POV: Baldur.
Near Skornheim Fortress, Nidavellir.
One and a Half Hours After Baldur's Arrival.
"Centuries have passed since I've had a worthy target to hunt; I hope you don't disappoint me," the woman above me says.
"That's not how you greet family."
As I say this, I push Sigil's handle, forcing my sister to move a few meters away from me. I stand up and look around to see where I fell. We were well below ground level, high above an opening in the earth, a rift hundreds of meters wide.
Now knowing where I was, I focused all my attention on my attacker, Angela, my sister. Stolen by the angels shortly after her birth and raised as one of them, she now stands in front of me, studying me. She has long, unruly red hair and wears a small golden armor that covers only her breasts, shoulders, and legs, leaving her belly exposed. Her helmet has golden wings on the sides, and her eyes are white. Her armor has two ribbons behind it that move as if they were alive. She was holding a longsword as her weapon, and from the way she wielded it and the strength of her last blow, there was no denying she was a highly trained and skilled warrior.
"Now that we're both standing, we can start again. I don't want my victory to be tainted by a surprise attack," she says, ignoring my mention of family.
"Your concern is pointless. We are at war. What matters is defeating the enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible. We're not in a one-on-one battle. If I was caught by your surprise attack, it's because I lacked the skill to prevent it."
Angela now looks me in the eyes, and it seems I've earned some respect from my sister.
"Finally, a man with some honor. But you're wrong about one thing; we're no longer at war, we're in a duel. My companions won't interrupt us; that's one of the advantages of being the Hunt Leader."
"I'm glad to know your Asgardian blood hasn't been suppressed after all this time, sister."
"Once again, you speak nonsense. Are you mad?" she asks.
"Answers will come after the battle."
"There's no 'after' for you, Asgardian prince."
"So you know who I am?"
"Of course. The queen personally ordered your hunt."
(I'll leave that one for my mother to deal with.)
"Let's see if I'll be alive when the battle ends, Heven soldier."
(There's no point in continuing to talk about her history now; she surely won't believe it. It's better for me to capture her here and explain everything in due time.)
"Finally. And just so you know, Asgardian Prince, I am Angela of Heven, Leader of the Hunt."
"Baldur Odinson, Prince of Asgard and King of Genosha."
We stand still for a few seconds, studying each other. Angela holds the longsword in front of her body with both hands. Her eyes are cold, and I know she won't hesitate to kill. I could use my powers to end this quickly, but they're not very useful when it comes to capturing something without hurting it.
So, I take the lead and begin the battle, lunging with the spear aiming for her shoulder. The blow was technically perfect, in power, technique, and strength. But Angela easily deflects my blade with her sword and counters in the same movement, aiming for my neck. I lower my body, dodging the blow, and attack again, spinning Sigil, trying to cut her abdomen, but she jumps back, evading.
I don't give her time to breathe and continue to attack with several successive strikes on all the non-lethal points of her body. With each blow, she uses her sword to defend or deflect Sigil.
(It's truly a pity.)
Angela wasn't raised in Asgard, so she didn't receive the training or acquire a Goddess title; without that, she's relying solely on her incredible physique to fight. Her training in Heven was impressive, but as one of Odin's eldest daughters, surely if she had been raised in Asgard, she would be as powerful as I am. That depends, of course, on which deity she would have aligned with.
The duel continued like this until Angela's cold expression twisted with anger, and her next action surprised me. She allowed one of my blows to strike her shoulder. Sigel pierced her completely, and despite this wound, she took advantage of my weapon being in her body to strike me.
I jumped backward, leaving a trail of blood on the ground. Her sword cut from my shoulder to my abdomen diagonally. If I hadn't leaped backward, her blade would have cleaved my body in two.
"I thought you were an honorable and worthy warrior, but you mock me with these blows. That's the price you pay for your naivety in thinking you could easily defeat me and capture me alive," she said, her voice now tinged with anger.
(She realized I wasn't after her life, and she took advantage of it.)
"Yes, I was wrong. It wasn't my intention to disrespect. Allow me to make amends."
Her Asgardian blood, much like mine, made me want to capture her without harming her, and that dishonored her as a warrior. So be it, the hard way.
"I hope you're ready, Angela of Heven. I won't hold back anymore!"
"Come, Asgardian!"
The wound on my chest had already stopped bleeding, as had hers on her shoulder, but it's a certainty that she will take a little longer to heal. I'm not using the power of the runes to heal or increase my strength either. It's been a while since I fought like this.
I now attack with all my physical strength in a horizontal blow aimed at Angela's neck, which she defends against. But she underestimated my strength and was thrown, hitting the rocky wall to our side. I attack again, trying to pierce her heart, and she defends herself with the blade of her sword. The force of the blow drives her further into the rock wall.
