Chapter 143
Cheon Ryang followed Un Hyang at full speed.
Although he had been skilled in light footwork since childhood, closing the distance between him and Un Hyang was not easy. Her speed as she lightly stepped on tree branches was no different from Cheon Ryang’s best effort.
Perhaps she was consciously matching her pace to Cheon Ryang’s out of consideration.
‘Is she really going to do this?’
Un Hyang had led a life far removed from fighting ever since she got a job in Balhae.
However, recently, she has gotten into more fights.
There was only one thing that had changed.
‘… Since she started managing Lee Suhyuk the streamer?’
Pop-.
Un Hyang, who had been leading, suddenly came to a halt.
Cheon Ryang, who had been following right behind her, also stopped, and Reinhardt, who had been trailing at a distance, came to a stop as well.
“Good. It’s secluded.”
The location they had arrived at was a cliff on a mountain, far from the airship.
A place untouched by human hands and feet.
“A place where no one would know if one of us died.”
That was precisely why they had chosen this location.
“Or is it two?”
“Just one. I’ll handle the opponent alone.”
“Whether it’s one or two, it doesn’t matter.”
“That goes for me as well. As you can see, the other person is not much help.”
When Reinhardt nodded at Un Hyang’s words, Cheon Ryang was taken aback.
“If you were going to treat me like this, why did you bring me along?”
“To keep you by my side.”
“What?”
An unexpected serious answer.
Un Hyang was not one to usually say such cheesy lines. Only then did Cheon Ryang see her face instead of her back.
Step-.
Un Hyang walked past Cheon Ryang.
As she closed the distance to Reinhardt, her usual bright and playful demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
“Do you really have to meet the streamer Lee Suhyuk?”
“And if I must?”
“Then I have no choice but to kill you here.”
There was no particular confidence detected in her.
Feeling an odd sense of incongruity at her demeanor, Reinhardt’s expression darkened once he identified the atmosphere around her.
Just as you don’t need confidence to stomp on an ant, she spoke of killing him as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
“You can still stop now. You haven’t seen anything yet. But once it starts, it can’t be stopped.”
With these words, a sudden thought flashed through Cheon Ryang’s mind.
‘No way…’
“What will you do?”
“Hey, Un Hyang!”
Calling out her name, Cheon Ryang was already certain.
But before Un Hyang could respond to his call.
Skaat-.
“Did you expect me to be afraid?”
Reinhardt drew his sword with a fierce aura.
“I planned to kill you painlessly, but I’ve changed my mind. First, I’ll cut out your tongue and then dismember your limbs. That should make me feel a bit better.”
“So that’s your choice, is it?”
Swaaaa-.
In an instant.
“It turned out to be unfortunate, didn’t it?”
Behind Un Hyang, the mirage in the shape of a human appeared and then vanished.
“For both you and me.”
* * *
Lee Suhyuk raised his hand and examined his palm.
His skin was frozen and cracked from the biting cold. It was as if another winter had piled on top of the current one, with the weather changing at an incomprehensible speed.
‘Because of Bergelmir?’
A change caused by a mere 6% release rate.
A force strong enough to alter the weather. There was only one person Suhyuk knew who could show him something like this.
‘If it was Shiwoo from the past…’
Suhyuk shook his head with a sigh.
“This trial must have gone mad, sending out a boss like this.”
His energy was completely drained.
Although it hadn’t revealed itself yet, he was already sure.
This couldn’t be taken down. Absolutely not.
Even if it was Shiwoo from the old days with full stamina, it wouldn’t be achievable. Particularly now, with his energy depleted from Valhalla’s trial and the fight with Baldur, it was impossible.
“This really might end up as a second run.”
For the first time, Suhyuk let out a groan.
– Is he finally going to fail?
– Here comes the second run, lol
– This is definitely overboard
– It felt iffy since they brought out that scenario hook, haha
The viewers were also predicting failure.
But unlike them, Suhyuk was clinging to one last hope.
‘Even dealing with Baldur alone is already an excessive challenge.’
The goal of this trial was to subdue Baldur and rescue Viola to prevent the release of Bergelmir.
But even looking past Bergelmir, Baldur was not an opponent to come from the sixth floor.
He was a boss with skills surpassing even several high-ranking individuals combined.
‘Something is strange about this trial.’
Was simply passing Valhalla’s trial the correct answer?
Had failure been inevitable from the moment he chose the route to save Viola?
His mind was cluttered with thoughts. His stamina was at its limit, so he had to think of a way to find clues somehow.
But there was no time for that.
“S-Suhyuk, sir.”
Viola, shivering in the drastically lowered temperature, pointed her finger toward the sky.
“Th-there…”
“There?”
Suhyuk’s gaze followed to where Viola was pointing beyond the dark clouds.
As he looked up at the clouds, his mouth slowly fell open.
“No way.”
Above the dark clouds.
Within the clouds, a gigantic hand that was distinct and enormous enough to see with the naked eye was visible.
A hand large enough to cover the sky. A gigantic palm stretching several kilometers long.
– Holy…
– Is that a hand?
– That’s really a giant, isn’t it?
– That’s beyond a giant; that’s a mega giant…
-The Scale of the Trial is Insane
When the “Hand of Bergelmir” appeared, the viewers went wild again.
