Screams Echoed Across the Land
Screams resounded across the great earth. The twilight landscape, stained red by the setting sun, evoked the horrors of hell itself.
Crushed to death, burst apart, pierced through—death came in every form. The frail humans, confronted by oblivion, had long forgotten any will to resist. They turned their backs and fled in helpless panic.
But rendering their defiance meaningless, the reapers cloaked in the guise of the dead mechanically stripped away their lives.
Aum stared blankly at the scene.
"Ha... haha... please... stop...!"
Watching lives—human lives—trampled like insects, Aum laughed as if losing his mind.
"Aum Linia. Your defeat is clear."
Aum turned his head. Loki stood right beside him.
"Ha...! It's not... over... yet...! Right! Not yet!"
Murderous intent gleamed in Aum's eyes. He leveled his sword at Loki.
"If I kill you, then I win!"
"Do you truly believe you can slay me? Even if you swing that blade with all your might, it won't so much as scratch my flesh, let alone this armor."
"......"
Aum's eye twitched. He knew it all too well. Every clash with the one before him drove home just how powerless he truly was.
"...I yield. Stop this slaughter now! This is violence! Killing even those who've abandoned the fight isn't war!"
"Indeed, not war. This is..."
Loki leaned in close, right into Aum's face.
"...a game."
"......!"
"None of this would have happened if you'd simply handed over Kudan from the start. This is the mess you brought upon yourself."
"My doing...?"
"Your arrogance in thinking you could kill me—that's what invited this end."
It was just like Shaman's prophecy: Aum had brought calamity upon the Nod people.
Of course, even if he'd handed over Kudan, friction would have arisen eventually.
As Loki built his power, the Nod tribes would rise in fear. Loki's bold emergence was both a test and a warning to any who dared oppose him.
But he'd stepped forward because Aum had given him the perfect "thread" to obsess over.
Without that thread, Loki would likely have remained quietly in Valhalla Palace.
"All this... because of me...?"
Aum collapsed to his knees. Feeling the sword's grip in his hand, he raised it to his own throat.
I'm the one who unleashed this disaster. If I end myself, perhaps this nightmare stops.
As he tensed to slit his throat, Loki flinched in surprise and backed away sharply.
Boom!
The spot shattered under a massive hammer's blow.
Aum stared blankly at the figure who'd appeared before him.
"Kudan?"
Kudan kicked the sword from Aum's grasp.
"...Killing yourself now changes nothing good."
"But... I'm the only one who can end this war. So...!"
"It could backfire."
"......?"
"Just kill the devil, then."
"......!"
Kudan turned his back on Aum and gripped his warhammer firmly.
"You're serious... aren't you?"
This time, Kudan was certain: the being before him was the devil from the holy war.
He leveled the warhammer at Loki.
"I've waited for this day, you fiend! I'll tear you apart!"
Loki eyed the warhammer in Kudan's hands.
"Tear apart? More like mince you into pulp. That's no ordinary weapon. Dwarves weren't the only craftsmen here, were they?"
"I heard from Aum. You're taming Kankun! I'll slay you and set her free!"
Kudan seized the warhammer with both hands and leaped skyward. His Divine Gift of superhuman strength ballooned his muscles like balloons.
Loki took a step back. Two Death Knights raised their shields in his place.
Clang!
The warhammer that had shattered skeleton shield walls with ease failed to pierce the Death Knights' shields. They staggered with a rustle of bone and armor, but that was all.
"What...?!"
My strike... blocked?!
"These are among the pinnacle of undead. Not quite raid boss level, but close. No mere human overcomes them easily."
Kudan's teeth ground at Loki's mocking tone.
The Death Knights swung their shields to repel him, then lashed out with massive greatswords—like flails gripped like straw—at ferocious speed.
The greatswords' patterns were simple, constrained by size and weight: down from above, right from left.
Yet these Death Knights ignored such limits, wielding true swordsmanship.
Spinning slashes, diagonal cuts, helical sweeps, thrusting pulls. Their speed left Kudan purely defensive, no chance for counterattack.
Oh! Impressive! I knew he had real power from that scratch he gave me, but this level...!
Loki was genuinely awed by Kudan's prowess.
But he was still just human.
"Kudan, no matter how far you transcend mortal limits, you can't possibly defeat th—"
"Hrrgh—!"
Kudan clenched his fist instead of the warhammer and yanked it forward.
He dove into a Death Knight's guard and unleashed a punch.
The Death Knight blocked with its shield... but bones crunched as the shield shattered around Kudan's fist.
His knuckles slammed into the Death Knight's solar plexus.
BOOM!
The Death Knight flew back, tumbling several rolls before staggering upright, regaining its balance.
"Grraaagh..."
"...Hahat!"
