This advance chapter is sponsored by Riellyster-san. Thank you so much for your support. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ – ˵ ) ✧ .
Perhaps it was because I had just exchanged sword techniques with Flamebone Surtr, but I found myself remembering my training with my father.
Back in the early days—the very first time I ever held a sword.
This sharp, cold hunk of metal had felt terrifying to me. I couldn’t even imagine it being pointed at me in a dungeon. Father could face blades every single day without fear and I thought it was beyond amazing—I felt more than just respectful.
“Father… aren’t you afraid of fighting monsters?”
In my memory, Father patted my head. I was only about ten at the time, so his palm completely covered my head.
“I’m afraid of course.”
“Then why do you go out to fight?”
Even as a child, I understood that being an adventurer was dangerous work.
Father looked up, a little troubled, and smiled.
“Everyone’s afraid. All of us. The old man across the street, the miller next door, and me, too. Everyone’s scared of monsters.”
“Then….”
“Wrong. It’s all because of that.”
Father looked straight into my eyes.
“If everyone’s afraid, then someone has to do it. That’s why I choose to be that someone.”
Because he understood fear, he could feel how frightened everyone else was too. And yet, he would force that fear down and keep moving forward.
I remembered now—that was the kind of man my father was.
Even in the “Blood-Red Sunset”, during that final battle when he challenged Ymir, perhaps it was that same will that carried him forward.
“Of course, there are a few people who aren’t afraid from the start. But those who feel fear, yet still steady their trembling and step into battle is something more. That’s what we call courage, don’t you think?”
It’s precisely because I’m scared that I step forward. Perhaps stepping forward despite the fear is truly what we call “courage.”
As a child, that was what I believed.
It was around that time I began my training with Father.
“A sword exists for that very reason. Every part of a weapon is designed with ways to defend and fight.”
The guard to catch the enemy’s blade. The sharp tip for thrusting. The pommel to balance its weight—and sometimes deliver a strike.
“Even a sword has a hidden hammer. Find it. Practice and knowledge—someday, they’ll be what saves you—”
“Rion.”
Father called out to me. His voice gradually became more and more shaky, bringing me back to reality.
I felt like I’d been tapped firmly on the shoulder.
◆◆◆
“Rion!”
As he called out to me, I found myself collapsed against the wall. In front of me was Solana.
My heart nearly stopped at her appearance.
“S-Solana….?”
The goddess had lost everything from her right shoulder down to her left hip. Her body had shrunk so much, and from that severed line, golden light leaked out.
Solana smiled, her face pale white.
“Thank goodness. Don’t worry—you’re safe.”
“S-Solana, you’re…”
“I’m fine. Gods don’t possess physical bodies. I just wanted to protect you first.”
She smiled as she said it.
There was no way such a wound wasn’t painful. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes.
From far away came the growl of Flamebone Surtr and the howls of monsters. Both were terrifying—but what hurt more was seeing Solana so gravely injured.
“Don’t make that face. I told you from the very beginning, didn’t I? I want to be a god who stands by your side.”
And then, she added softly,
“I’m glad I was able to protect you. But now…. I need to rest for a while.”
With those final words, Solana burst into light. The golden flames surrounding her seemed to flare brighter for an instant—as if she had used the very last of her strength to keep her divine blessing alive.
From the short sword I clutched tightly in my hand, a gold coin flaked off.
Clink. Even now, the sound was cool and clear.
Solana, who had become a sword of light, must have served as our shield as well. That’s why she had been hurt so badly.
“Uu…”
Fear and helplessness churned together inside me. My limbs wanted to give out, but the heat burning deep in my chest lashed at them like a command.
Stand!
Stand up and take your stance!
“Are you all right?”
A shadow fell across me—it was the god, Loki. Behind him, Mia-san, Felix-san, and even Safi came rushing over. All of them looked badly wounded. Mia-san clutched her left arm, while Felix-san’s right arm was seared with a terrible burn.
If Solana hadn’t thrown herself in front of us to protect us—
The mere thought sent a chill crawling down my spine.
