Episode 30/Chapter 4: The knights of the round table (4)
TL: Tsubak
ED: Julsmul
Bracky remembered what happened a few months ago.
The Giant of Strength, Harad.
The things that happened when the black catastrophe appeared.
The warriors of Thor’s legion were completely massacred. The lowest-ranked warriors couldn’t endure the strength that was released when Harad descended.
The Shinsoo of Thor’s legion, the Tanngnjostr, disappeared with a mere wave of Harad’s hands. Even now, Bracky still couldn’t understand what Harad had done to make the Tanngnjostr vanish.
And the same thing was about to happen.
It was a different strength, but it had a similar smell to it.
“Get back!”
Bracky yelled reflexively. He activated ‘Son of a God’ and gathered thunder in his hammer.
Back then, Ragnar had been with them. The legendary viking king had protected Bracky and the warriors.
“Move!”
Ingrid yelled. The inferior-ranked warriors, paralyzed by the crushing pressure which emanated from the sky, reacted to the Valkyrie’s command. From where Ingrid stood, she threw her body behind Bracky’s.
An earthen disaster descended as the ground shook at that moment. A deep earthquake churned the ground and a torrent of soil surged up into the air.
It was an incredible amount of dirt. It was the phenomenon created as Balgad, the Giant of Earth, descended to the ground.
Bracky looked at the airborne earth which seemed fierce as a wave and fast as a storm and swung his hammer. Lightning crackled before him and made an opening.
Kwagagang!
The hail of dirt pummeled the ground. From a distance, the earth shook like mad as yellow lightning surged furiously amidst the growing dust cloud.
Such was what Tae Ho saw. He, who was behind Bracky’s group, moved towards Merlin as the wizard stabbed his staff into the ground. An invisible barrier coalesced in the shape of a wedge and cleanly split the wave of dirt around them.
Siri huddled behind Bracky and covered her mouth and eyes. Although the lightning had torn through the hail, no one could do anything about the dust. Breathing was impossible, much less opening one’s eyes.
Merlin clutched his staff and trembled. His magic power had been halved after Erin’s destruction, and sweat began dropping like rain from his furrowed brow.
Tae Ho’s vision pierced outwards. He could see a red word beyond the dust that was smashing at Merlin’s barrier.
The Giant of Earth, Balgad.
An existence comparable to even the Giant of Strength, Harad.
As he walked, a thick armor of rocks formed over his body.
What seemed like a mountain of rocks slowly closed in on them.
—
The gate connected with Erin had grown warped and distorted.
The several things Balgad and Avalt had prepared had also become a mess.
The reason the Giant of the Night, Avalt, stayed behind in Jotunheim was to hide Balgad’s battlefield with his specialty magic, darkness.
But now, the battlefield itself had been moved and Avalt couldn’t see the effects of the darkness. Because of that, Avalt took his eyes off the battlefield and instead looked to a distant place.
The Giants weren’t the only race the Great Barrier was obstructing. Ironically enough, it also obstructed the Gods of Asgard.
The giants at the front line sensed Balgad’s sudden movement.
Similarly, the warriors of Asgard squaring off against the giants also noticed that a disaster had occurred in some far away place.
The giants didn’t move, and the same went for the warriors of Asgard.
It was an obvious thing.
This place wasn’t Asgard. The appearing of the Giant of Strength, Harad, in Asgard was a different case, but it wasn’t such a matter for the giants at the front lines to intervene directly.
The Gods of Asgard could know of the events inside the great barrier immediately.
Still, while they knew the Giant of Earth, Balgad, had released his strength, they couldn’t know who his opponent was.
But that was enough. There was enough time.
The Giant of the Night, Avalt, looked towards the Balgad and Idun’s warrior once again.
But it was only for a moment. He could only return his gaze to the front lines.
There was a change at the front lines. The forces of Asgard had started to move.
‘How?’
Like many instances, Avalt’s confusion was an obvious thing.
They couldn’t have imagined that there was a Goddess not only observing her warrior but was even conscious of his condition.
The moment Tae Ho left the vicinity of the Great Barrier, Idun could feel it. She could even connect with Tae Ho directly when he used ‘Idun’s warrior’.
Idun was instantly aware of the danger Tae Ho was facing at the front lines. She had ignored all procedures and requested for assistance with all her strength.
He plea reached out to the God stationed at the front lines.
