Chapter 49: Ragnarok (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 49: Ragnarok (1)
Immediately after Kang Geomma vanished into the sky, the arena fell into an unconscious lull. The Heavenly Sword had departed without a single word of explanation.
Although everyone subconsciously realized this was a gravely serious situation, it took a moment for that realization to reach their conscious minds. It was cognitive dissonance.
Everyone snapped back to their senses at different speeds.
The closer one was to the Heavenly Sword, the faster their eyes sharpened. Among them, Ryozo, the Royal Steward, stood out.
"……Evacuate."
Ryozo parted her lips as she looked up at the sky. Dark clouds packed the heavens. Beyond that gray veil, an extraordinary energy churned.
Ruuumble…….
The clouds groaned low, as though struggling under a burden too heavy to bear.
It was, quite literally, the clouds of war.
Episode. Gi■antomachia
Crash! Ruuuumble!
Light flickered beyond the clouds, which served as a canvas. Human shapes flickered and faded like giants dwelling in a celestial palace.
There were two figures.
Unsurprisingly, one was Kang Geomma. Sharp-eyed as she was, Ryozo could discern his identity from his shadow alone.
Who was the other? It went without saying. Ryozo yelled into her smartphone, "Tell them to issue an evacuation order immediately, now!"
– Y-Yes! Right away!
Over the line, Choi Seol-ah nodded fervently. Following Ryozo's instructions, she relayed the message to Parsi Academy.
Moments later.
Choi Seol-ah connected a call to Dante, the principal of Parsi Academy sitting across the arena from Ryozo. Though she had completed her task swiftly, there was no time to rest. She worked the lines at maximum speed to send emergency alert texts to everyone present at the arena.
The bewilderment of the Parsi Academy crowd was visible even from a distance. The faculty and guests hesitated, stammering in confusion. Seeing this, Dante roared at them.
"What are you all doing?! Move, quickly!"
"Wait, shouldn't you explain first—"
"What more explanation do you need?! Doesn't that alert explicitly state that failing to evacuate immediately could result in casualties?!"
Dante raised his voice in frustration. Though offended by his harsh tone, the crowd yielded under his relentless urging and began vacating the area.
The Heavenly Sword's sudden action. The abrupt, severe weather. It was impossible not to grasp the gravity of the situation—unless their heads were merely decorative.
Ryozo confirmed the evacuation of non-hero personnel before finally turning around. Abel and Leon were drawing their armaments one after the other.
Schwing.
Abel, the Sword Princess, drew Nothung, once the weapon of the Sword Saint. Leon, the Hero, drew Balmung, where good and evil resonated. Keeping their eyes fixed on the sky, they unsheathed their blades purely by feel.
Abel and Leon pulled their gazes from the sky and looked at each other. Just as they were about to divide their duties after a brief exchange of glances—
"Hold on!"
Yoo Se-in launched herself explosively from the arena. Ryozo and Abel looked slightly surprised. The Saintess usually carried a fragile, sickly image.
Yet here she was, shrouded in a halo of light, intruding between them like a flash of lightning. Feeling a strange sense of betrayal, Ryozo and Abel focused on Yoo Se-in for the moment.
"It's great that you're quick to act, but you two have something specific to do for just one minute. Until then—sorry to put it like this—you'll only get in Kang Geomma's way."
"……Se-in, you seem to know what's going on."
"I'm the Saintess, remember?"
Yoo Se-in brushed off any detailed explanation just like that. She had no interest in giving long-winded commentary like Speed Weapon.
"I won't tell you to just do whatever I say. This isn't a matter where I can micromanage everything anyway. But make sure you remember this."
Yoo Se-in spoke to Kang Geomma's dubious women. Her dark eyes gave her a stern appearance.
"You remember the events from the Exchange Meeting, right?"
"The Flag Capture Battle."
"Skoll and Hati."
Yoo Se-in nodded and continued.
"In one minute, act while keeping the rules of those two competitions in mind. Right now, this situation is like Lea of Legs. It operates on rules."
"What is that……?"
