------------------
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
------------------
Chapter 191: The Sword of Destruction, Laevateinn (1)
“They're attacking simultaneously.”
“Everyone return to your positions and assume defensive formations.”
At Odin’s command, the gathered gods of Asgard disappear one by one.
Loki, remaining with Odin, spoke to me.
“Kim Jiho. That divine domain skill you used earlier—when can you use it again?”
“I haven’t deactivated it yet. It consumes a fair amount of SP, but I need to keep it up for now.”
“Oh? Then how far can you extend its range?”
“As far as my eyes can see? It’s not enough to cover all of Asgard.”
“Then we’d better form an elite force. Can you stop Laevateinn with them?”
At Loki’s words, I looked up at the sky.
Laevateinn—the sword of destruction that will bring about the fall of Asgard.
But it’s so massive that I can't even see the sword itself, just flames burning in the sky.
“Do you know Laevateinn’s exact location?”
“I’ll find it. Sorry, but could you summon some of the apostles?”
“Sure. Asgard can’t be destroyed. But don’t summon the gods dispatched outside.”
The sky is filled with Laevateinn’s flames and black lightning.
There’s no sign of the gods of Olympus.
The likes of Ares and other heroic gods of Greece—those who would form the army of Olympus—aren’t here.
Well, they probably can’t attack directly.
That would violate the alliance treaty.
Then, Olympus’s forces, which are regrouping...
Where are they headed?
“Kim Jiho. Do you think Ares could be attacking other divine realms at the same time?”
“Exactly. If Asgard is on the brink of destruction and all gods return to defend it, what do you think will happen? The dispatched gods who would otherwise take hits and trigger treaty penalties would no longer be present—so no penalties.”
“Hm... The dispatched gods are no small force...”
“The minor realms are already finished. Focus on protecting the Celestial Realm and Earth. In return, I’ll mobilize all the apostle gods.”
“Alright. Understood.”
Once Loki agreed, I summoned all the apostles.
One by one, the apostle gods appeared, already prepared for battle with tense expressions.
“Laevateinn has appeared in Asgard, and Olympus has destroyed the minor realms and sent black lightning.”
When I pointed to the sky, the apostle gods steeled themselves and looked upward.
“If Asgard falls, there will be nothing left to stop Zeus. I didn’t want to ask too much of you apostles... but today, I must.”
“Command us, Lord God.”
“Protect Asgard.”
“Understood! We will protect Asgard!”
Their thunderous voices shake the ground.
They're more disciplined than I expected.
“And... does anyone have a divine artifact of Order? If you have one to spare, could you sell it to me?”
The apostles glanced around at each other nervously.
Then, one stepped forward—a man with a long beard: Guan Yu.
“Lord God. I offer you my Green Dragon Crescent Blade.”
“No, Guan Yu, that’s your main weapon...”
“If the Lord requires it, it is only proper that I give it.”
Well, this is awkward.
Taking the Green Dragon Crescent Blade from Guan Yu feels wrong...
“But I’ll use it well.”
Still, I feel better about upgrading my sword before the battle.
I take out my Soul Sword and absorb the blade given by Guan Yu.
[The Soul Sword absorbs the Green Dragon Crescent Blade.]
[Partial conditions for Soul Sword evolution fulfilled.]
[More divine artifacts of the Order faction required. Absorb at least SS-rank artifacts.]
SS-rank or higher?
That won’t be easy to find.
Most gods only have S-rank...
Ah, wait.
[Artemis. Do you have any SS-rank artifacts? I need one.]
[What? Me? No.]
[Seriously?]
[I’m serious! Even my bow, Crysellacatos, is only S-rank. SS-rank artifacts are super rare.]
[Got it.]
Absorbing Mistletoe and Draupnir fragments was just luck, huh.
Trying to find them now is another matter.
Hmm...
Absorbing Triaina right now would be a waste...
“Guan Yu. Thank you for your dedication. Since you gave your weapon, you don’t need to join the battle.”
