Helheim (2)
The monsters charged at us with a piercing [Kieeeeeeeeeek!]
Thick, violet Void Energy swirled through the air. Riana plunged straight into the swarm of Bete and swung her axe in a precise, right-angled downward strike.
CRAAAAAACK!
The ground split open in a jagged zigzag. The creatures lost their footing and tumbled into the newly formed chasm.
[So...lo...ne...]
[You... too... lonely?]
These pitiful wraiths, driven to death by solitude… If it had been the old me, I would have ended up just like them. But now? I’m in a couple. Even if it’s an abnormal three-way relationship, I’m different from you losers.
“Puhuhuhu. I’m a winner, damn it!”
Unlike you pathetic, lonely, solitude-killed monsters!
Riana narrowed her eyes at me as I cackled like a madman. She looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
Hey, don’t give me that look. It’s exactly how I look at you on a daily basis. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
I stayed behind Riana, who was holding the horde back with her wide range of motion, and unleashed a burst of light. A sword filled with pure white radiance carved a brilliant arc through the air. Black blood sprayed from the necks of the lonely wraiths. Sword energy surged like a tidal wave.
Black stone pillars erupted, spewing void energy, and the creatures’ heads exploded along with them. It felt like splattering ink across a blank sheet of paper.
[Kiiiiiiik!]
“...Huh?”
What a stupid bastard. Did you really think you could bite through a blade? Out of all the Bete I’ve seen so far, this one took the crown for biggest idiot. He literally committed suicide.
I was just holding the sword, yet he flew straight at me and impaled his own face on it. At the same time, the blade pierced straight through his throat and into his brain. Black blood gushed out like a showerhead.
If this wasn’t the most enthusiastic welcome ceremony ever, I don’t know what is! It was a very satisfying initiation. I never got this kind of cheer even during the freshman welcome party back in my old world…
I caught a glimpse of Seria executing a flawless, unscathed sword dance. At first, I had thought she was just a girl being attacked by bandits. Of course, I realized within ten minutes that she was hiding her true strength. This was the first time she had shown her real ability.
Though even now, she still wasn’t using a hundred percent of her power. But then again, neither were any of us.
“Odin, grant me your blessing.”
A flash of light poured from the Holy Sword and enveloped my entire body. I felt myself grow lighter. My strength increased. Even though I’d had a tiring morning, the power surging through me felt taut and ready.
“Nice.”
I raised the Shield of Frost and shoved the monsters back, creating a wall of shields beside Riana. There were too many of them. I chanted runes, slammed them into a scroll, and tore it apart.
A thorny earthen wall rose in front of Seria, blocking the monsters’ approach. She sent me a look of gratitude. I gave her a short nod in return and spoke to Riana.
“We’re going with the usual tactic.”
“...The usual tactic?”
“You’ll know it when you hear it.”
I stayed by Riana’s side and timed it perfectly. I was watching for the exact moment. The moment the creatures failed to break through the shield and charged recklessly, causing their posture to collapse.
[Kieeeeeeeeek!]
[Fri...end...!]
“Open the shield!”
At my shout, Riana’s body moved on instinct. The monsters poured through the gap that had split perfectly in half. They tangled together, collided, and tripped over one another. The sight was so pathetic it was impossible not to laugh.
“Riana, close it!”
“Haa… haa♥ I can feel their touch, Hero!”
“God damn it, woman!”
Riana swung her axe to keep them at bay and quickly closed the gap again. A wall of earth formed once more, and the monsters collapsed in a heap. I fired sword energy upward.
Thududududu!
The crescent-shaped blades whistled like bullets. They fired in rapid succession. The Bete whose front line had collapsed stumbled around, leaning on each other to stand. They had become the very wall blocking their own escape route and were now scrambling away in a frantic mess.
I wasn’t about to let that happen. They had nowhere left to run. And more importantly, why would I let walking bags of money get away? Magic stones are incredibly valuable.
[Movement]
I pushed the earthen wall forward. The thick drag against the black soil was clearly visible. Riana and I raised our shield wall between us and kept the creatures in check with the Holy Sword and her axe. With every step we took, we crushed them further.
“Oo! Oo! Oo! Oo! Oo!”
“Oo! Oo! Oo! Oo! Oo!”
The Vikings’ signature shield tactic was truly impressive. We advanced steadily, and the monsters lost all sense of direction. Trapped against the cliff, they could only lash out uselessly at the wall.
“Seria.”
“Yes, Hero.”
Seria’s blade pierced straight through the monsters’ necks. They writhed in agony, twisting violently. The more they struggled, the deeper the blade carved into their flesh, only increasing their pain. It seemed the ones with higher intelligence survived longer. National rule, I guess.
*
No matter how much I looked around, there was no sign of the Banaheim Warrior Corps. We had been told they departed first to conduct preliminary reconnaissance. Yet there wasn’t a single footprint, not even a trace.
An uneasy, chilling aura hung in the air. It was probably caused by the wraiths drifting through Helheim’s atmosphere. What if—what if they had been lured by the Bete’s whispers and turned into berserkers?
…Ugh, let’s not even think about that. There’s nothing more painful than having to fight fallen comrades in a dangerous place like this. Especially since the Banaheim Warrior Corps had often carried out missions with me.
If they had truly been corrupted by Void Energy…
“...Tsk.”
I’d have no choice but to kill them. Even if it meant crying my eyes out, I’d still have to do it. After all, I have to survive first.
“They won’t have died. They are warriors greater than any other. I believe Odin will grant them strength.”
