Volume 9 Chapter 28 NíðHöGgr
I'm falling into a massive lake with bubbles around me.
Right after, I'm shocked by the lake's chilliness. It's not just the water temperature being near freezing point, but there's also some sort of sorcery at work.
I analyze it with my Ajna Chakra, and I understand. This lake's water contains a deadly sorcery that directly corrodes anything that enters it.
I think it's bad, so I hastily use gravity magic to escape. I float in mid-air, coughing, and I brush my hair back.
"Whoa, that's crazy. I've seen Sur do it too, but the world really has changed. That's some insane sorcery!"
However, even after I've escaped from the lake, I can still feel the deadly sorcery trying to corrode my body.
It seems like if I fall in, I'll die within a time limit. If I had stayed submerged in the lake, I would've died in about ten seconds.
I look ahead. There's a massive deer walking on air, kicking the sky. It's not a beastman, but a genuinely massive deer.
"...Eik, is it?"
I ask, and the deer lets out a faint laugh. It seems to be Eik's transformed form, jumping around lightly in mid-air.
'You're just a rat, but you managed to crawl out of the Hvelgemir. However, no one has ever been swallowed by this Domain Control and survived.'
"...Huh? Is Domain Control that strong? But if you use it on someone who can also use Domain Control, it's not like you'll just win, right?"
'What's so obvious about that? When Domain Control users fight, it's a battle of Domain Control versus Domain Control, a battle of who can consume the world. And the outcome of that battle determines the outcome of the fight.'
So, it seems that I, who don't have Domain Control, have started a fight from a disadvantaged position, having lost to Domain Control.
This is a pretty tough start. I'm getting all excited.
I haven't fought in such a disadvantaged situation before. I've fought against enemies who were simply too strong a few times, but...
I see, so this is Domain Control. I can't stop grinning.
Unfavorable rules are being forced upon me, a sorcery of war. Domain Control. A pseudo-god.
Even as I'm wasting time, I can sense that the death of this lake's water is corroding me.
This can't be a short-term battle. Anahata Chakra is still under physical control, so this conceptual death will just pass through.
But despite having an overwhelming advantage, Eik glares at me, growling.
'...You're just a rat, scared of death. Why are you laughing?'
"It's been a while, so I'm excited. This battle to the death is thrilling. That's why, Eik."
――――Let's have some fun until the very end, okay?
I draw my greatsword Durandal and suspend it in mid-air with gravity magic. Eik lets out a startled cry and tries to flee from me.
But it's too late.
Eik, you're slow in every way
"Pierce! Durandal!"
My greatsword shoots straight at Eik, falling from the sky. I add Full Weight Increase, and Eik tries to dodge in a zigzag pattern, but it's no use.
"GAaaaaaaa!"
Eik's zigzag escape barely works, and Durandal slashes through Eik's side. Blood flows, and Eik falls into the lake.
But even then, Eik doesn't give up. As he falls, he shouts.
"You damn rat... Fine, I'll show you the true terror of Hvergelmir...!"
Eik takes a deep breath, and then calls out.
'I offer my body as a sacrifice Níðhöggr! Oh, fearsome black dragon of Hvelgemir, devour this insolent rat!'
A massive shadow emerges from beneath the lake. "Whoa!" I hastily jump into the air.
Right after, it appears.
The massive dragon roars, spewing out a large amount of water, and takes to the sky. A long, long, black dragon.
I gaze at it with my Ajna Chakra and mutter.
"...Are you seriously holding an ancient dragon inside your Domain Control? What's up, Eik? That's way too crazy!"
―――It was an ancient dragon.
A dragon from mythology with an immense power, a Protean dragon. I don't know the details, but Eik called it Níðhöggr.
So, that's how it is.
If I can defeat this Níðhöggr, I'll be able to break Eik's Domain Control for the first time and escape. If I don't kill this ancient dragon in this disadvantageous situation, I'll die from Eik's deadly sorcery.
"I see. It's like saying 'You're done for if you get swallowed by Domain Control'."
I can nod in agreement, considering the overwhelming power. It's multiple times stronger than my raw combat power.
But I'm getting more and more excited. I'm not lacking in any way. I call back Durandal and grip it tightly.
Níðhöggr suddenly noticed Eik and swallowed him whole, opening its massive mouth upwards and devouring him.
This is what it means to be a sacrifice, I guess. I don't think it's a sacrifice for those who die and are resurrected, but for Níðhöggr, it's just a meal.
It's hundreds of meters long, I'd say. I lightly lick my lower lip.
A moment of tension. I'm facing an enormous enemy unlike any I've seen before. My whole body is trembling with excitement.
We both move at the same time.