That God didn’t hesitate for a moment. He surged up with a crescendo of thunder.
—
The problem was time.
Time wasn’t with either side.
The moment Thor moved, the giants at the front lines reacted. As Thor and the warriors of Valhalla marched, the giants blocked their path.
The Giant of Earth, Balgad, wasn’t planning to face Idun’s warrior alone. He had lined up his underlings in the arrival gate of Erin.
Balgad had moved alone because the destination had been altered, but it wasn’t that his underlings had returned to Jotunheim or stayed immobile. They moved swiftly to chase the back of their master.
For some, time flowed quickly.
For others, time had slowed to a crawl.
Balgad, the Giant of Earth, was like a living mountain. He was the most massive Giant among the Five Fingers.
Distance shortened drastically with each of his steps. As the cloud of dust faded away, what Bracky and Siri saw was a towering wall of rocks that charged forward at incredible speed.
It wasn’t something that could be countered like the hail of dirt.
Bracky steeled himself. He took a deep breath and gathered all of his strength in his right arm to try and slow it down as much as possible.
Faced with a decision, Siri transformed into a wolf. She bit Ingrid who stood closest to her.
Siri charged forward. Ingrid yelled and two inferior-ranked warriors hung onto Siri.
Bracky charged forward and smashed the ground with the strength he’d amassed; however, it wasn’t to split the earth. The thunder that followed his strike hit the wall of rock that was charging towards thim.
The Giant of Earth was unavoidably halted for a step. Bracky’s full powered attack wasn’t something easily disregarded.
But even so, it wasn’t that he could defeat him.
Balgad, who’d been slowed in his advance, stomped the ground and the lighting subsequently scattered. An invisible force plowed toward Bracky.
Bracky set up a defensive layer with the God’s power within him and endured the invisible force while being pushed back; however, the inferior-ranked warriors weren’t so fortunate. Their bodies were pulverized and became lumps of flesh.
Bracky gritted his teeth. Siri, who barely managed to avoid the attack, raised her head and looked at Balgad.
Balgad ignored the two of them. He kicked the ground and charged towards Tae Ho.
40 meters.
The charging of a giant that tall gave a pressure that make it seem like the sky was crumbling.
Tae Ho didn’t freeze, for he could hear Idun’s voice. She didn’t inquire his situation and instead worked harder to transmit to him more of her strength.
Tae Ho bellowed out Idun’s name. He charged towards the Giant of Earth as an image of Ragnar appeared in his mind.
He had to do the same as he’d done. He had to protect his allies while facing the giant.
“Chant!”
Tae Ho transformed into a hawk and shot off at blinding speed. Balgad didn’t miss Tae Ho and tracked him with his eyes. He swung one arm and rattled Tae Ho’s path with the overwhelming wind pressure that followed and fired rock-hewn arrows from his other arm.
Tae Ho flipped his body mid-air. As he transformed back into a human, he created a shield with ‘Warrior’s Equipment’ and covered his body. At the same time, he stretched out his left arm and called out.
“McLaren!”
The rock serpent that had been summoned in Midgard appeared in the gray lands of Erin.
As McLaren appeared, Tae Ho simultaneously gave a command and then threw aside the shield he’d blocked the rock-hewn arrows with before charging into the air.
McLaren circled the opposite direction from his master. Before the shield reached the ground, he’d already opened his mouth widely and gulped down Siri, Ingrid, and the surviving warriors of Valhalla. With them secured, he tunneled into the ground.
Balgad ignored the serpent. He gazed intently at Tae Ho and swung his arm. Contrary to his size, it was a fast and precise movement.
Tae Ho gritted his teeth. He forcefully kept his eyes open and looked at the wall of rocks crushing the air before him. He then activated his rune magic in quick succession.
“Gant!”
A magical gale of wind was fired from Tae Ho’s arms. It wasn’t to push away the wall of rock but rather to increase his own fleeing speed.
Balgad’s arm passed beneath Tae Ho’s feet by a hair’s width. Tae Ho contorted his body once again and kicked the air to surge up. He reached a higher vantage point and unveiled a second summoning rock.
“Rolo!”
The gryphon fluttered its wings and picked up speed. Rolo cried valiantly instead of shrinking back before the giant.
Clutching onto Rolo, Tae Ho activated his saga. Rolo’s wings fluttered twice, and what were previously white feathers morphed to become the membranous red wings of a dragon.