Yoo Se-in went blank for a second. She had effectively just been hit with the "What's that, you otaku?" trope right to her face. This is why muggles are hopeless, she clicked her tongue inwardly.
"……Just act while keeping the rules of those two events in mind."
"Understood for now," Ryozo readily agreed. Time was of the essence.
"Rather than dragging this out endlessly, let's do as Yoo Se-in says."
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
"As expected of the Academy Principal. So reasonable."
Yoo Se-in flashed a bright smile at Ryozo.
Ruuuuuuumble…….
Screams like agonizing cries began erupting from all directions. Yet the Joaquin group remained remarkably calm.
Is it because our resilience is exceptionally high?
Not at all.
It was a difference in experience. They had spent their school days with Kang Geomma, and had remained by his side ever since.
Having weathered extraordinary crises repeatedly, their mental fortitude had reached a lofty realm. No—it went further than that. Whenever such emergencies arose, they wanted to be of even a little help to Kang Geomma. Having achieved significant standing in both society and individual power, Ryozo and Abel had trained relentlessly. And it wasn't just them.
Leon, Speed Weapon, and the others each did what needed to be done in their respective domains. They quickly got a grip on their initial shock. Despair and shock were useless in overcoming a crisis.
"Se-in."
They did not avert their eyes from hardship. Even if everyone turned their backs, they pressed forward. They walked a path far beyond the ordinary.
"Tell us what we need to do."
That was why they were called heroes.
* * *
In a domain infinitely close to outer space, a new horizon parted. It was a blade mark carved by Kang Geomma's strike. Due to its sheer scale, it looked like a massive boundary dividing earth and sky.
Lowering his twin Sashimis, Kang Geomma snapped his head up like lightning. He had cut down only the intervention of the Counterforce. The tangible enemy still stood firm in his spot.
Ssssshhhhhh.
Amidst the pouring shower of arrows, Ragnarok, the Knight of Conquest, let out an exclamation of admiration.
=You cut down the Counterforce's intervention.=
"That's just what my ability does."
=The 'Authority to cut through anything'... it is not something meant to protect others. Its nature leans far closer to destruction than protection.=
"A blade is whatever you make of it. Don't go telling me how to use mine."
The old knight seemed incredulous. A dry laugh spread across his wrinkled face, a truly grotesque sight.
=Do you truly not know where that blade's tip will ultimately point?=
"Right now, it's pointing at you."
=How arrogant. Yet, possessing the power to back it up makes it all the more tragic.=
Meanwhile—
Swwwiiiish!
The arrows that had appeared as mere specks closed in rapidly. Seeing them streak forward with gleam-tipped arrowheads, the fur on Skoll and Hati stood on end.
There was no time to delay. Kang Geomma used the [Blessing of Transfer] to infuse [Lightning Magic] even more intensely into Skoll and Hati.
"Grrrrrrr!"
The shock therapy worked like a charm. Sparks violently tore through the air around Skoll and Hati.
Just before the arrows surged upon them, they barely reclaimed their momentum. Kang Geomma dismounted from Skoll's back.
Stroking the scruffs of the two wolves, he said, "I'll deal with the arrows. You two handle that 'Sun' and 'Moon'."
"Whim-kree?"
"Don't overthink it. Those things were like your shackles until recently, weren't they? Think of it as getting your revenge. Doesn't that fire you up?"
"Grrrrrr!"
Skoll and Hati bared their fierce fangs.
Awoo00000000……!
Awoo00000000……!
They unleashed a war cry, then split off in two opposite angles, fiercely pumping their four legs. Lightning in the shape of giant wolves charged toward the Sun and the Moon.
=How dare mere wretched beasts interfere with the execution of the Counterforce!=
No sooner had Ragnarok begun to nock his bowstring than Kang Geomma pressed his toes down against the atmosphere. A round hole blasted through the cloud where he kicked off, as if struck by a cannon.
BOOOOM!
He soared like a rising dragon, gliding through the air. It was a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, overloading space itself—the result of fully unleashing his divinity.
A slash packed with his full might exploded forth. In a battle between transcendent beings, predicting moves was meaningless. No matter how much one strained their brain to calculate ahead, it couldn't match a single all-out strike.
