perfect. Secluded."
The place the three had arrived at was a cliff atop a mountain far from the airship.
A spot untouched by human hands or feet.
"Remote enough that no one would notice if one person died."
That was exactly why they had chosen this location.
"Or two?"
"Just one. I'll handle the opponent myself."
"One or two, doesn't matter to me."
"Same here. As you can see, he's not much help anyway."
Reinhardt nodded at Unhyang's words, and Cheongryang gaped in disbelief at the treatment.
"If you're gonna treat me like this, why'd you even bring me?"
"To stay by my side."
"Huh?"
An unexpectedly serious answer.
This wasn't like Unhyang, who usually spouted cringeworthy lines. Only then did Cheongryang check her expression, not just her back.
Step-.
Unhyang brushed past Cheongryang's side.
As she closed in on Reinhardt, her demeanor was utterly unlike her usual bright, playful self.
"Do you absolutely have to meet Lee Soo-hyuk the streamer?"
"What if I do?"
"Then I have no choice. I'd have to kill you here."
There was no particular confidence emanating from her.
Sensing something off about her aura, Reinhardt grimaced as he identified its nature.
Just like stepping on an ant didn't require confidence, she spoke of killing him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"You can still stop now. You haven't seen it yet. But once it starts, there's no stopping it."
At her following words, a thought suddenly struck Cheongryang.
'No way...'
"What's it gonna be?"
"Hey, Unhyang!"
Cheongryang called her name, unable to approach, already convinced.
But before Unhyang could respond to his call.
Skaaat-.
"Were you hoping I'd get scared?"
Reinhardt drew his sword, exuding sharp killing intent.
"I was going to kill you cleanly, but I've changed my mind. I'll rip out that tongue first, then chop off your limbs. That might cool my mood a bit."
"So that's your choice?"
Swaaaaa-.
In that instant.
"Too bad."
Behind Unhyang, a heat haze in the shape of a human flickered into existence and vanished.
"For you... and for me."
Su-hyuk raised his hand to inspect his palm.
His skin was frozen and cracked from the bone-chilling cold. It felt like winter upon winter, the weather shifting at an inexplicable speed.
'Because of Bergelmir?'
A change caused by a mere 6% liberation rate.
Power enough to alter the weather. Su-hyuk knew only one person who could pull off something like that.
'Old Si-woo could have, maybe...'
Su-hyuk sighed and shook his head.
"This trial's insane. Putting out a boss like this."
His energy drained away.
It hadn't even shown its full form yet, but he was already certain.
This was impossible. Absolutely.
Even prime Si-woo at full health wouldn't dare. And now, after the Valhalla trial and the fight with Baldr, his stamina was scraping bottom.
"Gonna have to 2-co this for real?"
For the first time, a groan escaped Su-hyuk's lips.
The viewers were predicting failure too.
But unlike them, Su-hyuk clung to one last thread.
'Even just Baldr was over the limit.'
This trial's goal was to subdue Baldr, rescue Viola, and prevent Bergelmir's liberation.
But forget Bergelmir—even Baldr alone wasn't a 6th-floor boss.
He was a boss who outclassed three top rankers easily.
'Something's off with this trial.'
Was simply clearing the Valhalla trial smoothly the right answer?
Had taking the Viola rescue route doomed him from the start?
His mind grew complicated. With stamina at its limit, he needed to find clues and think.
But before he could.
"S-Su-hyuk-nim."
Viola, shivering in the plummeting cold, pointed to the sky with a trembling finger.
"Th-there... up in the clouds..."
"Up there?"
Su-hyuk's gaze followed to the thunderhead Viola pointed at.
Looking up at the clouds, Su-hyuk's mouth slowly fell open.
"...Holy shit."
Atop the pitch-black thunderhead.
Within the clouds, a massive hand—clearly visible to the naked eye—appeared.
A palm kilometers long, large enough to blanket the sky.
Bergelmir's hand appearance sent the viewers into a frenzy again.
It was a rare sight. No known giant came close to that size.
'He wasn't bluffing about toppling Rasderih.'
