Translator: Pai_
Drawing on the immense power emitted from the remaining three pillars, the Holy Alliance squeezed out its final strength.
It all began with Tyr and Iron.
Iron’s Transcendent Skill and the Divine Beasts’ Transcendent Skills, which had once given Tyr a hard time, flew straight at him.
At that moment, Tyr also used his ultimate technique.
He transformed into the image of his past self, when he reigned as a lofty god, and raised his shield to block the Divine Beasts’ full-force Transcendent Skills.
At the same time, he clashed his spear against Iron’s massive sword and extinguished it.
Kuuung!
-Dodge!
“Get out of the way!”
As the explosive sound rang out, Hræsvelgr urgently shouted, and Iron reflexively twisted his body.
At that moment, a massive axe swept past in front of him.
-You dodged? A shame.
Tyr had hoped it would land, but thanks to Hræsvelgr’s quick judgment, Iron dodged the axe rather than blocking it.
It was Tyr’s desperate move, but Iron’s successful evasion led the battle into a stalemate.
Iron had consumed his Transcendent Skill, and Tyr had momentarily descended as his former self, expending an enormous amount of power.
Both were left with no energy to spare.
That meant all that remained was a slugfest.
Bang!
“Gah!”
Thud!
-Ngh...
Iron coughed up blood as he was blown away by Tyr’s attack, and even while suffering the impact, Iron’s counterattack managed to wound Tyr, causing him to groan.
However, both immediately regained their stances and clashed once more.
Iron was instantly healed by Baepsae, and Tyr recovered his damaged body with his overflowing power.
Since both were clashing with the resolve to fight until their powers were completely drained, the surrounding area became a wreck from the raging spiritual pressure and shockwaves.
Kiiing!
At some point, the Holy Alliance’s two Aerial Fortresses began overloading, focusing to minimize Tyr’s restrictions.
“Khrr…”
Iron clenched his teeth and endured Tyr’s fierce assault.
By now, Iron’s Aura Blade was composed mostly of divine power, a sign that his strength was nearly depleted.
If not for his proficiency with the White Sword, he would have already been unable to maintain the Aura Blade and lost.
-Tweet...
Even Baepsae, who had been creating countless weapons with its immense divine power to assist, began to lose control as the divine power became harder to manage.
The other Divine Beasts were in just as poor condition. In particular, Two Moons and Phoenix suffered so many wounds that they ended up crashing to the ground.
-It's too dangerous!
“We have to take the risk!”
Hræsvelgr tried to stop Iron, who suddenly charged forward.
Tyr’s current strength was something he could only show for a short time due to the overloaded power of chaos.
So if they endured, they would win.
But Iron saw further than that.
'We can’t afford to drag this out.'
Even though the otherworlders had destroyed three statues, the outer gods still remained.
On top of that, the threat of the Absolute God’s descent had not yet disappeared.
So Iron had to take the risk now, eliminate Tyr, and hurry to Saintrea.
As if reading Iron’s thoughts, Hræsvelgr lent his strength.
'If we let time slip away like this...'
Just as Tyr was thinking that, Iron’s sword suddenly pierced through his guard.
As he barely managed to block it, Iron unleashed a flurry of fierce attacks.
The Path of Steel unfolded, driving Tyr back, and in his moment of confusion, Hræsvelgr’s wind blades, poured out with all his remaining strength, tore through Tyr’s entire body.
'...Make sure you succeed.
With those final words, Hræsvelgr was reverse-summoned, and the thunderbird also unleashed its last strike of lightning before returning.
Phoenix and the Two Moons also blocked the reinforcements trying to aid Tyr on the ground until the very end before being reverse-summoned.
All that remained were Baepsae and Iron.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Despite Iron’s relentless onslaught, Tyr held on to the very end and tried once more to launch an offensive against Iron.
Just as he could no longer maintain the Path of Steel due to his drained strength and it was about to collapse, Tyr’s axe flew toward Iron’s opening.
