Episode 46/Chapter 1: Idun’s (1)
TL: Tsubak
ED:
Two battles were occurring at the time when the sun passed its highets point.
One was in Valhalla.
The armies of Odin and the magician king Utgard Loki clashed head on. It was a bloody battle where neither side planned to delay.
The other battle was occurring at the outskirts of Asgard.
It wasn’t excessive to say that the scale of it was a few times bigger than the one occurring in Valhalla.
It was too far away from Valhalla but the strongest warriors of Asgard and Jotunheim were in this place.
The strongest battle God Thor led the warriors of Valhalla. His army wasn’t only composed by the God of hunting Ullr or the God of courage Tyr, but it was also formed by the strongest warriors of Valhalla such as Sigurd.
The forces of Jotunheim which they fought against wasn’t easy either.
The giant king Harmarti, that was called as the strongest giant king of Jotunheim and was able to stand face to face with Thor, led that battle. His army was composed by several giant kings and strong monsters.
The shape of the battle was opposite to that occurring in Valhalla.
The giants were the attackers in the battle in Valhalla and the warriors of Valhalla fought to stop them.
Contrary to that, the warriors of Valhalla were the attackers in the outskirts of Asgard. They wanted to pierce through the giants and evil spirits surrounding them and open up a path connecting to Valhalla.
Thor received information about the situation of Valhalla through one of Odin’s crows and poured out fiercer attacks than usual.
But Harmarti didn’t answer to Thor’s heated attacks. He made his defenses more solid instead of facing Thor with all his strength. He just fought to protect.
It was really a battle between a shield and a spear.
So the battle got naturally prolonged. The battle didn’t show signs of ending even after the sun passed its highest point.
The dragon slayer Sigurd let out a long sigh. He defeated a monster that had the bloodline of a dragon with his god sword Gram and looked at a distant place.
Thor was fighting. The sound of thunder shaking the sky and earth never stopped.
Sigurd liked Thor just like most warriors of Valhalla. He respected him deep in his heart.
But Sigurd was a bit different to Thor. If Thor was a hot and huge fire that anyone could recognize it, SIgurd was a cold flame. He had a strong love towards the Valkyrie Brynhild but his battles were basically cold.
The battle would get long.
A conclusion wouldn’t be made today.
Both sides were exhausting their forces but it was only that. Only the size was shrinking, victory and defeat wasn’t decided.
Sigurd knew the reason for that.
There were no variables in this battlefield. The battle in the front lines that continued for a hundred years made the two sides know each other too well.
The frost giant king Harmarti was an experienced and outstanding strategist. Just by looking at how strong one was as a warrior, SIgurd would side with Thor but their capabilities for leading an army was different.
Harmarti’s capabilities as a commander was higher than Thor’s.
And that Harmarti fought a battle where he just had to defend. He stopped variables from appearing and made the battle continue normally.
The forces of the magician king attacking the forces of Valhalla.
They were obviously below in numbers and in quality from the elite forces Harmarti led but it wasn’t a weak army either. You could say that they were a few times stronger than the defending forces of Valhalla.
The giant king Harmarti would buy time for the magician king to make Valhalla sink in.
The strategy of Jotunheim was simple and the army of Thor could only fall for its simplicity.
‘We need a variable.’
Something to break the shape of the battlefield. Something to change the situation.
Thor couldn’t become a variable and it was the same for Sigurd. The situation would stay the same instead that they fought a little better.
Thor also knew of that very well.
And Harmarti obviously knew that too.
A fight without variables.
Sigurd’s judgement was correct. No variables occurred from inside. It couldn’t happen.
Sigurd held Gram and tried to charge towards the giants once again.
But right at that moment SIgurd stopped himself. He stopped his momentum and looked at a distant place once again.
A herd of crows was flying to this place and they talked in a loud voice as if they wanted to transmit the information to the entire battlefield.
The variable in the outskirts.
The notice that would completely change this situation.
“Idun’s warrior.”
Sigurd said and put a small smile that wasn’t like him.
The battlefield didn’t change that greatly. It was the same from before the crows.
But it would change now. It was unavoidable.
Because the basic structure that decided on the shape of this battlefield had broken.
The magician king had died.
And Valhalla won.
Now, Jotunheim were the ones that would get at a disadvantage if they prolonged the battle.
Thor’s lightning became louder.
And the flow of the battlefield changed.
&
Drive them back!
Odin!
For Asgard and the nine realms!
The giants are fleeing!
Don’t let them escape! Get rid of the giant kings!
Several voices were heard. The roars and battlecries also didn’t stop.
Odin was fighting.
He, that got released from the restraints of the world wolf, proved why he was the king of Gods at the same time of being the God of war. He annihilated the giants and evil spirits with his overwhelming divine power and magic.
The giant kings got disrupted.
THey had hidden in Jotunheim the past hundred years and just waited for the opportunity. Now that the situation had become this disadvantageous, they only thought of their own well being.
A messy escape started and the balance of the battlefield crumbled at that moment. The tense battle turned into a one sided massacre.
In addition, the battle between Asgard and Jotunheim was different from the basis that occured between human fights in Midgard.
It wasn’t a fight between humans but between the ones that wanted to maintain the world and the ones hoping to destroy it. So obviously, concepts like surrendering and taking hostages got more unlikely.
They would kill their enemies.
The simple logic circulated in the battlefield.
&
Tae Ho woke from his deep sleep but his eyes didn’t open up that easily maybe because he was still exhausted or he had slept for too long.
So he decided to stay with his eyes closed instead of opening his eyes forcefully.
Unexpectedly, he didn’t fall back to sleep again. It was because an interesting story was heard from not far away.
“Uh…….so how do we have to call you now?”