I wanted to use my healing abilities, but the medicine god, Sigris, was still busy up above, protecting the dwarves. Besides… I had the feeling I should conserve my mana for now.
With the chain still clenched between her teeth, Mia-san asked,
“Rion, can you still fight?”
“Y-Yes…!”
No room for hesitation. It was time to start over.
That towering figure, nearly twenty meters tall—sways in the heat haze ahead. We have to close the distance again, from the very start. The monsters were back as well. Surtr’s flames had melted the frost of the seal, calling monsters to this floor like moths to a torch.
And beyond them loomed the true threat—Surtr’s weapon, the sword of certain death.
“That blade… it is the weapon of the Flamebone Surtr. Some call it the Bane of Branches—others, the fabled Laevateinn.”
Loki folded his arms, his eyes narrowing to slits.
This was the titan who had once tried to burn the world to ash. If we fell here, the dwarves would be annihilated. The fire would spread, first to Alvis, and then to the Royal Capital itself.
I remembered the vision Solana had once shown me—the myth of fire swallowing everything. The fear of seeing Lu, of seeing Mother, engulfed by those flames… That no longer felt like a distant nightmare. It was drawing closer.
——Ooooohh!!
Surtr roared.
The horde of monsters surged forward in a frenzy, fangs and claws glinting in the infernal light.
Then—thrum!
A volley of enchanted bolts and arrows thundered down from the colossal ballistae. In an instant, the front lines of the horde were reduced to ash, clearing a narrow path toward the flame titan.
Stone sentinels—guard golems—charged into the remaining monsters, locking them in brutal combat, straining to hold the corridor open for us.
“This….”
An unfamiliar voice echoed in my head—the words of the Dwarf King.
—We dwarves shall pour all our magic and mechanisms into this battle as well!
Was he watching us from somewhere?
Along the wall, a crimson jewel glimmered faintly. From above, ten more humanoid figures descended—additional guard golems joining the fray.
—You’ve found a weakness, haven’t you?
I lowered my chin in a firm nod.
Our target was the weak point we had discovered—the Golem cores embedded in Surtr’s knees. The flame titan’s lower legs were prosthetics of stone and earth. Once we shatter the cores, he would no longer be able to stand.
My resolve solidified. It was no longer simply “I mustn’t lose.” Now it had become, “I want all of us to win—together.”
“Here I go! Cover me!”
At my shout, Mia-san and Felix-san responded in perfect unison.
“Got it!”
“All right!”
I dashed forward. The distance was only fifty meters. With the Blessing of the Sun—the Golden Flame—I could have covered it in an instant if there weren’t monsters swarming the path.
The opening that the dwarves had blasted open was already filling up with creatures, their numbers threatening to close it off completely.
Chain axe, magic, and the guard golems fought to hold the passage for even a moment longer. A blast of fire from Garmr streaked past me from the side, just as Surtr raised his blazing sword high.
“—!”
I barely managed to dodge. The wave of heat alone must have seared all the way to the opposite wall. I could only hope the others had escaped the swing as well.
—But that wasn’t all!
“Rion! Dodge!”
Mia-san’s scream proved all too true.
After the downward strike, the blade swept sideways, a great scything arc meant to reap me where I had dodged. Flames carved across the floor in a wide, fanning sweep.
“Wake up!”
Safi’s inscription of “jinrad” flared to life. A sylph burst forth, whipping up a gust of tailwind behind me. I dashed forward, leaping onto a nearby golem as if it were a stepping stone, then vaulted high to clear the sweeping blaze.
Only thirty meters left!
I sprinted through the open space, the floor beneath me glowing hot—hot enough to scorch my boots if I faltered for even a moment.
“GROOOOAAAH!”
Two massive figures loomed before me, each nearly eight meters tall—Flame Giants. They clasped their hands together, ready to crush me like an insect. I stepped aside, first left, then right, but pain flared sharply from my wounds. I gritted my teeth and endured it.
The goddess had borne far worse—surely I could as well.
