Episode 70/Chapter 1: Sword of the World Dragon (1)

TL: Tsubak

ED: Sephtair-Sensei

The woman, Nuwa, that had been lying down in the deep darkness turned to look towards the south. Her black and long hair that flowed down her shoulders covered her white and beautiful naked body.

She was the ancient God of the Temple, and at the same time, the creator of humans and an ancient dragon.

It had already been thousands of years that she fell in a deep slumber in the appearance of a snake.

The woman that woke up from her sleep understood the situation as an ancient God. No, she had already been grasping the situation while she was asleep through dreams.

But regardless of that, the reason she didn’t move was because she didn’t have much strength left.

Long ago, the sky had crumbled due to one of the Gods of water and a being that wanted to destroy the world.

The water that poured down from the hole made in the sky covered the world, and countless humans ended up losing their strength due to the great flood.

Nuwa filled up the hole with a five-colored gem that was filled with her power to stop the annihilation of humans and cut off the source of the flood.

Nuwa ended up being completely exhausted as she had to continue battling against the destructive beings.

But her tragedy didn’t end there. Her very existence itself got endangered thanks to a big hole having been made in her soul.

Nuwa feared the aftereffects that would bring her end so she chose to enter a deep slumber as a stopgap measure.

Thousands of years passed like that.

When Nuwa awoke, she realized that her state wasn’t completely recovered. A vast amount of power was leaking from the hole in her soul even at this moment.

But she couldn’t fall asleep again. She already knew the reason she woke up in this era.

That’s why she decided not to fall asleep and wait.

For the moment to come. For him to come to her.

Nuwa closed her eyes. She waited for the visit of the dragon that massacred dragons.

&

[“We-won!”]

“Uooooooooo!”

“We, won! We, won!”

The warriors of Valhalla cheered at Nidhogg’s yell. The martial artists of the Temple also yelled happily with them.

There was still part of the army of the Kingdom of fire but actually, victory and defeat had already been decided. They had lost Tiamat and Jormungand and even Gilgamesh and Karna who were the ones to have brought them here. The Kingdom of fire didn’t have a method to overturn this situation.

The forces of Xindu charged towards the martial artists in the Golden palace like combusting flames. The forces of Dilmun still retained their emotions so they chose to escape, contrary to the forces of Xindu. But of course, the martial artists and the warriors of Valhalla didn’t allow them to do that.

Tae Ho dropped his shoulder at Adenmaha’s back and looked towards the Golden Palace. But it was at that moment. Astelone started to act peevish.

I want to eat. I want to eat more. I’m telling you that I want to eat more.

It was a low and creepy voice. She was also panting so it gave a weirder feeling to it.

But of course, it wasn’t a real voice but a feeling, but even so her voice was heard like it was the real deal to Tae Ho, the master of Astelone, and Nidhogg the highest ranked dragon in this place.

Because of that Nidhogg flinched inside her heart room and froze. She spoke with a scared and earnest voice.

[“Nidhogg is not delicious. Not delicious. She doesn’t have any flavor like the roots of the World Tree. She’s even less delicious than the food Adenmaha tried to make while imitating Heda.”]

Adenmaha flinched at the words Nidhogg mumbled. And contrary to that, Astelone appeared dimly in front of the Dragon Sword and looked at Nidhogg while drooling as if her words were meaningless.

I want to eat. I want to eat more. I’m telling you that I want to eat more.

It was a really simple voracity. Nidhogg ended up bursting in tears after taking in the simply pure(?) goodwill of the sword that kills dragons and absorbs them.

[“Uwaa! Adenmaha, she’s harassing me. Tae Ho master, she’s harassing me!”]

Everyone near the black holy dragon put on dumbfounded expressions as it started to simulate crying. And Cuchulainn started to pant carelessly from that.

‘Pant, pant. You are doing well Astelone. A bit more. A little bit more!’

Tae Ho opened his eyes widely thinking that there was a real pervert here and glared at Gae Bolg and then spoke lowly and quickly.

“What are you saying right now? Do you even know what you said?”

‘Pant pant! Pant pant!’

Cuchulainn panted again and Tae Ho threw Gae Bolg towards the ground without regrets. He turned to look at Astelone instead of the still panting Cuchulainn and said.

“Astelone, Nidhogg isn’t something you eat. She’s a precious comrade.”

Tch.

Astelone clicked her tongue and put on a delinquent face but still, she couldn’t do something that wasn’t permitted.

“Let’s eat the shell of Tiamat at least. That’s also a lump of magic power.”

But that’s not tasty.

Astelone kicked the ground and grumbled, but it wasn’t that she didn’t want to not eat it as she was really hungry.

Adenmaha flew towards the body of Tiamat hurriedly for Nidhogg that was still crying. When Tae Ho landed at the forehead of Tiamat, he stabbed Astelone in Tiamat’s body that was no different from the ground.

Not tasty but abundant.

