Chapter 139
Crackling sounds reverberated in the air.
The remnants of the lightning lingered and scattered on the ground. Lee Suhyuk grimaced as he pulled the broken spear from his shoulder.
With a crunching sound, the spear that had been lodged into his bone was extracted.
There was considerable bleeding from the wound. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at his staggering opponent.
‘I should have used it.’
The problem lay in his attempt to conserve his strength by not utilizing the Lightning Lord.
In this case, using it or not made no difference; the calculation was the same.
“You were hiding the thunder”, spoke Brynhild, the fourteenth warrior, opening her mouth for the first time since facing Suhyuk.
“You still don’t seem to know how to wield a sword properly, but it is impressive.”
“Is that a compliment or a criticism?” he retorted.
“It’s both.”
Being able to handle thunder was commendable.
But he still couldn’t properly wield a sword.
That was Brynhild’s total evaluation of Suhyuk.
Disposing of the spear lodged in his shoulder, Suhyuk once again aimed his sword at Brynhild.
She hadn’t collapsed yet.
“No need for that.”
As Brynhild knelt on one knee, her body began to fade away slowly from her toes upward.
“I am finished now. Standing was just my last pride as a warrior.”
“Is that something to be proud of?”
Suhyuk questioned.
“If you are the sword and shield of Asgard, it is a mentality you must possess”, she replied.
At her words, Suhyuk clicked his tongue.
Surely, it was that kind of spirit that had allowed her to become the leader of the Valkyries.
“It won’t be easy.”
With her final breath, she reiterated words she had heard countless times before.
“For a human to survive in Asgard.”
『You have defeated the Memory of Brynhild, the Fourteenth Warrior.』
『Do you wish to continue the challenge?』
With a thud, Suhyuk sat down on the stairs, taking a brief respite after the not-so-short battle. Brynhild’s body vanished without a trace over time.
– Brynhild, noooo
– Why did you kill our sister, why!!
– But it looks like he’s getting exhausted
Most of the chat messages lamented Brynhild’s death.
As befits the leader of the Valkyries, she was a beauty that could stand shoulder to shoulder with Viola.
But still, there was no other choice.
“Otherwise, I’d die, right?”
To proceed, he had no choice but to fight.
– Yeah
– Of course
– Isn’t that a reward?
He had asked a pointless question.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Suhyuk began to recover his spent energy and staunch his wounds while chatting briefly with the viewers.
Then…
『’MissionVillain’ donated 100 points.』
『Is this a stop?』
A donation message popped up as if it had grown tired of waiting.
The mission began the moment he surpassed the tenth memory of Heimdall.
For every warrior he surpassed, he earned between 1,000 and 5,000 points, with a total of 12,000 points up for grabs.
And to that question, Suhyuk slowly got up and answered.
“Go.”
-gogogo
-Go even if you can’t take more
-Who’s next after Brynhild
This mission was the type where failing once meant losing all the accumulated reward money.
If Suhyuk were to lose to the next opponent, the 48,000 points he’d amassed so far would vanish.
But,
‘Can I stop now?’
He still had strength left to continue.
Besides the points, the rewards for defeating each opponent grew larger as well.
Moreover, as this trial continued, it was evident that the number of viewers was increasing.
『Viewers: 66,291』
The number had already surpassed 60,000.
With the intriguing backdrop of Asgard and the imposing gods appearing one after another, no one left but more joined.
Naturally, the donations and missions increased as well.
Climbing the steps slowly, Suhyuk reviewed the recent fight.
‘Those were old records, right.’
He had just overpowered with sheer firepower thanks to the lightning.
When it came to skill in handling weapons, Brynhild was a step above him.
Brynhild. The head of the female warriors of Valhalla, the Valkyries.
She truly had the skill to represent Asgard.
‘I wonder how she is now.’
He was curious.
If the memory of Brynhild from long ago was this skilled, how strong would the real one be?
As he caught his breath, these thoughts ran through his mind.
-Come to think of it, that old guy hasn’t shown up yet
One of the chat comments caught Suhyuk’s eye.
‘Right.’
He had forgotten.
The god named Tyr he met outside with Viola.
-He’s too unheard of not to show up
-He looked full of himself, though lol
-Just an old geezer lol
No. That couldn’t be.
Judging by Viola’s demeanor towards Tyr and the scenes he saw in the cutscenes, Tyr wasn’t a god of low status.
The fact that Tyr hadn’t appeared yet could mean one thing.
‘Is he waiting further above?’
Suhyuk’s gaze shifted to the top of the stairs.
Maybe not. He might not meet all the gods of Valhalla here, some might not be recorded in this place.
However, he had a strong gut feeling sometimes.
Higher than Brynhild, the leader of the Valkyries.
Tyr seemed to be waiting above.
“This looks interesting.”
His footsteps quickened as he climbed the stairs.
“Valhalla.”
The gods encountered here were invariably those who could be met in Valhalla.
And nine times out of ten, they would be much higher up than when they fought against oneself here.
What kind of scene would it be?
Anticipation of entering Valhalla was already swelling up. And the viewers watching the stream shared the same sentiment.