Shooting Star, the master of flames.
It was different from when he’d summoned him to execute a lance charge. The true dragon wasn’t merely ten meters long. Now, while Rolo still wasn’t as big as the original master of flames, he had grown to a length of around twenty meters.
Rolo’s second flap of his wings created a great wind. It wouldn’t be improper to call it an eruption.
Sadly, Balgad was a bit faster. He didn’t falter at the red dragon which had appeared so suddenly before him and knew exactly what he had to do. He extended his hand towards the seething red dragon quickly and grabbed its wing with his huge hand.
With a mighty pull, he ripped it off. The red dragon cried as blood-like flames poured from the wound and dispersed into the air.
“Rolo!”
Tae Ho screamed out as Balgad swung his fist towards the falling red dragon. Rolo was slammed to the ground like a crumpled piece of paper.
The ground shook and Balgad tossed aside the wing he was holding. He then aimed a kick at the body of the red dragon.
Rolo tightened his muscles. He opened his mouth and fired flames towards Balgad.
It was a disastrous attack that could even melt rocks, but Balgad simply reacted to it calmly. He blocked it using his arms as a shield and didn’t pause his advance at all. He then swung his arm in a wide arc to disperse the flames and grabbed onto the neck of the dragon.
To this, Tae Ho also reacted rather calmly and immediately removed Rolo’s transformation. The moment Balgad grabbed the air, Tae Ho had sent back Rolo who’d crashed down after having lost a wing.
Balgad’s eyes glinted at Tae Ho and the rock-hewn arrows were once again fired out of his armor like rain.
< Episode 30 – The knights of the round table (4) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~
Episode 30/Chapter 5: The knights of the round table (5)
TL: Tsubak
ED: Julsmul
Thor was going.
Thor would go.
Odin just spat out those words. He couldn’t say anything else.
Adenmaha felt like she would go crazy at the anxiousness. McLaren hadn’t returned, and Rolo had his chest crushed and lost a wing after a mere few seconds on the battlefield.
He had said that this battle wasn’t much. That it would be fine as they would only clean up the remaining fomoires.
But that wasn’t the case. Adenmaha read the memories of Rolo through the magic of the Tuatha De Danann and thus she could also sense the fear and despair Rolo had felt.
He was scared. So scared that a cry came out unconsciously.
She recalled that fateful day in Erin. The day that everyone near her had started to die.
Bracky, who was big and foolish but still held reliable qualities.
Siri, who seemed the toughest but was actually the most gentle.
And her master-
The stupid guy that only thought about Heda.
She felt like they wouldn’t be able to return. At least one, or perhaps all of them.
Adenmaha hoped earnestly. She didn’t pray for everyone to return safely. She only waited for Tae Ho to call her so that she would be able to do something on the battlefield.
But no matter how earnest she was, Tae Ho didn’t call, and Adenmaha couldn’t help but cry again.
—
The ash-colored lands were dyed in blood.
Bracky staggered to his feet. He fruitfully tried wiping the blood dripping from his head and tried to recall what had happened, but there were gaps in his fuzzy memory.
Like the landscape, the sky was ashen.
Bracky took a breath. He started to remember everything that had happened in a few minutes one by one.
Balgad had stomped on the ground and McLaren, who’d been hiding, was launched into the air.
Tae Ho had desperately recalled McLaren, but Balgad was a second faster. Balgad had gripped both McLaren’s head and tail and pulled, tearing him in two. As McLaren was closer to being a spirit rather than a living being, his demise wasn’t certain, but he couldn’t know the details. McLaren disappeared and the ones within him had appeared in his place.
The inferior-ranked warriors of Valhalla had all died helplessly.
Bracky closed his eyes. The blood on his forehead wasn’t stopping, and he couldn’t activate ‘The Son of a God Returns’ as he had already used it today.
A fierce battle had occurred in a short time.
Ingrid was collapsed on the ground and unmoving. She had stopped the attack just before she’d lost consciousness. Bracky didn’t check if Ingrid was alive or not. He just had to hope that she was. He spat out a mouthful of blood and breathed in pained breaths.
Tae Ho and Siri were still fighting. Siri’s movements became really fast after she’d transformed into a wolf. Tae Ho mobilized several weapons on top of her as they fought together. It was like two people were fighting with one body.
Still, their battle against Balgad was disadvantageous to the extreme.