Thud!
-Gah!
It was Iron who was struck by the axe, but the one who coughed up blood was Tyr.
Baepsae absorbed most of the impact with a shield made from divine power, preventing a fatal injury, while Iron, who had sacrificed his body to strike, thrust his sword into Tyr’s abdomen.
-...So you would accept the risk, then?
In response to Tyr’s question, Iron gave a small nod.
Then, as if by agreement, they simultaneously withdrew their weapons and resumed the battle.
However, as Iron began attacking without regard for his own body, Tyr’s once-solid defense gradually started to collapse.
-My defeat, then.
At the moment Tyr spoke those words, his firm shield was knocked away, and Iron’s white sword pierced his heart.
Iron’s Mental Image, formed by squeezing out the last of his aura to maintain the Aura Blade, spread throughout Tyr’s body.
As Iron’s Mental Image mixed into Tyr’s body, which was almost no different from a manifestation of his Mental Image, the form of Tyr in his prime gradually crumbled, transforming into that of an old man.
-...Apostle of the Lord God.
At Tyr’s call, Iron looked at his face.
-Your victory.
To those words, Iron gave a small nod.
Then, as he tried to pull the sword from Tyr’s heart with the courtesy of a warrior, an aged hand grasped the sword.
As if he had one last thing to say, Tyr held the sword and looked into Iron’s face.
-Would you remember my name?
“I will remember it until the day my life ends.”
-...Thank you.
At Iron’s promise, Tyr gave a gentle smile and vanished into dust.
Tyr’s annihilation.
But as if expected, the Holy Alliance’s numerous Avatars blocked Iron’s path.
“Commander!”
“I must head to Saintrea first.”
As he spoke while looking at Ariel, who had approached him before he noticed, Kaon, Sky Renz, and Caeden Wall positioned themselves around Iron.
“We will clear the path.”
At Caeden Wall’s words, Ariel, Sky Renz, and Kaon generated Aura Blades and prepared to charge.
In an instant, the knights of the Mobile Field Army and the knights of the Northeastern Army gathered around.
All had gathered to break through the enemy and make a path.
“Please recover your strength. We’ll clear the way.”
“I’m counting on you.”
At Ariel’s words, Iron replied and then spoke to Baepsae perched on his head.
“You rest, too.”
-…Tweet…
As Baepsae let out a weak cry and was reverse-summoned, Iron mounted the drake that had come to carry him.
“Clear the path for the Supreme Commander!”
“All Mobile Field Army units, form an aerial route!”
At the orders of the two commanders, all forces charged at the Avatars at once to clear a path for Iron.
Numerous Avatars rushed in to stop them, but the 21st and 22nd Corps put all their strength into blocking them, and on the ground, the Northeastern Army followed by smashing through the Holy Alliance forces.
“Saeriden, escort the Commander.”
-Yes, ma'am!
At Ariel’s command, Saeriden moved with the 23rd Corps’ aerial forces to escort Iron all the way to Saintrea.
As Saeriden responded, Ariel, mounted on a drake, took the lead and used her ultimate skill to carve open a path.
The Avatars blocking the way were shredded by her comet-like slash, and Kaon followed up by freezing the surrounding area with a massive wave of cold, temporarily opening a path.
Then, with Caeden Wall’s aura-based domain construction, the path was maintained, albeit temporarily.
Some Avatars tried to break through the wall of aura, but those attempts were completely blocked as well.
“Storm Sword…”
Sky Renz’s Storm Sword.
An aura storm, reminiscent of Crimson’s self-sacrifice in the North East, tore the Avatars apart and fully opened a path, allowing Iron and Saeriden’s elite 23rd Corps aerial forces to head toward Saintrea.
[The eastern central pillar has been completely destroyed. Odin’s descending power is reduced by 5%.]
-If all eastern pillars are destroyed, an additional 5% of power will be reduced.
-Odin’s blessing will further diminish.
-Saintrea’s central barrier will weaken further.