Su-hyuk had half-doubted it.
How could anyone bring down that massive wall? Especially since it wasn't ordinary material.
But seeing that hand made it believable.
If a single hand was this big, a fully liberated Bergelmir was unimaginable.
Baldr, sprawled on the ground watching it, muttered.
"The end of Midgard."
Emptiness, resignation, despair.
Baldr's words and expression held it all.
One common thread: he felt a sense of closure over something ending.
"Happy? We're all dying together."
"Not what I wanted, but..."
Baldr nodded while lying down.
"This counts as some revenge on those damn gods."
"Why hate the gods so much?"
Just for not getting into Valhalla?
Su-hyuk couldn't understand. Was it worth destroying his home over that? He couldn't even imagine the feeling.
"Better to die ignorant."
Baldr's gaze passed over Su-hyuk's back to the distant wall, Rasderih.
"Of how repulsive they are."
"Repulsive? You mean Heimdall...?"
"That repulsive god."
Behind Su-hyuk's back.
A gruff, familiar, unforgettable voice rang out.
"Are you talking about me?"
"Tyr...?"
Baldr's eyes widened.
In that moment, the near-dead man performed a miracle.
Kwak-.
Shuwaaaak-.
He gripped his half-dropped sword, sprang up swiftly, and thrust at Tyr's throat with blade steady.
But.
Kwak-.
His sword tip was effortlessly caught in Tyr's hand.
"Tyr! Tyrrrrr-!"
As if expecting the block, he showed no surprise at the parry. Instead, he screamed at Tyr until his throat tore and blood flew.
Su-hyuk blanked out momentarily at the sudden turn.
How could a dying man move that fast?
It could only be explained as a miracle born of bottomless rage.
"No way to kill me, so you resort to tricks. I get it."
A tone soothing a lamb, contrasting Baldr's fury.
But Tyr's face was grave.
"A bit much for a tantrum, though."
Looking up at the descending giant hand, Tyr narrowed his eyes fiercely.
"Waking it without knowing what it is."
Kwa-chang-.
Baldr's sword shattered like candy in Tyr's hand. Staring at the sharp fragments scattering on the ground, Baldr wore a dazed expression.
Watching slowly, a thought hit Su-hyuk.
"Gramps, did you come to stop that thing?"
He'd thought it weird all along.
No way was that a 6th-floor boss. Baldr alone exceeded the difficulty; how to handle a giant too?
If that was the endpoint, the trial was impossible. There had to be another solution.
And that solution was.
"I'm Midgard's regent."
The god before him, Tyr.
"This is my duty. Not yours."
"For a regent, you sure took your time."
Tyr looked sheepish at Su-hyuk's words.
As he said, ruling Midgard was Tyr's role—which meant handling and resolving issues there too.
Yet Su-hyuk had been doing it all this time, so he had no retort.
"...Not many flap their jaws at me like that."
Ugh, Tyr groaned, half-bowing his head.
"This incident... well."
"Pardon?"
"Forget you heard that. Gotta clean that up before it gets colder."
Bergelmir's hand had descended, now close enough to blot the sky. The cold intensified, freezing the spilled blood solid.
"What the hell is that?"
"Bergelmir. Descendant of Aurgelmir, progenitor of all frost giants."
Aurgelmir?
Unknown, but the rest made sense.
Progenitor of a race—especially giants—explained the power and majesty.
Ssk-.
Tyr finally drew his sword.
A pristine white, elongated blade of pure snow.
With sword drawn, he added the final explanation.
"And the giant Odin and I sealed away."
"Odin...?"
It seemed like bravado, but no sign of it. Above all, his drawn sword's aura was dead serious.
"Lucky, at least."
Suuuu-.
The sword moved yawn-inducingly slow. His swordsmanship felt more like brush painting than swinging.
"Only one hand freed."
Sgak-.
The slicing sound was soft yet crisp. It echoed from Midgard's sky.
Su-hyuk looked up, half-expecting it.
Jjeok-.
There, Bergelmir's hand was cleaved in half.