Loki was dumbfounded. Bare-handed what the warhammer couldn't do...? Was that fist stronger than the weapon? Or was the hammer simply inadequate for Kudan's might?
Is this guy really human? Subduing high-level undead monsters with his bare hands!
Loki chuckled, pondering the heights humans of this world could reach. Kudan already surpassed game characters in strength. What might he become with further growth?
Still... he has limits for now.
Kudan faced off against the Death Knights, breathing raggedly. His body was covered in gashes, his arm shattered from the prior blow. His legs trembled visibly—he could barely stand.
"Kudan. I have a question for you. Why not call it here?"
Loki pondered as he spoke. He craved the "thread" from Kudan, yet yearned to gauge his full power more.
"Don't make me laugh. You think I'll stop now?"
No surrender. To the bitter end, then.
"Um, Loki... sir."
Someone tugged at Loki's armor. Kankun.
"Kankun."
"War is so brutal."
"It is."
"Aum surrendered. The Nod people's will to fight is broken. Everyone but Kudan wants this war to end."
"And you're one of them."
Kankun nodded, kneeling gracefully and bowing her head. She clasped her hands and prayed earnestly to Loki.
"Please. End this war. I'll pay any price."
"What will you offer?"
"Anything you desire. Everything I have."
"How?"
Kankun hesitated, then spoke.
"I'll... I'll work hard for it?"
Her flustered finish betrayed her youth.
Loki chuckled. It implied growth in time.
Feels just like raising game characters.
He turned to Kudan.
"But that one seems intent on seeing it through."
"S-sorry... He's my uncle, and so stubborn..."
Kankun rose and stepped before Loki, gripping her sword.
"I'll handle him."
"You can't beat Kudan at your level. Miscalculation. He's a ridiculous monster."
Kankun had grown, but Kudan's power dwarfed hers.
"I know. I've seen his strength firsthand."
"......"
"But if Uncle truly waged this war for me..."
Kankun advanced.
"...he won't kill me."
And the Raguna clan had to end this war.
"Very well, then..."
Loki raised his hand. The undead hunting Nod folk froze, then gathered behind him.
"The battle's decided. But since some insist on fighting, shall we watch the duel?"
Loki sat on the icy ground. Death Knights and liches encircled him protectively.
Kudan Raguna. Kankun Raguna.
The two faced off at a distance.
"...Step aside, Kankun."
"I heard. You fought to protect me, Uncle. And... it all stemmed from a misunderstanding."
"...No misunderstanding."
"...I think it every time, Uncle, but drop that stubbornness! That's why they call you bear-head."
Kudan smiled faintly for the first time in ages. Chatting with his niece—even this pointless banter—was pure joy.
But he couldn't indulge.
"That monster will claim your soul and body. Why defend it?"
"Because I chose to serve him."
Kankun gripped Brurtgang's hilt with both hands, pulling it behind her shoulder as she lowered her stance.
"Kankun... You've been bewitched by the devil after all."
"I'm serving of my own will. Even if it's you, Uncle... if you try to harm him, I'll have to stop you."
"Kankun, no matter your sword talent, you can't defeat m—"
Kankun's foot moved. Pivoting on her left, she spun airborne, slashing diagonally upward.
Kudan's warhammer intercepted, blocking effortlessly. Sparks flew with the metallic clash as he glared.
"—e. But you've grown."
He flicked her sword away and hammered her gut with his fist.
"...Cough!"
Kankun spat blood, tumbling across the ice.
Trembling, clutching her abdomen, she gritted her teeth. Even in Loki's gifted armor, the damage was severe. Knocked out before a proper strike—she felt pathetic.
She eyed Kudan. His body torn to rags, blood streaming, breaths heaving, eyes weary. Nearly dead, yet she'd fallen in one blow.
She glanced at Loki. He watched silently, unmoving. Trusting her.
Can't win with strength. So not head-on, but...
Kankun shook off her armor. Dress-like with long skirts, yet freer than anything for battle. Tough enough to blunt Kudan's strike.
Though Uncle held back, of course...
He could have killed her outright—or smashed her with the warhammer—in an instant if he wished. Now, watching her rise, he just gnashed his teeth in frustration.
"Kankun! Get out of my way! You ca—"
"Can't beat you. But Uncle."
Kankun smirked.
"You can't kill me."
"......!"
"Stop fighting, or kill me! Choose!"
"...Bewitched deep, aren't you."
"I'm not."
"Nothing else explains defending that devil."
"He's not what you think."
"...I can't leave you like this anymore. I'll get serious too."
He aimed the warhammer, activating his Divine Gift "Superhuman Strength." Muscles swelled; his frame grew massive.
Kankun looked up at him.
"Surpass me, if you can. Kankun."