Bracky remembered what happened a few months ago.
The Giant of Strength, Harad.
The things that happened when the black catastrophe appeared.
The warriors of Thor's legion were completely massacred. The lowest-ranked warriors couldn't endure the strength that was released when Harad descended.
The Shinsoo of Thor's legion, the Tanngnjostr, disappeared with a mere wave of Harad's hands. Even now, Bracky still couldn't understand what Harad had done to make the Tanngnjostr vanish.
And the same thing was about to happen.
It was a different strength, but it had a similar smell to it.
"Get back!"
Bracky yelled reflexively. He activated 'Son of a God' and gathered thunder in his hammer.
Back then, Ragnar had been with them. The legendary viking king had protected Bracky and the warriors.
"Move!"
Ingrid yelled. The inferior-ranked warriors, paralyzed by the crushing pressure which emanated from the sky, reacted to the Valkyrie's command. From where Ingrid stood, she threw her body behind Bracky's.
An earthen disaster descended as the ground shook at that moment. A deep earthquake churned the ground and a torrent of soil surged up into the air.
It was an incredible amount of dirt. It was the phenomenon created as Balgad, the Giant of Earth, descended to the ground.
Bracky looked at the airborne earth which seemed fierce as a wave and fast as a storm and swung his hammer. Lightning crackled before him and made an opening.
Kwagagang!
The hail of dirt pummeled the ground. From a distance, the earth shook like mad as yellow lightning surged furiously amidst the growing dust cloud.
Such was what Tae Ho saw. He, who was behind Bracky's group, moved towards Merlin as the wizard stabbed his staff into the ground. An invisible barrier coalesced in the shape of a wedge and cleanly split the wave of dirt around them.
Siri huddled behind Bracky and covered her mouth and eyes. Although the lightning had torn through the hail, no one could do anything about the dust. Breathing was impossible, much less opening one's eyes.
Merlin clutched his staff and trembled. His magic power had been halved after Erin's destruction, and sweat began dropping like rain from his furrowed brow.
Tae Ho's vision pierced outwards. He could see a red word beyond the dust that was smashing at Merlin's barrier.
The Giant of Earth, Balgad.
An existence comparable to even the Giant of Strength, Harad.
As he walked, a thick armor of rocks formed over his body.
What seemed like a mountain of rocks slowly closed in on them.
-
The gate connected with Erin had grown warped and distorted.
The several things Balgad and Avalt had prepared had also become a mess.
The reason the Giant of the Night, Avalt, stayed behind in Jotunheim was to hide Balgad's battlefield with his specialty magic, darkness.
But now, the battlefield itself had been moved and Avalt couldn't see the effects of the darkness. Because of that, Avalt took his eyes off the battlefield and instead looked to a distant place.
The Giants weren't the only race the Great Barrier was obstructing. Ironically enough, it also obstructed the Gods of Asgard.
The giants at the front line sensed Balgad's sudden movement.
Similarly, the warriors of Asgard squaring off against the giants also noticed that a disaster had occurred in some far away place.
The giants didn't move, and the same went for the warriors of Asgard.
It was an obvious thing.
This place wasn't Asgard. The appearing of the Giant of Strength, Harad, in Asgard was a different case, but it wasn't such a matter for the giants at the front lines to intervene directly.
The Gods of Asgard could know of the events inside the great barrier immediately.
Still, while they knew the Giant of Earth, Balgad, had released his strength, they couldn't know who his opponent was.
But that was enough. There was enough time.
The Giant of the Night, Avalt, looked towards the Balgad and Idun's warrior once again.
But it was only for a moment. He could only return his gaze to the front lines.
There was a change at the front lines. The forces of Asgard had started to move.
'How?'
Like many instances, Avalt's confusion was an obvious thing.
They couldn't have imagined that there was a Goddess not only observing her warrior but was even conscious of his condition.
The moment Tae Ho left the vicinity of the Great Barrier, Idun could feel it. She could even connect with Tae Ho directly when he used 'Idun's warrior'.
Idun was instantly aware of the danger Tae Ho was facing at the front lines. She had ignored all procedures and requested for assistance with all her strength.
He plea reached out to the God stationed at the front lines.
That God didn't hesitate for a moment. He surged up with a crescendo of thunder.
-
The problem was time.
Time wasn't with either side.
The moment Thor moved, the giants at the front lines reacted. As Thor and the warriors of Valhalla marched, the giants blocked their path.
The Giant of Earth, Balgad, wasn't planning to face Idun's warrior alone. He had lined up his underlings in the arrival gate of Erin.
Balgad had moved alone because the destination had been altered, but it wasn't that his underlings had returned to Jotunheim or stayed immobile. They moved swiftly to chase the back of their master.
For some, time flowed quickly.
For others, time had slowed to a crawl.
Balgad, the Giant of Earth, was like a living mountain. He was the most massive Giant among the Five Fingers.
Distance shortened drastically with each of his steps. As the cloud of dust faded away, what Bracky and Siri saw was a towering wall of rocks that charged forward at incredible speed.
