Helheim (3): Total Annihilation
It was total annihilation. Not a single survivor. Every last one of them had met their end. A hollow, utterly despairing conclusion unfolded right before my eyes. The great warrior band of Vanaheim had died despite bearing Odin's blessing. They had fallen on the battlefield, so it should have been an honorable death. Their souls would cross the gates of Valhalla, feast with the gods, and wage endless battles.
—That's how it should have been.
"...What the actual fuck, Hel, you son of a bitch."
The warriors' souls were trapped in Helheim. They hadn't lost their honor. They had always believed the gods' protection was with them. Yet their souls suffered all the same. It was the handiwork of Hel's subordinate, Legion Commander Bete of the Void. That motherfucker lured people into solitude and corrupted them. What a genuinely insane bastard. Just because he died alone, why drag everyone else down with him? They were comrades. Family. All of them were children of the gods!
I had knelt before Odin and offered a sacrifice. I drank the blood and smeared the offering across my eyes. Maybe it was because I had sworn the oath with blood on the holy sword. Even I—who had never felt the slightest sense of kinship with them—felt pure rage surging up. I had to keep the great warriors' honor from being tarnished. I had to free them from Hel's clutches.
The holy sword, Mistilteinn, howled. As if voicing Odin's own inner fury, it made my heart pound even harder.
The black earth. A land thick with red blood and howling madness. Upon it stood those who had once been great warriors of Vanaheim's band. No—warriors who were still great even now, having tasted corruption and turned into berserkers. There was no reason left in them. There couldn't be. If they had retained any sanity, they wouldn't be carrying out indiscriminate slaughter in a place like this.
"Oh my god..."
"Odin, please grant them rest..."
Seria covered her mouth. Riana stroked her necklace and prayed. Between them, I forcibly swallowed down the rage that had shot straight to the top of my head and the veins bulging on my forehead.
"...Prepare for battle."
"Hero?"
"Riana, shut the hell up and just follow me."
Please.
"There are way too many enemies!"
"...They're not enemies."
Don't call them that.
"May this light grant them rest...!"
I charged forward without another word.
Someone might wonder why I was this furious. If they had been barbarians like Ragner, I might have felt the same. But these weren't barbarians. They were the bravest warriors of all. Warriors who served the 'gods' without splitting hairs between Vanir or Aesir. Humans who had fought shoulder-to-shoulder with me, the hero—either beneath me or as equals on the battlefield.
A noble light that should never have been reduced to monsters. They were Midgard's flame of life, its shield. So I unleashed the radiance. I believed this light would bring peace to their souls.
Uwo! Uwo! Uwo! Uwo! Uwo!
Fierce war cries shook the earth. Thud! Thud! They pounded the ground, roared again, and drenched themselves in black blood.
"...The investigation of Helheim."
"It was a complete failure, obviously."
Without their investigation logs, we had no report to deliver. If we absolutely had to complete this mission, there was only one option. We would have to smash the head of the one responsible for turning them into this. The head of Bete of the Void.
"Smash it first and ask questions later."
Seria naturally followed me. Riana let out a sigh that said it couldn't be helped and drew her axe. She wasn't excited. A complicated heart and solemn spirit dwelled within her. This wasn't a situation to get worked up and lustful. She knew better than anyone that this was not the time.
Their eyes locked onto me. The madness of the berserkers rampaging while spewing black blood. Their killing intent made my skin crawl. A red aura flickered across my greatsword. It swirled violently. Clumps of red blood followed the sword's path. I stabbed a neck. The sensation of piercing a person wasn't pleasant at all. It had always felt awkward. After coming to this other world, I had killed countless monsters. They weren't living beings. But war delivered the distinct feeling of driving steel through human flesh.
Swift
The rune letters on Mistilteinn flashed. My stagnant bloodline responded. I thrust the Shield of Frost forward, binding their footsteps.
"Graaaaaah!"
Their legs froze solid. The frost energy that inflicted frostbite in three seconds was overwhelming. The shield—crafted from the corrupted Frost Giant King Thrym, whom Thor had slain and whose soul was trapped in Helheim—protected me.
I swung my sword with movements accelerated by Swift. The heavy sensation of separating muscle from bone traveled up my arm. The empty feeling of facing wraiths came with it.
A massive axe slammed into the ground, sending cracks across the earth.
"For Hel!"
"Kuh...! Snap out of it! Do not yield to death!"
Riana parried the berserkers' sword strikes in rapid succession. A shallow cut opened across her abs. Blood flowed. A small wound was still a wound. It hurt.
"Huu..."
My heart hammered wildly. If I hadn't pulled back in time, my stomach would have been split open. My guts might have spilled through the torn flesh. I felt relief at the minor injury and immediately smashed the attacker's head.
Crunch!
A gruesome sound and an even more gruesome sight. To think this was the end of a great warrior. Without realizing it, Riana's hatred toward Hel grew deeper.
She had been taught since childhood, even before she was driven from her tribe: even if blood does not connect us, we are all family. Descendants of the gods. That was why she raged. She flipped her middle finger toward 'Bete of the Void' who had seduced them. She didn't know where he was. She simply believed he would see it and hurled every curse she could think of.
"Hero, this area is clear."
"Hero. This side is finished as well."
I looked at the two of them, both covered in black and red blood. Then I offered a silent prayer for the berserkers of Vanaheim's warrior band lying scattered across the ground.
I straightened Mistilteinn. The last warrior. I drove the holy sword deep into the abdomen of the lone surviving berserker.
"Khup...!"
"We'll meet again in heaven."
"...Odin."