Riana spoke in a solemn voice. She was right. Even though Vikings were usually looked down on as vulgar barbarians by those who worshipped the same god, these warriors were respected enough to serve directly under the king. They were truly great warriors who deserved admiration.
It was just incredibly strange hearing such words come out of Riana’s mouth. Normally she just silently sharpened her axe, but the moment a monster subjugation mission came up, her masochistic switch flipped on. And she was the type who got sexually aroused from being beaten. She was a total lunatic.
Just look at what she said earlier. Surrounded by grotesque creatures that looked like they crawled out of Lord of the Rings, what did she say?
—Haa… haa♥ I can feel their touch, Hero!
Oh my god. Her lewd and shameless behavior nearly made me swing my sword at her. Even if those things posed no threat to us, I wished she would take the kingdom’s mission a little more seriously.
Well, it was precisely because of that trait that we could use her as a tank…
“That mouth of hers is seriously something else, isn’t it?”
“I completely agree.”
At this point, I felt more fascination and curiosity than contempt. Seria still seemed wary, but I wasn’t too worried. No matter what, she wouldn’t actually hit a comrade, right? I’d rather she just put up with it. Otherwise Riana would be the only one enjoying herself.
“W-why are you looking at me with such greedy eyes instead of insulting me?!”
“Because you keep doing that crap.”
“...I didn’t do anything.”
“Then why can’t you look me in the eye?”
Exactly. She must have a guilty conscience. Even Riana probably knew how bizarre her sexual preferences were. If it was just people hitting her, fine. But she even lets monsters do it!
Of course, if she doesn’t like them, she’ll brutally tear them apart with her axe. And she enjoys even that. A full-blown SM psychopath.
“Ahem!”
Riana’s fake cough rang out. It was incredibly forced.
“A-anyway, Hero, there’s something I want to ask.”
Oh, changing the subject? Nice escape. I nodded. While walking across the black earth and pinpointing where the warrior corps might be, I listened to Riana’s question.
“We’re going to kill the Legion Commander, right?”
“That’s right. If we beat him, something should drop, don’t you think?”
We were going to have to kill him eventually anyway. In fact, we were already on our way to do so. The original trio had been so utterly useless that I gave up on the subjugation. They tried it on their own, but what could guys who hadn’t moved their bodies for over a year possibly achieve?
In the end, they came back looking like wet dogs that had been beaten by Bete. Lunaris sent out a pursuit team. They chased us all the way from Ludrick to the Frost Giant Ridge. We managed to hide our tracks and escape.
Ragner blamed the Holy Sword. He tried to steal the blade that contained my blood and was contracted with Odin. In the end, I crushed his balls—crunch, crack, snap. A trauma so complete he would never approach me again.
Fina doesn’t know. We haven’t met yet, and she won’t come looking for me. She’s probably still fawning over Lunaris right now. Pathetic girl. Lunaris has no interest in Fina. She’s just using her because she’s pure and easy to manipulate. And Fina, blinded by her obsession, never once cast a shield or blessing on me.
Now that those three pieces of trash were gone, honestly, the three of us were all warriors or swordsmen, so our party composition wasn’t exactly ideal. We were covering the Saintess and Mage roles with scrolls.
In the end, nothing had really changed. I fought alone, relying on scrolls and Odin’s blessing. Those guys only ever cared about the rewards after battle.
Maybe that’s why—even though the situation wasn’t something I should be satisfied with—I actually liked having at least one comrade who was on the same wavelength.
Seria Lionblood. Riana Sigidottir.
I was with people who could be called lovers and friends. Deserting the hero’s party had been the right choice.
“Bete, huh…”
“So he was the leader of the ones we fought?”
“He looked surprisingly normal. His loneliness came from losing his lover.”
Seria’s expression grew complicated. The light in her eyes faded, and her body began to tremble. A dark shadow settled over her. She clenched her intertwined hands tightly. It wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking. Unlike Isabel, everything showed on her face. Isabel would turn her head away the moment her feelings showed.
“It’s okay.”
“...Yes.”
“I won’t disappear. Look. I’m right here in front of you.”
We were facing each other, feeling each other’s warmth. Together, we could definitely smash the Legion Commander Bete’s skull. There was nothing to fear if we were together.
It’s something you learn from childhood. Even the Power Rangers get beaten up alone but win when they combine. Admiral Yi Sun-sin said it too: unite and live, scatter and die.
It was a phrase everyone knew, but in this moment, its meaning felt especially profound.
Seria wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me. As if anxious, she whispered into my ear.
…It felt like she was aiming for something with this.
“...You’ll stay by my side, right?”
“Of course.”
“Really?”
“Obviously.”
I answered firmly. Even if I returned to my original world, I would marry both of them. I told her we would spend the rest of our lives together in this world.
But why? The dark, sticky shadow that had settled in her eyes didn’t disappear. It only sank deeper.
“Will you be with me forever?”
“...Forever, huh.”
It sounded like a line from a romance manga.
“...Why aren’t you answering right away? Hm…?”
“Seria?”
“Don’t hesitate. When I love you this much…”
Did my hesitation just now make her anxiety spike? Since I didn’t know her past, it was frustrating. At the same time, I thought this could be an opportunity for us to slowly get to know each other.
So I pulled her into a tight embrace.
“I swear before Odin, and before Freya, the goddess of abundance and mercy.”
I could feel her warmth. I could hear her heartbeat. Even in this world of the dead with zero mood, we felt each other.
“...Yes. Hehe, that’s enough.”
“Haha…”
And then.
“Khaak, ptooey. What a load of bullshit.”
Riana, who had been watching from the side, spat loudly into the distance.