TL: Tsubak
ED:
The reason Tae Ho unleashed all the strength he possessed was simple.
"Hraesvelg is strong."
Those were Odin's words. And thanks to Ratatoskr's testimony being added here, there was no doubt about Hraesvelg's strength.
It was too different with Nidhogg.
The ancient dragon was one of the strongest existences that could bring destruction to the world but it didn't know how to fight at all. In addition, Nidhogg was submissive and naive so her battle power declined even more. She was at a situation where she should be glad if she knew how to use a tenth of her strength.
But that wasn't the same for Hraesvelg.
He was a protector that had guarded the highest branch for a thousand years. He had plenty of real battle experience and wasn't the type to dodge battles like Nidhogg.
The one connected by fate to the black dragon Nidhogg.
The king of birds Hraesvelg.
He was strong. He wasn't saying that he was Nidhogg's destined enemy for nothing so Tae Ho could only use all of his strength from the start to defeat him.
'First hit first win. The best thing is to defeat someone before they unleash their real strength.'
It was Ragnar's teaching and the experience from when Tae Ho was a pro gamer was telling him the same thing.
If Hraesvelg got strong when he transformed, then defeat him before he can transform.
If it's an opponent that can manifest strong magic, defeat them before they can complete their magic.
Waiting until the opponent unleashed all of their strength or helping them so they were able to was only a thing that protagonists from fairy tales did.
'That's how adults fight.'
Cuchulainn said like a joke but his eyes were sharp and cold.
Tae Ho didn't let himself get swept by his spirit. He maintained himself calm while five dragons flew towards the sky.
Just looking at the numbers, it was 5 vs 1 but reality wasn't that simple.
First, the difference in size was different.
Hraesvelg was also a really huge creature, although not as big as the 2km long Nidhogg.
His wings when spread seemed like it passed the hundred meters. Even if eagles were animals which wings were bigger than their bodies, being that big meant that their bodies also reached tens of meters.
Just looking at the size, the only one that could face Hraesvelg on equal ground was Nidhogg.
Rolo and Adenmaha also reached tens of meters after they transformed into Shootingstar and Javier but they were still much smaller than Hraesvelg.
If the length was twice as big, then your body became a few more times that. Rolo and Adenmaha would be seen as children in Hraesvelg's eyes.
And actually, Nidhogg was only comparable to Hraesvelg in size when looking at their bodies. She wasn't as big as him when you also took the length of the spread wings into account.
'The more you delay the more disadvantageous it is for you. You have to crush him fast.'
Tae Ho also agreed to that. He glared at Hraesvelg through Nidhogg's eyes and then looked at the 3rd person screen that showed in the screen. He quickly moved his hands and ordered.
Hraesvelg spread his wings. He fluttered once and the ground shook. The moment he surged up, a strong wind became a wall and covered the heads of the five dragons.
It was an overwhelmingly strong wind. Tae Ho placed Nidhogg, that was the strongest, at the front and pierced through the wall of wind. Adenmaha and the fake Adenmaha stuck close to her and elevated and Rolo placed the fake Nidhogg in front of it and headed to Hraesvelg's rear.
Looking at humanity's long war record, the strategy in a war served to accomplish one objective.
Surround and defeat.
Big numbers would surround a minority and destroy them.
Even if the total number of the enemy was higher than the allies, they took into account that they were in their local territory where they were bigger in number.
Tae Ho was loyal to the basics. Nidhogg charged towards Hraesvelg and opened her mouth and Adenmaha and the fake Adenmaha, that easily passed through the wall of wind by sticking close to Nidhogg's tail, flew sideways and attacked Hraesvelg's sides.
The citizens of the highest branch gulped dry saliva and a part of them let out a gasp.
Right at that moment, a strong poison got fired from Nidhogg's mouth. It was a strong poison that seemed like it could melt everything it touched and even if the opponent dodges it, they can only get infected.
But Hraesvelg flew up once again instead of fearing it. A strong wind than the first time got generated to form a whirlwind and scattered the poison Nidhogg spat and a part of them even flew towards Adenmaha and the fake one.
