Mia tightened her grip on the chain, glaring at the enemy forces from the center of the adventurers’ formation. Two creatures in particular towered above the others. One was the massive wolf Fenrir, standing nearly five meters tall. Its pale blue fur shimmered through the snow that had begun to fall. Its red eyes shifted slowly as it surveyed the adventurers’ battle line.
The other was an enormous serpent. The World Serpent, Jörmungandr, had raised its head to roughly the same height as Fenrir. Its coiled body was several times longer than it was tall, though it was nowhere near as enormous as when it had appeared in the Royal Capital.
The World Serpent had been weakened as well. It had likely lost a great deal of its magical power. Before the two giants stood rows of monsters—goblins, kobolds, orcs, the flame hound Garm, giant soldiers, and more.
Two armies faced each other in a tense standoff.
The roughly one hundred adventurers had one objective: break through the monster army, reach the temple beyond, and support the boy with the horn. The monsters outnumbered them by roughly three to one, and their purpose was to prevent the adventurers from breaking through.
Between the two battle lines stretched a gap of about fifty meters. Slowly, the killing intent filling that space grew heavier.
“Well, then.”
Mia exhaled and tightened her grip on her chain axe. In the freezing air, her breath instantly turned white. The power of Thor, the God of Thunder, coursed through the blade, scattering pale blue sparks of lightning.
The great serpent noticed Mia and curled its lips into a sinister grin.
“They’re coming.”
The great serpent roared. Fenrir answered with a howl. Then the monsters surged forward like a black tidal wave.
Felix, leading the Raven Warrior Corps, gave the order, and the adventurers charged forward as one. Mia swung her axe back and hurled it.
“Heavy Strike…!”
The axe left a trail of lightning across the dim sky before slamming into the World Serpent Jörmungandr’s flank. The enormous serpent twisted in midair before crashing down with a thunderous boom. Snow exploded outward, filling the battlefield and obscuring the view ahead.
It was the same strategy they’d used during the defense of the royal capital—the two strongest monsters would surge forward first and try to decide the battle before the rest of the forces could even engage.
A shout came from one of the adventurers.
“Mia! That giant wolf is heading your way!”
Fenrir leaped over the wave of monsters and landed in the center of the adventurers’ formation.
Its enormous jaws opened wide. The foul stench of its breath washed over Mia.
“Oh, crap—”
Her chain axe was still fully extended.
Felix shouted.
“Mia! Jump!”
Felix swung his staff, launching a barrage of fireballs. Each one homed in on the giant wolf. Several exploded right in front of Fenrir’s snout. Fenrir zigzagged away, putting distance between itself and the adventurers. Then it vanished into the cloud of snow kicked up by the World Serpent.
“The monsters are here!”
“Form ranks!”
A few moments later, monsters such as orcs and giant soldiers reached the adventurers’ battle line.
The numbers were heavily against them. One hundred adventurers faced an enemy force roughly three times their size. The adventurers were individually stronger, but they were overwhelmingly outnumbered.
As they’d planned beforehand, they immediately shifted formations. Instead of a straight line, they formed a square formation. As the monsters closed in from every direction, the adventurers countered from within the formation with magic and arrows, while the shield-bearers formed the outer wall.
“We’re fine over here!”
“Focus on the big ones!”
“Garm! Garm’s coming!”
“Anyone without a spare weapon, fall back!”
Battle cries and monster roars blended into one deafening cacophony.
Mia had been occupied keeping Jörmungandr and the other major monsters at bay, so she’d fallen behind when the square formation was established. The formation was moving toward the left side of the grand staircase, taking the monsters’ charge at an angle. Whether they intended to break apart the monster ranks from the left or simply withstand the assault, it was still better than standing still and allowing themselves to be surrounded.
“…Well, looks like I got left behind.”
Mia gave a wry smile as a chill ran down her spine. Then a reassuring voice called out from behind her.
“Mia!”
It was Felix.