“Like usual. Idun and I……are different people speaking strictly. Freya unnie also used to say that.”
So you are Heda when your hair is red and Idun-nim when your hair is golden?”
They were Adenmaha, Heda and Nidhogg respectively.
Heda gladly answered Nidhogg’s question.
“That’s right, you can say that is the case.”
Because that was the most eye catching difference.
“So, is that eye cover something like a key?”
Adenmaha asked while fixing her language a bit. She was using words she used when she spoke to a close sister of hers like she usually did with Heda.
“Yes, Idun will wake up if I wear this. Actually, there’s no need to do that right now…..but should I call it a kind of change in consciousness? It’s also a relic left behind by my mother.”
Heda’s voice changed to become a bit bitter. Nidhogg embraced that Heda and mumbled in a depressed voice.
“Heda is pretty. I like Idun-nim. But it’s really despairing. One is hard enough but two of them got combined. This isn’t fair…..”
For Heda and Idun to be one person. She didn’t think she could win when she was only one person but what was she supposed to do when two of them became one?
Heda laughed bitterly at Nidhogg’s despair. Adenmaha, that also laughed the same way, raised her hand and asked.
“Ah, can I ask you one thing?”
“Yes, whatever.”
“Uh…..how did you do it then?”
“Did what?”
“Well, master was usually with Heda when he entered the shrine. So did you hurriedly turn around and enter it from the back when master entered it?”
Heda flinched at Adenmaha’s question and then flushed. She nodded really slowly.
“Ye, yes.”
“Wow, really? And you transformed into Idun-nim in that time?”
“Ye, yes.”
She would enter the shrine from behind while Tae Ho entered the door and transform into Idun while Tae Ho walked inside.
She forcefully calmed down her breathing in front of Tae Ho and act calm. Just as nothing had happened ever.
Adenmaha imagined that and bursted out of laughter and Tae Ho did the same.
“Tae Ho master!”
Nidhogg raised her ear and moved from Heda’s embrace to Tae Ho’s. She hugged him and put a bright smile.
But it was short. Heda grabbed Nidhogg’s back of the neck like moving a kitten and moved her to a side. She opened her eyes sharply and said while looking at Tae Ho.
“So that was the case. You were already awake but were eavesdropping at a girl’s conversation. That was the case.”
It was Cold but Tae Ho already knew everything about Heda. He could know how she was feeling even without using the ‘eyes of the dragon’.
‘She’s embarrassed’.
So she’s acting that way to appease herself.
Tae Ho smirked and spoke with a calm voice instead of being bewildered.
“I only heard a part. From now on I will walk a bit slower when I enter the shrine.”
Heda’s face reddened more and because of that Tae Ho received the light beating that came up next with a humble feeling.
After receiving about three hits from her.
Adenmaha calmed down Heda and grabbed Nidhogg that was still waiting to get embraced by Tae Ho.
“Nidhogg, master needs to relax. He has to rest a bit more so lets talk with him later. And the blessing can also come for later.”
“Yes….I will hold back.”
Nidhogg nodded with a depressed face. Adenmaha stroke her head a few times and spoke to Heda.
“Don’t you also have to go by now?”
There would be many people looking for the Goddess of life now that there were countless injured people. She had only made some of her time to check Tae Ho’s state but she was as busy as she could now that the battle ended.
“Mm, that is indeed the case.”
It seemed like Heda wanted to say something more but Adenmaha didn’t allow it. She nodded and interrupted her and then turned to look at Tae Ho.
“Master, the battle ended well. We also suffered great damage but we still ended up winning. About more than a day passed since the battle and it’s night currently. A conference is going to be held tomorrow morning so you can rest until then. If you are hungry or need something tell me now and if you think of eating at a later time ring that bell over there. You can also use the summoning rock. Ah, you know that you have to call me instead of Nidhogg right?”
“Ye, yeah.”
Tae Ho gave out a sloppy answer at the rain of words. Nidhogg mumbled from a side.
“You can call Nidhogg…….”
“You don’t know how to cook.”
Nidhogg sulked out at the simple yet heavy fact and dropped her shoulders. Adenmaha giggled because she was too cute and continued speaking.
“Fine, Rolo and McLaren got some internal injuries but it’s nothing you should worry about. Siri and Bracky are also safe. Are you worried about anyone else?”
“What about Freya-nim? And the Valkyries?”
The eyes of Heda and Adenmaha became cold. For him to name Freya and the Valkyries first.
But it was only for a moment. It was obvious that Tae Ho worried about them.
“They did get injured but no one died. Freya-nim is really fresh.”
Tae Ho got satisfied at Adenmaha’s concise answer but getting to the point. Heda touched Tae Ho’s cheek as he dropped his body unconsciously.
“You are really tired. Rest a bit more. Let’s speak later.”
He had defeated the magician king and the world wolf. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Tae Ho had spent everything he had in mere ten minutes.
Tae Ho agreed. If it wasn’t for Idun’s blessing, he wouldn’t be awake right now.
“Let Idun’s blessing accompany you.”
Heda gave Tae Ho the best blessing.
Nidhogg struggled from the back saying ‘me too, me too’ but it wasn’t possible. Heda took Nidhogg and got out of the room while smiling brightly.
“She doesn’t have any openings.”
Adenmaha spoke while speaking bitterly and then told Tae Ho to rest one more time and followed Nidhogg’s back.
The room turned silent after the three people left. Cuchulainn was also silent probably because he aided him with a lot of strength when executing the attack with Gae Bolg.
Tae Ho looked at the room where the three people left and then looked up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes lightly and let out a long sigh.
“We won.”
They had won.
Tae Ho put a smile and then fell in a deep slumber.
&
“So you woke up.”
< Episode 46 – Idun’s (1) > End
TL note: Thanks for reading~