If they allowed even one attack to hit them, they wouldn’t be able to fight again, but Balgad still continued unabated even after having received several attacks from both Tae Ho and Bracky.
But they still had to fight. Bracky gulped dry saliva for the last time and then charged towards Balgad.
“Mighty Thor!”
Bracky’s roar passed in between Tae Ho and Balgad.
Balgad had almost all of his rock armor destroyed and looked at Bracky.
His appearance was that of a scaled-down Thor. Standing up time and time again after being hit and charging towards him was a terrible thing by now.
Balgad swung his hand. He used the intangible force to make a wall and strode forward while glancing at Idun’s warrior at the same time. The guy that was riding on the golden wolf was holding a pair of swords.
Caliburn and Caladbolg.
Caladbolg’s thunder was powerful. Although it wasn’t to the point where Tae Ho could destroy a mountain with one attack like when Fergus Mac Roich wielded it, it couldn’t be looked down on at all. Every time an attack landed on Balgad, a part of his armor was vaporized.
Balgad had to admit that the bastard was strong. So strong, in fact, that it was unbelievable for him to be someone that had just become a superior-ranked warrior.
That was why he had to kill him. He had to end the fight no matter what.
Balgad roared and swung his pillar-like arms. Deadly kinetic energy was released alongside countless rock-hewn arrows. An earthquake followed that made their footing a mess.
It was an attack that came both from the sky and the ground.
Siri had succeeded in closing the gap between Balgad to dodge it until now. It wasn’t easy, obviously, as a single error could result in their deaths.
Balgad thought that Siri would do the same, but he was wrong. Tae Ho lowered his posture while sticking atop Siri, and Siri turned around. Rather than charging towards the arrows she showed her tail and escaped.
The sudden change in their pattern caught Balgad off guard. In that brief moment of reprieve, Siri was able to put some distance between them and Balgad, and Tae Ho silently praised Bracky for stopping Balgad. Tae Ho turned to look at his back on top of Siri.
Then, above of the head of the mountainous Balgad and beyond the ash colored sky-
Merlin’s chant was completed. They hadn’t fled from the battlefield because it was disadvantageous or because they were scared. It was because they believed in Merlin’s magic.
What they called for was the disaster of the sky.
The Giant of the Night screamed in shock from within the darkness and Balgad then realized what manner of magic had sundered the atmosphere above him.
A meteorite summoned from beyond the sky was tumbling down. It fell at an unmeasurable velocity.
Even as he looked up, Balgad didn’t waste any time. He kicked the ground and tried to dodge the meteorite.
However, Merlin didn’t allow that. In the first place, he had prepared two magics. Although his magic had been halved, he was still the Great Magician of Camelot.
The shadows that pierced from the ground firmly rooted Balgad’s feet. They were obstacles that would only buy a few seconds.
But it was enough with just that. With an ear-deafening explosion, the falling meteorite directly smashed into Balgad, the Giant of Earth!
The resounding shockwave seemed to atomize all nearby matter, and the flames that burst out gulped down Balgad’s figure.
Siri let out a sigh of relief and Tae Ho did the same.
However, Merlin couldn’t do that. He knew otherwise, as he was the one that had activated the magic.
“My King!”
The moment Merlin called out, a dark figure sprinted through the fire.
A ten-meter giant whose skin was of rock.
It was the original body of the Giant of Earth, Balgad. The body that was forty meters tall had merely been his avatar.
The meteorite destroyed the avatar, but it couldn’t break Balgad himself. The moment of the collision, Balgad released the remnants of his armor. His injuries were only minor.
Balgad rushed towards Tae Ho and Siri and swung his fist. Siri sprung off the ground reflexively, but she couldn’t dodge the attack completely.
It was because the moment she threw her body to dodge the fist, pillars of rock also surged up and attacked her.
Subsequently, both Tae Ho and Siri skidded across the ground.
Merlin feverishly recited a new chant as Bracky unleashed his energy reserves to roar and charged forward.
Balgad didn’t waste any time. He arched his spine and heaved a mighty hammerfist towards Tae Ho and Siri.
—
Thor couldn’t reach them in time.
The giants at the front lines obstructed his path.
Idun had grown frantic and called out Tae Ho’s name repeatedly.
However, Tae Ho couldn’t answer her.
Adenmaha worked hard to save the life of McLaren who’d been torn apart. She kept reciting chants through a tear-stained face.