Murasame flashed. Space cleaved open, revealing a slick, petroleum-colored inner lining underneath. Where the blade swept, cosmic hues opened in a triangular rift.
Woooooosh!
Wind roared as a rift in the dimension created a powerful suction force. Like a vacuum cleaner, the gap sucked in the arrows of Conquest and Pestilence. It couldn't swallow them all, but Yoo Se-in had told him she would handle the rest.
So Kang Geomma simply trusted her words.
Slice!
Kang Geomma's arm carved a wide arc. The dimension bled dark, oil-colored blood. In exchange, the rift gulped down the shower of arrows.
Skoll and Hati nimbly dodged the arrows. Given the furious speed at which they sprinted toward the Sun and Moon, they would reach them in an instant.
=……!=
Ragnarok was an Apostle of the Counterforce. Being inhuman, he could not shape emotions into facial expressions. Yet emotions possessed scent as well.
CLASH-CLASH-CLASH-CLASH!
Sashimi and the bow limb grated hotly against each other. The violent metallic screech shook the clouds. At the intersection of their weapons, the gazes of the two transcendent beings locked together.
"I was worried for a second," Kang Geomma narrowed his eyes at breath-striking distance. "'Apocalypse.' I wondered what I'd do if it came purely as a natural phenomenon. If hell suddenly arrived, I couldn't just cut down the entire world. But since you were kind enough to manifest in human form, you make things easy for me."
=Arrogant!=
"You were the one who said I have the right to be."
Overwhelmed in the clash of strength, Ragnarok's bow was knocked back. Kang Geomma immediately followed up with another strike.
CRUNCH!
The donkey bit down on Murasame to block it. Despite its frail appearance, as a mount fit for the Apocalypse, it was truly extraordinary. However, a beast has only one mouth, while a human has two hands.
"Heeeee-hawwww—!"
The bray came from the severed head of the donkey. Through the thick bundles of blood vessels still connecting its head to its torso, Kang Geomma caught sight of his enemy.
THUD!
Even with its neck severed, the donkey slammed its front hooves into Kang Geomma. Stars flashed in his vision. He blew backward with a heavy roar. To anyone watching from the ground, he would have looked like a falling meteor.
Dropping low, Kang Geomma jammed his twin Sashimis firmly into space. The fabric of space parted like a long pair of lips. By embedding his blades, he arrested his backward momentum.
Immediately after, without even looking, he twirled Murasame above his head. With a mere flick of his wrist, he swept away a volley of arrows aimed at his crown. Ting-ting-ting—a series of hollow chimes. A silver barrier seemed to envelop him.
He raised his eyes. Behind Ragnarok, a pair of mountain-sized hands nocked an arrow into a bowstring of matching scale.
Kang Geomma's black hair whipped forward. A chilling headwind surged behind him. The arrow seemed to generate gravitational pulling power by its mere existence.
────────!
The arrow shrank. A rotating mandala of Rune language unfolded at its arrowhead. Compressed to its maximum power, the arrow generated a shockwave that rattled the world the instant it left the string.
A colossal upheaval.
Yet, there was no sound.
=Gungnir.=
Riding a spiral wave as it launched, the arrow resembled a spear far more than a bowshot.
His heart pounded wildly. Feeling the inner tremor in his chest, he thought:
A power capable of destroying the world is rushing toward me. This was the first fierce battle since awakening his divinity.
Was this tension? No.
The emotion stirring his soul was joy.
────────!
As Gungnir drew nearer—
The hazy curtain call veiling his vision receded. Red threads burned into his retinas. It was the Slashing Line.
Tick.
People often compared the spiral to the providence of the cosmos—in the sense that it endlessly twists around itself as it surges toward the end.
Tick.
Providence was providence because it could not be resisted, requiring humans and gods alike to bow their heads.
Tick.
His movement was subtle. With just a slight flick of his wrist, he raised his Sashimi. Simultaneously activating the [Blessing of Borrowed Power], he thrust his blade straight into the cosmic mainspring.
A small gesture.
Yet the Sword Principle contained within was infinite.
Slice!
The cosmic clock was severed in a single strike.