– He’s already confirmed to go to Valhalla, isn’t he?
– ㅇㅇ He already cleared stage 10.
– Just cross over quickly ㅡㅡ
A world where gods like Odin, thor, heimdall, and Brynhild lived together.
There were as many viewers waiting to enter that place as those who waited for the next trial opponent.
It was hard to believe that the player had already surpassed that world, which had been shrouded in mystery until now.
It gave off an oddly easy impression.
* * *
A chill rose from the rough, hard floor. In a prison with only a small, palm-sized window as the source of light, Viola sat bound by both arms.
Sssss-.
When she tried to release herself by force, it wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t an ordinary rope.
‘Did the guards have ropes like this?’
She couldn’t shake the feeling that everything had been prepared in advance.
This room, the rope that could bind a Valkyrie—it wasn’t something that could be procured overnight.
Clank-.
Footsteps echoed from the end of the prison corridor.
Was it Baldur?
Viola straightened her body despite her bound hands. Her breath stopped, and her nerves sharpened with tension.
Fortunately.
“Viola.”
It was Vigo who had come to find her.
“Vigo!”
“Are you alright?”
“For now. I’m not hurt anywhere.”
During her capture, Viola had not resisted at all. It seemed she had been taken too easily, but in hindsight, it was the correct decision.
“Why didn’t you resist?”
“Resisting would have only hurt me and wouldn’t have changed the outcome. Baldur was there.”
Baldur was the commander of Midgard. The only reason he could hold the position of commander was due to his own abilities.
Even back when he was the captain of Midgard’s guard, he could easily handle a few Valkyries.
Let alone now that he had become commander.
“All I can do now is clear my name. I don’t know what misunderstanding there is, but—”
“It’s not a misunderstanding.”
“…What?”
“Your capture, Viola. It’s not a misunderstanding or a mistake.”
Viola’s mind swirled with countless questions at Vigo’s words.
She swore she had never done anything to harm Asgard.
It’s not a misunderstanding, nor is it a crime.
Then.
“Vigo. Do you know what’s going on?”
This implied there was a third reason.
“……Yes.”
Vigo lowered his head heavily.
After taking a long, deep breath, he finally spoke.
“Viola, you are a sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice?”
It wasn’t a pleasant word. It was a term often used by demons.
“For what?”
“Didn’t you hear the objective before getting here?”
There was indeed a memorable phrase.
“So, I made my decision. To cross over there, by my own means.”
Rasderikh.
The boundary that separated Valhalla and Midgard.
Baldur had been eyeing the world of the gods ever since Asgard was established.
“That’s impossible.”
This he could say firmly.
“Even if all of Midgard united, it would still be impossible. Let alone with just one commander and a few dozen followers?”
“There are more than a few dozen. About two hundred to be exact.”
“Doesn’t make a difference.”
The power of Valhalla was immense. As a Valkyrie who had resided there, she knew this all too well.
There were countless Valkyries like Viola there. And there were also great gods like Brunhild, Tyr, thor, and Heimdall who governed them.
Whether it was hundreds or thousands, having just one of them present would obliterate everyone.
One thing was for sure; Baldur must have known this.
“That’s why the commander needs a Valkyrie.”
Vigo did not refer to Baldur as a commander.
In his heart, Baldur remained as he was 400 years ago.
“For what?”
“To awaken Bergelmir.”
Suddenly, Viola sprang up from her seat in shock.
“How on Earth?”
“Pure, uncontaminated blood and flesh of the divine race. It’s the last ingredient to break the seal.”
“Bergelmir has been sealed here?”
All Viola knew of Bergelmir, the ancestor of the frost giants, were legends.
The ancestor who survived Ymir’s flood.
It was Odin, the god of Asgard, who sealed Bergelmir.
But there were no records of that battle, only oral traditions that such an event happened.
But then,
“Isn’t it getting cold?”
For some reason, Vigo knew far too much about Bergelmir.
“Bergelmir was the winter of Midgard itself.”
Viola’s eyes quivered violently.
It wasn’t because she learned why Midgard had winters or about Bergelmir’s existence.
Footsteps echoed in the prison.
“So, Lady Viola—”
Before Vigo could finish his sentence, a long red line appeared across his neck.
“Must… protect…”
Thwack.
His head, losing balance, tilted downward. Vigo’s head rolled off with a powerless thud.
“Vigooooo!”
“I knew it. You were asking too many questions.”
The person who had beheaded Vigo with a single strike was Baldur.
He looked at Viola from beyond the iron bars, sprinkling Vigo’s blood on the corpse.
“Good thing I checked, don’t you think?”
“Baldur, you…!”
“Isn’t it funny? What difference does it make, sharing this information?”
Baldur’s sneer was aimed at Vigo’s lifeless body lying on the ground.
Just a single Valkyrie imprisoned.
The information that cost Vigo his life seemed meaningless to Viola.
However,
“No. It does make a difference.”
There was still something that could be changed.
In her hand was the communication kit she had given to Suhyuk.
* * *
And at that very moment,
“…So, the commander needs a Valkyrie.”
Suhyuk mumbled as he watched the cutscene unfold before his eyes.
“…Of course.”