By the time Rion had brought his battle with Freyr to its end, the struggle between Thor and his companions and Ymir still continued.
The storm had already passed. Golden magical power was raining down along with the midday sun. It was the Sun’s blessing—the Golden Flame. The radiance did not strengthen only Mia and Felix, who fought at Thor’s side, but also the gods themselves—Uru and Thor—infusing them with renewed power.
Thor lifted his gaze toward the tower that rose from the lake. Bathed in sunlight, the white tower stood proud and unyielding, as though proclaiming its victory to the world.
The Thunder God’s lips broke into a fearless grin.
“Rion has won huh.”
The tower upon the lake had always contained an immense wellspring of magic. The clash between Rion and Freyr had, in truth, been a battle for dominion over that very power.
And now, the magic of the sun poured down across all of Flocia. The outcome of the final struggle was unmistakable. Solana, who had chosen to stand beside Rion, must have taken the tower’s power upon herself.
Before Thor and the others loomed a colossal figure. Ymir leapt back, putting distance between them, his bored gaze lifting toward the shower of radiant magic cascading from above.
Thor drew Mjölnir back over his shoulder, the great hammer humming with gathering force.
“Then I guess it’s our turn to show them what gods can really do!”
He hurled it. The hammer, wreathed in lightning, crashed against the barrier of magic. Sparks burst outward in a violent spray, and the alleyways trembled beneath the roar.
Ymir—the primordial titan—charged forward without hesitation. The mere force of his movement tore up the cobblestones and shattered the surrounding walls. Crimson-black flames coiled around his hands, shaping themselves into claws that lashed out, carving a fresh gash across Thor’s cheek.
The Thunder God threw back his head and laughed.
“Heh! Looks like you’re finally getting warmed up too!”
Uru loosed his arrow. It twisted and veered through the air with impossible freedom, streaking toward Ymir’s face and joints from shifting angles. A chain axe came whistling in at the same time, while a blast of ice magic surged forth to follow.
Ymir stepped back, widening the distance. His eyes settling with faint curiosity upon the two humans—Mia and Felix. Both had surpassed level thirty. Skilled, certainly—but even so, their nerve was enough to make Thor click his tongue in admiration.
“You stand before me without trembling. For a human you…”
Ymir had only just muttered those words when a voice rang out from the direction of the lake.
―Odin
Thor froze, his hammer raised high. Ymir, too, halted his descending fist. A violent gust tore between god and giant, whipping dust and debris into the air. When the haze of earth and smoke began to settle, both of them turned their eyes toward the lake.
Thor let out a cry.
“Freyja…?”
Beyond the rooftops, in the stretch of sky above the lake, the figure of the goddess Freyja appeared.
Even separated by several city blocks, she towered high enough to command the heavens. It could not be her true form—rather, an immense projection, a vision magnified across the sky. From the radiant image of the goddess Freyja, her voice descended like falling light.
―Stop Odin
The Thunder God muttered under his breath.
“…Stop him?”
From the heavens, a spear came hurtling down. It was Odin’s divine weapon. The projected figure in the sky was pierced clean through. The illusion’s face twisted in pain as the spear tore across it.
Thor drew in a sharp breath. Only Ymir reacted at once—his massive body turning toward the lake.
“I see…. So that’s how it is!”
The titan’s foot struck the ground like a driven stake.
Then he ran. Walls and buildings were smashed aside as though made of paper; fences burst apart beneath his charge. He made straight for the harbor, carving a path of ruin through the city.
Thor bellowed after him.
“After him!”
Thor shot upward into the sky, lightning trailing at his heels, while Uru lifted Mia and Felix in his arms and leapt after him in a single bound.
From above, they saw it clearly: between the harbor and the lake stood a towering wall of ice. No doubt the work of Loki.
Ymir did not slow down. With the full force of his charge, he drove his fist into the frozen barrier. It shattered in a thunderous crash, splintering apart—and through the broken gap, he threw his head back and opened his jaws wide toward Freyja’s phantom in the sky.
Cradled in Uru’s grip, Mia and Felix cried out.
“Is he trying to eat it!?”
“N-No way…. right? Something that enormous?!”
Uru growled low in his throat.
“That’s exactly what he is. The first giant of the world.”
From within Ymir’s gaping maw, a tornado was born. The spiraling vortex tore into Freyja’s apparition, gouging through it. Part of the magic sustaining the illusion twisted violently, ripped free—and was dragged straight into the titan’s mouth.
With a heavy snap, Ymir’s jaws slammed shut. He chewed. A pale, young-grass light leaked between his teeth, flickering from the corners of his lips.
Thor let out a strained groan.
