Ch.751Avalanche and Fire

Nidhogg’s fall literally turned the battlefield upside down.

The impact was tremendous as its massive body, heavier than dozens of elephants combined, crashed into the ground with lightning speed.

The ground shook violently, triggering avalanches throughout the mountain range and covering everything with a white tsunami of snow.

It was an overwhelming sight that made even high-level magic pale in comparison.

“Aaaaargh!”

The fairies directly beneath were flattened like trampled wildflowers without even having time to scream, while those nearby were thrown in all directions, spitting blood like surfers riding waves in the snow tsunami.

Most likely, their internal organs had ruptured from the direct impact of the crash.

“This is insane…!”

“Get away! It’s going to sweep everything!”

Even those at a distance were buried in the avalanche unless they jumped quickly enough, losing their balance as the snow swept over them like a tidal wave.

Even those who tried to use spirits as shields were buried along with their spirits, overwhelmed by the sheer mass of snow.

Shock, horror, and screams covered the hills.

Both the fairies who had been attacking fiercely and the rampaging Dragonborn were too busy saving themselves to even think about fighting in the face of the oncoming avalanche.

Being buried in snow would be survivable once the avalanche subsided, but being pushed over the ridge meant falling hundreds of meters below with no hope of survival.

“Aaaaargh! Help me, I’m falling…!”

Just like that.

My improvised plan to drop Nidhogg on the fairies’ heads had worked brilliantly as expected. The fierce battle had turned into a disaster scene, creating an opportunity to extract my companions who had been gradually getting pushed back despite their best efforts.

“What the hell is this?!”

…Of course, my companions were equally shocked.

I slid across the snow field, landed, and immediately got up to check on everyone’s condition.

Since they were far from the impact point, they weren’t helplessly swept away like the fairies, but…

“Aaaah…!”

Everyone was desperately trying to avoid the avalanche that was advancing like a massive wave.

Asha used her mechanical arm to hold Lena while increasing the altitude of her jetpack, and Demian picked up Millia and spread his wings wide to take flight.

Ophelia used magic to somehow lift the remaining companions into the air.

This would have made them perfect targets in a combat situation, but few had the presence of mind to attack them in the midst of such chaos.

– Kwaaaaa!

…Which is to say, there were still some who did.

“How dare you!”

I kicked off the ground and flew toward my companions, deflecting with my sword a spirit arrow aimed at Nigel who was floating in the air.

– Sssss…!

The spirit, cut by the blade, dissipated like mist.

Just as in the original setting, it was proven that a pure Jin weapon could cut through not only a werebeast’s regenerative abilities or a mage’s mana, but also a fairy’s spirit.

“Lord Haschal?! What in the world…!”

Nigel, who had been about to counteract the spirit arrow with Eberond’s holy spear, exclaimed in shock.

She might have almost impaled me with her spear.

“Fall back for now!”

I propelled myself with a burst of Karma flame and grabbed Nigel’s armor, pulling her back sharply.

“Lord Haschal!”

“Sister!”

“Haschal! What the hell did you do?!”

The rest of the group finally noticed me and shouted in my direction.

“No time to explain! Retreat!”

I shouted as I threw Nigel backward.

“Wh-whaaaaaaaa?!”

Nigel’s shocked cry echoed as she was suddenly thrown downhill.

I felt bad for startling her, but I had no choice. If I had held onto her while emitting Karma flames, she would have been roasted.

– Grab!

So I had to throw Nigel away and then fly to catch her again.

“Huff… huff… So this is how Lord Demian feels.”

Caught again, Nigel breathed heavily, apparently impressed by her few seconds of free fall.

Her face suggested her loyalty to me had diminished by about a tenth.

“Sorry for the rough throw. Ready to go again?”

“What? Oh, yes! I trust-“

Before she could finish her answer, Nigel’s body was thrown again. At least she didn’t scream this time.

“Haschal-! Are we just running away like this-?”

Asha, who had flown to my side, looked back at the source of the avalanche and shouted.

“Would you rather fight there? Want to die?”

“The avalanche will soon-“

She doesn’t get it.

“We’re not retreating because of the avalanche!”

If that were the case, we could have just flown around until the avalanche stopped and then landed.

In the meantime, we could have cut down the fairies and Dragonborn who were busy trying to keep their balance.

But my urgent retreat wasn’t because of the avalanche.