Astelone still grumbled but she still ate up well. The body of Tiamat was also a magical armor like Nidhogg’s original body so you could say that the body itself was a giant lump of magic power.

“You are eating well.”

Tae Ho smirked and thought of the past unconsciously. Just how many dragons had he beaten up to a pulp to satisfy Astelone that was also a glutton in Dark Age?

‘After it passes everything becomes a memory.’

‘Not a terrible history of massacres?’

Tae Ho ignored Cuchulainn’s words and yelled towards the sky.

“Everyone gather! I will share some strength!”

He wasn’t able to absorb it all anyways. It would only satisfy Astelone’s feeling of satisfaction but the magic power was going to leak in the end, so it was better to share it with everyone.

“It doesn’t feel bad.”

“Ohhh, so this is an ancient magic power?”

Echidna and Drakon Ismenios turned to look at each other and put on satisfied expressions. Hraesvelgr was also putting on the same expression as them.

“Good, with this I will be able to increase my size.”

It seemed like he still cared that his body was too small compared to Nidhogg.

‘But hey, can’t she eat Jormungand?’

Astelone answered at Cuchulainn’s question and not Tae Ho.

Adulterated food. I will get stomach sick.

“She says so.”

They couldn’t know the exact difference there was between Tiamat and Jormungand but if even the always hungry Astelone was reluctant to eat it, it would really be better to just leave it be.

It seemed like Cuchulainn also agreed to that that he changed the subject immediately.

‘It seems like things are also ending in the Golden Palace. There will be no need to help them so rest for now. Even if you look fine you are exhausted, right?’

He wasn’t a master of Scathach’s techniques for nothing.

Tae Ho nodded at Cuchulainn’s sharp remark.

“Honestly speaking, I have no problem with my stamina…but I can’t do anything about the expenditure of divine power. I will need time to recover so… I’m planning to rest the entire day.”

‘Right, you are doing this so that everyone can live so you should rest when you can.’

Tae Ho smirked at Cuchulainn’s words and then looked towards the Golden Palace once again.

It was a time when the sun was still high.

&

“For Asgard and the nine realms. Thank you for saving us master of Asgard.”

“Let the light of the Temple be eternal. Asgard didn’t forget about the goodwill and dedication the Temple had shown in the last war.”

Nezha and Tae Ho were exchanging greetings. Nezha greeted first in Asgardian but it seemed that he liked that Tae Ho replied back in the way of the Temple, as he was putting on a brighter expression than when they greeted each other.

“I think that it has been a blessing for Asgard and the Temple that you have climbed to the seat of the master of Asgard.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

When the general greeting ended, Nezha led Tae Ho to a seat that was prepared in the conference room.

Tae Ho and Nezha stood facing each other and the people of the Temple and Asgard took their seats.

“Master of Asgard, the battle has just ended but it seems like we will have to debate about the future plans.”

It was an obvious thing so Tae Ho agreed softly. Nezha turned to look at the people that were at the left of the conference room and Juh Palgye, that was among them, stood up and expressed etiquette.

“The lion of the dawn greets the master of Asgard.”

Kaldea opened her eyes widely at the clear accent he spoke with. Juh Palgye flushed, maybe because the ones from the Golden Palace also put similar expressions, but he continued to speak.

“Hm hm, please understand that my way of speaking is a bit rough. I was born this way so…”

“Don’t mind.”

Juh Palgye let out a long sigh as soon as Tae Ho permitted it and then started to speak with his original way of speaking.

“Thanks. First, we don’t know the situation below the Golden Palace. It’s embarrassing to say this but we have been pushed greatly… but we are certain that they don’t have any considerable forces either. It seems like they had bet all their cards in this battle too.” (In dialect)

He said that based on his guess and senses rather than having a clear basis behind it.

But Nezha also sided with Juh Palgye.

“Master of Asgard, we can’t cut down the potential forces of Dilmun and Xindu but I also agree on this with Juh Palgye. Even if they do have forces remaining, it would be hard to show a greater strength than what they showed in the battle with the Golden Palace.”

“So you are saying that it’s possible to drive them back and go down.”

The silent Echidna spoke. Nezha looked at Echidna in a disagreeable way as she suddenly butted in the conversation but he spoke with a nice expression again.

“It’s not impossible. If we go down to the south for a day, the defensive lines of the south that was protected by Virudhaka will appear. And if we travel one more day south, the connecting path with Dilmun appears.”

Of course, they would need more time than that to mobilize an army, but Tae Ho and his group had already shown power above an army.

Adenmaha, that was right below Tae Ho, turned to look up at him and asked.

“Master, are you going to close the connecting path?”

“That would be good but it’s going to be hard. We are at the Temple right now.”

The ones that could release the best of their strength on opening and closing the connecting path were the Gods of that world, especially the master of that world.

It wasn’t an easy task for Tae Ho, the master of a foreign world, to control the connecting path.

