Ch.81Countdown (1)

In Gagap, there’s a myth that has been passed down through generations.

It was a predictable story about how their god Vulcan would come to their rescue with his Titans whenever Gagap faced a crisis.

In fact, it was closer to history than myth.

The story tells of how Vulcan and his Titans smashed the heads of the Apostles who invaded Gagap during the ancient war against the Evil God.

Considering that statues of the Titans built by the dwarves from that time still exist, their significance was immense.

I supposed they could be thought of as divine avatars directly created by their god.

So what would happen if such revered Titans appeared before the dwarves as enemies?

It would certainly be enough to break the dwarves’ will to fight.

“W-why… why is a Titan protecting the Apostles…?”

“This can’t be true!! The Apostles must have played some wicked trick!”

At first, some dwarves denied what they were seeing, claiming it must be false.

KWAGGANG-!!

But once they physically experienced the power that the Titan possessed, they realized it was neither an illusion nor a lie.

* * *

“Well… what will you do now? If you don’t help them, their faith will be broken and they’ll soon die. Ah, but young women, you’re not in a position to help either.”

“■■■■■■—–!!!!”

The zombie dragon’s roar filled the succession chamber.

Since the roar contained a dragon’s unique aura, our bodies instinctively tensed up in response to hearing it.

Of course, we weren’t weak enough to be simply overwhelmed by the aura, but Cecilia seemed particularly displeased by its very existence.

“Don’t bring such a fake before me!”

She even unleashed her own aura, which she normally wouldn’t need to use, enough to erase the zombie dragon’s energy.

“That’s just provocation, so don’t pay it any mind. The best revenge is to fight well and crush it.”

“That’s right. Instead of wasting energy on this, you should fire another breath attack.”

“Sigh, I’m sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve been insulted like this that I lost my temper.”

Fortunately, she wasn’t completely enraged, and after hearing what Lilly and I said, Cecilia quickly regained her composure.

However, regardless of Cecilia’s reaction, the old man continued to give me a triumphant look.

My earlier provocations to draw out his secret weapon must have irritated him considerably, as he seemed eager to hear me admit defeat.

“Honestly, I am surprised. After all, the Titan I thought was destroyed long ago is right there.

And sending that Titan to a place full of dwarves—that place must be turning into a scene from hell.”

“Hehe, flattering me already? Are you surrendering, young women? But it’s too late for this old man to accept…”

“I said I was surprised, not that I have no way to deal with it. Don’t misunderstand, okay? Oh, did you already start celebrating your victory?”

I sneered at the old man and gestured toward the location where he had sent the Titan, as if telling him to sense the energy there again.

Following my reaction, the old man slowly examined the energy at the place where the Titan should have been rampaging.

Originally, numerous dwarves and adventurers should have been dying, but there was no significant change in their numbers.

“Another Titan…? But there’s no way more could have been created after Vulcan’s death…?”

“About that—I brought out a Titan that was sitting in storage. Unlike your used product that’s been used multiple times, ours is brand new.”

The Titan deployed by the old man failed to carry out the massacre it was supposed to commit.

This was thanks to my timely signal to Alan, the Titan, who received my signal and stopped the enemy Titan.

‘Though I called it brand new… our conditions are actually worse.’

The core inside Alan wasn’t a perpetual power source.

While it was a high-output core that could be used for a long time, it needed to be charged with Vulcan’s divine power.

Since it hadn’t been charged for a long time, it probably wasn’t in an energy-abundant situation.

On the other hand, the opponent had found an alternative energy source in bloodstones and had accumulated them in large quantities, so Alan was likely at a disadvantage.

‘I’ll have to trust Leon on this part.’

Maybe it was because of my first impression.

Leon still didn’t seem reliable in my eyes, but a Hero was still a Hero. And he was also my only disciple.

So no matter how unreliable he seemed, I needed to trust him.

Besides, from the moment I sent Alan there, it was out of my hands.

“Well, let them be surprised over there, and we’ll do our own thing here.”

I slowly checked my physical condition.

Perhaps thanks to stalling for time with all this conversation, I felt recovered enough to move comfortably.

Even the True Word, which would create the biggest variable, could be used a few times without overexertion.

“Come to think of it, we’ve talked quite a bit, but I still don’t know your name. I’m thinking of killing you and making a grave for the world’s worst villain, so would you mind telling me your name?”

“…Kravelin Reisen. Remember well the name of this old man who will capture you and turn you into a Death Knight…”

As Reisen was explaining his name, provoked by my words, I kicked off the ground and rushed forward.

My body accelerated quickly, and reaching Reisen took only an instant.

My sword, empowered by the momentum of my acceleration, swung toward Reisen’s neck.

KAANG-!

If it hadn’t been for Vargan’s reaction, I could have certainly cut off that neck, which was a shame.

“Actually, I didn’t really want to know your name. I would have preferred to cut off your head in one go. I think I can do better next time, so look forward to it.”

“Very well… I promise that I will never give you peace for the rest of your life.”

With those words, the battle that would determine the fate of Gagap, and perhaps the world, began in earnest.

* * *

If the battle that had taken place until just now could be called a superhuman battle, how should this one be described?

KWANG-!

KWARRRRRUNG-!!

From the sky, Cecilia’s pillars of fire, filled with killing intent, poured down.

Although they weren’t aimed at me, if I made a mistake in positioning, they could burn me at any moment.

Right in front of me, Vargan was charging at me, wielding an axe wrapped in thunder.

Vargan, now moving at full capacity, made attacks so heavy that I wouldn’t have been able to withstand them without Lilly and Kitsune’s help.

The zombie dragon, continuing its battle with Cecilia, used its defense strengthened by iron armor to shoot breaths made of poison and curses at us.

When the breaths of the two dragons collided, it felt like we were reenacting a mythical battle.

‘It’s slightly lacking to be called a true myth, so should I call it a semi-myth?’

I had a brief, idle thought, but it didn’t last long.

HWUNG-

This was because an axe that could split me in two kept falling toward my head.

I swung my sword to match Vargan’s axe, and in sync with my swing, Lilly wrapped wind around the sword to assist.

KWAANG-!!

My sword, wrapped in Lilly’s wind, collided with Vargan’s weapon, creating a thunderous sound, and then my weapon was knocked back, signaling my defeat.

Just as the axe was about to be swung at me again, the voice of Kitsune, who had been moving busily, brought good news.

“Vargan, I’ll bind you!!”

“Perfect timing!”

Considering the time Kitsune had prepared for this binding, she could probably restrain Vargan for about 0.1 to 0.2 seconds.

It was an extremely short time, but in a battle where every moment counted, there was much that could be done in that instant.

Having narrowly avoided the attack aimed at me, I approached to cut off his arm with my sword.

However, due to the protective aura deployed at that exact moment, I couldn’t cut deeply.

“Your body is truly incredibly tough…!”

While the muscle monster I had cut earlier was frustrating because of its strong regenerative ability, this human was troublesome because of his extremely durable body.

Still, since I had managed to inflict damage, I tried to follow up on the attack against Vargan who had been knocked back.

But Reisen had no reason to let me continue my attack.

“■■■■—!!!”

At Reisen’s command, the zombie dragon that had been battling Cecilia immediately responded by showering me and Kitsune with deadly poison and curses.

HWARLRUK-!

Some of them burned up in the sky due to Cecilia’s flames, but not all could be incinerated.

And clearing away the remaining parts was my job.

WUUNG-

I wrapped my sword in dark energy and swung it to create a blade barrier, defending against the zombie dragon’s attack.

And while we continued this intense battle, the prince was gradually completing his work for the succession.