“He ate it!?”
Mjölnir came hurtling back, only to be caught and halted mid-flight by a barrier of magic conjured in an instant before Ymir.
“Exquisite. As expected—the taste of a god is altogether different.”
Thor’s eyes widened.
A crack had split across the ice bracelet that bound Ymir’s right arm.
“Freyja’s magic restored his strength!”
Or perhaps this had been Ymir’s true purpose in coming to the city from the very beginning. Devouring the Frost Orb. Laying waste to the streets. Those acts may have been no more than diversions.
If Freyja were awakened, there would be a chance, even if it’s only for a moment, to feast upon a portion of her immense power. And had Freyr triumphed over Rion then all of Freyja’s magic might have been swallowed whole by the primordial titan.
The ice bracelet fitted around Ymir’s right arm shattered into glittering fragments. He rolled his shoulder slowly, as though testing the limb’s freedom. The shackle fastened by Luisia remained only on his left arm now.
“…Denied my full course, but it doesn’t matter.”
Ymir stepped in toward Thor—and simply threw a punch. Thor raised Mjölnir to block. The impact blasted him far into the distance. He tore through the harbor like a thunderbolt in reverse until at last he crashed into a warehouse wall and embedded there before sliding to a halt.
“Tsk!”
He clicked his tongue. Blood streamed down from his brow. Had the Golden Flame not been raining its blessing upon the gods, the wound would have run far deeper.
Ymir stood with the lake at his back. His massive form cast a long shadow as he surveyed them all—Thor, Mia and the others, and the adventurers who had gathered at the commotion—with a cold, contemptuous gaze.
Even though it was Ymir who was being cornered, it was Thor and his allies who felt the tension tightening around them. Adding to the danger, the harbor was already crowded with adventurers.
“Reinforcements?!”
“We’ve got to help!”
“Everyone! Once you’ve driven off the monsters in your area, come here!”
Thor bellowed, his voice booming like thunder.
“Stay back!”
The command reverberated with the force of a storm. Felix narrowed his eyes and barked his own instructions.
“Approaching recklessly will only increase casualties! Do not get close to this monster!”
People were arriving from deeper within the city as well.
About ten men stumbled out from the alleyways, their movements clumsy, their eyes wide and darting in panic. They seemed less like reinforcements and more like prey fleeing some unseen threat.
Mia brushed her red hair back and arched her brow sharply, sensing the anomaly.
“River bandits.”
The veteran’s instincts spoke clearly. Uru, the god of hunting, let out a sharp whistle.
“Could be. Their panic, the way they move—it’s all suspicious. If they’d merely been chased by a mercenary squad and wandered here by accident, they wouldn’t be aiding Ymir like this.”
Ymir raised his massive right hand toward the sky, clenching the red-black flames that writhed like living things within his grasp.
A grin split his face. Then he swung his arm.
The flames cascaded over the bandits who had charged forward. Screams tore through the air as the men writhed on the ground. The fire seemed almost sentient, crawling, seeking entry through nose and mouth, devouring them alive. The adventurers who had gathered now formed a tense line around Ymir, a fragile cordon bracing against the titan’s power.
Every eye widened, every body froze. The acrid stench of burning hair and gear hung heavily in the air.
“…G-Gah!”
Soon, the bandits’ movements froze unnaturally. The red-black flames had not vanished—but still, the men rose to their feet. Their eyes burned with a wild, unearthly light.
“G-g-g…!”
Foam bubbled from their mouths as they let out sounds that were neither moans nor cries, something between the two. With stiff, awkward motions, they drew swords and axes.
The red-black flames clung to them like hair, twisting their forms into grotesque shapes—humanoid versions of the fire giant, shrunk forcibly to human size.
Ymir toyed with the fire in his palm, a broad grin of satisfaction on his face.
“It’s been a long time. But as I thought, those who bear ill hearts are far easier to twist into monsters.”
Thor froze, realization striking him like lightning.
In the age of myths, the titans had always multiplied their enemies by turning living beings into monsters. Goblins were once fallen little folk. Skeletons and draugr were twisted humans, warped beyond recognition.
Felix’s voice trembled, nearly a scream.
“…He turned them to monsters!?”
Thirteen creatures shrieked in unison. An abnormality unlike any other: humans transformed into monsters under Ymir’s will, now joining the primordial titan. The adventurers were already being swallowed by the chaos.
In the crumbling morale of the city, sheer numbers mattered little. Not even the gods could guarantee they would protect all humans from such an onslaught.
The only exceptions were Mia, standing firm with her chained axe, and Felix, gripping his staff with unyielding determination.
“The boy is doing his best.”
“Yeah. And we’re still seniors, after all!”