“No, Lord. Even if my strength is small, I want to support your path.”
Well spoken.
I handed him 1,000,000 SP.
“Lord... this is...?”
“I’ll repay you properly after the battle. For now, use it to buy a weapon.”
“Yes, understood!”
Guan Yu withdrawed with a brightened face.
After he left, I asked the apostles just in case.
“Anyone else with an SS-rank artifact...?”
They all avoided my gaze.
Sigh.
Even Artemis doesn’t have one—of course they don’t.
As I sighed, Loki asked from beside me.
“Kim Jiho. Is that so important?”
“It’s for the final evolution of the Soul Sword... it’s a shame.”
“SS-rank artifacts... and they have to be from the Order faction?”
“Yeah.”
“If it were from the Neutral faction, I could help, but Order... that’s tricky. I’ll look around during the fight.”
“Thanks. Even just offering means a lot.”
KRA-KOOM!
------------------
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
------------------
A bolt of black lightning tore through the sky’s flames and crashed to the ground.
The dark lightning formed into a humanoid shape and stood against us.
“Already...! Kim Jiho. I’ll gather the elites and return. Hold them off for now.”
“Alright. Apostles! Subdue the black lightning!”
At my command, the apostles charged forward all at once.
They began battling the fallen black lightning entity.
“Artemis. Help out, will you? I’ll join in shortly.”
“Got it. What are you doing?”
“I’m going to control Triaina.”
“Okay. I’ll cover the others so they don’t die.”
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM!
Explosions erupted all over the battlefield.
I need to move quickly.
I pulled up a map of Okeanos.
A massive army continues pouring into Asgard.
All three roads leading to Asgard are packed with enemy forces.
The one where I stalled Odysseus is still holding back, likely because I blocked it, but the other two are already swarming in.
“I guess I can’t keep interfering with the path of Okeanos forever, huh?”
[Through Triaina’s authority, only two paths can be blocked at a time. The duration is 30 minutes, and it takes two hours to recharge.]
Two paths, huh.
Then I’ll have to block two out of the three.
If I block the two that are actively advancing, the enemy’s numbers should decrease.
[Do you wish to interfere with the Path of Okeanos? If you use Triaina’s authority, you will not be able to travel through Triaina.]
“I will interfere.”
[Please specify the locations for intervention.]
At Triaina’s prompt, I blocked the two advancing paths at their entry points.
Then on the map, the advance of two legions was sealed off.
This should keep the threat of the Black Thunder at bay for about 30 minutes.
My apostles or the gods of Asgard should be able to hold them off for now.
“The problem is that damn Laevateinn……”
The sword said to bring about the destruction of Asgard.
It's setting the entire sky ablaze with terrifying momentum.
The flames keep growing, and they’ll probably reach the ground soon.
Loki is supposedly gathering the elite troops—until then, I’ll need to buy some time.
“Soul Disassembly.”
Just watching won’t solve anything, so I analyzed it.
Soul energy filled the sky.
A synergy formed between the forces of light and fire.
But upon close analysis...
“It’s weaker than I thought?”
Weak.
For a sword that's supposed to destroy Asgard, it's underwhelming.
It feels weaker than when Apollo fully unleashed his powers as the sun god.
Outwardly, it seems strong enough to burn the heavens completely, but internally, it lacks substance.
The energy doesn’t have a clear direction—it’s just aimlessly spreading across the sky.
This is supposed to be the sword to destroy Asgard?
“Artemis.”
“What?”
“Looking closely at Laevateinn, it doesn’t seem that strong. What do you think?”
“That thing? Really? I feel like I’d burn up just getting close to it.”
Artemis glanced up at the sky, then shuddered and shook her head.
“It really looks that strong to you?”
“Yes. The fire in the sky seems impossible to deal with. I feel instinctively afraid.”
Even when I asked another apostle, I got the same answer.
Is there something about it that feels different to other gods?