As if answering me, he murmured the name in a low voice. He saw the god to whom he had devoted his entire life. At least in his eyes, he must have seen Odin's hand reaching out to collect his soul.
Together with my condolences, I placed the greatsword in his hand.
"Could we transport their bodies to the royal castle?"
The voice belonged to Seria.
"...It would be too much for just the three of us."
"If we had reinforcements or additional troops, we could bury them, but..."
The people of the kingdom knew nothing of this situation. There was no way for them to know, so expecting reinforcements was unrealistic. After all, this mission wasn't about subjugating a legion commander but investigating the void energy covering Midgard.
Fuck.
The sincere curse nearly burst from my lips.
Bete, that worthless piece of shit, had crossed the line. If he had simply killed them, fine. But he had toyed with their hearts—the hearts of warriors who believed dying on the battlefield was the highest honor. These warriors could not reach Valhalla. Instead, their dead bodies were dragged along to commit massacre. In the end, I had been the one to guide them to heaven. As Odin's spokesperson, I had done everything I could.
"Hero, let's go back."
No.
"No. I have to kill Bete."
My emotions refused to return.
"We must bury their bodies under the sun before darkness consumes them."
She wasn't wrong. If their corpses were cursed, the gods would surely rage. And... their souls would suffer for eternity.
I wasn't religious, yet I had somehow become part of this world. I had come to believe in the existence of gods. Life here had grown familiar. I had adapted to its culture.
"...Let's go. I may not remember every single face, but I respected them. As comrades. As family. As mentors in battle. Vanaheim's greatest warriors. We have to let the others know of their deaths."
"Bete."
I spoke the name of the bastard who deserved to die. It left a truly disgusting taste in my mouth.
Grind.
I clenched my teeth. What if I had moved together with the warrior band? No, the result would have been the same. That only made it feel even more fucking awful.
"Life is such bullshit."
It's goddamn miserable.
*
We decided to spend the night in a small village near the gate to the demonic realm.
A night filled with the hooting of owls and the distant howls of wolves. Most importantly, it was the hour when Seria slept soundly. I quietly woke Riana.
"Mmm... No more, it's too much..."
"Riana. Riana...!"
"Y-yes, I like it... Taesik's hand. I like it...♡"
This idiot! What kind of dream is she having?!
I kicked her butt. The moment she started to cry out, I clamped my hand over her mouth.
"Shh..."
She nodded, her face flushed bright red. Her breathing came in shallow, heated pants. Honestly, it was pretty erotic.
"Hero. Are you seriously going to jump me in the middle of the night like this...?"
That's not it.
"You trash... Don't you already have Seria and the maid? If those two aren't enough to satisfy you—"
"...Can you please just shut up and listen to me?!"
It was entirely possible, damn it.
Riana looked into my eyes. ...She slowly nodded.
I whispered so Seria wouldn't wake.
"I'm going to go kill Bete now."
"...What?"
"So if Seria wakes up, take her back to Vanaheim."
Riana still didn't understand the situation. Suddenly declaring he was going to fight alone? Where was this confidence coming from? If that was the case, there would be no reason to leave his comrades—leave her—behind.
"Do you not trust us?"
"It's not that. I trust you more than anyone. That's exactly why I'm asking this favor."
It was the truth.
"Please. Stay by Seria's side. She'll be anxious."
"...We can go together. If we plan a strategy tomorrow—"
"No. You two have to deliver news of the warrior band's deaths. That is your fate."
Rustle.
"Hehe... Hero~"
I froze when I saw Seria tossing in her sleep. She must be having a happy dream.
...There was no time.
"I'm begging you. If Seria throws a fit, knock her out if you have to and take her anyway."
"You're really going?"
"Yeah."
Above all, leaving Seria in such a dangerous place made me uneasy. She was strong enough. But this wasn't about strength or weakness. The moment she became my lover, the matter was already decided. I could not bear to see her hurt. I had felt it earlier. When I saw the berserkers swinging their blades at Seria, I felt it. They were people I should have been sending to the gods' side. Just the fact that they pointed swords at her filled me with irritation. Of course, since she had cut them all down, that feeling had vanished like a mirage.
I set my thoughts aside and whispered to Riana. My words carried resolve.
"Return to Vanaheim."
"...What if Seria opens her eyes?"
She knew too. Seria would definitely rage, saying she was going back to me. She would tremble with anxiety, thinking I had abandoned her. Knowing all that, I was still seized by the need to kill Bete.
I hid my emotions. I deliberately put on a teasing tone.
"Block her with everything you've got. You like getting hit anyway, right? Perfect."
"You... you?! So that's how you see me? As some perverted woman?!"
As expected, this girl was not normal. Was it really okay to leave Seria with her?
"Stop joking around."
"...You're serious."
"I'll be back soon."
With those words, I picked up the holy sword. I activated the runes.
Presence Deletion
"Hero, be careful."
"I will, even if you don't tell me."
I kissed Seria on the forehead.
"See you in Vanaheim. Listen well to Isabel and Riana."
Since I had erased my presence, she wouldn't wake. Riana raised her middle finger and gave me a rotten smile.
What? Jealous?
That lasted only a moment. Riana's expression turned sorrowful as she spoke. What the hell...
"You must come back alive—"
Goddamn it! I had to shut that mouth right now. Maybe that was why. I saw my arm shoot forward at incredible speed. I covered her mouth with all my strength. Fuck, I absolutely could not let her finish that line. That was a death flag!
In every manga, movie, and novel I'd seen, no one who uttered that line survived. Because in this world, 'what if' existed. In the IF world where that line was spoken, I might have ended up dead.
"...Just don't say it."
"Mmph mmph..."
"I'm begging you...!"
I don't want to die.