Right after Iron was sent ahead to Saintrea, the weakened central pillar was destroyed by fortress artillery, and a series of notifications followed.
As the system notified them that Odin's power was diminishing and clearly pointed out the next target, the Empire’s 1st Army immediately took action.
“Destroy all the pillars in the East.”
“Hurry! We need to destroy all the pillars as quickly as possible!”
At the orders of Caeden Wall and Ariel, all forces began to scatter.
To stop them, the remaining Holy Alliance forces charged at the Empire’s troops.
With the death of the War God and the destruction of the central pillar, the second round of battle between the 1st Army and the Holy Alliance began.
By the time the entire eastern region of the Holy Alliance was laid to waste, other regions were also putting forth their utmost efforts to destroy the central pillars. They knew that whether they succeeded or not would determine how much more Odin’s descent would be weakened.
While the Empire Army poured everything into collapsing the central and strategic pillars, Saintrea was steadily transforming into hell.
“They're no different from zombies.”
The Eastern Commander frowned as he looked down from the sky at the state of Saintrea.
All believers of Odin, having lost their reason, attacked the Eastern Army and the otherworlders.
Humans who had become slaves of the god, having lost all rationality in exchange for receiving a portion of the god’s authority.
Was this really the survival they had wished for?
While pondering this, the Eastern Commander cast spells toward the citizens of the Holy Kingdom, whose faces contorted in anguish as they became puppets of a god.
It was his way of directly dealing with Odin's followers, to support the Eastern Army that was focusing on destroying the sacred relics under his command.
[Destroy all sacred relics in Saintrea. Odin’s descending power will decrease.]
This was the quest the system gave to the Eastern Army.
On the other hand, to the otherworlders:
[Break through the central temple and destroy the Corrupted Crystal in front of Mimir’s Spring.]
Different quests.
The system clearly defined the goals for the two groups.
And the Eastern Commander followed that directive.
In truth, he had once flown into the sky and tried casting his magic on the barrier at the center.
But whether it was because the barrier was made directly by a god, even after pouring in the full power of an Archmage-level spell, it didn’t produce even a crack.
After that, the Eastern Commander chose to follow the quest given by the system.
“This is dangerous…”
Suddenly, a surge of corrupted energy began rising from the central temple.
Sensing it, the Eastern Commander wore a grave expression.
He thought, “Should I go now and strike at the barrier again?”
Since the barrier had been steadily weakening, he wondered if it might break if he gave it everything he had.
Crack!
A massive white sword fell from the sky.
With that single strike, the barrier, unmoved even by the Eastern Commander’s full-powered assault, finally cracked.
And the moment a colossal beam of light struck the barrier one last time, the barrier that had blocked the path of the otherworlders shattered like glass.
“Stop them!”
“Hold the line! Until the god descends- kuhk!”
The Holy Knights screamed as they pushed the mindless believers forward, but the otherworlders didn’t just stand by and watch.
Then began Saeriden’s aerial bombardment.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With the barrier gone, the central temple had no means to stop the aerial bombardment and began collapsing under the relentless attacks.
To stop it, they used their last resort.
The Cardinals, the strongest priests of the Holy Kingdom, stepped forward.
“Crazy bastards.”
Over a dozen Cardinals embedded divine relics into their bodies, awakening divine power.
A temporary power fueled by burning their own life force.
But even for a short while, that overwhelming power was enough to halt the charging otherworlder army led by the six otherworlders.
“…So this is how it ends.”
The Pope gave a bitter smile as he looked toward Mimir’s Spring.
He had held on to hope until the very end, but in the end, they were breached.
“O God… may your plan succeed…”
Looking up at the Apostle of the Lord God, who was flying toward him at breakneck speed in the distant sky, the Pope lost the will to resist.
Thus, he offered himself as a sacrifice and threw his body into Mimir’s Spring.
Kugugung!
The black spring completely swallowed the Pope, and at that very moment, a black pillar began to descend from the sky.
***
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