Behind Ymir, a green light flickered.
The watery curtain that had projected Freyja’s illusion recoiled all at once into the lake, cascading downward in a deluge. The sheer volume of water created a mist that, for a moment, blanketed the harbor.
Thor tilted his head to the sky.
The green glow—surely Freyja herself had risen into the air, flying northward.
And from above, magic began to rain. Like snow out of season, radiant light fell upon every human, bathing them individually in its brilliance. The ancient goddess’s gift seeped into the bodies of the adventurers.
Mia was the first to notice.
“This….!”
The red-haired adventurer ran her hands over her body, now glowing with the goddess’s magic.
“I’ve leveled up…!”
It seemed that the goddess, possessing immense magic, had left a portion of her power behind as she ascended northward. The amount of energy was probably equal to thousands of monsters. And because it had poured into the mortal world, the same effect that had happened to Alvis was occurring here as well: a side effect of leveling up for the adventurers caught in the moment.
As the mist began to clear, Felix shouted.
“With this, we can—!”
The sound of a horn cut through the air.
As if pushing them onward, Thor, Mia, and the adventurers all turned their gaze toward the Tower of the Lake. The horn’s echo came from there.
Thor let out a low, reverent breath.
“Rion…!”
The horn had not been sounded to awaken the gods. It was meant only to stir the hearts of humans. And yet, the side effect of the level-up, combined with the horn’s call, ignited a fire within the adventurers.
In that instant, the Horn-Blowing Boy became a hero among mortals. Even the god of war stirred. The heat in his chest erupted into a roar that spilled forth like lightning.
“Let’s go, you lot!”
““““Yesss!!””””
The adventurers of Flocia echoed the cry. The very air quivered, and for the first time, their resolve pressed against Ymir itself. Thor led the charge. The adventurers followed, a surge of courage driving them to push the giant from the city toward the lake.
“Hmph!”
Ymir leapt backward of his own accord, a living mountain of power retreating in preparation for the next strike.
“The direction the ‘double’went is north. I know where to my heart—my ‘Power of Creation’ is.”
From the lake, the head of a colossal serpent emerged. Its vertically slit, enormous pupil fixed Thor in a cold, unblinking glare. Ymir mounted the serpent’s head.
Any pursuit from the harbor was halted by his magical barrier.
The giant body hid in the snake’s mouth and leisurely left the port.
“The location has been decided. Now, let’s begin the race.”
◆◆◆
I gazed down at the lake from the now-quiet tower. To the south, the World Serpent Jörmungandr was fleeing across the water. I lifted my lips from the awakening horn, the Gjalhorn. Even I could still feel the lingering pulse of the level-up it had granted.
Level—33.
Even after Freyr had escaped, I had continued to bathe in the magic left behind by Freyja-sama’s projection. And I had heard the voices of those leveling up in response.
As if driven by our cheers, Jörmungandr sank beneath the waves. For a moment, we had been on the back foot. Yet the city, the traps Freyja-sama had left, and that lingering magic… I think we had protected them all.
From below, the sounds of joy still echoed.
“Looks like the sound reached them.”
There was no way I could run down to save the people in time. All I could do was give them courage—through the sound of this horn, which had saved us from countless crises before.
—Don’t give up!
That had been the horn’s call, filled with both encouragement and prayer.
“Rion.”
Solana smiled at me. My chest warmed as if the sun itself had been born inside me. Her gaze was so bright, so dazzling, that I felt a little embarrassed. And yet, she—she was the one who shone like the sun itself, the goddess of light.
“You’re no longer just a fledgling hero. You’ve truly become a hero in your own right.”
From the tower, we looked out across all of Flocia.
—I heard the horn!
—The message was true…
—The Horn-Blowing Hero really exists!
Come to think of it… there had been a message like that back in Alvis. Solana stepped beside me and opened her arms toward the city.
“This city is safe now. They’ve seen the gods up close, been inspired by heroes. The orbs seem to have been restored. Next time monsters come, they won’t fall so easily. Humans learn. Humans grow.”
I drew in a deep breath. My eyes met hers and I felt certain that our resolve was the same.
“Let’s go home, Solana. The next battle will surely be in the Royal Capital.”
It would be a struggle over Lu.
The Power of Creation, Freyja-sama, the goddess who holds the key to myth, and the enemy’s position is now clear. All of it was within the circle of my most cherished family.
The now strong Lu had protected me here in Flocia.
Then it was my turn. Just as my little sister had grown stronger, I too had surely changed.The storm has stopped, the monsters have left, and the spring sunshine is shining down on Flocia. It’s as if the sun is blessing us with its victory.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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