Adenmaha and the fake Adenmaha hurriedly let out a breath and froze the poison and the wind altogether. Hraesvelg laughed and attacked Nidhogg. There was still the remnant of the poison but he just ignored it. He had no need to fear the remnants, now that it wasn't even the original attack.
Hraesvelg had prepared a long time for this battle. ALthough the shape was a bit different to what he was expecting, it wasn't that everything he had prepared had become useless.
The first time he realized Nidhogg and him were old enemies, he didn't save time on increasing his resistance towards poison. It was an obvious thing as he would be fighting the black poisonous dragon.
Hraesvelg pierced through the wind mixed with poison and attacked Nidhogg. It was a sharp and fast movement like a mother bird snatching her prey. But Tae Ho moved Nidhogg's body as if it was his own and dodged Hraesvelg's attack. He had barely managed to dodge it by twisting Nidhogg's body so he couldn't even think about counterattacking. But she wasn't the only one that was at this place.
Adenmaha and the fake Adenmaha, that flew on top of Hraesvelg's head fired an ice breath at the same time.
Hraesvelg snorted and showed a movement normal birds couldn't even imagine. He started to drop down from the sky and then turned his body at a 180 degree to surge up and hovered on top of the head of Adenmaha and the fake Adenmaha. This attack is what you call a barrel roll.
The both of them let out a gasp and got bewildered. Nidhogg also expressed perplexion with a really surprised face.
Hraesvelg fluttered his wings strongly. He tried to make Adenmaha and the fake Adenmaha crash by creating a strong wind.
The two dragons flied desperately and let out screams and Hraesvelg gattered all attention on him.
"My king!"
Vedrfolnir screamed.
Hraesvelg, that was about to attack Nidhogg after sweeping down the two dragons, knew instinctively what Vedrfolnir's scream meant.
He turned his head and rolled his eyes. He released his spirit and checked his surroundings.
Adenmaha, that had pretended to act as if she was crashing, smirked. But it was already too late.
The fake Nidhogg rushed at Hraesvelg from his rear however Hraesvelg twisted his body and easily dodged the attack. But the fake Nidhogg was also merely a bait. The real attack was something else.
Rolo fell down from the sky. He was executing a body slam similar to a meteorite, befitting of his name of Shootingstar.
This attack was hard to dodge even in normal situations. In addition, it was even more so as he had turned to dodge the fake Nidhogg hurriedly.
But Hraesvelg wasn't that easy either. He dodged in that situation and evaded a direct hit.
Rolo hit Hraesvelg's wing. He barely managed to drop his speed before he crashed in the ground.
A trajectory of fire got drawn in the sky. Hraesvelg tried to flutter his wings and regain balance but this time, Nidhogg charged towards that Hraesvelg. She opened her mouth widely as if she was trying to bite him instead of firing poison.
"Bastard!"
Hraesvelg roared and also opened his beak widely. It was to fire an overwhelming amount of magic power.
But Nidhogg didn't stop and Hraesvelg didn't hesitate and fired out his magic power. He fired away an incredible power that could seal even the movements of Hraesvelg himself!
[Saga: The warrior that had a Valkyrie meet him]
Right at that moment, Tae Ho activated his saga. He changed the locations of Nidhogg and the fake one.
Hraesvelg's magic power hit the head of the fake Nidhogg and broke it down. And right after that Nidhogg, that had moved to the location of the fake Nidhogg, that was at the rear of Hraesvelg attacked him. This time, Hraesvelg had no means to dodge this attack even if it was him.
Nidhogg bit Hraesvelg's wing. Half of what she had bit were feathers but there were some fangs that had penetrated Hraesvelg's skin.
Nidhogg inserted poison in Hraesvelg's wings as if she had become a snake. Adenmaha and the fake one didn't stay still either. They sat on Hraesvelg's back, now that his movements were sealed, and pushed him to the ground.
Kwagang!
Hraesvelg crashed on the ground and a great shockwave swept the surroundings. An explosion shaking the ground got set off and a dust cloud arose to the sky.
The process became different but the results was as planned. Adenmaha fired an ice breath along with the fake Adenmaha and glued Hraesvelg to the ground. Nidhogg just focused on pressing down Hraesvelg instead of attacking him.