Tae Ho took a breath.
He hadn’t died. He felt like his body was broken, but he was still alive.
With no regard for his own safety, Bracky had blocked Balgad’s attack and even fired lightning to dissipate some of the impact.
He had fallen along with Siri, who was also alive. He could feel her shallow breathing as if it would cease at any moment.
Tae Ho checked his pocket. The pieces of golden apple had disappeared. It seemed like he had lost the pocket sometime during the fierce fighting.
Bracky couldn’t endure for long. He collapsed after receiving an additional attack from Balgad. He was thrown far away and lay twitching on the ground.
Balgad looked at Tae Ho.
Tae Ho returned his stare, but he also glanced at the area beyond him.
He could see the red words approaching. It seemed like they were the underlings of Balgad.
He still had a summoning rock left, but he didn’t call Adenmaha. He just squeezed out his concentration and activated a saga rather than calling her into danger needlessly. Five Valkyries doppelgangers, Heda included, were summoned next to Tae Ho.
They charged towards Balgad; however, they were just able to buy a few seconds. They were mercilessly destroyed.
Tae Ho took a breath and swung Caliburn which still stuck to his hand.
To resist until the end.
To fight.
“Idun, Heda.”
His practice had taken fruits. Tae Ho called out Idun’s name first and then smiled. He faced Balgad, who was bellowing and closing in fast, and then produced the glory of Camelot.
Cuchulainn assisted with a bit of his strength, and Idun cried out and strengthened her divine power even further.
After that, shapes of people started to coalesce next to Tae Ho.
—
Erin was destroyed.
The fire of Surtr had burnt down everything.
The sky and the ground were dyed in ash.
But even that being the case, there was something that hadn’t changed.
—
A sentence of light appeared atop Tae Ho’s hand.
Erin’s successor.
The one who would receive everything from Erin.
Merlin, who had been reciting a chant, stopped moving his mouth unconsciously. The ones that had gathered next to Tae Ho had that effect on him.
The Knights of the Round Table.
Their souls that had been scattered, now returned.
Camelot was but a memory and Erin was destroyed; however, they didn’t forget their pledge towards their king. Even if this land was dyed in ash, it was still Erin. It was the land in which the heroes of Camelot had given their ultimate sacrifice.
The glory of Camelot gave strength to the the Knights of the Round Table. Although dim, the shadows, who had gathered next to the Sword of Selection, Caliburn, regained the appearances of their previous lives.
They were in an incomplete state. It wasn’t yet time for Tae Ho to fully achieve the power held by the King of Camelot. If this land wasn’t Erin, they wouldn’t even have been able to appear.
Nevertheless, now wasn’t the time to wait for the king to come into his own.
The Knights of the Round Table expressed etiquette towards Tae Ho. Tae Ho didn’t know them well, but Caliburn remembered them all. It was living proof of their legends.
“Our King calls for aid….”
One of the knights spoke in reverence. His expression filled with veneration towards Tae Ho, he stepped forward and then flew at Balgad.
“For the King of Camelot!”
The rest of the knights followed suit. The first knight to reach the giant was pressed down by Balgad’s power and obliterated. Such was their limit as as incomplete souls.
Nonetheless, the remaining Knights of the Round Table didn’t waver. As one, they overtook Balgad’s position like moths drawn to a flame.
‘Remember our names.’
‘Remember our stories.’
It was a complete massacre. With only their remnant souls, they couldn’t win.
But they didn’t fear. They were rather happy that they could fight for Erin once more.
Caliburn taught to Tae Ho as much through the sentence of the Milesians.
The name of each one of them.
What they were going to do now.
Because of that, Tae Ho couldn’t hold them back.
“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”
Tae Ho uttered these words. He expressed his etiquette as a warrior of Valhalla.
The remaining Knights of the Round Table smiled gallantly. One who had remained beside Tae Ho until the end hit his chest as if imitating him.
“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”
The knight charged. Seeing this, the Giant of Earth, Balgad, who’d known these knights well in battle, felt that their weakened souls were really quite pathetic.
The Knights of the Round Table were vanquished one by one. More than ten had been summoned, but now there weren’t even five.
Tae Ho stood in place and looked at them.
The Knights of the Round Table were buying time, but not for Thor to arrive.
The underlings of Balgad were approaching and the red words in the sky loomed closer.