For now, I’ll try to stall until Loki brings the elites.
“Divine Authority of the Sun.”
I activated the upgraded divine authority of the sun.
Ever since Baldr, the god of light, died, sunlight had been vanishing from Asgard.
But since I absorbed part of Baldr’s authority, I could now emit my own light and use the sun god's power.
Fwoooosh.
As pure white light radiated from my body, Artemis turned to look at me.
“You… your power changed, didn’t it?”
“I absorbed Apollo’s power, and now Baldr’s as well.”
“Wow. People spend their whole lives building that up, and you just devour it all at once.”
Artemis looked at me with envy—then her expression shifted to one of curiosity.
“Now that you’re glowing, Laevateinn doesn’t seem so terrifying anymore. The fire’s still there, but it’s weird.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I feel the same. Just a moment ago, it felt like fighting beneath a guillotine. Now the sky doesn’t seem as threatening.”
Another apostle god responded to my question.
I was planning to clash directly with Laevateinn using the sun’s authority—but even before that, the apostle gods were already moving more actively.
Could the light’s power be suppressing it?
Good.
“Let’s stop the sky fire.”
I imbued my light with soul energy and pushed back against the fire in the sky.
Earth’s light.
Heaven’s fire.
Two natural forces, in reversed positions, clashed with one another.
Light infused with soul energy and fire pressed against each other in a fierce struggle.
[You are colliding with ‘Laevateinn imbued with the Creator’s power.’]
[As a god of souls, you are immune to the ‘Overwhelming Pressure’ effect.]
[Laevateinn shares similar attributes with the light god Baldr. It is easier for you to exploit its weaknesses.]
Easier to exploit, huh?
But why is my SP draining so fast?
[The Sun God's authority is activated at maximum output. SP consumption is increasing rapidly.]
[Laevateinn triggers Soul Reaping. SP is being replenished.]
A constant flux of SP consumption and replenishment flashes across the message window.
But the consumption is clearly outpacing the gain.
“I’ve already burned through two million…”
Maybe it’s because the divine domain is also passively activating?
The SP consumption is massive.
The system said it’d be easier to target Laevateinn, but the fire’s momentum isn’t fading.
Still, the overwhelming force that seemed ready to engulf the world is no longer expanding—it’s been halted.
“The Black Thunder is weakening.”
“Seems it's vulnerable to the light of a chief god. Subdue them now!”
Meanwhile, the battle between apostles and the Black Thunder was going well.
Boom!
[Ugh… ugh…]
A Black Thunder that was fighting fiercely with an apostle was sliced in half.
The black lightning shaped like a human tried to reform, but when it touched my light, it lost its strength and burst into flames.
The Black Thunders were being subdued one after another.
On the ground, the tide of battle was turning in our favor.
As is typical of battles among gods—once the momentum shifts, it quickly becomes a massacre.
“No more enemies are descending. Did you use Triaina’s power?”
“Yeah. But it only lasts 30 minutes.”
“Then we have to eliminate Laevateinn in the meantime……”
Laevateinn still loomed overhead, exuding a powerful presence.
My light suppressed its expansion but didn’t destroy it.
Using the sun god’s authority costs 2 million SP per minute.
Holding it off like this for 30 minutes would burn through 60 million SP.
“Kim Jiho! I’ve gathered Asgard’s elite.”
Just then, Loki arrived.
Next to him stood Odin and Thor.
Behind them, dozens of burly warriors and tall Valkyries were lined up.
Among them, Freyja, whom I saw last time, waved at me cheerfully.
“Your light… is that the power of the sun god?”
Odin, standing beside Loki, stepped forward and asked.
“It’s the sun god’s authority, infused with Baldr’s power. Come to think of it, the system said Laevateinn shares traits with Baldr’s power.”
“So that’s why… Thanks to you, I can finally look directly at the sky. We’ve found the location of Laevateinn.”
“Where is it?”
“Above the World Tree, in the sky.”
------------------
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
------------------