But even so, Hraesvelg was in good shape. As he put strength in his wings, a crack got formed in the ice made by Adenmaha. Nidhogg's body moved up and down.
Rolo fluttered his wings in the air and glared at Hraesvelg. It was to transform into a meteorite once again and attack him.
Adenmaha and the fake one fired out an ice breath once again. Their task was to restrict Hraesvelg's movements however they could.
Nidhogg moved from Hraesvelg's wings to his body. She spread her arms and legs widely and focused on pressing him down.
Hraesvelg tried to fly once again. The ice broke down and the three dragons shook.
But he couldn't fly this time either. Tae Ho gulped dry saliva and handed over the mouse and the keyboard to Nidhogg.
"I will leave it to you."
"Yes yes!"
Nidhogg nodded with an expression full of joy. She embraced the keyboard and the mouse and then closed her eyes and concentrated. Nidhogg's body pressed down Hraesvelg once again. It was funny to see as her movements seemed like she was swimming in the ground but the effects were enough. Hraesvelg couldn't even move.
The objective of this battle was to make Hraesvelg into their ally. Not to kill him.
Nidhogg didn't cover poison in her body just like when she fought against Hrumbak. It was to evade damaging Adenmaha, that was also inflicting damage to Hraesvelg, but there was also another objective.
The fake Adenmaha disappeared and Rolo descended from the sky to fill that empty spot and stepped on Hraesvelg. The moment he let out a groan filled with rage, the chest of Nidhogg's body opened with a clicking sound.
It was Tae Ho. He started to jump in the air the moment he got out of the heart room. He calculated the remaining power of a God he had and headed to Hraesvelg's head.
Hraesvelg's essence.
He didn't enter somewhere like Nidhogg's heart room. He was standing on the head of his original body perhaps to attack the dragon that was stepping on his back himself. It was just like Tae Ho had expected.
Hraesvelg, that was about to attack Adenmaha, noticed Tae Ho approaching him. He grabbed a spear of air he made with magic power and glared at Tae Ho.
Suppress the essence and end the fight.
It was the same as with Nidhogg. But Hraesvelg wasn't Nidhogg. His essence, that had polished his martial arts for a hundred years wasn't weak at all.
"You!"
Hraesvelg roared towards Tae Ho but there was joy in his eyes.
It was because he was displeased that Tae Ho used many dragons in a duel but he liked Tae Ho's spirit that got out of Nidhogg and faced him head on.
"Come! Owner of the black dragon!"
And perhaps, this was the image of the long waited duel Hraesvelg was waiting for a long time. Hraesvelg remembered his battle against the Great hero a hundred years ago.
In the other hand Tae Ho felt a sense of incongruity as he charged towards Hraesvelg. And he then realized the reason for it and got perplexed.
'Scathach's style techniques?!'
The stance Hraesvelg was taking was similar to Scathach's techniques.
Cuchulainn said quickly.
'It's a subspecies of it. It seems like he only saw it with his eyes and developed it to his own style.'
Originally, Cuchulainn was usually like the dumb brother of the town, but he was different only in battles. It was a surprisingly fast and precise analysis.
'I don't know how this happened but it rather turned out well. A subspecies won't be able to beat the real Scathach's style techniques at all!'
Tae Ho also agreed. He looked at Hraesvelg with the insight in Scathach's style techniques, that couldn't be contained in a subspecies. He also took out his spear to completely suppress Hraesvelg, that was also holding a spear.
Gae Bolg.
The spear of death that was like the incarnation of the prince of light Cuchulainn!
And it was at that moment. Hraesvelg opened his eyes widely and let out a shocked voice.
"Th, that spear is!"
He knew it. The shape had gotten a bit different but he had certainly seen it before.
Hraesvelg couldn't speak as he was really surprised. It was to the point that he couldn't even breathe properly, although for a brief moment.
And Tae Ho didn't let that opening go to waste. He got loyal to Ragnar's and Cuchulainn's teachings.
Strike first, win first.
He had plenty of time to hear why Hraesvelg got surprised at a later time.
The attack that was like thunder that started from Tae Ho's hands extended to Hraesvelg's chest.
< Episode 41 - The highest branch (5) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~