There was now only one remaining knight.
Balgad swung his fist and even he disappeared.
And then it arrived.
—
It was only one at first. The thing that fell from the sky hit Balgad in the back.
Caliburn explained the situation through the sentence of the Milesians.
The most loyal knight of all, Bedevere. The sword he didn’t let go of until the end.
Balgad looked at the sky reflexively and then a second weapon pierced his shoulder.
The best archer, the Knight of Love, Tristan, and Fail-Not, the magical bow he once used.
As more weapons poured from the sky, the consecutive blows brought Balgad to his knees.
The sword of the most lofty knight, Galahad.
The Knight of the Long Spear, Perceval.
The magical sword of the Knight of Truth, Agravain.
The Knights of the Round Table were all warriors of Erin. The sentences of the Milesians they possessed summoned their weapons while burning the last of their souls.
Balgad hurriedly fended off the pouring weapons with his intangible force, but it wasn’t easy. The strongest weapon of them all pierced the wall. No, it didn’t only penetrate Balgad’s shoulder but destroyed it.
The strongest Knight in the Round Table.
Lancelot’s sword, Arondight.
Balgad let out a pained groan and at that moment, the underlings of Balgad arrived. More than ten giants jumped from the void and stood next to him.
Balgad let out a frustrated howl and his underlings charged towards Tae Ho.
Tae Ho took a deep breath. He swung Caladbolg and fired lightning.
It wasn’t towards Balgad or his underlings. Tae Ho stabbed Caladbolg towards the sky and the lightning split the clouds.
Balgad couldn’t understand Tae Ho’s actions, and his underlings felt similarly. They just charged towards him.
But Merlin knew, for one sword hadn’t arrived yet. There was still one last weapon.
The heavy clouds split and a column of light stretched from the heavens as the last weapon descended from the glory of the sun unto Tae Ho.
The knight that shared the etiquette of Asgard with Tae Ho-
The last words he left behind-
Tae Ho sheathed Caladbolg and Caliburn.
He remembered the story Caliburn told him and grabbed the sword that arrived in front of him.
Gallatin, the sword of the knight of the sun Gawain.
The story that is behind it.
The legend of the Knights of the Round Table.
[Synchro rate: 54%]
Idun’s power entered the sentence of the Milesians and it added strength to the legend of Gallatin. From it, a new myth was born.
[Myth-ranked Saga]
You will grow stronger the higher the sun is, and at midday, you will be invincible.
Such was the legend of the Knight of the Sun, Gawain. Such was the legend engraved within Gallatin.
[Sword of the Sun]
Tae Ho swung Gallatin, and the burning fury of the sun was unleashed upon Balgad and his underlings.
< Episode 30 – The knights of the round table (5) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~
Episode 30/Chapter 6: The knights of the round table (6)
TL: Tsubak
ED: Julsmul
The Giant of Night Avalt couldn’t stand still. He didn’t just watch like with Harad.
The distance between Jotunheim, the land of the giants, and the ruins of Erin wasn’t short. It wasn’t a distance one could traverse in an instant.
Besides, Avalt had his own agenda. While the underlings of the frost giant king, Harmarti, kept retreating and advancing against the forces of Asgard at the front lines, the Magician King, Utgard Loki, protected Jotunheim along with the Five Fingers. Stabilizing and facing Asgard in several battlefields was their task.
But they still had to move. There were still things they could do compared to that time with Harad.
Avalt emerged from the darkness and cast magic in rapid succession to contact the giants at the front lines.
Stopping Thor and the other rescuers was their task, but now they had to change the temperament of their actions.
Balgad needed assistance. They needed to protect him from Idun’s warrior, and if that wasn’t possible, they had to at least eliminate Idun’s warrior completely.
Avalt left the castle of Jotunheim and felt anxious.
The flow of time was unabated.
—
A century passed since Erin’s ruin.
The dark, dense clouds blocked the sunlight. Everything was dyed in ash and nothing good remained.
One couldn’t find any trace of Camelot.
Erin, once known as a paradise, had completely disappeared.
However, it shone at this moment regardless of its century in shambles. The bright light of the sun fell down on the land dyed in ash.
The giant leading the charge lost his eyesight. Ironically, the strongest, brightest light he’d ever seen since being born had burned out his eyes and plunged him into darkness.
The giant couldn’t see. The moment the sword of the sun cut his neck, a vision of light flooded his mind before his soul perished.