Only ten more meters!
I dove through a gap in the magical wall.
“One down!”
As we passed each other, my short sword slashed across the golem core in its knee.
“Second one—down!”
Flamebone Surtr staggered, the titan reeling backward, eyes wide with shock. Perhaps the speed I’d gained from the goddess, and the spirit exceeded even its imagination.
Its massive head dipped low, exposing its weak point. I called upon the blessing of the God of Thunder, aiming for the vital spot—Surtr’s head itself.
——You wretch!
Surtr drove its blazing sword deep into the ground. Right beneath me—its target. I had forgotten the risk.
He was planning to lure me in, pull me close enough that I couldn’t escape, and then get me caught up in the explosion of the Flame Sword, Laevateinn.
Felix-san shouted, casting a spell.
“Rion! Over here!”
My body moved before my mind did. I kicked off the ground, sprinting—not toward Surtr now, but away from it.
Run, run, run!
Twenty meters away, my companions waited. The guard golems had gathered to form a makeshift wall. A chain suddenly whipped out from behind it with a metallic clatter.
Instinctively, I grabbed hold of it. Mia-san gave a hard yank, pulling me behind the wall to safety.
“Ice Wall—!”
Felix-san chanted, reinforcing the wall of the guard golems with a layer of frost magic. Safi swung her hammer, striking the constructs and blessing them with “Blessing”, bolstering their strength further. Loki’s divine power joined in, weaving additional protection.
Then, the Dwarf King’s voice rang in my head:
—I shall channel the jewel’s protective magic as well…!
And then—like the world’s very end—the second blast of cataclysmic flame erupted.
◆◆◆
Thor, the God of Thunder, and Jormungandr, the World Serpent, had exchanged countless blows, their battle climbing through one peak after another of ferocity.
Yet the tide was one-sided.
Fangs. Venom. A tail that lashed like a living pillar. Thor parried each strike with Mjolnir, yet his body bore the price—wounds piling one upon another.
Dawn now had begun to pale the sky. The God of Thunder’s form was smeared with blood and mud, while the Serpent’s massive body gleamed with a dark, ominous sheen—two figures, stark in their contrast.
——How delightful…
The World Serpent’s golden eyes curved like crescent moons as a low, throaty hum rolled from its throat. Raising its scythe-like head, it leveled its gaze with the floating God of Thunder.
——You’re shielding the city… the mines… making sure I don’t destroy them. It makes your movements so very easy to read.
All around them, trees lay toppled, the earth scarred and torn. It was painfully clear where the two had clashed. Had anyone looked down from above, they would have seen how the trail of devastation crept steadily farther and farther from Alvis—away from the city, away from the mines.
If the serpent were to leap into the streets, countless lives would be lost. That was why Thor, even as his wounds multiplied, threw his body into the fray, forcing the monster back, cutting off its path.
——And yet… you still haven’t unleashed your full strength, have you?
The serpent laughed, its cavernous maw flashing crimson.
——Is it because of the seal? Or… are you waiting for something?
Thor’s face remained unreadable. From the thunderclouds gathered on his back came a fierce wind, whipping his red hair in wild strands.
Behind him, from a fissure carved into the mountainside, fire suddenly erupted. It was Surtr’s fire.
Thor’s eyes widened as he spun around. Behind him, the serpent gaped its monstrous jaws, a hideous laugh echoing through the night sky.
——A pity, really, that the boy with the horn was burned to death… But in this situation, he’d only have gotten in the way sooner or later, don’t you think?
From the fissure in the mountain, flames erupted like the blast of a volcano. Thor slowly shook his head.
“Hmph!”
He raised his broad palm toward the serpent, and lightning surged from the thunderclouds gathered upon his back. The roar of countless bolts, braided together into a single blinding torrent, shook the very air. Most of the strikes crashed into the ground, throwing up a wall of dust that veiled the serpent’s gaze.
When the haze cleared, Jormungandr fell silent. The distance between them had widened. Thor had retreated—pulled back, deliberately.
——Now, of all times… you are retreating?