To hide the relief she felt, Mia raised an eyebrow while cutting down an approaching orc.
“Oh? Aren’t you supposed to be commanding?”
“I’ve already handed that responsibility over. More importantly, we have—”
Felix’s gaze settled on two figures emerging from the clearing snow. The World Serpent, Jörmungandr, and Fenrir were staring intently toward Mia and Felix.
“Yeah. We can’t let the big ones run wild.”
“Exactly. We need a separate mobile unit apart from the main formation.”
Even as she spoke, Mia already understood what that role required. It should be handled by adventurers who had fought the monsters of the Age of Myth many times before.
“So it’s you and me.”
Felix nodded.
“Mia. How about you take the serpent, and I’ll take the wolf?”
“Mm. Can’t be helped.”
Thor’s face flashed through Mia’s mind.
“—Looks like I’m stealing the glory from you, God.”
She hoisted her chain axe onto her shoulder.
Felix fired a burst of flame into the dawn sky.
From within the square formation, Lloyd of the Stone Hammer raised his booming voice.
“Make way for the reinforcements!”
“Mia takes the World Serpent Jörmungandr! Felix takes the wolf!”
Three adventurers joined Mia, and three more joined Felix. They were members of the Raven Warrior Corps. After all the battles they’d fought together, the six of them had become familiar faces.
Together, Mia and Felix moved to intercept their respective monsters.
The plan was simple. While they kept the two powerful beasts occupied, the main formation would wipe out the rest of the monsters. Once that was done, everyone could concentrate on the remaining giants.
And if Mia and Felix managed to defeat Fenrir or Jörmungandr themselves, even better. The tide of battle would swing decisively in the adventurers’ favor.
A dry laugh escaped Mia.
“Yeah… If everything goes according to plan, that is.”
The World Serpent Jörmungandr moved.
It reared up toward the sky.
Then, in the next instant, it plunged headfirst into the snowy plain.
The ground shook.
Mia shouted.
“Go, Felix!”
“But—”
“Your opponent’s the wolf!”
The tremors drew closer and closer to Mia.
“H-hey, now…”
The snow beneath her feet had been accumulating for a thousand years.
And something enormous was burrowing through it.
“—!”
Mia leaped on instinct.
The snow exploded where she’d been standing. The great serpent burst through the surface. Its body stretched for dozens of meters before the enormous creature finally emerged fully in front of her.
A monstrous being that had once been destined to battle the gods.
The greatest among them—World Serpent Jörmungandr.
It raised its colossal body and looked down at Mia. Its dark scales seemed to have fallen straight out of the dawn sky. Its head towered more than eight meters above the ground. And its golden eyes were each large enough to stand as tall as a small child.
—The red-haired axe wielder.
—You borrowed Thor’s power, didn’t you?
The World Serpent Jörmungandr rumbled deep in its throat. The sound was like an earthquake.
—I wonder which will last longer. You…
—Or the black-haired mage over there. He seems to have received Loki’s magic.
Mia swung her axe and shouted back.
“Shut up! If we don’t prove that we can win even without the gods, those gods of ours will never get a chance to rest!”
From the distant battlefield came the howl of a wolf.
“…Don’t you dare die, Felix.”
As if he’d heard her, Felix raised his staff in the distance.
Somehow, the two of them had fallen perfectly into sync.
Warmth spread through Mia’s chest. She quickly wiped at the corner of her mouth.
“Heh. Let’s do this…!”
A red light glowed within Mia’s chest.
Looking around, she saw the same phenomenon in Felix’s chest—and in the chests of every adventurer fighting within the main formation. Each carried a color belonging to one of the gods.
Thor, the God of Thunder—red.
Sigris, the God of Medicine—blue.
Loki, the God of Mischief —purple.
Uru, the God of Hunting—brown.
Heimdall, the Guardian God—gold.
“Look forward to it, Gods!”
The adventurers will be the ones to settle this.
Mia’s heart, too, burned with passion for the real adventure that began with their encounter in the royal capital.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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