“Scatter!”
One of the giants yelled out, but it was pointless. The neck of the first giant rolled on the ground. Tae Ho, who’d stepped into the air, kicked back the shoulder of the collapsing giant and jumped up again.
The blade of Gallatin was shining, but that wasn’t all. Slowly, a new blade of light began forming on top of it. The new sword of light was longer than Tae Ho was tall, and it seemed like it was moving on its own.
The sun shone upon Tae Ho. It gave him strength endlessly.
Meanwhile, Balgad had lost an arm to Lancelot’s Arondight and couldn’t believe the scene in front of his eyes.
Idun’s warrior was certainly dying.
He was barely enduring by channeling the strength of the Goddess of Youth and Life.
That being the case, what exactly was this scene in front of him?
Thunder and gale protected the warrior of Idun, and the sword he swung once again cut off the head of another giant.
The giants didn’t just die. They couldn’t hit Tae Ho directly, but they attacked him by hexing curses on him. They depleted his strength and life by all kinds of negation magic.
There was another small giant like Sigil. Compared to the other giants that couldn’t do anything against the small and nimble warrior of Idun, this giant could face him head on. They exchanged blows a few times and then he suppressed Idun’s warrior with his overwhelming strength of a giant.
This exchange didn’t occur without injury to either side.
Be it a large or insignificant difference, their efforts would deplete the strength and energy of each other.
Gallatin slashed the chest of the little giant. The giant spat out his last curse and collapsed. As he fell, the curse formed a blade of grudges and pierced Idun’s warrior.
That’s why he had to force himself to fight. As he himself was spending his strength, Idun’s warrior was also growing weaker.
Or so he thought. Even though Tae Ho’s body was a bloody mess and not unlikely to collapse at any moment, he didn’t falter. Rather, Gallatin began emitting an even stronger light. The more they fought, the stronger Idun’s warrior seemed to become.
‘How?’
‘Why!’
The twelve underlings became eight in an instant and the Giant of Earth, Balgad, knew well enough.
He remembered the day of Erin’s destruction when he’d fought against the Knights of the Round Table.
This was the Knight of the Sun, Gawain.
He’d grow stronger as the sun rose higher, and when the sun was at its peak, he would be even more powerful than the strongest knight, Lancelot.
Balgad looked upwards unconsciously. He looked at the light of the sun that was splitting the sky and pouring down.
Time, it seemed, had abandoned the side of the giants.
As they fought, the sun rose higher with each passing second.
—
Idun clenched her chest. Her once immaculate form was now sweating rivets and she gasped for air while lying half collapsed on the floor.
Tae Ho was becoming stronger, but that strength was a double-edged sword. It wasn’t a strength that Tae Ho’s broken body could endure.
Idun had made it possible.
She squeezed out all her imperfect and immature power and sent it to Tae Ho.
The strong power of the sun destroyed Tae Ho’s body, but the gentle power of life kept it together.
‘My warrior, Tae Ho.’
Idun didn’t turn to look at herself.
She reinforced the flood of energy into Tae Ho.
—
The number of giants was further reduced to only six. Tae Ho’s breaths were haggard as he looked out in front of him. The body of the giant he had just defeated collapsed on the ground with a heavy rumble.
Tae Ho recalled Harad, the Giant of Strength. He was the first catastrophe he had faced upon entering Valhalla.
The Giant of Earth, Balgad, was someone comparable to Harad.
He wasn’t merely a strong existence.
Balgad regained his composure and became decisively calm in the high-strung situation.
He layered his own strength as his subordinates perished. He had lost an arm thanks to Lancelot’s sword, Arondight, and had suffered a lot of damage because of the other knights’ weapons, but he still had remaining strength. Tae Ho’s strength was becoming stronger the higher the sun rose, but Balgad was currently still stronger than him.
The number of giants had now declined to four. Gallatin’s light shone vibrantly as Balgad finally threw his hulking form towards Tae Ho.
At the forefront, his underlings didn’t stand by idly. They fell back to clear space for Balgad and Tae Ho and slowly circled them in anticipation.
The battle between a giant and a human couldn’t be compared to a fight between beings of the same size.
Where Harad increased his acuity and dexterity to enhance his battle prowess against comparatively tiny humans, Balgad increased an invisible strength.