From the center of the ice and snow tsunami, from the crater where the ground had been completely overturned and shattered,

【 Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! 】

It was because of Nidhogg, who was emerging with a furious roar.

—-

Nidhogg burst out, essentially declaring itself an orphan with no mother.

Thanks to its carapace, its body was undamaged despite crashing into the ground at full speed, and as I had expected, a sphere of dark mana was clenched in its jaws.

Yes, it was about time to fire it again.

“Oh no…! ‘Dragon’s Breath’! Everyone evacuate-!”

The Dragonborn who had jumped to avoid the avalanche and the fairies who had mounted wind spirits to fly shouted in terror.

But it was too late to respond.

Just like when it attacked me, Nidhogg had crouched until just before breathing out, gathering all its dark mana before emerging.

【 Kahaaaaaaak-! 】

The next moment, a river of black flames scorched the air.

“…See? That’s why I told you to retreat.”

I pointed to the hill that was starting to boil with steam, explaining why I had ordered the retreat.

Judging by their expressions, no verbal explanation was necessary.

—-

– Kwaooooooo!

Nidhogg’s black breath swept across the area.

Dragonborn who had jumped to avoid the avalanche turned to ash with brief screams, and fairies buried under the snow melted and flowed away.

Unlike my companions who had retreated far from Nidhogg, other races who couldn’t withdraw in time were dying horribly, paying the price for their hesitation.

“How can a breath be so…!”

A Dragonborn who was constantly flapping its wings to avoid the chaos dragon’s breath muttered with a groan.

Wingless Dragonborn died helplessly, but those with wings like him could barely avoid the breath.

Even so, many were eventually caught and killed because there was no end to the onslaught.

The fairies’ fate was not much different.

Patrollers who couldn’t summon high spirits died with pathetic ease, and only Guardians who summoned high wind spirits to ride could barely escape.

“Truly a monster…”

Ophelia groaned with a pale face as she watched the scene.

The other companions wore similar expressions—not only Jahan and Nigel who were facing a dragon’s majesty for the first time, but also Demian, Millia, and Asha who had experienced Nidhogg before.

They too must have never seen it breathe fire continuously for two minutes.

“…At this rate, only the Guardians and some Dragonborn will survive.”

“Yes, that’s likely.”

Neither the Dragonborn nor the fairies should have been so helplessly slaughtered.

As elites of each race, if they had formed proper battle formations, they could have easily defeated a chaos dragon.

However, in a situation where they could barely stand due to the massive avalanche, with a dragon that breathed fire for two minutes straight immediately after emerging…

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

They could only be swept away in confusion without being able to do anything.

Well, Nidhogg’s vomiting seemed to be coming to an end, so they would probably start counterattacking soon.

At least the Dragonborn would. They had come to defeat a dragon to elevate their status.

Unlike the fairies.

“…Everyone, prepare to fight. We need to move in as soon as that cursed breath stops.”

I lightly brushed the snow off my shoulders while staring at the gradually thinning river of black flames.

“Move in right away…? Why? Now that things have turned out this way, wouldn’t it be better to watch until the end and then backstab the winner?”

“I agree. With enemies killing each other, there’s no reason for us to jump in…”

Ophelia and Nigel expressed their opposition.

It was a reasonable opinion. As the saying goes, if the fairies, dragon, and Dragonborn fought and killed each other, things would become much simpler.

The problem was…

“Those fairies didn’t come to kill Nidhogg. They didn’t come to steal its corpse either.”

I shook my head at the two and explained why we needed to move in rather than just watch.

When I was falling toward the ground, the fairy whose eyes met mine clearly shouted:

That Nidhogg was behind ‘the target’.

In other words, their target wasn’t Nidhogg but…

“Those fairies came to kill me, not the dragon.”

“You, Haschal…?”

“Yes, they attacked you all without warning because they thought you would interfere with killing me.”

So we couldn’t just stand by and watch.

Right now they were too busy avoiding the dragon’s breath to do anything, but as soon as the breath stopped, they would charge at us instead of counterattacking Nidhogg.

As for Nidhogg, well, let the Dragonborn handle it.

Judging by the number of high spirits, the Guardians they deployed in the Sky Mountains numbered at least five, possibly more than six.

While we might be able to defeat them one by one during the chaos, it would be difficult to face them head-on—a formidable force. Even Demian and I might struggle, let alone the rest of our companions.

So instead of engaging in a separate all-out battle, we needed to join the chaos to prevent them from focusing solely on us.