It wasn't something that could be countered like the hail of dirt.
Bracky steeled himself. He took a deep breath and gathered all of his strength in his right arm to try and slow it down as much as possible.
Faced with a decision, Siri transformed into a wolf. She bit Ingrid who stood closest to her.
Siri charged forward. Ingrid yelled and two inferior-ranked warriors hung onto Siri.
Bracky charged forward and smashed the ground with the strength he'd amassed; however, it wasn't to split the earth. The thunder that followed his strike hit the wall of rock that was charging towards thim.
The Giant of Earth was unavoidably halted for a step. Bracky's full powered attack wasn't something easily disregarded.
But even so, it wasn't that he could defeat him.
Balgad, who'd been slowed in his advance, stomped the ground and the lighting subsequently scattered. An invisible force plowed toward Bracky.
Bracky set up a defensive layer with the God's power within him and endured the invisible force while being pushed back; however, the inferior-ranked warriors weren't so fortunate. Their bodies were pulverized and became lumps of flesh.
Bracky gritted his teeth. Siri, who barely managed to avoid the attack, raised her head and looked at Balgad.
Balgad ignored the two of them. He kicked the ground and charged towards Tae Ho.
40 meters.
The charging of a giant that tall gave a pressure that make it seem like the sky was crumbling.
Tae Ho didn't freeze, for he could hear Idun's voice. She didn't inquire his situation and instead worked harder to transmit to him more of her strength.
Tae Ho bellowed out Idun's name. He charged towards the Giant of Earth as an image of Ragnar appeared in his mind.
He had to do the same as he'd done. He had to protect his allies while facing the giant.
"Chant!"
Tae Ho transformed into a hawk and shot off at blinding speed. Balgad didn't miss Tae Ho and tracked him with his eyes. He swung one arm and rattled Tae Ho's path with the overwhelming wind pressure that followed and fired rock-hewn arrows from his other arm.
Tae Ho flipped his body mid-air. As he transformed back into a human, he created a shield with 'Warrior's Equipment' and covered his body. At the same time, he stretched out his left arm and called out.
"McLaren!"
The rock serpent that had been summoned in Midgard appeared in the gray lands of Erin.
As McLaren appeared, Tae Ho simultaneously gave a command and then threw aside the shield he'd blocked the rock-hewn arrows with before charging into the air.
McLaren circled the opposite direction from his master. Before the shield reached the ground, he'd already opened his mouth widely and gulped down Siri, Ingrid, and the surviving warriors of Valhalla. With them secured, he tunneled into the ground.
Balgad ignored the serpent. He gazed intently at Tae Ho and swung his arm. Contrary to his size, it was a fast and precise movement.
Tae Ho gritted his teeth. He forcefully kept his eyes open and looked at the wall of rocks crushing the air before him. He then activated his rune magic in quick succession.
"Gant!"
A magical gale of wind was fired from Tae Ho's arms. It wasn't to push away the wall of rock but rather to increase his own fleeing speed.
Balgad's arm passed beneath Tae Ho's feet by a hair's width. Tae Ho contorted his body once again and kicked the air to surge up. He reached a higher vantage point and unveiled a second summoning rock.
"Rolo!"
The gryphon fluttered its wings and picked up speed. Rolo cried valiantly instead of shrinking back before the giant.
Clutching onto Rolo, Tae Ho activated his saga. Rolo's wings fluttered twice, and what were previously white feathers morphed to become the membranous red wings of a dragon.
Shooting Star, the master of flames.
It was different from when he'd summoned him to execute a lance charge. The true dragon wasn't merely ten meters long. Now, while Rolo still wasn't as big as the original master of flames, he had grown to a length of around twenty meters.
Rolo's second flap of his wings created a great wind. It wouldn't be improper to call it an eruption.
Sadly, Balgad was a bit faster. He didn't falter at the red dragon which had appeared so suddenly before him and knew exactly what he had to do. He extended his hand towards the seething red dragon quickly and grabbed its wing with his huge hand.
With a mighty pull, he ripped it off. The red dragon cried as blood-like flames poured from the wound and dispersed into the air.
"Rolo!"
Tae Ho screamed out as Balgad swung his fist towards the falling red dragon. Rolo was slammed to the ground like a crumpled piece of paper.
The ground shook and Balgad tossed aside the wing he was holding. He then aimed a kick at the body of the red dragon.
Rolo tightened his muscles. He opened his mouth and fired flames towards Balgad.
It was a disastrous attack that could even melt rocks, but Balgad simply reacted to it calmly. He blocked it using his arms as a shield and didn't pause his advance at all. He then swung his arm in a wide arc to disperse the flames and grabbed onto the neck of the dragon.
To this, Tae Ho also reacted rather calmly and immediately removed Rolo's transformation. The moment Balgad grabbed the air, Tae Ho had sent back Rolo who'd crashed down after having lost a wing.
Balgad's eyes glinted at Tae Ho and the rock-hewn arrows were once again fired out of his armor like rain.
< Episode 30 - The knights of the round table (4) > End