The World Serpent knew well the god who stood before her. The war god who had fought her countless times—never once had he lowered his head, never once had he yielded ground. Yet now, battered and torn from shielding the mountain and the city, he drew back toward the mines… with pride blazing in his eyes.
“I told you, didn’t I?!”
Thor’s booming laughter rolled across the pale dawn sky—mirthful, defiant, exhilarating. Even as he stepped back, he raised his mighty hammer high.
“Never underestimate humans! No matter how small their bodies, no matter how many times they fall—”
He jabbed his left thumb hard against his chest.
“—here beats a will larger than any of us!”
From Thor’s chest, a crimson light began to shine.
◆◆◆
The vast chamber had fallen silent.
Darkness loomed—perhaps because the heat had shattered the magic lamps. In the dim glow, the towering form of Flamebone Surtr floated, wreathed in fire.
——How come?
His voice echoed through the scorched air.
——Why are you not reduced to ash?
I stepped out from behind the charred remains of the guard golems. In the end, Surtr had sacrificed both knees to lure me into striking distance. Yet even his ultimate blaze had failed to consume us.
I coughed, my throat burning. The heat was so intense, it was a wonder I could still draw breath. There were probably countless reasons why we’d survived.
Firstly, because Solana had clashed with his flaming sword, draining its force. Because the dwarven guard golems had stood as a wall for us. Because Loki and the Dwarf King had poured their magic into shielding us, and Felix-san and Mia-san had helped me escape at the last possible moment.
And perhaps—just perhaps—the fireproof cloak I’d saved for this moment had done its job. The hem was curled and scorched, but it had held on, though barely.
——Our flames… the flames strong enough to burn the world to ash… and yet it cannot burn a tiny human like you?
I glared up at that massive face. The tears gathering in my eyes weren’t only from the heat.
“No! It’s because everyone helped me! The gods, the dwarves, Mia-san, Felix-san. Everyone protected me! That’s why—!”
The terror of fighting with everything I had finally caught up to me. But I shouted at the mythic titan before me.
“I’m not alone!”
—That’s why I won’t lose!
——Oooooooh!
Surtr’s flames flared again, heat roaring through the cavern.
At that moment, the dungeon shook. From the rift in the ceiling, a crimson light poured down—
The very same glow that now burned within my chest.
“Rion!”
Thor hurled his massive golden hammer toward me. It blazed above my head, then shattered into light. Power rained down on me. The divine, overwhelming might of the God of Thunder himself.
——I walked away from my battle with the World Serpent for this. Now show them, hero.
With a deafening crash, the serpent’s body slammed into the rift from the other side.
——Surtr! Be careful!
Kneeling, the Flamebone Titan glared down at me, his eyes seething with rage.
The serpent’s voice echoed through the cavern.
——Thor did not retreat to distract me! The war god’s true aim… was this boy all along!
——To think he would actually entrust Surtr’s defeat… to a mere human!
At this moment, it struck me. —Our enemy had never even imagined I could stand against Surtr. That arrogance, that miscalculation, had brought us to this moment.
I stepped forward, Thor’s divine power flooding through me, as the voice of the god resounded in my head.
| Skill, 『God of Thunder’s Divine Protection』was used. Achievement has been unlocked. ———————————————— A new ability has been granted. |
Skills are born from the bond between mortals and gods. If that’s indeed the case… then deepening my connection with Thor must have awakened this new power. Just like the sword of the daughter of the sun had been born because of my bond with Solana back in the Royal Capital.
I stand before the colossal monster, Flamebone Surtr. Just as Thor, the god of war, once faced off against many titans, and beings greater than himself.
I now face this towering foe with the same resolve. That same will strengthened the bond between us. The red light burning in my chest burns hotter—even hotter than Surtr’s infernal flames.
| Skill, 『God of Thunder’s Divine Protection』 ————————————————————— 【Will of the God of War】 ……When facing a foe far greater than oneself, the power of each strike is amplified. |
With the 【Golden Flame】 from the Sun Goddess’ blessing and the【Will of the God of War 】from the God of Thunder’s blessing burning within me at once, I took a step forward.