Because of that, Tae Ho pondered for a while and then asked Nezha.

“Nezha-nim. Can I entrust to you defending the south with the current forces of the Golden Palace?”

“Are you planning on returning to Asgard?”

“Not yet, but I’m planning on facing the enemies I can see right now instead of preparing for the enemies that are yet to come from the south, or sticking with the connecting path that can’t be closed easily.”

The meaning Tae Ho’s words held was clear. Now that they had defeated the forces of Dilmun and Xindu, there was only one enemy for the Temple.

“I will protect the south with all my life.”

Nezha expressed etiquette once again. For him, no for the entire Temple, the forces of Tae Ho were really like the hands of salvation.

“Now now, let’s stop with the hard topic and how about enjoying ourselves? There’s a lot of good wine in the Palace, more than you can imagine. Can’t we enjoy ourselves for one day when we got out from the brink of death?”

When Juh Palgye said that while smirking, the faces of the others – and especially the warriors of Valhalla – brightened up.

‘Master, the warriors of Valhalla already started to drink.’

When Adenmaha spoke to him through mystical magic Tae Ho couldn’t hold back his laughter. He let out a laugh and then turned to look at Juh Palgye.

“I was also planning to rest today.”

“Oh! Did you hear that? The master is telling us to rest.”

Juh Palgye’s eyes were directed to Nezha. Nezha shrugged his shoulders as if it was unavoidable and then looked at Tae Ho and said.

“I send you my gratitude once again. I will serve you the best alcohol of the Golden Palace myself.”

“I will be waiting for it.”

When the words of permission dropped, the conference room got filled with cheers. And most of them were yelled by the warriors of Valhalla.

&

The alcohol was really delicious.

Even Tae Ho, that didn’t enjoy drinking that much, invited alcohol repeatedly.

In addition, the alcohol Juh Palgye brought didn’t only have a good flavor. It was a mysterious alcohol that made even Gods, that didn’t get drunk easily because of their superior physical abilities, drunk.

Tae Ho, that got nicely drunk, embraced the dreaming Adenmaha and headed to her room. It had been long ago that Nidhogg went to sleep while hugging Echidna instead of Hydra.

“Sleep well Adenmaha.”

Tae Ho laid down Adenmaha on her bed and gave her a short blessing on her forehead. He was planning to get out of her room but he couldn’t do that. It was because Adenmaha, whom he thought to be completely asleep, grabbed his sleeves.

“Master.”

Adenmaha called Tae Ho. She then pulled on his sleeves and bit her lips.

“You can’t. You can’t just leave.”

Adenmaha acted peevishly like a kid and then pulled Tae Ho with both of her hands.

“You told me that you were going to listen to my wish. I remember everything.”

It was the promise they shared in Olympus. Tae Ho gulped dry saliva unconsciously and Adenmaha continued speaking with a completely red face but with a clear voice.

“I come after Heda and Idun-nim. That’s what Heda said.”

Tae Ho didn’t know why but she pouted at the end.

Adenmaha grabbed his arm again. She then made him lie down next to her and then entered his embrace and spoke in a good mood.

“Master’s smell.”

‘Isn’t it the smell of alcohol?’

Cuchulainn said that inwardly. It was because there was a probability to get chased away by Tae Ho if he spoke wrongly here. The best thing was to watch silently.

“Master.”

Adenmaha raised her head slightly and looked up at Tae Ho. Her red face was really hot.

“Me too…”

She paused. Tae Ho got nervous once again and looked at Adenmaha’s small and pretty lips. She continued speaking again. She whispered as if she was dying of embarrassment but she still wanted to do it.

“I also want to get my waist dislocated.”

“A, Adenmaha?”

Tae Ho got shocked and the same went for Cuchulainn. But Cuchulainn stopped any sound from flowing out of him with a surprising patience as expected of the best warrior of Erin. He looked at Tae Ho and Adenmaha soundlessly but with burning eyes.

“I also want to get my waist dislocated.”

Adenmaha said once again. She shut her mouth and then entered Tae Ho’s embrace while also having her ears redden and asked with a teary face.

“You will do that for me, right?”

He was at a limit. Tae Ho couldn’t endure it anymore and at that moment Cuchulainn yelled.

‘Hey! No! Hey! Are you going to be this shameful?’

Tae Ho put Gae Bolg in Unnir and then threw it to the deepest part of the ‘treasury’ that was connected with his saga. He then piled up lots of treasures on it to block all sound and senses.

‘Hey! Hey! You shameful bastard!’

Cuchulainn’s despair didn’t reach Tae Ho. Adenmaha looked up at Tae Ho and sent an earnest look.

Tae Ho stroke Adenmaha’s cheek. It was hot and also soft.

“Adenmaha.”

Tae Ho called Adenmaha. He then gave her the best blessing when she closed her eyes.

< Episode 70 – Sword of the World Dragon (1) > End