Níðhöggr spews out a massive magic circle from its mouth. I take a deep breath, facing it.
That's the ancient dragon's exclusive move, the Dragon's Breath. The Dragon's Breath is pure destruction. I can't take it head-on unless it's a fake.
So I use gravity magic to grab Níðhöggr's head.
"What if the ancient dragon takes its strongest hit? What then?!"
With Object Point Shift, I thrust Níðhöggr's head into the magic circle―――the ancient dragon's seal.
Right before my eyes, Níðhöggr seemed to be breathing out heavily. It suddenly thrust its head into the Dragon's Breath. A faint, sorrowful cry echoed, and Níðhöggr's head vanished.
But, wait.
Níðhöggr was falling, but somehow, an ancient dragon's mark appeared and caught its entire body mid-air.
Níðhöggr's body passed through the ancient dragon's mark. It slipped through from the waist down, and its upper and lower halves simultaneously dodged the mark――
At the same time its vanished head reappeared, Níðhöggr's head revived.
"GRRROOOAARRR!"
It let out a furious roar. Níðhöggr was enraged, spewing out a massive amount of ancient dragon marks from its mouth, scattering them in all directions.
"What's with that?! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Dragon's Breath was unleashed from all the ancient dragon marks. I barely dodged the countless instant-death attacks while laughing hysterically, using my gravity flight to narrowly avoid them.
This is insane. This is way too insane. If this is their ultimate technique, it's definitely top-tier, even among gold-rank abilities.
If I fell into the lake, I'd be dead in a matter of seconds. Even if I managed to get out, I'd have to fight in my enhanced, giant deer form with a time limit. And even if I won, the ancient dragon would still appear, and the time limit would continue.
The ancient dragon's ability is already on par with mid-to-high gold-rank strength, and yet... Ah, this is just ridiculous.
"This is the best!"
I dodged the Dragon's Breath in a 3-dimensional, spinning motion while enlarging Durandal and striking it in one swift motion.
Níðhöggr's torso split in 2. The Dragon's Breath temporarily stopped. I thought I could finish it off here, but Durandal got pierced by the Dragon's Breath and snapped in 2.
"Damn it! It's not going to be that easy!"
I laughed ferociously and used my gravity magic to leap at Níðhöggr. Níðhöggr regenerated its entire body using the ancient dragon's mark and then scattered more marks in all directions once again.
"Hey, don't think you can just wipe me out with a strong attack. I've already got a countermeasure in place!"
Deep Gravity. I directly struck the ancient dragon's seal with [Collapse]. The scattered ancient dragon's seals all lost their form and disappeared.
Níðhöggr was taken aback, its entire body stiffening. "You're full of openings," I said, closing in on Níðhöggr.
"I know you have regeneration abilities."
As I swung the repaired Durandal, I said,
"But what if you're cut into 8 pieces?"
I unleashed a sword flash.
One slash, 2 slashes, 3 slashes, 4 slashes, 5 slashes... My gravity magic-enhanced Durandal's single flash struck Níðhöggr's body multiple times.
The combination of Durandal and gravity magic was incredibly powerful. The rapid [Weight Reduce] followed by [Weight Increase], and then the [Repulsion] after the direct hit, combined with Durandal's gravity control, brought its power to near-infinite levels.
Níðhöggr's body was torn apart, piece by piece. It was no longer just a matter of being cut into 8 pieces. I relentlessly swung my sword, turning Níðhöggr's entire body into minced meat.
But even then, the ancient dragon's seal refused to acknowledge Níðhöggr's death.
Under the falling meat pieces, a massive ancient dragon's seal spread out.
I tried to strike "Deep Gravity" and [Collapse] there, but I prioritized evading the dragon breath that came out of nowhere.
The meat pieces continued to burrow into the ancient dragon's seal.
What emerged from there were numerous small Níðhöggrs.
"""GRROOOAARR!"""
As they let out a high-pitched roar in unison, the Níðhöggrs charged at me all at once. Overwhelmed by their sheer momentum, I shouted "Object Repulsion!" and strengthened my [Repulsion].
My entire field of vision was covered by the small Níðhöggrs. Even though they were small, they were all over 3 meters long. The larger ones were tens of meters long. I was overwhelmed by the intense, suffocating feeling.
The next instant, the power of [Repulsion] won out, and the Níðhöggr were blown away. Whoa, I let out a sigh of relief, wiping away the cold sweat.
"Whoa, that was too tough! Hahahahaha ————... Well, it's about time I stopped playing around."
I felt the sting of death approaching my heart, and I let out a breath.
Let's end this fun fight here. From our exchange so far, I've got a good idea of how to take down Níðhöggr.
"Alright, it's over———Object Weight Increase!"