A single leap is all it takes to rise before Surtr’s massive form.
“Oooooh!”
Surtr roars, spreading a barrier of magic before him.
Snap! A tiny, almost anticlimactic sound—like fingers clicking—cuts through the heat.
It came from the side. Both Surtr and I turned to look there.
—Floating in midair was Loki.
“You didn’t think you could forget about Loki, did you?”
Surtr’s eyes went wide. His enormous head snapped toward the figure floating beside his massive shoulder—a black-robed sorcerer, the god of mischief himself.
“In times of peace, we even learned magic from you titans.”
Loki said with a thin smile.
“I know your technology. I know how it works.”
Surtr, enraged, swept his massive hand toward him. However, Loki’s body sheared away. Chunks of darkness peeling off as though he were unraveling.
“Well, well… for me to play the sacrificial fool. Not my usual style, but…”
With his form fading, Loki turned his eyes toward me and grinned,
“Please… No—I entrust this to you, Rion.”
The magic barrier that had begun to form shattered like mist. No fortress remained. No monstrous guardian stood to shield the battlefield’s heart—Surtr himself.
I felt the tailwind of Sylph’s breeze at my back, driving me forward through the air in a straight line. The crimson light burning in my chest grew brighter, hotter with every passing heartbeat.
With Solana, the image in my mind had been a sword. But now, what I see is a hammer.
Surtr’s burning face loomed closer, the heat so fierce it stung my nose, threatened to sear my eyes right out of their sockets.
Magic power poured around me like rain, on the verge of awakening into something greater—no, it had to awaken. Everyone had given me this chance. I couldn’t waste it.
But—
『…Your compatibility… may not be enough.』
Thor’s voice, heavy with regret, echoed in my mind.
“No way…!”
The divine power he had granted me refused to take shape in my hands. It poured down upon me, only to scatter like mist the moment I tried to grasp it.
Then Loki’s voice followed, sly and unhurried.
『Perhaps… it’s because your bond with Solana is truly special. Your aptitude for manipulating magic… is only so-so, after all.』
Maybe I simply lacked the talent to seize this chance. Well, of course I did. I was born with a useless skill, a dropout from the start, not a hero like my father.
And now—of all times—my own weakness was dragging me down…!
Thor’s voice thundered in my mind.
『Rion—imagine it anyway! My strength—my hammer!』
“I–imagine it…?”
Magic was imagination—the power to give shape to one’s will. Loki had once taught me that. So I focused, pouring everything I had into that single thought. What rose in my mind was a memory—training with my father.
I could almost feel his large hands guiding mine, showing me how to do it. With that image burning bright, I shifted my grip on the short sword. I grasped the blade itself. Trusting the silver gauntlet to shield my fingers, I turned the weapon around so the guard pointed upward.
A cross-shaped short sword flipped this way became the shape of a hammer. A stance meant for killing strikes—a technique normally used with longswords to bludgeon the enemy with the guard.
With a hammer now clenched in my hands—even if only in imagination—I could feel it. I could believe I was truly holding Thor’s great hammer.
The silver gauntlet my little sister had given me felt reassuring. It didn’t just protect my fingers. It was as if Lu herself was there—her small hands covering mine, whispering: “Oniichan, you can do this.”
——Burn… I will burn you to ash!
Surtr’s colossal face loomed right before me.
But I refused to give in.
What I lacked in magical talent, I would make up for with the strength of my memories—my family’s bond. My throat strained to its limit as I shouted the name of the weapon I had borrowed from the God of Thunder himself.
“Mjolnir!”
| Skill, 『God of Thunder’s Divine Protection』was activated. Mjolnir –the legendary war hammer, granted by the God of Thunder. |
The reversed blue crystal short swrod erupted with lightning, blazing brighter and brighter until a massive hammer took form around it.
With a deafening shout, I swung Mjolnir down upon the doomsday titan.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next
Yume Neiji's Works 