It was a rare spectacle. No giant known so far could match that sheer size.
‘So, they weren’t just bluffing about toppling Rasderikh.’
Frankly, Lee Suhyuk had been skeptical.
How did they intend to bring down that enormous wall? It was obviously made of something extraordinary.
But seeing that hand, he couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
If just one hand was that immense, it was unimaginable how gigantic it would be if fully unleashed.
Lying down and observing the scene, Baldur mumbled.
“This is the end of Midgard.”
Emptiness, enlightenment, resignation.
All these emotions were reflected in Baldur’s words and expression.
One shared similarity was that he was having moments of reflection, as if feeling something had concluded.
“Are you happy? That we’re all going to die together.”
“This isn’t what I wanted, but…”
Baldur nodded while still lying down.
“This too, in a small way, is revenge against those damned gods.”
“Why do you hate the gods so much?”
Just because he couldn’t enter Valhalla?
Lee Suhyuk couldn’t comprehend it. Was it really that significant to the point of destroying his homeland? Suhyuk couldn’t grasp the magnitude of it.
“It’s better to die not knowing.”
Baldur’s gaze shifted from Suhyuk’s back to the distant wall, Rasderikh.
“How repugnant those beings are.”
“Repugnant? Are you talking about Heimdall by any chance…”
“That repulsive god.”
Behind Suhyuk, an obstinate and familiar voice, hard to forget, reached his ears.
“Are you perhaps talking about me?”
“T… Tyr…?”
Baldur’s eyes widened.
In that instant, he, who was on the verge of death, performed a surprising feat.
Snap-
Shuaaak-
Grabbing the half-dropped sword, he quickly rose to his feet. With the sword blade standing firmly, he swiftly thrust it toward Tyr’s throat.
But,
Clack-
His sword tip was easily caught by Tyr’s hand.
“Tyr-, tyyyyr-!”
As if he had expected it to be blocked, Baldur showed no surprise at the interception. He just screamed at Tyr with such ferocity that his throat seemed to tear, and blood was almost drawn.
The unexpected event left Suhyuk momentarily dazed.
How could someone who was nearly dead move so fast?
There was no other explanation than it being a miracle born from anger so deep that it defied reason.
“It seems you have resorted to these petty tricks because you see no way to kill me. I understand.”
In contrast to Baldur’s fury, Tyr spoke as if he was soothing a lamb.
However, despite his tone, Tyr’s face grew increasingly somber.
“But that tantrum was a bit excessive.”
Looking up at the approaching gigantic hand, Tyr narrowed his eyes fiercely.
“You awakened that without even knowing what it is.”
Crash.
In Tyr’s hand, Baldur’s sword shattered like candy. Watching the sharp fragments fall to the ground, Baldur wore a look of utter despair.
A thought crossed Lee Suhyuk’s mind as he quietly observed the situation.
“Are you here to stop that thing, sir?”
It had always seemed strange.
No matter how you looked at it, that was not the boss that should have appeared on the sixth floor. Even Baldur was already excessively difficult, so how were they supposed to stop such a giant?
If that was the destination of the test, it would have been an impossible test to clear. Therefore, there had to be another solution.
And that solution was right there.
“I am the Regent of Midgard.”
The god in front of them was Tyr.
“This is my duty, not yours.”
“For it being your duty, you sure took your time getting here.”
-LOLOLOL LOLOLOL
-LOLOLOL LOLOLOL
-Oh, the latecomer has a lot to say~
At Suhyuk’s words, Tyr wore an embarrassed expression.
As Suhyuk had pointed out, the governance of Midgard was Tyr’s responsibility. That meant that resolving any problems in Midgard was also his duty.
However, Suhyuk had been handling it so far, leaving Tyr with no room for argument.
“… Not many dare to run their mouths at me like that.”
Groaning, Tyr slightly bowed his head.
“This time… indeed.”
“Pardon?”
“If you didn’t hear it, then forget it. First, we need to take care of that before it gets any colder.”
Bergelmir’s hand was already close enough to cover the entire sky. The temperature continued to drop, causing the blood spilled on the ground to freeze solid.
“What exactly is that thing?”
“Bergelmir. A descendant of Aurgelmir and the progenitor of all frost giants.”
Aurgelmir?
Suhyuk didn’t know what that was, but he understood the latter part.
If Bergelmir was the progenitor of a race, especially giants, it made sense that he possessed such power and grandeur.
Schrrk—.
Finally, Tyr drew his sword.
It was an astonishingly white and long, pure white sword.
With the sword drawn, he added one last explanation.
“And it’s the giant that Odin and I sealed together.”
“Odin…?”
– all of a sudden?
– Who is this old man, and can he fight?
– Is this guy about to throw out his back? 😂
It might have seemed like he was boasting, but there was no hint of insincerity. More importantly, his aura was genuinely serious as he held the sword.
“Fortunately.”
Sssss—.
His sword moved as slowly as if it would make anyone yawn. His swordsmanship felt less like swinging and more like painting with a brush.
“Only one of its hands has been released.”
Ssssshk—.
The sound of something being cut was soft yet clear. That sound came from the sky above Midgard.
With a sense of disbelief, Suhyuk looked up.
-No way?
-?????
-GOAT!!!
-No way, no way, no way, no way!
Splttt—.
Bergelmir’s hand had been split into two.