I applied the full force of Weight Increase to the Níðhöggr flying around in the air. They tried to resist with their flying magic, but were slowly pulled down by the increased weight.
This alone wouldn't be enough. This lake has the property of dealing death to those who enter it, but Níðhöggr is an ancient dragon that emerged from within. It's probably not a problem if it's just passing through normally.
However, there's usually a limit to the effectiveness of this kind of ability.
"For example, its scales might be repelling the lake's death, or something."
The moment I said that, the Níðhöggr suddenly went berserk. Ah, I get it. That's helpful.
I readied Durandal. I focused my energy to the limit. I took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out.
Alright, let's go.
"I'll take down all of you, every last one!"
I used my gravity magic to fly around, swinging Durandal wildly. The numerous Níðhöggr flying around were cut down one by one, and fell into the lake under the strong gravity.
Then, the lake's death poured in through the wounds, and the small Níðhöggr that fell started dying one by one. Occasionally, one would try to revive itself with the ancient dragon's seal, but I'd stop it with [Collapse].
"Dragon's Breath that only gets in the way, how scary is that?!"
The small Níðhöggr each spat out a massive amount of ancient dragon's seal, firing off Dragon's Breath. But by now, that was no obstacle at all.
I dodged everything and cut down everything. The ancient dragon's mark [Collapse] was destroyed. One by one, the Níðhöggr sank into the lake and died.
And so, I cut down all the Níðhöggr in sight.
But, Domain Control is not solved. If this kept up, I'd die for sure.
"What a shallow wit!"
I looked down.
There wasn't a single Níðhöggr left on the lake's surface. But, in the lake... there, Ajna Chakra saw a small, tiny figure hiding and shrinking away.
"This is the end ———I'll do my best, ora ora ora ora ora!"
I used Sahasrara Chakra to reject the death-imbued corrosion that was about to kill me. It was only a temporary measure, but I could endure for a few seconds, considering how far I'd come.
I dove down. I pointed the tip of Durandal's sword at the Níðhöggr in the lake and plunged in with intense force.
Death's corrosion started seeping into my entire body. I tried to repel it with Repulsion, but this lake wasn't a physical existence, so I couldn't repel it.
But, what's the point of that?
I dove deeper, surpassing 10 meters, 20 meters, 30, 40, 50. Níðhöggr noticed me and desperately tried to escape, but I was faster.
"Don't think you can escapeeee (from me)!!"
I caught up to Níðhöggr. Even the small, revived individual from the minced meat fragments was bigger than me. In its final struggle, its massive fin struck my torso. A pure physical shock due to the difference in physical strength.
I caught it.
I stabbed Durandal into it. I pulled it in, grasping it firmly with my hand. In just one second, my entire body would be invaded by death's corrosion. But...
"This is my win!"
I bisected the last Níðhöggr. Death's corrosion from the lake flowed into its severed section. Níðhöggr struggled for a moment, and finally, it lost all strength and stopped moving.
My vision returned to the city of Nilfheim.
"Ga-bo, ga-ha, go-ho-ho!"
I lay on the stone pavement of Nilfheim, my entire body soaked in water.
The eerie presence of death that had been eating away at my body was gone. I was just soaked to the bone. As I caught my breath, I stood up, running my hand through my hair.
There, Eik was in the same state as me, drenched from head to toe, with an unbelievable expression on his face as he placed his hands on the ground. When he noticed my shadow, he started trembling so much he couldn't even lift his face.
"...Eik, was it? I have a question for you."
I slowly approached him, crouched down, and grasped the base of his horn. Eik shuddered.
"What's with this 'Rat'? Who is it? Tell me."
I lifted his horn and forced him to face me. Eik's voice trembled as he said,
"...I, it's me."
"Huh? You're the one? You're not the deer?"
"N-no, it's not that. I'm the one. I'm the Rat."
"Is that so? So you're the one who stole from the store too?"
"Y-yes, that's right. I stole everything."
"Hahaha, you're a real bad guy, aren't you?"
Just then, a scream echoed from inside the large store.
"W-what is this?! Why has my store become like this?!"
The ear-piercing scream was Yor's. I felt a sense of satisfaction, like I'd finally gotten revenge for half of what Clay had suffered, and I let out a dry laugh.
But it was only half. Revenge isn't complete until it's fully settled. I'll savor the thrill of the final blow.
"For now, it's time to take a break."
I released my grip on Eik's horn. Then, I whispered in his ear.
"That was a fun fight. Let's do it again sometime."
I turned my back on Eik and started walking away, calling out, "Hey, Ice, Rollo!" As I left, I heard Eik mutter, "I absolutely refuse..." and felt a pang of loneliness.
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