"Beautiful sword," I say, admiring its resilience.
"If you like Xiphos so much, here it is!"
Angela then grabs Sigel's hilt, and with her other hand, she twists her sword, scraping it against Sigel's hilt, coming toward my neck. I grab the blade of the sword with my free hand, leaving us at a stalemate for a second. As I pull her sword away, she pulls my spear, disarming us both at the same time.
"Now?"
I ask, holding her sword, while she holds my spear.
"The weapon doesn't matter," she says, returning to a fighting stance now with my weapon.
"Unfortunately, it matters to you. My Sigel would never harm me."
Angela begins to show difficulty in holding my spear until she has no choice but to release it to the ground due to its weight.
I throw her sword back to her, and she catches it in the air, just as my spear returns to me.
"I'm having quite the time with this duel, but we should end it now; my friends are suffering a lot of damage while we talk," I say.
Angela leaps several meters above the ground and lands right on top of me, attempting to cut me in half. I twist my body to the side, and her blade narrowly misses my nose. On my knees, and before she can rise for the next blow, I strike her cheek with my knee, sending her rolling on the ground. As she kneels once more, I have already let go of Sigel and am in front of her. In her surprise, I grasp her head with both hands and deliver another knee strike right to the middle of her face.
As she rises for the second time, she's quicker, despite her broken nose and blood streaming down her face; she doesn't care and attacks, trying to cleave my head. Unfortunately for her, I am faster and grab her wrist, stopping her blow, then strike her elbow with the palm of my hand, fingers closed, the karate strike precisely hitting the nerve cluster, rendering her arm useless. With her arm now useless, she drops the sword, but to my surprise, she grabs the blade of the sword with her free hand and, as if it were a knife and without caring if she cuts herself, tries to plunge the blade into my thigh.
Before this can happen, I leap, hitting her chin squarely with my knee, making her take several steps back and finally drop her sword. I now aim a spinning kick at her legs, causing her to fall to the ground, and then I stomp on her face with all my strength.
"BOOM!"
When the blow lands on her face, the hard ground shatters, and Angela's beautiful, bloodied face sinks into the ground unconscious.
"I'm in for a long lecture from Mom when she finds out about this fight," I say aloud, looking at Angela lying unconscious.
"Sleipnir!"
I shout loudly, and my faithful steed lands by my side. As I dismount, I'm not worried about him getting hurt, his intelligence is almost human, and his speed is too much for the Angels to catch. I place Angela, still unconscious, on Sleipnir and secure her with several golden ropes created by me. I healed her shoulder injury using magic but left the rest to heal naturally. With her physique, she'll wake up fully healed in a few hours.
"Please take good care of her, my friend. Only return when I call," I say to Sleipnir, stroking his fur.
Sleipnir obeys and flies through the skies of Nidavellir, taking Angela as far away from the battle as possible. Then I also take flight, soaring high out of the huge hole in the ground where I was. In the air, several Angels are circling around me; they witnessed the entire battle but did nothing, even after my sister's defeat. Perhaps they don't see her as a comrade, or weakness isn't tolerated in Heven.
"He captured the leader of the hunt!"
"He'll make a fine trophy."
They still don't understand the situation, still thinking they have a chance to defeat me.
"Before being interrupted by Angela, I was about to give you a merciful death, but I'm really angry now. The battle against my sister was completely unnecessary; you turned her into a weapon and made her use her sword against her own family. That's something I and my blood will never forgive. So disappear!"
I create a massive explosion of heat around me. The temperature and light engulf a large part of Nidavellir's sky, turning it golden. It lasts only a second, and all that remains of the Angels are their bones, which fall like white rain in several pieces.
With the matter of the Angels resolved, I return as quickly as possible to where the Dwarven army is fighting the Fire Demons. I've been away for a while, but the battle situation is dire. The Fire Demons have once again gained the upper hand, pushing the Dwarves back towards the cave entrance.
Even from afar, I can see the Dwarf king at the forefront of the shield defense, swinging his axes to keep the Demons wielding fire as a weapon at bay. The dragons that were causing trouble earlier are now dead, and along with the Angels, the enemy has lost all its air power. That's the only reason this battle hasn't turned completely against the Dwarves.
I fly towards them and land a few inches in front of the Dwarves. I point Sigel at the enemy and unleash continuous energy blasts, each hitting an enemy in the chest or head, killing them instantly. I can't use large-scale attacks since there are still small groups of Dwarves fighting ahead.
The situation is getting worse, and if it continues at this rate, victory won't come quickly, even with my help. Then, from above, piercing through the clouds, a massive ship appears. Ratatosk has finally arrived to provide support and end this battle.
support me at patreon.com/Lonely_Translator and read chapters in advance