The giants went all out. The Giant of Earth swung his fist and a fierce storm whipped up with the intention of shredding Tae Ho. As Tae Ho manipulated himself through the air, Balgad’s cronies conjured waves of lightning, fire, wind and light. Taking advantage of their cooperation, Balgad closed in on Tae Ho once more. The profound magic that had accumulated in Balgad’s eyes was unleashed and enveloped Tae Ho’s body.
The devouring magic encircled Tae Ho as if a huge snake were trying to gulp him down. Within a split second, Balgad’s malicious attack had succeeded in completely locking down Tae Ho’s movements.
Balgad was now confident of winning. He anticipated savoring the impending sweetness of victory after countless sacrifices.
But it didn’t happen that way.
Even through his calculated demeanor, Balgad had forgotten something very important.
The warrior of Idun wasn’t alone.
The Knight of the Sun wasn’t his only title.
He was King of Camelot.
The King’s influence was everything!
Balgad screamed in pain as the several weapons still stuck in his body moved once again.
The souls of the Knights of the Round Table had disappeared after expending the last vestiges of their strength, but their wills remained in this place.
The power in the sentence of the Milesians moved their weapons.
The spear of Perceval pierced further into Balgad’s arm and stopped the lightning being fired towards Tae Ho.
The sword of Bedevere carved through the back of Balgad. The magic sword of Agravain doused his flames, and the sword of Lancelot severed Balgad’s magic power.
The sword of Galahad shielded Tae Ho’s back, and the arrows fired from the bow of Tristan pierced the eyes and necks of the encircling giants.
The weapons of the Knights of the Round Table then gathered next to Tae Ho. They protected their King in the stead of their owners.
From his position, Merlin pushed out more of his magic power. He coated the weapons in his spells to aid in their movement.
He could sense the battle’s conclusion was nigh. He knew he’d probably never again see the Knights of the Round Table gather next to the King, but it was enough with this.
Merlin didn’t wipe away the tear which slowly passed down his wrinkled face. He thanked the miracle made possible through the knights’ efforts, and he’d, in part, connected his magic with their weapons to be with them once more.
The underlings of Balgad had all collapsed. and the injured Balgad roared like a beast.
While Tae Ho couldn’t hear the voices of the Knights of the Round Table, he could imagine their figures holding the weapons aiming for Balgad’s throat.
Galatin had told him as much.
Tae Ho was a warrior of Valhalla before becoming King of Camelot, and he knew-
Saga.
Each saga retells the unforgettable story of a great hero.
Now that Tae Ho had remembered their names, they wouldn’t be forgotten. They would live eternal lives through their stories.
The weapons flew forward.
It was the final assault of the Knights of the Round Table, one which decorated their legend.
Tae Ho also blurred into motion. He didn’t fall behind the weapons in speed.
“Idun. Heda.”
He muttered two names beneath his breath and added more of his own strength to Gallatin. He then activated a slew of sagas.
[Saga: The Charge of a Warrior is like a Storm]
[Saga: Giant Killer]
[Saga: King of Camelot]
The weapons of the Knights of the Round Table impaled themselves deeply within the body of Balgad. Arondight pierced the chest of Balgad, and the sword of Galahad broke his knee.
Balgad went down on his functional leg and glared at Tae Ho with bloody malice. He reflected all his strength through his evil eyes.
Tae Ho didn’t hesitate. The sword of Gallatin surged high into the air before penetrating downwards, destroying the giant’s magic power and splitting his body while rupturing his heart.
“Idun’s…warrior…..”
Balgad spoke for the last time. He was also a great warrior just like Harad had been. He smiled faintly instead of glaring resentfully and then collapsed after vomiting blood.
After a moment, Tae Ho descended to the ground and nearly fell over. He wanted to pass out, but it wasn’t the time. He endured forcefully and steadied himself.
Tae Ho faced the cloud of runes that swarmed out of Balgad’s body and closed his eyes for a moment. He moved his exhausted body to stab Gallatin in the ground and then looked at the weapons embedded within Balgad’s body that lay still.
Tae Ho never really knew much of the Knights of the Round Table, but he remembered their names. He would know their stories through the weapons they’d left behind.
“For Asgard and the Nine Realms.”
Tae Ho hit his chest and expressed etiquette.
He engraved the legend he’d witnessed, the last battle of the Knights of the Round Table, deep in his heart.
< Episode 30 – The knights of the round table (6) > End